OTTAWA – The official Opposition is pointing to India’s decision to raise tariffs on chickpeas as the latest evidence that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s recent trip to that country ended up doing more harm than good.Conservative MP Candice Bergen led off question period Friday by citing India’s higher tariffs — now 60 per cent, up from 40 — as proof that Trudeau’s troubled trip overseas and the ensuing controversy have resulted a breakdown in relations.“Last night India raised the duty on chickpeas to 60 per cent — a clear signal that India is understandably upset and Canadian chickpea producers are the first to pay the price,” Bergen said.Trudeau has been embroiled in controversy since news broke that Jaspal Atwal — a B.C. Sikh convicted of trying to kill an Indian cabinet minister in 1986 — was included on the guest list for a pair of high-level receptions in India, and even attended one where he was photographed with Trudeau’s wife.A media briefing during the trip by national security adviser Daniel Jean suggested Atwal’s presence during Trudeau’s trip was arranged by factions within the Indian government who want to prevent Prime Minister Narendra Modi from getting too cosy with a foreign government they believe is not committed to a united India.India provides significant growth potential for trade with Canada, said Bergen, but the governing Liberals are threatening those relations by suggesting India itself helped to orchestrate what turned out to be an embarrassing gaffe.“When the prime minister is blaming India for causing problems with his trip, the prime minister is damaging all of the work that everybody in this place is trying to do for Canadians,” Bergen said. “His conspiracy theory against India is causing a breakdown in our relationship.”Trudeau, speaking in Barrie, Ont., said the tariff increase doesn’t specifically target Canada, and that he had productive discussions with Modi on increasing the predictability of future tariffs as well as on pest treatment issues with shipments to India.“Last week I had excellent conversations with Prime Minister Modi about science-based approaches to fumigation issues that were related to our pulses here, where we agreed to settle the science and bring forth science-based solutions within the next year, and bring about better predictability on what tariff barriers could be.”The latest increase in chickpea tariffs comes after India imposed a 50 per cent tariff on pea imports last November and a 30 per cent tariff on chickpeas and lentils in December that were then raised to 40 per cent in February.The increases are part of the Indian government’s push to boost domestic production of the crops, and protect farmers from cheaper international production, said Pulse Canada CEO Gordon Bacon.“They’ve made it clear they want to become self-sufficient for pulse production.”He said Canadian chickpea exports to India have averaged around $5 million over the past five years, compared with more than $500 million for both peas and lentils, making chickpeas an odd choice if India were truly trying to punish Canada.“If it is punishment, it is a small metering out of punishment relative to what could have happened if they would have applied it to lentils.”India’s tariffs on peas are already at the maximum allowed by trade agreements, but the country could raise chickpea and lentil tariffs to 100 per cent, he added.
Bell Canada acknowledged Friday that it needs to improve when selling its television, internet and wireless services but insisted that the percentage of problems it experiences is small and doesn’t reflect its own code of conduct.Rob Malcolmson, who led a Bell delegation to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, said the company has a stringent code of conduct for employees and contractors.But the senior vice-president of regulatory affairs for Bell’s parent BCE Inc. acknowledged that “more can be done to strengthen the confidence and trust Canadian consumers have in our industry.”The Montreal-based company — which operates the Virgin Mobile and Lucky wireless brands in addition to various Bell services — was named in 346 of about 1,300 complaints filed as part of the CRTC’s inquiry.“We did a deeper dive on those, and 201 fell into the category ‘price not as expected’ . . . and 78 fell into the category of potentially aggressive sales tactics,” Malcolmson said.“So we looked at those and we said, that seems to be the core issue and asked: How do we fix it?”Bell’s proposed solution is to have several measures required of the industry as a whole — including allowing a customer to terminate a new service within 30 days of installation, without an early termination fee.Bell also says all service should provide order confirmations, written in plain language, within 24 hours of an order being placed.Rizwan Jamal, president of Bell Residential Services, said that if customers don’t agree after reviewing the written material “they can walk away with no termination penalties.”Several advocacy groups for consumers, seniors, ethnic groups and people with disabilities have proposed numerous ways to impose new rules or standards on the telecommunications industry.But many of the companies that sell the products insisted during a week of proceedings that industry-wide rules and regulations aren’t necessary.The delegation from Rogers Communications — which offers Rogers, Fido and Chatr wireless services in addition to its Rogers branded television and internet services for the home — said Friday it doesn’t think a CRTC code of sales practices is necessary but it would want to be involved with its creation if that’s the outcome of the hearing process.“We don’t believe there’s a systemic issue,” said Eric Agius, the company’s senior vice-president of customer care, said in an interview after addressing the commission.“For us, what’s most important is that we build long-term relationships with our customers.”Rogers is tackling the issue of customer complaints by continuously improving its sales processes — including the introduction of a new pause in transactions that will give sales people time to clearly explain all elements of the deal.A limited number of Rogers retail outlets have already introduced a system for summarizing all the key elements of a quote, and the company aims to do the same across all its sales channels by the end of 2019 — including door-to-door..Earlier, Shaw Communications Inc. said the federal regulator can best protect Canadians from problem sales practices by banning telecom companies from using outside contractors to do their door-to-door sales.Shaw senior vice-president Paul Cowling told CRTC commissioners that door-to-door sales have resulted in the most serious problems revealed by media reports, which included investigative reports by CBC.“Focusing a recommendation or remedy on door-to-door sales would address the most significant area of risk and consumer vulnerability,” Cowling said. “We have proposed a prohibition on third-party sales.”Like its competitors, Shaw does uses door-to-door sales but they are by employees rather than outside contractors. By contrast, Rogers uses a combination of employees and outside contractors for door-to-door sales and Bell outsources all of its door-to-door sales to a third-party provider.Companies in this story: (TSX:SJR.B, TSX:RCI.B, TSX:BCE)
FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. – The B.C. Wildfire Service responded to seven new forest fires on Saturday that were all human-caused.The largest fire was south of Pouce Coupe and reached 10 hectares in size. Crews from the B.C. Wildfire Service, the Pouce Coupe Volunteer Fire Department and a crew from Alberta all responded to the fire. Two tankers were successful in containing the fire and keeping it from Highway 2. Crews will continue to monitor the fire throughout the night and have more resources on the fire if need be on Sunday. The Village of Pouce Coupe has not issued any evacuation orders or alerts for the area. Wonowon/Halfway RiverThis fire was started by someone burning grass. Crews in the area have the fire under control.Gundy RoadThis fire reached four hectares in size and is now considered out.Powder KingA landowner was burning and caused this fire. Crews are working the fire and it is currently 1.5 hectares in size. The fire is located 15 km north of Powder King along Highway 97.Fire Information Officers Amanda Reynolds with the Prince George Fire Centre said that conditions in Northeast B.C. are starting to dry out because of the lack of rain that the rest of the Southern Interior has experienced this week. Reynolds is reminding residents that Category Two fires, fireworks, and burning barrels are currently banned in all of Northeast B.C. and that anyone present near a campfire that is larger than a half-metre in dimension would be liable to get a fine of over $1,000.The video below shows crews responding to a fire near Fort Nelson on Friday, May 11. The fire caused over 100 properties to be evacuated for part of the day on Friday. The fire has been contained. The Village of Pouce Coupe has banned all burning within the boundaries of the community. The ban includes everything from large burning to campfires. This ban only affects residents that live within the boundaries of the Village of Pouce Coupe.
B.C. Wildfire Service officials are stressing residents in the Peace Region need to obey the fire ban that was implemented earlier this month for the entire region. A category two ban is in place that covers all open burning of any material (piled or unpiled) smaller than two metres high and three metres wide. The ban also includes burning barrels, fireworks and stubble or grass fires over an area smaller than 2,000 square metres. At this time the ban does not include campfires.With the forecast calling for more hot and dry weather, with high winds, the B.C. Wildfire Service is ready with resources to respond to any new fires.Beaton River ValleyThis fire started on Friday but is now considered out. The fire reached 2.5 hectares in size.
Baldonnel RoadThis fire has six firefighters working to contain the fire. Local residents are also helping and crews have been able to get a good handle on the fire. It is approximately 8 hectares.East PineThe fire is two to three hectares in size and eight firefighters are working the fire. The winds have died down and crews have also been able to contain this fire.
Rabat – A group of Moroccan members of parliament has rejected to take smartphones given to them for free by the department of the House of Representatives.Ilyass Omari, the Secretary General of the Modernity and Authenticity Party (PAM), has called on the party’s MPs to return the smart phones, as well as gasoline cards, within a week.The PAM issued a communiqué Tuesday saying that the party will instead allocate a sum from its budget for the transportation and mobile expenses of its MPs. The Federation of Democratic Left’s (FGD) MPs Omar Belafrej and Mustapha Chennaoui have rejected to take the smartphones, in addition to Hanan Rihab, a MP from the Socialist Union of Popular Forces (USFP) who wrote on her Facebook she had returned the phone.The grant of mobile phones to the party’s MPs from the House of Representatives had sparked uproar and criticism at the high cost of the phones valued at MAD 5,000 to 8,000.“This decision must be praised,” political analyst Omar Cherkaoui told Morocco World News. “It is one of the [many] courageous positions taken by the PAM to preserve public money.”Cherkaoui clarified that the grant of mobile phones was not an official parliamentary stipulation. “It was only agreed upon during the former term led by Rachid Talbi Alami, the former president of the House of Representatives.”“These privileges granted to the MPs should be reviewed,” Cherkaoui said. “The PAM and other MPs should submit a request to both House of Representatives and Advisors to abolish all these privileges.”The Justice and Development Party (PJD) has not made a public announcement regarding their position on the granted cellphones. Idriss Azami Idrissi, president of the PJD’s House of Representatives team, did not respond to MWN’s calls for comment.
Villagers in Kilinochchi had recently captured and killed a leopard after it attacked 10 people in the area. Ten suspects arrested over the killing of a leopard in Kilinochchi were today granted bail.The suspects had been in remand till today but were granted bail by the Kilinochchi Magistrate’s Court. The dead animal was later dragged along the streets and displayed to the public. (Colombo Gazette) The villagers hunted down the animal after accusing wildlife officers of failing to do their duty. Wildlife officers had arrived at Ambalkulam in Kilinochchi to capture the animal but they had failed to locate it resulting in agitated residents deciding to look for the animal themselves.The hunt for the leopard was captured on video and visuals showed the leopard being captured and brutally attacked and killed by the residents.
