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DealBook|JPMorgan to Pay $307 Million for Steering Clients to Own Fundshttps://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/19/business/dealbook/jpmorgan-to-pay-307-million-for-steering-clients-to-own-funds.htmlDec. 18, 2015Credit...Mark Lennihan/Associated PressJPMorgan Chase has agreed to pay $307 million to settle accusations that it improperly steered clients to the companys in-house mutual funds and hedge funds.From 2008 to 2015, brokers and financial advisers in several divisions of JPMorgan gave preference to investment products created by the banks asset management division when deciding where to put client money, regulators said on Friday.In some cases, regulators said, the clients were put into products with higher fees, which earned JPMorgan more money, even when the same JPMorgan product was available for a lower fee.The undisclosed conflicts were pervasive, the head of enforcement at the Securities and Exchange Commission, Andrew J. Ceresney, said in a conference call.The settlement is a black mark for JPMorgans asset management division, a business that the company has been aggressively expanding and that has been seen as particularly promising in the new regulatory environment. The bank admitted wrongdoing in the settlement.We have always strived for full transparency in client communications, and in the last two years have further enhanced our disclosures in support of that goal, said Darin Oduyoye, a spokesman for JPMorgans asset management division.The disclosure weaknesses cited in the settlements were not intentional and we regret them, he said. We remain confident in our investment process and are proud of the way we manage money.JPMorgan will pay $267 million to the S.E.C. and an additional $40 million to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.The S.E.C. said that JPMorgan made $127 million in ill-gotten gains from its preference for in-house funds. The money from the settlement will not go to JPMorgans clients, though Mr. Ceresney said there was significant harm to clients here.Several JPMorgan brokers told The New York Times in 2012 and 2013 that they were encouraged by their superiors to put their clients into proprietary funds even when lower-cost or better-performing funds were available.One broker, Johnny Burris, said this month that after he complained about the practices he faced retaliation from JPMorgan employees. JPMorgan denied that its employees retaliated against Mr. Burris.Jordan A. Thomas, a lawyer at Labaton Sucharow representing whistle-blowers, said on Friday that one of his clients a former JPMorgan employee had assisted the S.E.C. in developing the case announced Friday.The agency said that starting in 2007, JPMorgan developed basic investment portfolios, in a program known as the Chase Strategic Portfolio, that automatically invested a significant portion of any money in proprietary JPMorgan mutual funds.The company developed a similar program for wealthier clients in JPMorgans private bank, known as the JPMorgan Investment Portfolio, which funneled money into the banks own hedge funds. JPMorgan also gave a preference to outside hedge fund managers who were willing to pay placement fees or retrocessions to JPMorgan.If a manager declined to pay retrocessions, an alternative manager with a similar investment strategy that would pay retrocessions was typically sought, the S.E.C. order released on Friday said.Banks are generally allowed to show a preference for their own investment products as long as they disclose that to clients.JPMorgan will not have to stop giving preferential treatment to its own funds as part of the settlement, but it will have to send new disclosures to all clients.

Business

<s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> DealBook|JPMorgan to Pay $307 Million for Steering Clients to Own Fundshttps://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/19/business/dealbook/jpmorgan-to-pay-307-million-for-steering-clients-to-own-funds.htmlDec. 18, 2015Credit...Mark Lennihan/Associated PressJPMorgan Chase has agreed to pay $307 million to settle accusations that it improperly steered clients to the companys in-house mutual funds and hedge funds.From 2008 to 2015, brokers and financial advisers in several divisions of JPMorgan gave preference to investment products created by the banks asset management division when deciding where to put client money, regulators said on Friday.In some cases, regulators said, the clients were put into products with higher fees, which earned JPMorgan more money, even when the same JPMorgan product was available for a lower fee.The undisclosed conflicts were pervasive, the head of enforcement at the Securities and Exchange Commission, Andrew J. Ceresney, said in a conference call.The settlement is a black mark for JPMorgans asset management division, a business that the company has been aggressively expanding and that has been seen as particularly promising in the new regulatory environment. The bank admitted wrongdoing in the settlement.We have always strived for full transparency in client communications, and in the last two years have further enhanced our disclosures in support of that goal, said Darin Oduyoye, a spokesman for JPMorgans asset management division.The disclosure weaknesses cited in the settlements were not intentional and we regret them, he said. We remain confident in our investment process and are proud of the way we manage money.JPMorgan will pay $267 million to the S.E.C. and an additional $40 million to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.The S.E.C. said that JPMorgan made $127 million in ill-gotten gains from its preference for in-house funds. The money from the settlement will not go to JPMorgans clients, though Mr. Ceresney said there was significant harm to clients here.Several JPMorgan brokers told The New York Times in 2012 and 2013 that they were encouraged by their superiors to put their clients into proprietary funds even when lower-cost or better-performing funds were available.One broker, Johnny Burris, said this month that after he complained about the practices he faced retaliation from JPMorgan employees. JPMorgan denied that its employees retaliated against Mr. Burris.Jordan A. Thomas, a lawyer at Labaton Sucharow representing whistle-blowers, said on Friday that one of his clients a former JPMorgan employee had assisted the S.E.C. in developing the case announced Friday.The agency said that starting in 2007, JPMorgan developed basic investment portfolios, in a program known as the Chase Strategic Portfolio, that automatically invested a significant portion of any money in proprietary JPMorgan mutual funds.The company developed a similar program for wealthier clients in JPMorgans private bank, known as the JPMorgan Investment Portfolio, which funneled money into the banks own hedge funds. JPMorgan also gave a preference to outside hedge fund managers who were willing to pay placement fees or retrocessions to JPMorgan.If a manager declined to pay retrocessions, an alternative manager with a similar investment strategy that would pay retrocessions was typically sought, the S.E.C. order released on Friday said.Banks are generally allowed to show a preference for their own investment products as long as they disclose that to clients.JPMorgan will not have to stop giving preferential treatment to its own funds as part of the settlement, but it will have to send new disclosures to all clients. [/INST] Business </s>

