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US senator unveils 18-point plan to hold China accountable for coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak

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US senator unveils 18-point plan to hold China accountable for coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak

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Washington: A top US senator has unveiled an 18-point plan, including enhancing military ties with India, to hold the Chinese government accountable for its “lies, deception, and cover-ups” that ultimately led to the global COVID-19 pandemic.

The prominent suggestions are moving manufacturing chain from China and deepening military-strategic ties India, Vietnam and Taiwan.

“The Chinese government maliciously covered up and enabled a global pandemic that has caused misery for so many Americans. This is the same regime that locks up its own citizens in labour camps, steals America’s technology and jobs, and threatens the sovereignty of our allies,? said Senator Thom Tillis, presenting his detailed, 18-point plan on Thursday.

“This is a major wake-up call to the United States and the rest of the free world. My plan of action will hold the Chinese government accountable for lying about COVID-19; sanctioning the Chinese government while protecting America’s economy, public health, and national security,” he said.

The plan seeking to create a Pacific Deterrence Initiative and immediately approve the military’s request for USD 20 billion in funding. It also calls for deepening military ties with regional allies and expand equipment sales to India, Taiwan and Vietnam.

Encourage Japan to rebuild its military and offer Japan and South Korea sales of offensive military equipment, it said.

“Move manufacturing back to the US from China and gradually eliminate our supply chain dependency on China. Stop China from stealing our technology and provide incentives to American companies to regain our technological advantage. Strengthen cybersecurity against Chinese hacks and sabotage,” the plan stated.

“Prevent American taxpayer money from being used by the Chinese government to pay off their debt. Implement the US ban on (Chinese technology company) Huawei and coordinate with our allies to implement similar bans,? it added.

The plan seeks restitution from the Chinese government and imposition of sanctions for lying about the virus. It further said China should be sanctioned for their atrocious human rights record.
Senator Tillis’ plan urges the Trump Administration to formally request the International Olympic Committee to withdraw the 2022 Winter Olympics from Beijing.

“Stop China’s propaganda campaign inside the United States. Treat Chinese government-run media outlets as the propaganda proxies that they are,” the plan stated.

Urging the government to investigate the Chinese government’s cover-up of the spread of COVID-19, the plan also seeks to investigate America’s reliance on China’s supply chains and threats to public safety and national security.

“Ensure the independence of the WHO through investigations and reform. Expose and counter China’s predatory debt-trap diplomacy targeting developing countries. Increase intelligence sharing on potential pandemics and lead the creation of a watchdog organization to monitor foreign governments’ handling of deadly viruses,” Tillis said in his suggestions.

The coronavirus, which first emerged in China’s Wuhan city in December last, has killed over 3,00,000 people with 4.3 million confirmed cases across the world. More than a quarter of all confirmed COVID-19 cases are from the US.

There has been increasing pressure on President Trump, in the last several weeks, to take action against China as lawmakers and opinion-makers feel that the COVID-19 spread across the world from Wuhan because of Chinese inaction.

Meanwhile, Senator John Barrasso, in a speech on the Senate floor on Thursday, highlighted the need to update the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) legislation that was put on hold by the coronavirus pandemic.

“The virus could have been contained had it not been for the Chinese Government’s unscrupulous cover-up. China knew the risk months before the rest of the world; yet Chinese communist leaders destroyed key evidence, they under-reported the number of coronavirus cases, and they misled the world about its deadly, rapid spread,” he said.

Asserting that the virus should have been contained in Wuhan, he said tens and tens of thousands of Americans and hundreds of thousands of people worldwide have died as a result of China’s failure.

Barrasso said the US should encourage its companies to create American and western supply chains. “That way our frontline workers have what they need in the time of crisis,” he said.

“Not again, not ever will we be exclusively sourced for critical drugs from China. We should diversify supply and bring home as much of our supply chain as possible,” he added.
Congressman Troy Balderson introduced bicameral legislation with Congressman Doug Collins and Senator Lindsey Graham that will hold China accountable for deceptive actions taken by its leaders that led to the spread and subsequent global pandemic.

The COVID-19 Accountability Act authorises President Donald Trump to impose sanctions on China if it fails to cooperate with a full investigation led by the US or its allies into the events that lead to the COVID-19 outbreak.

“The number of Ohioan lives needlessly claimed by this pandemic could have been significantly reduced had China taken appropriate measures to control the virus’ spread and disclose its severity,” said Balderson.

“The United States can’t look the other way when China so recklessly compromised worldwide health and the global economy. China and its Communist Party leadership must be held accountable,” he said.



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Technology will play a massive role in filling empty stadia – Venky Mysore | ESPNcricinfo.com

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Technology will play a massive role in filling empty stadia – Venky Mysore | ESPNcricinfo.com

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“When is the next time we’ll see a packed Eden Gardens?”

Kolkata Knight Riders chief executive Venky Mysore is trying re-imagine the world of cricket for the near future, confronted by the immense challenge posed by the Covid-19 pandemic which continues to surge globally. Some of the innovative ideas Mysore believes are likely answers to make up for empty stadia in future include LED walls and simulating crowd atmosphere while allowing the fan an immersive experience from his home.

Mysore is clear that when cricket returns, it would have to be played in “stadium lockdown” mode. However, rather than getting deterred, Mysore said cricket has the opportunity to “re-imagine” its business strategy if lucrative tournaments like the IPL are to keep going.

The IPL was postponed indefinitely by the BCCI after the Indian government put the country into lockdown since late March. Although there is no clarity on if and when the IPL will be played this year, Mysore said technology would play a bigger role once cricket returned.

“We’re definitely going to have some challenges,” Mysore told ESPNcricinfo on the Stump Mic podcast. “If we’re lucky enough that things will settle down or the tournament will take place later this year, it’s clearly going to be in what they’ll call as a stadium lockdown mode. Which means straightaway the ticket revenues are affected, your food and beverage revenue is affected, the merchandising sales at the stadium is affected. The challenge to us is how do you activate the sponsors? Are there ways in which you can compensate for this?”

Luckily, due to the lucrative media rights deal BCCI signed with Star India in 2017 for five years, all eight IPL franchises are assured a healthy sum of money annually. However, the biggest challenge for the franchise is how they retain sponsors, evolve their business model and generate profits.

“If you’re thinking out of the box – an LED wall in stands where, through social media, [fans] can virtually be present there. There are people who’ll be reacting the same way if they were physically at the ground.”

VENKY MYSORE

Mysore felt technology companies now have the opportunity to fill a void, and said fan experience and immersion could be engineered in many different ways. For instance, during the 2014 edition of the IPL, Kolkata Knight Riders had developed an app that allowed remote fans to be able to send in a specific types of chants or encouragement to the DJ at the stadium, who would then produce that sound live at the ground. At the very least, an artificial aural atmosphere can be established in stadiums, something England bowler Jofra Archer also suggested recently.

