As the COVID-19 pandemic continues around the world, countries are extending periods of national lockdown and increasing the need for people to stay home. AppleInsider has compiled a list of free resources, apps, tools, and services that are still available to use while social distancing.

Early Thursday morning, Apple announced it is awarding $10 million from its Advanced Manufacturing Fund plus manufacturing machinery design assistance to COVID-19 test kit collection equipment manufacturer COPAN Diagnostics.

Instead of every meeting attendee staring at a flat Zoom screen, Apple is looking to the future of video conferencing with Memoji-style avatars arranged in augmented reality around each meeting attendee.

A prolific leaker has declared that Apple has a new Apple TV 4K ready to go, and it could launch the product at any time.

AppleInsider has rounded up the best 16-inch MacBook Pro deals going on right now, with coupon savings knocking up to $450 off every single model. Whether you're in the market for a standard config or looking for a loaded Core i9 model, it pays to check out the cash discounts.

Several European countries, including Switzerland and Germany, are demanding all user data generated by coronavirus contact tracing apps be stored on-device, rather than aggregated on a centralized server.

Instead of a theater release in May, or a digital rental period, Warner Brothers will release their new movie 'Scoob!' on iTunes for a $25 one-time purchase.

It's not exactly surprising that with all of the uncertainty in the world, Apple decided that it couldn't provide useful revenue guidance for its fiscal Q3 ending in June. It is unexpected, however, that Apple felt confident in announcing a silver lining to the pandemic -- it expects to sell more Macs and iPads in the summer of 2020 compared to 2019.

After several years of back-and-forth litigation, Apple has withdrawn what was likely its final appeal in a Wi-Fi hotspot patent infringement case due to a Supreme Court decision.

Following in the footsteps of Apple Card, and in the shadow of a rumored debit card solution from Google, Samsung on Thursday announced plans to field a physical debit card product in partnership with finance company SoFi.

Qualcomm CEO Steve Mollenkopf in an interview on Thursday said the chipmaker's relationship with Apple has greatly improved since the two companies ended a bitter legal battle over patent licensing and royalties in 2019.

Apple has refreshed the 13-inch MacBook Pro with Magic Keyboard, the start of Apple's online WWDC has been announced, the iPad Pro Smart Keyboard gets a teardown, and your hosts provide a massive roundup of HomeKit and smart home devices.

Eight years after it released tools to make what were then called iBooks, Apple has launched Apple Books for Authors, a new effort to get writers publishing on its platform.

Apple frequently places movies on sale, and this week is no exception. Here's the latest batch of movies that you can get on the cheap for this Mother's Day weekend.

Apple is preparing to reopen all four of its Apple Stores in Switzerland on May 12, as part of the iPhone maker's bid to slowly return its retail efforts back to normal around the world.

She only came for a week, but impacted lives of several families with children with autism. Isabel Black shares about her experiences in Montenegro.

Four volunteers from Switzerland. One empty park. Ten days to build a playground. Could it be done?

With the help of two Scottish special-needs teachers, OM Montenegro passionately improves the lives of children with autism and the lives of their families.

Can young people be united in faith, irrespective of their ethnic background? The answer is yes!

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, May 7, 2020 / 02:40 pm (CNA).- The governor of Illinois has said he will continue to ban public gatherings of more than 50 people—including religious services—until a vaccine or treatment for coronavirus is available.

The announcement comes as the White House is reported to have shelved guidance from the Centers for Disease Control on gradually reopening sections of the American economy and society.

Illinois governor J.B. Pritzker announced Wednesday that gatherings of more than 50 people in the state would not be allowed until a coronavirus vaccine “or highly effective treatment” is “widely available.”

Public health officials, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, have cautioned that a COVID-19 vaccine is at least 12 to 18 months from being developed and made available.

According to Pritzker’s five-part plan for reopening the state, gatherings of ten or fewer people are not even allowed until phase 3, the “recovery” phase that can begin, at earliest, May 29. However, following a lawsuit last week, the governor has allowed citizens to leave their homes for religious services as long as ten or fewer people are gathered for worship.

Previously, religious services of any kind in the state—including drive-in and in-person services—were curtailed during the pandemic, and even other forms of sacramental practice such as drive-in confessions were not allowed.

The Archdiocese of Chicago announced on May 1 that public Masses with 10 or fewer people would resume.

Other dioceses across the United States have already begun rolling back total suspensions on the public celebration of Mass. 

