20 COVID-19 outbreaks in TJHD, 44 fatalities, 1,845 total cases – The Daily Progress

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Thomas Jefferson Health District

RICHMOND The Virginia Department of Health reported Thursday that the statewide total for COVID-19 cases is 95,867 an increase of 818 from the 95,049 reported Wednesday.

The 95,867 cases consist of 92,244 confirmed cases and 3,623 probable cases. There are 2,299 COVID-19 deaths in Virginia 2,191 confirmed and 108 probable. Thats an increase of 25 from the 2,274 reported Wednesday.

On Thursday, the Thomas Jefferson Health District reported 17 new cases, for a total of 1,845 in the entire health district. One new hospitalization was also reported, along with three fatalities.

Two new fatalities were reported in Charlottesville along with one new fatality in Fluvanna County. There have been 44 fatalities associated with the novel coronavirus in the entire health district.

Albemarle County is now reporting 798 cases and 52 hospitalizations. 16 fatalities have been reported in the county.

The city of Charlottesville has reported 505 cases, 25 hospitalizations and 15 fatalities.

Fluvanna County has reported 179 cases, 31 hospitalizations and nine fatalities.

Greene and Louisa Counties both have reported two fatalities each. 153 cases have been reported out of Greene, while 174 cases have been reported out of Louisa. To date, eight hospitalizations have been reported in Greene, with 22 hospitalizations reported in Louisa.

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20 COVID-19 outbreaks in TJHD, 44 fatalities, 1,845 total cases - The Daily Progress

Families express outrage as 33 dead from COVID-19 at two Licking County care facilities – The Newark Advocate

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Approving a vaccine in the U.S. usually takes years, but COVID-19 vaccines are moving through in record time. What does that mean? USA TODAY

NEWARK -Twenty three residents have died from coronavirus at one nursing home in Licking County and 10 at another, according to the Licking County Health Department.

Last month, the agency announced an outbreak at Newark Care and Rehabilitation. They were initially notified of the outbreak at the beginning of July.

On Wednesday morning, Licking County Health Commissioner Chad Brown reported 73 Newark Care and Rehabilitation residents and 45 staff members have tested positive for coronavirus, and 23 residents have died from the virus. Brown noted they are working to get the number of active cases from the facility.

Billie Mominey said her mother was one of the first to contract the virus in that facility. Shesaid before her mother's COVID-19 test results came back they had moved her to a different unit in the facility. Within hours, Mominey said thetest results came back positive.

Mominey claimed her mother was not the only resident moved prior to receiving results from their coronavirus test.

More: Evans remembered for dedication to shoe store, downtown, community after COVID-19 death

Newark Care and Rehabilitation at 75 McMillen Drive in Newark(Photo: Sara C. Tobias/The Advocate)

According to Mominey, her mother spent a little over two weeks in the hospital before returning to Newark Care and Rehabilitation. She said there are staff members doing an excellent job, making sure she eats and getting her into a wheelchair to make sure she's still moving.

"But that was a horrible call, sending those patients throughout the building before knowing if she (or they) were positive or not," Mominey said.

Newark Care and Rehabilitation administration could not be reached for comment.

At Middleton Senior Living in Granville, Brown said 10 residents have died from coronavirus. As of Wednesday morning, Brown said 16 residents and 11 staff members have tested positive. He noted the facility has six active cases in residents and two active staff cases. Thatoutbreak was initiallyreported on July 21.

Brown reported 16 resident cases, five staff cases and zero deaths from coronavirus at Arlington Care Center in Newark.

Similar to how LCHD has worked with Newark Care and Rehabilitation during the outbreak, Brown said they've provided Middleton and Arlington's administrative team with guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and the Ohio Department of Health, as well as personal protective equipment and coronavirus testing supplies.

Brown said staff at Licking County Health Department communicate with the three nursing homes daily.

Middleton Senior Living in Granville

In a statement from Middleton Senior Living, administration said their hearts are with their employees, residents and staff during this time.

"We have been inspired by our staff courage and loyalty. Our team at Middleton Senior Living is comprised of very experienced and talented managers who call the residents their family," they said. "We remain uplifted by the outpouring of support from our families and their testimonials regarding our loving care to our residents."

Middleton administration said they're committed to their safety measures and are following their procedures regarding universal precautions throughout the community. They noted they are adhering to all state regulations and health department guidance.

Last week, Brown told The Advocate the outbreaks would be considered under control once they've gone four days with zero new cases.

As of Tuesday, Brown said Newark Care and Rehabilitation had gone five days without any new cases in residents. He desribed it as an "encouraging development."

For the outbreaks to be considered cleared, Brown explained they would have to go through two incubation periods, or 28 days, without any new cases.

Last week, the outbreak at Newark Care and Rehabilitation prompted residents' loved ones to seek help from the Licking County Commissioners.

More: Loved ones seek help from commissioners regarding Newark nursing home outbreak

At their Thursday meeting, Stephen Short, of Laurelville, told the commissioners his uncle, Bob Evans, was placed in hospice after contracting the coronavirus while a resident at Newark Care and Rehabilitation. Evans has since died.

Newark Care and Rehabilitation at 75 McMillen Drive in Newark(Photo: Sara C. Tobias/The Advocate)

Mandy Wilson, whose brother receives care at Newark Care and Rehabilitation following an accident that left him paraplegic, told The Advocateher brother has described the facility as prison-like.

"Before he was enjoying it. He actually got the good care he needed," Wilson said. "Since March, it's just been a horror story for him."

Other than video chats, Wilson said their family has only been able to visit him through glass.

"It's very hurtful," she said. "It's kind of like somebody died, but you can still hear their voice and talk to them."

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Wilson said she understands lockdown units in the facility, but says no one is allowed to go outside. She claimed staff have proper personal protective equipment, but the patients don't.

"He says it's like prison. He has no rights," Wilson said. "There's some good nurses and some good aides. He feels like he's in solitary confinement, looking at the four walls. He's telling me 'I think we're going to die in here.'"

Melisa McKinley Bay said her mother was in Newark Care and Rehabilitation for physical therapy.Only July 7, Bay said the nursing home called to say they were discharging her mother. Although her mother was supposed to be in the facility for physical therapy, Bay said her mother was extremely weak. And within eight hours, had fallen and was taken to Licking Memorial Hospital, where she tested positive for coronavirus.

Bay expressed frustration over a lack of communication from the nursing home, saying their family could've removed her from the facility a lot sooner if they'd known.

Bay said her mother, who was 74, diedin Licking Memorial on a ventilator about two weeks ago.

"Something has to be done because 23 (deaths) is way too many," Bay said. "One is way too many."

Bay said she felt the nursing home hadbeen trying to hide the outbreak and had dumped her mom to avoid another coronavirus case.

"She hugged everybody. She would smile - she had the best smile. She was a jokester. She saw the good in everybody," Bay said. "This is serious...It's sad to watch your loved one go through this and to go through it alone. The staff at Licking Memorial was great...but it's so hard. They're still alone. That's probably the hardest part was she was alone when she passed."

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Lubbock nursing home one of two in Texas with most COVID-19 resident deaths – KLBK | KAMC | EverythingLubbock.com

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LUBBOCK, Texas As of July 22, Whisperwood Nursing and Rehabilitation Center reported 25 COVID-19 deaths in residents to the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, and was one of only two nursing homes in the state with the most reported virus deaths.

