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Birmingham vies with Rio as world carnival champs

Media and creative professionals from across the West Midlands helped put Birmingham on the map as the new Carnival Capital last week, at a special event organised by the Birmingham Publicity Association (BPA).




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ITC ltd ramps up production to meet demand for sanitisers

The company which retails Savlon range of sanitisers, has stepped up production at the facility in Himachal Pradesh to produce an additional 1.25 lakh litres.




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City Visions: Lessons from Japanese internment camps

Host Joseph Pace and guests explore the history of discrimination against Japanese Americans and immigrants in the first half of the 20th century. What parallels can be drawn between their experiences and today’s debate over immigration and national security?




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Get USB Loopback, Better Preamps, and Audio Enhancement in Focusrite’s 3rd-Generation Scarlett Audio Interfaces

Focusrite makes my favorite USB audio interfaces. The new 3rd-generation Scarlett models bring improved audio quality with new preamps and more gain, audio enhancement, USB loopback, USB-C connectivity, and more! Thanks to John DiNicola for joining me in this video! Watch all my video interviews from Podcast Movement 2019, and click here to see the...




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CDC Guidance For Reopening Schools, Child Care And Summer Camps Is Leaked

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




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As hunger swells, food stamps become partisan flashpoint


The reality of so many Americans running out of food is an alarming reminder of the economic hardship the pandemic has inflicted. But despite spending trillions on other programs, Republicans have balked at a long-term expansion of food stamps.




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Turning to New Hampshire, Democratic Rivals Jostle for Advantage


The candidates put their own spin on the Iowa uncertainty -- and quickly moved on to the next battleground.



  • Nation & World
  • Nation & World Politics

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AFL to stage regional community camps

The AFL has announced it will hold a number of community camps in regional Western Australia next year.




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How Australia's inaugural T20 world champs paved the way to the packed stadiums of today

From a scattering of fans to stadiums at near-capacity, women's cricket has come a long way in the last decade since Australia won its first women's T20 World Cup.




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Backpackers and elderly quarantine with vines and rope at roadside campsite

Police say "no action" will be taken against 15 waterfront campers in Far North Queensland who say they have nowhere else to go during the COVID-19 pandemic.




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Raiders campsite





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Labor ramps up pressure as Hobart hospital construction works drag on

With the September deadline for practical completion of the Royal Hobart Hospital's new K-block redevelopment expired, the Government "needs to be upfront with Tasmanians" as to when it will be operational, Labor says.




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Bathurst's historic street lamps: Confusing tourist traffic since 1933

It's an old joke in Bathurst that locals can spot an out-of-towner because they turn the wrong way around one of the historic lamp standards in the city's CBD. But what's the reason behind this road rule and is it unique to Bathurst?




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Ranking World Series champs since 2000: 10-6




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Ranking World Series champs since 2000: 5-1




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Lamps Plus, Inc. v. Varela

(United States Supreme Court) - Held that parties do not consent to classwide arbitration if the agreement is ambiguous on that point. An employer sought to block an employee from proceeding with a proposed class action lawsuit and instead force his claims into individual arbitration. The U.S. Supreme Court agreed that the employer had the right to do this, because the arbitration agreement was ambiguous about the availability of classwide arbitration. Chief Justice Roberts delivered the opinion of the 5-4 Court.



  • Dispute Resolution & Arbitration
  • Labor & Employment Law

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U.S. v. Sampson

(United States Second Circuit) - Reinstated federal embezzlement charges against a foreclosure referee who was also formerly a New York state senator. The defendant argued that the charges against him for allegedly embezzling escrowed funds from sales of foreclosed properties should be dismissed because the five-year statute of limitations on the offense had run. On appeal, the Second Circuit agreed with prosecutors that the district court should not have granted the defendant's motion to dismiss the charges as time-barred.



  • Criminal Law & Procedure
  • White Collar Crime
  • Elections

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Report: Ex-Stamps DB Roberson to sign with Bears




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Can California’s Air Remain Clean Post Pandemic? Yes, If The State Amps Up Its Climate Goals, Studies Say.

