Students who are focused just on good academic grades are in for a big shock in 40 classrooms around New Zealand.Teachers have spent this week at the Whenuapai air base doing practical things like planning and executing a search…
Category Archives: headline
Phonics revolution: War of words over how to teach kids to read
The Government is set to roll out 2.4 million copies of new phonics-based reading material to the nation’s schools in an bid to arrest our declining literacy rates.But the move has sparked a war of words between academic experts…
Iranian-born belly dancer Aida Sajadi cherishes her freedom to pursue the art in NZ
Aida Sajadi remembers watching her mother conducting belly dancing classes at her home back in Iran when she was little, but she was too little to understand why it had to be done in secret.One day when she was a little older, Sajadi…
UK police break up lockdown-flouting wedding with 400 guests
Police in London said Friday that they have broken up a wedding attended by 400 people — despite a nationwide lockdown that bars households from mixing.
The venue was a school whose principal died from the coronavirus last year.
The Metropolitan Police force said officers found hundreds of people packed into the north London school with blacked-out windows on Thursday night. The force said that "following enquiries it was established that the group had gathered at the location for a wedding."
Weddings are allowed only in "exceptional circumstances" — such as one partner being dangerously ill — and with a maximum of six people attending.
Police said the organiser could face a £10,000 ($17,700) fine. Many guests fled as police arrived, but five people who attended received £200 ($354) fines.
RELATED: How countries are coping as worldwide COVID-19 cases hit almost 100 million
The Yesodey Hatorah Senior Girls' School, a state-funded Orthodox Jewish high school, said in a statement that it was "absolutely horrified about last night's event and condemn(s) it in the strongest possible terms."
The school said its hall had been leased to an outside organisation and "we had no knowledge that the wedding was taking place."
UK Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis condemned the rule-breaking event.
https://twitter.com/chiefrabbi/status/1352591784698916864?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
He tweeted: "At a time when we are all making such great sacrifices, it amounts to a brazen abrogation of the responsibility to protect life and such illegal behaviour is abhorred by the overwhelming majority of the Jewish community."
The school's principal, Rabbi Avrahom Pinter, died in April after contracting the coronavirus.
Pubs, restaurants and entertainment venues in Britain are closed, and people are required to stay largely at home, as part of restrictions to curb a new surge in the virus.
The UK has recorded almost 95,000 COVID-19 deaths, the highest toll in Europe.
Herald morning quiz: January 23
Test your brains with the Herald’s morning quiz. Be sure to check back on nzherald.co.nz at 3pm for the afternoon quiz. To challenge yourself with more quizzes, CLICK HERE.
Irishman Creek Station reportedly going up for sale
The Irishman Creek Station is reportedly going up for sale.The property, a short distance from Lake Tekapo, is currently a sheep and beef farm.In the early 1950s, the station played a major role in the way boats propelled themselves…
Local Focus: Can four people assemble a Model T in half an hour? See at Whanganui Vintage Weekend
The Model T Ford was one of the world’s most popular cars and many were assembled on these shores. Now, 100 years later, at this weekend’s Whanganui’s Vintage Weekend, a Model T will be assembled in just half an hour, according…
Trump Impeachment Charges to Senate Monday
Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said on Friday that the House will deliver an impeachment article against President Trump to the Senate on Monday.
“Make no mistake, a trial will be held in the United States Senate and there will be a vote whether to convict the president. I’ve spoken to Speaker Pelosi, who informed me that the articles will be delivered to the Senate on Monday,” Schumer said from the Senate floor:
A spokesman for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Sending the article to the Senate triggers the start of the trial at 1 p.m. the following day, except for Sundays. Schumer, in his comment, didn’t address the timeline for the trial, as Democrats debate how long they think it should be.
But the announcement from Schumer appears to reject a request from Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) that the impeachment trial be delayed until February.
McConnell, under a timeline proposed to the GOP caucus, wanted to wait until Jan. 28, next Thursday, to read the article in the Senate, swear in senators as jurors and issue the summons to Trump.
The post Trump Impeachment Charges to Senate Monday appeared first on The St Kitts Nevis Observer.
Lawyers want Giuliani investigated, licence suspended
A lawyers' group filed an ethics complaint against Rudy Giuliani with New York's courts, calling for him to be investigated and his law licence suspended over his work promoting former President Donald Trump's false allegations over the 2020 election.
Lawyers Defending American Democracy, which includes former judges and federal attorneys among its members, sent the complaint on Wednesday to the Attorney Grievance Committee of the state's court system saying Mr Giuliani had violated the rules of professional conduct.
"Giuliani has spearheaded a nationwide public campaign to convince the public and the courts of massive voter fraud and a stolen presidential election," the complaint said.
The complaint called for the committee to investigate Mr Giuliani's conduct, including his comments at a rally before rioters stormed into the US Capitol, and to suspend his law licence immediately while any investigation is being done.
A message was left with the committee seeking comment.
READ MORE: New York Bar association seeks Rudy Giuliani ban over 'combat' remarks
An investigation would be the first step in a process that could lead to a disbarment.
Another complaint against Mr Giuliani was filed earlier in January by New York state Senator Brad Hoylman, a Democrat, who asked that disbarring Mr Giuliani be taken up for consideration.
The New York State Bar Association separately has opened an inquiry into whether he should be expelled from that organisation, which is a voluntary membership organisation.
An email seeking comment was sent to Mr Giuliani's representative.
The New York Times reported that on his radio show on Thursday, Giuliani said "the whole purpose of this is to disbar me from my exercising my right of free speech and defending my client, because they can't fathom the fact that maybe, just maybe, they may be wrong."
US: Nation’s Economic Woes Continue as Virus Rages
President Joe Biden’s administration released its strategy to combat the coronavirus pandemic yesterday. At the same time, he has to confront the worst economic disaster since 1929
More than 900,000 Americans filed initial unemployment claims last week, down by 26,000 from the previous week and 25,000 less than estimates.
Despite the slight week-over-week increase, the figure has not dipped below its pre-pandemic record of 695,000, set in 1982, since late March.Claims fell as low as 711,000 in early November before a winter surge in COVID-19 cases across the nation forced many states to reimpose various social distancing measures. Data also revealed an estimated 3 million people fell off the unemployment cliff when pandemic-related benefits lapsed in December as an economic stimulus package stalled in Congress.
Separately, a poll revealed nearly one-third of small-business owners surveyed said they were unable to pay January rent. The trend is the lagging part of what analysts call a K-shaped recovery, which occurs when different parts of the economy rebound at different rates. Conversely, the stock markets, driven largely by tech giants, all closed at or near record highs yesterday.
To launch a fight-back President Biden plans to sign two executive orders today that would increase food aid, protect jobseekers on unemployment and clear a path for federal workers and contractors to get a $15 minimum wage. The actions are an effort to rush financial relief to millions of Americans hurt by the fallout from the pandemic, while Congress begins to consider and debate the stimulus package proposed by Biden. You can follow all developments on that later here.
The post US: Nation’s Economic Woes Continue as Virus Rages appeared first on The St Kitts Nevis Observer.