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News24.com | Lockdown: Eastern Cape MEC's bodyguard among 5 arrests for illegal hunting on East London farm

A bodyguard of Eastern Cape Social Development MEC Siphokazi Mani-Lusithi has been arrested with four others by the Green Scorpions for illegal hunting on a private farm outside East London, as well as for breaking Covid-19 lockdown regulations.




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News24.com | Coronavirus: WC education dept advises principals, management to hold back from returning on Monday

While the phased-in reopening of schools in South Africa in the midst of Covid-19 remains provisional and sensitive, the Western Cape Education Department has advised principals and school management teams to wait a few more days before returning.




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'Pretty happy': Stolen wood carving returned to Edmonton artist

Soon after CTV News Edmonton aired a story about a local wood carver who had one of his carvings stolen, he got a knock on his door.




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Learn cybersecurity essentials on your own time at home with these classes

Fear is ripe soil for the unscrupulous. With so much uncertainty and concern over our health and the broader world economy, cybercriminals have been playing on that fear to steal a few extra dollars out of the most scared and vulnerable. The U.S. Secret Service warned that phishing attacks were up significantly and scams over fake COVID-19 treatments have led to seizures and arrests.

From companies and organizations to individuals, it’s never been more important for everyone to have their cybersecurity measures on high alert. And whether you’re looking to protect your own assets or you’ve been tasked with safeguarding a company and all its workers, the vital work of white hat hackers is absolutely essential these days.

The training in The Ultimate 2020 White Hat Hacker Certification Bundle can put you in a position to understand all aspects of maintaining cybersecurity for a communication system of virtually any size, a lucrative career that can earn you a six-figure income.

The four-part Complete Cyber Security Course (taught by cybersecurity expert and noted consultant Nathan House) is a 360-degree starting point for any cybersecurity career. Starting at the beginning, each part of this multi-pronged introduction will help guide you through vital knowledge, from network hacking techniques and vulnerability scanning to all the defense methods that assure every laptop, desktop, smartphone and tablet in your network remain secure.

The hacker training continues with the rest of the courses in the collection, including building security analysis tools using Python and learning how to analyze web app security vulnerabilities and solutions using frameworks like Ruby on Rails and PHP. Read the rest




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'Happy to be out': Canadian cruise ship crew members return home after months at sea

Canadians working aboard two cruise ships who weren't allowed to come to shore because of concerns about COVID-19 are finally able to return home.




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'Of course, I'm worried': PM Trudeau expresses concern about Quebec's reopening plans

As Quebec begins to reopen schools and businesses, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he’s ‘worried’ about the province’s deconfinement plans, particularly in Montreal.




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California Sheriff Refuses to Arrest People Defying Stay-at-Home Order: “There cannot be a new normal”

The following article, California Sheriff Refuses to Arrest People Defying Stay-at-Home Order: “There cannot be a new normal”, was first published on 100PercentFedUp.com.

Riverside, California Sheriff Chad Bianco spoke to the Riverside Board of Supervisors on May 5th to say that he will not enforce the stay-at-home order in California. He tells people who are afraid of contracting the coronavirus that they should stay home if they want to. Bianco continues with the suggestion that any business owner […]

Continue reading: California Sheriff Refuses to Arrest People Defying Stay-at-Home Order: “There cannot be a new normal” ...




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China's Third Plenum: Another Turning Point?

Members Event

28 January 2014 - 6:00pm to 7:00pm

Chatham House, London

Event participants

Professor Shaun Breslin, Associate Fellow, Asia Programme, Chatham House
Professor Jane Duckett, Edward Caird Chair of Politics; Director, Confucius Institute; Director, The Scottish Centre for China Research, University of Glasgow
Professor Christopher Hughes, Head, International Relations Department, LSE
Chair: Rob Gifford, China Editor, The Economist

Following the Third Plenum of the Communist Party’s 18th Central Committee in November 2013, the panel will offer their thoughts on whether the economic, political and social reforms announced, such as the relaxation of the one child policy and establishment of a national security council, signal a new era for China’s domestic and foreign policies. The speakers will consider how significant these reforms will be in comparison to those announced in 1978 by Deng Xiaoping following the Third Plenum of the 11th Central Committee.