The other nursing home with 25 deaths was Brenham Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Brenham, Texas, according to HHS. One nursing home in Houston had a reported 24 deaths.

Lakeside Rehabilitation and Care Center reported 10 virus deaths in residents and was in the top 50 in terms of number of coronavirus deaths in Texas nursing homes, according to HHS. Bender Terrace reported 4 deaths, or in the top 150 for COVID-19 deaths in state nursing facilities.

Of the 1,215 nursing homes in the state of Texas, 628 of them had at least one case of coronavirus in its residents, according to HHS data. Of those, 329 had at least one resident who had died from the virus.

In total, Whisperwood had 84 residents test positive for COVID-19, as well as 32 employees. There were no active coronavirus cases in Whisperwood residents as of July 22, according to HHS data.

According to a list of nursing homes provided by the HHS, Whisperwood has a total capacity of 126. That would mean that, at least 60 percent of all Whisperwood residents were infected with the virus, with at least 19 percent of all residents dying.

EverythingLubbock.com reached out to Whisperwood by phone on Thursday afternoon. If Whisperwood accepts the invitation to comment, an update will be provided.

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Lubbock nursing home one of two in Texas with most COVID-19 resident deaths - KLBK | KAMC | EverythingLubbock.com

How Introduction Of Blockchain Technology Is Transforming Marketing? – Customer Think

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Technology is helping the world to move in the direction of overall development by directly effecting the various areas of both traditional and non-traditions businesses. As we move towards the era of complete digitalization, it is hard to not notice the impact of trending technologies on a global level.

It has transformed multiple aspects by changing the conventional modes of operation in unexpected areas. Today, ion this blog, we would be discussing the impact of growing technology in one of the major areas- marketing.

Scope Of Development With Technology

The scope of development now has expanded as traditional businesses are provided with opportunities to grow. This kind of facility was never available, until now. The Pandoras box of opportunities has triggered the interest of many verticals to dwell into the pool of unmatchable advantages. Bridging the gap between the users and processes, blockchain is one of those technologies that is outshining its own capabilities. With a lot of perks in store, it is eradicating all the possibilities of failure.

Since this tech has recently gained the deserved attention, the curiosity about it is continuously rising. Most of us may connect the blockchain tech with the famous cryptocurrencies, but in reality, it has much more to offer. Education, finance, e-commerce, entertainment, supply chain, mobile application, etc are just a few examples of areas in which it has introduced multiple changes.

And, today we would be discussing how this tech is bringing change in the marketing industry. This will help you to come up with multiple ways and apply them to your own business. But first, it is important that we strengthen our basics and learn a little about this technology. If you are interested in reaping the benefits it delivers, then buckle up and expand your learning.

What Is Blockchain Technology?

This data structure contains information in a decentralized and encrypted form. Without centralizing the complete information, it simplifies the transfer of digital data. This means that the server is not under the control of any centralized authority. It is recorded in several chains and blocks which creates a safe way to store secured information.

It is just like a sheet that is shared with multiple people, and when one person updates or modifies it, everyone gets to know about it. Similarly, when in a blockchain system, a person modifies its data in a decentralized ledger, everybody data gets modified.

This is the technology on which the very famous Bitcoin was made. From a safe process of sharing records to ensuring secured transactions, this tech holds a lot of value.

With the growth in this tech, a lot of developing companies in marketing are making an effort to adopt it. Just like any other technology, it is also transforming the ideas and goals of a company.

What Are Its Advantages?

Now let us take a look at the advantages that this technology has to offer-

1. Simplicity is one of the biggest advantages of blockchain.

2. Security is the topmost reason why this tech is being integrated into various fields.

3. The level of transparency is really high. It is easy to track information and witness the changes that are being made by other nodes.

4. By boosting updates at a great speed, this ever-evolving technology has a lot to offer.

5. The security that it offers has ameliorated the level of reliability.

All these five advantages make it suitable for almost all the processes. All one needs is to have is the urge to succeed using this tech.

Impact Of Blockchain On Marketing Industry

Now let us jump to the topic that we all were waiting for. How will blockchain expand the potential of the marketing industry? In order to expand our understanding of it, let us divide it into three major parts and study them one by one.

1. Decentralization

In a centralized system, a single host has all the information which creates multiple hindrances during communication. Seamlessness in communication is necessary if a company needs to expand its efficiency in marketing. The applied strategies can only be effective if the team members are able to express their opinions in a manner that does not misplace their points.

2. Immutability

The factor of the immutability of records eradicates the scope of mistakes. After verification, it is hard to change the data, without affecting the rest of the blocks connected to the chain. This technique also keeps hackers at bay.

3. Transparency

The distributed digital ledger allows the nodes to keep a tab on all the transactions and changes. Marketing teams can use it for maintaining transparency in their own system.

Final Thoughts!

This is how blockchain is transforming the marketing industry. It is mesmerizing to witness how tech can change the faults in any system or vertical and help them to reach their full potential. As in multiple conventional operations, there are several drawbacks that refrain a business from reaching its zenith. It is exceptional to live in a world that offers so much to various operational areas.

If you want to catch the right nerve of business development, technology can play a huge role in it. It is clear that we are moving towards complete digitalization, so why not think for the future from now onwards.

So what is your take on it?

Will you switch to blockchain for improving your marketing?

Or will you let it pass? If you still are confused about it, then feel free to reach out to the experts from a leading company. This is the only way to clear all the clouds and see the development closely.

Whatever your thoughts are, dont forget to add them to the comment section present below. We would love to hear from you guys. But until the next update, stay hooked to this platform for more information from around the world.

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How Introduction Of Blockchain Technology Is Transforming Marketing? - Customer Think

Senators Graham And Blumenthal Can’t Even ‘Earn’ The EARN IT Act: Looking To Sneak Vote Through Without Debate – Techdirt

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from the don't-let-them dept

Senator Lindsey Graham very badly wants to push the extremely dangerous EARN IT Act across the finish line. He's up for re-election this fall, and wants to burnish his "I took on big tech" creds, and sees EARN IT as his path to grandstanding glory. Never mind the damage it will do to basically every one. While the bill was radically changed via his manager's amendment last month, it's still an utter disaster that puts basically everything we hold dear about the internet at risk. It will allow for some attacks on encryption and (somewhat bizarrely) will push other services to more fully encrypt. For those that don't do that, there will still be new limitations on Section 230 protections and, very dangerously, it will create strong incentives for internet companies to collect more personal information about every one of their users to make sure they're complying with the law.

It's a weird way to "attack" the power of big tech by forcing them to collect and store more of your private info. But, hey, it's not about what's actually in the bill. It's about whatever bullshit narrative Graham and others know the press will say is in the bill.

Either way, we've heard that Graham and his bi-partisan supporter for EARN IT, Senator Richard Blumenthal, are looking to rush EARN IT through with no debate, via a process known as hotlining. Basically, it's a way to try to get around any floor debate, by asking every Senator's office (by email, apparently!) if they would object to a call for unanimous consent. If no Senator objects, then they basically know they can skip debate and get the bill approved. If Senators object, then (behind the scenes) others can start to lean on (or horse trade) with the Senators to get the objections to go away without it all having to happen on the floor of the Senate. In other words, Graham and Blumenthal are recognizing that they probably can't "earn" the EARN IT Act if it has to go through the official process to have it debated and voted on on the floor, and instead are looking to sneak it through when no one's looking.