“Technology is going to play a massive role,” Mysore said. “I am just saying, if you’re thinking out of the box – an LED wall in stands where, through social media, [fans] can virtually be present there. There are people who’ll be reacting the same way if they were physically at the ground. People have said something about simulation too.

“I lived in the US for several years and became an American football fan. Home games and away games are big events there, because the crowd becomes your twelfth man. So what visiting teams used to do when they practised was blast the crowd noise on the speakers, just to get used it. The noise can be deafening in matches.”

Even as leaders in all walks of life have been forced to think creatively, one change Mysore is not willing to accept is the IPL being played without overseas players, keeping in mind the restrictions on travel imposed by various countries. The issue was discussed at a face-to-face meeting in March between the BCCI and the franchise owners, where most of the owners agreed they would prefer the overseas players’ to be present as far as possible.

“Why [IPL] has caught the imagination of the country and the world is the quality of the product. The best of the best – this is the pinnacle,” Mysore said . “So I’m of the strong view that the format of the tournament should not be tinkered with. It should not be a glorified domestic tournament.”

Another idea discussed at that March meeting was conducting the IPL at limited venues like Mumbai and Pune, who have enough venues between them to conduct the whole tournament. Mysore pointed out the IPL had already done that exercise successfully in 2014 when the first half of the tournament was played in the UAE. “We did this in the UAE – we played in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah. There were no flights, just buses that were taking players back and forth. If we were to think of something like that, the idea that was tossed around was what if you think of a city like Mumbai. There are already four grounds here if you include the Reliance Ground. And if you think about Pune, which is only two and a half hours away, you could easily contain the whole activity.

“You can assign one hotel to each team, make sure each team has two buses, fully sanitised and proper distancing maintained. So the logistics of travel is completely removed – no airports, no flights. You reduce the risk to a level people feel comfortable and can live with it. This is obviously based on the premise that things are under control and we get some kind of a blessing from the powers that be. I think it’s a doable model. And in this environment if we could pull it off, it would be fascinating, without touching the quality of the product that we’ve all so carefully built. “

The StumpMic podcast with Venky Mysore will be published on May 16.

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Uber lays off 3,700 workers over 3-minute long Zoom calls | Companies News

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Uber lays off 3,700 workers over 3-minute long Zoom calls | Companies News

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San Francisco: Ride-hailing app Uber has laid off nearly 3,700 employees or about 14 per cent of its workforce via multiple Zoom calls and each call lasted less than three-minutes, with a common message: “Today will be your last working day with Uber”.

Last week, Uber Technologies announced to lay off some 3,700 full-time employees, in a move to reduce operating expenses in response to the economic challenges and uncertainty resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on the company`s business.

In video footage obtained by Daily Mail, a company manager said: “Today will be your last working day with Uber,” as he informed some of the axed customer-support employees.

“Right now, the rides business is down by more than half due to COVID-19. The difficult and unfortunate reality is there is not enough work for many front-line customer-support employees,” Ruffin Chaveleau, head of Uber`s Phoenix Center of Excellence, told the employees.

In a regulatory filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Uber said due to lower trip volumes in its rides segment and the company`s current hiring freeze, it is reducing its customer support and recruiting teams by approximately 3,700 full-time employee roles.

“With the reality of our rides trips volumes being down significantly, our need for communication operations as well as in-person support is down substantially. And with our hiring freeze, there simply isn`t enough work for recruiters,” the company`s CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said in a letter to staff.

Khosrowshahi also reached an agreement with Uber`s Board of Directors, effective May 2, to waive his base salary for the remainder of the year ending December 31, 2020.

An Uber spokesperson told FOX Business this week: “It`s never easy or uncomplicated to let employees go, and that`s only been more true during this unprecedented period, where we are all working from home across dozens of cities and countries”.

“We`ve focused on providing the clearest, most empathetic experience, possible and have put together a strong severance package and other benefits.”

The ride-hailing major Uber reported a net loss of $2.9 billion in the first quarter of this year, even as its revenue reached $3.54 billion in Q1 2020 from $3.1 billion a year ago, a growth of 14 per cent.

In Q1 2019, Uber`s net loss was $1 billion, which includes $11 million in stock-based compensation expense.

Uber also announced it is folding its JUMP e-bike and e-scooter business into Lime.

“Our customers will continue to have access to e-bikes and e-scooters in our apps. As part of the transaction, we made an additional convertible note investment of $85 million in Lime,” Uber said



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He is thin but bowls pretty fast: What Andre Russell told Virat Kohli after facing Navdeep Saini in IPL

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He is thin but bowls pretty fast: What Andre Russell told Virat Kohli after facing Navdeep Saini in IPL

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During an Instagram Live session, fast bowler Navdeep Saini spoke about his experiences of the Indian team and the IPL along with how he is keeping himself fit under the coronavirus lockdown.

RCB bowler Navdeep Saini reacts after KKR’s Andre Russell swings and misses. (Courtesy by BCCI)

RCB bowler Navdeep Saini reacts after KKR’s Andre Russell swings and misses. (Courtesy by BCCI)

HIGHLIGHTS

  • Navdeep Saini interacted with Sports Tak during an Instagram Live session
  • Saini recalled an IPL incident when Andre Russell praised his pace bowling
  • Saini also termed the current Indian pace battery as the best in the world

India fast bowler Navdeep Saini has revealed an instance when West Indies T20 legend Andre Russell was surprised by his raw pace during the Indian Premier League (IPL). Saini, who has made his way into the Indian team backed by his ability to bowl at express speeds, has been a player of the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) franchise in the IPL.

Talking on an Instagram Live session on Sports Tak, Saini recalled a match in Kolkata when Russell had told RCB captain Virat Kohli that he was surprised at how such a thin guy could bowl at such high pace.

“There was a match in Kolkata between RCB and Knight Riders when I had bowled to Russell. I had bowled really well. After that Russell told Virat paaji: “Dikhne mein to patla sa ladka hai par ladka daalta bahut tez hai (He looks thin but the lad bowls very fast)”. When Virat paaji told me later I was quite happy. When a foreign player talks about you in this way, it feels really great,” said a beaming Saini.

Saini’s IPL team RCB have attracted a lot of flak for their failure to win an IPL title despite having some global stars in the team from time to time. In the 12 editions of the IPL, RCB have made the IPL final twice but failed to win the trophy on each of those occasions.

When asked about the same, Saini said that while the empty trophy cabinet is indeed noticeable, the committment of the players towards winning all games remains intact and will continue to be so.

“Yes I also feel the same. Before I played for them I was surprised by it. But after I played for RCB realised that all the team players, even those sitting outside, realize that the effort is the most important. Everyone is giving their 110 percent effort even though results might not show it,” replied Saini.