By Ezra David Romero

Air quality across California has visibly improved with fewer drivers on the road because of stay-at-home orders. But when the orders are lifted pollution will likely return to pre-pandemic levels.

Some scientists say we don’t have to go back to having such poor air quality in the state, but they recognize it will take a total mindset change for Californians. The number of miles driven in the state has dropped by around 75% since stay-at-home orders went into place and has resulted in a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, said UC Davis Road Ecology Center director Fraser Shilling.

“We're learning new things about our driving behavior … can we both mitigate the harm from COVID-19 and also mitigate the harm that we cause by burning fuel and causing climate change?” Sterling questioned after analyzing data from Streelight.com. 

Nationally he reports there was a reduction of around 74 billion miles traveled in the U.S. from early March to mid-April. That resulted in a greenhouse gas emissions reduction of 4% nationally for 2020 and by 13% from transportation in about eight weeks. 

If this continues, Shilling says, the reduction of miles traveled could drastically impact our climate goals for the better, including putting the nation on track to meet its annual greenhouse gas reduction goals under the Paris Climate Accord.

He says it’s an interesting position for the federal government to be in where the lack of driving allows the U.S. to meet the goals of the “Paris Climate Accord, and on the other hand, inadvertently exceed the goals ... It's a cool green lining.”

California has a 2050 goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 80% from 1990 levels. Shilling says if traffic remained at stay-at-home levels for a year, the drop in miles traveled would allow the state to meet half of its climate target by 2050.  

The rest of the reductions would come from all sectors of the economy including transitions to bioenergy, offshore wind power, and increased energy storage. A 2019 study highlighted by Stanford University from the group Energy Futures Initiative says meeting the 2050 goals will be “extremely challenging.”

“It's painful to drive less and have less economic activity,” Shilling said. “But when we drive less, and when we work at home, we can start to meet these climate change goals. They're not so far out of the way, out of bounds that we can't achieve them.”

But Shilling says there are negative aspects, depending on how you look at it, including potentially $370 million less state fuel tax revenue.

“The upside for drivers — like I filled my tank a month and a half ago — is we're not spending as much on fuel,” Shilling said. “The less fuel that's sold, the less fuel tax revenue … that money is not available for transportation projects.”

Could California keep its cleaner air?

Researchers at UCLA are taking this idea further. A study came out this week saying that California has all the policies and technology to stop all human-caused emissions by 2050. 

“We think there is a room for California to achieve that goal ahead of the game,” said Yifang Zhu, one of the authors of the peer-reviewed study published in the journal Nature Sustainability

The authors call for increased energy efficiency across all sectors and reducing emissions from energy creation as the core ways to reach the sped up goal. That would mean a “systematic change” in how Californians consume energy and “more stringent” policies.

“We're talking about 85% electrification rate in the residential and commercial sectors, which we’re not even close to [today],” Zhu said. 

Achieving carbon neutrality is part of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s mission to limit the rise in global temperature to 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit above pre-industrial levels by 2100. 

Zhu says, “nothing in our model in the roadmap is something unrealistic” even at a half a century ahead of the global goal. Doing so would mean fast tracking the state’s existing goals and their models show that by 2050 the savings from curbing emissions will exceed the cost by around $109 billion.

“We need to do more than what we're doing today,” Zhu said. “I want to highlight the cost is actually only 50% compared to the monetary benefits and also want to communicate the urgency for California agencies for stakeholders and policymakers to really act.”

Zhu says, even though the study started before the pandemic began, there’s a lesson to be learned from the COVID-19 crisis. 

“It is cheaper and safer to prevent people from catching and spreading this Coronavirus, then to treat huge numbers of severe cases,” Zhu said. “Similarly [with] climate change it is much better to cut down greenhouse gas emissions to prevent global temperature rise than to figure out how to deal with the potential future catastrophic consequences.”

The authors also note the state’s most disadvantage would benefit. According to the study, the state’s top 25% most polluted census tracts would get 35% of the health benefits of improved air quality. It could also, the study says, have a health effect of 14,000 fewer deaths from air pollution related illnesses every year, it could reduce asthma attacks in 1 million children and decrease cardiovascular hospital admissions by 4,500.

