To align with the phased resumption of public services, the Information Services Department, Government Records Service and Civil Aviation Department have announced their latest arrangements.

The Information Services Department will resume sales counter services at its Publications Sales Unit and Photo Library at North Point Government Offices from May 4.

The sales office will be open from 9am to 12.30pm and from 2pm to 6pm from Monday to Friday.

To reduce social contact and avoid people gathering, citizens are encouraged to purchase government publications and photos through the online bookstore and photo store.

The Government Records Service's Public Records Office will provide search room services, including onsite loan and circulation services, from Monday to Friday, 9am to 5.45pm, for people who have made reservations through the online catalogue.

The office will also resume search room services from 9am to 1pm on Saturdays for people to inspect holdings which have been reserved online. 

Requests by up to 15 users will be accepted for search room services for each open day on a first-come, first-served basis. Users will be notified of the reservation results by email.

Visitor and public education programmes will continue to be suspended, while the Exhibition Hall at the Public Records Building will be temporarily closed for preparation of the new thematic exhibition until further notice.

Enquiries can be made to 2195 7700 or via email.

The Civil Aviation Department’s Personnel Licensing Office will continue to provide counter services from next Monday and resume relevant licensing examinations.

The office's opening hours are 8.45am to 12.45pm and 1.45pm to 5pm, Monday to Friday. Enquiries can be made to 2910 6046 or via email.

Click here for the latest public service arrangements.

The Immigration Department announced today that the operation of all nine Smart Identity Card Replacement Centres will be fully resumed on May 11 in light of the more stabilised epidemic situation.

The department earlier suspended the replacement of Hong Kong identity cards at the centres to avoid the increased risk of spreading COVID-19.

To arrange for people affected by the service suspension to replace their identity cards in an orderly manner, the Secretary for Security has made an amendment order to revise the replacement period for people born in 1957 to 1963 and 1970 to 1976 and the arrangement for members of the sixth term of District Councils.

Click here for the arrangements.

If the replacement of identity cards needs to be suspended again in the future to cope with a sudden turn of the epidemic situation, the amendment order also provides that if all the centres are not in service for a period of 21 working days or more from May 11 to July 27 for public health reasons, the specified period for the above people will be further extended or amended.

The amendment order will be tabled at the Legislative Council on May 13 for negative vetting.

To reduce crowd gatherings, applicants who have not made appointments previously should do so via the Internet, the department’s mobile application or the 24-hour hotline at 2121 1234.

The department also appealed to applicants to pre-fill the application form when making appointments through the Internet or mobile application.

For details click here or call 2824 6111.

Supreme Ventures Racing and Entertainment Limited, operators of Caymanas Track, has announced the re-opening of the main track, effective tomorrow. The company said in a press release on Thursday evening that the track will be opened for two days...

BERLIN, Germany (AP): THE BUNDESLIGA football season will resume on May 16 in empty stadiums, picking up right where it left off two months ago amid the coronavirus pandemic. Yesterday’s announcement comes one day after clubs were told the season...

Coronavirus brings worldwide horse racing almost to a halt, with only one Grade 1 event on the weekend schedule, but rays of hope exist.

The Small Business Administration will resume accepting Paycheck Protection Program loan applications at 10:30 a.m. EST on April 27 from “approved lenders on behalf of any eligible borrower,” the agency said.

[Paris] : [publisher not identified], 1895.

The Bundesliga soccer season will resume on May 16 in empty stadiums, picking up right where it left off two months ago amid the coronavirus pandemic. Thursday’s announcement comes one day after clubs were told the season could restart following a meeting between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the country’s 16 state governors. Germany has had a high number of COVID-19 infections — nearly 170,000 by Thursday, according to Johns Hopkins University — with about 7,000 deaths, a lower number compared to elsewhere.

The process is based on the U.S. three-phase federal guidelines for easing social distancing and re-opening non-essential businesses.

In April alone, the Sturminster Newton Mill ground more than one ton of wheat

Long-term care homes in Eastern Health's jurisdiction are allowing for people to again visit their relatives by windows, just in time for Mother's Day. 

People in Truro, N.S., are reeling after the disappearance of three-year-old Dylan Ehler as the community tries to come to grips with another potential tragedy in the area.

Major League Baseball could hold a rescheduled opening day between mid-June and July 4 and play at least 80 games this season, The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal reported Tuesday.