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Managing the Emergence of Rising Powers: A Western Response

Research Event

22 May 2014 - 5:00pm to 6:15pm

Chatham House, London

Event participants

Trine Flockhart, Senior Fellow, Transatlantic Academy
Patrick W Quirk, Fellow, Transatlantic Academy
Chair: Dr Leslie Vinjamuri, Senior Lecturer in International Relations, SOAS

This event will present the findings of the Transatlantic Academy’s new report, Liberal Order in a Post-Western World, which examines the future of international liberal order in a world shaped by the rise of emerging powers and a transatlantic community dealing with internal challenges. Produced by collaboration between scholars from Europe and North America, it recommends ways to build an enduring rules-based order for the 21st century.

Department/project




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Angola as a Global Influence: Priorities for International Cooperation

Research Event

13 June 2014 - 3:30pm to 4:30pm

Chatham House, London

Event participants

Dr Maria Ângela Bragança, Secretary of State for Cooperation, Ministry of External Relations, Angola

Reaping the benefits of more than a decade of stability and fast economic growth, Angola increasingly wields global influence. Angola seeks to diversify its bilateral partnerships and improve existing ones, and is well-placed to exert its influence in multilateral fora. 

At this roundtable event, Angola’s Secretary of State for Cooperation, Hon Dr Maria Angela Bragança, will discuss Angola’s international priorities and how Angola is helping to shape key issues of global importance in a multipolar world.

Department/project

Christopher Vandome

Research Fellow, Africa Programme
+44 (0) 20 7314 3669




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Politics in Northern Nigeria: The Impacts of Democratic Transition

Invitation Only Research Event

14 July 2014 - 9:00am to 10:00am

Abuja, Nigeria

Event participants

Dr Leena Koni Hoffmann, Centre for Population, Poverty and Public Policy Studies; Author, Who Speaks for the North? Politics and Influence in Northern Nigeria; ERANDA Junior Research Fellow, Africa Programme, Chatham House (2013)
Chair: Elizabeth Donnelly, Assistant Head, Africa Programme, Chatham House

As Nigeria celebrates one hundred years of unity, significant differences – real and perceived – remain between different parts of the country. This event marks the Nigeria launch of the Chatham House Briefing Who Speaks for the North? Politics and Influence in Northern Nigeria. Its author, Dr Leena Hoffmann, will discuss the effects of democratization and pacted politics on northern Nigeria, broader governance challenges, and how relations among decision-makers nationally have evolved.

Attendance at this event is by invitation only.

Event attributes

External event

Department/project




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China and the Future of Global Governance

Research Event

29 January 2015 - 1:00pm to 2:00pm

Chatham House, London

Event participants

Dr Katherine Morton, Senior Fellow, Department of International Relations, Australian National University
Chair: Professor Shaun Breslin, Associate Fellow, Asia Programme, Chatham House

How is China’s growing international status likely to affect the future trajectory of global governance? Will it operate within the confines of liberal order, or attempt to substantively revise the existing global framework? The speaker will argue that China is now playing an active role in shaping the rules, norms, and institutions of global governance. She will offer some fresh insights into this new trend in Chinese foreign policy by placing a lens upon key global policy-making realms, including the maritime commons, where conflicts over international norms and national interests are most stark.

THIS EVENT IS NOW FULL AND REGISTRATION IS CLOSED.

Department/project

Joshua Webb

+44 (0)20 7314 3678




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After Five Bloody Years in Syria, Russia Is Turning Against Iran—and Assad