VideoSupporters of Narendra Modis Bharatiya Janata Party celebrated a landslide victory in Indias most populous state on Saturday, consolidating the prime ministers power and putting him in a strong position to win re-election in 2019.CreditCredit...Tsering Topgyal/Associated PressMarch 11, 2017NEW DELHI Prime Minister Narendra Modi led his party to a landslide victory in Indias largest state on Saturday, consolidating his power and putting him in a strong position to win re-election in 2019.The scale of the victory in Uttar Pradeshs legislative elections was all the more stunning because it followed Mr. Modis politically risky decision to eliminate most of Indias cash. The vote was seen as a referendum on the prime minister, who campaigned vigorously in recent days in Uttar Pradesh, which, with a population of more than 200 million, would be the worlds sixth largest country if it were independent.This is a stupendous achievement, said Ashok Malik, a fellow with the Observer Research Foundation, based in New Delhi. Here you had a prime minister making himself the face of the election in the absence of a local leader and stitching together a coalition across the state.The margin of victory in Uttar Pradesh was the largest seen by any party in more than 30 years. It gives Mr. Modi a significant advantage in the national elections in 2019, which in turn would bring him closer to his long-term goal of becoming a leader of historic significance, steering India away from its more socialist, secular past.Mr. Modis Bharatiya Janata Party, commonly called the B.J.P., also won at least one of four other state elections in which ballots were being counted on Saturday. The weakening India National Congress party, which once dominated the nations politics, won in Punjab, a powerful farming state, and remained in contention in two smaller states, showing that it was still a factor nationally, though less so than in years past.The Aam Aadmi Party, born of the anticorruption movement that has arisen in India in recent years, failed to win any state, suggesting that it was not yet ready to take over from the Congress party as the main opposition to Mr. Modi.Mr. Modi said on Twitter that his partys victories were humbling and overwhelming.In Uttar Pradesh, the Election Commission of India said the Bharatiya Janata Party had won or was leading in voting for 308 of the 403 seats in the state legislature, decimating the last-minute anti-Modi coalition cobbled together by Congress and the local governing party, the Samajwadi Party. By Saturday afternoon, that coalition had garnered only 57 seats.The coalition had appeared to be gaining steam after it was formed early this year, led by the dynamic, relatively young leader of the Samajwadi Party, Akhilesh Yadav, 43, whose father founded the party and presided over it for decades.That party and the Bahujan Samaj Party, commonly known as the B.S.P., have taken turns governing Uttar Pradesh in recent decades, in each case putting together coalitions that consisted mainly of the party leaders caste group along with Muslims. But on Saturday afternoon, the B.S.P., led by Kumari Mayawati, a leader of the Dalit caste, won or was leading in only 20 seats, the election commission said.The scale of the Bharatiya Janata Partys victory suggested that it had bridged such caste allegiances, some experts said, although it had yet to cross religious lines to attract large numbers of Muslims. While Mr. Modi has largely steered clear of divisive language on religion as prime minister, his party has a Hindu nationalist philosophy, and he was accused of complicity in anti-Muslim violence as the leader of his home state of Gujarat.This is the beginning of a new chapter in the history of India, Jitendra Singh, a minister of state in Mr. Modis office, told the television station Times Now. The Indian voter has learned to rise above caste and creed and vote for development and the future of India.In fact, although Mr. Modi won the 2014 national elections on a platform of jobs and development, his economic record is mixed. He has lured more foreign investment and is close to achieving a long-delayed tax overhaul, but new job creation has been slow and domestic private investment remains stagnant.The International Monetary Fund this year cut its projected growth rate for India by one percentage point, to 6.6 percent, in large part because of Mr. Modis sudden ban on the countrys largest currency notes in November.Saturdays results come less than four months after Mr. Modis Nov. 8 announcement that Indias largest notes, which made up 86 percent of the currency, would be banned starting the next day in a bid to fight corruption. A cash shortfall persisted for weeks as the government rushed to print enough new notes to replace the banned ones, slowing many of the countrys cash-based businesses and leaving many poor people struggling to make ends meet.As the cash crunch persisted, with millions waiting in line for notes, Mr. Modi faced criticism that his policy had hurt lower-income people, and many predicted that voters would punish him at the polls.But his big win in Uttar Pradesh coupled with victory in another state, Uttarakhand, and gains in the eastern state of Manipur, where his party had not been a contender in the recent past suggests that despite the pain the currency ban caused, voters believed Mr. Modi when he said it was needed to reduce corruption, some experts said.The narrative became less about whether it was right or wrong on economics, but more about the political narrative, the way Modi was able to shape it, said Harsh Pant, a professor of international relations specializing in India at Kings College in London.He said, I am a crusader against corruption, and you have to rise above your mundane economic realities and support me. And people did, Mr. Pant said.Votes were still being counted in the smaller states of Goa and Manipur on Saturday afternoon, and the margins were so close that it was not clear who would form the state governments.Experts said Mr. Modis win in Uttar Pradesh meant his party would be able to take control of the upper house of Indias Parliament next year. They expected him to have a freer hand in making the economic policy overhauls that he has long sought to spur development, including changes in the law to make it easier for companies to acquire farmland and to fire workers.But many experts cautioned that it was unlikely Mr. Modi would make major changes before the 2019 election. When he previously tried to ease land acquisition rules, he found himself pilloried as the suit boot prime minister, or guardian of the corporate class, the experts noted.Hell have the space, but hell also be concerned about re-election, Mr. Malik said. The prime minister may tinker with the laws, perhaps allowing states to change some labor laws to attract industry, but hes not suddenly going to shift gears in terms of policies, Mr. Malik said.

World

<s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> VideoSupporters of Narendra Modis Bharatiya Janata Party celebrated a landslide victory in Indias most populous state on Saturday, consolidating the prime ministers power and putting him in a strong position to win re-election in 2019.CreditCredit...Tsering Topgyal/Associated PressMarch 11, 2017NEW DELHI Prime Minister Narendra Modi led his party to a landslide victory in Indias largest state on Saturday, consolidating his power and putting him in a strong position to win re-election in 2019.The scale of the victory in Uttar Pradeshs legislative elections was all the more stunning because it followed Mr. Modis politically risky decision to eliminate most of Indias cash. The vote was seen as a referendum on the prime minister, who campaigned vigorously in recent days in Uttar Pradesh, which, with a population of more than 200 million, would be the worlds sixth largest country if it were independent.This is a stupendous achievement, said Ashok Malik, a fellow with the Observer Research Foundation, based in New Delhi. Here you had a prime minister making himself the face of the election in the absence of a local leader and stitching together a coalition across the state.The margin of victory in Uttar Pradesh was the largest seen by any party in more than 30 years. It gives Mr. Modi a significant advantage in the national elections in 2019, which in turn would bring him closer to his long-term goal of becoming a leader of historic significance, steering India away from its more socialist, secular past.Mr. Modis Bharatiya Janata Party, commonly called the B.J.P., also won at least one of four other state elections in which ballots were being counted on Saturday. The weakening India National Congress party, which once dominated the nations politics, won in Punjab, a powerful farming state, and remained in contention in two smaller states, showing that it was still a factor nationally, though less so than in years past.The Aam Aadmi Party, born of the anticorruption movement that has arisen in India in recent years, failed to win any state, suggesting that it was not yet ready to take over from the Congress party as the main opposition to Mr. Modi.Mr. Modi said on Twitter that his partys victories were humbling and overwhelming.In Uttar Pradesh, the Election Commission of India said the Bharatiya Janata Party had won or was leading in voting for 308 of the 403 seats in the state legislature, decimating the last-minute anti-Modi coalition cobbled together by Congress and the local governing party, the Samajwadi Party. By Saturday afternoon, that coalition had garnered only 57 seats.The coalition had appeared to be gaining steam after it was formed early this year, led by the dynamic, relatively young leader of the Samajwadi Party, Akhilesh Yadav, 43, whose father founded the party and presided over it for decades.That party and the Bahujan Samaj Party, commonly known as the B.S.P., have taken turns governing Uttar Pradesh in recent decades, in each case putting together coalitions that consisted mainly of the party leaders caste group along with Muslims. But on Saturday afternoon, the B.S.P., led by Kumari Mayawati, a leader of the Dalit caste, won or was leading in only 20 seats, the election commission said.The scale of the Bharatiya Janata Partys victory suggested that it had bridged such caste allegiances, some experts said, although it had yet to cross religious lines to attract large numbers of Muslims. While Mr. Modi has largely steered clear of divisive language on religion as prime minister, his party has a Hindu nationalist philosophy, and he was accused of complicity in anti-Muslim violence as the leader of his home state of Gujarat.This is the beginning of a new chapter in the history of India, Jitendra Singh, a minister of state in Mr. Modis office, told the television station Times Now. The Indian voter has learned to rise above caste and creed and vote for development and the future of India.In fact, although Mr. Modi won the 2014 national elections on a platform of jobs and development, his economic record is mixed. He has lured more foreign investment and is close to achieving a long-delayed tax overhaul, but new job creation has been slow and domestic private investment remains stagnant.The International Monetary Fund this year cut its projected growth rate for India by one percentage point, to 6.6 percent, in large part because of Mr. Modis sudden ban on the countrys largest currency notes in November.Saturdays results come less than four months after Mr. Modis Nov. 8 announcement that Indias largest notes, which made up 86 percent of the currency, would be banned starting the next day in a bid to fight corruption. A cash shortfall persisted for weeks as the government rushed to print enough new notes to replace the banned ones, slowing many of the countrys cash-based businesses and leaving many poor people struggling to make ends meet.As the cash crunch persisted, with millions waiting in line for notes, Mr. Modi faced criticism that his policy had hurt lower-income people, and many predicted that voters would punish him at the polls.But his big win in Uttar Pradesh coupled with victory in another state, Uttarakhand, and gains in the eastern state of Manipur, where his party had not been a contender in the recent past suggests that despite the pain the currency ban caused, voters believed Mr. Modi when he said it was needed to reduce corruption, some experts said.The narrative became less about whether it was right or wrong on economics, but more about the political narrative, the way Modi was able to shape it, said Harsh Pant, a professor of international relations specializing in India at Kings College in London.He said, I am a crusader against corruption, and you have to rise above your mundane economic realities and support me. And people did, Mr. Pant said.Votes were still being counted in the smaller states of Goa and Manipur on Saturday afternoon, and the margins were so close that it was not clear who would form the state governments.Experts said Mr. Modis win in Uttar Pradesh meant his party would be able to take control of the upper house of Indias Parliament next year. They expected him to have a freer hand in making the economic policy overhauls that he has long sought to spur development, including changes in the law to make it easier for companies to acquire farmland and to fire workers.But many experts cautioned that it was unlikely Mr. Modi would make major changes before the 2019 election. When he previously tried to ease land acquisition rules, he found himself pilloried as the suit boot prime minister, or guardian of the corporate class, the experts noted.Hell have the space, but hell also be concerned about re-election, Mr. Malik said. The prime minister may tinker with the laws, perhaps allowing states to change some labor laws to attract industry, but hes not suddenly going to shift gears in terms of policies, Mr. Malik said. [/INST] World </s>