While Senator Wyden (once again) has said he'll do whatever he can to to block this, it would help if other Senators would stand up as well. Here's what Wyden had to say about it:

The EARN IT Act will not protect children. It will not stop thespread of child sexual abuse material, nor target the monsters whoproduce and share it, and it will not help the victims of these evilcrimes. What it will do is threaten the free speech, privacy, andsecurity of every single American. This is because, at its core, theamended EARN IT Act magnifies the failures of the Stop Enabling SexTraffickers Act--SESTA--and its House companion, the Fight Online SexTrafficking Act--FOSTA. Experts believe that SESTA/FOSTA has donenothing to help victims or stop sex trafficking, while creatingcollateral damage for marginalized communities and the speech of allAmericans. A lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of FOSTA onFirst Amendment grounds is proceeding through the courts, and there isbicameral Federal legislation to study the widespread negative impactsof the bill on marginalized groups.

Yet, the authors of the EARN IT Act decided to take this kind ofcarveout and expand it further to State civil and criminal statutes. Byallowing any individual State to set laws for internet content, thisbill would create massive uncertainty, both for strong encryption andconstitutionally protected speech online. What is worse, the flood ofState laws that could potentially arise under the EARN IT Act raisesstrong Fourth Amendment concerns, meaning that any CSAM evidencecollected could be rendered inadmissible in court and accused CSAMoffenders could get off scot-free. This is not a risk that I am willingto take.

Let me be clear: The proliferation of these heinous crimes againstchildren is a serious problem. However, for these reasons and more, theEARN IT Act is not the solution. Moreover, it ignores what Congress canand should be doing to combat this heinous crime. The U.S. has a numberof important evidence-based programs in existence that are proven tokeep kids safe, and they are in desperate need of funding to do theirgood work. Yet the EARN IT Act doesn't include a single dollar offunding for these important programs. It is time for the U.S.Government to spend the funds necessary to save children's lives now.

While a Wyden hold would block any attempt to get unanimous consent via the hotlining process, it would help quite a lot if other Senators were willing to speak up and stand with him as well. If it's just Wyden, then he'll face tremendous pressure to remove the hold. If more Senators join Wyden in saying this isn't okay, then Graham and Blumenthal will realize they have a bigger challenge in front of them.

Again, if you haven't been following this debate closely, everything that Wyden says above is accurate. EARN IT is an attack on both free speech and privacy (a twofer) without doing anything to actually deal with the problem of child sexual abuse material online. That is very much a law enforcement issue, and it's one which Congress has failed to provide the funds to law enforcement that it promised on this issue, and (even worse) the DOJ has simply ignored its requirement mandates to deal with this issue as required by Congress. The DOJ seems more focused on attacking tech companies and blaming them for its own failure to do its job.

The EARN IT Act is an incredibly dangerous piece of legislation, but it's also a complicated one -- one that many people don't understand. But Senators see something that says "protect the children" and they immediately think "well, of course we support that." But this bill doesn't protect children. It attacks free speech and privacy online in very insidious ways. Please call your Senators and ask them not to let this through.

Filed Under: debate, earn it, earn it act, encryption, free speech, lindsey graham, privacy, richard blumenthal, section 230, senate

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Senators Graham And Blumenthal Can't Even 'Earn' The EARN IT Act: Looking To Sneak Vote Through Without Debate - Techdirt

I Tried to Live Without the Tech Giants. It Was Impossible. – The New York Times

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The chief executives of Amazon, Facebook, Google and Apple were called before a House antitrust committee this week, ostensibly to answer questions about whether they have too much power and whether that hurts consumers.

The tech bosses, who appeared via videoconference, fended off questions about being cyber barons, saying they have plenty of competition and that consumers have other options for the services they offer.

But do they? Last year, in an effort to understand just how dependent we are on these companies, I did an experiment for the tech news site Gizmodo to see how hard it would be to remove them from my life.

To do that wasnt easy. From my years writing about digital privacy, I knew these companies were in the background of many of our online interactions. I worked with a technologist named Dhruv Mehrotra, who designed a custom tool for me, a virtual private network that kept my devices from sending data to or receiving data from the tech giants by blocking the millions of internet addresses the companies controlled.

Then I blocked Amazon, Facebook, Google, Apple and Microsoft, one by one and then all at once over six weeks. Amazon and Google were the hardest companies to avoid by far.

Cutting Amazon from my life meant losing access to any site hosted by Amazon Web Services, the internets largest cloud provider. Many apps and a large portion of the internet use Amazons servers to host their digital content, and much of the digital world became inaccessible when I said goodbye to Amazon, including the Amazon Prime Video competitor Netflix.

Amazon was difficult to avoid in the real world as well. When I ordered a phone holder for my car from eBay, it arrived in Amazons signature packaging, because the seller used Fulfillment by Amazon, paying the company to store and ship his product.

When I blocked Google, the entire internet slowed down for me, because almost every site I visited was using Google to supply its fonts, run its ads, track its users, or determine if its users were humans or bots. While blocking Google, I couldnt sign into the data storage service Dropbox because the site thought I wasnt a real person. Uber and Lyft stopped working for me, because they were both dependent on Google Maps for navigating the world. I discovered that Google Maps had a de facto monopoly on online maps. Even Googles longtime critic Yelp used it to tell computer users where businesses could be found.

I came to think of Amazon and Google as the providers of the very infrastructure of the internet, so embedded in the architecture of the digital world that even their competitors had to rely on their services.

Facebook, Apple and Microsoft came with their own challenges. While Facebook was less debilitating to block, I missed Instagram (which Facebook owns) terribly, and I stopped getting news from my social circle, like the birth of a good friends child. I just assume that if I post something on Facebook, everyone will know about it, she told me when I called her weeks later to congratulate her. I tried out an alternative called Mastodon, but a social network devoid of any of your friends isnt much fun.

Apple was hard to leave because I had two Apple computers and an iPhone, so I wound up getting some radical new hardware in order to keep accessing the internet and making phone calls.

Apple and Googles Android software have a duopoly on the smartphone market. Wanting to avoid both companies, I wound up getting a dumb phone a Nokia 3310 on which I had to relearn the fine art of texting on numerical phone keys and a laptop with a Linux operating system from a company called Purism that is trying to create an ethical computing environment, namely by helping its users avoid the tech giants.

Yes, there are alternatives for products and services offered by the tech giants, but they are harder to find and to use.

Microsoft, which is not in the antitrust hot seat this time around but knows what it feels like, was easy to block on the consumer level. As my colleague Steve Lohr notes, Microsoft is mainly a supplier of technology to business customers these days.

But like Amazon, Microsoft has a cloud service, and so a few sites went dark for me, as did two Microsoft-owned services I used frequently, LinkedIn and Skype. Not being able to use tech giant-owned services I love was a hazard of this experiment: As The Wall Street Journal noted, the tech giants have bought more than 400 companies and start-ups over the last decade.

Critics of the big tech companies are often told, If you dont like the company, dont use its products. My takeaway from the experiment was that its not possible to do that. Its not just the products and services branded with the big tech giants name. Its that these companies control a thicket of more obscure products and services that are hard to untangle from tools we rely on for everything we do, from work to getting from point A to point B.