Last week, CNA reported that the White House Domestic Policy Council held a series of conference calls with bishops who had begun the process of reopening churches in line with local public health orders.

During the calls, administration officials expressed their hope to be able to support faith communities with “sensitive and respectful guidance” to help restore public worship “as soon as it is feasible.”

The bishops were told that the Centers for Disease Control hoped that issuing guidance could help inform state and local leaders about the “essential” nature of religious practice, while still allowing for localized responses to the coronavirus and provide “helpful parameters” for state and local governments who are trying to safeguard public health. But, on Thursday, AP reported that the Trump administration had shelved a 17-page report titled “Guidance for Implementing the Opening Up America Again Framework.”

That document included a section on “Interim Guidance for Communities of Faith.”

According to AP, CDC officials expected the guidance to be released at the end of last week but were instead told it “would never see the light of day.” 

Peter Breen, executive director of the Thomas More Society,  told CNA that “policymakers that are making plans based on the development of a vaccine or other cure to this coronavirus are engaging in magical thinking.”

“While there is always a possibility that some miracle cure may emerge, that is entirely uncertain and should not be the basis for setting policy, especially policy in relation to our communities of faith,” Breen stated.

On April 30, the Thomas More Society filed a lawsuit on behalf of The Beloved Church in Lena, Illinois, and by that night, attorney Peter Breen told CNA, a paragraph had been added to an executive order of Pritzker’s allowing for people to leave their home for religious services.

“He [Pritzker] has at least brought churches out of the abyss of ‘non-essential,’ but he has not fully elevated them to the heights of being an ‘essential’ business or operation,” Breen told CNA on Wednesday, noting that businesses deemed “essential” to remain open were not subject to the 10-person rule.

Washington D.C., May 7, 2020 / 04:30 pm (CNA).- The White House service for the National Day of Prayer on Thursday focused on protection from the coronavirus pandemic. President Trump said Americans will continue to pray for divine assistance as the nation faces “unforeseen and seemingly unbearable hardships.”

Sister Eneyda Martinez of the Poor Sisters of St. Joseph community in Alexandria, Virginia was one of the religious leaders present to lead attendees in prayer.

“Merciful Savior, heal and comfort the sick so that with health restored, they may give you praise. Divine Physician, accompany our caregivers, so that serving you with patience they may heal wisely. And through wisdom, guide our leaders, so that through seeking remedies they may follow your light,” Sister Eneyda Martinez prayed at the service in the White House’s Rose Garden.

The National Day of Prayer was designated by Congress in 1952, and scheduled in 1988 to be observed annually on the first Thursday in the month of May.

In attendance at the White House service were President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump, as well as Vice President Mike Pence and Second Lady Karen Pence, and Paula White, and other religious leaders from Catholic, Christian, and Mormon churches, and Jewish and Hindu faiths.

The prayer service emphasized prayer for protection from the coronavirus pandemic, as well as prayer for the sick and their families, and health care workers.

“Christ, the Anointed, protect us in body and in spirit, so that free from harm we may be delivered from all affliction,” prayed Sister Eneyda Martinez.

Vice President Pence urged Americans to be “persistent in prayer,” especially for the families of the dead, those sick with the virus, and health care workers, many who have “literally taken the place of loved ones” in being the only close contacts of COVID-19 patients.

On Thursday morning, Trump issued a proclamation, noting the importance of prayer during the pandemic.

“During the past weeks and months, our heads have bowed at places outside of our typical houses of worship, whispering in silent solitude for God to renew our spirit and carry us through unforeseen and seemingly unbearable hardships,” Trump stated.

“Even though we have been unable to gather together in fellowship with our church families, we are still connected through prayer and the calming reassurance that God will lead us through life's many valleys.”

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control was reportedly drafting guidance for states to reopen public accommodations and religious services, but according to the Associated Press on Thursday, the document was buried by the administration.

That document reportedly advised against churches holding services if they were not in a “community no longer requiring significant mitigation.”

However, if that and other certain conditions were in place, churches should take precautions such as ensuring social distancing, wearing of masks by congregants, and intensifying cleaning of churches, the CDC document reportedly said.

State orders have varied in their restrictions on public gatherings during the pandemic; a Kansas stay-at-home order allowed religious gatherings of 10 or fewer people, while Illinois prohibited all religious gatherings.

After every U.S. diocese stopped public Masses during March, Catholic dioceses have started offering public Masses, beginning with the diocese of Las Cruces, New Mexico, with several other dioceses following suit in ensuing days.

