VLCC currently operates 20 centres across UAE, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar and Kuwait.

President Trump wants states to begin relaxing stay-at-home orders and reopen businesses after the spread of the coronavirus pummeled the global economy and killed millions of jobs. The White House coronavirus task force released guidelines on April 16 to encourage state governors to adopt a phased approach to lifting restrictions across the country. Some states have moved ahead without meeting the criteria . The task force rejected a set of additional detailed draft recommendations for schools, restaurants, churches and mass transit systems from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that it considered " overly prescriptive ." A number of states have already begun to lift restrictions, allowing for businesses including hair salons, diners and tattoo parlors to once again begin accepting customers. Health experts have warned that reopening too quickly could result in a potential rebound in cases. States are supposed to wait to begin lifting any restrictions until they have a 14

As of Friday in Texas, you can go to a tanning salon. In Indiana, houses of worship are being allowed to open with no cap on attendance. Places like Pennsylvania are taking a more cautious approach, only starting to ease restrictions in some counties based on the number of COVID-19 cases. By Monday, at least 31 states will have partially reopened after seven weeks of restrictions. The moves come as President Trump pushes for the country to get back to work despite public health experts warning that it's too soon. "The early lesson that was learned, really, we learned from the island of Hokkaido in Japan, where they did a really good job of controlling the initial phase of the outbreak," said Bob Bednarczyk, assistant professor of global health and epidemiology at the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University in Atlanta. Because of that success, many of the restrictions on the island were lifted. But cases and deaths surged in a second wave of infections. Twenty-six days later

Governor J.B. Pritzker has released a five-part plan to allow certain regions of the state to open up to more activity. The governor is calling it Restore Illinois. The plan sets up four regions of the state. Each could open to more business every month if they were to improve on COVID-19 cases and treatment. Currently Illinois sits at phase two, with partial stay-at-home rules. Pritzker says if certain regions have improved enough by late May, they might see restrictions eased. “At that point, with face coverings as the norm, non-essential manufacturing and other non-essential businesses can open in accordance with safety guidance,” he said in his daily news conference. That would include barbershops and salons along with some retail and offices. If enough improvement is shown, schools and colleges could open in certain regions. The gatherings of large crowds will still be prohibited until there is either a vaccine or better treatment of COVID-19. As reported by Bill Wheelhouse, WUIS

Scottish Golf today revealed that no date has been set for the sport in this country to restart and stressed that lockdown restrictions will remain in place for the foreseeable future.

MERCHANT city lunch favourite Sprigg will reopen a delivery service after appearing on The Glasgow Pantry this week.

Josh Taylor has hit back at former trainer Shane McGuigan and insists he had been unhappy for a long time working under Cyclone Promotions.

This post will be updated throughout the day. Updated 4:30 p.m. More Than 16,000 Known Positive Cases of Coronavirus In Colorado There are more than 16,000 known confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the state, according to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment . This includes both people who tested positive for the virus and people who have been in contact with someone who tested positive and exhibit symptoms.

On this edition of Your Call, we're speaking with epidemiologist Gregg Gonsalves about the current status of testing for COVID-19 across the US.

On this edition of Your Call, we're getting an update on the COVID crisis in meatpacking plants. At least 31 meat processing plants owned by Smithfield, JBS and Tyson Foods have had coronavirus outbreaks.

Open Air, KALW’s weekly radio magazine about the Bay Area Performing Arts, is back!

Regular contributor and critic at large Peter Robinson explores how My Fair Lady turned Shaw’s Pygmalion into a fine musical. ===================== his week on Open Air, KALW’s live radio magazine for the Bay Area Performing Arts in Times of Corona, we raise the virtual curtain for the first installment of Open Air’s Corona Radio Theater . Featuring this week is theater company Word for Word ; renowned for bringing short stories from the page to the stage, fully theatricalized; and their reading - on Zoom - of Tobias Wolff's story, Firelight .

This week on Open Air, KALW’s live radio magazine for the Bay Area Performing Arts in Times of Corona, the virtual stage of Open Air’s Corona Radio Theater features San Francisco Playhouse , and their production of one of the most celebrated plays in the history of American radio, Lucille Fletcher’s Noir thriller Sorry Wrong Number .