Many people called what I did digital veganism. Digital vegans are deliberative about the hardware and software they use and the data they consume and share, because information is power, and increasingly a handful of companies seem to have it all.

There were two very different types of reaction to the story. Some people said that it proved just how essential these companies are to the American economy and how useful they are to consumers, meaning regulators shouldnt interfere with them. Others, like Representative Jerrold Nadler, Democrat of New York and ex officio member of the Houses antitrust committee, said at the time that the experiment was proof of their monopolistic power.

By virtue of controlling essential infrastructure, these companies appear to have the ability to control access to markets, Mr. Nadler said. In some basic ways, the problem is not unlike what we faced 130 years ago, when railroads transformed American life both enabling farmers and producers to access new markets, but also creating a key chokehold that the railroad monopolies could exploit.

If I were still blocking the tech giants today, I wouldnt have been able to watch this weeks antitrust hearing online. C-SPAN streamed it live via YouTube, which Google owns.

After the experiment was over, though, I went back to using the companies services again, because as it demonstrated, I didnt really have any other choice.

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I Tried to Live Without the Tech Giants. It Was Impossible. - The New York Times

The Trump administration unveiled a wild plan to wall off China from the US internet – Business Insider – Business Insider

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Banning TikTok was only the tip of the iceberg.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday announced a new "Clean Network" initiative, aimed at blocking off large swathes of China's internet from the US.

This comes the same week as President Trump ordered that hugely successful social media app TikTok which is owned by Chinese tech company ByteDance sell off its US business to an American company or else face getting banned.

"The Clean Network program is the Trump Administration's comprehensive approach to guarding our citizens' privacy and our companies' most sensitive information from aggressive intrusions by malign actors, such as the Chinese Communist Party," Pompeo wrote in the announcement of the program.

The plans will stoke worries that the internet is set to become increasingly balkanized, with citizens unable to access certain apps or services thanks to geopolitical tensions.

Pompeo outlined five ways in which the initiative aims to keep China away from America's internet, although he was not entirely clear about how they might be technically enforced.

Pompeo said this part of the initiative is: "to ensure untrusted People's Republic of China (PRC) carriers are not connected with US telecommunications networks. Such companies pose a danger to US national security and should not provide international telecommunications services to and from the United States."

It is not clear from the press announcement exactly how this will work, whether it will bar Chinese telecoms carriers from operating in the US, or whether it might make it impossible for people in China and the US to call one another.

The "Clean Store" part of the initiative aims: "To remove untrusted applications from US mobile app stores," meaning Apple's App Store and Google's Play Store.

This explanation for this runs: "PRC apps threaten our privacy, proliferate viruses, and spread propaganda and disinformation. American's [sic] most sensitive personal and business information must be protected on their mobile phones from exploitation and theft for the CCP's benefit."

This may mean booting Chinese apps, currently permitted on both the major app stores, out entirely.

The "Clean Apps" part of the initiative is: "To prevent untrusted PRC smartphone manufacturers from pre-installing or otherwise making available for download trusted apps on their apps store."

Pompeo specifically names Chinese tech giant Huawei as an example, calling it "an arm of the PRC surveillance state." The US government has long accused Huawei of acting as a proxy for the Chinese government to spy, which Huawei denies.

"These [trusted] companies should remove their apps from Huawei's app store to ensure they are not partnering with a human rights abuser," Pompeo writes.

Currently, US apps including Amazon's shopping app and Snapchat are available on Huawei's App Gallery.

Pompeo says this is: "To prevent U.S. citizens' most sensitive personal information and our businesses' most valuable intellectual property, including COVID-19 vaccine research, from being stored and processed on cloud-based systems accessible to our foreign adversaries through companies such as Alibaba, Baidu, and Tencent."

Pompeo writes this part of the initiative is: "To ensure the undersea cables connecting our country to the global internet are not subverted for intelligence gathering by the PRC at hyper scale. We will also work with foreign partners to ensure that undersea cables around the world aren't similarly subject to compromise."

It's not clear how exactly this part of the plan will manifest itself, but in June a DOJ telecoms committee advised the FCC to block the construction of an undersea cable to Hong Kong.

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Tech giants lead gains as S&P 500 closes 4th winning month – The Associated Press

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NEW YORK (AP) Big Tech continues to steamroll through the pandemic, and strong gains for some of the markets most influential companies on Friday helped Wall Street close out its fourth straight winning month.

The S&P 500 rose 24.90 points, or 0.8%, to 3,271.12 following blowout profit reports from Apple and several other tech titans. The gains didnt come easily, though, and the stock market flipped up and down through the day amid worries about the economy and whether Congress can find agreement on more aid for it.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down as many as 300 points before finishing the day up 114.67, or 0.4%, at 26,428.32. The Nasdaq composite jumped 157.64, or 1.5%, to 10,745.27 on the strength for tech stocks, which also accelerated in the last hour of trading.

Despite the gains, caution was clearly present across markets as the coronavirus pandemic continues to cloud the economys prospects. The 10-year Treasury yield touched its lowest level since it dropped to a record low in March. Gold also continued its record-setting run as investors searched for safety, while the majority of stocks in the S&P 500 sank.

Among the laggards were companies that most need the economy to get back to normal and the pandemic to subside, including many in the travel industry.

Expedia Group slumped 4.6% after it reported weaker results for the latest quarter than Wall Street expected. The companys CEO, Peter Kern, called it likely the worst quarter the travel industry has seen in modern history.

Energy companies were also weak as the pandemic sucked away demand for oil. Chevron dropped 2.7% after it reported a worse loss for its latest quarter than Wall Street expected.

The economy cratered to its worst quarterly performance on record during the spring, and worries are high that continuing waves of coronavirus infections may halt what had been a budding recovery. An extra $600 in weekly unemployment benefits from the U.S. government is expiring with Julys end, and Congress continues to argue about how to provide more support for the economy.

Whether Washington can agree on more aid for out-of-work Americans and quickly is the biggest risk for the market in the near term, said Yung-Yu Ma, chief investment strategist at BMO Wealth Management.

If it doesnt happen in short order, theres going to be a lot of disappointment and unease, he said. I think lawmakers are perhaps underestimating how quickly things could spiral downward without an extension in place. It would take only a few weeks before millions of people are cash strapped.

The S&P 500 made its final leg back into positive territory for the day as top Democrats announced a meeting with White House representatives for Saturday morning to continue talks.

Also helping to prop up the S&P 500 was the power of big tech-oriented stocks. Amazon, Apple and Facebook each reported stronger profit for the latest quarter than Wall Street expected late Thursday, and each rose at least 3.7% in their first trading following the reports. Theyre three of the biggest companies in the world, making up nearly 13% of the S&P 500 themselves, so their movements hold great sway over indexes.

Apple was particularly influential, rocketing up 10.5% following what Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives called a Picasso-like performance for its latest quarter.

Googles parent company, another behemoth in the market, also reported stronger profit than analysts had forecast, but its stock stumbled.

Not only are Big Tech companies growing faster than the rest of the market, some investors have even begun seeing them as safer bets than other stocks because the pandemic is pushing more people online and directly into their wheelhouses. Its a far cry from 20 years ago when tech stocks were seen as the riskiest investments.