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Postal Service said Monday it is the victim of a cyberattack and that information about its employees, including Social Security numbers, may have been compromised.The FBI and other federal agencies are investigating, the agency said in a statement.Postal Service spokesman David Partenheimer said the personal information that may have been obtained in the attack includes employees’ names, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, addresses, emergency contacts and other information.However, he also said that customers at local post offices or those using its website, usps.com, were not affected. But people who used its call centre may have had telephone numbers, email addresses and other information compromised. He said that the attacks happened in mid-September. Just when the breach occurred is under investigation, he said.The agency isn’t recommending that those customers take any action.The Postal Service provided no immediate information on how many people may have been affected. It employs over 800,000 workers.“The intrusion is limited in scope and all operations of the Postal Service are functioning normally,” Partenheimer said.“It is an unfortunate fact of life these days that every organization connected to the Internet is a constant target for cyber intrusion activity,” Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe said in a statement. “The United States Postal Service is no different.”“Fortunately, we have seen no evidence of malicious use of the compromised data and we are taking steps to help our employees protect against any potential misuse of their data.”Partenheimer said the attacks affected Postal Service workers across the board, from the postmaster general to letter carriers to those who work in the inspector general’s office.Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland, the senior Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said the panel had received two classified briefings on the attacks.“The increased frequency and sophistication of cyber-attacks upon both public and private entities highlights the need for greater collaboration to improve data security,” he wrote in a letter to Donahoe.FBI spokesman Joshua Campbell confirmed the investigationAnd while declining to discuss details of what he called “an ongoing investigation,” Campbell said the FBI was working with the Postal Service “to determine the nature and scope of this incident.”“Impacted individuals should take steps to monitor and safeguard their personally identifiable information and report any suspected instances of identity theft to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center at www.ic3.gov , ” he said.___Follow Tom Raum on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/tomraum AddThis Sharing ButtonsShare to TwitterTwitterShare to FacebookFacebookShare to RedditRedditShare to 電子郵件Email Postal Service says it is victim of cyberattack, employee data may have been compromised by Tom Raum, The Associated Press Posted Nov 10, 2014 8:36 am MDT
“The Secretary-General extends his condolences to the families of the deceased and the Government of Kenya and wishes the wounded a swift recovery,” said a statement issued by Mr. Ban’s spokesperson.The Somali insurgent group known as Al-Shabaab has reportedly claimed responsibility for the attacks, which targeted hotels and a police station and lasted several hours, according to media reports. “The Secretary-General reiterates the solidarity of the United Nations with the people and Government of Kenya in their struggle against terrorism,” said today’s statement.“He trusts the authorities will do all in their power to bring the perpetrators to justice in a manner that is fully respectful of Kenya’s human rights obligations.”
Redshirt senior middle blocker Driss Guessous takes a set from senior setter Christy Blough in the match against Loyola on Feb. 12. Credit: Aliyyah Jackson | Lantern reporterThe top-ranked Ohio State men’s volleyball team (15-0, 6-0 MIVA) heads to Phoenix over the weekend for two conference matches against Grand Canyon University (9-5, 5-1 MIVA) on Friday and Sunday.The Buckeyes come into the matchup having dropped a set in both wins against Quincy University and Lindenwood University, two teams that sit at the bottom of the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association standings. Grand Canyon is currently riding a five-game win streak.“It’ll be a challenge,” OSU coach Pete Hanson said. “They’re a veteran team, and our guys are going to have come ready to play.”With a roster featuring only seven underclassmen, Grand Canyon sits only behind OSU in the MIVA standings, providing stiffer competition for the Buckeyes than either Quincy or Lindenwood could.After winning 38 straight games, a school record among all teams competing head-to-head, the challenge for the Buckeyes moving forward will be maintaining such a high level of success.“We’re continuing to remind the guys that, at this point in time, you’re going to get everyone’s best effort,” Hanson said. “We have our work cut out for us. We just have to go in there and be focused and play hard and see if we can outlast those guys.”Grand Canyon is currently ranked eighth in blocks per set nationally, something the Buckeyes will need to prepare for after being stuffed eight times in one set against Lindenwood on Sunday. Redshirt junior middle blocker Ashton King is Grand Canyon’s blocking leader with 54 total blocks.The Buckeyes have found considerable success in Phoenix, having only lost once in the six times that they have traveled there to play Grand Canyon. The one loss came last season in a five-set match, where Grand Canyon was able to pick up its second win ever against OSU in the teams’ 15-match history dating back to 2010.“We know that they have a lot of crazy fans, so that should definitely be in their favor,” freshman outside hitter Reese Devilbiss said. “I’m pretty sure that if we play the way we can play, we’ll turn that crowd into our own crowd, and I hope we get the win.”If OSU manages to beat Grand Canyon in both matches over the weekend, it will tie Loyola’s 40-match win streak from the 2014 and 2015 seasons, the longest win streak in MIVA history.The Buckeyes take on Grand Canyon in Phoenix on Friday at 8 p.m. and on Sunday at 3 p.m.