Officials from the CDC and the White House spoke with four of the bishops on April 28 and 29 about the resumption of public religious services.

Denver Newsroom, May 7, 2020 / 06:01 pm (CNA).- A young Catholic artist has drawn an image of the Blessed Virgin Mary on her parents' driveway bringing religious art to her local community during the quarantine.

The Diocese of Fargo posted on Facebook May 4 an image of Our Lady of Lourdes drawn by Maria Loh, a 17-year old who grew up in Fargo. She said it was an enjoyable experience to share her faith and art with her neighborhood.

“Being able to interact with people when they walked by was very moving in a way because a lot of people have never really seen sidewalk art done like that locally. So being able to share in that kind of experience, it was very, very good,” she told CNA.

Loh has recently been inspired by chalk art and pastels, which, she said, have vibrant and beautiful colors. She has drawn on the sidewalks a few times, including two images of Mary - Madonna of the Lillies and the Pieta by William Adolphe-Bouguereau.

Her most recent chalk drawing was Our Lady of Lourdes by Hector Garrido - an image she had seen as a magnet on her grandparents' refrigerator growing up. The picture has always been an inspiration, she said, noting that she decided to replicate it after Our Lady of Lourdes Shrine in France had temporarily closed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“I heard that the shrine had been temporarily closed off to the public, and I remember … thinking that's really sad because especially in this time, we’re really looking for healing in more ways than one, like physically and mentally and spiritually,” she said.

“It really felt like people wouldn't be able to go to experience that. So I felt like drawing this image of Our Lady of Lourdes would be a good way to remind people that Our Lady is still with us even if we can’t go to her shrine.”

Loh, the oldest of five, has been involved with art projects and drawing for her entire life. She said, growing up in a Catholic family, she has been inspired by her faith and the religious art in churches.

“I see our faith as so precious... Especially in the form of the Eucharist - the actual body and blood of Christ, I've seen that we are very blessed to have that in our faith. It's something that has impacted a lot of my life growing up,” she said.

While she was working on the piece, Loh said, a majority of passersby did not know who the lady in the image was. She expressed hope that the picture would help remind people of Mary and the beauty of the Church, which, she said, is a powerful attraction to the faith.

“One thing that I hope this kind of art and image will evoke is a desire to come to know who Mary is and how rich our faith is. … All the beautiful art that can be seen in Catholic churches, especially like in Rome, there's almost a transcendental beauty to them that draws people into the faith to come to know things that they've never dreamed of before,” she said.

As Loh finishes her junior year of high school, she expressed the possibility of art school after graduation, but, while she is still uncertain of the future, said art will not be dropped anytime soon.

“I can definitely see [art school] being a possibility. I’ll have to spend some time, especially with God trying to figure out what he wants me to do. But, I don't think art is going out of my life anytime soon,” she said.

My “holiday season” begins and ends with SOLIDWORKS. For me, the “holidays” begin with the new SOLIDWORKS Rollout events, and end with SOLIDWORKS (now 3DEXPERIENCE) World. Yeah, there’s some cider, turkey, and twinkling lights in between, but for me, SOLIDWORKS

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SOLIDWORKS Image Quality settings have the biggest impact on file size and system performance. We always assumed that it would have an impact on overall performance also. The effect varies widely across different files, so we decided to do SOLIDWORKS

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2D design Despite the great popularity of spatial design programs and their unquestioned advantages, 2D design programs such as AutoCAD are still very popular and useful. One of such programs is DraftSight, which over the years has become very recognizable

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Have you ever been interested in SOLIDWORKS Simulation but didn’t know where to start? With such a wide variety of design analysis solutions, Simulation can be an intimidating product for someone newer to the SOLIDWORKS suite of products. Well we

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This case study seeks to find the answer to a common question: Which way should you affix hooks to your fence so they can properly handle the load of a hanging flower basket? Javelin’s Application Engineer; Colin Murphy CSWE, takes

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Do you enjoy making home improvements? Do you have a flare for design and have some SOLIDWORKS skills? Perhaps, you just want to install a fence? Depending on when and where you purchased your home it may have a fence

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What if you needed to pull a cross-section of a solid with the ability to trace it? Well there are a couple of ways you can go about doing just that. The first is the Slicing tool which first made