The strength for tech is one of the reasons the S&P 500 rose 5.5% in July, its best month since April. Continued, massive amounts of aid from the Federal Reserve has been another linchpin. The index has climbed back within 3.4% of its record set in February after earlier being down nearly 34%.

The gains came even though companies have broadly been reporting sharp declines in their profits, as investors hope that a vaccine can be developed in the next year to corral the pandemic and get the economy closer to normal.

The market knows earnings are going to be terrible now, with a few select exceptions, for the majority of companies, Ma said. Whats really holding up the equity markets is this idea that Yes, its a terrible situation now, but the outlook for 2021 and beyond is markedly better.

Other markets have not shown as much exuberance, though. The yield on the 10-year Treasury ticked down to 0.53% from 0.54% late Thursday. It touched its lowest level since March 9, the day it dropped to its record intraday low just below 0.34%. The yield tends to move with investors expectations for the economy and inflation.

Gold for delivery in December, the most actively traded contract, rose $19.10 to settle at $1,985.91 per ounce after earlier climbing as high as $2,005.40.

Benchmark U.S. crude oil rose 35 cents to settle at $40.27 a barrel Friday. Brent crude rose 37 cents to $43.31 a barrel.

European and Asian markets closed broadly lower.

___

AP Business Writer Yuri Kageyama contributed.

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Tech giants lead gains as S&P 500 closes 4th winning month - The Associated Press

Merger of wealth tech giants blocked – International Adviser

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The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has halted the merger of FNZ and GBST.

The two retail wealth software firms have a large footprint in the UK sector, the watchdog warned.

FNZ acquired GBST in November 2019, andthe M&A deal has been under scrutiny ever since.

In its phase 2 provisional findings, the CMA said that greenlighting the merger could result in lessening competition within the UK retail platform space.

This could lead to UK consumers who rely on investment platforms to administer their pensions and other investments facing higher costs and lower quality services, the regulator added.

The merger would create the largest supplier in the UK, holding nearly 50% of the market.

Before striking the deal, the two firms were competitors in the space, where customers viewed them as close alternatives, the CMA said.

If FNZ and GBSTwere allowed tocombine, there would only be one provider that could keep up with their offering, according to the watchdog:a firm calledBravura.

The competition regulator has also set out a list of options available to FNZ to mitigate its concerns, which include selling part or the entirety of GBST.

Martin Coleman, chair of the CMA inquiry group, said:The evidence weve seen so far consistently points in the same direction that FNZ and GBST are two of the leading suppliers within this market and compete closely against each other.

Thats why were concerned that their merger could lead to investment platforms, and therefore indirectly millions of UK consumers who hold pensions or other investments, facing higher fees and lower quality services.

Were now inviting comments on our provisional findings and possible remedies.

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Merger of wealth tech giants blocked - International Adviser

Is TikTok a Good Buy? It Depends on Whats Included – The New York Times

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In addition to recreating TikToks algorithms, an American acquirer would also need to work quickly to preserve TikToks other valuable asset: its creator culture. As my colleague Taylor Lorenz has written, TikTok is home to a large, vibrant community of creative talent, some of whom make a full-time living from the app. Those people are attracted to TikTok partly because the platform gives them a way to reach a mass audience. But theyre also attracted to it because TikTok has cultivated an aura of cool through advertising, striking partnerships with music festivals and other popular events, and hosting exclusive parties for TikTok creators at industry events like VidCon.

Already, Facebook is reportedly trying to poach popular TikTok creators for Instagram Reels, its new TikTok clone, by dangling six-figure deals in front of them. And if TikTok is acquired by Microsoft a company not historically known for its youth appeal creators could sense that its time to move on.

TikTok could try to lower the risk for an acquirer by striking multiyear exclusive deals with its most popular American creators, the way that platforms like YouTube and Twitch have done. It could also accelerate its plans to let popular users earn money from the platform. But without a firm grip on its A-list talent, TikToks acquirer wont be assured that the platform isnt losing its edge.

Hank Green, a YouTube star and chief executive of the education company Complexly, who has more than 600,000 followers on TikTok, said that a TikTok acquisition could make creators more skeptical of the companys motives.

One of the things about TikTok is theyve been able to make lots of changes really fast, and people are open and receptive to that, Mr. Green said. If you see that change as coming from outside the ecosystem, that can feel like a foreign change.

Many of the people I spoke to agreed that even with the potential pitfalls and unresolved questions, the opportunity to buy TikTok is a once-in-a-decade deal for the right acquirer. Popular, growing social networks are exceedingly rare, and TikTok has already made itself a fixture of American culture in a way that few other apps ever have.

TikTok is compelling, not just because of its large and growing user base, but also because of its platform potential to expand into e-commerce and livestreaming, said Connie Chan, a partner at the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz. Video is a fantastic way to sell things and short videos are perfect for product discovery.

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Is TikTok a Good Buy? It Depends on Whats Included - The New York Times

Brexit and Beyond: Trademark Protection Strategies in an Uncertain Global Marketplace – Lexology

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The unprecedented challenges posted by the COVID-19 pandemic forced many companies and their in-house legal teams to temporarily shelve their Brexit preparations in order to deal with the immediate threats posed by the pandemic. While COVID-19 remains an ongoing and serious concern for US operations, companies that also do business in the UK also need to put Brexit planning for their trademark portfolio back on the agenda. Having declined to request a further extension, the UK is set to exit the European Union on Dec. 31. Businesses need to prepare now in order to protect their trademarks in an uncertain global market.

US Businesses Say They Arent Ready for Brexit

UK Offering Assurances of Trademark Protection Post-Brexit

Can Trademark Squatters Swipe IP Rights in Brexit Transition?

How will Brexit Impact International Exhaustion?

Brexit and Beyond: Poll Results

At the ACC Greater Philadelphia 12th Annual In-House Counsel Conference, attendees of Womble Bond Dickinsons panel presentation provided the following responses to polling questions posed throughout the discussion.

How well-informed do you feel about Brexit and trademarks?I have read all the guidance and know it all 0%I have seen some guidance, and made some plans 6%I am aware of changes, but not made plans 82%Brexit will make no difference 6%What is Brexit? 6%

What is your biggest Brexit concern for trademarks?Losing registered protection in the UK 50%Increased expense 10%More administration and management of portfolios 15%Squatters registering in the UK 20%Loss of rights due to non-use 0%Enforcement in the UK 0%Controlling parallel imports 5%

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Brexit and Beyond: Trademark Protection Strategies in an Uncertain Global Marketplace - Lexology

Brexit: Another hidden cost has been laid bare people will be less willing to help the UK in a crisis – The Independent

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The question began: Imagine a country suffered some kind of major crisis, and was looking for help from others. People across Europe were asked how willing their country should be to offer financial help to other countries. The UK came near the bottom of the list, below all EU countries and ahead of only Tunisia and Colombia.

The huge opinion poll was carried out by YouGov in 13 EU countries and the UK, and has just been published. If you find the Eurovision Song Contest voting depressing, look away now: in nine EU countries more people would be unwilling to help the UK in a crisis than willing. In only four countries is the balance the other way round, so now we know who our friends are: the Danes, the Poles, the Swedes and the Romanians (although note that only half of EU countries were surveyed).