Saini also termed the Indian pace battery as the best in the world by a distance while adding that he made sure he learned a lot from each of his senior Indian bowlers like Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah. From Bumrah especially, Saini said that he had learnt “to trust your strength come what may” – an attitude that has helped Saini not only in his short India career but also during the high stakes IPL games.

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3 million more layoffs intensify fears of lasting damage caused by coronavirus in US

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3 million more layoffs intensify fears of lasting damage caused by coronavirus in US

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Washington: Nearly 3 million laid-off workers applied for US unemployment benefits last week as the viral outbreak forced more companies to slash jobs even though most states have begun to let some businesses reopen. Roughly 36 million people have now sought jobless aid in just the two months since the coronavirus first forced businesses to close down and shrink their workforces, the government said Thursday.

An additional 842,000 people applied for aid last week through a separate program for self-employed and gig workers. All told, the figures point to a job market gripped by its worst crisis in decades and an economy that is sinking into a deep downturn.

The pace of new applications for aid has declined over the past several weeks but is still four times the record high that prevailed before the coronavirus struck hard in March. The waves of job cuts have heightened concerns that additional government aid, on top of the nearly $3 trillion already allocated, is necessary to sustain the economy.

Without another aid package, many economists worry that thousands of small businesses will go bankrupt, leaving millions of unemployed with no job to return to. And state and local governments, facing huge revenue shortfalls, could be forced to lay off millions of more workers and cut services.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell this week stressed his belief that Congress should consider providing additional rescue money to avoid prolonging an economic catastrophe.

Republicans in Congress are locked in a standoff with Democrats, who have proposed trillions more in aid. Republican leaders say they want to first see how the previous rescue packages affect the economy and have expressed skepticism about approving much more spending now.

That sentiment has alarmed some economists. There really isn’t any sign that the labor market is bottoming out yet, said Daniel Zhao, senior economist at Glassdoor, the career website. The Trump administration insists that as states reopen, more Americans will shop, dine out and resume other activities, thereby stimulating the economy.

But early data suggests it is fear of contracting the virus, even more than shutdown orders, that may be impairing the economy. Without stronger public health measures, such as widespread testing or a vaccine, economists say such fear will depress growth even as more states reopen their economies.

Even though Georgia reopened its restaurants for sit-down dining late last month, Adam Ozimek, chief economist at Upwork, said data from the reservation site OpenTable shows that reservations are still 91% below their pre-virus level.

Simply ending lockdowns is not going to be a panacea for these companies,” Ozimek said. ”People aren’t going out because they don’t feel safe yet.” The number of people seeking unemployment benefits actually rose last week in Georgia, as well as in Florida, which has also started to reopen.

In Florida, that increase likely reflects a troubled system that caused belated processing of claims that had been filed earlier. A few other states that have lifted some restrictions, like South Carolina and Texas, reported declines in jobless claims.

President Donald Trump appeared to respond to the report by tweeting, Good numbers coming out of States that are opening. America is getting its life back! In Ohio, shopping malls have reopened for the first time since March but have seen little traffic. Roughly two-thirds of the stores in one mall outside Toledo were still closed Tuesday.

Ozimek pointed to signs that business failures are rising. A survey by the Census Bureau, released Thursday, found that 41 per cent of small businesses have closed temporarily since the pandemic hit.

Other research has found that half of the small businesses lack enough cash to survive longer than a month without revenue. ”Those are the signs that we’ve stretched the economy too far, and it’s starting to tear,” Ozimek said.

State and local governments, which cut nearly 1 million workers in April, are running out of money and collectively posing a threat to the national economy. The recession will likely produce the sharpest plunge in state tax revenue since the center began tracking such data in the early 1970s, said Lucy Dadayan, a senior research associate at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center.

About two-thirds of the states have reported data for April, with most showing worrisome declines. California’s tax revenue fell 65 per cent compared with a year earlier. New Jersey’s dropped 59 per cent, Pennsylvania’s 51 per cent. Sales tax revenue has shrunk as consumer spending has tumbled. And income taxes have been diminished by the widespread job losses.

Spending by states and localities plays a vital role in the national economy: It amounted to USD 2.33 trillion last year, 11 per cent of the US gross domestic product. States and localities employed nearly 20 million workers in February.

In the meantime, jobless workers in some states are still reporting difficulty applying for or receiving benefits. These include freelance, gig and self-employed workers, who became newly eligible for jobless aid this year.

Kelly Kelso, a stage crew member in Nashville, filed for unemployment aid after her company, Live Nation, canceled all summer tours. She has no idea when touring will resume. She applied in late March but hasn’t received a single check. And she can’t get answers.

Kelso’s partner is a self-employed musician who finally began receiving unemployment benefits after five weeks. But for the couple, who have a 5-year-old son, money is scarce. Their landlord is demanding rent.

The latest jobless claims follow a devastating jobs report last week. The unemployment rate soared to 14.7 per cent in April, the highest rate since the Great Depression and employers shed 20.5 million jobs.

A decade’s worth of job growth was wiped out in a single month. Even those figures failed to capture the full scale of the damage. Many workers in April were counted as employed but absent from work but should have been counted as temporarily unemployed.

Millions of other laid-off workers didn’t look for a new job in April, likely discouraged by their prospects in a mostly shuttered economy, and weren’t included, either. If all those people had been counted as unemployed, the jobless rate would have reached nearly 24 per cent.

Most economists have forecast that the official unemployment rate could hit 18 per cent or higher in May before potentially declining by summer. 



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Gizga Essentials GZ-CK-104 Professional 6-in-1 Cleaning Kit (Air Blower, Cotton Swabs, Suede + Plush Micro-Fiber Cloth, Brush,Cleaning Solution)

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McCarran Airport in Las Vegas installs PPE vending machines

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McCarran Airport in Las Vegas installs PPE vending machines

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(CNN) — Running out of PPE products? If you’re in Las Vegas and planning to fly, the airport could provide a very clean and sanitized getaway.

On Thursday, McCarran International Airport announced on Twitter that they had installed new vending machines loaded with personal protective equipment.

According to McCarran Airport spokesperson Christine Crews, “The whole world is going through behavioral modification and learning new habits, so it’s not unthinkable that someone could show up at the airport and not have the new necessities that are part of travel.”

There are three vending machines available to passengers, two on either side of the Terminal 1 ticketing area and another near the Terminal 3 TSA checkpoint, she told CNN Travel in an interview after the tweet was sent.

“I do believe we are the first in the nation to have these vending machines,” says Crews.

The white vending machines look much like a snack machine — but with more prized items inside.

PPE anyone? It's just a vending machine away in McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas.

PPE anyone? It’s just a vending machine away in McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas.

McCarran Airport Las Vegas

They have six rows of PPE products. The top of the machine reads “Clean & Safe Travels,” and you retrieve your purchase at the bottom by pushing in a door labeled “PPE.”

Inside the machines, there are a few hand sanitizer options, alcohol wipes, a four-pack of disposable gloves and a selection of masks.

