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An Oregon nurse is placed on leave for a TikTok video mocking masks.
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The secret to George Clooney’s hair? The Flowbee
Pandemic hair getting out of control? Take a tip from George Clooney: the Hollywood style icon has revealed he trims his signature silver locks with a Flowbee — a quirky home-styling device that attaches to a vacuum cleaner.
The Flowbee has long been the butt of jokes since it appeared on late-night television infomercials in the late 1980s.
But in promoting his new movie, “The Midnight Sky,” Clooney, 59, disclosed he was a long-time fan of the much-mocked gadget, when asked during a CBS interview if he had been cutting his own hair during the coronavirus lockdown.
“I’ve been cutting my own hair for 25 years,” said the Oscar-winner, whose name is synonymous with red-carpet glamor. “My hair’s really like straw, and so it’s easy to cut. You can’t really make too many mistakes.”
“So, years ago, I bought a thing called a Flowbee, which when we were –” he said, at which point his stunned interviewer broke in with: “You did not!”
The Flowbee cuts hair and sucks up the clippings at the same time, which has led to its use by astronauts on long-haul space missions in the past.
Perez Hilton It retails for around $50, and the company that makes it saw sales spike at the beginning of the pandemic earlier this year, as hairdressing salons were forced to shut their doors and millions of people stayed home.
And sales are likely to go up again after Clooney enthused in the interview, “Listen, man, it works!”
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Navy Won’t Repair Fire-Damaged Warship, Saying It Would Cost Billions
By BY NEIL VIGDOR from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/33tHlo0
Scott Atlas, a Trump Coronavirus Adviser, Resigns
By BY SHERYL GAY STOLBERG from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/33yMdbc
Blog: 20 Karachiites, 1km, public transport and air pollution
Pre-Covid snazzy bus-hailing apps surfaced in Karachi and became popular. While they have since been forced to suspend operations, it is worth considering their contribution to the transport sector in the hope that if and when they do return, they will renew our debate on public transport models and air pollution solutions.
These bus-hailing services became popular because they let people book a seat to travel in dignity and some comfort. Fares were affordable to many and the service was reliable. They gave women even more options in mobility.
But there was the question of whether bus-hailing apps caused less air pollution than other means of transport (private cars, old bus services like the W11, rickshaws, motorcycles, ride-hailing apps). One such application, Air-Lift Pakistan, explicitly stated in its mission statement that one of its aims was to implement greener commuting practices. Nevertheless, many people have been critical whether buses actually reduce Carbon emissions (CO2e) given that they run on more fuel.
Emissions of harmful gases like Carbon Dioxide play an integral part in causing air pollution and consequently, climate change in any country. In Pakistan, emissions are raising alarm bells. According to the GHG Emissions factsheet of Pakistan, the transport subsector is the second main driver of energy sector emissions growth.
The National Economic and Development Study (NEEDS) reported in 2011 that the number of privately owned vehicles in Pakistan went from 2 million in 1992 to 9 million in 2011. And the Pakistan Journal of Meteorology in 2017 states that fuel consumption of domestic vehicles contributes to 69% of CO2e.
If these applications actually reduce emissions significantly as they claim they do, they could bring about a revolution in combatting air pollution in Pakistan.
There is no one definite answer to the question of what the cleanest way to travel in Karachi actually is. A multitude of factors together determine the carbon footprint after a trip taken. These factors include the build or model of the vehicle, the fuel, the distance traveled and the speed. So I decided to estimate the amount of CO2e for different means of transport in Karachi that it takes to carry 20 people over 1km under very specific circumstances. Some standards such as a specific vehicle model for every type of transport, the average amount of people per vehicle and type of fuel were considered.
I took the fuel to be petrol, for which the average mass of Carbon dioxide released is approximately 2.32kg when a liter is burned, according to sources such as Auto Smart and ComCar.
I assume a bus from the bus-hailing applications to be the Toyota Coaster, which travels around 7.2 km per one liter of petrol. I took the car to be a Suzuki Mehran, traveling around 14 km on average per liter. The Sazgar Rikshaw travels 30km per liter on average. Lastly, I took the Honda CD70 motorcycle which travels on average, 32km per liter. I assumed that on average, 20 people can travel by one bus, 10 cars, 10 rikshaws, and 20 bikes. All of these numbers may vary by a certain degree in a realistic scenario.
The mileage was taken into account in order to work out the CO2e when a specific vehicle travels one kilometer. The mileage was 323.6g CO2e for one bus, 1664 for 10 cars, 777 for 10 rikshaws and 1456 for 20 bikes.