“Reducing greenhouse gas emissions in our state will not only slow down global climate change, but more importantly, will improve the air quality and protect people’s health in our local community,” said co-author Bin Zhao, a former UCLA researcher who is now an earth scientist at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. 




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Lamps Plus, Inc. v. Varela

(United States Supreme Court) - Held that parties do not consent to classwide arbitration if the agreement is ambiguous on that point. An employer sought to block an employee from proceeding with a proposed class action lawsuit and instead force his claims into individual arbitration. The U.S. Supreme Court agreed that the employer had the right to do this, because the arbitration agreement was ambiguous about the availability of classwide arbitration. Chief Justice Roberts delivered the opinion of the 5-4 Court.



  • Dispute Resolution & Arbitration
  • Labor & Employment Law

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COFFEY v. NEW HAMPSHIRE JUDICIAL RETIREMENT PLAN

(US 1st Circuit) - No. 19-1908




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Denver Public Schools’ summer courses will be held remotely, all district summer camps canceled

Denver Public Schools' summer classes will be held remotely, and all DPS summer camps are canceled, the school district announced Monday.




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Covid-19: Cricket Board Cancel Camps, Training

The Bermuda Cricket Board has canceled/postponed the Pee Wee Clinic, the Easter Action Cricket Camp, and the weekly Senior National Team training due to the ongoing global Covid-19 pandemic. A spokesperson said, “Due to the uncertainties of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Executive of the BCB has decided to cancel both the Pee Wee Clinic and the […]

(Click to read the full article)




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Joe Biden chooses vetting team as running mate search ramps up

Joe Biden has vowed to pick a woman as running mate. L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti will help the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee in his search.




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CDC Guidance For Reopening Schools, Child Care And Summer Camps Is Leaked

The document has been in the works for some time, but reports say the White House tried to suppress it.




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Republicans are all about boosting economic growth — except when it comes to food stamps

Kicking people off food stamps this late in the business cycle makes no sense.




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8 Virtual Summer Camps That Will Keep Your Little Ones Engaged

Obviously, due to the recent COVID-19 outbreak, summer plans are on hold until further notice. And for families who rely on camp during the warmer months, this can be problematic. Although traditional summer camps might be out of the question this year, there are plenty of virtual options that will keep kids of all ages entertained. Whether they're looking to keep their academics sharp (hey, no one likes that pesky summer slide, right?) or just want some good, old-fashioned fun, these online summer camps will deliver.




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Undercurrents - Episode 16: Cybercrime in the GCC States, and Fiction from Refugee Camps




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Hydel blow away rivals to keep Champs title

Hydel, despite trailing their rivals for two straight days, easily retained their title




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CBD Communiqué: The Beauty and Variety of Life on Earth Captured in Postage Stamps.




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Soldo supports COVID-19 'digital foodstamps' response

The London-headquartered fintech startup Soldo has repurposed its spend management tools for local authorities in Italy to support its COVID-19 emergency response measures




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With camps shut, families face summer in the great indoors




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New Hampshire offers guidance on high school graduations




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With camps shut, families face summer in the great indoors




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New Hampshire offers guidance on high school graduations




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The Spanish connection / Seán Hampsey.




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Du traitement de l’éclampsie puerpérale par l’hydrate de chloral / par Gustave Froger.

Paris : V. Adrien Delahaye, 1879.




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New Hampshire Gambles on Big Payout for Full-Day Kindergarten

The Granite State has legalized Keno gambling and plans to tax the machines to partially fund full-day kindergarten for the state's 5-year-olds.




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New Hampshire offers guidance on high school graduations




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Management information systems in the drug field / edited by George M. Beschner, Neil H. Sampson, National Institute on Drug Abuse ; and Christopher D'Amanda, Coordinating Office for Drug and Alcohol Abuse, City of Philadelphia.

Rockville, Maryland : National Institute on Drug Abuse, 1979.