Check out FiveThirtyEight’s March Madness predictions. SESSIONLOWER SEATSUPPER SEATSTICKETS SOLD Friday evening186.25107.952,375 Thursday evening163.0087.552,235 Sunday233.70130.752,760 Saturday248.45136.402,825 There are eight cities hosting March Madness games this weekend, but none with ticket sales hotter than Louisville, Ky.; Omaha, Neb.; and Seattle. That’s what happens when NCAA tournament games are basically home games.The demand for tickets there shows how valuable ostensible home games are to ticket sellers, if not to fairness lovers. Kentucky, Kansas and Gonzaga — the first or second highest-ranked teams facing off in the hot-ticket cities — all play their home games less than 300 miles from their tournament host cities. Omaha gets a double dip of local teams, with No. 7 Wichita State playing there as well.To get the list, I used data provided by two online ticket marketplaces, ScoreBig and SeatGeek. Connor Gregoire, a SeatGeek spokesman, sent data based on sales made via the site’s ticket search engine. Alison Burnham, vice president of pricing and analytics for ScoreBig, sent data for tickets available on her site and elsewhere on the secondary market.I compared average prices for top-tier seats, and, separately, for the cheap seats. Also, some sessions are more attractive than others — people would rather go to a weekend session than one during the week, probably both because of the convenience and because weekend sessions tend to feature tighter games. In addition, weeknights beat weekdays, and Fridays beat Thursdays, perhaps because it’s easier to travel without taking two days off work. Since 2011, Friday afternoon sessions have averaged 19 percent higher prices for the best seats, 30 percent higher prices for the cheaper seats and 26 percent more sales on SeatGeek. Thursday afternoon$131.95$67.802,175 So I compared apples to apples: How did Thursday afternoon sessions, for instance, compare to average prices for that session this year?After controlling for variables unrelated to which teams were playing, Louisville was clearly the hottest ticket among the four cities holding Thursday/Saturday sessions. Omaha and Seattle were the Friday/Sunday winners.1Venues sell four types of tickets: For each of the two round-of-64 sessions, for the single round-of-32 session, and for all three sessions combined. In each host city, I looked at ticket demand for each of the four ticket types in three ways: prices of more-expensive seats, prices of cheap seats and volume of ticket sales. That’s 12 points of comparison in all. Louisville and Omaha were above average in 11 of the 12 categories for their sessions. Seattle was above average in every ticket-price category, though below average in three of the four ticket-sale-volume categories. The ScoreBig data, used as a reality check, was similar, with Pittsburgh also making a strong showing.From a last-minute ticket-buyer’s perspective, the main question might be, how much is the least I can pay to get in? To answer that question, SeatGeek sent along daily figures for the ticket at the fifth percentile of listing prices for each session. Even these seats, some of the cheapest available, have stayed expensive for the round-of-64 sessions that feature quasi-home teams in Louisville, Omaha and Seattle. But for other sessions, prices have fallen. For instance, on Wednesday, tickets to the Thursday afternoon session in Louisville — the one that featured four teams not named Kentucky — could be had for just $14. Friday afternoon156.7588.052,740
← Previous Story Women’s WCh 2011 in Brasil Schedule Online Next Story → Nenad Vuckovic (MT Melsungen) for BH: “Kiel champion, we in TOP10” On wednesday, in what was supposed to be played on the 10th “Spieltag”, Rhein-Neckar Lowen beat HSV at home in Mannheim. The Lions were dominant, and they won the first half with 18:13. In the second half, HSV Hamburg couldn’t help it much, and only made the final defeat smaller, losing 33:29. For the Lions, Lijewski had his day, and scored 9 goals, while Gensheimer was on fire too, and scored 6 goals, 3 from 7-meters. For HSV-Hamburg, the other Lijewski had 6 goals, but top-scorer was Stefan Schroder with 8 goals.In the other games, THW Kiel again confirmed their domination, beating Frisch Auf Goppingen 28:20, while Grosswallstadt are bouncing back from their defeat against Gummersbach, and beat Balingen at home with 26:24.
Bactérie super-résistante NDM-1 : la Direction générale de la santé en faveur d’un dépistage généraliséMonde – Des souches d’entérobactéries dites NDM-1, hautement résistantes aux antibiotiques, ont été retrouvées notamment en Belgique, au Canada, en Grande-Bretagne, en Suède, en Australie, et aux États-Unis chez des patients qui ont été, pour la plupart, hospitalisés dans le sous-continent indien. A l’heure actuelle, on recense 200 cas à travers le monde, dont plus d’une centaine en Inde. Mercredi 18 août, la Direction générale de la santé a publié un communiqué de presse. Elle recommande aux établissements et professionnels de santé de mettre en œuvre un dépistage des bactéries chez tous les patients ayant séjourné dans un hôpital étranger. Elle préconise aussi le renforcement des mesures d’hygiène autour de ces patients.Enfin, le professeur Patrice Nordmann, chef du service de bactériologie-virologie-parasitologie de l’hôpital Bicêtre et directeur de l’unité Inserm “Résistances émergentes aux antibiotiques” insiste sur la dangerosité de cette bactérie et la nécessité de pratiquer un dépistage chez tous les rapatriés sanitaires : “Nous avons affaire à une épidémie non contrôlée en dehors des hôpitaux”.Le 19 août 2010 à 15:16 • Emmanuel Perrin
Barcelona defender Clement Lenglet insists fellow Frenchman Ousmane Dembele remains fully committed to the clubThe Catalan giants signed Dembele in 2017 from Borussia Dortmund for a staggering €105m deal following a stunning season in the Bundesliga.However, life in Catalonia has not gone smoothly for Dembele with injury problems and a lack of opportunities spoiling his debut campaign.And things don’t appear to be improving for Dembele after failing to make manager Ernesto Valverde’s squad last Sunday, which saw Barcelona suffer a shock 4-3 home defeat to Real Betis.Valverde’s decision to omit Dembele came after his absence in a training session last week.The 21-year-old has only started two of his last five matches for Barcelona now, but Lenglet is certain there are no problems at Camp Nou.
