How are boarding schools handling covid

Thai Airways first took off as the national airline on May 1, 1960 with its first passenger-carrying flight. 60 years later it’s now poised for a massive dissection as it enters bankruptcy proceedings and restructuring. It’s 60th birthday passed without fanfare or announcement as the pride of the nation scrambles for survival – a victim of a global pandemic, years of mismanagement, profound changes in the aviation market and a decade of accumulated debt. A key point here is that the airline is NOT bankrupt – that’s very unlikely to happen given current and past governments’ willingness to keep the struggling airline afloat at all costs. At least now Thai Airways has a chance for real and urgent restructuring to make it an important player in the resurgence of Thai tourism and a contemporary airline business model. Thailand’s Ministry of Transport has announced it is nominating 4 ‘professionals’ to the new board of Thai Airways who will be tasked with managing the business under … [Read more...] about New Thai Airways board will nominate 4 ‘professionals’ to execute restructure

China doctors battle covid surge (Image: AFP) A furious, wide-ranging argument is unfolding on the internet in China over the reversal of the government’s strict pandemic policies and the massive COVID surge that followed. The divisions are challenging the Communist Party’s efforts to control the narrative around its pandemic pivot. Since the party abandoned “zero-COVID” last month, many online commenters have staked out opposing positions over seemingly all manner of questions. Who should be blamed for the explosion of cases and deaths? Is a top government-appointed health expert trustworthy? Is omicron really less severe, as Chinese officials now say, when hospitals seem to be filling up with sick patients? They are even arguing over whether people should be allowed to set off fireworks during the upcoming Spring Festival holiday, after many did so during the New Year. The digital finger-pointing reveals a country that is deeply polarized, with each side distrustful and … [Read more...] about As China reopens, online finger-pointing shows a widening gulf

In 2021, privacy consultants working for two Dutch universities issued a critical report card on Google’s education apps, a set of classroom tools like Google Docs that are used by more than 170 million students and educators worldwide. The audit warned that Google’s tools for schools lacked a number of privacy protections — like narrow limits on how the company could use students’ and teachers’ personal data — that were required by European law. Although the company addressed some of the concerns, the report said, Google declined to comply with Dutch requests to reduce a number of “high risks” cited in the audit. It took a threat from the Dutch Data Protection Authority, the nation’s privacy regulator, to help break the deadlock: Dutch schools would soon have to stop using Google’s education tools, the government agency said, if the products continued to pose those risks. Two years later, Google has developed new privacy measures and transparency tools to address the Dutch … [Read more...] about How the Netherlands is taming Big Tech

PHOTO: Twitter.com The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration, headed up by the Thai PM, is mulling knocking off another hour from the national curfew. If it goes ahead the curfew would shortened from 11pm – 4am daily to Midnight – 4am daily. It could happen as early as June 1, along with other relaxations of restrictions. The National Security Council is being consulted on the matter of shortening the curfew. Deputy PM Wissanu Kreangam also explained that the extension of the state of emergency is a totally different issue from the national curfew. The state of emergency is a provision in the constitution giving the Thai PM sweeping powers to act without consulting parliament. The curfew has been a tool enacted by the CCSA to help curb the spread of Covid-19. The emergency decree has now been extended until at least the end of June, meaning that the Thai PM, as head of the CCSA, will continue to decide on matters pertaining to the control of Covid-19 and the lifting of … [Read more...] about Curfew may be shortened another hour – Midnight to 4am

Two gender-related bills, including Republican-sponsored legislation that would regulate what teams transgender student-athletes can play on, were introduced in the Democratic-controlled Colorado legislature this week. The sponsors of the Women’s Rights in Athletics bill, HB23-1098 , said it was a measure designed to be compassionate, but LGBTQ advocacy groups immediately decried it as discriminatory and part of a nationwide effort to introduce anti-transgender legislation. The second piece of legislation, the Amenities for all Genders in Public Buildings bill, HB23-1057 , is sponsored by Democrats and would require newly constructed or renovated public buildings to make non-gendered restrooms available. The athletics bill , sponsored by Rep. Lisa Frizell, R-Castle Rock, Rep. Brandi Bradley, R-Littleton, and Sen. Byron Pelton, R-Sterling, would require any intercollegiate, interscholastic, intramural or club athletic team to only allow transgender athletes to play on sports … [Read more...] about GOP bill would regulate what teams transgender student-athletes can play on in Colorado

In parts of rural Colorado, where the cattle and antelope often far outnumber the people, doctors are few and far between. To help fill that gap in health care coverage, the federal government started a program more than five decades ago catering to rural residents, one free checkup at a time. The Colorado Area Health Education Center does community outreach events around the state, including free health screenings at the National Western Stock Show during its two-week run this month. The program in Colorado was founded in 1977, and “we’ve been going ever since,” said Josina Romero O’Connell, the state’s AHEC director. The federal government started the overarching AHEC program six years earlier in an attempt to address health care disparities in rural regions of the U.S. It then expanded state by state. Colorado’s rural areas make up about 12% of the state’s total population, with 47 of its 64 counties considered rural or “frontier” — a designation indicating a … [Read more...] about Colorado rural residents facing hurdles to health care get assistance from a program