We British, on the other hand, are models of European generosity, being willing, on balance, to help out all 27 EU members, even though we have now left their club. Our renunciation of EU membership must be one of the biggest causes of these findings, which expose the damage to Britains reputation from Brexit.

Sharing the full story, not just the headlines

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Brexit: Another hidden cost has been laid bare people will be less willing to help the UK in a crisis - The Independent

French fishermen have long track record of ports chaos and WON’T sit back after Brexit – Daily Express

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French fishermen have a history of blockades in the English Channel over minor disagreements, according to Barrie Deas, the CEO of the National Federation of Fishermen's Organisations. He has warned they are likely to continue their actions after the UK becomes an independent coastal state and noted it would be "naive" to think they would not act if they are not happy. His comments come as the bloc wants to see the status quo maintained for fishing access and quotas, but the UK Government wants Britain to have full control of its own waters.

Speaking to Express.co.uk, Mr Deas said: "French fishermen, especially in the Channel area, have a long track record of blockading Channel ports when they're upset about something.

"They've done it for much lesser reasons than the UK becoming an independent coastal state, renegotiation of quotas, even if there is access for French fishermen.

"I think it would be naive to expect that they will be happy about this or do nothing about it.

"There's a long history of those kindsof blockades."

READ MORE:Boris Johnson building 'White House centre of power'

Mr Deas said France takes 84 percent of the quota for cod in the English Channel while the UK is allowed only nine percent.

He explained the extortionate quotas need to be ironed out in a Brexit trade deal between the UK and EU.

He told Express.co.uk: "EU vessels have automatic access to the resource-rich UK waters.

"That's what underpins everything, the deal from the 1970s.

"When quotas were introduced in 1983, a decade later, they reflected that original deal.

"You have situations like, in Channel Cod, the UK share of that quota is nine percent.

"The French is 84 percent.

"Celtic Sea haddock where the UK share is 10 percent and the French share is 66 percent.

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"It's those kinds of extortions that the fishing industry wants ironed out."

Disagreements over how to guarantee fair competition, fisheries, rules for settling disputes or the role of the EU's top court have so far prevented progress in trade talks as the bloc seeks to tie London closely to its rules while Boris Johnson wants to cut the UK away further.

A French official said the leaders agreed that they must stick to their stance on fisheries and the so-called level playing field provisions aimed at ensuring fair competition.

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French fishermen have long track record of ports chaos and WON'T sit back after Brexit - Daily Express

UK chems sector stabilises in Q2, risks of second wave, Brexit pose threat – ICIS

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LONDON (ICIS)--UK-based chemicals producers marked stable to improved export sales in the second quarter but risks for the industry remain on the horizon, according to the Chemical Industries Association (CIA) on Wednesday.

Half of businesses stated that exports to the EU and the rest of the world remained at current levels or improved in the second quarter following severe declines earlier in the year, in response to a survey conducted by the CIA.

The same number of respondents also noted capital expenditure and business utilisation had also tracked stable-to-improvement in the same period, while 80% marked similar trends in growth in employee numbers and Research & Development (R&D) spending.

A pickup in activity was recorded throughout Europe in latter part of the second quarter, as lockdown measures began to ease and economies started to recover.

This is supported by a strength in the retail trade in June from May levels, with a 5.7% increase marked in the eurozone, reflected by a 5.2% rise in the wider EU, accounting for seasonal adjustment.

Growth continued from May, when retail trade marked a 20.3% jump in the eurozone, while climbing 18.3% in the EU, meaning that retail trade volumes for both blocs returned to levels reach before containment measures were implemented in 2020.

Compared with the previous year, the calendar adjusted retail sales index increased by 1.3% for both the eurozone and EU.

Conditions are expected to continue on this trajectory in the third quarter, with 80% if businesses expecting stable or improved domestic sales, with more than 70% of firms anticipating the same for export sales and capital expenditure.

Not all indicators are positive, as around 10% of companies expecting continued job losses and R&D expenditure reductions, as some downstream industries such as automotive, aerospace and construction have suffered more than others including healthcare, food and drink and some consumer goods areas.

Despite some resilience CIA chief executive Steve Elliott says that the prospect of increased coronavirus infection rates in the second half of the year, coupled with Brexit means that the future is uncertain for the UKs biggest manufacturing export market.

An autumn demand stimulus package for those manufacturing industries that have been hardest hit will help the entire supply chain, said Elliott.

What we as a sector need is a successful conclusion to the UK:EU trade talks including tariff-free frictionless trade and regulatory consistency; taxation reform through a reduction in corporation tax; improved incentives for R&D and a new green energy deal with a serious review of energy costs.

The prospect of a no-deal Brexit will have severe implications for the UKs chemicals industry, as it would struggle to sell materials to the EU the countrys largest trading partner as materials would not be housed under Reach regulation.

Front page picture: Signs calling for safety measures as London's bars and restaurants reopened in JulySource: Guy Bell/Shutterstock

Focus article byMorgan Condon

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UK chems sector stabilises in Q2, risks of second wave, Brexit pose threat - ICIS

This isnt a tough new food policy for post-Brexit UK. Its thin gruel and easy to set to one side – The Guardian

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The headlines were compelling. The Covid-19 crisis would lead to a dramatic increase in poverty and hunger; free school meals should be extended to a further 1.6 million children; another 1.1 million children in England should become eligible for holiday food programmes. The National Food Strategy document released last Wednesday was, on the face of it, an impressive opening shot from the team led by businessman Henry Dimbleby.

But for all the laudable anger over hunger contained in this first report from the National Food Strategy, it was received across the world of food production and policy with at best eye-rolling and at worst exasperation. It is the product of grubby politics, includes worrying proposals on post-Brexit trade policy, muddled thinking on the causes of poverty and risks wasting a golden opportunity to answer one of the most important challenges of the 21st century: how we feed ourselves.

The notion of a national food strategy was first put to Michael Gove, the then secretary of state for environment, food and rural affairs, in 2016 by, among others, Minette Batters, now president of the National Farmers Union. Gove had only to find someone to lead it. During the referendum campaign, he had famously announced that wed had enough of experts. It wasnt just a novel slogan by which to secure Brexit. It is an item of faith in Whitehall. If youre appointing someone to lead a government review, God forbid they should have serious credentials. That makes it harder to ignore their findings. But the appointee still had to be convincing.

Gove had just the person: his close friend Henry Dimbleby. He started out as a journalist, then moved into management consultancy, before founding the healthier fast food chain Leon. In 2013, when Gove was education secretary, Dimbleby had published a review into school food provision. But, for all his diligent work in the sector, he has no qualifications in food policy. That would make him eminently ignorable if his recommendations turned out to be tricky. He is also cut from the right political cloth. As he later boasted to friends, Dimbleby spent the night of the 2016 Brexit referendum at Goves house and had voted Leave.

Dimbleby cannot be faulted for his thoroughness. He worked with an illustrious team of advisers and conducted endless consultations with food producers, policy specialists and consumers. But he then made the bizarre decision to write his paper in the first person, complete with colourful personal anecdotes. Its not the National Food Strategy - its the Dimbleby report. And that makes it very easy to bat away. He told me he did this because it was impossible to get a consensus of informed experts. It isnt impossible. Its merely hard. Just last week, for example, the environment, food and rural affairs select committee released its own damning report on government failures on food supply during the Covid-19 crisis. That represented consensus.