The conclusions appears that if individuals did switch to shared transport instead of private vehicles, they can drastically reduce vehicular emissions. Buses can indeed potentially be the cleanest means of transport. However, at this point, people are not switching to them in enough numbers to leave a cleaner Carbon footprint.
But it isn’t as simple as that, despite the fact that the 70-rupee fare of these bus-hailing services seems like an inexpensive option to people who can afford it, a lot of minimum wage workers can’t pay that amount for one-way travel. There are other exceptions as well, delivery services might prefer bikes for quick and uninterrupted work while the rich might prefer to travel by their own cars for privacy and convenience.
One possibility to curb the cost and make clean transport more accessible is using the 80-seater wide-bodied government buses. Looking at the estimates above and keeping in mind the impact that 24-seater buses make, think about the impact these bigger ones could have. Make the buses electric and you further reduce emissions.
An EU study based on expected performance in 2020 found that an electric car using electricity generated solely by an oil-fired power station would use only two-thirds of the energy of a petrol car travelling the same distance, according to the Guardian.
In conversation with The News, Abid Omar, the founder of Pakistan Air Quality Initiative (PAQI) confirmed the aforementioned analysis by saying, “Mass transit should be accessible to millions. What the app-based services are providing highlights the government’s failure in providing a basic public service. The government should incentivise such companies, so that they can reach a scale that contributes to reducing air pollution and thereby improving human health.”
What we can establish is that we need to rethink our carbon foot-print and what causes it to be as high as it is. And surely this is reason enough consider making some lifestyle changes.
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Dr. Atlas, Trump’s coronavirus adviser, resigns.
By BY SHERYL GAY STOLBERG from NYT World https://ift.tt/3mkEYLv
Quotation of the Day: U.S. Faces a New Crisis: ‘An Extreme Level of Teacher Burnout’
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Justice Dept. asks judge to ‘immediately’ dismiss Flynn case, citing Trump’s pardon.
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Citing Pardon, Justice Dept. Asks Judge to ‘Immediately’ Dismiss Flynn Case
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Restrictions push the San Francisco 49ers to Arizona for December.
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Thirteen killed after fire erupts in passenger bus near Sheikhupura
Thirteen people, including women and children, were killed after a fire broke out in a passenger van following a collision with another vehicle on the Narowal Road near Sheikhupura’s Narang Mandi on Monday.
According to Rescue 1122, 17 other passengers were injured. The bodies and injured people were immediately taken to the Rural Health Centre in Sheikhupura. “Critical patients are being moved to the Mayo Hospital in Lahore,” a rescue official said.
A team has been formed under District Emergency Officer Rana Ejaz Ahmed to pull out the passengers stuck under the vehicles.
Ahmed said that the accident took place because of smog. “The bus collided with a Toyota Hiace van due to less visibility on the road.”
Following the collision, the LPG cylinder in the van exploded setting both the vehicles ablaze, the officer added.
The bus was travelling from Narowal to Lahore.
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Sarmad Khoosat’s Zindagi Tamasha to be Pakistan’s entry to Oscars
The Pakistan Academy Selection Committee has selected Sarmad Khoosat’s film Zindagi Tamasha as Pakistan’s official entry to the 93rd Academy Awards.
According to a press release, the film will be submitted for Oscar consideration in the ‘International Feature Film Award’ category by the Pakistan Committee.
The final list of nominees to be decided by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences in February 2021 and will be announced on 15th March 2021. The presentation show for the 93rd Academy Awards scheduled to take place on 25th April 2021.
Related: Oscars 2021 postponed by two months due to pandemic
The Pakistani Oscar committee for 2020 was chaired by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, Faisal Kapadia, Asad-ul-Haq, Hamza Bangash, Syed Muhammad Ahmed, Mehwish Hayat, Hasan Shehreyar Yasin, Asim Abbasi, Arshad Mahmud and Jamal Shah.
Zindagi Tamasha has been directed and co-produced by Sarmad Khoosat, along with sister Kanwal Khoosat and written by Nirmal Bano. It features Arif Hassan, Eman Suleman, Samiya Mumtaz and Ali Kureshi.
The film narrates the story of a naat khwan named Rahat Khawaja and his family who find themselves ostracised when a video of Khawaja becomes public. After the video goes viral, even his own daughter, Sadaf is ashamed of him.
In October 2019, Zindagi Tamasha created a major buzz when it won big at the prestigious Busan International Film Festival in South Korea.
Khoosat’s directorial also won The Kim Ji-Seok Award, named after the festival’s co-founder and executive programmer who died in 2017.
Zindagi Tamasha banned
On March 14, The Council of Islamic Ideology said that they will not review Zindagi Tamasha according to a decision made by the Senate Functional Committee on Human Rights.
