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Enhancing road safety with intelligent transport system technology -- by Pawan Karki

In recent years, particularly in many developing countries, road developers have failed to give sufficient consideration to road safety features in the design and construction of highways. As a result, these roads have become more deadly.




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Leveling the playing field: Can digital technologies address inequity in cities? -- by Bambang Susantono

Throughout Asia and the world, digital solutions are being found for urban problems. Policymakers and city leaders should ensure that the poor do not get left behind in this digital transformation of cities.




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In the Pacific, urgent action is the key to addressing COVID-19 -- by Emma Veve

Pacific nations, led by the smallest and least well-off, moved decisively to restrict travel from a fast-growing list of COVID-19 affected countries.




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Even with borders closing, we need to keep trade flowing -- by Steven Beck

The COVID-19 pandemic underscores the need to support trade to not only move medical supplies but also to bolster economies




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Are Pacific power utilities ready for the impact of COVID-19? -- by Rafael Abbasov

In the fragile energy scenario of small Pacific islands, contingency plans are crucial to keep the lights on during a crisis.




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Asia should lead the way in producing a novel coronavirus vaccine -- by Matthias Helble, Susann Roth

The Asia-Pacific region has the expertise and resources to take a leadership role in not only developing a COVID-19 vaccine but distributing it to those who need it most.




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Central Asian countries are moving forward together to beat COVID-19 -- by Xinglan Hu, Kirthi Ramesh, Mariya Khatiwada Savchuk

A forward-looking, regional approach is needed for countries in Central Asia to respond to the pandemic and prepare for future public health threats.




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Региональное сотрудничество может эффективно противостоять угрозам здоровью в Центральной и Западной Азии -- by Xinglan Hu, Kirthi Ramesh, Mariya Khatiwada Savchuk

Странам Центральной Азии необходим перспективный региональный подход для реагирования на пандемию и подготовки к будущим угрозам для здоровья.




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Build green to help fend off the next pandemic -- by Anouj Mehta, Naeeda Crishna Morgado

Investments in climate-resilient infrastructure should be the centerpiece of the billions of dollars in economic stimulus being used to rebuild Asia’s economies.




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A new era of clean energy cooperation along the old Silk Road -- by Ashok Bhargava

The historic spirit of cross-border trade in Central Asia is being revived in the energy sector.




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Trinidad & Tobago's ‘Bike Man’ takes cycling to new heights

Trinidad and Tobago loves its "heights" -- and a skilful cyclist on a homemade bike that reaches 10-12 feet in height does not disappoint.




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A 1990s Macedonian film set in 2019 foreshadows a xenophobic future

Like other sci-fi before it, it imagined the present year as a post-apocalyptic wasteland.




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Bundesliga Soccer to Resume on May 16 in Empty Stadiums

The Bundesliga soccer season will resume on May 16 in empty stadiums, picking up right where it left off two months ago amid the coronavirus pandemic.Thursday's announcement comes one day after clubs were told the season could restart following a meeting between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and t...




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At Least 5 Dead After Chemical Plant Leak in Southern India

Authorities in southern India say at least five people are dead after a gas leak at an industrial plant Thursday.Over 100 residents in the city of Visakhapatnam were taken to local hospitals after a leak of styrene gas was detected coming from the LG Polymers chemical plant located on the outskirts ...




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Golfer Greg Norman’s Colorado ranch — featuring seven lakes, a dance hall and 11,600 acres — can be yours for $50 million

Surrounded by the White River National Forest, the 11,600-acre Seven Lakes Ranch located in the Meeker Valley is up for sale three years removed from extensive renovations.





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In-N-Out Burger planning to open near Lone Tree’s Park Meadows mall next year

Colorado Springs is the beachhead. But it's always been clear In-N-Out Burger planned to feed its fanatical following along the Front Range by building more than just the one restaurant coming to that city in 2020.