The hand sanitizers cost from $4.25 to $6.50. A 10-pack of wipes is $5.25. The four-pack of gloves is $4.50. A cloth reusable mask (in adult and child sizes) is $14.50. And the KN95 disposable mask is $8.25.

“That’s as it’s stocked now. There could be rotating stock based on what’s available,” said Crews. She went on to say, “this might be the first one you see, but I’m confident it won’t be the last.”

California-based Prepango is the owner and operator of the vending machines.

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TV couple Smriti Khanna and Gautam Gupta share first glimpse of their romantic song ‘Wajah’! | Music News

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TV couple Smriti Khanna and Gautam Gupta share first glimpse of their romantic song ‘Wajah’! | Music News

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New Delhi:  Popular television actors Smriti Khanna and Gautam Gupta became parents to daughter Anayka on April 15, 2020. The gorgeous couple and new parents in town have featured in a romantic track titled ‘Wajah’ for JJust Music.

‘Wajah’ song has been sung and composed by Rahul Jain. Talking about his new trcak, Rahul said: “Wajah is a contemporary romantic track and still has a very soulful vibe to it. As an artist I am grateful to Jackky Bhagnani Sir for having Faith in my work and giving me the freedom & opportunity to create my kind of music. I am looking forward to this collaboration with JJust Music again and I hope the audiences love it as much as we do.”

Gautam shared the first glimpse of the song on social media. Take a look:

About the song, Gautam and Smriti said: “We have been avid creators of different kinds of couple videos on social media. Like Romantic videos, pranks, funny videos. these videos have been well received by our followers and they have always encouraged us to create more. Jackky has loved our chemistry in these videos and one day to our surprise he approached saying that he wants us to be part of this amazing romantic video which has been his best curation for Jjust music. We totally jumped on this opportunity because we love the kind of music Jjust music has been creating and also because we have always used borrowed tracks for our videos and for the first time we will have our own song which we are hoping that other couples will be encouraged to use for their videos. Super great full to Jjust music to consider us to be a part of this song. Besides we had super time shooting the song in the beautiful locales of Armenia. We are sure that everybody will love the song. Still, fingers crossed.”

 



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Greta Thunberg urges public to listen to the experts – CNN Video

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Greta Thunberg urges public to listen to the experts – CNN Video

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Climate activist Greta Thunberg says she thinks more people are beginning to realize the importance of listening to experts and the global science community amid the coronavirus pandemic.

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Vivo V19 Goes on Sale in India Today: Price, Launch Offers, More

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Vivo V19 Goes on Sale in India Today: Price, Launch Offers, More

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Vivo V19 is all set to go on sale in India for the first time today. The phone was launched earlier this week, and it will now be available via Amazon, Flipkart, the company’s e-store, other e-commerce websites, and partner offline stores across the country. The company has revealed a slew of launch offers and it has partnered with HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank to offer 10 percent cashback on all credit card or credit card EMI purchases. Vivo V19 comes with dual selfie cameras and a quad camera setup at the back. It is important to note that e-retailers will only be taking orders for the phone from customers living in Orange and Green zones in the country.

Vivo V19 price in India, availability, launch offers

The Vivo V19 price in India is set at Rs. 27,990 for the 8GB + 128GB storage option and at Rs. 31,990 for the 8GB + 256GB storage option. It will go on sale on sale from today via the company’s own e-store, Amazon, Flipkart, other e-commerce websites, and partner offline stores.

Vivo V19 Review

Launch offers for online and offline customers include a one-time screen replacement offer, Jio benefits worth Rs. 40,000, and no-cost EMI options of up to 12 months. As mentioned, 10 percent cashback will also be offered to HDFC and ICICI Bank credit card holders. Vivo has also listed Airtel double data offer, free Airtel Xstream Premium subscription, free subscription to Shaw Academy access for one month, Wynk Music, and Airtel Secure Lite subscription for the buyers.

Vivo V19 vs Poco X2

These offers will be available to both online and offline customers. Additional exclusive offline offers include 5 percent cashback on IDFC Bank First, one EMI cashback from HDB (EMI cashback on availing 15|4 scheme), and additional 1.5GB data offer from Vodafone Idea. The phone will go on sale in Piano Black and Mystic Silver colour options.

Vivo V19 specifications

As for specifications, the Vivo V19 features a 6.44-inch full-HD+ (1,080×2,400 pixels) Super AMOLED hole-punch display. The phone is powered by Snapdragon 712 processor, paired with 8GB RAM and up to 256GB of storage option. The Vivo V19 has a quad camera setup on the back that packs a 48-megapixel main shooter with f/1.79 aperture, an 8-megapixel wide-angle camera with f/2.2 aperture, and two 2-megapixel cameras with f/2.4 aperture for macro and bokeh functions. Up front, the dual selfie camera setup is housed in a pill-shaped cutout with a 32-megapixel main camera and an 8-megapixel secondary camera.

Vivo V19 vs Oppo Reno 3 Pro

The V19 phone packs a 4,500mAh battery with 33W FlashCharge 2.0 support. Connectivity options include Bluetooth v5.0, USB Type-C, GPS, OTG, 2.4GHz and 5GHz dual-band Wi-Fi. Vivo V19 is equipped with an in-display fingerprint sensor.

Is Mi 10 an expensive OnePlus 8 or a budget budget S20 Ultra? We discussed this on Orbital, our weekly technology podcast, which you can subscribe to via Apple Podcasts or RSS, download the episode, or just hit the play button below.

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Rob Manfred says he has ‘great confidence’ MLB will reach an agreement with players

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Rob Manfred says he has ‘great confidence’ MLB will reach an agreement with players

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But can the sport return amid the coronavirus pandemic — and will MLB and the players be able to come to a financial agreement to do so? Manfred is optimistic, telling CNN on Thursday that he is “hopeful” there will be a season starting in the summer.

But there’s an elephant in the room. On Thursday’s CNN Global Town Hall with Anderson Cooper and Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Gupta asked Manfred about the possibility of the players union not agreeing to come back because of a potential pay cut and that the health risks might not be worth it.

“Whenever there’s a discussion about economics, publicly people tend to characterize it as a fight,” said Manfred. “Me, personally, I have great confidence that we’ll reach an agreement with the players association both that it’s safe to come back to work and work out the economic issues that need to be resolved.”

“We’re a big business, but we’re a seasonal business,” Manfred said. “Unfortunately, this crisis began at kind of the low point for us in terms of revenue. We hadn’t quite started our season yet, and if we don’t play a season the losses for the owners could approach $4 billion.”

Manfred said that MLB’s plan is to begin playing games in empty stadiums in the first half of July. There would be multiple tests for the virus conducted per week with some supplemental antibody testing. In addition to testing, there will be temperature checks and symptom analysis for each individual daily.