The Senate committee had asked the Central Board of Film Censors for a copy of the film.
Related: Myths about Zindagi Tamasha
In a tweet, Senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokar, the chairperson of the committee, said that the committee took notice of the ban on the film. He said he was surprised to learn that the film had been cleared twice.
“We directed that the screening for the CII should be held in abeyance till the committee views and decides whether there is something objectionable in it or not.”
The film wasn’t officially banned but it was pulled back from screening after it was cleared by the central and provincial censor boards.
Khoosat’s film was scheduled for release on January 24 but a statement issued by the censor boards of Sindh and Punjab – who had cleared the film for screening earlier, claimed that they were told that if the film was released it would cause “unrest within some segments of society”.
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California Governor Blocks Release of Manson Follower Leslie Van Houten
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MQM leader Adil Siddiqui dies of coronavirus
Former provincial minister and Muttahida Qaumi Movement leader Adil Siddiqui passed away on Monday after contracting coronavirus.
He tested positive for the virus on November 22 and was put on a ventilator for over a week at the Ziauddin Hospital in Karachi. According to the doctors, the leader suffered from lung failure.
Siddiqui had arrived in the country earlier this month after a long time abroad.
The former Sindh MPA was born on May 12, 1963 in Karachi. He completed his bachelor’s from the University of Karachi.
COVID-19 in Pakistan
Several politicians have contracted coronavirus recently. PML-N leader Capt (R) Safdar, former prime minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf and PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari have tested positive for the virus.
As of Monday morning, Pakistan has reported 398,024 cases of coronavirus, out of which 341,423 people have recovered. In the last 24 hours, over 2,839 new cases were reported and 40 people died.
Experts have warned that Pakistan is experiencing a second wave of the coronavirus.
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Australia hopes a pilot program for international students can restart its crucial education sector.
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‘Fargo’ Season 4 Finale Recap: Lessons Learned
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Today’s outlook: PDM rally in Multan, anti-polio campaign begins countrywide
Here are some of the stories we will be following today (Monday):
- The Pakistan Democratic Party will be holding a rally against the government in Multan. In a first, Aseefa Bhutto Zardari will be representing the Pakistan Peoples Party to address supporters. Party chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari will be delivering his speech via video link.
- The metro and speedo bus services in Multan have been suspended today due to the rally.
- A smart lockdown has been imposed in nine cities of Punjab.
- The world is celebrating the birthday of Guru Nanak, founder of the Sikh religion. Sikhs from across the world have arrived to visit Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib, one of the holiest pilgrimage sites for the Sikhs, in Punjab’s Narowal.
- A five-day anti-polio campaign will begin across the country. Over six million children under the age of five will be administered polio drops.
- US President-elect Joe Biden was taken to a doctor “out of an abundance of caution” a day after he twisted his ankle while playing with his dog on Sunday, his office said, according to AFP.
- Netflix hit series “The Crown” should make clear that much of its content is fiction over fears of damage to the image of the British royal family, a government minister said
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New York City to reopen primary schools despite virus surge
New York City will reopen elementary schools on December 7 and offer in-person classes for special-needs students of all ages despite a recent surge in coronavirus cases, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Sunday.
With many parents struggling to care for students at home and with data showing the virus largely spares young children, the city dropped a requirement for schools to close if the rate of positive virus tests exceeds three percent for a week.
New York, home to the country’s largest school district, currently has a 3.1 percent rate.
The mayor told reporters the reopening was possible “because we have so much proof now of how safe schools can be.”
He said returning students would be subjected to weekly Covid-19 tests.
The mayor also said on Twitter that five-day in-person instruction, rather than a partly virtual approach, would be the preferred model for schools with space to allow social distancing.
Up to now, in-person schooling has been offered only two or three times a week.
Schools vs bars
The questions of how and when to resume in-person instruction have been fiercely debated in cities around the world, with parents and officials seeking to balance safety concerns against fears that children’s schooling and social development have suffered.
“We want our kids in the classroom for as much time as possible,” Mayor de Blasio, a Democrat, said. “Our families do, too. We’ll work to make it happen.”
New York state Governor Andrew Cuomo voiced support for the city welcoming back its younger students.
“Just about every professional says the schools, especially K-8, should be kept open whenever it’s possible to keep them open safely,” he said, referring to the first nine years of schooling in the US.
Classes for New York’s middle school and high school students — except for those with special needs — will remain online.
The city, under an agreement with the teachers union, had canceled all in-person classes on November 19. That came amid a resurgence of Covid-19 that sent the city’s positive test rate creeping up from one percent during much of the summer to 3.1 percent.
