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The Woman Who Gave Birth to Rabbits, a History of Hell and Other New Books to Read

The second installment in our weekly series spotlights titles that may have been lost in the news amid the COVID-19 pandemic




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The Colorful History of the Troll Doll

With the release of Trolls World Tour, and a new generation entranced by the ugly-but-cute toy, it appears the troll's lucky streak lives on




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Coffee's Dark History, the Sinking of the World's Most Glamorous Ship and Other New Books to Read

The third installment in our weekly series spotlights titles that may have been lost in the news amid the COVID-19 crisis




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The Inside Story of the Beatles' Messy Breakup

Tensions leading to the split, announced 50 years ago today, had been bubbling under the band’s cheery surface for years




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The Enumerated Story of the Census

A new book charts the history of counting the public, from the ancient censuses in Rome to the American version of decennial data collection




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The Charming Story of George Harrison’s Vacation in Small-Town America

The Beatles guitarist visited his sister in southern Illinois just months before he'd become world famous




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The True Story of 'Mrs. America'

In the new miniseries, feminist history, dramatic storytelling and an all-star-cast bring the Equal Rights Amendment back into the spotlight




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How Smithsonian Curators Are Rising to the Challenge of COVID-19

In a nation under quarantine, chronicling a crisis demands careful strategy




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The History of the Hawaiian Shirt

From kitsch to cool, ride the waves of undulating popularity of a tropical fashion statement




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$612K award to Giant Mine contractor overturned

In a written decision released Thursday, a panel of three appeal court judges said the judge who granted the award to McCaw North Drilling and Blasting Ltd. misinterpreted a clause in the contract for the cleanup.



  • News/Canada/North

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The story of Stella's Place, a lifesaving landmark on a remote winter road

The remote cabin could be the difference between life and death for travellers stuck on the territory’s long winter road. It was built to remember Stella Barnaby, who would have been 55 this Saturday.



  • News/Canada/North

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May storm brings more snow to parts of N.B.

It looks like New Brunswickers will see more snow Saturday with a snowfall warning issued for central and northern parts of the province. 



  • News/Canada/New Brunswick

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Storm set to bring 30 cm of snow to some areas of N.B.

A spring storm is set to slam parts of New Brunswick this weekend, bringing up to 30 cm of snow. 



  • News/Canada/New Brunswick

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La Loche calls on province to close SLGA liquor store due to COVID-19 outbreak

The village of La Loche is calling on the provincial government to force the closure of liquor stores in the community, which is in the throes of a COVID-19 outbreak. 



  • News/Canada/Saskatoon

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Retail stores in Fort William First Nation reopen to general public

Retail stores in Fort William First Nation (FWFN) reopened to the general public on May 5, but they are under new operating requirements, the band council announced Friday. However, the residential area of the First Nation remains accessible only to people who live in the community.



  • News/Canada/Thunder Bay

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Cyber Defense Monitoring and Forensics Training

The Computer Emergency Response Team of Mauritius (CERT-MU) in collaboration with the Command and Control Centre of Kenya organised a 3-day training programme on Cyber Defense Monitoring and Forensics at Voilà Hotel, Bagatelle from the 27th February – 1st March 2018. The training course provided an introduction to Network Security Monitoring (NSM), Security Information and Events Management (SIEM), Malware Analysis and Digital Forensics. Major part of the course was hands-on case studies and analysis exercises using real world data. The main focus of the training programme was on intensive hands-on sessions on addressing key challenges faced by local organizations in all sectors/industries. A wide range of commercial and open source tools were used to equip cyber defenders with the necessary skills to anticipate, detect, respond and contain adversaries. The training programme was followed by 23 participants from the public and private sector. 




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Alberta doctors push back against government's 'divide-and-conquer' strategy

"It is unfortunate that it has come to pass that we have to collectively and overtly publicly declare that we are unified," says Alberta Medical Association president Christine Molnar.