The possibilities of artistic expression are limitless with every piece of music, but composer and pianist Craig Swanson took it to another level with the release of his album “The French Suite Kit.” Swanson was inspired by pianist Glenn Gould to create multiple unique variations of Bach’s French Suite No. 4 in Eb Major , giving listeners more control over how they prefer to hear Bach expressed. “Part of the joy of music is its improvisatory nature, and trying to find all of the potential expressions that are worthwhile in your music,” Swanson says. “It seemed to me that there was a wealth of possibility not limiting yourself to one particular way or one particular approach.” Listen to the full interview between Swanson and Of Note’s Katy Henriksen with the streaming link above.

A meat-packing plant in Waterloo, Iowa, where a coronavirus outbreak exploded a few weeks ago, resumed operations on Thursday after a two-week closure. The reopening of Tyson Foods' largest U.S. pork plant came the same day that health officials in Black Hawk County, where the plant is located, announced that 1,031 of the plant's estimated 2,800 employees have tested positive for the virus. That's higher than previous estimates by state officials. Tony Thompson, sheriff of Black Hawk County, was among the public officials who called for the Waterloo facility to shut down temporarily. His call to close the plant came after he first toured the facility on April 10. Thompson says that when he toured the plant then, he "fully expected" to see barriers, masks and other personal protective equipment in place. That wasn't the case. "What I saw when we went into that plant was an absolute free-for-all," he says. "Some people were wearing bandannas. Some people were wearing surgical masks. ....

President Trump wants states to begin relaxing stay-at-home orders and reopen businesses after the spread of the coronavirus pummeled the global economy and killed millions of jobs. The White House coronavirus task force released guidelines on April 16 to encourage state governors to adopt a phased approach to lifting restrictions across the country. Some states have moved ahead without meeting the criteria . The task force rejected a set of additional detailed draft recommendations for schools, restaurants, churches and mass transit systems from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that it considered " overly prescriptive ." A number of states have already begun to lift restrictions, allowing for businesses including hair salons, diners and tattoo parlors to once again begin accepting customers. Health experts have warned that reopening too quickly could result in a potential rebound in cases. States are supposed to wait to begin lifting any restrictions until they have a 14

As of Friday in Texas, you can go to a tanning salon. In Indiana, houses of worship are being allowed to open with no cap on attendance. Places like Pennsylvania are taking a more cautious approach, only starting to ease restrictions in some counties based on the number of COVID-19 cases. By Monday, at least 31 states will have partially reopened after seven weeks of restrictions. The moves come as President Trump pushes for the country to get back to work despite public health experts warning that it's too soon. "The early lesson that was learned, really, we learned from the island of Hokkaido in Japan, where they did a really good job of controlling the initial phase of the outbreak," said Bob Bednarczyk, assistant professor of global health and epidemiology at the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University in Atlanta. Because of that success, many of the restrictions on the island were lifted. But cases and deaths surged in a second wave of infections. Twenty-six days later

A meat-packing plant in Waterloo, Iowa, where a coronavirus outbreak exploded a few weeks ago, resumed operations on Thursday after a two-week closure. The reopening of Tyson Foods' largest U.S. pork plant came the same day that health officials in Black Hawk County, where the plant is located, announced that 1,031 of the plant's estimated 2,800 employees have tested positive for the virus. That's higher than previous estimates by state officials. Tony Thompson, sheriff of Black Hawk County, was among the public officials who called for the Waterloo facility to shut down temporarily. His call to close the plant came after he first toured the facility on April 10. Thompson says that when he toured the plant then, he "fully expected" to see barriers, masks and other personal protective equipment in place. That wasn't the case. "What I saw when we went into that plant was an absolute free-for-all," he says. "Some people were wearing bandannas. Some people were wearing surgical masks. ....

