جولای 31, 2020, Posted in ایپوچ تایمز | No comments

Amid the debate over reopening the nation’s schools, a group of education and health experts argued that it is both essential and feasible to allow young children, particularly elementary school students, to physically return to classrooms in fall.

In an article published in the New England Journal of Medicine Wednesday, Harvard University’s education professor Meira Levinson, along with infectious diseases scientist Muge Cevik and epidemiologist Marc Lipsitch, wrote that safely reopening schools full-time for all elementary-school-age children should be made “a top national priority.”

“Children’s well-being depends on their being in a setting that is designed for their care, their active and engaged learning, and their healthy development,” said Levinson in an interview with Har...

جولای 31, 2020, Posted in سیاتل تایم | No comments

Infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci resisted efforts by Republicans to criticize recent protests against racial injustice while pushing back on their continued promotion of hydroxycholoroquine as a possible coronavirus remedy in Congress on Friday.

Fauci’s testimony at a hearing of the U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee on the coronavirus crisis came at the end of a month in which U.S. coronavirus deaths rose by almost 25,000 and cases doubled in at least 18 states, according to a Reuters tally, dealing a crushing blow to hopes of quickly reopening the economy.

The United States has recorded nearly 1.8 million new COVID-19 cases in July out of its total 4.5 million known infections, an increase of 66 per cent with many states yet to report on Friday...

جولای 31, 2020, Posted in ایپوچ تایمز | No comments

Chicago Police investigate at the 25th District station on the northwest side, in Chicago, after several officers were shot outside the station, Chicago, on July 30, 2020. (Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Chicago Sun-Times via AP)

جولای 31, 2020, Posted in سیاتل تایم | No comments

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the government plans to move out-of-work Canadians into the employment insurance system and provide parallel support for millions of people who are set to exhaust their emergency pandemic aid, and who don’t have EI to fall back on.

The $80-billion Canada Emergency Response Benefit is set to wind down over the coming weeks, and those who are EI-eligible are to start drawing assistance that way.

Speaking Friday morning, Trudeau said many people who don’t qualify for CERB, such as gig or contract workers, will gain access to a transitional, parallel benefit that is similar to EI.

It will also include access to training and the ability to work more hours without a steep clawback in benefit payments, Trudeau said.

He said more details will be unveiled at a...

جولای 31, 2020, Posted in ایپوچ تایمز | No comments

American consumers increased their spending by 5.6 percent in June while personal income fell by 1.1 percent, giving a mixed picture of a U.S. economy struggling to sustain recovery momentum amid a surge of reported COVID-19 cases and lackluster jobs data.

Consumer spending is a major driver of the U.S. economy, accounting for around 70 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), so the solid personal consumption expenditure number, released Friday by the Commerce Department, is an encouraging sign.

“The snapback in spending provides a good starting point for the third quarter,” said senior economist Sal Guatieri of BMO Capital Markets, in remarks to Market Watch. Yet “high-frequency indicators suggest consumption slowed in July due to the partial rollback of reopenings in several states...

جولای 31, 2020, Posted in سیاتل تایم | No comments

CBC News has learned the federal government will extend Canadian Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance (CECRA), its rent subsidy program to support small businesses.

Michael Smith, co-founder of the grassroots advocacy group Save Small Business (SSB), said a senior official from Finance Minister Bill Morneau’s office told him the government is “committed to extending CECRA for the month of August.”

Another senior government official, who cannot be identified because they are not authorized to speak on the subject, told CBC News the extension is likely.

For Georgette Simms, manager of the family-owned and -operated Social Barber Studio in Brampton, Ont., another month of rent relief is welcome news.

She said cautious customers are coming back but business is still way down.

“It will be tre...

جولای 31, 2020, Posted in ایپوچ تایمز | No comments

Bankrupt Pier 1 Imports is winding down its brick-and-mortar operation, but its brand name will survive online.

Retail Ecommerce Ventures (REV), an investment firm that buys beleaguered brands, is paying $31 million for the moribund home goods retailer’s name and intellectual property. The aim is to reboot Pier 1 online and create a “robust ecommerce future for the brand,” the firm said Friday.

Pier 1 filed for bankruptcy in February after nearly 60 years in business. It evaluated its survival options but couldn’t find any, and it ultimately won court approval in May to permanently close its 500 stores. Liquidation sales began in May.

REV is co-owned by social media influencer Tai Lopez and Alex Mehr, the co-founder of online dating website Zoosk.

The company invests in so-called...

جولای 31, 2020, Posted in سیاتل تایم | No comments

Residents of Ontario can download a new app that can tell them whether they have been around someone who has tested positive for COVID-19 over the previous two weeks.

But while government officials say the goal is to make the COVID Alert contact notification app available across the country and are in talks with other provinces, they could not say when it will be available outside Ontario.

Nor would they say why only one province has agreed to adopt what it supposed to be a national app.

The app is the federal government’s latest move in the battle to prevent the spread of COVID-19 as Canada’s economy gradually reopens.

Canadians can download the app to their mobile phones, which will use bluetooth technology to exchange signals with nearby phones...

جولای 31, 2020, Posted in ایپوچ تایمز | No comments

A United States citizen on trial for blasphemy in Pakistan has been shot dead while appearing in court, in the latest act of violence connected to the controversial legislation.

Tahir Ahmed Naseem, 47, died on Wednesday in the northwestern city of Peshawar, after a member of the public walked into the courtroom and opened fire in front of the judge, according to officials. His attacker was arrested at the scene.

Naseem was on trial on charges of blasphemy after allegedly claiming to be a prophet, a crime punishable by death, or life imprisonment under the Pakistan penal code.

In a statement, the U.S. State Department said officials were “shocked, saddened, and outraged” by Naseem’s death...

جولای 31, 2020, Posted in سیاتل تایم | No comments

Health officials have tracked a salmonella outbreak in Canada reported earlier this week to red onions imported from the United States.

According to a release from the Public Health Agency of Canada, there have been 55 additional illnesses in Canada since the outbreak was first announced for a total of 114 cases of salmonella across five provinces. 

Sixteen people have been hospitalized. No one has died.

People in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario are being asked to not eat any red onions imported to Canada from the U.S., including food products containing red onions, until more is known about the outbreak.

Health officials are urging retailers and restaurants in these provinces to not to use, sell or serve red onions imported from the U.S.

A resident of P...