USS Shamal Shows Fury in Interdicting Go Fast – U.S. Southern Command

Posted on July 25, 2020 by Danzig

By U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command / U.S. 4th Fleet

CARIBBEAN SEA The Cyclone-class patrol ship USS Shamal (PC 13) with embarked U.S. Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachment (LEDET) recovered more than 3,900 pounds of suspected marijuana, July 4.

While on routine patrol in the Caribbean Sea, Shamal spotted the go-fast vessel (GVF). Once detected, the crew observed suspected drug smugglers aboard jettisoning packages overboard.

In a coordinated effort, Shamal launched their small boat and the LEDET was deployed to the scene to further investigate.

Upon arriving on scene, the Shamal and the embarked LEDET recovered a total of 708 bales of suspected marijuana, totaling more than 3,940 pounds worth over an estimated wholesale value of $6.9 million.

"The Shamal Team performed very well during the interdiction and safely boarded the vessel," said Shamal Commanding Officer Lt. Cmdr. Daniel O'Neill. "We received outstanding training in preparation for this patrol, and it really motivates the Shamal team when we're able to demonstrate our abilities with a successful bust.

USS Shamal is deployed to the U.S. Fourth Fleet area of operations supporting U.S. Southern Commands enhanced counter drug operations mission in the Caribbean.

On April 1, U.S. Southern Command began enhanced counter-narcotics operations in the Western Hemisphere to disrupt the flow of drugs in support of Presidential National Security Objectives. Numerous U.S. agencies from the Departments of Defense, Justice and Homeland Security cooperated in the effort to combat transnational organized crime. The Coast Guard, Navy, Customs and Border Protection, FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, along with allied and international partner agencies, play a role in counter-drug operations.

The fight against drug cartels in the Caribbean Sea requires unity of effort in all phases from detection, monitoring and interdictions, to criminal prosecutions by international partners and U.S. Attorneys in districts across the nation. The law enforcement phase of counter-smuggling operations in the Caribbean Sea is conducted under the authority of the 7th Coast Guard District, headquartered in Miami. The interdictions, including the actual boardings, are led and conducted by members of the U.S. Coast Guard.

U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command/U.S. 4th Fleet supports U.S. Southern Commands joint and combined military operations by employing maritime forces in cooperative maritime security operations to maintain access, enhance interoperability, and build enduring partnerships in order to enhance regional security and promote peace, stability and prosperity in the Caribbean, Central and South American region. For more news from U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command & U.S. 4th Fleet, visit http://www.navy.mil/local/cusns/.

For more information, visit http://www.navy.mil, http://www.facebook.com/usnavy, or http://www.twitter.com/usnavy.Get more information about the Navy from US Navy facebook or twitter.

For more news from U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command & U.S. 4th Fleet, visit http://www.navy.mil/local/cusns/.

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USS Shamal Shows Fury in Interdicting Go Fast - U.S. Southern Command

COVID Stories: Worcester’s Caribbean food truck easily adapted to pandemic restrictions – Worcester Business Journal

Posted on July 25, 2020 by Danzig

As the Central Massachusetts economy cautiously reopens in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, WBJ has started a frequent series called COVID Stories, talking one-on-one with local businesses owners about how they are adjusting. Read other COVID Stories: More Information

Luckily for Jermaine Smith, owner of the Caribbean Press food truck of Worcester, the food truck industry was easily adaptable for COVID-19 operations.

Food trucks were one of the lucky businesses, said Smith, our food is all take-out, and all we had to do was set up in a location; and we were able to have people come, be six feet apart, and pick up meals that way.

Smiths food truck does a Caribbean twist on the panini and first opened in September.

The Caribbean Press was open throughout the pandemic, with its main location being at White Eagle parking lot in Worcester.

At first, he was not that busy because of COVID restrictions and the fact that people were not leaving their homes, but recently business has picked up.

People werent really going out, so everyone in the food truck business was trying to get out there and hustle as much as possible until people were feeling more comfortable and the restrictions in Massachusetts opened up, said Smith.

In late April, the food truck began visiting a second location at the Austin Liquors parking lot on Park Avenue.

The Caribbean Press offers some catering services to customers and local businesses as well.

Smith did not have to change most of the ways he operates because of COVID, but he does now focus more on cleaning, sanitizing, wearing masks, and social distancing.

Were really trying to follow the letters of the law of how to carry on our business, said Smith.

He obtained a ServSafe Takeout: COVID-19 Precautions training certification.

Smith was the only one working the food truck until business picked up in the last few months, and he hired an employee to be outside of the food truck handling payment.

One of the biggest challenges for Smiths food truck and other food trucks is the absence of festivals.At festivals, you can get up to several thousand customers, said Smith.

Though there are not festivals to go to, breweries and wineries offer a unique opportunity for food trucks like Smiths.

A lot of people are venturing out to breweries because they have a lot of open space and are more spread out, so people can grab their food and then have their table to themselves outside and far apart from one another, said Smith.

The Caribbean Press food truck has been to Greater Good Imperial Brewing Co. in Worcester, Sail to Trail WineWorks in Worcester, and Oakholm Brewing Co. in Brookfield.

For breweries and wineries without kitchens, food trucks offer an easy and COVID adaptable way to add that food element to their space.

Though the business opportunity of serving large crowds at festivals might not exist for a while, the Caribbean Press food truck continues to find other ways to reach customers safely.

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COVID Stories: Worcester's Caribbean food truck easily adapted to pandemic restrictions - Worcester Business Journal

Over 14 Caribbean markets will have access to Reggae Sumfest 2020 Flow – Jamaica Observer

Posted on July 25, 2020 by Danzig

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KINGSTON, Jamaica Fans in over 14 Caribbean markets will be able to tune in to watch Reggae Sumfest tonight and tomorrow from the comfort of their homes.

The 2020 staging of the event was moved online following the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak earlier this year. The event will be powered by Flow Jamaica, which will provide all technology support required for the virtual staging of the annual festival.

Reggae Sumfest is a premier event with a solid reputation of stellar performances and world-class production. With the impact of COVID-19, we've gone virtual but will still be delivering the event at the high standard that our supporters expect. To this end, our partnership with Flow is a no brainer, Joe Bogdanovich, chairman and CEO of Downsound Entertainment, the producers of Reggae Sumfest, said.

The success of our first ever virtual staging is heavily dependent on the technology backbone that supports it and so we've opted to go with Flow as the provider of choice for these kinds of executions. The Sumfest team is encouraging our fans all over the world to enjoy our gift of music as we take a respite from the challenges of COVID-19, he added.

Night One kicks off on Friday, July 24 at 8:00 pm and will feature acts such as Agent Sasco, Ding Dong Shenseea, Teejay, Konshens, Ishawna, D'yani, Tanto Metro & Devonte, Chronic Law, Marcy Chin, Frisco Kid, Daddy 1 and Chakka Demus & Pliers.

Night Two will follow on Saturday, July 25, at 8:00 pm and will feature acts such as Tarrus Riley, Freddie McGregor, Sizzla, Gyptian, Maxi Priest, Koffee plus some special performances.

The company said supporters can watch the virtual performances for free at @ReggaeSumfest on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube as well as @Musicians on Facebook.

A delayed broadcast of the event will be played across the Caribbean on Flow 100, the company's cable TV channel.

Now you can read the Jamaica Observer ePaper anytime, anywhere. The Jamaica Observer ePaper is available to you at home or at work, and is the same edition as the printed copy available at http://bit.ly/epaperlive

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Over 14 Caribbean markets will have access to Reggae Sumfest 2020 Flow - Jamaica Observer

Planetary science – Wikipedia

Posted on July 25, 2020 by Danzig

Science of astronomical objects apparently in orbit around one or more stellar objects within a few light years

Planetary science or, more rarely, planetology, is the scientific study of planets (including Earth), moons, and planetary systems (in particular those of the Solar System) and the processes that form them. It studies objects ranging in size from micrometeoroids to gas giants, aiming to determine their composition, dynamics, formation, interrelations and history. It is a strongly interdisciplinary field, originally growing from astronomy and earth science,[1] but which now incorporates many disciplines, including planetary geology (together with geochemistry and geophysics), cosmochemistry, atmospheric science, oceanography, hydrology, theoretical planetary science, glaciology, and exoplanetology.[1] Allied disciplines include space physics, when concerned with the effects of the Sun on the bodies of the Solar System, and astrobiology.

There are interrelated observational and theoretical branches of planetary science. Observational research can involve a combination of space exploration, predominantly with robotic spacecraft missions using remote sensing, and comparative, experimental work in Earth-based laboratories. The theoretical component involves considerable computer simulation and mathematical modelling.

Planetary scientists are generally located in the astronomy and physics or Earth sciences departments of universities or research centres, though there are several purely planetary science institutes worldwide. There are several major conferences each year, and a wide range of peer-reviewed journals. Some planetary scientists work at private research centres and often initiate partnership research tasks.

The history of planetary science may be said to have begun with the Ancient Greek philosopher Democritus, who is reported by Hippolytus as saying

The ordered worlds are boundless and differ in size, and that in some there is neither sun nor moon, but that in others, both are greater than with us, and yet with others more in number. And that the intervals between the ordered worlds are unequal, here more and there less, and that some increase, others flourish and others decay, and here they come into being and there they are eclipsed. But that they are destroyed by colliding with one another. And that some ordered worlds are bare of animals and plants and all water.[2]

In more modern times, planetary science began in astronomy, from studies of the unresolved planets. In this sense, the original planetary astronomer would be Galileo, who discovered the four largest moons of Jupiter, the mountains on the Moon, and first observed the rings of Saturn, all objects of intense later study. Galileo's study of the lunar mountains in 1609 also began the study of extraterrestrial landscapes: his observation "that the Moon certainly does not possess a smooth and polished surface" suggested that it and other worlds might appear "just like the face of the Earth itself".[3]

Advances in telescope construction and instrumental resolution gradually allowed increased identification of the atmospheric and surface details of the planets. The Moon was initially the most heavily studied, as it always exhibited details on its surface, due to its proximity to the Earth, and the technological improvements gradually produced more detailed lunar geological knowledge. In this scientific process, the main instruments were astronomical optical telescopes (and later radio telescopes) and finally robotic exploratory spacecraft.