  • News/Canada/Edmonton

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Prehistoric reptile put survival where its mouth is, developed mammal enamel on its teeth: study

In a new twist on oral history, University of Alberta paleontologists have discovered that an Argentinian reptile from 95 million years ago developed a type of tooth enamel that is common in humans and other mammals but rare among reptiles.



  • News/Canada/Edmonton

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Should you go to your camp? Island doctor says seasonal visitors 'a perfect storm' during COVID-19

A doctor on Manitoulin Island is encouraging seasonal residents to stay home and not to come visit during the COVID-19 pandemic.



  • News/Canada/Sudbury

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How one Sudbury business owner is getting ready to reopen her hardware store

As the province of Ontario starts to relax some COVID-19 restrictions, one Sudbury business owner says it feels great to be opening back up.



  • News/Canada/Sudbury

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Celebrating Education during Deaf History Month

Just across town from the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., stands Gallaudet University, an institute for higher learning for the deaf and hard-of-hearing. In 1864, President Abraham Lincoln signed the law that allowed the school to begin issuing college degrees, a milestone for deaf people seeking higher education. Edward M. Gallaudet (right) was the […]




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Marian Anderson in Performance: A Visual (and Musical) Story

The following is a post by Kristi Finefield, Reference Specialist in the Prints & Photographs Division, and member of the Picture This blog team. Images have a way of opening our eyes to new aspects of a well-known story. When I think of singer Marian Anderson, an image of her performing at the Lincoln Memorial […]




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Two-Step Bacterial Artificial Chromosome (BAC) Engineering: Electroporation of Competent BAC Host Cells with the Recombinant Shuttle Vector

Bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) clones are rendered electrocompetent and transformed with the recombinant shuttle vector, pLD53SCAB/AB-box. Cointegrates are selected by growth on chloramphenicol and ampicillin to ensure recombination of the shuttle vector into the BAC.




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Two-Step Bacterial Artificial Chromosome (BAC) Engineering: Preparation and Verification of the Recombinant Shuttle Vector

Plasmid DNA is prepared from the recombinant shuttle vector pLD53.SCAB/A-B created by cloning of the A and B homology arms for two-step bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) engineering. To confirm that the A-box and B-box arms have been successfully incorporated into pLD53.SCAB, the pattern of enzyme digestion of the modified plasmid is compared with that of the unmodified pLD53.SCAB. Once the shuttle vector is shown to carry the proper sequences, it is ready for transfer into the BAC host.




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Two-Step Bacterial Artificial Chromosome (BAC) Engineering: Cloning of the A and B Homology Arms into the Shuttle Vector

This protocol describes the preparation of the shuttle vector before its introduction into bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) host cells for BAC two-step engineering. The homology arm sequences, prepared previously, are introduced by ligation into the digested shuttle vector DNA to provide sites for recombination within the BAC clone. Crude lysates of individual bacterial transformants serve as templates in polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis to confirm the presence of the homology arms in the recombinant shuttle vector.




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Two-Step Bacterial Artificial Chromosome (BAC) Engineering: Preparation of Shuttle Vector DNA

In two-step bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) engineering, a single plasmid is introduced into the BAC-carrying cell lines. The shuttle vector pLD53.SCAB (or pLD53.SCAEB) carries the recA gene and the R6K origin, which requires the protein to replicate. PIR2 cells, expressing , are typically used for the amplification of the vector and maintain about 15 copies/cell of the donor vector, which is relatively stable in this host.




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Reflections on regulatory responses to the Covid-19 pandemic

FSI Briefs No 1, April 2020. Regulatory policy responses should seek to support economic activity while preserving the financial system's soundness and ensuring transparency. The recommendation for banks to make full use of capital and liquidity buffers should go hand in hand with restrictions on dividends and bonuses and clarity concerning the process for rebuilding them. Flexibility in loan classification criteria for prudential and accounting purposes should be complemented with sufficient disclosure on the criteria banks use to assess creditworthiness. The publication of detailed guidance on the application of expected loss provisioning rules, combined with sensible transitional arrangements, may constitute a balanced approach to mitigating the unintended effects of the new accounting standards.