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This Colorado log home has a 750-foot zipline and its own stocked fishing lake

Imagine zipping down a 750-foot zipline over your private lake, then taking in the beautiful Colorado views from the comfort of the expansive front porch of your log home.




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Coronavirus stay-at-home orders in Colorado

A roundup of stay-at-home orders in Colorado due to the coronavirus outbreak. Read the details of the orders in San Miguel County, Denver, Boulder, Piktin County and the Southern Ute Tribe.




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Microchip’s Low-Power Radiation-Tolerant (RT) PolarFire FPGA Enables High-Bandwidth Space Systems with Lower Total System Cost

Microchip’s Low-Power Radiation-Tolerant (RT) PolarFire FPGA Enables High-Bandwidth Space Systems with Lower Total System Cost




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Microchip Smart Storage Adapters Now Interoperate Seamlessly with MegaRAC® SP-X Management Firmware from AMI for At-Scale Secure Storage Management

Microchip Smart Storage Adapters Now Interoperate Seamlessly with MegaRAC® SP-X Management Firmware from AMI for At-Scale Secure Storage Management




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Microchip Announces Industry’s First Space-Qualified COTS-Based Radiation-Tolerant Ethernet Transceiver and Embedded Microcontroller

Microchip Announces Industry’s First Space-Qualified COTS-Based Radiation-Tolerant Ethernet Transceiver and Embedded Microcontroller




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Next-Generation Miniaturized Rubidium Atomic Clock Improves Performance and adds Features without Increasing Size

Next-Generation Miniaturized Rubidium Atomic Clock Improves Performance and adds Features without Increasing Size




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New Functional Safety Ready AVR® DA Microcontroller Family Enables Real-Time Control, Connectivity and HMI Applications

New Functional Safety Ready AVR® DA Microcontroller Family Enables Real-Time Control, Connectivity and HMI Applications




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ADB Approves $500 Million for Bangladesh's COVID-19 Response

ADB today approved an additional $500 million loan to bolster the efforts of the Government of Bangladesh to manage the impact of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic on the country’s economy and the public health.




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ADB President, Bhutan Finance Minister Discuss COVID-19 Response

ADB President Masatsugu Asakawa and Bhutan Finance Minister and ADB Governor Namgay Tshering today discussed ADB’s support to the country in its fight against the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.




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ADB Provides $30 Million Extra to Mongolia Health Project to Fight COVID-19

ADB has approved $30 million in extra financing for a health sector project in Mongolia to strengthen the country’s preparedness and response to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.




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ADB-Funded Laboratory to Scale Up COVID-19 Testing in the Philippines

The Philippines’ Department of Health (DOH), with support from ADB, has set up a new laboratory in Pampanga province, north of the capital Manila. It will significantly increase the government’s testing capacity for COVID-19...




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ADB Releases Annual Report of Development Effectiveness

ADB has released the 13th annual performance report of its corporate results framework, the Development Effectiveness Review, a management tool that monitors performance and progress during 2019.




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ADBI–WCTRS Webinar Series on High-Speed Rail: Land Use-Transport Interactions of High-Speed Rail Development

This ADBI–WCTRS webinar will examine land use and transport interactions for inter-regional accessibility enhancements achieved through high-speed rail development.




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ADBI–Cambridge University Online Course on Fintech & Regulatory Innovation

ADBI, CCAF, and the JBSEEL are offering an 8-week Online Course on Fintech & Regulatory Innovation and related scholarships for select policy makers from Asian Development Bank developing member countries.




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ADB Asia Clean Energy Forum 2020

ADB Asia Clean Energy Forum (ACEF) 2020 is going virtual and will be held during the week of 15-19 June 2020.




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ADB Sanitation Dialogue 2020 - Postponed to first quarter of 2021

The ADB Sanitation Dialogue 2020, to be held on 29 June to 1 July 2020 in Manila, engages ADB's developing members and other development partners toward achieving Sustainable Development Goal 6.2 on sanitation for all.