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Staley thinks No. 1 South Carolina is national champs

South Carolina coach Dawn Staley believes her top-ranked Gamecocks are the women's basketball national champions, even without an NCAA Tournament trophy to put in their display case due to the pandemic-shortened season. The NCAA decided against officially crowning champions after its signature tournaments were called off due to the coronavirus pandemic that has sent much of the world into lock down. Staley spoke from her home where she's spent the past month managing her program and ensuring her players don't linger too much on what they missed.




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Salesforce Revamps Work.com to Help Businesses Address Pandemic

Salesforce has announced a new version of Work.com designed to help businesses function safely during the COVID-19 pandemic. "Work.com is a completely new initiative using an existing domain name that we previously owned," said Salesforce spokesperson Joel Steinfeld. "Our focus is on speed and moving as quickly as possible to help our customers, and Work.com is an optimal way to do that.




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Pro-democracy, Pro-Beijing camps scuffle at Hong Kong legislature

Scuffles broke out at Hong Kong's legislature Friday, with security guards ejecting several pro-democracy lawmakers, including one who was carried out by medics on a stretcher after he was injured.




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A Sporting Infusion for Ukrainian Summer Camps

OM Ukraine's sports team equips and trains churches in using non-traditional sports in their summer camps.




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College Board Cancels June SAT and Amps Up Fall Testing Schedule

To make up for lost opportunities for college admissions testing during the coronavirus crisis, the board plans to offer the test more often in the fall, including some test administrations during the school day.




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With camps shut, families face summer in the great indoors




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Preeclampsia and Retinopathy of Prematurity in Preterm Births

Preterm infants are at a high risk for retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). Several postnatal factors are well known to be associated with ROP. However, the relationships between antenatal or maternal risk factors and ROP are poorly understood.

This study used a large cohort database to study the influence of maternal gestational hypertension and preeclampsia on ROP in preterm infants. The results showed that preeclampsia, but not gestational hypertension, was associated with a reduced risk of ROP in preterm births. (Read the full article)




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TRAFFIC ALERT - I-95 and Route 141 Interchange Project Will Close Ramps at Night for Reconstruction of Guardrails

Newport --

Traffic Information: The Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT) announces to motorists that the following ramps will be closed for reconstruction of the guardrails and the installation of detection system.



Sunday, March 15, 2020 from 8:00 p.m. until 5:00 a.m. on Monday, March 16, 2020

Location: Exit 5B/I-95 northbound to Route 141 northbound


Monday, March 16, 2020 starting at 8:00 p.m. until 5:00 a.m. on Tuesday, March 17, 2020

Tuesday, March 17, 2020 at 8:00 p.m. until 5:00 a.m. on Wednesday, March 18, 2020

Location: Exit 3A/Route 141 northbound to I-95 northbound

Location: Exit 3A/Route 141 southbound to I-95 northbound

Detour Routes for Exits:

Exit 5B/I-95 northbound to Route 141 northbound

For traffic on I-95 northbound, south of Route 141 interchange, motorists will take the decel/accel lane to the ramp to I-295 northbound, take the ramp to US 13 southbound and take the ramp to Route 141 northbound.

Exit 3A/Route 141 northbound to I-95 northbound

Motorist traveling northeast on Airport Road will follow detour signs, taking Route 141 southbound to US 13 to I-295 to I-95 northbound. [More]




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TRAFFIC ALERT - Closure of Exit 2 and Airport Road for Construction of Ramps

Newport --

As part of the Route 141 Improvements, I-95 Interchange to Jay Drive project, the Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT) announces to motorists that Exit 2 and Airport Road will be closed to traffic stating on March 1, 2020.

Exit 2/Route 141 southbound to I-295 northbound will be closed starting at 4:00 p.m. on March 1, 2020 until late-May 2020 to construct the ramps and roadway.

Detour Routes for Exit 2:

For traffic on Route 141 southbound, north of I-95 interchange, motorists will take the ramp to I-95 southbound to Route 58/Churchmans Road, turn left onto Route 7, take ramp to I-95 northbound and take ramp to I-295 northbound. [More]