The decision infuriated many parents, who said it made no sense to close schools, with their relatively low transmission rate, while bars and restaurants remained open. They pointed to the example of Europe, where most schools remain open.
Parents argued that schools have had a low positivity rate — just 0.23 percent, officials said — and that closings disproportionately punish the many children with working parents and the 60,000 lacking computers at home.
New York first closed its 1,800 public schools on March 16 as the virus was surging. They remained closed through June.
After the summer vacation, New York became the first big US city to partially restart in-person classes. About 300,000 of the system’s 1.1 million students returned to classrooms.
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Netflix hit The Crown should carry fiction warning: UK minister
Netflix hit series “The Crown” should make clear that much of its content is fiction over fears of damage to the image of British royal family, a government minister said.
“It’s a beautifully produced work of fiction, so as with other TV productions, Netflix should be very clear at the beginning it is just that,” culture minister Oliver Dowden told The Mail on Sunday.
“Without this, I fear a generation of viewers who did not live through these events may mistake fiction for fact”.
Dowden is expected to formally write to the US streaming company to request it adds a “health warning” before each episode.
The latest episode in the series, which follows the life of Queen Elizabeth II and her close family, revolves around Prince Charles and his doomed marriage to wife Diana.
Those close to the royal family fear that fabricated scenes are hurting the monarchy, particularly heir to the throne Charles.
“It is quite sinister the way that (screenwriter Peter) Morgan is clearly using light entertainment to drive a very overt republican agenda and people just don’t see it,” an unnamed friend of the prince told the paper.
Although largely sympathetic to Diana, her brother has also called for Netflix to make clear some scenes are fictional.
“It would help The Crown an enormous amount if at the beginning of each episode it stated that, ‘this isn’t true but is based around some real events’. Because then everyone would understand it’s drama for drama’s sake,” Charles Spencer told ITV.
More than 70 million households worldwide have watched The Crown, which is now on its fourth series, since it began in 2016, according to figures released by Netflix.
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Biden Fractures Foot Playing With His Dog, Putting Him in a Boot
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The King of Trump TV Thinks You’re Dumb Enough to Buy It
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What We Learned From Week 12 of the N.F.L. Season
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Biden’s doctor says president-elect has hairline fracture after twisting his ankle playing with dog.
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Ransomware Attack Closes Baltimore County Public Schools
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Biden names all-female communications team with Jen Psaki as press secretary.
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Jennifer Psaki to Be Press Secretary as Biden Names All-Female Communications Team
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Yeah, that Badou Jack fight was pretty lopsided (for a decision).
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Learn a New Cookie Recipe or Make Invisible Ink
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That Mysterious Monolith in the Utah Desert? It’s Gone, Officials Say
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Jamaine Ortiz won in the ring and is winning on Instagram.
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Tough security for Indian Kashmir’s first vote since autonomy cancelled
Thousands of troops guarded polling stations as Indian Kashmir on Saturday held its first direct elections since the government stripped its semi-autonomy last year.
On high alert for attacks by separatist militants, dozens of police and paramilitaries with machine guns watched outside each voting station while army patrols toured the streets.
The Himalayan region, which is also claimed by Pakistan, has been under heavy security since the ruling Hindu-nationalist government imposed direct rule in August 2019.
Two soldiers were killed in an ambush blamed on militants in the main city Srinagar on Thursday.
But officials said nearly 52 percent of the 700,000 eligible voters cast ballots during the first of the eight days of polling, braving the security, coronavirus fears and snow-covered terrain to elect local council members. Results are expected on December 22.
Thermal scanners were set up at polling booths and staff handed out face masks and hand sanitiser as precautions against the coronavirus.
Top election official K.K. Sharma told reporters polling had been peaceful barring “a small incident of stone-pelting” by protesters in the southern Kashmir valley.
At one booth in the Kashmir valley, Faizi, 70, told AFP she had voted “to facilitate development work, like paving the roads”.
While the councils have only limited powers, several Kashmir political parties, including the influential National Conference and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) formed an alliance to use the election to campaign for the restoration of the region’s political autonomy.
The alliance accused the government of harassing its candidates while helping those from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. The election commission denied the allegations.
On Friday, authorities restricted PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti to her home and police stopped reporters from attending a press conference she called.
Mufti was among scores of political leaders held under house arrest for months after the clampdown. Police, however, denied she was under detention again.
Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since their bitter split at independence in 1947. Both claim the territory in full.
Rebel groups have been fighting Indian forces since 1989 in an uprising that has left tens of thousands dead, mainly civilians.
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Tyson called Diego Maradona one of his heroes.
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Edward Vasquez won the first fight of the night.
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