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Donald Trump wears a face mask

Donald Trump wears a face mask as he arrives to meet wounded members of the US armed forces and frontline coronavirus healthcare workers at Walter Reed National military medical center.

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Tens of thousands join All Black Lives Matter march in Los Angeles

The All Black Lives Matter march, organized by Black LGBTQ leaders, brought out tens of thousands in Hollywood, California. Thousands marched through Los Angeles in an ‘All Black Lives Matter’ solidarity protest against racial injustice and in support LGBTQ rights. Local media reported that the crowd was estimated to be in excess of 30,000 people. This video shows protesters walking down Sunset Boulevard carrying signs, some of which say “silence is violence” and “together we rise.” Pride flags can be seen throughout the crowd. According to reports the march was held in honor of Tony McDade, a black transgender man who was fatally shot by a police officer in Tallahassee, Florida. The march started on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Sunday and moved towards West Hollywood.

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Delhi Violence 'Chilling Replay' of Gujarat Riots

LAUNCHING A scathing attack on the government over the riots in Delhi, the Left parties said the violence is a “chilling replay” of the “communal genocide” in Gujarat in 2002 and argued that the only way to restore peace is by calling in the Army. Addressing a press meet with CPI general secretary D Raja, CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury said, “Violence is happening under the sanction of police and the authorities which control Delhi Police… powers that govern them.” Yechury said the police was not only inefficient but complicit. Raja said in 2002, the then Prime Minister A B Vajpayee had told then Chief Minister Narendra Modi to follow raj dharma. “Now in Delhi that line of raj dharma has been violated… here we can’t think of anyone like Vajpayee who can warn the government…. here also the same duo is at the helm of affairs… Amit Shah should be held answerable for the violence…

The situation demands that the Supreme Court must act suo motu, order a thorough probe and consider deployment of Army.”  Yechury said it was inexplicable as to why the police did not impose Section 144 earlier. “Even the curfew was imposed last night… Under the curfew there were armed people moving around attacking, razing shops and markets….What is meaning of such imposition of curfew?… What is happening now is a very chilling replay of the communal genocide unleashed in 2002 when our prime minister was the state’s chief minister. That pattern is very, very clear,” he said. Both Raja and Yechury questioned the role of Home Minister Amit Shah in dealing with the violence and blamed him for not being able to contain the situation.

Courtesy : The Indian Express

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World battles to stop the spread of the deadly coronavirus

1. What is COVID-19? What is SARS-CoV-2?

The 2019 novel coronavirus is  now named severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) while the disease associated with it is referred to as COVID-19. Coronaviruses are a group of viruses that cause diseases in mammals and birds. In humans, coronaviruses cause respiratory tract infections that are typically mild, such as the common cold, though rarer forms such as SARS, MERS, and COVID-19 can be lethal. Symptoms vary in other species: in chickens, they cause an upper respiratory tract disease, while in cows and pigs they cause diarrhea. There are yet to be vaccines or antiviral drugs to prevent or treat human coronavirus infections.

Coronaviruses comprise the subfamily Orthocoronavirinae, in the family Coronaviridae, order Nidovirales, and realm Riboviria. They are enveloped viruses with a positive-sense single-stranded RNA genome and a nucleocapsid of helical symmetry. The genome size of coronaviruses ranges from approximately 27 to 34 kilobases, the largest among known RNA viruses. The name coronavirus is derived from the Latin corona, meaning "crown" or "halo", which refers to the characteristic appearance reminiscent of a crown or a solar corona around the virions (virus particles) when viewed under two-dimensional transmission electron microscopy, due to the surface covering in club-shaped protein spikes. SARS-CoV-2, was identified in China at the end of 2019 and is a new strain of coronavirus that has not been previously identified in humans.

2. Where do Coronaviruses come from?

Coronaviruses are viruses that circulate among animals but some of them are also known to affect humans. After they have infected animals, they can eventually be transmitted to humans.  A wide range of animals is known to be the source of coronaviruses. For instance, the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) originated from camels and the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) originated from civet cats. More information on coronaviruses can be found on the ECDC factsheet:

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Coronavirus prevention may be in your pocket ...