Last week Defra officials were quietly telling interested parties not to waste too much energy on Dimblebys findings

Still, if thats Dimblebys position, we should let him own his words. While he acknowledges the impact of poverty and proposes short-term fixes such as extending free school meals, he fails to recognise that systematic inequality is caused by a failure of long-term government economic policy. But then that would be to criticise Downing Street. Likewise, he regularly refers to the freedoms offered by leaving the EU, without considering whether the Brexit he voted for will blight the lives of the impoverished children he clearly cares about so deeply.

But it is the section on post-Brexit trade policy that is most troubling. It reads as if he has taken dictation direct from government. He robustly defends the governments recent vote against the amendment to the agriculture bill, introduced by MP Neil Parish, which would have prevented the ratification of any trade agreements allowing the importation of food not produced to standards of production and welfare equivalent to those in the UK. Without getting into nerdy detail, Dimblebys defence misunderstands the Parish amendment. Interestingly, the argument he deploys is identical to that in a recent post by Liam Fox MP on the Conservative Home website.

Dimbleby also argues that, as products that dont meet our standards already make it into the UK, for example, pork from Denmark, campaigners are being too precious. As Tim Lang, professor of food policy at City University, London, put it to me: We all know about such products. That doesnt mean you make allowing them in policy.

Dimbleby claims he supports maintaining high food standards and that this can be assured through, among other things, the governments recently announced Trade and Agriculture Commission. The commission has already been roundly dismissed as unfit for purpose by leading figures in the food industry. It is farmer-heavy, has no experts on animal welfare or public health and a lifespan measured in months. Its an arms-length government PR exercise stuffed with industry interests and cant resolve all the issues involved in the time given, Lang says. Dimbleby says his is an independent report. But at critical moments it just becomes a government report. Many people think it will be sidelined, though his knighthood is safe.

This first paper is due to be followed next year by another, looking at sustainable supply chains and agriculture. Those reports should then feed into a government white paper. Last week, Defra officials were quietly telling interested parties not to waste too much energy on Dimblebys findings and to focus instead on lobbying over the contents of the white paper. Already, the current Defra secretary, George Eustice, has issued a weak statement thanking Dimbleby for his work but merely committing to carefully consider his recommendations on poverty. It is the sound of a ball being kicked firmly into the long grass. Tragically, a serious opportunity to challenge the shape of our food system has been missed.

Jay Rayner is the Observers restaurant critic and a feature writer

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This isnt a tough new food policy for post-Brexit UK. Its thin gruel and easy to set to one side - The Guardian

Brexit breakthrough: Leaver predicts Macron will backdown as UK heads for win-win deal – Express

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CEO of campaign group The Freedom Association, Simon Richards, argued a Brexit trade deal between the UK and EU was likely to be agreed. While speaking to Jonathan Saxty with Brexit Watch, Mr Richards claimed the French President Emmanuel Macron would eventually concede in the Brexit trade talks. The Brexiteer added President Macron and other EU member state leaders would complain but eventually agree to an equally beneficial trade deal with the UK.

Mr Richards admitted Boris Johnson and his negotiating team may also complain about the agreement of a trade deal but would have ultimately succeeded in their Brexit trade deal goals.

Mr Richards said: "If I were a betting man, despite making money in 2016 on Brexit.

"If I were a betting man I would still say the likelihood is that there will be a deal, a deal that works for both sides."

The Brexiteer outlined how this would likely happen and how the EU would attempt to save face.

DON'T MISS:Boris must make TWO crucial changes to make UK a Brexit powerhouse

He said: "What usually happens is that you would likely get Emmanuel Macron saying 'That David Frost and those Brits were so tough.

"'The Brits got a completely outrageous deal but we did the best for the EU.'"

Mr Richards hinted the UK may apply a similar attitude after trade talks have concluded.

He said: "Equally I think you will get David Frost and Boris Johnson saying those French people drove a hard bargain.

"But at this point, everybody is happy then."

Mr Richard also argued in favour of a no deal Brexit and insisted the UK would be perfectly fine trading of World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules.

He continued: "That said, I would have no problem whatsoever with having a no deal, WTO terms.

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"Personally I would quite like that, I think that would be my preference.

"In that scenario, you are just not beholden to anybody and then you can build on that from day one.

"I think there is a mistake in thinking that everything has to be absolutely just-so from midnight at the end of the year.

"These things can be done in bits, in my view."

Both the UK and EU have admitted little progress has been made in the Brexit trade deal talks but insisted they will continue to press on in hopes of securing a trade deal.

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Brexit breakthrough: Leaver predicts Macron will backdown as UK heads for win-win deal - Express

Tories ridiculed for absurd Brexit advert claiming the UK and EU are ‘equals’ – indy100

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A government advert is being ridiculed for suggesting the UK has a "close friendship" and "shared values" with the EU.

The advert, promoted by the Cabinet Office, is supposed to inspire excitement about the UK's "new relationship" with the European Union post-Brexit.

But as many people pointed out, "friendship" doesn't usually involve a four-year public campaign to leave as quickly as possible.

Especially when negotiations have inflamed tensions with EU officials and led to years of parliamentary upheaval at home.

But the majority of backlash to the advert was sparked by the suggestion that the UK and the EU are "sovereign equals".

Firstly, although EU states do agree to by treaty to share sovereignty, in practice each has its own government and makes its own decisions with guidance from EU rules.

And secondly, the suggestion that the UK is "equal" to every single EU member state put together is a little arrogant, to say the least.

The UK left the EU on 31 January but will remain in a transitional period until December 31.

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Tories ridiculed for absurd Brexit advert claiming the UK and EU are 'equals' - indy100

Helping hand on Brexit for British expats in Vera – Euro Weekly News

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VERA Council is offering British expat residents a helping hand on the Brexit process.

The local authority is setting up an information point on the UKs departure from the European Union in the Diversity Centre offices.

The council, within its municipal responsibilities, is providing information and consultations on the disconnection process for the British community resident in our municipality, as our priority is to apply all the necessary measures which result in the well-being of all residents in our town, commented Vera Mayor Jose Carmelo Jorge Blanco.

The council said a member of the municipal staff will be available from 10am to 2pm, Monday to Friday, to deal with queries and provide information on the possible consequences of the UK leaving the EU and to try and clear up any doubts.

Due to the Covid-19 situation, for the moment consultations are either by email to

llvasqueznavarro@vera.es or by pre-appointment made by calling 617 155 060.

This week the mayor, Intercultural Mediation councillor Jose Maria Fernandez and Social Services councillor Ana Lourdes Ramirez, met with Lourdes Vazquez Navarro, who is in charge of the office, to study getting the new public service up and running.

Cathy Elelman is the local writer for the Costa de Almeria edition of the Euro Weekly News.

Based in Mojacar for the last 21 years, Cathy is very much part of the local community and is always well and truly up on all the latest news and events going on in this region of Spain.

Her top goals are to do the best job she can informing the local English-speaking community, visitors to the area and the wider world about about the news in Almeria, to learn something new every day, and to embrace very new challenge this fast-changing world brings her way.