GAZIANTEP, Turkey—After five years fighting to preserve Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria, Russia now appears inclined to dispose of its infamous client. Assad’s persistent brutality and corruption, and his inability to establish even the semblance of a functioning state, has grown to be a burden Moscow would prefer not to bear.And then there’s the problem of Iran. Assad, members of his family, and his Alawite clansmen enjoy close, perhaps unbreakable, bonds to the regime in Tehran and to Iranian-backed militias in Syria. All of which undermines Moscow’s primary mission there: to rehabilitate the Assad regime as a symbol of stability capable of attracting hundreds of billions of dollars of foreign investment for reconstruction, which Russian firms would then be poised to receive. As long as Assad’s relatives continue to function as a mafia and give free rein to Iranian troops using Syria as base of operations to threaten Israel and plan attacks against U.S. troops in Iraq, those countries likely to foot the bill for Syrian reconstruction—the nations of Europe and the Gulf—are unlikely to come up with the cash. Amid Escalating Syrian Carnage, Turkey Shoots Down Assad’s PlanesThis has not gone unnoticed by the United States.“Assad has done nothing to help the Russians sell this regime,”James Jeffrey, the U.S. special envoy for the Coalition to Defeat ISIS, told reporters in a State Department briefing on Thursday. “You find Assad has nothing but thugs around him, and they don't sell well either in the Arab world or in Europe. We have heard repeatedly from Russians we take as credible that they understand how bad Assad is.” The Syrian president’s “refusal to make any compromises” in order to secure diplomatic recognition and acceptance for his regime has jeopardized “hundreds of billions of dollars in reconstruction assistance” for Syria, according to Jeffrey. Yet the Trump administration is unlikely to exploit this growing rift. “Getting Russia out of Syria,” Jeffrey said, “has never been our goal. Russia has been there for 30 years. It has a long-term relationship with Syria. We don’t think it has been healthy for the region. We don’t think it really is even healthy for Russia. But that’s not our policy.”  MEDIA FRENZYJeffrey’s statements come just one week after Russian state media unleashed a slew of reports and editorials targeting Assad, portraying the beleaguered president as hopelessly corrupt and unfit to govern, and suggesting the time had come to replace him with a new leader.The first batch of articles was published by the Russia’s Federal News Agency (FNA), an outlet owned by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a Russian oligarch and chairman of several companies implicated in the 2016 U.S. elections scandal. Appearing over the course of a mere three hours on April 17, they would shake Syria to its core. The first of the three articles in question highlighted a corruption scheme carried out by the regime in summer 2019 in which the Syrian prime minister purportedly lied to citizens about oil and gas scarcities in order to justify the occurrence of long power outages while selling Syrian electricity to businessmen in Lebanon. The second piece cited an opinion poll claiming only 32 percent of Syrians would vote for Assad in the country’s upcoming 2021 presidential election. The third and final article, entitled, “Corruption is Worse than Terrorism,” chastized President Assad for personally failing to combat corruption, prevalent at all levels of the state.  That these were published by Prigozhin’s news agency was the kind of signal it would be hard for Assad to miss. Prigozhin, who first built his fortune as a caterer, is sometimes known as “Putin’s chef.” But of particular relevance to Syria is his role as chairman of the Wagner Group, whose mercenaries have fought alongside Assad regime forces since October 2015 and helped the latter take back control of key revenue generating infrastructure such as the al-Sha’ir gas field in Homs province.Deputy Assistant Secretary Christopher Robin told the same State Department briefing Thursday, “Wagner is often misleadingly referred to as a Russian private military company, but in fact it’s an instrument of the Russian government which the Kremlin uses as a low-cost and low-risk instrument to advance its goals.”The article on corruption would also