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You probably remember last year’s video; The Benefits of the Structure System Tool in SOLIDWORKS 2019. By popular demand, Elite Applications Engineer Colin Murphy is back to highlight the benefits of the Structure System tool in SOLIDWORKS 2020!   What

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Working with a higher performance CAD environment is the major criterion these days in the design community within SOLIDWORKS. Now we have a new option for opening the drawing within seconds and make changes in drawings to communicate with our

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All, As we’ve written before, Dassault Systèmes SOLIDWORKS is committed to helping our customers be the most productive while working from home during this time of social distancing. Right now, it’s not possible to grab a drawing from the plotter or

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Child Reference State One of my favorite new features in SOLIDWORKS PDM Professional 2020 is the Child Reference State condition in Workflow Transitions. I can’t tell you how many times as a PDM administrator I had wished for a feature

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CNA Staff, Apr 17, 2020 / 07:00 pm (CNA).- Reports of an Indian hospital's segregated wards for Hindu and Muslim coronavirus patients drew concern from the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, though Indian authorities strongly disputed the allegation.

"USCIRF is concerned with reports of Hindu and Muslim patients separated into separate hospital wards in Gujarat,” the commission said on Twitter and Facebook April 15. “Such actions only help to further increase ongoing stigmatization of Muslims in India and exacerbate false rumors of Muslims spreading COVID-19.”

The bipartisan U.S. federal government commission linked to a story in the Indian Express newspaper that cites a hospital official and a patient in the city of Ahmedabad in the western coastal Indian state of Gujarat.

India's Ministry for External Affairs opposed the commission, saying it was spreading “misguided reports” and “adding religious color” that distracts from India's efforts to combat the novel coronavirus.

“No segregation is being done in civil hospitals on the basis of religion, as clarified by the Gujarat government,” the ministry said April 15.

The reports concern Ahmedabad Civil Hospital, where there are some 1,200 beds prepared for patients suffering from the novel coronavirus.

Medical Superintendent Dr. Gunvant. H. Rathod described the hospital division to the Indian Express, saying “generally, there are separate wards for male and female patients. But here, we have made separate wards for Hindu and Muslim patients.”

“It is a decision of the government and you can ask them,” he said.

Deputy Chief Minister and Health Minister Nitin Patel said he was not aware of the situation and would make inquiries. Ahmedabad's district magistrate, K.K. Nirala, also was not aware of any decision, the Indian Express reports.

However, the Indian Express cited a hospital patient who said the names of 28 men in a ward were called out, and they were moved to another ward.

“While we were not told why we were being shifted, all the names that were called out belonged to one community. We spoke to one staff member in our ward today and he said this had been done for ‘the comfort of both communities’,” the patient said.

The Gujarat Health and Family Welfare Department said the reports were “absolutely baseless.” Rather, it said, patients are treated based on symptoms and severity and “according to treating doctors' recommendations.

As of Wednesday, new known cases of coronavirus in Gujarat rose by 127 to 766, with 88 cases in Ahmedabad. The death toll there totals 33, the Times of India reports.

The Indian newspaper The Week reported that the commission had previously criticized India's Citizenship Amendment Act, which became effective in January 2020.

In December 2019 the commission expressed concern about the legislation, which enshrined a pathway to citizenship for immigrants but specifically excluded Muslims. The commission recommended U.S. sanctions on India as a possible response.

The U.S. Commission on Religious Freedom reviews alleged religious freedom violations and makes policy recommendations to the U.S. president, Secretary of State, and Congress.

The commission’s 2019 report said that religious freedom conditions in India “continued a downward trend” in 2018. It said India’s “history of religious freedom has come under attack in recent years with the growth of exclusionary extremist narratives—including, at times, the government’s allowance and encouragement of mob violence against religious minorities—that have facilitated an egregious and ongoing campaign of violence, intimidation, and harassment against non-Hindu and lower-caste Hindu minorities. Both public and private actors have engaged in this campaign.”

Mob violence against Christians by Hindus has been particularly acute.

In August 2019, six suspected members of a radical Hindu group were arrested after dozens of Catholics were attacked on a Marian pilgrimage from Karnataka to the Basilica of Our Lady of Good Health in Velankanni, a coastal town in south east India.

In September, around 500 armed Hindu extremists attacked a Jesuit mission in the Archdiocese of Ranchi. Armed with sticks, chains, iron bars, knives, and pistols, the mob beat tribal students including two who were seriously injured, and also seriously damaged the school’s facilities.