Credit...Remko De Waal/Agence France-Presse Getty ImagesMarch 10, 2017AMSTERDAM In the final days before next weeks parliamentary elections in the Netherlands, the far-right leaders support appeared to be softening and a previously minor party, the Greens, led by a charismatic young politician, was poised to become one of the two top parties on the left.But there is little consensus among Dutch voters about what sort of government they want, and multiple polls show that at least five parties could be within a few seats of each other once the results are in.Currently, we have a not-so-normal situation, said Maurice de Hond, a pollster who has been tracking Dutch politics for 40 years and who, like everyone interviewed, described the electorate as fragmented.Sarah de Lange, a political scientist at the University of Amsterdam, described the picture as extremely fragmented, to an extent that we have not seen before in the Netherlands.That suggests a level of discomfort with the current government and little unity on which way to go, said another pollster, Frank van Dalen.In Wednesdays elections, about 12 parties are likely to win at least one seat in the 150-seat Parliament. The Dutch Parliament has two chambers; this election is for seats in the House of Representatives, which has the lead role in writing legislation.It takes a simple majority, or 76 seats, to form a government.For at least the last century, no single party has won a majority, and the government has been formed by coalitions of two or three parties.This time, it is likely to take a coalition of four or five parties to reach the 76 seats needed to form a government.A decline in support for the far-right leader, Geert Wilders, whose populist, anti-Muslim and anti-European Union message had won him much notoriety, means that he is unlikely to be part of the next government. Short of winning the most votes, he does not have the clout to call the shots, and other parties refuse to work with him.ImageCredit...Emmanuel Dunand/Agence France-Presse Getty ImagesThis is a pattern with Mr. Wilders, Mr. van Dalen said: He scores well in the polls before an election, but he does not perform as well once voters cast their ballots. A vote for him and for a handful of other small parties is effectively a protest vote.But Mr. van Dalen, who studies long-term voting trends, cautioned against treating polls as if they were results. In the Netherlands, many voters do not decide until just before an election. As of two weeks ago, 50 to 60 percent of eligible voters were undecided, Ms. de Lange said.A striking change this time is the disintegration of the mainstream, left-leaning Labor Party, which for years has been in the government. Because the Labor Party has been willing to work with the conservatives, it appeared to its supporters to have deserted its principles.The lesson of Labors decline is not lost on either the Greens or D66, the leading party on the left.Those parties will be reluctant to work with the mainstream right-wing party that is likely to win the most votes because they saw what happened to Labor and they dont want it to happen to them, Mr. van Dalen said.Two charismatic politicians bear watching in this election. On the right, Sybrand Buma is a straight-talking leader of the Christian Democrats. Mr. Bumas party was in power for many years, fell out of favor, but now is experiencing a revival with a message that plays to members of the ethnic Dutch majority who are keen to preserve Dutch traditions and limit immigration.On the left, Jesse Klaver, 30, appears ready to transform the Green Left party, or the Greens, from a minor player into a party that can potentially play a powerful role. He has been reaching out to young people who have had little interest in politics.His constituency appears to be young, mostly urban and white, judging by his final campaign rally on Thursday. Mr. Klaver comes across as earnest but confident as he tries to bridge the traditional divide between left and right.What we want to do is fight populism, Mr. Klaver said. Every conversation I have with voters starts with Islam and Muslims, and then it goes to housing, their income and health care.The traditional parties are not winning elections anymore, he added. A lot of people are disappointed in politics. What we want to do with Greens is be an alternative for the center parties. But this is not an alternative built with fear and hate, but an alternative built on ideals and hope and optimism.

World

<s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> Credit...Remko De Waal/Agence France-Presse Getty ImagesMarch 10, 2017AMSTERDAM In the final days before next weeks parliamentary elections in the Netherlands, the far-right leaders support appeared to be softening and a previously minor party, the Greens, led by a charismatic young politician, was poised to become one of the two top parties on the left.But there is little consensus among Dutch voters about what sort of government they want, and multiple polls show that at least five parties could be within a few seats of each other once the results are in.Currently, we have a not-so-normal situation, said Maurice de Hond, a pollster who has been tracking Dutch politics for 40 years and who, like everyone interviewed, described the electorate as fragmented.Sarah de Lange, a political scientist at the University of Amsterdam, described the picture as extremely fragmented, to an extent that we have not seen before in the Netherlands.That suggests a level of discomfort with the current government and little unity on which way to go, said another pollster, Frank van Dalen.In Wednesdays elections, about 12 parties are likely to win at least one seat in the 150-seat Parliament. The Dutch Parliament has two chambers; this election is for seats in the House of Representatives, which has the lead role in writing legislation.It takes a simple majority, or 76 seats, to form a government.For at least the last century, no single party has won a majority, and the government has been formed by coalitions of two or three parties.This time, it is likely to take a coalition of four or five parties to reach the 76 seats needed to form a government.A decline in support for the far-right leader, Geert Wilders, whose populist, anti-Muslim and anti-European Union message had won him much notoriety, means that he is unlikely to be part of the next government. Short of winning the most votes, he does not have the clout to call the shots, and other parties refuse to work with him.ImageCredit...Emmanuel Dunand/Agence France-Presse Getty ImagesThis is a pattern with Mr. Wilders, Mr. van Dalen said: He scores well in the polls before an election, but he does not perform as well once voters cast their ballots. A vote for him and for a handful of other small parties is effectively a protest vote.But Mr. van Dalen, who studies long-term voting trends, cautioned against treating polls as if they were results. In the Netherlands, many voters do not decide until just before an election. As of two weeks ago, 50 to 60 percent of eligible voters were undecided, Ms. de Lange said.A striking change this time is the disintegration of the mainstream, left-leaning Labor Party, which for years has been in the government. Because the Labor Party has been willing to work with the conservatives, it appeared to its supporters to have deserted its principles.The lesson of Labors decline is not lost on either the Greens or D66, the leading party on the left.Those parties will be reluctant to work with the mainstream right-wing party that is likely to win the most votes because they saw what happened to Labor and they dont want it to happen to them, Mr. van Dalen said.Two charismatic politicians bear watching in this election. On the right, Sybrand Buma is a straight-talking leader of the Christian Democrats. Mr. Bumas party was in power for many years, fell out of favor, but now is experiencing a revival with a message that plays to members of the ethnic Dutch majority who are keen to preserve Dutch traditions and limit immigration.On the left, Jesse Klaver, 30, appears ready to transform the Green Left party, or the Greens, from a minor player into a party that can potentially play a powerful role. He has been reaching out to young people who have had little interest in politics.His constituency appears to be young, mostly urban and white, judging by his final campaign rally on Thursday. Mr. Klaver comes across as earnest but confident as he tries to bridge the traditional divide between left and right.What we want to do is fight populism, Mr. Klaver said. Every conversation I have with voters starts with Islam and Muslims, and then it goes to housing, their income and health care.The traditional parties are not winning elections anymore, he added. A lot of people are disappointed in politics. What we want to do with Greens is be an alternative for the center parties. But this is not an alternative built with fear and hate, but an alternative built on ideals and hope and optimism. [/INST] World </s>