point out, suggestively, that the Assads are not the only powerful family in Syria, “there are also the Makhloufs.”Rami Makhlouf, who is in fact Bashar al-Assad’s first cousin, is Syria’s wealthiest man, and also, it would seem, Russia’s man. Certainly he has strong ties to the Kremlin and for years has been one of the most vocal critics of Iran’s presence in Syria. In July 2018, the al-Watan newspaper, one Syria’s most prominent pro-regime mouthpieces and owned by Rami Makhlouf since 2006, published a then unprecedented public rebuke to Iran, accusing it of sponsoring Islamist fanaticism throughout the Middle East alongside Turkey and Qatar, the main backers of Syria’s opposition. (Rami Makhlouf’s father Muhammad and brother Hafiz meanwhile are alleged by some to be living in Russia.) The April 17 articles published by Prigozhin’s FNA preceded the release of a wave of other articles and items in the media over the next 12 days that would further drive home the point that Moscow was considering options other than Assad to rule Syria. TASS, Russia’s largest state-run news agency, wrote in one editorial that, “Russia suspects that Assad is not only unable to lead the country anymore, but also that the head of the Syrian regime is dragging Moscow towards the Afghani scenario.” This is like evoking the Vietnam War for an American audience, a reference to the Kremlin’s botched campaign through the 1980s that helped bankrupt the Soviet Union and finally break it apart.Amid this coverage, TASS would also take swipes at Iran, claiming that the Islamic Republic has “no interest in achieving stability in the region, because it considers it a battlefield with Washington”.On April 30, the Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC), a think tank established by Moscow’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, released a scathing report saying Russia was in talks with other parties to the Syrian conflict to draw up plans for a political resolution that did not include Bashar al-Assad as president. The report highlighted purported Russian efforts to compel the Syrian regime to commit to ceasefires with both American-backed and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), and the Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA) opposition, while beginning steps to form a new unity government that would include representatives from both. That day, Rami Makhlouf, whose assets were frozen five months earlier as part of a tax dispute, uploaded a video onto his personal Facebook page accusing the Assad regime of corruption. In a state known for carrying out the full-scale slaughter of those who test its authority, Makhlouf’s videos, coming on the heels of the unprecedented Russian attacks in the media, sent shockwaves throughout the country.  THE ROYAL FAMILYWhile the Makhlouf clan clearly has thrown its lot in with Russia, key members of Bashar al-Assad’s immediate family and others with ties to Qardaha in Syria’s largely Alawite Latakia province, are among the most prominent Iranian-backed militia leaders in Syria. It’s an alliance that traces back to his father Hafez al-Assad, who was born in Qardaha, and who forged ties with the Iranian revolution almost from its beginning more than 40 years ago. The Iranians responded by offering religious legitimacy to the Alawite sect, which is regarded as heretical by Sunnis and indeed by many Shi’a.These Qardaha militia leaders have regularly engaged in armed clashes against Russian backed units. They are among the most egregious violators and abusers of power, overseeing wide networks of corruption similar to those lamented in the Russian media. And foremost among them is Bashar’s younger brother, Maher al-Assad. Since April 2018, Maher al-Assad has commanded the Syrian Army’s 4th Armored Division, one of country’s oldest, best equipped and overwhelmingly Alawite brigades. After the 2011 outbreak of the Syrian revolution, when the loyalty of much of the army was in doubt, it became a refuge for numerous Alawite-Shi’a dominated pro-regime militias.Currently, the 4th Armored Division’s members control many smuggling operations throughout the country, in cities from Albu Kamel on Syria’s eastern border with Iraq to Latakia on the Syrian coast, where the port was leased to Iran on October 1 last year. It has since become one of the biggest export hubs for drugs headed to