1. Ride On & Flash Service
Mo Co Executive Marc Elrich has directed the County Department of Transportation (MCDOT) to continue free service on all Ride On, Ride On extRa and Flash buses through June 30. The County’s website reports that, “Many of our residents who rely on public transportation have been severely impacted economically by the pandemic, and we must continue to do everything we can to assist them to move around the County and region,” said County Executive Elrich. Throughout the COVID-19 health crisis, MCDOT has been operating its bus operations with fare collections suspended and was one of the first agencies in the country to implement this policy.
2. Biden lifts bans
President Biden has expired bans that the former administration imposed last year on Foreign Work Visas. NPR reports that the ban, imposed last June, was designed to prevent temporary workers from a range of industries from entering the country. At the time, President Trump said the freeze was needed to both protect public health and safeguard a job market that at the time was in freefall.
3. Tigray
Since last November, Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region has been in unrest. BBC reports the government launched a military offensive last November against the TPLF, which Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed accused of attacking a government military base. Recent reports however show disturbing video of the military executing unarmed men.