Credit...Justin Lane/European Pressphoto AgencyMarch 10, 2017The Republican proposal to replace the Affordable Care Act would bar people from using federal tax credits to buy health insurance plans that cover abortion.If the measure is passed, abortion rights advocates fear it could compel insurers to stop offering abortion coverage at all.Theres no reason insurers would sell any plans that cover abortion because everyone would be wanting to use these tax credits, said Adam Sonfield, a senior policy manager for the Guttmacher Institute, a research center that works to promote access to abortion.For now, the proposal would create a big problem for two of the largest and most liberal states: California, where state law requires insurers to cover abortion, and New York, which has long encouraged coverage by including it in its model plan of what insurers have to cover. Massachusetts, too, has long indicated that insurers should cover abortion as medically necessary.The law, if passed, would all but make it impossible for Californians to use the new tax credits to buy health insurance.States would be faced with this choice: Do we get rid of our abortion coverage requirement, or deny state residents all the tax credits? said Gretchen Borchelt, the vice president for reproductive rights and health at the National Womens Law Center. Its putting states in a really terrible position.She and other advocates for abortion rights said they expected legal challenges from California and other states if the law passed. They argued it goes against Republican promises of increased options in health insurance, and their embrace of states rights.The proposal continues a move away from abortion coverage in recent years. Until the Affordable Care Act was passed in 2010, insurers in most states offered plans covering abortion. The A.C.A. allowed states to bar insurers from offering plans through the A.C.A. marketplaces that cover abortion and 25 states did so (except for coverage of abortions in cases of rape or incest, or where the womans life is in danger). Ten of those extended that ban to prevent insurers from providing abortion coverage in any private insurance plan in the state.Since 1977, the federal Hyde Amendment has prohibited federal money from going to abortions. Under the Affordable Care Act, state officials had to separate out the federal subsidies used to buy health insurance into separate funds so that no federal money would go toward abortions.Representative Kevin McCarthy of California, the leader of the Republican majority in the House, has asked Tom Price, the new secretary of Health and Human Services, to examine whether Californias law violates laws protecting the religious freedom of health care providers who object to abortion.Ms. Borchelt said other language in the proposal also moved to stop insurance companies from covering abortion. Under that language, health insurance plans could not be considered qualified, and therefore eligible to be sold on the individual market, if they covered abortion. Because insurance companies tend to set a lot of the same benefits in plans across their various markets, she said, the language is disincentive and meant to discourage plans from covering abortions.Republicans have argued that women can buy an additional rider on their insurance to cover abortion.But, Ms. Borchelt said: No such plans exist. All those provisions work as a de facto ban on insurance coverage in every state with no real option to get it elsewhere.Most abortions are performed in the first trimester of pregnancy. The Kaiser Family Foundation estimates that an abortion at 10 weeks costs between $400 and $550.The proposed replacement for the Affordable Care Act would mostly affect insurers offering plans in the individual market. But it would also affect employer-sponsored insurance plans in two ways. It would prevent tax credits used by small businesses to buy health insurance, as well as those used by people who have left their jobs to extend employer-sponsored insurance coverage, from being used to buy plans that cover abortion.Employers might decide not to offer abortion coverage, knowing that their employees, if they left, could not use their tax credits to continue that policy.Given the various restrictions across the country, Elizabeth Nash, a state policy analyst at Guttmacher, asked whether insurers might simply reach a point where it is standard not to cover abortion. Have we reached the tipping point where its so complicated and cumbersome to provide it that insurers will simply stop? she asked. You can imagine insurers saying it isnt worth the hassle.

Health

<s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> Credit...Justin Lane/European Pressphoto AgencyMarch 10, 2017The Republican proposal to replace the Affordable Care Act would bar people from using federal tax credits to buy health insurance plans that cover abortion.If the measure is passed, abortion rights advocates fear it could compel insurers to stop offering abortion coverage at all.Theres no reason insurers would sell any plans that cover abortion because everyone would be wanting to use these tax credits, said Adam Sonfield, a senior policy manager for the Guttmacher Institute, a research center that works to promote access to abortion.For now, the proposal would create a big problem for two of the largest and most liberal states: California, where state law requires insurers to cover abortion, and New York, which has long encouraged coverage by including it in its model plan of what insurers have to cover. Massachusetts, too, has long indicated that insurers should cover abortion as medically necessary.The law, if passed, would all but make it impossible for Californians to use the new tax credits to buy health insurance.States would be faced with this choice: Do we get rid of our abortion coverage requirement, or deny state residents all the tax credits? said Gretchen Borchelt, the vice president for reproductive rights and health at the National Womens Law Center. Its putting states in a really terrible position.She and other advocates for abortion rights said they expected legal challenges from California and other states if the law passed. They argued it goes against Republican promises of increased options in health insurance, and their embrace of states rights.The proposal continues a move away from abortion coverage in recent years. Until the Affordable Care Act was passed in 2010, insurers in most states offered plans covering abortion. The A.C.A. allowed states to bar insurers from offering plans through the A.C.A. marketplaces that cover abortion and 25 states did so (except for coverage of abortions in cases of rape or incest, or where the womans life is in danger). Ten of those extended that ban to prevent insurers from providing abortion coverage in any private insurance plan in the state.Since 1977, the federal Hyde Amendment has prohibited federal money from going to abortions. Under the Affordable Care Act, state officials had to separate out the federal subsidies used to buy health insurance into separate funds so that no federal money would go toward abortions.Representative Kevin McCarthy of California, the leader of the Republican majority in the House, has asked Tom Price, the new secretary of Health and Human Services, to examine whether Californias law violates laws protecting the religious freedom of health care providers who object to abortion.Ms. Borchelt said other language in the proposal also moved to stop insurance companies from covering abortion. Under that language, health insurance plans could not be considered qualified, and therefore eligible to be sold on the individual market, if they covered abortion. Because insurance companies tend to set a lot of the same benefits in plans across their various markets, she said, the language is disincentive and meant to discourage plans from covering abortions.Republicans have argued that women can buy an additional rider on their insurance to cover abortion.But, Ms. Borchelt said: No such plans exist. All those provisions work as a de facto ban on insurance coverage in every state with no real option to get it elsewhere.Most abortions are performed in the first trimester of pregnancy. The Kaiser Family Foundation estimates that an abortion at 10 weeks costs between $400 and $550.The proposed replacement for the Affordable Care Act would mostly affect insurers offering plans in the individual market. But it would also affect employer-sponsored insurance plans in two ways. It would prevent tax credits used by small businesses to buy health insurance, as well as those used by people who have left their jobs to extend employer-sponsored insurance coverage, from being used to buy plans that cover abortion.Employers might decide not to offer abortion coverage, knowing that their employees, if they left, could not use their tax credits to continue that policy.Given the various restrictions across the country, Elizabeth Nash, a state policy analyst at Guttmacher, asked whether insurers might simply reach a point where it is standard not to cover abortion. Have we reached the tipping point where its so complicated and cumbersome to provide it that insurers will simply stop? she asked. You can imagine insurers saying it isnt worth the hassle. [/INST] Health </s>