The German soccer league reported 10 positive tests for the coronavirus among 36 clubs in the Bundesliga and second division on Monday.

Players from La Liga side Eibar have issued a joint statement expressing their concerns about returning to training and matches while the new coronavirus remains a threat.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Sunday that NHL players would — at a minimum — need to follow quarantine protocols if they were to arrive in Canada while the border remains closed due to the pandemic.

CNA Staff, Apr 30, 2020 / 02:00 pm (CNA).- As the Chinese government makes progress containing the COVID-19 pandemic, authorities have resumed action to remove crosses from buildings and crackdown on religious practice.

The latest round of enforcement actions have included the removal of crosses from buildings belonging to the state-run churches. According to a report from UCA News, priests say they are cooperating in the removal of exterior crosses in hopes that entire church buildings will not be demolished or converted into a building for secular use.  

According to a parishioner in the Chinese province of Anhui named John, Chinese officials cut down the cross from the top of Our Lady of the Rosary Church on April 18. Our Lady of the Rosary belongs to the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association (CPCA, the Catholic Church officially sanctioned by the Chinese Communist Party and operating both in communion with Rome and under state control. 

The bishops of the CPCA, who were in many cases illicitly consecrated and under official excommunication, were received into full communion with Rome as part of the Vatican’s 2018 provisional agreement with China. The full terms of the China deal were not released to the public but have been reported to include the right of state authorities to propose and veto candidates for the episcopacy in China. 

John, speaking to UCA News, explained that on April 13, the leaders of Our Lady of the Rosary--which does not have a member of the clergy assigned to it, and all religious activities are organized by the laity--asked the city authorities about making repairs to the church building. Three days later, the community director of the city requested keys and access to the church, in order to remove its cross. 

Concerned parishioners went to Bishop Joseph Liux Xinhong of the Diocese of Anhui, who told them to request more information from the local CPCA office. The local CPCA office said they did not know of any plan to remove the cross from the building. 

Xinhong was one of the bishops who had his excommunication lifted and his position recognized by the Vatican following the 2018 provisional deal. 

On April 17, the parish community leader said that he had been given “directions from superiors” regarding removing the cross. The following day, said John, the cross was removed by a “team of young people.”

Elsewhere in the province of Anhui, on April 19 a cross was removed from a church in Suzhou City during pre-dawn hours, presumably to avoid the chance of a crowd protesting its removal. A man from the diocese named Paul told UCA News that the removal had previously been scheduled for the afternoon. 

Paul said that police officers blocked people from entering the church or taking pictures of the removal, and that a cell phone had been confiscated after it captured a picture of the cross coming down. 

In Hefei City, which is also located in the Anhui province, authorities on April 27 took a cross off a building for a Protestant church. 

A priest from the Diocese of Anhui, identified only as “Father Chen,” told UCA News that these sorts of activities are “happening all over the mainland” and are not limited to one diocese or province. 

 “If the churches don’t unite to resist, many more crosses will be removed,” he said.

In September 2017, China enacted strict new regulations concerning religion. Since then, authorities have been vigilant in enforcing permitting requirements. Churches that are not found to be in compliance are destroyed. 

Rome Newsroom, Apr 30, 2020 / 11:45 am (CNA).- After eight weeks without funerals, Italian families will be able finally to gather together to mourn and pray at funeral Masses for the victims of the coronavirus starting May 4.

In Milan, the largest city in Italy’s coronavirus epicenter, priests are preparing for an influx of funeral requests in the coming weeks in the Lombardy region, where 13,679 have died.

Fr. Mario Antonelli, who oversees liturgies on behalf of the Archdiocese of Milan, told CNA that archdiocesan leadership met April 30 to coordinate guidelines for Catholic funerals as more than 36,000 people remain positive for COVID-19 in their region.

“I am moved, thinking of so many dear people who have wanted [a funeral] and still desire one,” Fr. Antonelli said April 30.

He said that the church in Milan is ready like the Good Samaritan to “pour oil and wine on the wounds of many who have suffered the death of a loved one with the terrible agony of not being able to say goodbye and embrace.”

A Catholic funeral is “not just a solemn farewell from loved ones,” the priest explained, adding that it expresses a pain like childbirth. “It is the cry of pain and loneliness that becomes a song of hope and communion with the desire for an everlasting love.”