A laboratory in Utah, which MLB normally uses for drug testing for minor league players, will handle the testing, and there will be a 24-hour turnaround, Manfred said.

Should a player test positive, that person would be removed from the rest of the team, Manfred said. There will be a quarantine arrangement for the player, and there will be contact tracing for those it was believed the player was in contact with, as well as point-of-care testing to minimize the possibility of a spread.

“Nothing is risk-free in this undertaking,” Manfred said. “We’re trying to mitigate that risk with the repeated point-of-care testing to make sure that people who have had contact have not been exposed, and by obviously removing those individuals that have a positive test, they will be quarantined until they have two negative tests over a 24-hour period.”

If any players aren’t comfortable with playing, Manfred says, MLB would not force them to come back, and they can wait until they’re ready.

“We hope that we will be able to convince the vast majority of our players that it’s safe to return to work,” Manfred said.

On Monday, multiple outlets reported that MLB owners had finalized a proposal that would start a shortened 82-game season. However, there have been players that have pushed back publicly on the idea.

Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Blake Snell let his feelings be known about the prospects of playing in a shortened season if asked to take a pay cut by MLB team owners.

“For me to take a pay cut is not happening, because the risk is through the roof,” said Snell, winner of the Cy Young award in 2018.

His comments come as rumors swirl about a plan approved by MLB owners that would halve the amount of money players would make for the season — in a 50-50 revenue split with owners, ESPN reported.

While conversing Wednesday with fans on his Twitch streaming channel, Snell was asked whether he was for or against a 50-50 revenue split.

“I’m not splitting no revenue,” Snell said. “I want all mine … You all gotta understand. Cause you all are going to be like, ‘Blake, play for the love of the game — what’s wrong with you? The money should not be a thing.’ Bro. I am risking my life … Y’all gotta understand, man, for me to go, for me to take a pay cut is not happening, because the risk is through the roof. It’s a shorter season, less pay.”

Cincinnati Reds pitcher Trevor Bauer on Wednesday called MLB’s plan “laughable.”
“The ask basically is take more risk by getting back sooner and take less pay than we’ve already agreed,” Bauer says in a YouTube video with his agent, Rachel Luba. “We’ve already agreed to take … (a) 50 percent pay cut, and now they’re asking us to take another pay cut.”

He later went on to say, “(A 50-50 revenue split) has never been done in baseball. It’s not collectively bargained. It would just be for this season. It doesn’t sit well with me. Slightly lighthearted, but if I’m gonna have to trust my salary to Rob Manfred marketing the game to make more money for the game, I am out on that.”

The Major League Baseball Players Association and MLB initially had an agreement in March that players would receive a $170 million salary advance. In exchange for that advance, the MLBPA agreed not to challenge the loss of the players’ 2020 salaries if the season were to be canceled and to accept prorated salaries if a partial season is played.

An excerpt of that March agreement, provided to CNN by a source with knowledge of MLB operations, indicates that if games cannot be staged in teams’ home stadiums in front of spectators, the MLB and MLBPA agree to hold good-faith discussions about the economic feasibility of playing games in the absence of spectators or at neutral sites. MLB’s position is that those discussions could include asking players to take further salary reductions.

The players are balking at the idea of reopening the discussion of salaries.

MLBPA Executive Director Tony Clark previously said in a statement: “Players recently reached an agreement with Major League Baseball that outlines economic terms for resumption of play, which included significant salary adjustments and a number of other compromises. That negotiation is over. We’re now focused on discussing ways to get back on the field under conditions that prioritize the health and well-being of players and their families, coaches, umpires, team staff and fans.”

The players association had no additional comment when reached by CNN on Thursday.

CNN’s David Close and Kevin Dotson contributed to this report.



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Democrats say Trump is engaging in a ‘sick’ strategy of distraction in attempts to tag Biden in Flynn case

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Democrats say Trump is engaging in a ‘sick’ strategy of distraction in attempts to tag Biden in Flynn case

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The claims from Trump and his allies are not fully rooted in the facts, as he attempts to tag Biden with being behind efforts to obtain reports that included the name of the national security adviser, Michael Flynn, whose communications had been captured during U.S. surveillance of foreign officials.

“He’s flailing around. The whole thing is crazy,” said Neera Tanden, a former top adviser to Hillary Clinton who now leads the Center for American Progress. “Whatever you want to say about the attacks on Biden, they have not been working. So we just have a new one. The Biden campaign should just state the facts and move on.

“Trump has an insatiable appetite for lying. And the more the media responds to this, the more he’ll just keep lying,” she added.

David Plouffe, a former adviser to President Barack Obama who at times has been critical of Biden’s campaign, said Trump was creating a dangerous diversion.

“Our current President is calling for his predecessor and his current challenger to be jailed. In America,” he wrote on Twitter. “It’s not clever political tactics — it’s unprecedented and sick.”

Trump was impeached by the Democratic-led House — and acquitted by the Republican-run Senate — as a result of his request that the Ukrainian president investigate Biden and his son Hunter for the latter’s role on the board of a gas company.

In responding to Trump, Biden’s campaign has often tried to aggressively combat misinformation while not allowing Trump to dictate the terms of the conversation. It has taken solace in the fact that Biden still is the presumptive Democratic nominee and that Trump’s attempts to damage him have not been reflected in polls, which have given Biden an edge.

Some Democrats still privately worry about the Biden campaign’s ability to respond to the attacks from Trump. While Biden remains a highly scrutinized figure among partisan media on the left and right, Trump maintains control over — and demands fealty from — conservative media outlets that can turn even a small spark into a large brushfire.

Central to Republican attacks this week was a newly declassified list that included Biden among several dozen Obama administration officials who may have had access to intelligence reports that named Flynn.

The newly released document says that all standard procedures were followed as part of the process known as “unmasking,” a routine practice that occurs if top officials can show they need to know the name of Americans or legal residents interacting with foreigners targeted by spy agencies.

It notes that while the officials on the list had access to the report, “we cannot confirm they saw the unmasked information.” Biden is listed as having had access to the information — not necessarily as one who requested it — and there is no indication that he read it or knew about it.

Nonetheless, Trump and his supporters this week spoke of the list as though the Democratic presidential hopeful was caught conspiring to commit wrongdoing.

“It’s troubling in many ways,” Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said. “We sort of have the smoking gun because we now have the declassified document with Joe Biden’s name on it.”

Trump, who began tweeting about “Obamagate” last weekend, pointed at Biden almost immediately after the list became public.

“This was all Obama. This was all Biden,” Trump told Fox Business on Wednesday. “These people were corrupt. The whole thing was corrupt. And we caught them. We caught them.”

Flynn has emerged as a focal point for pro-Trump conservatives in recent weeks as part of an effort to undo his 2017 guilty plea for lying to FBI investigators who were asking him about his conversations with Sergey Kislyak when Kislyak was the Russian ambassador. Trump fired Flynn, who pleaded guilty but now argues that he was entrapped as part of an effort orchestrated by the Obama administration.