By studying the relationship among ethnicity, migration history and the digestive systems microbiome, researchers hope to gain insights on health disparities in diverse communities.Credit...Erik Daily/La Crosse Tribune, via Associated PressNov. 8, 2018Bodies that migrate across borders undergo tremendous change. Immediately, feet alight on alien terrain, ears channel novel sounds and noses breathe in unfamiliar scents. More gradually, daily routines fall into new rhythms, cultural norms hybridize and dreams evolve. Another transformation occurs deep within the body, two recent studies from the Netherlands and United States find, as the trillions of microbes that live in the human digestive system shift in composition.While many factors may influence how this change occurs, the studies suggest that scientists should consider individuals migration status and ethnic origin as they aim for clinical interventions based on the gut microbiome. Researchers are trying to understand what governs gut microbial composition, in part because of increasing evidence that the trillions of microorganisms teeming in our guts influence health in myriad ways. Most chronic diseases have been tied to deviations in gut microbiome, though the specifics of cause and effect still need to be parsed out. [Like the Science Times page on Facebook. | Sign up for the Science Times newsletter.]The first study, published in Nature Medicine in August, compared the gut microbiomes of adults from Amsterdams six largest ethnic groups. A team led by Mlanie Deschasaux, an epidemiologist at the Academic Medical Center in Amsterdam, assessed stool samples from 2,084 individuals who were ethnically Dutch, Ghanaian, Moroccan, Turkish, African Surinamese or South Asian Surinamese. Most of the non-Dutch participants had immigrated to the Netherlands as adults. Between ethnic groups, the researchers discovered significant differences in overall gut microbe composition. Of the various factors studied, ethnicity was the strongest determinant of gut microbial makeup.Across the Atlantic, Pajau Vangay and Dan Knights, of the University of Minnesota, worked with two local communities to study how migration alters the human gut microbiome. They published their results in Cell last week. One community, the Hmong, began arriving in Minnesota in the 1970s as refugees from the CIA-backed Secret War and Vietnam War, which ravaged their communities in Laos. The second group, the Karen, arrived in Minnesota in larger numbers in the past decade, fleeing human rights abuses in Myanmar.Stool samples and other data from more than 500 women revealed that immigrants from these groups began losing their native microbes almost immediately after resettling. They picked up American microbes, but not enough to compensate for the loss of native strains, so they end up losing a substantial amount of diversity overall, Dr. Knights said. Furthermore, losses were greater in obese individuals and children of immigrants.Dr. Vangay, a second-generation Hmong immigrant, partnered with Kathie Culhane-Pera, a family doctor, to involve Hmong and Karen community researchers. Together with the academics, the community researchers developed the studys design, recruitment methods and strategies for sharing results.ImageCredit...Pajau VangaySeparately, advisory boards of Hmong and Karen health professionals and community leaders gave input, resulting in a project conducted largely by and for the communities it studied, said Houa Vue-Her, a Hmong advisory board member.The study would not have worked otherwise, she added. Some Hmong with traditional spiritual beliefs might resist giving samples for laboratory testing, for instance, out of fear that it would interfere with reincarnation. Lingering trauma from the wars and the federal governments secrecy might prevent many others from trusting outsiders.The most obvious culprit behind the loss of native gut microbes is diet. Along with native gut flora, immigrants lost enzymes linked to digesting tamarind, palm, coconuts and other plants commonly eaten in Southeast Asia, the study found. The longer immigrants lived in Minnesota, the more their gut microbiomes shifted to one reflective of a typical American diet high in sugars, fats and protein.But diet alone could not explain all of the changes, Dr. Knights said. Other factors might include antibiotic medications, different birthing practices and other lifestyle changes.Dr. Deschasaux noted that her study and Dr. Vangays reach somewhat contrasting findings. While she found that immigrants maintained ethnic-specific microbiome profiles, even after decades in Amsterdam, Dr. Vangay found that the gut microbiomes of Hmong and Karen immigrants steadily assimilated to their new locale.The divergence might relate to differences in typical Dutch and American diets with perhaps less sugar, fat and meat and more raw vegetables in Dutch diets and possibly lower rates of acculturation by the Dutch immigrants compared with Hmong and Karen refugees, Dr. Deschasaux speculated.Yet both studies have implications for health disparities. Obesity, diabetes and metabolic syndrome all have been linked to the gut microbiome, and the ethnic groups Dr. Deschasaux studied in Amsterdam experience varying degrees of these conditions. Compared to the ethnic Dutch, for instance, Dutch Moroccans in her study had a higher prevalence of obesity, and South-Asian Surinamese had a higher prevalence of type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome.Similarly, research has shown that living in the United States increases the risk of obesity among immigrants, and Southeast Asian refugees are particularly vulnerable.It was actually a challenge finding participants who fell in the normal range of body mass index for the study, said Mary Xiong, a second-generation Hmong American and a community researcher in the Minnesota project. That opened my eyes about how much of a concern this is.That urgency in part motivated Dr. Vangay and her collaborators to relay their results back to community members.Many of these communities are not even aware that the gut microbiome exists, Dr. Vangay said.In many ways, she added, our best recommendation to community members was to hold onto their roots. For instance, the researchers partnered with Yia Vang, co-founder of Union Kitchen, a Minnesota-based Hmong pop-up restaurant, to hold cooking workshops for the Hmong community. One of the dishes that participants made was zaub qaub, or fermented mustard greens.In addition to being packed with probiotics, zaub qaub is one of the most iconic Hmong dishes, as kimchi is to Koreans, Mr. Vang said. When I eat it, Im partaking in the history of our people. The flavor Im eating is the same flavor my great-great-grandmother ate on the hills of Laos.

Health

<s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> By studying the relationship among ethnicity, migration history and the digestive systems microbiome, researchers hope to gain insights on health disparities in diverse communities.Credit...Erik Daily/La Crosse Tribune, via Associated PressNov. 8, 2018Bodies that migrate across borders undergo tremendous change. Immediately, feet alight on alien terrain, ears channel novel sounds and noses breathe in unfamiliar scents. More gradually, daily routines fall into new rhythms, cultural norms hybridize and dreams evolve. Another transformation occurs deep within the body, two recent studies from the Netherlands and United States find, as the trillions of microbes that live in the human digestive system shift in composition.While many factors may influence how this change occurs, the studies suggest that scientists should consider individuals migration status and ethnic origin as they aim for clinical interventions based on the gut microbiome. Researchers are trying to understand what governs gut microbial composition, in part because of increasing evidence that the trillions of microorganisms teeming in our guts influence health in myriad ways. Most chronic diseases have been tied to deviations in gut microbiome, though the specifics of cause and effect still need to be parsed out. [Like the Science Times page on Facebook. | Sign up for the Science Times newsletter.]The first study, published in Nature Medicine in August, compared the gut microbiomes of adults from Amsterdams six largest ethnic groups. A team led by Mlanie Deschasaux, an epidemiologist at the Academic Medical Center in Amsterdam, assessed stool samples from 2,084 individuals who were ethnically Dutch, Ghanaian, Moroccan, Turkish, African Surinamese or South Asian Surinamese. Most of the non-Dutch participants had immigrated to the Netherlands as adults. Between ethnic groups, the researchers discovered significant differences in overall gut microbe composition. Of the various factors studied, ethnicity was the strongest determinant of gut microbial makeup.Across the Atlantic, Pajau Vangay and Dan Knights, of the University of Minnesota, worked with two local communities to study how migration alters the human gut microbiome. They published their results in Cell last week. One community, the Hmong, began arriving in Minnesota in the 1970s as refugees from the CIA-backed Secret War and Vietnam War, which ravaged their communities in Laos. The second group, the Karen, arrived in Minnesota in larger numbers in the past decade, fleeing human rights abuses in Myanmar.Stool samples and other data from more than 500 women revealed that immigrants from these groups began losing their native microbes almost immediately after resettling. They picked up American microbes, but not enough to compensate for the loss of native strains, so they end up losing a substantial amount of diversity overall, Dr. Knights said. Furthermore, losses were greater in obese individuals and children of immigrants.Dr. Vangay, a second-generation Hmong immigrant, partnered with Kathie Culhane-Pera, a family doctor, to involve Hmong and Karen community researchers. Together with the academics, the community researchers developed the studys design, recruitment methods and strategies for sharing results.ImageCredit...Pajau VangaySeparately, advisory boards of Hmong and Karen health professionals and community leaders gave input, resulting in a project conducted largely by and for the communities it studied, said Houa Vue-Her, a Hmong advisory board member.The study would not have worked otherwise, she added. Some Hmong with traditional spiritual beliefs might resist giving samples for laboratory testing, for instance, out of fear that it would interfere with reincarnation. Lingering trauma from the wars and the federal governments secrecy might prevent many others from trusting outsiders.The most obvious culprit behind the loss of native gut microbes is diet. Along with native gut flora, immigrants lost enzymes linked to digesting tamarind, palm, coconuts and other plants commonly eaten in Southeast Asia, the study found. The longer immigrants lived in Minnesota, the more their gut microbiomes shifted to one reflective of a typical American diet high in sugars, fats and protein.But diet alone could not explain all of the changes, Dr. Knights said. Other factors might include antibiotic medications, different birthing practices and other lifestyle changes.Dr. Deschasaux noted that her study and Dr. Vangays reach somewhat contrasting findings. While she found that immigrants maintained ethnic-specific microbiome profiles, even after decades in Amsterdam, Dr. Vangay found that the gut microbiomes of Hmong and Karen immigrants steadily assimilated to their new locale.The divergence might relate to differences in typical Dutch and American diets with perhaps less sugar, fat and meat and more raw vegetables in Dutch diets and possibly lower rates of acculturation by the Dutch immigrants compared with Hmong and Karen refugees, Dr. Deschasaux speculated.Yet both studies have implications for health disparities. Obesity, diabetes and metabolic syndrome all have been linked to the gut microbiome, and the ethnic groups Dr. Deschasaux studied in Amsterdam experience varying degrees of these conditions. Compared to the ethnic Dutch, for instance, Dutch Moroccans in her study had a higher prevalence of obesity, and South-Asian Surinamese had a higher prevalence of type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome.Similarly, research has shown that living in the United States increases the risk of obesity among immigrants, and Southeast Asian refugees are particularly vulnerable.It was actually a challenge finding participants who fell in the normal range of body mass index for the study, said Mary Xiong, a second-generation Hmong American and a community researcher in the Minnesota project. That opened my eyes about how much of a concern this is.That urgency in part motivated Dr. Vangay and her collaborators to relay their results back to community members.Many of these communities are not even aware that the gut microbiome exists, Dr. Vangay said.In many ways, she added, our best recommendation to community members was to hold onto their roots. For instance, the researchers partnered with Yia Vang, co-founder of Union Kitchen, a Minnesota-based Hmong pop-up restaurant, to hold cooking workshops for the Hmong community. One of the dishes that participants made was zaub qaub, or fermented mustard greens.In addition to being packed with probiotics, zaub qaub is one of the most iconic Hmong dishes, as kimchi is to Koreans, Mr. Vang said. When I eat it, Im partaking in the history of our people. The flavor Im eating is the same flavor my great-great-grandmother ate on the hills of Laos. [/INST] Health </s>