Top 10 players who played for both Barcelona and Valencia Boro Tanchev – September 14, 2019 Time to talk about the best players who represented both Barcelona and Valencia, prior to their La Liga encounter at Camp Nou this evening.“If Dembele looked serious in the stands I think that is understandable,” Lenglet told Goal on Dembele’s behaviour.“We were losing and if he started to laugh people would not understand that either.“I don’t think there is any problem with him, he was ill, he couldn’t make training and the coach chose another player.“These are things that happen at every club and we all have to pull in the same direction to reach our goals.”Barcelona will return to action on November 24 in a La Liga game away to third-place Atletico Madrid.
CAPE COD, Mass. (WSVN) – A Florida turtle hospital is preparing for the release of more than 50 sea turtles that faces the cold waters of Cape Cod.The turtles swam north over the summer where they faced the shores of Cape Cod, suffering from hypothermia in the dangerous conditions. The New England Aquarium Sea Turtle Hospital rescued the turtles and nursed them back to normal.On Friday, the 52 endangered sea turtles boarded a plane headed back to the Florida Panhandle. “These are young sea turtles that can feed on crabs during the summer,” said an employee at the New England Aquarium Sea Turtle Hospital. “They begin on the north side of the Cape. The Cape is a really big navigation problem for animals. The survivability goes way down now as the water temperature goes down.”Ken Andrews is joined by his wife, Kristi, who offered to fly the turtles back to Florida. Both are living in Michigan. Aquarium officials sent an urgent request for anyone willing to volunteer flying the turtles back home.“We’ve done dog rescues in the past,” said Kristi. “My husband actually got an email about the turtle rescue. So, he forwarded it to me, being the animal lover. I reached out on Facebook to sign us up. Two weeks later, here we are!”Once in the Sunshine State, the turtles will finish their rehabilitation before being released into the wild. “Instead of having to swim back down, they’ll be able to fly,” said an employee at the New England Aquarium Sea Turtle Hospital. “A very short ride to be able to put them back in the Gulf of Mexico to continue their rehab.”“We knew this was a great way of giving back,” said Ken. “It takes our love of aviation and our love of animals and puts it all in one place. It’s really a great cause.” Copyright 2019 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
If your plans called for watching the election returns at the Egan Center in Anchorage, think again. (File photo)If your habit on election night was to roll down to the Egan Center and watch the returns projected onto the wall, forget about it. The Alaska Division of Elections has discontinued Election Central, due to budget constraints. But you don’t have to weep or cheer at home alone. In Anchorage, at least, people have options.Listen Now Across America, we are sorting ourselves into silos. More and more Republicans and Democrats associate with their own kind. So it goes, too, with election night in Anchorage, now that there’s no state-sponsored neutral zone.The Republican Party plans its shindig at the Top of the World, at the Hilton Hotel on Third Avenue. The Democrats will be partying three blocks away, at Williwaw, at Sixth and F Street.The Trump-Pence campaign will be right across the street, at Flattop Pizza. Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s people will be at the 49th State Brewing Company, and challenger Joe Miller’s folks are gathering in the conference room at Davis Constructors. Senate candidate Margaret Stock, in keeping with her independent billing, plans to shuttle between the Republicans at the Hilton and the Democrats at the Willawaw.If you want nonpartisan, one option is the Bear Tooth Theatrepub, on Spenard Road. General Manager Stephanie Johnson says with the Egan Center dark on election night, they sensed a void.“The more we thought about it, the more we thought that we might be able to be a reallyPhoto by Jeremy Hsieh/KTOOnice inviting neutral place for people all over the community,” she said.The Bear Tooth is inviting campaigns and their supporters, politicos and the politically curious to mingle over beer. Word to the wise: the event announcement says “Courteous behavior is expected.” Johnson says she doesn’t foresee any trouble.“I would put it on the same level of our concern when we host the Superbowl,” she said. “We know that people have deep-rooted passions and feelings about who wins. But in the end we’re all in it together.”If this election doesn’t drive you to drink, it might prod you to prayer.“This election season has been kind of rough on all of us, and so we’re doing something to counteract that,” said Rev. Rachel Simpson of Unity of Anchorage, issuing an invite on YouTube to her church, on East 68th Street. On Election Day, Unity is holding a non-partisan prayer vigil.“On the hour, every hour, our prayers will be led by different faith leaders from the area,” Simpson said.To maintain neutrality, Simpson says no political content will be permitted, beyond the “I voted” sticker. The vigil is planned for the entire time polls are open in Alaska, 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Brent Sass, placed second in the Kuskokwim 300, has withdrawn his team from the 2017 Idiatrod. (Photo: Katie Basile / KYUK)Just days after a surprising scratch on the Yukon Quest trail, Eureka musher Brent Sass withdrew his team from the 2017 Iditarod.Listen nowThe race’s Trail Committee made the announcement early Saturday morning. No other information was provided.The news comes after Sass took himself out of this year’s Quest toward the end of the race while running in the lead. According to a lengthy note posted to Facebook after the incident, Sass wrote that two of his dogs collapsed on the trail, prompting him to request help on his spot tracker. Vets examined the dogs and determined both were in stable health. Though officials gave Sass the chance to continue with the race, he wrote that he felt “too shook up,” and scratched.In the weeks since, editorial writers and online commentator’s have clashed over whether Sass did the right thing, or is at fault for pushing his dogs too hard. In the 2016 Iditarod, Sass dropped from third place to 20th when his team refused to leave the White Mountain checkpoint, prompting a long rest.This year’s Iditarod has 72 mushers signed up to race.