Funerals in Milan will occur on an individual basis with no more than 15 people in attendance, as required by “phase two” of the Italian government’s coronavirus measures. 

Priests are asked to notify local authorities when a funeral is scheduled to take place and ensure that social distancing measures defined by the diocese are followed throughout the liturgy. 

Milan is home to the Ambrosian rite, the Catholic liturgical rite named for St. Ambrose, who led the diocese in the 4th century.

“According to the Ambrosian rite, the funeral liturgy includes three ‘stations’: the visit / blessing of the body with the family; community celebration (with or without Mass); and burial rites at the cemetery,” Antonelli explained. 

“Trying to reconcile the sense of the liturgy … and the sense of civic responsibility, we ask the priests to refrain from visiting the family of the deceased to bless the body,” he said.

While Milan archdiocese is limiting priests from the traditional blessing of the body in the home of the family, the funeral Mass and burial rites will be able to take place at a church or “preferably” at a cemetery, Antonelli added. 

During the nearly two months without Masses and funerals, dioceses in northern Italy have been maintaining telephone lines for grieving families with spiritual counsel and psychological services. In Milan, the service is called “Hello, is this an angel?” and is operated by priests and religious who spend time on the phone with the sick, the mourning, and the lonely. 

Aside from funerals, public Masses will still not be allowed throughout Italy under the government’s May 4 coronavirus restrictions. As Italy eases its lockdown, it remains unclear when public Masses will be allowed by the Italian government.

Italian bishops have been critical of Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte’s latest coronavirus measures, announced on April 26, saying that they “arbitrarily exclude the possibility of celebrating Mass with the people."

According to the prime minister’s April 26 announcement, the easing of lockdown measures will allow retail stores, museums, and libraries to reopen beginning May 18 and restaurants, bars, and hair salons June 1.

Movement between Italian regions, within regions, and within cities and towns is still prohibited except under strict cases of necessity.

In a letter April 23, Cardinal Gualtiero Bassetti of Perugia, the president of the Italian bishops' conference, wrote that “the time has come to resume the celebration of the Sunday Eucharist, and church funerals, baptisms and all the other sacraments, naturally following those measures necessary to guarantee security in the presence of more people in public places.”

Rome, Italy, May 7, 2020 / 11:00 am (CNA).- Dioceses in Italy can resume the celebration of public Masses beginning Monday, May 18, under conditions issued Thursday by the head of Italy’s bishops and by government officials.

The protocol for Mass and other liturgical celebrations states that churches must limit the number of people present – ensuring a one-meter (three feet) distance – and congregants must wear face masks. The church must also be cleaned and disinfected between celebrations.

For the distribution of the Eucharist, priests and other ministers of Holy Communion are asked to wear gloves and masks covering both the nose and mouth and to avoid contact with communicants’ hands.

The Diocese of Rome suspended public Masses March 8 due to the coronavirus outbreak. Several dioceses in hard-hit northern Italy, including Milan and Venice, had suspended public liturgies as early as the last week of February.

All public religious celebrations, including baptisms, funerals, and weddings, were prohibited during the Italian government’s lockdown, which went into effect March 9.

Funerals were allowed again beginning May 4. Public baptisms and weddings may now also resume in Italy starting May 18.

The protocol issued May 7 lays out the general directions for complying with health measures, such as the indication of a maximum capacity in a church based on maintaining at least one-meter distance between people.

Access to the church must be regulated to control the number present, it says, and the number of Masses can be increased to ensure social distancing.

The church should be cleaned and disinfected after every celebration and the use of worship aids such as hymnals is discouraged.

Church doors should be propped open before and after Mass to aid traffic flow and hand sanitizer must be available at entrances.

Among other suggestions, the Sign of Peace should be omitted, and holy water fonts kept empty, the protocol states.

The protocol was signed by Italian bishops’ conference president Cardinal Gualtiero Bassetti, Prime Minister and President of the Council Giuseppe Conte, and the Minister of the Interior Luciana Lamorgese.

A note says the protocol was prepared by the Italian bishops’ conference and examined and approved by the government’s Technical-Scientific Committee for COVID-19.

April 26 Italy’s bishops had criticized Conte for failing to lift the ban on public Masses.

In a statement, the bishops’ conference denounced Conte’s decree on “phase 2” of Italy’s coronavirus restrictions, which it said, “arbitrarily excludes the possibility of celebrating Mass with the people.”