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Insurance regulatory measures in response to Covid-19

FSI Briefs No 4, April 2020. Currently, insurers are more likely to experience losses from financial market volatility than from higher insurance claims arising from Covid-19. Few insurance supervisors have seen a need to strengthen or adjust prudential requirements to insulate insurers from current financial market uncertainties. So far, authorities have responded mainly by taking measures to provide operational relief to insurers from regulatory and supervisory requirements so that they can continue providing insurance services. These measures will also help insurers to enhance risk monitoring of their Covid-19 financial exposures. Some authorities have set out expectations for insurers to conserve capital through prudent exercise of dividend and variable remuneration policies. The aim is to enhance their resilience against huge uncertainties from potential Covid-19 fallout. Other capital-related measures should relieve supervisory pressures and reduce the tendency of insurers to manage their investments in a procyclical manner. These measures include: extending the supervisory intervention ladder, triggering the countercyclical lever and recalibrating capital requirements. The far-reaching impact of Covid-19 calls for sustained vigilance by both supervisors and insurers. In the post-pandemic phase, the extraordinary measures currently warranted will need to be unwound through a carefully crafted exit strategy that preserves sound risk management practices and protects policyholders' interests.




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Post-crisis international financial regulatory reforms: a primer

This paper reviews post-crisis financial regulatory reforms, examines how they fit together and identifies open issues. Specifically, it takes stock of the salient new features of bank and CCP international standards within a unified analytical framework.




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Covid-19 and corporate sector liquidity

The Covid-19 shock is placing enormous strains on corporates cash buffers. Corporate financial statements from 2019 suggest that 50% of firms do not have sufficient cash to cover total debt servicing costs over the coming year. Credit lines could provide firms with additional liquidity. On average undrawn credit stood around 120% of debt servicing costs at end 2019. However, access is uneven and banks may be reluctant to renew or extend them in the current environment. Sticky operating expenses result in many firms running operating losses, placing an additional burden on cash buffers. Estimates indicate that following a 10% drop in revenues, operating expenses only fall by 6% on average. Simulations suggest that if revenues fall by 25% in 2020, then closing the entire funding gap with debt would raise firm leverage by around 10 percentage points.




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The History of How School Buses Became Yellow

Rural educator Frank Cyr had the vision and pull to force the nation to standardize the color of the ubiquitous vehicle




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The Sleek History of Airline Maps

A new book explores the evolution of cartography throughout more than a century of commercial air travel




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No global real estate market despite higher price synchronisation and growing role of international investors, central banks find

No global real estate market despite higher price synchronisation and growing role of international investors, central banks find (Press release, 18 February 2020)




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Basel III monitoring results based on end-June 2019 data published by the Basel Committee

BCBS Press release "Basel III monitoring results based on end-June 2019 data published by the Basel Committee", 8 April 2020




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Saudi G20 Presidency and the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) Innovation Hub invite global innovators to find solutions to the most pressing financial regulatory & supervisory challenges

Press release "Saudi G20 Presidency and the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) Innovation Hub invite global innovators to solve RegTech and SupTech challenges", 27 April 2020




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NIH clinical trial evaluates antiviral plus anti-inflammatory drug for COVID-19

A randomized, controlled clinical trial evaluating the safety and efficacy of a treatment regimen of the investigational antiviral remdesivir plus the anti-inflammatory drug baricitinib for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has begun.




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A 2,000-Year History of Restaurants and Other New Books to Read

The fifth installment in our weekly series spotlights titles that may have been lost in the news amid the COVID-19 crisis




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DC Deals - The Historical Society of Washington, D.C. - Attractions

The Best Museum Experience of All Things Washington, D.C. Experience the stories behind the people and events of the Nation's Capital.