VideotranscripttranscriptWhite House Officials Diverge on Immigration PolicyAttorney General Jeff Sessions and the White House press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, offered slightly different views on the enforcement of the zero tolerance policy at the U.S.-Mexico border.Were going to continue to prosecute those adults who enter here illegally. We are going to do everything in our power, however, to avoid separating families. Were not changing the policy, were simply out of resources. This is a temporary solution. This isnt going to last Congress still has to step up. They still have to do their job. This will only last a short amount of time because were going to run out of space. Were going to run out of resources in order to keep people together.Attorney General Jeff Sessions and the White House press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, offered slightly different views on the enforcement of the zero tolerance policy at the U.S.-Mexico border.CreditCredit...Bridget Bennett for The New York TimesJune 25, 2018McALLEN, Tex. The nations top border security official said Monday that his agency has temporarily stopped handing over migrant adults who cross the Mexican border with children for prosecution, undercutting claims by other Trump administration officials that zero tolerance for illegal immigration is still in place.Kevin K. McAleenan, the commissioner of Customs and Border Protection, said his agency and the Justice Department should agree on a policy where adults who bring their kids across the border who violate our laws and risk their lives at the border can be prosecuted without an extended separation from their children.Because Immigration and Customs Enforcement does not have enough detention space for the surge of families crossing the border, many families will be quickly released, with a promise to return for a court hearing. Mr. McAleenan said that the agency would continue to refer single adults for prosecution for illegally crossing the border, and that border agents would also separate children from adults if the child is in danger or if the adult has a criminal record.Mr. McAleenans decision, conveyed to reporters at a processing center here, will at least temporarily revive a catch and release approach used during the Obama administration. President Trump has repeatedly railed against that approach, saying it invited waves of crime and violence into the United States.Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary, said that while there has been no official change in the zero-tolerance policy, the reality is that the government does not have the ability to detain all of the families crossing the border illegally.Were not changing the policy, Ms. Sanders said. Were simply out of resources. She blamed Democrats in Congress for not changing immigration laws in ways that would keep migrant families out of the country in the first place. In fact, it was the Trump administrations choice to impose a zero-tolerance policy that led to families being separated at the border.Were working with Congress, hopefully, to provide more resources and the ability to actually enforce the law, Ms. Sanders said, highlighting the practical challenge in making good on the presidents executive order to avoid separating children from their parents.At the same time, Attorney General Jeff Sessions appeared to contradict Mr. McAleenan and Ms. Sanders, vowing Monday to continue enforcing Mr. Trumps zero-tolerance policy. Mr. Sessions told more than 1,000 school resource officers in Reno, Nev., that refusing to prosecute adults crossing illegally into the United States would be a disservice to the children they bring with them.The president has made this clear: We are going to prosecute those adults who came here illegally, Mr. Sessions insisted, though he added that the government will do everything in our power to comply with the presidents order.Mr. Sessions and Mr. Trump have both ratcheted up their hard-line immigration messaging while promising to keep families together.We want a system where when people come in illegally, they have to go out a nice simple system that works, Mr. Trump said Monday in brief remarks at the White House, mocking again the idea of hiring more immigration judges. We want strong borders, and we want no crime.Prosecutions of adults crossing the Mexican border into the United States without children continued Monday unabated. And administration officials said that it was possible that legal cases against adults arriving at the border with children could resume once facilities to hold the families become available.Mr. Sessions announced the zero-tolerance policy in early April, telling prosecutors on the southwestern border to charge every illegal entry offense to the extent practicable. A month later, Mr. Sessions announced that the Department of Homeland Security would refer 100 percent of illegal southwest border crossings for criminal prosecutions a controversial move that led to families being separated at the border.The decision set off weeks of protests, with Democrats and many Republicans calling on Mr. Trump to end the policy. From May 5 through June 20, the Border Patrol referred 2,262 adults traveling with children to the Justice Department for prosecution, according to an official familiar with the referrals.More than 2,000 children remain in the custody of the Office of Refugee Resettlement, an agency within the Department of Health and Human Services. Federal officials are struggling to reunite children with their parents, some of whom have already been deported.Mr. McAleenan said Monday that 538 children in Border Protections custody who were separated since May have been reunited with their parents. Those children were never sent to facilities run by the Health and Human Services Department.At a shelter in downtown El Paso, Digna Emerita Prez, a factory worker from El Salvador who spent a month in jail after her arrest for crossing the border without documentation, broke into tears when she found out that her son, 9, and daughter, 6, were in the same city.But Nelvin Hernndez, 48, a farm laborer from Honduras, who was released Saturday after a month in jail, was told his 17-year-old son, No, had been taken to Chicago. My objective now is to find my son, regardless of what it takes, he said Monday. Im nothing without my boy.But even before Mondays announcement by Mr. McAleenan, the reality on the ground appeared far less simple than Mr. Trump or Mr. Sessions envisioned.Administration officials said the zero-tolerance policy has been enforced in drastically different ways, depending on whether border communities have the resources to detain and prosecute new waves of immigrants.A shelter in Tucson, Casa Alitas, takes in migrant families once American officials have released them into the country as their cases proceed. On Monday, Teresa Cavendish, who runs the shelter, said that government officials appear to be releasing many families into the United States together as a unit, rather than keeping them in detention even when the families cross at unauthorized border points.These current families are very, very lucky, she said.At the towering federal courthouse in Tucson, the cases of dozens of recent border crossers were underway on Monday just as the Trump administration announced that it would halt the prosecution of people who enter with children.In a hallway, Victoria Trull, 36, a defense lawyer for several of the migrants, described the whiplash of the past few weeks: first, a rise in prosecutions of adult border crossers; then the sudden appearance of adult border crossers who said they had been split from their children; then the Trump administration announcement that adults would no longer be split from their children; and then the suggestion that people might be sent back without a trial.ImageCredit...Tamir Kalifa for The New York TimesIts a little bit scary, she said.Defense Department officials said Monday that the Pentagon is preparing to build temporary housing for migrants at two military bases.Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, who is traveling to China, told reporters with him that the details are still being worked out. But other Defense Department officials said that two bases that will house migrant children and possibly their families are Fort Bliss in El Paso and Goodfellow Air Force Base near San Angelo, Tex.There remained confusion over who would be housed at the bases. One department official said that migrant families with adults charged with crimes would be housed at Fort Bliss, while unaccompanied children would be housed at Goodfellow. But the Pentagon had not officially said who would be housed where.Democratic lawmakers continued to lash out at the presidents border policy, describing the prospect of migrant camps on military bases as akin to internment camps.After visiting the border, two Democratic senators, Tom Udall of New Mexico and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, faulted the Trump administration for lacking any apparent strategy to reunite children with their parents after the presidents executive order last week.Mr. Trump should go see for himself the crisis and chaos he has created, Mr. Udall said on a conference call with reporters. Federal agencies, the senator said, arent communicating with each other or with Congress about how theyre going to fix this.The senators said Congress should hold hearings to provide needed oversight. This nation is heading for a train wreck at the border a moral and legal train wreck, and already a humanitarian train wreck, Mr. Blumenthal said.But Mr. Trump was defiant and said that Democrats should support efforts to secure the border against immigrants who are criminals or who give false reasons for wanting to be in the United States.The Democrats want open borders, and they dont care about crime, and they dont care about our military, Mr. Trump said.Mr. Sessions, who was greeted in Reno by hundreds of protesters outside his speech venue, received a standing ovation from school safety officers in the audience before and after he spoke.In addition to fiercely defending the administrations zero-tolerance policy, the attorney general emphasized the increase in the number of children who are sent across the border by themselves, currently more than 80 percent of the total, often with a paid smuggler.Some of the children, Mr. Sessions said, are targeted by drug cartels, recruited by gangs and fall into a life of drug addiction and crime. He said that in March, Customs and Border Protection agents apprehended five juveniles who he said were smuggling 35 pounds of fentanyl.The compassionate thing to do is to protect our children from drugs and violence, to put criminals in jails, and secure our borders, have an immigration system that has integrity, and consistency, that is right, and just and moral, he said. The alternative is open borders, which is both radical and dangerous.