The Solar System has now been relatively well-studied, and a good overall understanding of the formation and evolution of this planetary system exists. However, there are large numbers of unsolved questions,[4] and the rate of new discoveries is very high, partly due to the large number of interplanetary spacecraft currently exploring the Solar System.

Planetary science studies observational and theoretical astronomy, geology (exogeology), atmospheric science, and an emerging subspecialty in planetary oceans.[5]

This is both an observational and a theoretical science. Observational researchers are predominantly concerned with the study of the small bodies of the Solar System: those that are observed by telescopes, both optical and radio, so that characteristics of these bodies such as shape, spin, surface materials and weathering are determined, and the history of their formation and evolution can be understood.

Theoretical planetary astronomy is concerned with dynamics: the application of the principles of celestial mechanics to the Solar System and extrasolar planetary systems. Every planet has its own subject.

Planet: Subject: Named after (NB: these terms are rarely used)

The best known research topics of planetary geology deal with the planetary bodies in the near vicinity of the Earth: the Moon, and the two neighbouring planets: Venus and Mars. Of these, the Moon was studied first, using methods developed earlier on the Earth.

Geomorphology studies the features on planetary surfaces and reconstructs the history of their formation, inferring the physical processes that acted on the surface. Planetary geomorphology includes the study of several classes of surface features:

The history of a planetary surface can be deciphered by mapping features from top to bottom according to their deposition sequence, as first determined on terrestrial strata by Nicolas Steno. For example, stratigraphic mapping prepared the Apollo astronauts for the field geology they would encounter on their lunar missions. Overlapping sequences were identified on images taken by the Lunar Orbiter program, and these were used to prepare a lunar stratigraphic column and geological map of the Moon.

One of the main problems when generating hypotheses on the formation and evolution of objects in the Solar System is the lack of samples that can be analysed in the laboratory, where a large suite of tools are available and the full body of knowledge derived from terrestrial geology can be brought to bear. Direct samples from the Moon, asteroids and Mars are present on Earth, removed from their parent bodies and delivered as meteorites. Some of these have suffered contamination from the oxidising effect of Earth's atmosphere and the infiltration of the biosphere, but those meteorites collected in the last few decades from Antarctica are almost entirely pristine.

The different types of meteorites that originate from the asteroid belt cover almost all parts of the structure of differentiated bodies: meteorites even exist that come from the core-mantle boundary (pallasites). The combination of geochemistry and observational astronomy has also made it possible to trace the HED meteorites back to a specific asteroid in the main belt, 4 Vesta.

The comparatively few known Martian meteorites have provided insight into the geochemical composition of the Martian crust, although the unavoidable lack of information about their points of origin on the diverse Martian surface has meant that they do not provide more detailed constraints on theories of the evolution of the Martian lithosphere.[11] As of July 24, 2013 65 samples of Martian meteorites have been discovered on Earth. Many were found in either Antarctica or the Sahara Desert.

During the Apollo era, in the Apollo program, 384 kilograms of lunar samples were collected and transported to the Earth, and 3 Soviet Luna robots also delivered regolith samples from the Moon. These samples provide the most comprehensive record of the composition of any Solar System body beside the Earth. The numbers of lunar meteorites are growing quickly in the last few years [12] as ofApril 2008 there are 54 meteorites that have been officially classified as lunar.Eleven of these are from the US Antarctic meteorite collection, 6 are from the JapaneseAntarctic meteorite collection, and the other 37 are from hot desert localities in Africa,Australia, and the Middle East. The total mass of recognized lunar meteorites is close to50kg.

Space probes made it possible to collect data in not only the visible light region, but in other areas of the electromagnetic spectrum. The planets can be characterized by their force fields: gravity and their magnetic fields, which are studied through geophysics and space physics.

Measuring the changes in acceleration experienced by spacecraft as they orbit has allowed fine details of the gravity fields of the planets to be mapped. For example, in the 1970s, the gravity field disturbances above lunar maria were measured through lunar orbiters, which led to the discovery of concentrations of mass, mascons, beneath the Imbrium, Serenitatis, Crisium, Nectaris and Humorum basins.

If a planet's magnetic field is sufficiently strong, its interaction with the solar wind forms a magnetosphere around a planet. Early space probes discovered the gross dimensions of the terrestrial magnetic field, which extends about 10 Earth radii towards the Sun. The solar wind, a stream of charged particles, streams out and around the terrestrial magnetic field, and continues behind the magnetic tail, hundreds of Earth radii downstream. Inside the magnetosphere, there are relatively dense regions of solar wind particles, the Van Allen radiation belts.

Geophysics includes seismology and tectonophysics, geophysical fluid dynamics, mineral physics, geodynamics, mathematical geophysics, and geophysical surveying.

Planetary geodesy, (also known as planetary geodetics) deals with the measurement and representation of the planets of the Solar System, their gravitational fields and geodynamic phenomena (polar motion in three-dimensional, time-varying space. The science of geodesy has elements of both astrophysics and planetary sciences. The shape of the Earth is to a large extent the result of its rotation, which causes its equatorial bulge, and the competition of geologic processes such as the collision of plates and of vulcanism, resisted by the Earth's gravity field. These principles can be applied to the solid surface of Earth (orogeny; Few mountains are higher than 10km (6mi), few deep sea trenches deeper than that because quite simply, a mountain as tall as, for example, 15km (9mi), would develop so much pressure at its base, due to gravity, that the rock there would become plastic, and the mountain would slump back to a height of roughly 10km (6mi) in a geologically insignificant time. Some or all of these geologic principles can be applied to other planets besides Earth. For instance on Mars, whose surface gravity is much less, the largest volcano, Olympus Mons, is 27km (17mi) high at its peak, a height that could not be maintained on Earth. The Earth geoid is essentially the figure of the Earth abstracted from its topographic features. Therefore, the Mars geoid is essentially the figure of Mars abstracted from its topographic features. Surveying and mapping are two important fields of application of geodesy.

The atmosphere is an important transitional zone between the solid planetary surface and the higher rarefied ionizing and radiation belts. Not all planets have atmospheres: their existence depends on the mass of the planet, and the planet's distance from the Sun too distant and frozen atmospheres occur. Besides the four gas giant planets, almost all of the terrestrial planets (Earth, Venus, and Mars) have significant atmospheres. Two moons have significant atmospheres: Saturn's moon Titan and Neptune's moon Triton. A tenuous atmosphere exists around Mercury.

The effects of the rotation rate of a planet about its axis can be seen in atmospheric streams and currents. Seen from space, these features show as bands and eddies in the cloud system, and are particularly visible on Jupiter and Saturn.

Planetary science frequently makes use of the method of comparison to give a greater understanding of the object of study. This can involve comparing the dense atmospheres of Earth and Saturn's moon Titan, the evolution of outer Solar System objects at different distances from the Sun, or the geomorphology of the surfaces of the terrestrial planets, to give only a few examples.

The main comparison that can be made is to features on the Earth, as it is much more accessible and allows a much greater range of measurements to be made. Earth analogue studies are particularly common in planetary geology, geomorphology, and also in atmospheric science.

The use of terrestrial analogues was first described by Gilbert (1886).[13]

Smaller workshops and conferences on particular fields occur worldwide throughout the year.

This non-exhaustive list includes those institutions and universities with major groups of people working in planetary science. Alphabetical order is used.

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Planetary science - Wikipedia

The Moon Might Have Formed a Little Later than Originally Believed – Universe Today

Posted on July 25, 2020 by Danzig

According to the Giant Impact Hypothesis, the Moon formed when a Mars-sized object (named Theia) collided with Earth billion years ago, at a time when the Earth was still a ball of magma. This event not only led to the Earth-Moon system we recognize today, it is also beleived to have led to the differentiation of the Earths core region into an molten Outer Core and a solid Inner Core.

However, there has been an ongoing debate as to the timing of this impact and how long the subsequent formation of the Moon took place. According to a new study by a team of German researchers, the Moon formed from a magma ocean that took up to 200 million years to solidify. This means that the Moon finished forming about 4.425 billion years ago, or 100 million years later than previously thought.

The study, which recently appeared in the journal Science Advances (titled A long-lived magma ocean on a young Moon), was conducted by planetary geophysicists from the German Aerospace Center (DLR), along with researchers from the Technical University of Berlin and the Institute of Planetology at the University of Mnster.

When Earth was still in the process of forming roughly four-and-a-half billion years ago, the Solar System was a rather chaotic place. At the time, planetesimals that had also formed from the protoplanetary disk were tossed about and would occasionally collide with a planet. In Earths case, this had the effect of adding to its mass and causing its core region to become denser and hotter.

Over time, heavier elements sunk to the center of the Earth, leading to the formation of its iron-nickel core. At the same time, increasingly large parts of the Earths mantle melted to form a magma ocean. When Theia collided with Earth, this ocean became several thousands of kilometers deep and much of it was expelled into space. This material either was then reabsorbed by Earth or coalesced in orbit around it to form the Moon.

While most scientists today believe that this is an accurate scenario for how the Moon formed, there has been disagreement about the details and timing of the process. As Maxime Maurice, a researcher with the DLR and the lead author on the study, said:

The results of our latest modelling suggest that the young Earth was hit by a protoplanet some 140 million years after the birth of the Solar System 4.567 billion years ago. According to our calculations, this happened 4.425 billion years ago with an uncertainty of 25 million years and the Moon was born.