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Union says more than 50 workers laid off at U of M, including book store, communications staff

The University of Manitoba is laying off dozens of employees as it tries to find savings at a time when post-secondary schools have largely been closed since COVID-19 emerged on the Prairies, a union says.



  • News/Canada/Manitoba

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This Mother's Day will be 'one for the history books,' but still ways to show you care: chief nursing officer

Manitoba health officials says visits can be done via the internet, through window panes, or outside at a distance if everyone is healthy. People whose moms are in a hospital or a care home can still drop off gifts of food or clothing.



  • News/Canada/Manitoba

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Flint Hears From Prosecutors Who Dropped Water Charges

Prosecutors who dropped charges against eight people in the Flint water scandal explained their decision in a public forum Friday night, telling frustrated, shocked and saddened residents they must look at hundreds of mobile devices and millions of documents that a previous investigative team never reviewed.




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BIS global liquidity indicators at end-June 2019

US dollar credit to non-bank borrowers outside the United States grew by 4% year on year at end-June 2019, to reach $11.9 trillion. Foreign currency credit denominated in euros and Japanese yen continued to expand at a faster pace than that in US dollars, growing at annual rates of 9% and 8%, respectively. US dollar credit to emerging market and developing economies (EMDEs) grew at an annual rate of 2% (to reach $3.7 trillion), though growth varied substantially across regions.




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BIS global liquidity indicators at end-September 2019

US dollar credit to non-bank borrowers outside the United States grew by 5% year on year at end-September 2019, to reach $12.1 trillion. Euro-denominated credit outside the euro area continued to expand at a fast pace (9%). In contrast, the growth rate of yen-denominated credit outside Japan fell to 1%. Strong debt securities issuance drove expansions in US dollar and euro credit to emerging market and developing economies (EMDEs). US dollar credit to EMDEs grew at an annual rate of 3% (to reach $3.8 trillion); euro credit to EMDEs expanded by 9% (to reach €0.7 trillion).




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BIS global liquidity indicators at end-December 2019

US dollar credit to non-bank borrowers outside the United States grew by 6% in 2019, to reach $12.2 trillion at end-2019. The annual growth rate of euro-denominated credit outside the euro area slowed to 6%, while that of yen-denominated credit outside Japan turned negative (-1%). In 2019, euro-denominated credit overtook US dollar-denominated credit as the largest stock of foreign currency credit to emerging Europe. The debt securities share in US dollar credit outside the United States has risen considerably over the past decade across a number of major borrowing regions.




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Global liquidity indicators

The term global liquidity is used by the BIS to mean the ease of financing in global financial markets. Credit is among the key indicators of global liquidity, and is the focus of the quarterly indicators estimated by the BIS.




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Equities: Will Early Trends in Select Sectors Last?

Information technology, health care, and consumer discretionary stocks that outperformed in the last decade have done well in the first four months of 2020.




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Dimitar Radev: The Bulgarian banking sector under Covid-19

Publication by Mr Dimitar Radev, Governor of the Bulgarian National Bank, in the Quarterly Bulletin of the Association of Banks in Bulgaria, issue 61, March 2020.




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Thomas Jordan: Introductory remarks, Swiss National Bank news conference

Introductory remarks by Mr Thomas Jordan, Chairman of the Governing Board of the Swiss National Bank, at the Media News Conference of the Swiss National Bank, Berne, 25 March 2020.




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Toronto photographer's iconic shot of Kawhi Leonard's buzzer-beater wins top sports pic

For all the sporting moments Mark Blinch has captured through his lens for nearly two decades, there is only one he has taken the trouble to hang in his home.




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Raptors' Fred VanVleet says public health more important than a big payday

Toronto Raptors guard Fred VanVleet was enjoying the best season of his career, and was set to strike it rich with a lucrative new deal this summer before the coronavirus brought the NBA and global sports to its knees in mid-March.



  • Sports/Basketball/NBA