As of Friday in Texas, you can go to a tanning salon. In Indiana, houses of worship are being allowed to open with no cap on attendance. Places like Pennsylvania are taking a more cautious approach, only starting to ease restrictions in some counties based on the number of COVID-19 cases. By Monday, at least 31 states will have partially reopened after seven weeks of restrictions. The moves come as President Trump pushes for the country to get back to work despite public health experts warning that it's too soon. "The early lesson that was learned, really, we learned from the island of Hokkaido in Japan, where they did a really good job of controlling the initial phase of the outbreak," said Bob Bednarczyk, assistant professor of global health and epidemiology at the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University in Atlanta. Because of that success, many of the restrictions on the island were lifted. But cases and deaths surged in a second wave of infections. Twenty-six days later

President Trump wants states to begin relaxing stay-at-home orders and reopen businesses after the spread of the coronavirus pummeled the global economy and killed millions of jobs. The White House coronavirus task force released guidelines on April 16 to encourage state governors to adopt a phased approach to lifting restrictions across the country. Some states have moved ahead without meeting the criteria . The task force rejected a set of additional detailed draft recommendations for schools, restaurants, churches and mass transit systems from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that it considered " overly prescriptive ." A number of states have already begun to lift restrictions, allowing for businesses including hair salons, diners and tattoo parlors to once again begin accepting customers. Health experts have warned that reopening too quickly could result in a potential rebound in cases. States are supposed to wait to begin lifting any restrictions until they have a 14

Across the country, restrictions to limit the spread of the coronavirus are being loosened in some states. On this news buzz edition of River to River , we get a snapshot of the picture here in Iowa.

Although nearly two weeks have passed since Georgia Governor Brian Kemp allowed restaurants to reopen dining room seating, owners are reticent to resume business as usual. 

The NCAA has made it clear that unless college campuses are open to the entire student body in the fall, there are no plans to risk the health of student-athletes for the sake of sports. 

Sara Ganim is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist with strong ties to Michigan. Her new independent film, “No Defense: The U.S. Government’s War on Water,” looks into the PFAs contamination emanating from the old Wurtsmith Air Force Base in Oscoda and how our government’s conflict of interest has lead to inaction. WEMU’s David Fair and Michigan League of Conservation Voters executive director Lisa Wozniak caught up with Sara in advance of the free screening of her film at the State Theatre in Ann Arbor on February 19 th .

Tuesday on Political Rewind , Gov. Brian Kemp announced gyms, salons, bowling alleys and other specific indoor facilities will be able to reopen by Friday, with restaurants and theaters able to reopen next week. These businesses must comply with social distancing and other safety requirements. The move has drawn sharp criticism from elected leaders and commentators who say the move comes too soon and is not backed by enough data.

Wednesday on Political Rewind , the political consequences of the pandemic. The governor’s recent decision to slowly re-open businesses in Georgia has drawn criticism and national attention. How will voters respond to the public health efforts of elected officials at all levels of governments in this crucial election year?

President Trump wants states to begin relaxing stay-at-home orders and reopen businesses after the spread of the coronavirus pummeled the global economy and killed millions of jobs. The White House coronavirus task force released guidelines on April 16 to encourage state governors to adopt a phased approach to lifting restrictions across the country. Some states have moved ahead without meeting the criteria . The task force rejected a set of additional detailed draft recommendations for schools, restaurants, churches and mass transit systems from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that it considered " overly prescriptive ." A number of states have already begun to lift restrictions, allowing for businesses including hair salons, diners and tattoo parlors to once again begin accepting customers. Health experts have warned that reopening too quickly could result in a potential rebound in cases. States are supposed to wait to begin lifting any restrictions until they have a 14

As of Friday in Texas, you can go to a tanning salon. In Indiana, houses of worship are being allowed to open with no cap on attendance. Places like Pennsylvania are taking a more cautious approach, only starting to ease restrictions in some counties based on the number of COVID-19 cases. By Monday, at least 31 states will have partially reopened after seven weeks of restrictions. The moves come as President Trump pushes for the country to get back to work despite public health experts warning that it's too soon. "The early lesson that was learned, really, we learned from the island of Hokkaido in Japan, where they did a really good job of controlling the initial phase of the outbreak," said Bob Bednarczyk, assistant professor of global health and epidemiology at the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University in Atlanta. Because of that success, many of the restrictions on the island were lifted. But cases and deaths surged in a second wave of infections. Twenty-six days later