In July 2017, Jet Airways had asked its junior pilots, who joined the brand in 2016, to take a 30 percent pay cut or leaveReuters file [Representational Image]Jet Airways Ltd said on Monday it has grounded four more planes and would delay paying interest on maturing debt in a fresh sign of deepening liquidity crisis engulfing the Indian carrier saddled with over $1 billion debt.India’s second-largest carrier has delayed payments to its pilots, suppliers and lessors for months and defaulted on loans, as it battles intensifying competition, a weak rupee and rising fuel costs.The airline said it will delay paying interest to its debenture holder, due March 19, owing to financial constraints.Jet did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment on payment-related details.Meanwhile, the airline grounded four more aircraft on Monday, taking the number of planes tied down to 41, or more than a third of its entire fleet.Founder and chairman Naresh Goyal, who transformed Jet into India’s biggest full-service carrier from its humble start 25 years ago, has said it is charting out a bailout plan, led by state-run banks and Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways.An official with State Bank of India (SBI), Jet’s largest creditor, said on Friday that a consortium of lenders should reach a final resolution plan to rescue the embattled airline in one week.Shares in Jet, which fell 15 per cent so far this year, were up 0.15 per cent, as of 0728 GMT.
Bumrah has been India’s best bowler over the last couple of yearsRobert Cianflone/Getty ImagesIf Virat Kohli is India’s biggest batting star, Jasprit Bumrah is his counterpart in the bowling department. The 25-year old cricketer has been achieving success after success at the international level and has performed brilliantly across all the formats of the game.As an ODI and T20 bowler, Bumrah was already leading the Indian pace attack by mid-2017 but after he made his Test debut in 2018, the Gujarati boy has become India’s most dependable bowler in that format also. Needless to say, he has earned a legion of fans.What makes Bumrah a most unique cricketer is the fact that he has gained these heights of success in cricket despite having one of the most awkward actions for a fast bowler. Traditionally, the pacers have been expected to have as smooth an action as possible and deliver the ball using their entire body in a rhythmic sequence of movements.Just like the rest of us, the mothership was so impressed with Bumrah’s performance in the world cup, that she decided to mimic his run-up. ??? pic.twitter.com/bJYGUqzJvd— Shanta Sakkubai (@himsini) July 13, 2019But the bowler from Ahmedabad has a short, stuttering run-up where he gains momentum only in the last few strides and doesn’t seem to use his non-bowling arm much. India captain Virat Kohli also decided to try his hand at this action during a practice session of the Indian team. The skipper also imitated the right-arm pacer’s style of celebrating a wicket.But now, another fan of Bumrah has tried to copy his unique action. But this fan is special. She is not a young, aspiring cricketer but an old lady. Mumbai Indians retweeted a video posted by a Twitter account named Shantha Sakkubhai, apparently belonging to a lady in Chennai. An old women can be seen holding what looks like a mini football in her hands and mimicking the action of Bumrah inside her house. Judging by the caption, the lady might be the mother of the person whose account it is.While the senior lady doesn’t do the imitation fully but still, one has to admire her enthusiasm and passion. Bumrah has many fans but few would be as special as this one.