One of the reasons there has been disagreement over the Grand Impact Hypothesis has to do with the very thing that inspired it in the first place: Moon rocks. Basically, of all the Moon rocks brought back to Earth by the six Apollo missions and the three Soviet Luna landers, none provide a direct record of the Moons age. As a result, scientists have had to rely on indirect methods for coming up with lunar age estimates.

In addition, the energy gained by the accretion of material also led to the formation of a magma ocean on the Moon, which covered the entire surface and was over 1000 km (620 mi) deep at the time. Also like Earth, this magma ocean began to quickly cool and crystallize to form a crust, which had the effect of insulating the magma beneath it and slowing down the cooling process.

Until now, scientists were unable to determine how long it took for the magma ocean to crystallize completely, which made determining when the Moon originally formed tricky. To arrive at their estimates, Maurice and his colleagues used a new computer model that comprehensively considered the processes involved in the solidification of the magma similar to what did Maurice (though in greater detail) for his Ph.D. thesis.

This consisted of calculating how the composition of silicate minerals in the Moons crust that are rich in magnesium and iron (which formed during the solidification of the magma) changed over time. What they found was evidence that as solidification progressed, there was a drastic change in the composition of the remaining magma ocean.

This finding allowed the team to link the formation of different types of rock on the Moon to a certain stage in the solidification process. Ultimately, this led them to conclude that the Moons magma ocean took almost 200 million years before it fully solidified to form the Moons crust. This contradicts what scientists previously thought, which was that it took only 35 million years to solidify.

As Sabrina Schwinger, a researcher with the DLR and a co-author on the study, summarized:

By comparing the measured composition of the Moons rocks with the predicted composition of the magma ocean from our model, we were able to trace the evolution of the ocean back to its starting point, the time at which the Moon was formed.

Last, but not least, the results of this study are consistent with previous age estimates obtained with the uranium-lead method. Based on the rate at which uranium decays to become lead, scientists found that the Earths metallic core completed forming at roughly the same time. Therefore, this study is the first to directly link the age of the Moon to an event that occurred at the very end of the Earths formation.

As always, determining how one body in the Solar System formed can shed light on how the others did as well. And when it comes to the Earth-Moon system, the origins of one are inextricably tied up with the other.

‘Not much hope’: Macau casinos see deepening losses as virus slams China travel – Reuters

Posted on July 25, 2020 by Danzig

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Casinos in the worlds biggest gambling hub Macau are staring at heavy losses for the second quarter, with not much hope for a near-term recovery as a resurgence in coronavirus cases muddies the outlook for when China will reinstate travel visas.

FILE PHOTO: A man wears a mask as he walks in front of the closed Grand Lisboa casino, following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Macau, China February 5, 2020. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu/File Photo

Visitors from greater China make up for over 90% of Macaus tourists, but given travel has dried up amid the health crisis, Morgan Stanley warns casinos in the special administrative region could rack up losses of $1 billion over April to June.

The Las Vegas Sands (LVS.N) unit, Sands China (1928.HK), said it flipped into the red with a $549 million loss, setting the stage for a dire quarter for Macau casinos that have been operating with almost no income and no visitors since February.

Even after easing curbs for some travellers, Macau saw only 2,000 visitors per day in July, a tiny fraction of the 108,000 daily average in 2019, as the individual travel scheme through which visitors from the mainland gain entry remains suspended.

Without the individual visitation scheme being resurrected, theres not much hope for the casinos to come back, said Rob Goldstein, president of Las Vegas Sands, which operates properties including the Venetian and Parisian in Macau.

Sands Chinas revenue was almost wiped out in the second quarter. Other operators, Melco Resorts (MLCO.O), Wynn Macau (1128.HK), Galaxy Entertainment (0027.HK), MGM China (2282.HK) and SJM Holdings (0880.HK), will report in the coming weeks.

A Reuters calculation shows Macau casino operators came into 2020 with a cumulative cash position of just over $12 billion, providing a solid buffer to survive the coming months.

But anything longer could spell trouble as they continue to bleed millions of dollars in daily operating costs.

Macau has not had a new local coronavirus case for over 100 days, while Hong Kong and some parts of the mainland have seen a sharp spike in infections. Ferry services between Hong Kong and Macau remain halted, further hurting the casino business.

Four casino operators have issued or said they plan to issue new debt, worth a total $4.2 billion, in the past two months, highlighting the challenges they face even as they cut costs and streamline operations.

Operational expenses in the second quarter dipped 5% from the prior three months, noted Praveen Choudhary, an analyst at Morgan Stanley, Hong Kong. This could help the industrys earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization break even in the third quarter, he added.

Macaus gambling industry is crucial for the Chinese-ruled territory where the sector employs about three quarters of its 600,000 population, either directly or indirectly.

The government has mandated casinos to safeguard employment for local staff, prompting operators to find ways other than job cuts to reduce costs such as offering staff unpaid leave.

There is nothing else we can do at this point, a senior casino executive said. We thought it (restrictions) would be done by April, then May, then June, then July. Now this year we say is not going to be a good year, he added on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to media.

Reporting by Farah Master; Editing by Himani Sarkar

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'Not much hope': Macau casinos see deepening losses as virus slams China travel - Reuters

Virus Outbreak: StarLux to boost flights to Macau and Penang –

Posted on July 25, 2020 by Danzig

By Kao Shih-ching / Staff reporter

Starting next month, StarLux Airlines Co () is to increase its number of flights to Macau and Penang, Malaysia, to meet rising air cargo demand and help its pilots build up flight hours, the airline said yesterday.

From Aug. 1, Starlux is to offer four round-trip flights from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport to Macau International Airport every Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, compared with three per week now, it said in a statement.

It would also operate three round-trip flights per week from Taoyuan to Penang International Airport every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, from two at present, it said.

Photo courtesy of StarLux Airlines

Although air travel is unlikely to rebound quickly in the third quarter as the COVID-19 pandemic shows no signs of slowing, Starlux decided to expand its operations on expectations that the air cargo business would remain rosy, spokesman Nieh Kuo-wei () told the Taipei Times by telephone.

The start-up airline, which was struck by the pandemic after beginning operations on Jan. 23, has been concentrating on cargo services between Taiwan and Macau and Penang to mitigate the effects of a faltering passenger business amid travel restrictions.

Frankly speaking, we would operate the flights even without any passenger, as the cargo revenue would be enough to cover variable costs, Nieh said.

However, StarLux has yet to resume its operations to Da Nang, as Vietnam has not eased its restrictions on air travel and cargo demand is low, he said.

Starlux also wants its pilots to accumulate more flight hours, which would give it an advantage when applying to the Civil Aeronautics Administration to launch new flights, Nieh said.

In related news, EVA Airways Corp () yesterday said it is likely to increase its flights in the third quarter, as many countries ease border controls.

We adjust our flight schedules on a rolling basis depending on the pandemic, official measures and consumer demand, it said.

In the short term, domestic air travel would continue to outperform international travel, as a mandatory 14-day quarantine for returning citizens has dampened desire to travel abroad, it said.

As EVA lends its planes to Uni Air (), which has been increasing its flights to outlying islands due to high demand, it also benefits from the domestic travel boost, it said.

Comments will be moderated. Keep comments relevant to the article. Remarks containing abusive and obscene language, personal attacks of any kind or promotion will be removed and the user banned. Final decision will be at the discretion of the Taipei Times.

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WHO concerned over rising virus cases in Europe – Macau Business

Posted on July 25, 2020 by Danzig

The European chapter of the World Health Organization on Friday expressed concern over the resurgence of new coronavirus cases on the continent, saying countries should impose tighter restrictions if necessary.

The number of infections in Europe crossed three million on Thursday, a fifth of the worlds more than 15 million cases. It remains the hardest hit in terms of deaths, with 206,633 out of 627,307 worldwide.

With 335 new cases for 100,000 inhabitants in the last two weeks, Kyrgyzstan is the worst affected country in the sprawling zone covered by WHOs European chapter.

Others include Montenegro (207), Luxemburg (196), Bosnia (98), Serbia (71), Romania (52) and Bulgaria (46).

However the numbers of new infections have gone down significantly in Armenia (197 cases per 100,000), Kazakhstan (128), Moldavia (82), and Russia (60).

The recent resurgence in COVID-19 cases in some countries following the easing of physical distancing measures is certainly cause for concern, a spokeswoman told AFP.

Where new clusters of cases appear, these need to be controlled through rapid and targeted interventions including rapid case detection and isolation and diligent contact tracing and quarantining, she said.

If the situation demands, reintroduction of stricter, targeted measures with the full engagement of communities may be needed.

However, the number of new cases across Europe has remained stable at around 20,000 daily since May 20 more than two times lower than peak numbers at the start of April.

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Consumption smartcard top-up to start on Monday – Macau News

Posted on July 25, 2020 by Danzig

Residents can start to top up their consumption smartcards for the second phase of the governments subsidy scheme to boost locals spending from Monday at various service points across the city, the government announced on Thursday.

The top-up amounts to MOP 5,000.

Residents can top up their smartcards at the service points, including public administration premises, community association venues and bank branches, without the need to present their ID cards. They merely need to hold their smartcards over a reader.

Residents will have to spend the MOP 5,000 between 1 August and 31 December. As in the current first phase (MOP 3,000), they can only spend up to MOP 300 per day during the second phase.

Both permanent and non-permanent residents are entitled to the consumption subsidy scheme. Macaos around 190,000 non-resident workers are excluded from the scheme.