markets in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. Examples abound: On July 5, 2019, Greek coast guard and drug enforcement officials announced the biggest drug bust in history, seizing 5.25 tons (33 million pills) of Captagon amphetamines worth $660m hidden in shipping containers loaded at the Latakia port in Syria. That followed a long string of such seizures made by Greek authorities. More recently, in late April, customs officials in both Saudi Arabia and Egypt also announced the seizure of similar quantities of drugs in containers traced back to Latakia. Local reports have accused a range of actors including Maher al-Assad’s 4th Division, Hizbollah, Rami Makhlouf, and others of profiting from the massive drug exports emanating from the port. In January 2019 the 4th Armored Division launched attacks on the Russian-backed Tiger Forces unit in an attempt to wrest control of smuggling routes between regime- and opposition-held territory in Idlib province. The clashes led to the death of 70 fighters. These and other skirmishes prompted Russia to back a major campaign to arrest 4th Division and other Iranian-backed units throughout the country beginning in April 2019, which succeeded in rounding up numerous mid-ranking Iranian-backed officers. Among those targeted in the campaign was Bashar Talal al-Assad, a cousin to the president (similar name, different people) who was wanted on drug and weapons trafficking charges. Unlike others who were detained in the roundup, Bashar Talal al-Assad and his ‘Areen Brigade managed to fight off Russian-backed forces that sought to arrest him in Qardaha. He then pledged to attack Russia’s Hmeimim military base, located 17 miles east of Latakia city, in the event the regime sought to arrest him again.For Russia, the threat of such attacks on its military infrastructure is a real concern. The Hmeimim base—from which Moscow has directed its entire military campaign in Syria—had already been subject to a series of attacks from January to October 2018 by other Iranian-backed militias in the area. The threat posed by both Iran’s acquisition of the Latakia port and its support for local Assad family proxies in Syria’s coastal region is exacerbated by the fact that Tehran has also begun making progress toward completing construction of its Shalamcha railroad, which, via stops in Basra, Baghdad, Albu Kamel and Damascus, will give Tehran direct access to the Syrian and Lebanese coasts. If Iran succeeds in integrating the Latakia port with the Shalamcha rail line, this will cut off Hmeimim from Russian forces in central and southern Syria and enable Tehran to quickly deliver weapons to proxy forces in Latakia that are already engaged in clashes against Russian-backed groups. WORLDWIDE CONSENSUSMoscow’s inability to control Iranian backed Syrian militiamen engaged in widespread crime, corruption, and assaults on Russian forces has infuriated the Kremlin. But Russia is not the only major player on the ground with scores to settle against Iran, and the Russian military leadership in Syria has ignored if not largely encouraged Israeli strikes on Iranian troops throughout the country.It may not be coincidental that the Israeli attacks have increased in pace and scope since April, following the flurry of Russian media articles attacking Assad and his regime. “We have moved from blocking Iran’s entrenchment in Syria to forcing it out of there, and we will not stop,” Israel’s new defense minister, Naftali Bennett, declared on April 28. Without Russia, Iran has found itself the odd man out in Syria, the single party still seeking to push for war at a time when most other international players have been struck with fatigue and simply seek to put Syria’s pieces back together. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of Turkey, the last patron of Syria’s battered FSA opposition, has himself made peace with Moscow, effectively agreeing last March to cede control of wide swaths of rebel held territory after a particularly bloody Russian led campaign against the last FSA holdout in Idlib province that ended in victory for regime forces. Ironically, Erdoğan’s long-held desire to overthrow Syria’s president may still come to fruition, albeit not as he expected, as Assad’s ouster may come at the hands of Russia itself, and not the revolution. Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.