The prime minister’s office responded later the same night indicating that a protocol would be studied to allow “the faithful to participate in liturgical celebrations as soon as possible in conditions of maximum security.”

The Italian bishops issued a statement May 7 stating that the protocol for restarting public Masses “concludes a path that has seen collaboration between the Italian Episcopal Conference, the Prime Minister, the Minister of the Interior.”

Low-cost European carrier Wizz Air has announced plans to resume some flights from Luton Airport on May 1.

Penn State Health today resumed construction of Penn State Health Cocoa Outpatient Center, an expansion of medical services at the former CocoaPlex Center location.

JK Tyre has resumed partial operations in India after adhering to the guidelines laid down by the government and getting permissions from local and state authorities.

While few auto component manufacturers in the green zone are planning to restart operations, others operating in orange zones are seeking permission to resume their work again. Needless to say, those...

Production has restarted at the company plant in Sriperumbudur, Chennai in 100 % compliance to social distancing apart from adhering to all State & Central Government guidelines.

The Delhi High Court has asked the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) to ensure that dispensation of medicines from its pharmacy, which was functioning in limited capacity due to the...

Specific steps will be taken to keep the workforce healthy and organisational provisions to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the workplace. Production at our three Skoda Auto Czech sites has been suspended since 18 March 2020.

As a protocol, all Ola rides will be driven only across the identified safe zones. To ensure that driver-partners adhere to the rule, a mandatory selfie authentication will be required before and after every ride.

The Maruti Suzuki showrooms are being encouraged to ask its employees to wear masks, gloves and maintain social distancing.

Earlier in April, Ferrari had started to produce respirator valves and fittings for protective masks at its Maranello plant as one of its initiatives in support of health workers treating coronavirus patients.

Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control Secretary Shawn M. Garvin announced today that the Department has granted approval to Croda, Inc. to resume ethylene oxide (EO) production at the company’s Atlas Point facility. Croda received DNREC approval by fulfilling its obligations to improve safety at the facility through actions required by DNREC’s accidental release program. DNREC issued its requirements after investigating the Nov. 25, 2018 accidental release of EO, the volatile chemical substance used in the manufacturing of Croda’s products.

The Uttar Pradesh state government has lifted the ban on production and retail of nicotine and tobacco-less ‘paan masala’ products.

For those looking forward to luxury journeys on board Deccan Odyssey India , the news of possible cancellation of the service will come as dismay. According to the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation, new proposal for short itinerary and lesser haulage charges have been sent to Indian...

US electric-car maker Tesla's CEO Elon Musk has told employees that its plant in Fremont, California will be reopened on Friday. It comes as California allows state manufacturers to start reopening following the lockdown.
Read Full Article at RT.com

Job guarantee programme (MGNREGA) works are allowed with strict implementation of social distancing and face mask.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services have begun the premium processing in respect of all H-1B petitions. This translates to a guaranteed processing time covering 15 days. In the other scenario, it will refund the premium processing fee to the petitioner.The…

In his address, the PM said detailed guidelines on the new lockdown would be announced on April 15 and some conditions could be relaxed after April 20 in places reporting no new infections.

The Goa tourism industry can resume only after the lockdown is lifted and the coronavirus situation is completely under control in the country.

Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri took to Twitter to indicate that the restrictions will only be lifted once the government is confident that the outbreak of Coronavirus has been controlled.

Even though the work has started authorities have ensured that each and every norms of the Coronavirus COVID-19 Lockdown extension are followed at the Kashi Vishwanath Dham project site.

The Bundesliga season will restart on May 16 after a suspension of more than two months, the German Football League (DFL) said Thursday, becoming the first European league to resume amid the coronavirus epidemic

In a bid to curb the transmission of novel Coronavirus, India suspended public transport services and enforced a nearly two-month country-wide lockdown that is currently set to end on May 17.

The government had last week permitted the companies to restore their manufacturing operations in red, green and organ zones with certain riders.

1. 'Over 30,000 people will show up outside Anfield' if PL resumes without neutral stadiums, warns McAteer  Goal India
2. Premier League: What happens to the players on loan?  NewsBytes
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The National Hot Rod Association is working toward resuming the 2020 season in August, with fans in attendance, according to a Monday press release.

MANILA: Manila’s international airport will allow international charter and commercial flights to resume arriving on designated days, beginning from Monday.