By Deborah Bailey, Special to the AFROThe elders got things started Saturday afternoon on Park Heights Avenue as a diverse rainbow of community members and supporters prepared to march in celebration of Baltimore Ceasefire 365’s first year anniversary.“I like that this march started with our elder men leading the charge,” Williams, Ceasefire supporter said of her favorite part of the day. It is a challenge Baltimoreans have increasingly embraced over the course of a year of quarterly Ceasefire weekends.Volunteers and participants in Baltimore Ceasefire 365 parade (Photo by Deborah Bailey)Baltimore’S Ceasefire is a call for a cessation in violent deaths over a 3-day weekend period. This, the fifth Ceasefire took place August 3-5.“People who say ‘where are our men don’t see them because they don’t come into the community to see them’” Williams added as a strong contingent of men of all ages joined the parade route.Elders, men and women, artists and griots, marching bands, parents and children representing more than 30 organizations, marched down Park Heights Ave., determined to own the day and rebrand the city. Youth from the local Epic Premier Marching Unit added a soulful step and swagger to the mission of transforming Baltimore’s streets one block at a time as supporters of Baltimore Ceasefire 365 once again put out the call started August 2017. This weekend, Ceasefire organizers are issuing the call with more supporters and a sense of dynamism.“Events like this bring a lot of positive energy to the neighborhood. As the momentum continues to grow, it’s going to become increasingly difficult for someone to commit a violent crime during a Ceasefire weekend,” said Kevin “Ogun” Beasley, co-visionary of Baltimore Ceasefire 365.“We came from all over the state today; from Frederick, Harford County, Prince Georges County,” said Jennifer Singleton, a volunteer with Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America.“The majority of homicides that happen in Maryland happen in Baltimore and that’s got to become all of our problem,” Singleton said.“I’m just trying to spread some love and stop the violence,” said Janaah Lucas, from the local group the Love Gang. “I’m marching in memory of my niece.”Lucas recently lost her niece to gun violence and saw Baltimore Ceasefire as one way to change a violent culture that Lucas says does not reflect the resilience and creativity of Baltimoreans.“Events like this remind us of who we are… Look at all the love out here,” Lucas said.“Just the love and the smiles and people jumping in and blowing horns… This is what the spirit of Baltimore really is,” said Erricka Bridgeford co-visionary of Baltimore Ceasefire 365.“I’m just so glad Baltimore showed up to love itself,” Bridgeford said.
×Actors Reveal Their Favorite Disney PrincessesSeveral actors, like Daisy Ridley, Awkwafina, Jeff Goldblum and Gina Rodriguez, reveal their favorite Disney princesses. Rapunzel, Mulan, Ariel,Tiana, Sleeping Beauty and Jasmine all got some love from the Disney stars.More VideosVolume 0%Press shift question mark to access a list of keyboard shortcutsKeyboard Shortcutsplay/pauseincrease volumedecrease volumeseek forwardsseek backwardstoggle captionstoggle fullscreenmute/unmuteseek to %SPACE↑↓→←cfm0-9Next UpJennifer Lopez Shares How She Became a Mogul04:350.5x1x1.25×1.5x2xLive00:0002:1502:15 Popular on Variety Viacom has acquired Los Angeles-based video streaming service Pluto TV for $340 million in cash, both companies confirmed Tuesday.“Today marks an important step forward in Viacom’s evolution, as we work to move both our company and the industry forward,” said Viacom CEO Bob Bakish in a statement. “Pluto TV’s unique and market-leading product, combined with Viacom’s brands, content, advanced advertising capabilities and global scale, creates a great opportunity for consumers, partners and Viacom.”The deal is expected to close in the first quarter, and Viacom plans to run Pluto as an independent subsidiary going forward. Pluto TV CEO Tom Ryan will stay on as the head of the subsidiary, according to Tuesday’s release.Pluto TV is one of a handful of budding ad-supported streaming services. The company has been specializing in a linear-like experience, presenting live streams next to scheduled OTT programming in a grid-like electronic programming guide. It attracts more than 12 million users a month, according to Tuesday’s announcement.
Pluto has been streaming video through its own apps, and has struck partnerships with smart TV manufacturers to directly integrate into their devices. One example for this is the company’s partnership with Vizio, which has Pluto powering Vizio’s WatchFree streaming service. More than 60% of the company’s audience watches the service on connected TVs.Viacom now wants to use Pluto to monetize its library content through ad-supported streaming, as well as give additional distribution to content from its Viacom Digital Studios subsidiary. The media company plans for Pluto to remain free, and use the platform to further promote its paid digital services, including Noggin and Comedy Central Now.Viacom was quick to assure pay TV operators Tuesday that it has no plans to change the distribution strategy for its core assets, which include TV networks like Nickelodeon, Comedy Central and MTV. Instead, the company plans to give operators a chance to distribute Pluto as a value-add to its broadband-only subscribers.Pluto TV had raised around $52 million in funding, with funders including Scripps Network, Samsung Ventures, Sky and U.S. Venture Partners.Viacom had been in talks with multiple ad-supported streaming services, including Pluto TV and Tubi, about a possible acquisition for some time. The Pluto acquisition comes about half a year after Viacom acquired AwesomenessTV from Verizon. That acquisition was followed by some significant cost-cutting, with Viacom laying off around 100 employees just a month later.