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South Dakota Governor demands Sioux tribes 'immediately' remove COVID-19 checkpoints because they interfere with traffic

South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem sent letters to two Sioux tribes demanding they remove COVID-19 checkpoints because they interfere with traffic.





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The federal government finally announced initial plans to distribute Gilead's coronavirus drug remdesivir after days of confusion

The government said it's distributing the promising coronavirus drug, remdesivir, to some hard-hit states. Eventually, all 50 states should get it.





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Lockdown Mutiny Brews in California After Guv Blames Nail Salon for Spreading COVID-19

On Thursday, the Professional Beauty Federation of California published a press release to the “Hot Topics” section of their website. It was titled: “Time to Sue Governor Newsom.” The release came in response to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s announcement that the following morning, California would officially enter “Phase Two” of the “Safer at Home” order. Select businesses, from florists to clothing retailers to toy stores, would be able to resume operations in a limited capacity. But absent from the list of acceptable businesses: beauty salons. Newsom placed businesses like nail salons and barbershops in “Phase Three”—a stage he believes to be “months, not weeks” away. “This whole thing spread in the state of California—the first community spread—was in a nail salon,” Newsom said in a press conference last week, without providing details about the date or location of the case. “Many of the practices that you would otherwise expect of a modification were already in play in many of these salons, with people that had procedure masks on, were using gloves, and were advancing higher levels of sanitation.”The news has thrust nail salons onto the frontline of a growing coronavirus revolt in California, a battle being waged in many more American cities, like Dallas, where hairdresser Shelley Luther became a star of the anti-lockdown movement when she opted to go to jail rather than comply with an order to close her hair salon. Anti-Lockdown Protesters Are Now Facing Down Cops Outside of BarsOn Monday morning, the Professional Beauty Federation of California will file a lawsuit in federal court demanding a regulated reopening process of their salons. “We were 100 percent behind the lockdown, so that we would not overwhelm our hospitals,” the group’s legal counsel Fred Jones said in an interview with The Daily Beast. “However, after two months of the lockdown, in which, by Gov. Newsom’s own admission, we have succeeded—we have checked the mark, we have flattened the curve—we were anticipating that the governor would allow for gradual reopenings of our beauty salons under strict new guidelines.”Their argument, Jones said, hinges on the fact that, without regulated reopening, stylists will be forced underground to meet financial ends, resulting in a potentially more dangerous risk.“A lot of our stylists are on the brink of starvation in order to make their leases and make ends meet,” Jones said. “So you have a volatile combination of desperate clients and desperate stylists. We know that will lead to thousands of our stylists going underground and moving kitchen to kitchen and house to house. That’s reality. Nobody can argue that. So the real question is: how do you stop that from happening if you’re the governor? You can’t.”He suggested a gradual and controlled reopening would be safer than “stylists going house to house and spreading more than beauty.”Unmasked Protesters Storm Huntington Beach After California Governor’s ClosureSome salons statewide have already opened, defying the statewide order, like an Orange County nail spa owner who has vowed to stay open despite being handed a citation by local police, who ordered her to appear in court in July. “I have to do what I have to do. I’m fighting to provide for my children and myself and my family,” another salon owner, Breann Curtis, of The Clip Cage barbershop in Auburn, California, told Fox40 about her decision to reopen. “It’s very hard. I’m pregnant. I have children.”“Just going into debt every single day,” added Tisha Fernhoff, who owns The Beauty Bar Salon in the same Auburn shopping center. “How much longer am I supposed to just go down the rabbit hole before I just throw in the towel and go back to work?”According to Jones, the California State Board of Barbering and Cosmetology—which issues all 623,442 beauty licenses in the state—has already drafted a protocol for how salons could reopen under the current conditions. He claimed Newsom had blocked the plan from distribution, to avoid mixed messaging. (Newsom’s office didn’t respond to a request for comment and a spokesperson for the Board of Barbering and Cosmetology said their draft protocols “haven't been published because they are not finished.”)“We want him to release the plan so that our professionals can start stocking up,” Jones said. “We know we’ll need masks. Will shields be required for these services? They probably will.”If such a plan was to go into effect, Jones said, salons would use personal protective equipment widely. They would stagger appointments to avoid crowded waiting rooms, spread out work stations and shift schedules, implement a touchless pay system, and remove anything in the waiting rooms that could carry contagion. “So, sorry no more magazines and newspapers for our clientele,” Jones said. But the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends maintaining a distance of six feet from other people—a practice that would be all but impossible in salon settings. Dr. Birx Says What Trump Would Not About ProtestersThere are 53,694 licensed beauty salons in California, representing 313,734 stylists or cosmetologists, 34,093 barbers, 90,392 estheticians, 1,679 electrologists, and 129,802 manicurists, according to the State Board of Barbering and Cosmetology. All of these workers, Jones said, have to complete between 350 and 1600 hours of formal education before acquiring their license, including training in sanitization. Jones emphasized that the lawsuit stemmed from financial desperation, a sentiment shared across the country. The Labor Department announced Friday that the economy lost over 20.5 million jobs in April alone, putting the national unemployment rate at its highest since the Great Depression: 14.7 percent. But the devastation has hit the beauty sector differently than many industries. Over 80 percent of salon workers are independent contractors, meaning each stylist represents their own business. By extension, many salon owners are basically landlords, “whose income relies on those booth owners,” Jones said. As a result, most salon workers qualify for unemployment benefits under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, signed by Trump in March—although the program is riddled with loopholes, has frequently run out of money, and may not cover their entire income, which heavily relies on tips. It is salon owners who stand to gain the most from the lawsuit. “Freelance workers do benefit on unemployment benefits,” Jones said. “But most of those Paycheck Protection Program reimbursements are based on your payments. If you’re a salon owner, you don’t have a payroll. Those stylists are their own proprietors.”On Friday, Senators Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Ed Markey (D-MA), and Kamala Harris (D-CA) introduced legislation to give a majority of Americans $2,000 a month throughout the pandemic. Asked whether the bill could provide financial relief to salon workers, while allowing them to maintain social distancing, Jones seemed doubtful that it would pass. “It’s the proverbial ‘check is in the mail’ promise,” he said. “When you’re dealing with true economic devastation, let me tell you, most of our licensees will not be banking on a divided Congress and a White House that is also divided. While Washington fiddles, our stylists are burning.” Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.





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Elon Musk says Tesla will 'immediately' leave California after coronavirus shutdowns forced the company to close its main car factory

In a tweet Saturday morning, Tesla's chief executive said it would file a lawsuit against county officials over not being able to run its factory.