Those who did not pick up their smartcards for spending during the current first phase can, however, obtain the second-phase subsidy of MOP 5,000, in which case they can pick up their cards at one of several card collection points by presenting their ID cards.

The government announced details of the second phase of its consumption subsidy scheme during a press conference at Government Headquarters on Thursday.

1st phase ends next Friday

The first phase of the consumption subsidy scheme, a 3,000-pataca smartcard, started on 1 May and ends next Friday. The government has said that the second phase is needed to continue boosting local consumption and stabilising the job market amid the ongoing adverse impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Macaos economy.

Before the first phase started in May, residents needed to register online to pick up their 3,000-pataca consumption smartcards known in Cantonese as siu fai kat.

Those who never registered for a consumption smartcard or failed to pick up their card in the first phase can collect their smartcard for the second phase without having to register in advance, but they have to show their ID card.

If a resident does not spend all the MOP 3,000 in the first phase of the scheme, the remainder will not be carried forward into the second phase but will revert to the public coffers.

During Thursdays press conference, Economic Services Bureau (DSE) Director Tai Kin Ip said that residents can obtain the second-phase subsidy of MOP 5,000 between Monday and 14 December for both topping up their existing card (those who had previously picked it up) and collecting a new card (those who did not pick it up previously).

According to Tai, only those who have already spent the MOP 3,000 in their smartcards can start to top it up from Monday. Those who still have money left in their cards before 1 August can only top it up from 1 August when the money remaining from the first phase will revert to the government.

Tai underlined that those who top up their smartcard or collect a new card before 1 August can only start to use the new MOP 5,000 from 1 August. Tai said the measure allowing residents to have the 5,000-pataca subsidy credited to their consumption smartcards between Monday and next Friday aimed to divert the flow of people so that not all residents start to top-up the cards from 1 August.

As in the first phase, the smartcards cannot be used for paying public utility bills such as water and electricity or telecom services, and they cannot be used to buy ferry or air tickets. Neither can residents use the card to pay for outbound tourism services or health services. In addition, the card cannot be used for spending in casinos, pawnshops, banks, insurance companies or other financial institutions.

The smartcards are operated by MacauPass. Residents can spend the subsidy credited to their contactless stored-value card by placing it over MacauPass terminals installed at local shops or other businesses for goods and services.

Transferable but not for cash

The consumption subsidy cannot be converted into cash, and it can only be used to buy goods and services. The cards are transferable.

Tai said that those who already have a consumption smartcard can hold it over a reader to top it up at 190 top-up points across the city, comprising 29 venues on government premises, 31 community association venues, 127 bank branches and three MacauPass service points. They will not have to register or make an appointment in advance and will not have to present their ID cards at the top-up points.

Tai said that those who did not pick up their 3,000-pataca consumption smartcard previously or have lost their 3,000-pataca smartcard can pick up a new 5,000-pataca smartcard at one of six card collection points where they will only have to present their ID cards without the need to register or make an appointment in advance.

According to Tai, those who have lost their 3,000-pataca smartcard will have to report the loss to the police first before they can pick up the new 5,000-pataca smartcard.

For the consumption subsidy schemes first phase, a minors smartcard needed to be picked up by one of their parents or legal guardian. Tai said that for the second phase, the 5,000-pataca smartcard of a minor can also be picked up by his or her grandparents, adult brother or sister, uncle or aunt, in addition to his or her parents or legal guardians.

As in the first phase, residents may also download an authorisation from the Economic Services Bureau website to designate another person to pick up the smartcard for them. That person needs to present the smartcard holders ID card and his or her own ID card together with the authorisation form signed by the smartcard holder when collecting the consumption smartcard.

According to Tai, the government will penalise businesses that engage in price gouging or provide misleading price information to consumers for the schemes second phase. Tai said that depending on the severity of the offence, the government may disallow all or some outlets of the business concerned to benefit from the scheme for a certain period of time.

According to Tai, 624,000 residents picked up their first-phase 3,000-pataca smartcards before the 17 July deadline, or 95 per cent of the 658,000 who had registered. Some 732,000 residents were eligible for the subsidy in the first phase. So far some MOP 1.82 billion have been spent by holders of the consumption smartcards in the first phase, Tai said.

Tai said that based on the governments population growth estimate during the next few months, 737,000 Macao residents are expected to be eligible for the second-phase 5,000-pataca smartcard. Tai said that therefore the government expected to spend up to MOP 3.68 billion on the schemes second phase.

Tai also said that as the governments ongoing Macao tour scheme is not an outbound tourism service, residents can pay for the local tours with their consumption smartcards.

(The Macau Post Daily/Macau News)PHOTO Daryl Chapman Photography

From the Moon to Mars: China’s long march in space – Macau Business

Posted on July 25, 2020 by Danzig

China launched a rover to Mars on Thursday, another milestone for its space programme after putting humans into orbit and landing a probe on the Moon.

It is among a trio of nations, along with the United Arab Emirates and the United States, launching missions to the Red Planet this month, taking advantage of a period when Mars and Earth are favourably aligned.

Beijings space programme has made huge strides in recent years as it tries to catch up with the United States and Russia.

Here are five things to know about the programme:

Chinas Mars probe lifted off on July 23 from the southern island of Hainan.

The mission was dubbed Tianwen-1 (Questions to Heaven) in a nod to a classical Chinese poem that has verses about the cosmos.

The probe aims to go into Martian orbit, land on the planet and release a small rover to conduct research on its surface.

The craft will travel at least 55 million kilometres (34 million miles) to reach its destination. It will arrive seven months after launch, in February, according to an official.

It is not Chinas first attempt to go to Mars.

A previous mission with Russia in 2011 failed because the Russian launcher was unable to get the craft into a transfer orbit to slingshot towards the Red Planet.

The hardware partially disintegrated as it later crashed back to Earth.

Following that failure, Beijing decided to try again on its own.

Its purposes are not different from those of other countries: develop the capability, explore the universe and finally, create political influence and national prestige, said Chen Lan, an independent analyst at GoTaikonauts.com, which specialises in news about Chinas space programme.

The rover, weighing 240 kilogrammes (530 pounds), has six wheels and four solar panels, Chinese state media reported.

The rover will roam Mars for three months, according to Sun Zezhou, chief engineer of the probe.

The machine is supposed to analyse the planets soil and atmosphere, take photos, chart maps and look for signs of past life.

China sent two rovers to the Moon, Jade Rabbit One and Two (Yutu in Chinese), in 2013 and 2019.

The second rover made a historic soft landing on the far side of the Moon, making China the first country to do so.

The lunar Yutu rovers are good practice in many ways for a Martian rover. The terrain is broadly similar, Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, told AFP.

But the distance from Earth means communication will be slower, McDowell said, adding that the risk of problems increases with such a long trip.

China has poured billions of dollars into its space programme to catch up with the US, Russia and Europe.

In 2003, it became the third nation after the US and Russia to send a human into space.

It has launched a slew of satellites into orbit, completing a constellation in June to set up its own navigation system, Beidou, to rival the US GPS system.

The Asian powerhouse plans to assemble a space station by 2022 in Earth orbit.

And China is aiming even higher, hoping to become only the second nation to send humans to the Moon a decade from now.

UN calls on US to ensure right to peaceful protests – Macau Business

Posted on July 25, 2020 by Danzig

The UN warned Friday against using excessive force against demonstrators and media in the United States, and said the deployment of unidentified officers increased the risk of human rights violations.

Responding to questions about violent clashes in the US city of Portland between federal forces and demonstrators protesting against racism and police brutality, a UN spokeswoman stressed that the right to peacefully assemble and protest must be protected.

Peaceful demonstrations that have been taking place in cities in the US, such as Portland, really must be able to continue, UN rights office spokeswoman Elizabeth Throssel told reporters in Geneva.

People must be able to demonstrate, and journalists must be able to cover such protests, without risking arbitrary arrest or detention, being subject to unnecessary disproportionate or discriminatory use of force or suffering other violations of their rights, she said.

Protests raged in the US after the killing of George Floyd, an African American man who died at the hands of police in Minneapolis on May 25.

Those protests began losing steam earlier this month, before reports emerged of federal officers snatching Portland protestors and taking them away in unmarked vehicles, spurring a fresh wave of demonstrations.

The US Justice Departments independent watchdog announced Thursday it was launching probes into the use of force by federal agents in Portland.

Throssel said that the reports of unidentified officers making arrests were a particular cause for concern.

She noted that such practices could give rise to arbitrary detention and other human rights violations.

We would stress that the authorities should ensure that the federal and local security forces deployed are properly and clearly identified and use force only when necessary, proportionate, and in accordance with international standards, she said.

Globally, she added, authorities must ensure that people deployed for law enforcement do not threaten the use of force to deter peaceful protesters.

UN calls on US to ensure right to peaceful protests - Macau Business

Russia to resume some international flights in August – Macau Business

Posted on July 25, 2020 by Danzig

Russia said on Friday it will resume some international flights on August 1 after a four-month pause to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

Russia closed its borders and halted international air travel in March, though some cross-border flights have been allowed to repatriate Russians stranded abroad.

We have made a decision to relaunch international air travel, said Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin at the start of a cabinet meeting.

Flights will initially resume from Moscow, Saint Petersburg and the southern city of Rostov.

Deputy Prime Minister Tatiana Golikova said that for the moment Russia would only resume flights with Britain, Tanzania and Turkey.

Flights to London and Turkish cities Ankara and Istanbul will resume on August 1, with air travel to three Turkish resorts popular among Russians beginning again on August 10, she said.

Russians will only be allowed to travel to the island of Zanzibar in Tanzania, which Golikova said was an exotic route that is popular among a certain category of our citizens.

She said foreigners arriving in Russia will have to show a negative coronavirus test completed within 72 hours before departure.