The attacks on Biden come as the likely Democratic nominee has been leading Trump in polls and the president has been under fire for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

Biden’s campaign on Thursday declined to say whether Biden himself made the request that resulted in Flynn being identified. Rather, campaign spokesman Andrew Bates pointed to the widespread concerns at the time regarding Flynn’s actions.

“These documents simply indicate the breadth and depth of concern across the American government — including among career officials — over intelligence reports of Michael Flynn’s attempts to undermine ongoing American national security policy through discussions with Russian officials or other foreign representatives,” Bates said in a statement.

“Importantly, none of these individuals could have known Flynn’s identity beforehand,” he added. “These documents have absolutely nothing to do with any FBI investigation and they confirm that all normal procedures were followed — any suggestion otherwise is a flat out lie.”

The document said that 16 individuals had made an unmasking request, which resulted in Flynn’s name being revealed. Biden is listed as one of those who had access to the report, but it is unclear if he was the one who made the request or if someone did it on his behalf.

The request for Biden to see the information came Jan. 12, 2017, an active day for him. It was eight days before leaving office, and Biden was preparing for his last foreign trip as vice president, heading to Ukraine and Switzerland. It was a day when Obama would surprisingly bestow the Medal of Freedom on him and also a day when Biden would confirm that he and Obama had been briefed the week before on what would become the infamous dossier on President-elect Trump.

Inside the Obama administration, there had been growing concern for weeks about contacts between incoming Trump administration officials and foreign governments.

At the time, there were constant reports and rising fears among national security officials about what was emerging from contacts between various Trump officials and foreign governments.

Republicans this week also pointed to Biden’s interview with ABC’s “Good Morning America” in which he appeared to say he had been unaware of the investigation into Flynn. They noted that, according to testimony that came out during the Mueller investigation, Biden, Obama and other officials had been present for a Jan. 5, 2017, White House meeting in which Flynn came up.

“I know nothing about those moves to investigate Michael Flynn,” Biden told ABC initially in the Tuesday interview, before turning toward Trump and the coronavirus. “This is all about diversion. This is a game this guy plays all the time.”

When George Stephanopoulos pressed Biden, pointing out that he was at the Jan. 5, 2017, meeting with Obama where the topic came up.

“No, I thought you asked me whether or not I had anything to do with him being prosecuted,” Biden said. “I’m sorry.

“I was aware that there was — that they asked for an investigation, but that’s all I know about it, and I don’t think anything else — look. Think about this. Can you imagine any other president of the United States focusing on this at the moment when the country is just absolutely concerned about their health, the health of their children?”

Robert Costa contributed to this report.



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UK PM Boris Johnson claps for health workers fighting coronavirus, says ‘Thank you NHS’

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UK PM Boris Johnson claps for health workers fighting coronavirus, says ‘Thank you NHS’

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In what has turned out to be a weekly tradition, UK clapped for the National Health Service (NHS) workers for the eight straight week. The ‘Clap for our Carers’ campaign has gained momentum and seen the participation of several UK ministers, the country’s royal family members and celebrities alike.

On Thursday, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who himself had been found infected by COVID-19 in April 2020 and has since recovered, posted a video on microblogging site Twitter where he is seen outside his offcial residence, clapping.

He wrote, “Thank you to those wonderful people who care for all of us when we need it the most. Tonight, we clapped for all of you. #ThankYouNHS #ClapForCarers.”

The ‘Clap For Our Carers’ campaign involves Britons across the country applauding National Health Service doctors, nurses, cleaners, and other healthcare staff who are on the frontline of the battle against coronavirus pandemic.

The event started on March 26 and took the social media by storm. Now it happens every Thursday at 8 pm even though the coronavirus pandemic continues to affect day-to-day life in the United Kingdom. 

There are as many as 2,33,151 cases of infections in the UK and the death toll is at 33,614.



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Real Estate Agent | Jobs in Dubai, UAE by Springfield Real Estate

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Real Estate Agent | Jobs in Dubai, UAE by Springfield Real Estate

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Who are we looking for?

The best of the best. At Springfield, we strive for excellence and demand the same from our agents. Thus, what we require from new recruits is a strong work ethic, clear business plan and 100% commitment to being successful in real estate. Join our team and you will be successful.

By working with us you get to enjoy:

• A generous pay scheme with a high commission structure of up to 60%.

• An intensive 1-month training and integration program with our best agents.

• An advanced lead generation system from the company.

• Access to hundreds of quality leads and listings.

• Exceptional marketing and administration support.

• Employment Visa and Health Insurance.

• RERA Training and Card.

• Attractive earnings of between AED 20,000 to AED 100,000 monthly.

As part of the Springfield team, you will receive the industry-wide best resources to kickstart your business and take it to the next level. This includes the full support of our in-house marketing department as well. You will also have the opportunity to work on your desired area of expertise along with the advantage of selling exclusive up and coming off-plan properties in Dubai.

Requirements:

• Past experience in sales ideally in Dubai real estate.

• An attested Bachelor’s degree.

• Driver’s License (required).

• RERA Card (preferred but not required).

Springfield Real Estate is a family founded property services company operating out of Dubai. Our mandate is to deliver levels of customer care well above prevailing industry benchmarks, in a rapid and result oriented fashion which adheres strictly to the regulatory framework now governing the local property market. Consequently the staffs we employ are expected to follow a business methodology, which demands exceptional honesty, a stringent code of business conduct and total transparency to the client.

The key objective at Springfield Real Estate is to be an all-embracing property service center that caters to all types of property related transactions in the UAE.



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Gizga Cable Organiser Manager, Gizga Essentials Cord Management System for Pc, Tv, Home Theater, Speaker, Hdmi & Cables -Flexible Neoprene Wrap (1 Piece – 19-Inch/ 48-Cms – Medium)