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NF-{kappa}B mediates lipopolysaccharide-induced alternative pre-mRNA splicing of MyD88 in mouse macrophages [Signal Transduction]

Although a robust inflammatory response is needed to combat infection, this response must ultimately be terminated to prevent chronic inflammation. One mechanism that terminates inflammatory signaling is the production of alternative mRNA splice forms in the Toll-like receptor (TLR) signaling pathway. Whereas most genes in the TLR pathway encode positive mediators of inflammatory signaling, several, including that encoding the MyD88 signaling adaptor, also produce alternative spliced mRNA isoforms that encode dominant-negative inhibitors of the response. Production of these negatively acting alternatively spliced isoforms is induced by stimulation with the TLR4 agonist lipopolysaccharide (LPS); thus, this alternative pre-mRNA splicing represents a negative feedback loop that terminates TLR signaling and prevents chronic inflammation. In the current study, we investigated the mechanisms regulating the LPS-induced alternative pre-mRNA splicing of the MyD88 transcript in murine macrophages. We found that 1) the induction of the alternatively spliced MyD88 form is due to alternative pre-mRNA splicing and not caused by another RNA regulatory mechanism, 2) MyD88 splicing is regulated by both the MyD88- and TRIF-dependent arms of the TLR signaling pathway, 3) MyD88 splicing is regulated by the NF-κB transcription factor, and 4) NF-κB likely regulates MyD88 alternative pre-mRNA splicing per se rather than regulating splicing indirectly by altering MyD88 transcription. We conclude that alternative splicing of MyD88 may provide a sensitive mechanism that ensures robust termination of inflammation for tissue repair and restoration of normal tissue homeostasis once an infection is controlled.




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Re: David Oliver: Is abuse towards doctors in government roles unfair?




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Covid-19: underneath the iceberg




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Pay-to-Go Schemes and Other Noncoercive Return Programs: Is Scale Possible?

Noncoercive, pay-to-go, voluntary, assisted voluntary, and nonforced returns generally can offer paid travel and/or other financial incentive to encourage unauthorized immigrants to cooperate with immigration officials and leave host countries. A look at three key rationales for governments to choose pay-to-go and other returns.




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Opportunities for Transatlantic Cooperation on International Migration

The EU-U.S. relationship is one of the most significant partnerships among wealthy nations. Interconnections between the two on migration issues make dialogue necessary and inevitable, as each relies on each other to attain a number of policy objectives, most clearly in the case of travel and border security.




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Migration and Development Policy: What Have We Learned?

Migration and development have emerged as a pressing policy priority on the global agenda. This report identifies critical lessons from the past decade of policy experimentation and offers recommendations for migration and development policy.




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Tribute to a modern languages pioneer

On this Teachers’ Day, I fondly remember Fraulein Daphne Adams, my first German teacher who influenced my love for languages and who transitioned recently in Jamaica. Miss Adams was first and foremost an excellent, no-nonsense teacher of modern...




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Cricket legend Murray warns against hasty restart

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC): Former top West Indies cricket administrator, 76-year-old Deryck Murray, has warned against a forced restart of cricket amid the current challenges posed by the deadly coronavirus pandemic, and says any premature actions...




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After travelling for funeral, elderly siblings stuck in US yearn for home

When siblings Norma and Warren Williams left Jamaica to attend the funeral of a relative in Margate, South Florida, in February, they had no idea that a rapidly developing COVID-19 outbreak would have crippled global travel, leaving them stranded...




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Black and Immigrant: Exploring the Effects of Ethnicity and Foreign-Born Status on Infant Health

This report analyzes prenatal behaviors and birth outcomes of Black immigrant mothers, and finds that Black immigrant mothers are less likely to give birth to preterm or low-birth-weight infants than U.S.-born Black women, but more likely to experience these birth outcomes than other immigrant and U.S.-born women.




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Patterns and Predictors of School Readiness and Early Childhood Success among Young Children in Black Immigrant Families

Using a nationally representative U.S. birth-cohort study, this report examines levels of school readiness among young children by race/ethnicity and nativity. The authors identify the contextual factors — such as family circumstances, parenting practices, and enrollment in center-based child care — that encourage early school success.




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Closing the Distance: How Governments Strengthen Ties with Their Diasporas

This book explores how developing-country governments have institutionalized ties with emigrants and their descendents. It offers an unprecedented taxonomy of 45 diaspora-engaging institutions found in 30 developing countries, exploring their activities and objectives. It also provides important practitioner insights from Mali, Mexico, and the Philippines.