Archbishop Leo Cornelio of Bhopal has said numerous mob lynchings of Christians have occurred in which the victims are accused of eating beef or otherwise harming cattle, which are considered sacred in Hinduism.

Karnataka state suffered a wave of anti-Christian violence in 2008, when Hindu extremist groups led attacks on churches, schools and homes of Christians and physically beat hundreds of people. A 2011 independent report on the violence, known as the Saldhana Report, charged that attacks were pre-planned and backed by the state’s highest government authorities.

 

CNA Staff, May 5, 2020 / 03:01 pm (CNA).- At least 51 workers have been infected with the novel coronavirus at the Grasberg mine in Indonesia, the world’s largest gold mine.

Nine employees of Freeport McMoRan, the organization who operates the mine, have been hospitalized due to COVID-19 and another 42 have been forced into quarantine, UCA News reported May 5.

The mine is located in Papua and is known for its production of gold and copper. The operation includes around 20,000 employees.

Riza Pratama, vice president of Freeport, said the company will fully cooperate with the government's coronavirus task force but will continue mining operations to support the national economy. He said the company will prioritize the health and safety of workers and will conduct regular health screenings, implement social distancing, provide a quarantine area for employees, according to UCA News.

Father Ansel Amo, who heads the Justice, Peace, and Integrity of Creation Commission for the Archdiocese of Merauke, said these measures are not enough to protect workers.

“Freeport management should limit workers’ activities so that they don’t transmit the disease to other people, including local people. They should stop its operations temporarily,” he told UCA News.

Indonesia has seen more than 12,000 cases from the coronavirus, leading to 872 reported deaths as of May 5. Globally, more than 3.7 million cases of the virus have been reported, and a quarter of a million deaths.

CNA Staff, May 9, 2020 / 06:01 am (CNA).- Pakistan’s government has declined to include the Ahmadi religious group in its National Commission for Minorities, drawing attention to the group whose Muslim self-identification is rejected by many Muslims.

In a note seen by Reuters, Pakistan’s Ministry of Religious Affairs said Ahmadis should not be included in the commission “given the religious and historical sensitivity of the issue.” Pakistan’s constitution does not recognize the Ahmadis as Muslim.

However, Ahmadis consider themselves part of Islam. The movement was founded in 1889 in British-ruled India. They consider their founder Mirza Ghulam Ahmad a “subordinate prophet.” Other Muslims see this as a violation of the tenet that Muhammad was the last prophet.

There are about 500,000 Ahmadis in Pakistan and up to 20 million adherents worldwide. Some observers estimate the Ahmadi population in Pakistan is higher, but persecution encourages Ahmadis to hide their identity.

Pakistan’s religious freedom record has been a matter of international concern.

The 2020 report of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom has said Ahmadis continue to face “severe persecution from authorities as well as societal harassment due to their beliefs.”

Both government authorities and mobs target their places of worship. In October 2019, the report said, police in Punjab partially demolished a 70-year-old Ahmadiyya mosque.

Pakistan’s National Commission for Minorities gives some status, voice, and protections to minorities in a country where over 90% of people identify as Muslim.

A Hindu has been nominated to chair the minorities commission, whose members include representatives of Christian, Kalash, Sikh, and Zoroastrian communities. Government officials and the head of Pakistan’s Council of Islamic Ideology also have commission seats.

State Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khan, a vocal opponent of including the Ahmadis on the commission, has referred to them as agents of chaos.

“If they want to avail constitutional rights they must accept the constitution first,” he told Reuters. “The Pakistani constitution considers them non-Muslims.”

Usman Ahmad, an Ahmadi representative, told Reuters it is a “complete myth” that they did not accept the constitution. He added that many people disagree with parts of the constitution but still have rights under it.   

He said his community is used to exclusion and has never accepted classification as non-Muslim.

“We’ve never joined such commissions that require us to accept our non-Muslim status,” he said.

Minister of Information Shibli Faraz has said the rights of all people were fully respected in the handling of the commission.

“Every country has the sovereign right to make judgments according to its ground realities,” he told Reuters.

Khan, the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, had posted to Twitter, then deleted, a comment “There is only one punishment for insulting the Prophet - chopping off the head.” He said he believed in “legal procedures and court proceedings” for those accused of blasphemy. Twitter told him to delete the post, Reuters reports.

Pakistan’s blasphemy laws impose strict punishment on those who desecrate the Quran or who defame or insult Muhammad. Although the government has never executed a person under the blasphemy laws, accusations alone have inspired mob and vigilante violence.