There is currently no vaccine to prevent coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The best way to prevent illness is to avoid being exposed to this virus. However, as a reminder, CDC always recommends everyday preventive actions to help prevent the spread of respiratory diseases, including:

Avoid close contact with people who are sick.

Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth.

Stay home when you are sick.

Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash.

Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces using a regular household cleaning spray or wipe.

Follow CDC’s recommendations for using a facemask.

CDC does not recommend that people who are well wear a facemask to protect themselves from respiratory diseases, including COVID-19.

Facemasks should be used by people who show symptoms of COVID-19 to help prevent the spread of the disease to  others. The use of facemasks is also crucial for health workers and people who are taking care of someone in close settings (at home or in a health care facility).

Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, especially after going to the bathroom; before eating; and after blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing.

If soap and water are not readily available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol. Always wash hands with soap and water if hands are visibly dirty.

For information about handwashing, see CDC’s Handwashing website

For information specific to healthcare, see CDC’s Hand Hygiene in Healthcare Settings Content source: National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (NCIRD), Division of Viral Diseases

These are everyday habits that can help prevent the spread of several viruses. CDC does have specific guidance for travelers.

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How the Indian Government Watched Delhi Burn

People supporting India's new citizenship law beat a Muslim man named Mohammad Zubair during clashes with those opposing the law in New Delhi, India,  Zubair was on his way home from a mosque in northeast New Delhi when he came across a large crowd. He turned towards an underpass to avoid the commotion; it proved to be a mistake. Within seconds, he was cowering on the ground surrounded by more than a dozen young men, who began beating him with wooden sticks and metal rods. 

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Indians Rise Up Against Modi's Citizenship Bill

After the bill was approved on 4 December 2019, violent protests erupted in Assam, especially in Guwahati, and other areas in the state. Reactionary protests were held as well in several metropolitan cities across India, including Delhi, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kolkata and Mumbai. Reactionary protests were also held at universities across the country including Cotton University, Gauhati University, IIT Bombay, Presidency University, Jamia Millia Islamia, Osmania University, University of Hyderabad, University of Delhi, Panjab University and Aligarh Muslim University. By 16 December, the protests had spread across India with demonstrations occurring in at least 17 cities including Chennai, Jaipur, Bhopal, Lucknow and Puducherry. In Maharashtra the students of Tata Institute of Social Science and the University of Mumbai in Mumbai, Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University in Aurangabad and the Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU) in Pune staged protests in solidarity with their counterparts at Jamia Millia Islamia and Aligarh Muslim University. Students from various SPPU-affiliated colleges and members of organisations such as the National Students Union of India, the Students Federation of India and the Yuvak Kranti Dal took part in the protest.

On 19 December police banned protests in several parts of India with the imposition of section 144 which prohibits the gathering of more than 4 individuals in a public space as being unlawful, namely, parts of the capital New Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, and Karnataka, including Bangalore. Police in Chennai denied permission for marches, rallies or any other demonstration. Internet services were also shutdown in some parts of Delhi. As a result of defying the ban, thousands of protesters were detained, primarily in Delhi, including several opposition leaders and activists such as Ramachandra Guha, Sitaram Yechury, Yogendra Yadav, Umar Khalid, Sandeep Dikshit, and D Raja. Despite of the fear of being detained, tens of thousands of people protested in Hyderabad, Patna, Chandigarh, Mumbai and other cities. Civil society groups, political parties, students, activists and ordinary citizens used social medial platforms to ask people to turn up and protest peacefully. The protests involving 20,000 protesters concluded peacefully at the August Kranti Maidan at Mumbai.