Transport Minister Yevgeny Ditrikh said Russia was in negotiations with 30 more countries to restart flights.

Russia has the fourth hightest number of coronavirus infections in the world, with 800,849 cases and 13,046 deaths, according to an official tally on Friday.

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Russia rejects space weapon claim as ‘propaganda’ – Macau Business

Posted on July 25, 2020 by Danzig

Russia on Friday dismissed accusations from the United States and Britain that it had tested an anti-satellite weapon in space as propaganda.

Moscow responded after the United States Space Command on Thursday accused Russia of test-firing an anti-satellite weapon in space and warned the threat against US systems was real, serious and increasing.

The head of Britains Space Directorate, Air Vice-Marshal Harvey Smyth, also reacted, tweeting that actions of this kind threaten the peaceful use of space.

The Russian foreign ministry insisted on Moscows commitment to obligations on the non-discriminatory use and study of space with peaceful aims.

We call on our US and British colleagues to show professionalism and instead of some propagandistic information attacks, sit down for talks, the ministry said in a statement.

The US said that Russia conducted a non-destructive test of a space-based anti-satellite weapon.

Clearly this is unacceptable, tweeted US nuclear disarmament negotiator Marshall Billingslea, adding that it would be a major issue discussed next week in Vienna, where he is in talks on a successor to the New START treaty.

The treaty caps the nuclear warheads of the US and Russia the two Cold War-era superpowers.

The Russian foreign ministry said tests carried out by the countrys defence ministry on July 15 did not create a threat for other space equipment and most importantly, did not breach any norms or principles of international law.

It in turn accused the US and Britain of moves to develop anti-satellite weaponry.

The US and Britain naturally keep silent about their own efforts, it said, claiming the countries had programmes on the possible use of inspector satellites and repair satellites as counter-satellite weapons.

Commenting earlier Friday on the accusations, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia supports full demilitarisation of space and not basing any type of weapons in space.

The US Space Command said the test consisted of Russias satellite called Cosmos 2543 injecting an object into orbit.

Russian state media reported in December that a satellite called Cosmos-2542, which was launched in November 2019 by the Russian military, ejected another smaller satellite once in space.

The Russian defence ministry said the inspector-satellite was meant to monitor the condition of Russian satellites, but state daily Rossiiskaya Gazeta said it could also get information from somebody elses satellites.

The system is the same one that Space Command raised concerns about earlier this year, when it manoeuvred near a US government satellite, said General Jay Raymond, head of US Space Command.

This is further evidence of Russias continuing efforts to develop and test space-based systems, and consistent with the Kremlins published military doctrine to employ weapons that hold US and allied space assets at risk, Raymond said in a statement.

It is the latest example of Russian satellites behaving in a manner inconsistent with their stated mission, the Space Command statement added.

This event highlights Russias hypocritical advocacy of outer space arms control, said Christopher Ford, a US assistant secretary of state for arms control.

The statement also came as China launched a rover to Mars on Thursday, a journey coinciding with a similar US mission as the powers take their rivalry into deep space.

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UNU Macau and Caritas Macau partner to advance research & capacity building initiatives – Macau News

Posted on July 25, 2020 by Danzig

The United Nations University Institute in Macau (UNU Macau) and Caritas Macau announced on Wednesday a five-year strategic partnership to strengthen cooperation on projects that promote policy as well as practice-relevant research and capacity building activities in the fields of sustainable community development, social innovation, and civil society cyber resilience.

In order to achieve these shared objectives, both parties signed on Tuesday a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to coordinate their work and synergise efforts on the implementation of projects and other activities of mutual interest through joint research, workshops, conferences, and other modalities.

We are glad to be signing our first MOU with UNU Macau after our continued collaboration with them on various projects and engagements in the past few years. Through this partnership, we hope to enhance evidence-based practice and scientific support to improve social services and capacity building initiatives in Macao. This also aligns with our objectives of strengthening collaboration with international organisations to establish a platform for networking, information exchange on global issues and ultimately to achieve greater human goals, the statement quoted Paul Pun Chi Meng, secretary-general of Caritas Macau, as saying.

Caritas Macau has been a long-term friend of the institute. We have many shared interests, such as sustainable community development and social innovation in Macao. We have collaborated on research projects in the past, thanks to Dr Mamello Thinyanes initiatives. Currently, Caritas is working with us on the Smart City-zen Cyber Resilience project funded by the Science and Technology Development Fund (FDCT) where we aim to explore the role of civil society toward cyber resilience and enhance the cyber resilience preparedness in Macao. We are excited about this partnership with Caritas Macau. As the only United Nations presence in Macao, our Institute is working with local partners to connect Macao with the rest of the world through research and innovation, and helping transform the region into a hub of global technology innovation, the statement quoted UNU Macau Director Dr Huang Jingbo as saying.

According to the UNU Macau website, Dr Thinyane, a principal research fellow, works within the UNU Macaus Small Data Lab investigating the role of locally-relevant, citizen-generated data to empower individuals and community-level actors towards the Sustainable Development Goals targets, as well as the role of this data within the larger social indicators data ecosystem.

Dr Thinyane is the chairman of the board of the African Footprints of Hope Organisation, an NGO that facilitates strategic multistakeholder engagements towards socio-economic development of communities in Southern Africa. He is also a visiting researcher at the Australian Centre of Cyber-Security at the University of New South Wales in Canberra.

One of the key initiatives that both organisations will be working on is the Smart City-zen Cyber Resilience project which aims to enhance the cyber resilience of smart city-zens in Macao and around the world involving civil society actors in local preparations against cybersecurity threats. This project was designed to help accelerate the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and Macaos development plans.

According to the UNU Macau website, the Smart City-zen Cyber Resilience project aims to enhance the cyber resilience of civil society in Macao and globally through the development of a civil society-centric cyber resilience management model, as well as the operationalisation of the model through tools and applications in partnership with civil society and governmental stakeholders.

(The Macau Post Daily/Macau News)PHOTO The Macau Post Daily

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NBA pulls out of Xinjiang project – Macau Business

Posted on July 25, 2020 by Danzig

The National Basketball Association has severed ties to a training centre in Chinas western Xinjiang region, where Beijing faces growing international condemnation over its treatment of minorities.

In a letter published online by Senator Marsha Blackburn, the US league also said it had lost hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue after Chinese broadcasters dropped its games last year amid a bitter row triggered when a Houston Rockets executive expressed support for Hong Kong pro-democracy protests.

The NBA statements were contained in the letter dated July 21 to Blackburn that was posted on the Tennessee politicians official Senate webpage on Wednesday.

Signed by NBA Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum, it was sent in response to questions raised by Blackburn about NBA involvement in Xinjiang, described by the senator as one of the worlds worst humanitarian zones.

China is in the midst of a bitter falling out with the United States on a range of fronts, including human rights, trade and Hong Kong.

The NBA has had no involvement with the Xinjiang basketball academy for more than a year, and the relationship has been terminated, Tatum wrote in the letter, which was confirmed as genuine by an NBA official.

More than one million ethnic Uighurs and other minorities, mostly Muslim Turkic peoples, have been herded into Xinjiang internment camps where they undergo political indoctrination, according to human rights groups and experts.

The existence of the camps had been revealed in recent years and appear aimed at taming long-time opposition by many Uighurs marked a spate of violent incidents over political and religious repression by Beijing.

The NBAs lucrative broadcast and merchandise interests in China the leagues most valuable market outside of the United States went into a tailspin after Rockets general manager Daryl Moreys tweet regarding Hong Kong protesters last October.

The comments infuriated the Chinese government and basketball fans and caused state broadcaster CCTV to stop showing matches.

The financial impact of NBA games not airing on television in China has been significant, Tatum wrote.

We estimate the loss of revenue to be in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

China is under mounting pressure from the United States and other trading partners over issues including Xinjiang and a new security law that Beijing imposed in Hong Kong, sparking fears that civil liberties in the semi-autonomous Chinese territory will be crushed.

The NBA has been in shutdown since March, when the coronavirus pandemic erupted across North America.

The league is relaunching its season with teams based in Orlando for the remainder of the regular season and the playoffs.

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NBA pulls out of Xinjiang project - Macau Business

Microsoft Executive Vice President Jason Zander: Digital Transformation Accelerating Across the Energy Spectrum; Being Carbon Negative by 2030; The…

Posted on July 25, 2020 by Danzig

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Microsoft Executive Vice President Jason Zander says the company has never been more busy partnering with the energy industry on cloud technologies and energy transition; the combination of COVID-19 and the oil market shock has condensed years of digital transformation into a two-month period; the companys return to its innovative roots and its goal to have removed all of the companys historic carbon emissions by 2050 in the latest edition of CERAWeek Conversations.

In a conversation with IHS Markit (NYSE: INFO) Vice Chairman Daniel Yergin, Zanderwho leads the companys cloud services business, Microsoft Azurediscusses Microsofts rapid and massive deployment of cloud-based apps that have powered work and commerce in the COVID-19 economy; how cloud technologies are optimizing business and vaccine research; the next frontiers of quantum computing and its potential to take problems that would take, literally, a thousand years, you might be able to solve in 10 seconds, and more.

The complete video is available at: http://www.ceraweek.com/conversations

Selected excerpts:Interview Recorded Thursday, July 16, 2020

(Edited slightly for brevity only)

Watch the complete video at: http://www.ceraweek.com/conversations

Weve already prepositioned in over 60 regions around the world hundreds of data center, millions and millions of server nodestheyre already there. If you can imagine COVID, if you had to go back and do a procurement exercise and figure out a place to put the equipment, and the supply chains were actually shut down for a while because of COVID. Thats why I say, even three to five years ago we as industries would have been pretty challenged to respond as quickly as we had.