The laws, introduced in the 1980s, are reportedly used to settle scores or to persecute religious minorities. While non-Muslims constitute only 3 percent of the Pakistani population, 14 percent of blasphemy cases have been levied against them.

Many of those accused of blasphemy are murdered, and advocates of changing the law are also targeted by violence.

The Governor of Punjab Salman Taseer was one such critic of the law who was assassinated in January 2011.

Just months later, in March 2011, Shahbaz Bhatti, the first Federal Minister For Minorities Affairs and the only Christian in Pakistan’s cabinet, was assassinated by extremists who characterized him as a blasphemer. Bhatti had criticized the law and defended Asia Bibi, a Catholic woman sentenced to death by hanging in 2010 for blasphemy.

Bibi spent nine years on death row, but left Pakistan for Canada in 2019 at the age of 53 after her death sentence was overturned in October 2018.

The verdict and her subsequent release from prison sparked protests from Islamic hardliners who support strong blasphemy laws.

In Punjab last year, a mob attacked a Christian community after a mosque broadcast over loudspeaker a claim that the Christians had insulted Islam. In another incident in Karachi, false blasphemy accusations against four Christian women prompted mob violence that forced nearly 200 Christian families to flee their homes, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom said.

The situation in Pakistan has attention from some prominent Catholics.

In a Jan. 21, 2020 letter written on behalf of Philadelphia’s Pakistani Catholic community, then-Archbishop of Philadelphia Charles J. Chaput encouraged Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan to shape a culture of religious freedom

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom’s latest annual report said religious freedom conditions in Pakistan continued to deteriorate last year, citing “The systematic enforcement of blasphemy and anti-Ahmadiyya laws, and authorities’ failure to address forced conversions of religious minorities—including Hindus, Christians, and Sikhs—to Islam.”

The bipartisan federal commission advises the U.S. government on policy. Its report recommended that the U.S. government name Pakistan a country of particular concern for “systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom.”

In December 2018, for the first time, the U.S. State Department designated Pakistan a “Country of Particular Concern.” The designation, which can trigger sanctions under U.S. law, had been recommended by the U.S. Commission for International Religious Freedom in 2017 and 2018.

The latest commission report recommended that Pakistan be re-designated a “Country of Particular Concern,” given “systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom.”

As per the normal review of market volatility to ensure adequate collateral coverage, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc., Clearing House Risk Management staff approved the performance bond requirements for the following products listed in the advisory at the link below.

The rates will be effective after the close of business on April 22, 2020.

For the full text of this advisory, please click here.

Pursuant to Clearing Advisory 20-152 that was published on April 8th, the clearing house will switch the options pricing and valuation model to Bachelier to accommodate negative prices in the underlying futures and allow for listing of option contracts with negative strikes for the set of products specified in the link below. The switch will be effective for the margin cycle run at the end of trading tomorrow April 22, 2020 and will remain in place until further notice.

Click here for the full text of the advisory

20-170

As per the normal review of market volatility to ensure adequate collateral coverage, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc., Clearing House Risk Management staff approved the performance bond requirements for the following products listed in the advisory in the link below. Please email any questions to Clearing.RiskManagement@cmegroup.com

The rates will be effective after the close of business on Friday, April 24, 2020.

For the full text of this advisory, please click here.

An additional column will be added to the CST610 CSV report, "Discr_Full_Value_Margin". The new field will include the total of discretionary and full-value margin, including designated delivery margin.

For the full text of this advisory, please click here.

CME will be updating liquidity parameters for Interest Rate Swap contracts denominated in BRL and MXN. These changes only impact portfolios with larger BRL or MXN exposures. For MXN, the impact to liquidity add-on is approx. 5-10% for portfolios with aggregated DV01 above 100M+ DV01 in local currency. For BRL, the impact to liquidity add-on is 30%+ for portfolios with aggregated DV01 above 10M+ in local currency. Based on current exposures, CME Clearing expects that there will be no impact to existing portfolios at this time. These changes will be available for testing in our New Release environment April 29, 2020, with a production date of May 4, 2020.

Click here for the full text of the advisory

20-181

As per the normal review of market volatility to ensure adequate collateral coverage, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc., Clearing House Risk Management staff approved the performance bond requirements for the following products listed in the advisory at the link below. Please email any questions to Clearing.RiskManagement@cmegroup.com

The rates will be effective after the close of business on Friday, May 8, 2020.