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Premium Quality Material –
– The Gizga Essentials Cloth Fastner Cable Sleeve is made from neoprene stretchy material which can stand up to plenty of wear & tear without being damaged & allow for multiple cables & flexibility, yet it can still be easily cut with scissors to get the perfect length to match your needs.
– Manages & conceals cables while providing easy access when you need to remove one using the Cloth Fastner solution, 1 inch OD when Cloth Fastner wrapped.
Neat & Tidy-
This sleeve will no more messy cables! All cords are wrangled up & hided in one sleeve from sight, no more tangled cables causing an unsightly mess. Our cable management sleeve will keep your office & home neat & tidy.
Easy To Use –
Its just gather cables together, wrap the sleeve around & adhere just wrap. Form-fitting neoprene stretchy material allows for multiple cables and flexibility could double the capacity when Cloth Fastner two sleeves together.
Ideal For Cable-
The Gizga Essentials cable organizer is ideal for simple & convenient solution for managing all of the cables behind your TV / Computer / Home Theater / Speaker / Micro USB Cable / HDMI Cable & other Flexible Cable Wrap, Cable Cover, Cable Organizer, Cords Management etc.
Attractive & Adaptable –
The Cable organizer comes with cutouts every 2 inches, it provides multiple entry & exit points for your cables & its inbuilt Cloth Fastner straps throughout, will always keep your cables in place & organized. Organize those tangled, knotted mess of wires behind your desk into one organized group. The simple locking system, made from Cloth Fastner enables a tubular protection sleeve to be formed around your electrical cables that is simple & easy to assemble.
Length of Sleeve:48 cm | 19 inches
Width of Sleeve:13.5 cm | 5.3 inches
Diameter of Sleeve(When wrapped):4 cm | 1.5 inches
Warranty –12 Month Replacement Warranty by Gizga Essentials.
QUICK & EASY TO USE: Gizga Essentials Cable Manager Can be wrapped around the cables with Cloth Fastner locking system. It’s easy to install and easy to remove providing maximum flexibility with 18-intermediate holes every 48-Cms along the sleeve to exit cables where required.
PREMIUM QUALITY MATERIAL – Made from highly durable flexible Cloth Fastner neoprene cable sleeve, capable of bundling multiple cables without tearing while protecting cords.
EASY ACCESS WITHOUT CUTTING: 18-Machine Cut Intermediate holes every 48 Cms. Cables can be accesses through these access holes at any length as required.
DIMENSIONS: 48 Cms Length X 4.1 Cm Inner Diameter with 18-Pre Cut Machine Holes. Comes with 1-Year warranty.



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Travis Head backs the idea of playing entire series vs India in Adelaide

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Travis Head backs the idea of playing entire series vs India in Adelaide

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Travis Head said he is confident that Adelaide would be able to cope with hosting multiple matches back-to-back when India visits Australia for Test series.

South Australia skipper Travis Head during Ashes 2019. (Reuters Photo)

South Australia skipper Travis Head during Ashes 2019. (Reuters Photo)

HIGHLIGHTS

  • Travis Head said Adelaide ground could handle the pressure of hosting consecutive matches
  • BCCI said India ready to spend two weeks in quarantine in Australia
  • India and Australia are scheduled to play 4 Tests and 3 ODIs in December-January

Australia vice captain Travis Head backed on Thursday the idea of playing the entire test series against India in a ‘bio-secure’ Adelaide Oval to ensure the lucrative fixture goes ahead later this year.

Cricket Australia (CA) is banking heavily on the series, reportedly worth A$300 million ($195 million) in revenue, to help it cope with a financial crisis triggered by the coronavirus pandemic.

The South Australian Cricket Association (SACA) has pitched Adelaide Oval as a test hub for the series which might end up being played behind closed doors and at a single venue because of travel and other restrictions forced by the pandemic.

Head said his home ground, where an on-site hotel was being constructed, could handle the pressure of hosting consecutive matches.

“If it comes down to that, I know that it will definitely be able to cope and withstand back-to-back test matches,” said the South Australia skipper.

“We’ve had instances where there’ll be A-League games, rugby league or concerts going on and… the (curator) has been able to prepare a wicket and drop it in the middle of the square, day of the game or two days out of the game.

“And you wouldn’t even notice as a player.”

The Indian cricket board has said the tourists would be ready to spend two weeks in quarantine in Australia if that helped the tour go ahead as planned.

The teams are scheduled to play four Tests and three one-day internationals in December and January but efforts are on to squeeze in a fifth test or a couple of extra limited-overs matches.

IndiaToday.in has plenty of useful resources that can help you better understand the coronavirus pandemic and protect yourself. Read our comprehensive guide (with information on how the virus spreads, precautions and symptoms), watch an expert debunk myths, and access our dedicated coronavirus page.
Get real-time alerts and all the news on your phone with the all-new India Today app. Download from

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US president Donald Trump rules out renegotiation with China over trade deal

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US president Donald Trump rules out renegotiation with China over trade deal

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US President Donald Trump has categorically ruled out any plans to renogotiate the trade deal agreement with China. The two countries, in the beginning of the year, had signed of a trade deal which brought an end to the two-year tariff war.

On Thursday, Trump said, “The Chinese said somewhere that they would like to renegotiate the (trade) deal. We are not going to renegotiate.” Trump was quoted as saying in an interview to an American news channel.

He further said that he does not want to speak to Chinese President Xi Jinping, “I have a very good relationship, but I just — right now I don’t want to speak to him,” he said.

Trump suggested that US could do something about it like cut off relationship with China and save $500 billion. 

“There are many things we could do. We could do things, we could cut off the whole relationship… You would save USD 500 billion, if you cut off the whole relationship. Look, at what point does — and I said this for years I said it with other countries also you know — China is not the only country ripping us off at the NATO where we defend Europe for nothing by the way essentially nothing I was able to get them to pay hundreds of billions of dollars more,” he said.

The US is upset with Beijing’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, the outbreak which broke in China in December last year before spreading across the world killing over 3,00,000 people, including 80,000 in America.

The lawmakers and opinion-makers in the US are putting pressure on Trump to take stringent action against China. Moreover, Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo have already claimed that the deadly virus originated from China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology.



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Entertainment News: Sona Mohapatra’s documentary is the only Indian film to premiere at 2020 Hot Docs Toronto Festival | Movies News

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Entertainment News: Sona Mohapatra’s documentary is the only Indian film to premiere at 2020 Hot Docs Toronto Festival | Movies News

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New Delhi: In light of deadly novel coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 Hot Docs Festival in Toronto, which is the world’s largest documentary film festival was in jeopardy. But now the Film Festival has decided to uphold and celebrate the spirit of movie making and film-makers, by showcasing a multi-platform ‘festival-at-home’ experience to its audience that kick-starts on May 28.

The only Indian film premiering at this prestigious international festival is Sona Mohapatra’s documentary ‘Shut Up Sona’. Directed by Deepti Gupta, the feature-length film resonates with every woman’s search for equal space in a culture ridden with millennia of misogyny. This is a film about music, art, social change, and a clashing of the ancient and the modern & this political story is told via the journey of Sona Mohapatra & her relentless fight for a voice. 

Her unapologetic personality has been rendered beautifully in the 85-minute film that takes the audience through the alleys of Vrindavan to the doorstep of a Dargah, rooting it in the diverse culture of the country, & questioning the patriarchy even prevalent in the Uber cool alleyways of Bollywood. 

The film that premiered at MAMI in 2019 and won a critics guild award there, has gone on to make a big impact at the Rotterdam Festival, Gotteborg Festival, even winning a special mention at Impact Docs Award.