Thats on the more tactical end of the spectrum. On the other end weve also done a lot of things around data sets and advanced data work. How do we find a cure? Weve done things like [protein] folding at home and making sure that those things could be hosted on the cloud. These are thingsthat will be used in the search of a vaccine for the virus. Those are wildly different spectrums from the tactical 'we need to manage and do logistics' to 'we need a search for things that are going to get us all back to basically normal.'

Theres also a whole bunch of stimulus packages and payment systems that are getting created and deployed. Weve had financial services companies that run on top of the cloud. They may have been doing a couple of hundred big transactions a day; weve had them do tens to hundreds of thousands a day when some of this kicked in.

The point is with the cloud I can just go to the cloud, provision it, use it, and eventually when things cool back down, I can just shut it off. I dont have to worry about having bought servers, find a place for them to live, hiring people to take care of them.

There was disruption in supply chain also. Many of us saw this at least in the Statesif you think even the food supply chain, every once in a while, youd see some hiccups. Theres a whole bunch of additional work that weve done around how do we do even better planning around that, making sure we can hit the right levels of scale in the future? God forbid we should have another one of these, but I think we can and should be responsible to make sure that weve got it figured out.

The policy and investment sideit has never been more important for us to collaborate with healthcare, universities, and with others. Weve kicked off a whole bunch of new partnerships and work that will benefit us in the future. This was a good wake up call for all of us in figuring out how to marshal and be able to respond even better in the future.

Weve had a lot of cases where people have been moving out of their own data centers and into ours. Let us basically take care of that part of the system. We can run it cheaply and efficiently. Im seeing a huge amount of data center accelerationfolks that really want to move even faster on getting their workloads removed. Thats true for oil and gas but its also true for the financial sector and retail.

Specifically, for oil and gas, one of the things that were trying to do in particular is bring this kind of cloud efficiency, this kind of AI, and especially help out with places where you are doing exploration. What these have in common is the ability to take software especially from the [independent software vendors] that work in the spacereservoir simulation, explorationand marry that to these cloud resources where I can spin things up and spin things down. I can take advantage of that technology that Ive got, and I am more efficient. I am not spending capex; I can perhaps do even more jobs than I was doing before. That allows me to go do that scale. If youre going to have less resources to do something, you of course want to increase your hit rate; increase your efficiency. Those are some of the core things that were seeing.

A lot of folks, especially in oil and gas, have some of the most sophisticated high-performance computing solutions that are out there today. What we want to be able to do with the cloud is to be able to enable you to do even more of those solutions in a much more efficient way. Weve got cases where people have been able to go from running one reservoir simulation job a day on premises [to] where they can actually go off to the cloud and since we have all of this scale and all of this equipment, you can spin up and do 100 in one day. If that is going to be part of how you drive your efficiency, then being able to subscribe to that and go up and down its helping you do that job much more efficiently than you used to and giving you a lot more flexibility.

Were investing in a $1 billion fund over the next four years for carbon removal technology. We also are announcing a Microsoft sustainability calculator for cloud customers. Basically, you can help get transparency into your Scope 1,2, and 3 carbon emissions to get control. You can think of us as we want to hit this goal, we want to do it ourselves, we want to figure out how we build technology to help us do that and then we want to share that technology with others. And then all along the way we want to partner with energy companies so that we can all be partnering together on this energy transition.

From a corporate perspective weve made pledges around being carbon negative, but then also working with our energy partners. The way that we look at this is youre going to have continued your requirements and improvements in standards of living around the entire planet. One of the core, critical aspects to that is energy. The world needs more energy, not less. There are absolutely the existing systems that we have out there that we need to continue to improve, but they are also a core part of how things operate.

What we want to do is have a very responsible program where were doing things like figuring out how to go carbon negative and figuring out ways that we as a company can go carbon negative. At the same time, taking those same techniques and allowing others to do the same and then partnering with energy companies around energy transformation. We still want the investments in renewables. We want to figure out how to be more efficient at the last mile when we think about the grid. I generally find that when you get that comprehensive answer back to our employees, they understand what we are doing and are generally supportive.

Coming up is a digital feedback loop where you get enough data thats coming through the system that you can actually start to be making smart decisions. Our expectation is well have an entire connected environment. Now we start thinking about smart cities, smart factories, hospitals, campuses, etc. Imagine having all of that level of data thats coming through and the ability to do smart work shedding or shaping of electrical usage, things where I can actually control brownout conditions and other things based on energy usage. Theres also the opportunity to be doing smart sharing of systems where we can do very efficient usage systemsintelligent edge and edge deployments are a core part of that.

How do we keep all the actual equipment that people are using safe? If you think about 5G and additional connectivity, were getting all this cool new technology thats there. You have to figure out a way in which youre leveraging silicon, youre leveraging software and the best in securityand were investing in all three.

The idea of being able to harness particle physics to do computing and be able to figure out things in minutes that would literally take centuries to go pull off otherwise in classical computing is kind of mind-blowing. Were actually working with a lot of the energy companies on figuring out how could quantum inspired algorithms make them more efficient today. As we get to full scale quantum computing then they would run natively in hardware and would be able to do even more amazing things. That one has just the potential to really, really change the world.

The meta point is problems that would take, literally, a thousand years, you might be able to solve in 10 seconds. Weve proven how that kind of technology can work. The quantum-inspired algorithms therefore allow us to take those same kind of techniques, but we can run them on the cloud today using some of the classic cloud computers that are there. Instead of taking 1,000 years, maybe its something that we can get done in 10 days, but in the future 10 seconds.

About CERAWeek Conversations:

CERAWeek Conversations features original interviews and discussion with energy industry leaders, government officials and policymakers, leaders from the technology, financial and industrial communitiesand energy technology innovators.

The series is produced by the team responsible for the worlds preeminent energy conference, CERAWeek by IHS Markit.

New installments will be added weekly at http://www.ceraweek.com/conversations.

Recent segments also include:

A complete video library is available at http://www.ceraweek.com/conversations.

About IHS Markit (www.ihsmarkit.com)

IHS Markit (NYSE: INFO) is a world leader in critical information, analytics and solutions for the major industries and markets that drive economies worldwide. The company delivers next-generation information, analytics and solutions to customers in business, finance and government, improving their operational efficiency and providing deep insights that lead to well-informed, confident decisions. IHS Markit has more than 50,000 business and government customers, including 80 percent of the Fortune Global 500 and the worlds leading financial institutions. Headquartered in London, IHS Markit is committed to sustainable, profitable growth.

IHS Markit is a registered trademark of IHS Markit Ltd. and/or its affiliates. All other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners 2020 IHS Markit Ltd. All rights reserved.

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Microsoft Executive Vice President Jason Zander: Digital Transformation Accelerating Across the Energy Spectrum; Being Carbon Negative by 2030; The...

Teens are ‘playing "Russian roulette" with their lives by taking 20 hits of hippy crack a day’ – Brinkwire

Posted on July 25, 2020 by Danzig

BORED teens are playing Russian roulette with their lives by taking up to 20 hits of hippy crack a day, an MP has warned.

Labours Rosie Duffield is urging ministers to ban the sale of dangerous nitrous oxide to under-25s to tackle the deadly scourge.

She warned that youngsters are flocking to beaches and parks in their droves to get high on the drug leaving silver canisters everywhere.

The Canterbury MP warned: Kids dont know what they are doing, they think it is harmless.

But its like Russian roulette you could be the person who loses their life.

The police say kids are taking up to 20 a day, to keep feeling that high.

But this is more dangerous than most people realise.

Nitrous oxide, also known as laughing gas or hippy crack, has been used as an anaesthetic for many years.

It was banned as a recreational drug in 2016, but is easily available to buy online as it is used to whip up cream and make 99 ice creams.

As lockdown has eased, parks and beaches across Britain have been strewn with the silver capsules and balloons used to inhale the drug.

Ms Duffield, who will hold a debate on hippy crack in the Commons later urged No10 to toughen up the law.

She said: You can get a little canister pack of 24 because people use it to whip up cream and in catering.

It should be restricted to over 25s with ID, because if you have just come out of school and you are heading to the beach you dont want to whip up cream.

I am worried about more and more unexplained deaths.

It is so readily available and so cheap the danger is we just dismiss it as a socially acceptable legal high.

And it isnt.

A Home Office spokesman said: The Government made it illegal to supply nitrous oxide for its psychoactive effects, with offenders facing a maximum sentence of seven years in prison, an unlimited fine or both.

Were giving police forces the resources they need to do their vital work, and we have also introduced public space protection orders so local authorities have tighter control over the consumption of these substances in public spaces.

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Business Botswana to roll out recovery plan – The Patriot On Sunday

Posted on July 25, 2020 by Danzig

Jacinta Barrins

Business Botswana (BB), the private sector representative body`, has admitted that the sector has been hit hard by Covid-19 but will bank on their recovery plan to spur it up.

The private sector recovery plan follows shortly after government launched its economic transformation recovery plan worth about P20 billion.

The private sector recovery plan is also supported by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Botswana led by its Resident Coordinator Jacinta Barrins who has assured BB of strong backup.

CEO of Business Botswana, Norman Moleele, said the private sector has lost a lot due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The losses that the private sector incurred are not yet quantified but it is a devastating without doubt. We anticipate that the recovery plan once put in action would mitigate against the damage caused by Covid-19 to a wide range of businesses within the private sector, he said.

According to Moleele, the recovery plan intends to position the private sector becoming the driving force of economic development by being a key player in sectors such as agriculture.

Covid-19 has ruthlessly exposed the vulnerabilities of our economy and society. We do not produce ample food to feed the nation. We do not make enough of what Batswana need in their households, or what firms themselves need to produce goods and services, he added.