For the full text of this advisory, please click here.

A Malagasy witch doctor comes to faith in Christ during an OM outreach and is baptised just one week before his death.

OM Madagascar responded to the declining literacy rate in the Androy region by starting a literacy course in Ambovombe. Last month the first class graduated, and the second class began.

A village builds their own school - a big first for the area and a step in transforming the community.

Despite knowing very little about the Androy region, OMers Fara and Herimanina went willingly and have seen God at work.

Please be advised that effective Sunday, August 25, 2013 (for the August 26th business date) there will be changes to CME ClearPort API Entity Reference Data that will impact Party Detail List Reports and Party Entitlement Reports for CME ClearPort API Brokers and CME ClearPort API Platforms who request Entity Reference Data on behalf of Brokers.

These changes will be available for testing in the New Release environment on August 14th.

Changes to Existing Reponses

When a Broker (or Platform on behalf of Broker) submits a request for all related accounts using the Party Details List Request message or a request for all related accounts which trade a particular product using the Party Entitlement Request message, the following information is provided for each account in Related Party Detail blocks:  The Clearing ID of the Account’s Clearing Firm (Party Role 1), the Trading Firm / Account Owner’s firm identifier (Party Role 7),  and the Broker Firm’s firm identifier (Party Role 30).

Going forward, when the same requests are submitted, an additional Related Party Detail block will appear on the response if there is an Asset Manager Firm assigned to the account:  the Asset Manager Firm’s identifier (Party Role 49).

In the following examples, ACCT1 has been assigned an Asset Manager by the Clearing Firm, while ACCT2 has not.

<FIXML v="5.0 SP2" xv="109" s="20090815" cv="CME.0001">

<PtyDetlListRpt ReqID="123437" RptID="1376864472358" ReqRslt="0" Txt="Valid request">

<Hdr SID="CME" SSub="CPAPI" TID="PLTFM" TSub="username"/>

<PtyDetl ID="ACCT1" Src="C" R="24">

<AltPty ID="A-12345" Src="H"/>

<ReltdPtyDetl ID="123" Src="C" R="1">

<Rltnshp Rltnshp="2"/>

</ReltdPtyDetl>

<ReltdPtyDetl ID="trading_firm1" Src="C" R="7">

<Rltnshp Rltnshp="36"/>

</ReltdPtyDetl>

<ReltdPtyDetl ID="broker_firm1" Src="C" R="30">

<Rltnshp Rltnshp="22"/>

</ReltdPtyDetl>

<ReltdPtyDetl ID="asset_mgr_firm1" Src="C" R="49">

<Rltnshp Rltnshp="32"/>

</ReltdPtyDetl>

</PtyDetl>

<PtyDetl ID="ACCT2" Src="C" R="24">

<AltPty ID="A-67890" Src="H"/>

<ReltdPtyDetl ID="456" Src="C" R="1">

<Rltnshp Rltnshp="2"/>

</ReltdPtyDetl>

<ReltdPtyDetl ID="trading_firm2" Src="C" R="7">

<Rltnshp Rltnshp="36"/>

</ReltdPtyDetl>

<ReltdPtyDetl ID="broker_firm1" Src="C" R="30">

<Rltnshp Rltnshp="22"/>

</ReltdPtyDetl>

</PtyDetl>

</PtyDetlListRpt>

</FIXML>

<FIXML v="5.0 SP2" xv="109" s="20090815" cv="CME.0001">

<PtyEntlmntRpt ReqID="123412" RptID="1376865078371" ReqRslt="0" Txt="Valid request">