Speaking about it, Sona says, “With the world locked down & in anxious times, music, storytelling, cinema & art play an even more important role in helping us get back on our feet as a society. I am grateful that ‘Shut Up Sona’ will find an entirely new audience in another part of the world through the Hot Docs Festival. I couldn’t have imagined that our film would be selected in these top festivals of the world when we were making it. That it is a universal story that is finding resonance across the globe validates my journey as an artist who has never felt restricted to being just a singer. I carry my country, it’s art, it’s present & its history within me. In telling my story, I hope to connect the disparate dots within my culture to build a narrative that portrays a more nuanced view of the hopes & aspirations of India.”

 



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Tesla’s Secret Batteries Said to Aim to Rework the Math for Electric Cars and the Grid

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Tesla’s Secret Batteries Said to Aim to Rework the Math for Electric Cars and the Grid

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Electric car maker Tesla plans to introduce a new low-cost, long-life battery in its Model 3 sedan in China later this year or early next year. The company expects that it will bring the cost of electric vehicles in line with gasoline models, and allow EV batteries to have second and third lives in the electric power grid.

For months, Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk has been teasing investors, and rivals, with promises to reveal significant advances in battery technology during a “Battery Day” in late May.

New, low-cost batteries designed to last for a million miles of use and enable electric Teslas to sell profitably for the same price or less than a gasoline vehicle are just part of Musk’s agenda, people familiar with the plans told Reuters.

With a global fleet of more than 1 million electric vehicles that are capable of connecting to and sharing power with the grid, Tesla’s goal is to achieve the status of a power company, competing with such traditional energy providers as Pacific Gas & Electric and Tokyo Electric Power, those sources said.

The new “million mile” battery at the center of Tesla’s strategy was jointly developed with China’s Contemporary Amperex Technology Ltd (CATL) and deploys technology developed by Tesla in collaboration with a team of academic battery experts recruited by Musk, three people familiar with the effort said.

Eventually, improved versions of the battery, with greater energy density and storage capacity and even lower cost, will be introduced in additional Tesla vehicles in other markets, including North America, the sources said.

Tesla’s plan to launch the new battery first in China and its broader strategy to reposition the company have not previously been reported. Tesla declined to comment.

Tesla’s new batteries will rely on innovations such as low-cobalt and cobalt-free battery chemistries, and the use of chemical additives, materials and coatings that will reduce internal stress and enable batteries to store more energy for longer periods, sources said.

Tesla also plans to implement new high-speed, heavily automated battery manufacturing processes designed to reduce labor costs and increase production in massive “terafactories” about 30 times the size of the company’s sprawling Nevada “gigafactory” — a strategy telegraphed in late April to analysts by Musk.

Tesla is working on recycling and recovery of such expensive metals as nickel, cobalt, and lithium, through its Redwood Materials affiliate, as well as new “second life” applications of electric vehicle batteries in grid storage systems, such as the one Tesla built in South Australia in 2017. The automaker also has said it wants to supply electricity to consumers and businesses, but has not provided details.

Reuters reported exclusively in February that Tesla was in advanced talks to use CATL’s lithium iron phosphate batteries, which use no cobalt, the most expensive metal in EV batteries.

CATL also has developed a simpler and less expensive way of packaging battery cells, called cell-to-pack, that eliminates the middle step of bundling cells. Tesla is expected to use the technology to help reduce battery weight and cost.

The sources said CATL also plans to supply Tesla in China next year with an improved long-life nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC) battery whose cathode is 50 percent nickel and only 20 percent cobalt.

Tesla now jointly produces nickel-cobalt-aluminum (NCA) batteries with Panasonic at a “gigafactory” in Nevada, and buys NMC batteries from LG Chem in China. Panasonic declined to comment.

Taken together, the advances in battery technology, the strategy of expanding the ways in which EV batteries can be used and the manufacturing automation on a huge scale all aim at the same target: Reworking the financial math that until now has made buying an electric car more expensive for most consumers than sticking with carbon-emitting internal combustion vehicles.

“We’ve got to really make sure we get a very steep ramp in battery production and continue to improve the cost per kilowatt-hour of the batteries — this is very fundamental and extremely difficult,” Musk told investors in January. “We’ve got to scale battery production to crazy levels that people cannot even fathom today.”

Tesla has reported operating profits for three quarters in a row, driving a near-doubling of its share price this year. Still, Musk’s ambitious expansion plans depend on increasing both profit margins and sales volume.

A number of the technical advances made by Tesla and CATL in battery chemistry and design originated at a small research lab at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The lab has been run since 1996 by Jeff Dahn, a pioneer in the development of lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles and grid storage.

Dahn and his team began an exclusive five-year research partnership with Tesla in mid-2016, but the relationship dates back at least to 2012.

Among the critical contributions from Dahn’s lab: Chemical additives and nano-engineered materials to make lithium-ion batteries tougher and more resistant to bruising from stress such as rapid charging, thus extending their life.

The cost of CATL’s cobalt-free lithium iron phosphate battery packs has fallen below $80 (rouhly Rs. 6,000) per kilowatt-hour, with the cost of the battery cells dropping below $60/kWh, the sources said. CATL’s low-cobalt NMC battery packs are close to $100/kWh (roughly Rs. 7,550).

Auto industry executives have said $100/kWh (roughly Rs. 7,550) for battery packs is the level at which electric vehicles reach rough parity with internal combustion competitors.

Battery expert Shirley Meng, a professor at the University of California San Diego, said NMC cells could cost as little as $80/kWh (roughly Rs. 6,000) once recycling and recovery of key materials such as cobalt and nickel is factored in. Iron phosphate batteries, which are safer than NMC, could find a second life in stationary grid storage systems, reducing the upfront cost of those batteries for electric vehicle buyers.

In comparison, the new low-cobalt batteries being jointly developed by General Motors and LG Chem are not expected to reach those cost levels until 2025, according to a source familiar with the companies’ work.

GM declined to comment on its cost targets. Earlier this year, it said only that it planned to “drive battery cell costs below $100/kWh” without specifying a timetable.

© Thomson Reuters 2020

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Ebee Brown Laptop Table with Drawer

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Product Description

Ebee presents to you a multipurpose laptop table that lets you kick back, relax, and go about your daily eating, work, and play while finding the best position possible that is comfortable for you. The portable unit comes with an adjustable height and angle with a lock design feature to facilitate ease of use. Air vents keep your laptop cool while a convenient drawer allows you to store important items.

Lightweight & Portable

The lightweight, portable, and compact design lets you easily adjust the surface and the legs for ideal viewing and comfort. This makes it ideal for enjoying breakfast in bed, watching movies or doing things like reading books or writing.

Air Vents

The laptop table features a perforated air vent. These prevent your computer from over heating by providing ample air flow under the bed tray for cooling.

Built to Last

Crafted with quality MDF, the laptop table combines a modern look with lasting durability. It has a smooth surface and is easy to clean.

Can be carried anywhere Flexible and comfortable
Adjustable height and angle with lock design feature
Can be used for Laptop, Reading, and Eating etc.
Totally portable – compact design and easy folding



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