 On 14 December 2019 thousands of agitators packed into Jantar Mantar Road, filling up a space estimated to be half the size of a football ground, as multiple demonstrations occurred against the CAA in Delhi. The next day in Delhi near New Friends Colony, three Delhi Transport Corporation buses were torched. On 16 December, Priyanka Gandhi led a silent protest at the India Gate along with about three hundred congress workers to show solidarity with the students of Jamia Millia Islamia. On 17 December 2019, Delhi's Seelampur area had stone-throwing crowds face off against the police. The police retaliated with tear gas and batons, in which, according to local reports, several protesters and officers were injured. There were also reports of a police station being set on fire. According to police, buses were vandalized in the area. On 19 December 2019, the administrative authorities imposed a ban against public gatherings in parts of Delhi. 20 metro stations were closed to prevent the movement for protests. At least 700 flights were delayed and more than 20 cancelled due to traffic jams caused by police closing the roads to stifle protests. Protest meetings were held defying the ban in Red Fort and Mandi House. Access to mobile internet was restricted in certain places in Delhi. Digital rights activists, who accessed and studied the order suspending internet in several areas in Delhi on 19 December, stated that it was not issued from the "right channels" and, therefore, was "illegal". Politicians Yogendra Yadav, Sitaram Yechury, Nilotpal Basu, Brinda Karat, Ajay Maken, Brinda Karat, Prakash Karat, Sandeep Dikshit, Umar Khalid and D. Raja along with around 1,200 protesters were detained by the police.

Source : Wikipedia

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Mona Lisa : Ledonardo's masterful technique

The Mona Lisa is a half-length portrait painting by the Italian Renaissance artist Leonardo da Vinci that has been described as "the best known, the most visited, the most written about, the most sung about, the most parodied work of art in the world." The Mona Lisa is also one of the most valuable paintings in the world. It holds the Guinness World Record for the highest known insurance valuation in history at US$100 million in 1962 (equivalent to $650 million in 2018). The painting is thought by many to be a portrait of Lisa Gherardini, the wife of Francesco del Giocondo, and is in oil on a white Lombardy poplar panel. It had been believed to have been painted between 1503 and 1506; however, Leonardo may have continued working on it as late as 1517. Recent academic work suggests that it would not have been started before 1513. It was acquired by King Francis I of France and is now the property of the French Republic, on permanent display at the Louvre Museum in Paris since 1797. The subject's expression, which is frequently described as enigmatic, the monumentality of the composition, the subtle modelling of forms, and the atmospheric illusionism are novel qualities that have contributed to the continuing fascination and study of the work.

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Justin Trudeau wins second term in Canada elections

The 2019 Canadian federal election (formally the 43rd Canadian general election) was held on October 21, 2019, to elect members of the House of Commons to the 43rd Canadian Parliament. The writs of election for the 2019 election were issued by Governor General Julie Payette on September 11, 2019. The Conservative Party under Andrew Scheer, the New Democratic Party under Jagmeet Singh, the Green Party under Elizabeth May, and the People's Party under Maxime Bernier challenged the incumbent Liberal government. The result of the 40-day campaign saw the incumbent Liberals lose the majority they won in the 2015 election but they maintained a plurality of seats; according to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, preliminary results indicate that the Liberals had won enough seats to form a minority government, but lost the popular vote to the Conservatives. This marks the first time since the 1979 elections that a party has received a plurality of seats while not receiving a plurality of the popular vote.

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Chile declares state of emergency amid riots

Santiago and other Chilean cities have been engulfed by several days of rioting as protests over an increase in public transport costs prompted President Sebastian Pinera to declare a state of emergency. Civil protests are taking place across several cities in Chile, in response to the Metro de Santiago subway's recent price hikes. The protests began in the capital, Santiago, as a coordinated fare evasion campaign by secondary school students, leading to spontaneous takeovers of the city's main train stations and open confrontations with the national police (Carabineros). On 18 October, the situation escalated as organized bands of protesters rose in rebellion across the city, seizing many terminals of the Santiago Metro network (part of Red) and disabling them with extensive infrastructure damage. The Metro network was disabled in its entirety.