A white police officer fired through the window of a black woman's home early Saturday and killed her after responding to a call that a neighbor placed about an open front door, authorities in Fort Worth, Texas, say. Around 2:25 a.m., officers responded to an "open structure call" made by a neighbor to the police department's nonemergency number. Inside the home, Atatiana Jefferson, 28, and her 8-year-old nephew were playing video games. Body camera footage released by the police shows the officer outside the home, looking into Jefferson's bedroom window and shouting, "Put your hands up! Show me your hands!" before firing a single bullet that killed Jefferson. Kyev Tatum, a pastor and community activist who was on the scene shortly after the shooting, told NPR that the neighbor who called the police was worried about the welfare of Jefferson. He said Jefferson may have had her front door open for a reason. "This was probably one of the first days that we had cool weather in Fort Worth.

Just chat it up, fuzzballs!

There's a call Laura Jean Truman is dreading, and she's convinced it's just a matter of time before it comes. Truman, who's a server at Manuel's Tavern in Atlanta, says the source of her angst is the fear that sometime in the next few weeks her boss is going to call and say it's time to go back to work, putting her in the position of having to make a choice between her safety and being able to pay the bills that continue to arrive despite the coronavirus. "Right now, everyone who is not working at restaurants is able to be on unemployment," she told NPR. "But once restaurants decide to open, and if we decide that we don't feel safe going back into those restaurants, we then are no longer eligible for unemployment because then we have a job opportunity that we're turning down," Truman explained. "It's a tremendously scary thing to have to think about," she said. The predicament is one in which millions of people receiving state unemployment benefits along with federal dollars from the

It took only minutes for Shanghai Disneyland to run out of tickets to Monday's reopening as people jumped at a chance to visit the amusement park for the first time since the COVID-19 outbreak forced it to close in late January. Visitors to the theme park will be required to wear face masks at all times unless they are eating. Shanghai Disneyland said it's taking "a deliberate approach" as it reopens. It will require physical distancing and sharply reduce capacity; some crowd-oriented features, such as children's play areas and theater shows, will remain shut down. There will be no selfies with famous Disney characters, the company said. Hand sanitizer is being widely deployed, and cleaning measures have been stepped up. Before they can enter the park, visitors will also need to prove they don't pose a coronavirus risk. They will undergo a temperature screening and a check of their personal QR code — reflecting their "green" or "red" status on a phone-based app. A green code, signaling

The store is open (again)! It's finally open (again)!

May 7 is the date that Montana Gov. Steve Bullock, a Democrat, declared it was safe to open up schools. The state has had fewer than 500 reported cases of the coronavirus as of this week. But according to the state's Office of Public Instruction, just a few school districts in small towns have taken the governor up on the offer. That gap — between a state executive proclaiming schools OK to open and the reality of tiny groups of students gathering in just a few schools — shows the logistical challenges educators and state officials around the country face in any decision to reopen. Willow Creek School in Three Forks, Mont., is opening its doors and expects a few dozen of its 56 students to show up. Troy, a northwestern Montana town, is holding limited and voluntary "study hall" visits, focusing on special education students, as well as some outdoor activities. The town of Glasgow says it will open its schools on a limited basis to students without devices. Libby, a town of fewer than 3

No field trips. No game rooms. No teddy bears. These are some of the CDC's guidelines for reopening schools, childcare centers and day camps safely in places where coronavirus cases are on the decline. The guidance, which also covers restaurants, churches and other public places, was obtained by The Associated Press , which reports that the White House tried to keep it from coming to light. The New York Times quoted Mark Meadows, the chief of staff, as being concerned that the guidelines were "overly prescriptive." The CDC does not have authority to enforce its guidance, which is intended for public information only; the actual policy decisions are up to state and local governments. Schools are closed through the end of the school year throughout much of the country, with the exception of Montana, which welcomed a handful of students back this week. Child care protocols are different in different states. But millions of parents need child care so they can work, and socialization and