Politics

<s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> VideotranscripttranscriptWhite House Officials Diverge on Immigration PolicyAttorney General Jeff Sessions and the White House press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, offered slightly different views on the enforcement of the zero tolerance policy at the U.S.-Mexico border.Were going to continue to prosecute those adults who enter here illegally. We are going to do everything in our power, however, to avoid separating families. Were not changing the policy, were simply out of resources. This is a temporary solution. This isnt going to last Congress still has to step up. They still have to do their job. This will only last a short amount of time because were going to run out of space. Were going to run out of resources in order to keep people together.Attorney General Jeff Sessions and the White House press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, offered slightly different views on the enforcement of the zero tolerance policy at the U.S.-Mexico border.CreditCredit...Bridget Bennett for The New York TimesJune 25, 2018McALLEN, Tex. The nations top border security official said Monday that his agency has temporarily stopped handing over migrant adults who cross the Mexican border with children for prosecution, undercutting claims by other Trump administration officials that zero tolerance for illegal immigration is still in place.Kevin K. McAleenan, the commissioner of Customs and Border Protection, said his agency and the Justice Department should agree on a policy where adults who bring their kids across the border who violate our laws and risk their lives at the border can be prosecuted without an extended separation from their children.Because Immigration and Customs Enforcement does not have enough detention space for the surge of families crossing the border, many families will be quickly released, with a promise to return for a court hearing. Mr. McAleenan said that the agency would continue to refer single adults for prosecution for illegally crossing the border, and that border agents would also separate children from adults if the child is in danger or if the adult has a criminal record.Mr. McAleenans decision, conveyed to reporters at a processing center here, will at least temporarily revive a catch and release approach used during the Obama administration. President Trump has repeatedly railed against that approach, saying it invited waves of crime and violence into the United States.Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary, said that while there has been no official change in the zero-tolerance policy, the reality is that the government does not have the ability to detain all of the families crossing the border illegally.Were not changing the policy, Ms. Sanders said. Were simply out of resources. She blamed Democrats in Congress for not changing immigration laws in ways that would keep migrant families out of the country in the first place. In fact, it was the Trump administrations choice to impose a zero-tolerance policy that led to families being separated at the border.Were working with Congress, hopefully, to provide more resources and the ability to actually enforce the law, Ms. Sanders said, highlighting the practical challenge in making good on the presidents executive order to avoid separating children from their parents.At the same time, Attorney General Jeff Sessions appeared to contradict Mr. McAleenan and Ms. Sanders, vowing Monday to continue enforcing Mr. Trumps zero-tolerance policy. Mr. Sessions told more than 1,000 school resource officers in Reno, Nev., that refusing to prosecute adults crossing illegally into the United States would be a disservice to the children they bring with them.The president has made this clear: We are going to prosecute those adults who came here illegally, Mr. Sessions insisted, though he added that the government will do everything in our power to comply with the presidents order.Mr. Sessions and Mr. Trump have both ratcheted up their hard-line immigration messaging while promising to keep families together.We want a system where when people come in illegally, they have to go out a nice simple system that works, Mr. Trump said Monday in brief remarks at the White House, mocking again the idea of hiring more immigration judges. We want strong borders, and we want no crime.Prosecutions of adults crossing the Mexican border into the United States without children continued Monday unabated. And administration officials said that it was possible that legal cases against adults arriving at the border with children could resume once facilities to hold the families become available.Mr. Sessions announced the zero-tolerance policy in early April, telling prosecutors on the southwestern border to charge every illegal entry offense to the extent practicable. A month later, Mr. Sessions announced that the Department of Homeland Security would refer 100 percent of illegal southwest border crossings for criminal prosecutions a controversial move that led to families being separated at the border.The decision set off weeks of protests, with Democrats and many Republicans calling on Mr. Trump to end the policy. From May 5 through June 20, the Border Patrol referred 2,262 adults traveling with children to the Justice Department for prosecution, according to an official familiar with the referrals.More than 2,000 children remain in the custody of the Office of Refugee Resettlement, an agency within the Department of Health and Human Services. Federal officials are struggling to reunite children with their parents, some of whom have already been deported.Mr. McAleenan said Monday that 538 children in Border Protections custody who were separated since May have been reunited with their parents. Those children were never sent to facilities run by the Health and Human Services Department.At a shelter in downtown El Paso, Digna Emerita Prez, a factory worker from El Salvador who spent a month in jail after her arrest for crossing the border without documentation, broke into tears when she found out that her son, 9, and daughter, 6, were in the same city.But Nelvin Hernndez, 48, a farm laborer from Honduras, who was released Saturday after a month in jail, was told his 17-year-old son, No, had been taken to Chicago. My objective now is to find my son, regardless of what it takes, he said Monday. Im nothing without my boy.But even before Mondays announcement by Mr. McAleenan, the reality on the ground appeared far less simple than Mr. Trump or Mr. Sessions envisioned.Administration officials said the zero-tolerance policy has been enforced in drastically different ways, depending on whether border communities have the resources to detain and prosecute new waves of immigrants.A shelter in Tucson, Casa Alitas, takes in migrant families once American officials have released them into the country as their cases proceed. On Monday, Teresa Cavendish, who runs the shelter, said that government officials appear to be releasing many families into the United States together as a unit, rather than keeping them in detention even when the families cross at unauthorized border points.These current families are very, very lucky, she said.At the towering federal courthouse in Tucson, the cases of dozens of recent border crossers were underway on Monday just as the Trump administration announced that it would halt the prosecution of people who enter with children.In a hallway, Victoria Trull, 36, a defense lawyer for several of the migrants, described the whiplash of the past few weeks: first, a rise in prosecutions of adult border crossers; then the sudden appearance of adult border crossers who said they had been split from their children; then the Trump administration announcement that adults would no longer be split from their children; and then the suggestion that people might be sent back without a trial.ImageCredit...Tamir Kalifa for The New York TimesIts a little bit scary, she said.Defense Department officials said Monday that the Pentagon is preparing to build temporary housing for migrants at two military bases.Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, who is traveling to China, told reporters with him that the details are still being worked out. But other Defense Department officials said that two bases that will house migrant children and possibly their families are Fort Bliss in El Paso and Goodfellow Air Force Base near San Angelo, Tex.There remained confusion over who would be housed at the bases. One department official said that migrant families with adults charged with crimes would be housed at Fort Bliss, while unaccompanied children would be housed at Goodfellow. But the Pentagon had not officially said who would be housed where.Democratic lawmakers continued to lash out at the presidents border policy, describing the prospect of migrant camps on military bases as akin to internment camps.After visiting the border, two Democratic senators, Tom Udall of New Mexico and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, faulted the Trump administration for lacking any apparent strategy to reunite children with their parents after the presidents executive order last week.Mr. Trump should go see for himself the crisis and chaos he has created, Mr. Udall said on a conference call with reporters. Federal agencies, the senator said, arent communicating with each other or with Congress about how theyre going to fix this.The senators said Congress should hold hearings to provide needed oversight. This nation is heading for a train wreck at the border a moral and legal train wreck, and already a humanitarian train wreck, Mr. Blumenthal said.But Mr. Trump was defiant and said that Democrats should support efforts to secure the border against immigrants who are criminals or who give false reasons for wanting to be in the United States.The Democrats want open borders, and they dont care about crime, and they dont care about our military, Mr. Trump said.Mr. Sessions, who was greeted in Reno by hundreds of protesters outside his speech venue, received a standing ovation from school safety officers in the audience before and after he spoke.In addition to fiercely defending the administrations zero-tolerance policy, the attorney general emphasized the increase in the number of children who are sent across the border by themselves, currently more than 80 percent of the total, often with a paid smuggler.Some of the children, Mr. Sessions said, are targeted by drug cartels, recruited by gangs and fall into a life of drug addiction and crime. He said that in March, Customs and Border Protection agents apprehended five juveniles who he said were smuggling 35 pounds of fentanyl.The compassionate thing to do is to protect our children from drugs and violence, to put criminals in jails, and secure our borders, have an immigration system that has integrity, and consistency, that is right, and just and moral, he said. The alternative is open borders, which is both radical and dangerous. [/INST] Politics </s>