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SHIFTING OF AMMO DUMP AT GURGAON, FARIDABAD

HC for inclusion of Gurgaon MC Commissioner in panel Tribune News Service Chandigarh, March 11 The Punjab and Haryana High Court today expressed dissatisfaction with the nine-member committee constituted by the Cabinet Secretary for looking into the shifting of the ammunition dump at Gurgaon and Faridabad. Directing the reconstitution of the committee, the Division Bench of Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice Arun Palli made it clear that it was in favour of including Gurgaon Municipal Commissioner Praveen Kumar’s name in the committee. As the case came up for resumed hearing, counsel for the Union of India Onkar Singh Batalvi placed before the Bench the details of the committee […]




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Wuhan market had role in virus outbreak, but more research needed: WHO

A wholesale market in the central Chinese city of Wuhan played a role in the outbreak of the novel coronavirus last year, as the source or possibly as an “amplifying setting”, the World Health Organisation said on Friday, calling for more research.

Chinese authorities shut down the market in January as part of efforts to stop the spread of the virus and ordered a temporary ban on trade and consumption of wildlife.

“The market played a role in the event, that’s clear. But what role we don’t know; whether it was the source or amplifying setting or just a coincidence that some cases were detected in and around that market,” said Dr Peter Ben Embarek, a WHO expert on food safety and zoonotic viruses that cross the species barrier from animals to humans.

It was not clear whether live animals or infected vendors or shoppers may have brought the virus into the market, he told a Geneva news briefing.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said there is “a significant amount of evidence” the virus came from the Wuhan laboratory, although he has also said there wasn’t certainty.

Read: The Wuhan lab at the core of a virus controversy

No public evidence has linked the outbreak to the lab in Wuhan and scientists have said the coronavirus appears to have developed in nature. A German intelligence report cast doubts on Pompeo’s allegations, Der Spiegel reported.

Ben Embarek did not address the accusations. He noted that it took researchers a year to identify camels as the source of the Mers (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome) virus, a coronavirus that emerged in Saudi Arabia in 2012 and spread in the Middle East, adding: “It’s not too late.”

“What is important, what would be of great help, is to get hold of the virus before it adapted to humans, before the version we have now. Because then we would better understand how it adapted to humans, how it evolved,” he said.

“In terms of investigations, China has most probably, most likely, all the expertise needed to do these investigations. They have lot of very qualified researchers to that,” he said.

A common sight across Asia, wet markets traditionally sell fresh produce and live animals, such as fish, in the open air.

Many markets worldwide that sell live animals must be better regulated and hygiene conditions improved, and some should be closed down, Ben Embarek said. “But the vast majority can be fixed, can be better organised.”

It is often a question of controlling waste management, the movement of people and goods, and of separating live animals from animal products and from fresh goods, he said.




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Rights group says Saudi Arabia is holding a senior prince incommunicado since March

Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Saturday that Saudi Arabian authorities recently detained and are holding incommunicado Prince Faisal bin Abdullah, who had previously been netted in an anti-corruption drive and released in late 2017.

The US-based rights group, citing a source with ties to the royal family, said Prince Faisal bin Abdullah, a son of late monarch King Abdullah, was detained by security forces on March 27 while self-isolating due to the coronavirus pandemic at a family compound northeast of the capital Riyadh.

Reuters could not immediately independently verify the detention. The Saudi government media office did not immediately respond to a detailed Reuters request for comment.

Earlier in March, authorities had detained King Salman’s brother, Prince Ahmed bin Abdulaziz, and former crown prince Mohammed bin Nayef, who was replaced in a 2017 palace coup and placed under house arrest, sources had told Reuters.

Sources with royal connections said at the time that the move was a preemptive effort to ensure compliance within the ruling Al Saud family ahead of an eventual succession to the throne by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman upon the king’s death or abdication.