On 18 October, President of Chile Sebastián Piñera announced a state of emergency, authorizing the deployment of Chilean Army forces across the main regions to enforce order and crack down on the destruction of public property, and invoked before the courts the Ley de Seguridad del Estado ("State Security Law") against dozens of detainees. A curfew was declared on 19 October in the Greater Santiago area, for the first time since 1987, at the end of the Pinochet dictatorship. Protests and riots have expanded to other cities, including Concepción, San Antonio and Valparaíso. The state of emergency was extended to the Concepción Province, all Valparaíso Region (except Easter Island and Juan Fernández Archipelago) and the cities of Antofagasta, Coquimbo, Iquique, La Serena, Rancagua and Valdivia.

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Wild Lake and the Pizol glacier

A hiker plays his accordion with view of Wild Lake and the Pizol glacier on the sideline of a commemoration for the dying glacier of Pizol mountain, pictured in the background. The Pizol is a mountain in the Glarus Alps of northeastern Switzerland, overlooking Wangs in the canton of St. Gallen. At 2,844 metres above sea level, it is the highest summit of the chain separating the valleys of the Seez and the Tamina rivers, and the highest mountain lying entirely within the canton of St. Gallen. There are five mountain lakes (Pizolseen) on Pizol: Wangsersee at Pizolhütte, Wildsee, Schottensee, Schwarzsee (2368 m) and Baschalvasee (2174 m). A small cirque glacier, the Pizolgletscher, lies above 2,600 metres on the northern side of the mountain. Pizol Hut lies at 2,227 metres (7,306 ft).  On 22 September 2019, a 'funeral' and mourning ceremony was held for the Pizol glacier which had disappeared due to rising temperatures. A similar ceremony had been held in August when the Okjökull glacier in Iceland disappeared.

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Mount Etna, Europe's highest and most active volcano

Mount Etna, Europe's highest and most active volcano, erupts and lights up the sky in Sicily, Italy. A large lava flow from an eruption in 1928 led to the destruction of a population centre for the first time since the 1669 eruption. The eruption started high on Etna's northeast flank on 2 November. Then new eruptive fissures opened at decreasing elevations down the flank of the volcano. The third and most vigorous of these fissures opened late on 4 November at an unusually low elevation, approximately 1,200 m (3,937 ft) above sea-level, in a zone known as Ripe della Naca. The village of Mascali, lying down-slope of the Ripe della Naca, was almost completely destroyed in two days. Only a church and a few surrounding buildings survived in the north part of the village, called Sant'Antonino or "il quartiere". During the last days of the eruption, the flow interrupted the Messina-Catania railway line and destroyed the train station of Mascali. The event was used by Benito Mussolini's fascist regime for propaganda purposes, with the evacuation, aid, and rebuilding operations being presented as models of fascist planning. Mascali was rebuilt on a new site, and its church contains the Italian fascist symbol of the torch, placed above the statue of Jesus Christ.

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Boris Johnson becomes UK prime minister

Boris Johnson enters Downing Street at one of the most perilous junctures in post-World War Two British history - the United Kingdom is divided over Brexit and weakened by the three-year political crisis that has gripped it since the 2016 referendum. Alexander Boris Johnson is a British politician serving as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party since July 2019. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Uxbridge and South Ruislip since 2015 and was the MP for Henley from 2001 to 2008. He also served as Mayor of London from 2008 to 2016 and Foreign Secretary from 2016 to 2018. Johnson identifies as a one-nation conservative and has been associated with both economically and socially liberal policies.

Born in New York City to wealthy English parents, Johnson was educated at the European School, Brussels I, Ashdown House, and Eton College. He read Classics at Balliol College, Oxford, where he was elected President of the Oxford Union in 1986. He began his career in journalism at The Times but was dismissed for falsifying a quotation. He later became The Daily Telegraph's Brussels correspondent, with his articles exerting a strong influence on growing Eurosceptic sentiment among the British right-wing. He was assistant editor of the Telegraph from 1994 to 1999 and edited The Spectator from 1999 to 2005. He was elected MP for Henley in 2001, and served in the Shadow Cabinet under Conservative leaders Michael Howard and David Cameron. He largely adhered to the Conservatives' party line but adopted a more socially liberal stance on issues such as LGBT rights in parliamentary votes.