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST: More than 50 million children here in the U.S. will be out of school for the remainder of the academic year due to the coronavirus. In Europe, however, a different story. This coming Monday, France is set to join a small number of European countries attempting a partial reopening of schools. This week, French president Emmanuel Macron visited a primary school northwest of Paris that has remained open for the children of essential health workers. (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING) UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: (Speaking French). PRESIDENT EMMANUEL MACRON: (Speaking French). UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: (Speaking French). MACRON: (Speaking French). KELLY: That little girl there telling the president her mother works as a nurse in a coronavirus unit. Well, Macron's education minister, Jean-Michel Blanquer, was there at the school as well. He is overseeing the reopening of schools next week, and he joins us via Skype now from Paris. Bonjour.

Primary schools in France are reopening next week. There will, of course, be social distancing measures in place. Class sizes will be limited to 15 and no games at recess. It's a gradual three-week process beginning with preschoolers. The government says the reopening is voluntary and students won't be forced to return. Still, many parents and administrators are against the plan. More than 300 mayors in the Paris region signed an open letter to President Macron, urging a delay in reopening and saying the timeline is " untenable and unrealistic ." They said schools needed more time to implement the required sanitary measures. Jean-Michel Blanquer, France's minister of education, talked with Mary Louise Kelly on All Things Considered about bringing students back to class for the first time since mid-March. Here are selected excerpts: Do you think they will come? Do you think you will have 15 students in classrooms come next week? Yes, because we are asking the parents during the last

Identify each TV show by a single frame taken from their opening titles. All those years spent on the sofa watching mindless entertainment can finally pay off, if only in Internet glory.

I wrote this to give my friends (mostly longtime pub-quizzers) something to puzzle over. None of the shows are obscure (I tried to provide a healthy mixture of old and new shows) but this is harder than it seems.

[Link]

As Minnesota Gov. Walz weighs his decision on when to let nonessential businesses reopen, he's facing a lot of pressure from a frustrated workforce, especially from small business owners who are trying to stay afloat during the economic crisis caused by the coronavirus outbreak. "The frustrations that they have are real. These are businesses that, they may have been in families for generations or they built up," the Democratic governor says in an interview with Morning Edition . The state is under a stay-at-home order until at least May 18 . In reopening the economy, he says, businesses will face another challenge: consumer confidence. Walz worries that — even with stay-at-home orders lifted — many consumers will be skittish about reengaging with businesses until they feel safe. Walz says many businesses should remain closed until the state ramps up its testing capacity. Achieving that goal will help contain the virus's spread, as well as bolster the public's confidence, he says.

President Trump wants states to begin relaxing stay-at-home orders and reopen businesses after the spread of the coronavirus pummeled the global economy and killed millions of jobs. The White House coronavirus task force released guidelines on April 16 to encourage state governors to adopt a phased approach to lifting restrictions across the country. Some states have moved ahead without meeting the criteria . The task force rejected a set of additional detailed draft recommendations for schools, restaurants, churches and mass transit systems from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that it considered " overly prescriptive ." A number of states have already begun to lift restrictions, allowing for businesses including hair salons, diners and tattoo parlors to once again begin accepting customers. Health experts have warned that reopening too quickly could result in a potential rebound in cases. States are supposed to wait to begin lifting any restrictions until they have a 14

In the week since Georgia’s shelter-in-place order ended for most, businesses have started to open back up. But with new rules and wary customers, many small businesses are still finding their feet. GPB News reporters fanned out across the state to ask small business owners how their reopening process changes the way they operate.

This episode is a recording of Richard Fontana's talk, Open Source Projects and Corporate Entanglement from the 2011 Linux Collaboration Summit, with some commentary from Bradley and Karen on the talk.