It was not clear if the reported detention of Prince Faisal was related to those in early March, which also saw Ahmed’s son Nayef and Mohammed bin Nayef’s brother Nawaf detained.

Saudi authorities have not commented on those detentions, which follow crackdowns on dissent in which clerics, intellectuals and rights activists have been arrested, and an anti-corruption drive launched in 2017 that netted scores of royals, ministers and businessmen.

Critics have said the campaigns were part of moves by Crown Prince Mohammed, the king’s son and the kingdom’s de facto ruler, to consolidate his grip on power.

“Now we have to add Prince Faisal to the hundreds detained in Saudi Arabia without a clear legal basis,” said Michael Page, deputy Middle East director at HRW.

The kingdom has regularly denied allegations of unfair detention.

Authorities said last year the government was winding down the anti-corruption campaign after 15 months, but would continue to go after graft.

HRW said Prince Faisal’s whereabouts or status are not known.

“The source said that Prince Faisal has not publicly criticised authorities since his December 2017 arrest and that family members are concerned about his health as he has a heart condition,” it added.

In late December 2017, a senior Saudi official said Prince Faisal and another royal, Prince Meshaal bin Abdullah, were released from Riyadh’s Ritz-Carlton hotel, where people nabbed in the anti-corruption drive were being held, after reaching an undisclosed financial settlement with the government.




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Head Over Heels in Love

This is what happens when two logarithmic spirals love each other very much.... read more >>




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New Decade, New MATLAB Mobile

You may have noticed that MATLAB Mobile now sports a different UI. For this post, I’d like to welcome Geeta Sonigra, our User Experience designer to talk about what’s changed. ... read more >>







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Colorado GOP Chair Ken Buck pressured local official to submit incorrect election results

Colorado Republican Party Chair Ken Buck, a U.S. representative from Windsor, pressured a local party official to submit incorrect election results to set the primary ballot for a state Senate seat, according to an audio recording of a conference call obtained by The Denver Post.




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Colorado Republican Chair Ken Buck in the hot seat after revelations over election results

Colorado Republican Chairman Ken Buck is facing criticism from within his own party after revelations that he pressured another party official to submit incorrect election results — and then spent party money to defend the move. At least two party executives say they were surprised to learn Buck — who’s also a U.S. representative — […]




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ADB President, Bangladesh Finance Minister Discuss Support for COVID-19 Response

ADB President Masatsugu Asakawa and Bangladesh Finance Minister and ADB Governor A H M Mustafa Kamal today discussed ADB’s support to Bangladesh in its fight against the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.




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ADB Sells $4.5 Billion 5-Year Global Benchmark Bond

ADB returned to the US dollar bond market with the pricing of a $4.5 billion 5-year global benchmark bond issue, proceeds of which will be part of ADB’s ordinary capital resources.




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ADB Announces $15 Million Loan to Help Palau Combat COVID-19

The Government of Palau will draw down on a $15 million policy-based loan from ADB's Disaster Resilience Program to help finance the country’s response to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.




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ADB Announces $6 Million Grant to Help Marshall Islands Combat COVID-19

ADB today announced the release of a $6 million grant from its Pacific Disaster Resilience Program (Phase 2) to help finance the Government of the Marshall Islands’ response to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.




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ADB Approves $1.5 Billion for Indonesia's COVID-19 Response

ADB today approved $1.5 billion in financing to support the Government of Indonesia’s efforts to alleviate the impact of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic on public health, livelihoods, and the economy.




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ADB Provides $6 Million Assistance for Solomon Islands' COVID-19 Response

ADB today announced the release of a $3 million grant and a $3 million concessional loan from its Pacific Disaster Resilience Program (Phase 2) to help finance the Government of Solomon Islands’ response to the COVID-19...




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ADB Approves $1.5 Billion Financing to Support the Philippines' COVID-19 Response

ADB has approved a $1.5 billion loan to help the Philippine government fund its novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) response program and strengthen the country’s health care system in its fight against the pandemic.