He noted that as Business Botswana they are keen on fostering new opportunities that would unlock more commercialisation value singling out the research and tertiary institutions.

Moleele highlighted that institutions of higher learning such as University of Botswana (UB) and Botswana International University of Science and Technology (BIUST) are very significant; saying partnerships between them and private sector players are crucial l in transforming the economy.

The relationship between the industry and institutions of learning cannot be underestimated. We recognise the commercial value of the research and development projects that these two universities are pursuing and we will court private sector to adopt them, Moleele highlighted.

UB Vice Chancellor, Professor David Norris, reiterated his institutions desire to partner with the industry to commercialise their R& D initiatives.

Speaking recently while receiving P100 000 cash donation from the Chinese Chamber of Commerce, Prof Norris said UB enters an entrepreneurship trajectory linking with private sector.

He maintained that the university is keen to partner with the industry in order to promote economic diversification as their new strategy directs them towards being diversified as well.

Meanwhile, Resident Coordinator of UNDP in Botswana Jacinta Barrins said UNDP is keen on working with the private sector by capacitating its growth in its drive to help diversify the economy.

Covid-19, Barrins said, has highlighted how vulnerable the economy is, and as such, has exposed the gaps in social protection systems for economic actors, workers and employers.

This also opens up for the question as to whether it may be the right time to put in place an unemployment insurance scheme. The plan also advocates for the use of local resource-based methods (LRBMs) and technologies, she said, adding that women businesses will be aided too.

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Business Botswana to roll out recovery plan - The Patriot On Sunday

Jordan’s Prime Minister Says His Country Contained COVID-19 By ‘Helping The Weakest’ – KLCC FM Public Radio

Posted on July 25, 2020 by Danzig

Jordanian Prime Minister Omar Razzaz sits in the front room of his family home in a middle-class Amman neighborhood of traditional white stone houses with small gardens and low walls. Unusually, in a region where senior officials typically live in gated compounds far from public view, the residential street has been kept open to traffic to minimize disruption to Razzaz's neighbors.

Razzaz, an MIT and Harvard-educated economist, was appointed by Jordan's King Abdullah II to head a new government two years ago, following anti-government protests that were sparked by IMF-mandated tax increases seen as bypassing the rich. Although he'd served previously as education minister, Razzaz was seen as a relative outsider.

The small, resource-poor kingdom is surrounded by dangers from neighboring countries: a war in Syria, conflict between the U.S. and Iran in Iraq, and Israeli plans to annex parts of the West Bank it occupies something Jordan says poses a danger to the entire region.

But those issues have taken a back seat to controlling the coronavirus a feat Jordan has accomplished with an early and severe lockdown. The country of roughly 10 million has registered 1,131 coronavirus cases, with 11 deaths.

Razzaz sees vulnerable groups in other countries paying a disproportionate price for policies that don't prioritize them, and says Jordan's approach from the start was to protect the most vulnerable.

"From day one, any discussion of herd immunity or survival of the fittest or, you know, 'Say farewell to the elderly,' are the things that just did not sound right for us," Razzaz tells NPR. "So we went for a very different model in Jordan, based on social solidarity, in fact, helping the weakest. We did everything we can to make sure our children, our elderly, our refugees you know, the haves and the have-nots are protected."

In mid-March, Jordan was one of the first countries in the region to shut its airports and borders for all but essential goods. Arriving passengers were sent into compulsory quarantine. All but emergency workers and security forces were confined to their homes, with even grocery stores shut and the army distributing bread to poor neighborhoods.

The government cut public sector salaries and allowed businesses to reduce workers' wages, but banned them from laying off employees.

Razzaz says in the last four months, almost half of Jordan's population received some form of government assistance.

This week, the country announced it would reopen its airport to flights from a dozen countries where coronavirus rates are also low. With no cases of local transmission on most days, Jordan has stopped enforcing mask wearing and reopened restaurants and shopping malls.

Razzaz says industry production is now back to pre-coronavirus standards, and Jordan is exporting pharmaceuticals and food to other countries.

Jordan took a chance with the lockdown, he says, but felt it had little choice, given the prospect of its health care system being overwhelmed with COVID-19 cases.

"When we took the steps that we took, we did that not because we were certain about the outcomes. So there's always hindsight ... But we're very, very glad we did what we did. And a lot of countries that waited longer, including the U.S., ... are having a harder time containing the coronavirus," he says.

Razzaz and health officials note Jordan remains on guard for a possible resurgence of the virus as its airport reopens.

The longer-term challenge is an already fragile economy in which unemployment is rising sharply. Tens of thousands of Jordanians have lost their jobs in the Arab Gulf states, as those economies decline due to the pandemic and a plunge in oil prices.

The official unemployment rate for the first quarter of the year had already topped 19%. Some economists expect the real rate could reach 30% by the end of the year, with many of the unemployed young people.

Razzaz says, though, he is not worried by the prospect of renewed demonstrations that could be sparked by the economic crisis.

"While some countries worry a lot about social unrest, we see it as people expressing views about that hardship," he says. "We're going to be proactive with employment and job creation. And if you get frustrated and want to shout, we have a constitution and set of laws and institutions that allow that to happen in democratic ways."

The other wild card facing the kingdom is Israel's annexation threat. Jordan, along with Egypt, is one of only two Arab countries in the region to have signed a peace treaty with Israel. Jordan's king says he might suspend the 26-year-old treaty if Israel takes unilateral steps to claim sovereignty over parts of the West Bank.

Israel cites Jewish ties and a strategic need for it, but most of the international community opposes such a move, which could doom Palestinian hopes for an independent state.

Jordan, where a majority of citizens are of Palestinian origin, would be the country most affected by Israel's move, and instability could ripple across the region.

Razzaz says Jordan has not changed its insistence on the need for an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel.

"If you don't provide a just solution for the Palestinian people and sovereignty, you are pushing them and the region towards despair and extremism. So will there be conflict under such conditions? Yes, there will be, definitely," he says. "I think what His Majesty and Jordan have been doing is sounding the alarm bells."

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Jordan's Prime Minister Says His Country Contained COVID-19 By 'Helping The Weakest' - KLCC FM Public Radio

Coronavirus update: Global case tally climbs to 15.6 million and U.S. hits 4.07 million as virus spreads fast in Florida, California and Texas -…

Posted on July 25, 2020 by Danzig

The number of confirmed cases of the coronavirus illness COVID-19 climbed to 15.6 million on Friday, and the U.S. case tally hit 4.07 million as the virus continued to spread in the South and West and more states reported that health care systems are steadily being overwhelmed.

President Donald Trump canceled the planned Republican National Convention events that were due to take place in hot spot Florida next month, after that state saw a record number of fatalities in a single day on Thursday at 173. The U.S. counted more than 1,000 deaths on Thursday, with more than 500 of them taking place in Florida, California and Texas. The U.S. death toll is now 144,780, according to data aggregated by Johns Hopkins University,

The U.S. added more than 69,900 cases on Thursday to push the total above 4 million, according to a New York Times tracker. The spread has accelerated through the summer, climbing to 4 million from 3 million in just 15 days, as the Washington Post reported. In the early days of the outbreak it took 45 days to increase from 1 million to 2 million cases, and then took 27 days to rise to 3 million.

Forty states have seen rising cases in the last 14 days, according to the Times tracker, led by Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi. Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards told reporters at a briefing that his state is nearing breaking point after its case tally rose above 100,000.

Dr. Deborah Birx, coordinator of the White House Task Force created to manage the pandemic, took a more somber tone than usual on Friday on NBCs Today Show.

I just want to make it clear to the American public: What we have now are essentially three New Yorks, with these three major states, she said. And so were really having to respond as an American people, and thats why you hear us calling for masks and increased social distancing to really stop the spread of this epidemic.

The face mask issue continued to be a thorny issue with the American public with legal challenges against mandates extending to Oregon on Thursday, when conservative group Freedom Foundation filed a suit against Gov. Kate Brown.

Governors in left-leaning states all over the country are making up the rules as they go and ignoring the procedural rules their own state laws set up, Jason Dudash, the Freedom Foundations Oregon director, said in a statement on the groups website.

Last week, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp sued Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms over her face mask mandate. Several Georgia cities have also filed suits, while counties and districts in other states, including California, have also launched suits.

Public health experts have stressed that wearing face masks is key to containing the virus, along with frequent hand washing and social distancing. Robert Redfield, head of the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control, said at a recent news conference that if every American agreed to wear a mask, over the next six weeks we could drive (the virus) into the ground.

Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel of the University of Pennsylvania, an oncologist, bioethicist and senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, reiterated his concern that the U.S. has squandered the last four months, and it really is very, very depressing, he said in an interview on MSNBC.

Were really right back in March, he said.

The global death tally from COVID-19 stands at 634,954, the Johns Hopkins data shows, and at least 8.9 million people have recovered.

Brazil is second to the U.S. with 2.3 million cases and 84,082 deaths.

India is third measured by cases at 1.3 million, followed by Russia with 799,499 and South Africa with 408,052.

The U.K. has 299,500 cases and 45,762 fatalities, the highest in Europe and third highest in the world.

China, where the illness was first reported late last year, has 86,177 cases and 4,650 fatalities.

There was good news on the housing front Friday, when data showed sales of new single-family homes rose sharply in June for the second straight month, pushing the sales rate to its highest level in 13 years, as MarketWatchs Greg Robb reported.