Share your story with us by emailing newsdesk@euroweeklynews.com, by calling +34 951 38 61 61 or by messaging our Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/EuroWeeklyNews

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Helping hand on Brexit for British expats in Vera - Euro Weekly News

Brexit should prompt UK to rethink attitude to Indigenous artefacts – The Guardian

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Britains departure from the EU and the renewed focus on empire should prompt a significant shift in its approach to returning sacred artefacts to Indigenous communities, the head of an Australian government-funded project has said.

More than 33,000 items of Indigenous Australian heritage are held in UK museums, including some believed to have been stolen during or shortly after Captain James Cooks first voyage to Australia 250 years ago.

Manchester Museum became the first UK institution to return some of these objects in a powerful handover ceremony in November. Yet despite a growing restitution movement, many leading British museums have appeared reluctant to hand over sacred artefacts because of concerns about the wider implications for their collections.

Craig Ritchie, who runs what is believed to be one of the worlds biggest repatriation projects, said Brexit and the renewed focus on Britains imperial history represented a powerful moment to reassess the UKs relationship with Indigenous Australians so that it isnt just one where we happen to share a monarch and isnt just one where we are interested in trade deals.

He said: If its true that Brexit is more than simply getting out of some kind of political union with Europe and is, in fact, an expression of the UK trying to rethink its place in the world independent of Europe, then part of that is the opportunity to rethink and recalibrate the relationship between the UK and its former colonial dominions and the indigenous people in those former colonies.

Ritchie is head of the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (Aiatsis), which is funded by the Australian government and has identified more than 100,000 sacred artefacts and cultural material in institutions around the world, of which a third are in the UK.

Although Aiatsis hopes to return as many artefacts as it can, Ritchie said: Not everything will come home and probably not everything should, adding that it was willing to explore alternative arrangements with UK institutions.

However, he said the final resting place of the objects was a decision that should be made by the community of origin rather than just a recalcitrant white institution thats refusing to give stuff back.

The Pitt Rivers Museum, which displays the University of Oxfords archaeological and anthropological items, has the biggest collection of this material in the UK with about 16,000 pieces. The museum works with Aiatsis to help understand the material and is known for engaging with indigenous peoples.

Cambridge Universitys Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology has the UKs second largest collection of indigenous items, with about 3,000 artefacts, and the British Museum is believed to have about 2,900 in its collection.

Ritchie said the institutes discussions with the British Museum, which has previously been reluctant to permanently return relics to Australia, were going to be a longer process and that it would have to step our way through what could easily become quite a minefield of politics and tricky questions.

The then culture secretary, Jeremy Wright, last year ruled out any change in the law to allow national museums to return objects to their countries of origin. Arts Council England is due to publish updated guidance this year on the repatriation of cultural objects, superseding existing guidance produced by the defunct Museums and Galleries Commission in 2000.

Of the 38 UK institutions that responded to an Aiatsis survey two years ago, 17 said they were willing to consider a return request and most said they were happy to share information about their collections.

Ritchie said the confluence of events surrounding Brexit, the renewed focus on Britains colonial legacy, and the successful repatriation by Manchester Museum would herald a significant shift in the approach of many UK institutions.

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Brexit should prompt UK to rethink attitude to Indigenous artefacts - The Guardian

Peterson has a slight lead in the Gilbert mayoral race, while Tilque, Anderson and Hendrix lead in council races – AZCentral

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Gilbert voters likely willsee a mayoral runoff between the top two vote-getters in November, based on the latest results in Tuesday's primary election.

Brigette Peterson on Wednesday eveningstill led by a close margin over candidates Matt Nielsen and Lynne King Smith.

But Maricopa County elections officials continue to process and count an estimated 80,000 more ballots from across the county. These primarily include provisional ballots and mail-in ballots dropped off on election day.

It wasthe first-time mayoral run for all four candidates, as Mayor Jenn Daniels did not seekreelection.

Peterson who watched results come in with her husband athome and on Zoom with friends said on Tuesday night thatshe was really excited about the initial results butverycautiousbecause she knows there are many morevotesto be counted.

Its really too soon to know, Peterson said. I'm hoping that the lead remains. If we can win this outright, that would be even better, but if we go on to the general, I'm ready for that.

Gilbert mayoral candidate Brigette Peterson checks results on primary election night.(Photo: Courtesy of Brigette Peterson)

King Smith initially was in second place, but Nielsen who ran on a limited government platform overtook the spot late onTuesday and held firm into Wednesday evening.

A pleased Nielsen monitored results at home with his family refreshing the page "every few seconds."

"As afirst-timecandidate in a significant race,mayoralrace, it was exciting," he said. "Werenot done yet,of course. There arestillvotes being counted, but I think atthis pointtheres a little lessroom for movementjust based on the numbers and votes that are left outstanding."

Nielsen said he is excited to carry the race through to a runoff win, if that's how final results play out.

Three town council seats also were on the ballot.

Four candidates competedfor two council seats with the usual four-year terms.Kathy Tilque and incumbent Scott Anderson held sizable leads over Tyler Hudgins and BusObayomi on Wednesday.

At this point, Tilque and Anderson may win outright.

Laurin Hendrix had a slight lead over Bill Spence fora council seat that carries a two-year term, according to early ballot returns.If results hold, Hendrix willwin outright.

Thetown's new General Planwas approved by a large margin.

ELECTION RESULTS:See who won in Arizona's August primary election

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King Smith, who handily outraised the other mayoral candidates, is the founder of a ticketing software company and co-working space in Gilbert.

She campaigned on providing strong leadership as Gilbert approaches build-out, supporting businesses and building a "Gilbert for all."

Nielsen, a charter school management executive, is a political newcomer, as is King Smith.

Nielsen is focused on returning government to a more limited role and campaigned on conservative values. He said he wants to maximize individual liberty and minimize government interference.

Peterson resigned from her Town Council seat, as the law requires, to run for mayor. She has said she would bring the necessary experience to the mayoral seat. Her priorities are job growth, public safety and responsible growth.She's an advocate for transportation and planning improvements.

Joshua Lipscomb, the write-in candidate, aimedto investin south Gilbert, diversifythe town, expandtwo-lane roads, protectfarmers and increasepublic safety, according to his campaign on Instagram.

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Thecandidates in the race for two Town Council seats with full, four-yearterms were:

Tilque, who led the pack in initial results, said she was excited, but waiting eagerly for more of the vote count to roll in.

We have a lot more votes coming in, so were hoping that were going to be able to maintain that lead and kind of wrap this up for the primary, she said on Tuesday night.

Tilquesaid she was confident going into theprimary, butdidnt know what to expectgiven how unique campaigning was during the pandemic.She expressed gratitude for her opponents behavior during the race.

In myparticular race, I felt that everybody was runningareally honestrace, talking about their credentials and thequalities that they bring, and there wasnt that negative politicking going on. I was really thankful for that.

Anderson, also in the lead, said he was pleased with the early results and hopes the race will be decided at the primary, without a November runoff.

The candidates vying for the council seat with a two-year term are:

Have election thoughts fromGilbert? Reach the reporter at Alison.Steinbach@arizonarepublic.com or at 602-444-4282. Follow her on Twitter @alisteinbach.

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Peterson has a slight lead in the Gilbert mayoral race, while Tilque, Anderson and Hendrix lead in council races - AZCentral