<Hdr SID="CME" SSub="CPAPI" TID="PLTFM" TSub="username"/>

<PtyEntlmnt>

<PtyDetl ID="ACCT1" Src="C" R="24">

<AltPty ID="A-12345" Src="H"/>

<ReltdPtyDetl ID="broker_firm1" Src="C" R="30">

<Rltnshp Rltnshp="22"/>

</ReltdPtyDetl>

<ReltdPtyDetl ID="trading_firm1" Src="C" R="7">

<Rltnshp Rltnshp="36"/>

</ReltdPtyDetl>

<ReltdPtyDetl ID="asset_mgr_firm1" Src="C" R="49">

<Rltnshp Rltnshp="32"/>

</ReltdPtyDetl>

<ReltdPtyDetl ID="123" Src="C" R="1">

<Rltnshp Rltnshp="2"/>

</ReltdPtyDetl>

</PtyDetl>

<PtyDetl ID="ACCT2" Src="C" R="24">

<AltPty ID="A-67890" Src="H"/>

<ReltdPtyDetl ID="broker_firm1" Src="C" R="30">

<Rltnshp Rltnshp="22"/>

</ReltdPtyDetl>

<ReltdPtyDetl ID="trading_firm2" Src="C" R="7">

<Rltnshp Rltnshp="36"/>

</ReltdPtyDetl>

<ReltdPtyDetl ID="456" Src="C" R="1">

<Rltnshp Rltnshp="2"/>

</ReltdPtyDetl>

</PtyDetl>

<Entlmnt Typ="0" Ind="Y">

<InstrmtScope Oper="1" ID="NN" Src="H" SecTyp="FUT"

Exch="NYMEX"/>

</Entlmnt>

</PtyEntlmnt>

</PtyEntlmntRpt>

</FIXML>

NEW- Broker Requests Asset Manager Users at an Asset Manager Firm

In a previous CME ClearPort API release a change was made to allow Brokers (or Platforms on behalf of Brokers) to specify asset manager users in party role 36 (instead of a trader at the account owner firm) to satisfy the trader individual requirements for applicable market types like energy and metals.  Now Brokers can use ClearPort API reference data to obtain a list of asset manager users for their related accounts.  Once the above responses are received, the Broker or Platform can use each related Asset

Manager Firm (Party Role 49) to request a list of users at the firm:

Request

<FIXML v="5.0 SP2" xv="109" s="20090815" cv="CME.0001">

<PtyDetlListReq ReqID="123437">

<Hdr SID="PLTFM" SSub="username" TID="CME" TSub="CPAPI"/>

<ReqPty ID="broker_firm1" R="30"/>

<Pty ID="asset_mgr_firm1" R="49"/>

<ReqR R="36"/>

</PtyDetlListReq>

</FIXML>

Response

<FIXML v="5.0 SP2" xv="109" s="20090815" cv="CME.0001">

<PtyDetlListRpt ReqID="123437" RptID="1376866782295" ReqRslt="0" Txt="Valid request">

<Hdr SID="CME" SSub="CPAPI" TID="PLTFM" TSub="username"/>

<PtyDetl ID="asset_mgr_user1" Src="C" R="36">

<Sub ID="First Last" Typ="9"/>

<ReltdPtyDetl ID="asset_mgr_firm1" Src="C" R="49">

<Sub ID="Company Name" Typ="5"/>

<Rltnshp Rltnshp="6"/>

</ReltdPtyDetl>

<ReltdPtyDetl ID="CMD" Src="C" R="22">

<Rltnshp Rltnshp="12"/>

</ReltdPtyDetl>

<ReltdPtyDetl ID="CME" Src="C" R="22">

<Rltnshp Rltnshp="12"/>

</ReltdPtyDetl>

<ReltdPtyDetl ID="DME" Src="C" R="22">

<Rltnshp Rltnshp="12"/>

</ReltdPtyDetl>

<ReltdPtyDetl ID="NYMEX" Src="C" R="22">

<Rltnshp Rltnshp="12"/>

</ReltdPtyDetl>

<ReltdPtyDetl ID="COMEX" Src="C" R="22">

<Rltnshp Rltnshp="12"/>

</ReltdPtyDetl>

<ReltdPtyDetl ID="CBT" Src="C" R="22">

<Rltnshp Rltnshp="12"/>

</ReltdPtyDetl>

</PtyDetl>

</PtyDetlListRpt>

</FIXML>

For more detailed information regarding entity reference data retrieval through CME ClearPort API, please see the CME ClearPort API Reference Data Guide:

http://www.cmegroup.com/clearing/files/Clearport_Reference_Data_API_FIXML_Message_Specification_

and_Samples.pdf

If you have questions or need help facilitating your tests in the New Release environment, please contact:

Market Operations Technical Support

24 Hour 6 Days a Week Support available from Sundays at 5PM ET to Fridays at 5PM ET

Phone: 800-275-6215 / 212-301-4720

Email:  thirdpartyservices@cmegroup.com

German translation of the BIS Press Release on the presentation of the Annual Report (25 June 2017)

German translation of Press Release about BIS General Manager Agustín Carstens giving a speech on "Money in the digital age: what role for central banks?" (6 February 2018)

German translation of the BIS press release about the BIS Quarterly Review, March 2018