The annual sales pace for U.S. new-home sales rose 13.8% last month to 776,000, the Commerce Department said Friday. Thats above the prior cycle high of 774,000 hit in January and is the strongest since July 2007, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Economists polled by MarketWatch had expected a June sales rate of 710,000, compared with an original May estimate of 676,000. On Friday, the government revised Mays rate to 682,000. That pushed the May rise in new home sales to 19.4%

The impact of falling mortgage rates down 80 basis points this year is more than offsetting the wave of Covid-induced job losses, which seem to be hitting younger renters rather than would-be homebuyers; the median buyer is 47 years of age, while the median restaurant employee is 29, said Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics.

See: America is facing an eviction crisis as moratoriums expire: This is a potential catastrophe

A separate report found the service sector lagging behind manufacturing, as some areas of the country have reimposed lockdown measures.

IHS Markit said its U.S. flash manufacturing purchasing managers index rose to 51.3 in July from 49.8 in the previous month. The flash services purchasing managers index rose only to 49.6 from 47.9 in June.

Any reading above 50.0 indicates improving conditions, while readings below that measure indicate contraction. The flash estimate is typically based on approximately 85%90% of total survey responses each month.

See:Baseball is back heres how U.S. sports leagues are returning during the pandemic

The U.S. economy is experiencing the first-ever recession driven by the services sector. And economists are concerned because some key service sectors like travel, restaurants, and entertainment are not expected to recover soon given the pandemic. Manufacturing is slowly getting on its feet but is still experiencing headwinds.

The lack of growth is a disappointment, said Chris Williamson, chief business economist at IHS Markit.

Three Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -0.68% components reported earnings, starting late Thursday with chip giant Intel Corp., which disappointed with news of a delay in its next generation of semiconductor technology, MarketWatchs Jon Swartz reported. Intel said it may actually use a third party to manufacture it as a contingency plan.

Intel INTC, -16.24% stock was slammed after it reported along with second-quarter earnings that the introduction of its 7-nanometer chips would be delayed by at least six months. AMD AMD, +16.50% is already selling 7-nm semiconductors for servers and PCs; in chip parlance, nanometers, or nm, is the size of the transistors that go on a computer chip, with the general rule being that smaller transistors are faster and more efficient in using power.

We have identified a defect mode in our 7-nanometer process that resulted in yield degradation, said Bob Swan, Intels chief executive, on a conference call late Thursday. Weve root-caused the issue and believe there are no fundamental roadblocks, but we have also invested in contingency plans to hedge against further schedule uncertainty.

See now: Intel admits another defeat with unprecedented manufacturing issues

There was better news from American Express Co. AXP, -1.38%, which posted a surprise profit for the second quarter, but revenue that lagged estimates amid a fall in card member spending during the pandemic.

Verizon Communications VZ, +1.79% beat on profit and revenue but its report showed negative impacts from the pandemic. The wireless operator estimates that both GAAP and adjusted EPS saw negative impacts of about 14 cents stemming from impacts to wireless service revenue and lower advertising and search revenue for Verizons media unit.

Elsewhere, there was a setback for Moderna Inc. MRNA, -2.81%, one of the many companies working on a COVID-19 vaccine candidate. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office ruled in favor of Arbutus Biopharma Corp. ABUS, -20.00% in a patent dispute between the companies, MarketWatchs Jaimy Lee reported.

The decision may mean that Arbutus will attempt to make a royalty claim to products developed by Modernas lipid nanoparticle delivery technology, which is currently being used to develop a COVID-19 vaccine.

SVB Leerinks Mani Foroohar said the ruling is a disappointing turn for Moderna, and any meaningful royalty burden could hamper MRNAs pricing flexibility and margin profile vs. other players in the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine market.

Heres the latest news on companies and COVID-19:

Fans of the iPhone will probably have to wait at least another month before shiny new models are unveiled. Apple Inc. AAPL, -0.24% is delaying its annual fall event until the latter half of October instead of early September, according to a tech blog. The company was forced to push back the event for the 5G-compatible iPhone 12 line because of production delays caused by the pandemic, the Japanese Apple blog Mac Otakara reported. Apple is expected to announce four new iPhones, with the 5G models available in November.

Boston Beer Co. SAM, +25.65%, maker of Sam Adams and other alcoholic beverages, reported an unexpected doubling of profit from the year before amid the pandemic. Chief Executive Dave Burwick credited increases in our Truly Hard Seltzer and Twisted Tea brands and the addition of the Dogfish Head brands for some of the demand gains. Boston Beer now expects full-year earnings of $11.70 to $12.70 a share, while analysts on average had forecast 2020 earnings of $9.84 a share.

eHealth Inc. EHTH, -30.55%, an online health insurance marketplace, reported an adjusted quarterly profit and sales that came in above expectations. Revenue rose 35% to $88.8 million. The company said the number of new paying members for all its Medicare products rose 40% to 72,651 people.

ETrade Financial Corp. ETFC, -0.90% reported fiscal second-quarter results that slightly exceeded Wall Street estimates. The company also declared a quarterly cash dividend of 14 cents a share.

Honeywell International Inc. HON, -2.79% reported second-quarter profit and sales that fell, but beat expectations. The company said it expects sales challenges resulting from the pandemic will continue, particularly in the aerospace and oil and gas businesses. Aerospace sales declined 28% to $2.54 billion, but topped the FactSet consensus of $2.41 billion; performance materials and technologies sales declined 19% to $2.22 billion but topped expectations of $2.19 billion; safety and productivity sales slipped 1% to $1.54 billion to beat expectations of $1.43 billion; and building technologies sales shed 19% to $1.18 billion, missing expectations of $1.24 billion.

Toy maker Mattel Inc. MAT, -2.49% reported a narrower-than-expected second-quarter loss and sales that were higher than Wall Street expected, thanks to sales in North America and total sales of Barbie and other dolls and games. Online sales continued to grow strongly in all regions. Gross sales in North America increased 3%, primarily on sales of Barbies as well as action figures, building sets, and games, the company said. Sales of its toy vehicles, including Hot Wheels, fell, the company said. Mattel said its supply chain continued to perform well despite temporary closures connected to the coronavirus pandemic. Currently all of our factories are open with minimal disruption to operations, as we enter the peak production season, it said. Liquidity is expected to be enough to effectively manage through the COVID-19 disruption and to continue to execute our strategy, the company said.

Paramount Pictures will delay the release of two of its most anticipated movies, Top Gun: Maverick, and A Quiet Place Part II, to 2021 due to the pandemic. The Quiet Place sequel is now scheduled for April 23, 2021, and the Top Gun sequel is on tap for July 2, 2021. Paramount is a unit of ViacomCBS Inc. VIAC, -1.51%

ScanSource Inc. SCSC, -8.90%, a provider of barcode, networking, security and business communications services, provided an upbeat sales outlook, while also saying it will cut jobs as part of a expense-reduction plan. The company expects fiscal fourth-quarter net sales of $758 million, compared with the FactSet consensus for total revenue of $718 million. ScanSource announced a $30 million cost cutting plan, which will include a reduction of its North America workforce, salary reductions of 10% to 25% for its executive team, elimination of cash retainers for the board of directors for the rest of the year and cutting discretionary spending. The company is closing its Canpango professional services business, which it acquired in August 2018, which is expected to result in a $2 million charge.

Schlumberger Ltd. SLB, +0.93% swung to a multibillion-dollar loss in the second quarter and revenue fell short of estimates, as the twin effects of the pandemic and falling oil price weighed. This has probably been the most challenging quarter in past decades, Chief Executive Olivier Le Peuch said, as he announced 21,000 job cuts. Revenue fell 28% from the first quarter, caused by the unprecedented fall in North America activity, and international activity drop due to downward revisions to customer budgets accentuated by COVID-19 disruptions. This speaks volumes about an industry confronted with historic oil demand and supply imbalances caused by demand destruction from the global COVID-19 containment effort. The company is reorganizing and combining its 17 product lines into four divisions, restructuring geographically around five key basins of activity and streamlining management, he said. Schlumberger expects to remove $1.5 billion of costs permanently. Looking at the macro view in the near-term, oil demand is slowly starting to normalize and is expected to improve as government measures support consumption, said the CEO. However, subsequent waves of potential COVID-19 resurgence pose a negative risk to this outlook.

Skechers USA Inc. SKX, -2.67% reported a narrower-than-expected adjusted second-quarter loss and sales that were above expectations. Skechers, like most businesses around the world, has never faced a more challenging time than during the pandemic, which caused the closing of nearly every market worldwide, Chief Executive Robert Greenberg said. The company ended the quarter with cash and cash equivalents around $1.6 billion, thanks in part to drawing down $490 million from its credit facility in the first quarter. The company did not provide an outlook.

Office supply equipment retailer Staples became the latest to require face coverings in all its stores starting Monday. Staples is an essential retailer, selling hand sanitizer and other personal protective equipment (PPE) as well as equipment for working and schooling from home. Staples joins retailers like Walmart Inc. WMT, -0.30% and Target Corp. TGT, +1.11% that will require customers to wear face coverings in stores.

See also: Christopher Nolan blockbuster Tenet now delayed indefinitely due to coronavirus

Walt Disney Co.s DIS, -0.43% Mulan scheduled for release Aug. 21, and expected to be a summer blockbuster has been delayed indefinitely because of theater closures and production shutdowns caused by the pandemic. The live-action movie has been repeatedly delayed. Additionally, Disney delayed releases of Star Wars and Avatar movies by a year. Over the last few months, its become clear that nothing can be set in stone when it comes to how we release films during this global health crisis, and today that means pausing our release plans for Mulan as we assess how we can most effectively bring this film to audiences around the world, a Walt Disney Studios spokesperson said in a statement.

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Coronavirus update: Global case tally climbs to 15.6 million and U.S. hits 4.07 million as virus spreads fast in Florida, California and Texas -...

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Coronavirus update: Global case tally climbs to 15.6 million and U.S. hits 4.07 million as virus spreads fast in Florida, California and Texas -…