News | Artificial Intelligence | August 13, 2019 Artificial Intelligence Could Yield More Accurate Breast Cancer Diagnoses University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) researchers have developed an artificial intelligence (AI) system that… read more January 5, 2017 — An extra scan using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) could help more accurately detect brain abnormalities and give more certainty for parents whose mid-pregnancy ultrasound scan showed a potential problem, according to a study published in The Lancet.The study involved 570 women whose mid-pregnancy ultrasound scan revealed a potential brain abnormality in the fetus. Within two weeks of their first scan they were given an extra scan using MRI, which increased accuracy of the diagnosis meaning almost all scans (93 percent) were correct. This extra information helped doctors give a more accurate diagnosis and advice to parents.In comparison, the mid-pregnancy scan alone was correct in two-thirds of cases (68 percent). The accuracy of the scans was confirmed by scanning babies after birth or by autopsy for miscarriages and terminations.The mid-pregnancy scan is an ultrasound scan given between 18 and 21 weeks of pregnancy to detect major physical abnormalities such as spina bifida, cleft lip, and heart and brain abnormalities. If a problem is found, women are referred for more tests and in some cases are offered a termination or counselling. Brain abnormalities occur in three in every 1,000 pregnancies and in some cases cause miscarriage or stillbirth.”This study is the first of its kind and has shown that adding an MRI scan when a problem is detected provides additional information to support parents making decisions about their pregnancy.” said lead author Prof. Paul Griffiths from The University of Sheffield, U.K. “Based on our findings we propose that an MRI scan should be given in any pregnancy where the fetus may have a suspected brain abnormality.”In the study, doctors analyzing the MRI and ultrasound scans were asked to rate how confident they were of their diagnosis. The study also analyzed how the MRI result changed the prognosis and advice given by doctors.Overall MRI scans were accurate in almost all cases (93 percent) compared with around two-thirds (68 percent) for ultrasound. They also corrected the diagnosis from ultrasound in a quarter of cases (25 percent, 144 of 570).The MRI gave extra information about the brain abnormality in half of cases (49 percent, 387 of 783). For example, in one case the MRI confirmed the ultrasound diagnosis and identified an additional abnormality. This information allowed doctors to give parents a more certain outlook, halving (55 percent) the number of cases in the ‘unknown’ prognosis group and increasing the number of pregnancies predicted to be ‘normal’ (135 percent), ‘favorable’ (18 percent) or ‘poor’ (56 percent).Doctors agreed that the extra MRI scan changed the outlook for the pregnancy in at least a fifth of cases (20 percent, 157 of 783). And as a result this changed how the pregnancy was managed in one in three cases (34 percent, 269 of 783), with terminations offered in an extra 11 percent of cases (84 of 783) after the MRI and parents seeking counselling in 15 percent more cases (115 of 783).Doctors using MRI were more confident of their diagnosis, saying they had ‘high confidence’ in 95 percent of cases (544 of 570), compared with 82 percent (465 of 570 cases) for doctors using ultrasound. In addition, 95 percent (257 of 270) of mothers said that they would have an MRI scan if a future pregnancy showed a brain abnormality and around 80percent (227 of 277) said that the information from the scan helped them better understand their baby’s condition.The researchers note that there will be further analysis of the trial’s results, including a health economics analysis, to confirm if the extra scan should be used routinely. Within the study, two fetuses (of 570, less than 1 percent) were diagnosed correctly by the ultrasound and incorrectly by the MRI. Only cases identified by the ultrasound scan were given the extra MRI, so any cases where an ultrasound did not identify an abnormality would not have been included in this study.Writing in a linked comment Prof. Rod Scott, University of Vermont, said, “Accurate diagnosis of significant brain abnormalities has important therapeutic implications. Consequently, it is essential that tools used for prenatal diagnosis are rigorously evaluated… This trial strongly supports the view that iuMRI is an excellent technique, and it should be incorporated into clinical practice as soon as possible.”The study was funded by the National Institute for Health Research Health Technology Assessment programme. It was conducted by scientists from University of Sheffield, Newcastle University, University of Birmingham, Birmingham Women’s Foundation Trust and Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.For more information: www.thelancet.com FacebookTwitterLinkedInPrint分享 News | Mammography | August 14, 2019 Imago Systems Announces Collaboration With Mayo Clinic for Breast Imaging Image visualization company Imago Systems announced it has signed a know-how license with Mayo Clinic. The multi-year… read more Technology | Interventional Radiology | August 16, 2019 Profound Medical Receives U.S. FDA 510(k) Clearance for Tulsa-Pro Profound Medical Corp. announced it has received 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to… read more Image courtesy of UTHealth McGovern Medical School News | Cardiovascular Ultrasound | August 07, 2019 Contrast Use in First Transthoracic Echocardiogram for Heart Failure Reduces Repeat Testing Heart failure is the fourth most common cause for all admission to U.S. hospitals, and it is the most common reason for… read more Technology | Neuro Imaging | August 07, 2019 Synaptive Medical Launches Modus Plan With Automated Tractography Segmentation Synaptive Medical announced the U.S. launch and availability of Modus Plan featuring BrightMatter AutoSeg. This release… read more News | Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) | January 05, 2017 Additional MRI After 20-Week Scan Could Improve Fetal Brain Abnormality Diagnosis U.K. study finds that adding an MRI scan increased accuracy of diagnosis in nearly all cases compared to ultrasound alone; second scan corrected diagnosis in a quarter of cases Images of regions of interest (colored lines) in the white matter skeleton representation. Data from left and right anterior thalamic radiation (ATR) were averaged. Image courtesy of C. Bouziane et al.
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