Selected as the Conservative candidate for the 2008 London mayoral election, Johnson defeated Labour incumbent Ken Livingstone and resigned from the British House of Commons. During his first term as Mayor of London, he banned alcohol consumption on much of the capital's public transport, and introduced the New Routemaster buses, cycle hire scheme, and Thames cable car. In 2012 he was re-elected, again defeating Livingstone. During his second term, he oversaw the 2012 Olympics. In 2015 he was elected MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip, stepping down as Mayor the following year. In 2016 Johnson became a prominent figure in the successful Vote Leave campaign for Brexit. He was subsequently appointed Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs by Theresa May, but resigned in criticism of May's approach to Brexit and the Chequers Agreement two years later. In July 2019 he was elected Conservative Leader and appointed Prime Minister.

Johnson is a controversial figure within British politics and journalism. Supporters have praised him as an entertaining, humorous, and popular figure, with an appeal stretching beyond traditional conservative voters. He has been criticised by figures on both the left and the right who have accused him of elitism, cronyism, dishonesty, laziness, and using racist and homophobic language. Johnson is the subject of several biographies and a number of fictionalised portrayals.

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What Are the Protests in Puerto Rico Really About?

Thousands take part in demonstrations to demand that Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossello resign over offensive chat messages. his week has been unlike any other in Puerto Rican history. An estimated 500,000 demonstrators filled Old San Juan’s cobblestone streets on Wednesday to demand the resignation of Governor Ricardo Rosselló. He has lost public confidence because of mounting scandals in his government and damning revelations from a leaked trove of private chats, published on July 13 by the island’s Center for Investigative Journalism. The staggering diversity of the demonstrators—straddling age groups, political orientations, and social class—has elicited fresh declarations of the slogan “Puerto Rico se levanta” (“Puerto Rico is waking up”). The phrase, previously used as a rallying cry for fundraising in the wake of Hurricane Maria, lost its luster as the difficult realities of recovery set in. “We’re writing history,” said Juan Carlos Rivera Ramos, an activist in Puerto Rico when I contacted him this week. “Our people, in all their diversity of colors and flavors, ideological plurality, are expressing dignity on the streets. My eyes are tearing.” US colonialism may have designated the island as an “unincorporated territory,” but its people have always called it a país (nation), and it’s this spectacular renaissance of nationalism that has allowed for so many different constituencies to come together. The island is suffering the worst political and economic crisis in its history, four years after its previous governor, Alejandro García Padilla, declared its $72 billion debt unpayable, resulting in the creation of a fiscal oversight and management board (FOMB, though known locally as la junta) a year later to restructure that debt.

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Symbolic funeral ceremony for former Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi

People join in prayer during a symbolic funeral ceremony for former Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi at the Fatih mosque in Istanbul, Turkey. Moris died the previous day after collapsing during a trial hearing in a Cairo court.

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Cloudburst causes flash flood, landslides in Neelum Valley

Villagers walk along a road washed away by heavy flooding in the Neelum Valley of Pakistan-controlled Kashmir. Over 150 houses in the Laswa area of the valley were damaged and dozens of people were swept away in floods that officials said were caused by a cloudburst. Many structures in Laswa’s main market, including two mosques, were also completely destroyed. Traffic flow in the area has been severely disrupted, while cell phone and internet services are also affected. Several people are still stranded in their houses and efforts are underway to evacuate them.

Teams including officials from the district administration, disaster management authority and local police are conducting rescue operations in the area. State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA) Director Operations Saaedur Rehman Qureshi confirmed the death toll and said it was likely to rise over the coming hours. He said the deceased include 10 Islamic missionaries from the Tablighi Jamaat, four of whom were from Lahore, five from Faisalabad and one from Sheikhupura. Officials also confirmed the deaths of five people, including a little girl, after a touring jeep fell into River Neelum. One person survived the accident and was admitted to hospital in critical condition.

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Hong Kong protesters rally in suburbs

Tens of thousands rallied in a large Hong Kong suburb, driven by abiding anger at the government's handling of an extradition bill that has revived fears of China tightening its grip over the former British colony.