Show Notes:

Segment 0 (00:34)

• Bradley is still recovering from a rhinovirus which he didn't take care of and also made him sicker, which explains the problems with his voice. In fact, the coughing in the background during Fontana's talk is all Bradley. He apologizes. (00:50)
• This show is Richard Fontana's Linux Collaboration Summit 2011 talk, Open Source Projects and Corporate Entanglement. (03:24)

Segment 1 (03:48)

• Richard Fontana's slides for his talk, Open Source Projects and Corporate Entanglement are available on his website. (04:29)
• Bradley was live-denting Fontana's LCS talk. (04:31)
• Richard Fontana is the purveyor of the disturbing group on identi.ca. (04:30)
• Fontana makes reference to a Bradley's blog post on switching back to Debian from Ubuntu. (05:55)
• Fontana pointed out that the GNU Manifesto deals a lot with how Free Software is completely compatible with many business models. (12:30)
• Fontana pointed out that many of the relationships between companies in Free software have great variability in level of transparency. (16:00)
• In the background, you hear Bradley saying something. He's giving Josh Berkus credit for the phrase throw code over the wall, a phrase which both Fontana and Bradley now use regularly. (32:28)

Segment 2 (48:25)

• Fontana made an interesting analogy to commissioned art and its similarity to FLOSS. (50:33)
• Fontana noted later on identica that he does support non-profit as solution to entanglement problem. (54:48)
• Bradley mentioned the 60 Minutes story about Mortenson's Central Asia Institute (CAI). (55:30)
• Fontana now talking about GE/NBC relationship, but Bradley was surprised that Fontana didn't mention Ben Bagdikian's book, The Media Monopoly. (18:26, 56:30)
• Bradley was glad that Fontana called proprietary relicensing illegitimate. Bradley points out that sometimes community members, including himself, have too easily forgiven business models on the edges of software freedom. (25:13, 30:50 58:30)

Send feedback and comments on the cast to <oggcast@faif.us>. You can keep in touch with Free as in Freedom on our IRC channel, #faif on irc.freenode.net, and by following Conservancy on on Twitter and and FaiF on Twitter.

Free as in Freedom is produced by Dan Lynch of danlynch.org. Theme music written and performed by Mike Tarantino with Charlie Paxson on drums.

The content of this audcast, and the accompanying show notes and music are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike 4.0 license (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Karen and Bradley play and discuss Philippe Laurent's FOSDEM 2012 talk, Open Licences before European Courts from the FOSDEM 2012 Legal and Policy Issues DevRoom.

Show Notes:

Segment 0 (00:36)

Karen and Bradley mention there is one talk remaining after this one from the FOSDEM 2012 Legal and Policy Issues DevRoom.

Segment 1 (03:04)

Philippe's slides are available from faif.us. Note: the slides are licensed differently than the show: they are CC-By-SA-3.0-Unported (rather than -USA).

Segment 2 (32:22)

• Bradley mentioned FSF France's involvement with the AFPA case. (37:30)

Send feedback and comments on the cast to <oggcast@faif.us>. You can keep in touch with Free as in Freedom on our IRC channel, #faif on irc.freenode.net, and by following Conservancy on on Twitter and and FaiF on Twitter.

Free as in Freedom is produced by Dan Lynch of danlynch.org. Theme music written and performed by Mike Tarantino with Charlie Paxson on drums.

The content of this audcast, and the accompanying show notes and music are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike 4.0 license (CC BY-SA 4.0).

An arrest warrant was issued for a Florida pastor who refused to suspend in-person worship during the coronavirus crisis. New York’s mayor also issued a dire warning to congregations.

Elements of the right have sought to bolster President Trump’s political standing by turning scientific questions into political issues.

Detailed guidelines for reopening drafted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were blocked from publication after Trump administration officials labeled them “overly prescriptive.”

ROME, April 27 -- Dissatisfied with the results of a joint investigation with the United States, Italy on Wednesday began its own probe into the March 4 killing of one of its intelligence agents by U.S. troops in Baghdad.

7 Virtual Jazz Club continues its worldwide search for emerging and underrecognized creative musicians of all ages and backgrounds. This Year's Categories Under 25 Amateurs and Pros To enter the contest, soloists and groups pay a small registration fee and submit a video (maximum seven minutes) of their ...

Many of the country’s struggles before the pandemic — including mass internal migration, unsafe workplaces and industrial disasters — have been amplified by the lockdown and the subsequent move to reopen businesses.