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‘I have a dream that is not yet completed’ - Millie Small had plans of returning home to perform

Millie Small, the first Jamaican vocalist in popular music to make the world stop and look at Jamaica as an emerging musical powerhouse, passed away in London on May 5. She was 72 years old. Speaking to Small by telephone from her home in Shepherd’...




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Overcoming WIOA’s Barriers to Immigrant and Refugee Adult Learners

A webinar examining aspects of the implementation at state and local levels of the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) that may limit immigrant integration, along with a discussion on strategies that may help ensure more equitable access for immigrants and refugees to services provided under the law.  




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[ Politics ] Open Question : Would Northern Ireland be different to the Republic of Ireland culturally?




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[ Polls & Surveys ] Open Question : What happens if you go to a concert just to stand in the corner and stink the place up with your farts?




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[ Polls & Surveys ] Open Question : True/False: Your bank account is healing - turns out you're the virus all along?

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California life in the COVID-19 pandemic

The state of California has enacted a shelter-in-place order in an effort to slow the spread of coronavirus, urging residents to stay in their homes except for essential travel and closing non-essential businesses. Red carpet events have been canceled. The production of many films and TV shows has been suspended.




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Tesla sues California county as Musk threatens to move operations

Tesla filed a lawsuit Saturday against Alameda County, Calif., and CEO Elon Musk threatened to move the company's headquarters and operations out of state.




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Turning a Corner? How Spain Can Help Immigrants Find Middle-Skilled Work

The economic crisis of 2008 hit Spain with a disproportionate effect on those in temporary work, revealing underlying gaps in the policy framework meant to support the inclusion of both immigrants and other vulnerable individuals in the Spanish labor market. This report assesses how well recent reforms are filling these gaps and helping immigrants and other disadvantaged workers move into middle-skilled jobs.




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Yellowknife memorial garden hopes to return to 'spectacular glory' with new repairs

The city of Yellowknife is hoping make repairs to a local memorial garden this summer, after it has been the target of vandalism and has fallen into disrepair for a variety of reasons in recent years.



  • News/Canada/North

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RNA interference machinery influences epithelial cell biology

Epithelial cells are held together and connected by several different types of structures that form cell-cell contacts.




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Norway: Government Launches Mobile App to Track and Stem Spread of COVID-19

(May 6, 2020) On April 16, 2020, the Norwegian government launched a smartphone app to track the spread of the coronavirus in Norway. By downloading the app, users voluntarily allow the app to track their physical location and notify them if they have been in close proximity to a person who later becomes infected with […]




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Roy Horn

Roy Horn (date: 5/10/2020 - Rank: 2)




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Elon Musk sues California officials, vows to pull Telsa from state over COVID-19 restrictions

Tesla CEO Elon Musk threatened Saturday to pull the company's factory and headquarters out of California and sued local officials who have stopped the company from reopening its electric vehicle factory.




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Filmfare recommends: Bollywood films revolving around journalism – Filmfare

Filmfare recommends: Bollywood films revolving around journalism  Filmfare



  • IMC News Feed

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Danville Farmers’ Market returns with social distancing guidelines – WSET

Danville Farmers' Market returns with social distancing guidelines  WSET



  • IMC News Feed

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This Indian life by Shoba Narayan: Learning life lessons at the local bazaar – Hindustan Times

This Indian life by Shoba Narayan: Learning life lessons at the local bazaar  Hindustan Times



  • IMC News Feed


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Amateur B.C. baker proves you don't have to go to Paris to learn to make delicious bread

One sister was formally trained in France. The other learned how to bake off the internet and shows how you don't need to go abroad to know about bread.



  • News/Canada/British Columbia

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Incarnate School of Art and Mission 2014 begins

For the second time, OM Italy hosts the Incarnate School of Art and Mission in Bobbio Pellice.




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Benvenuto a Incarnate

OM Arts introduces locals from Isola, Italy to Incarnate - a programme teaching artists to work in cross-cultural missions.




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International arts festival impacts Italian community

Artists present visual and performing arts during the international art Festival Week hosted by OM Arts International’s Incarnate programme.