Politics|Betsy DeVos, education secretary, is the second cabinet member to resign.https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/07/us/politics/betsy-devos-resigns.htmlCredit...Nicholas Kamm/Agence France-Presse Getty ImagesJan. 7, 2021Education Secretary Betsy DeVos submitted her resignation in a letter to President Trump on Thursday, saying she would step down the next day over the rampage at the Capitol by his supporters.Ms. DeVos joins a growing exodus of administration officials in the final days of the Trump administration. She is the second cabinet-level official to step down; Elaine Chao, the transportation secretary, also resigned on Thursday.We should be highlighting and celebrating your administrations many accomplishments on behalf of the American people, Ms. DeVos wrote in the letter, which was obtained by The New York Times. Instead, we are left to clean up the mess caused by violent protesters overrunning the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to undermine the peoples business.That behavior was unconscionable for our country, she added. There is no mistaking the impact your rhetoric had on the situation, and it is the inflection point for me.Ms. DeVos was one of the first cabinet secretaries to condemn the violent mob on Capitol Hill.The peaceful transfer of power is what separates American representative democracy from banana republics, Ms. DeVos said in a statement posted to Twitter on Wednesday evening, hours after the storming of the Capitol. The work of the people must go on.Ms. DeVos was one of the most effective, polarizing and longest-serving Cabinet members in the Trump administration. She was seen as fiercely loyal to the president, at least publicly.In her resignation letter, Ms. DeVos praised President Trump for championing her school choice agenda, in which she sought to bolster voucher programs that allow students to seek alternatives to public schools. She also saluted one aspect of his coronavirus response, saying that she believed history will show we were correct in our repeated urging of and support for schools reopening this year. But it was loyalty to her constitutional oath, Ms. DeVos said, that had prompted her to resign. Impressionable children are watching all of this, and they are learning from us, she said. They must know from us that America is greater than what transpired yesterday. Ms. DeVoss resignation drew cheers from her opponents, particularly teachers unions and groups that had forcefully opposed her rollbacks of civil rights protections for children of color and transgender students.Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers, issued a two-word statement: Good Riddance. But other critics praised her for protesting the presidents actions. This doesnt make up for all of her bad decisions, and the harm she has done to education reform, but still, she deserves kudos for this one, tweeted Michael J. Petrilli, the president of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, a conservative research organization.

Politics

<s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> Politics|Betsy DeVos, education secretary, is the second cabinet member to resign.https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/07/us/politics/betsy-devos-resigns.htmlCredit...Nicholas Kamm/Agence France-Presse Getty ImagesJan. 7, 2021Education Secretary Betsy DeVos submitted her resignation in a letter to President Trump on Thursday, saying she would step down the next day over the rampage at the Capitol by his supporters.Ms. DeVos joins a growing exodus of administration officials in the final days of the Trump administration. She is the second cabinet-level official to step down; Elaine Chao, the transportation secretary, also resigned on Thursday.We should be highlighting and celebrating your administrations many accomplishments on behalf of the American people, Ms. DeVos wrote in the letter, which was obtained by The New York Times. Instead, we are left to clean up the mess caused by violent protesters overrunning the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to undermine the peoples business.That behavior was unconscionable for our country, she added. There is no mistaking the impact your rhetoric had on the situation, and it is the inflection point for me.Ms. DeVos was one of the first cabinet secretaries to condemn the violent mob on Capitol Hill.The peaceful transfer of power is what separates American representative democracy from banana republics, Ms. DeVos said in a statement posted to Twitter on Wednesday evening, hours after the storming of the Capitol. The work of the people must go on.Ms. DeVos was one of the most effective, polarizing and longest-serving Cabinet members in the Trump administration. She was seen as fiercely loyal to the president, at least publicly.In her resignation letter, Ms. DeVos praised President Trump for championing her school choice agenda, in which she sought to bolster voucher programs that allow students to seek alternatives to public schools. She also saluted one aspect of his coronavirus response, saying that she believed history will show we were correct in our repeated urging of and support for schools reopening this year. But it was loyalty to her constitutional oath, Ms. DeVos said, that had prompted her to resign. Impressionable children are watching all of this, and they are learning from us, she said. They must know from us that America is greater than what transpired yesterday. Ms. DeVoss resignation drew cheers from her opponents, particularly teachers unions and groups that had forcefully opposed her rollbacks of civil rights protections for children of color and transgender students.Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers, issued a two-word statement: Good Riddance. But other critics praised her for protesting the presidents actions. This doesnt make up for all of her bad decisions, and the harm she has done to education reform, but still, she deserves kudos for this one, tweeted Michael J. Petrilli, the president of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, a conservative research organization. [/INST] Politics </s>

Credit...Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty ImagesDec. 7, 2015Addressing concerns about the health of Sumner M. Redstone, Viacoms 92-year-old executive chairman, its chief executive said on Monday that Mr. Redstone had an incredible will to live and an enjoyment of life with some physical disabilities.Philippe P. Dauman, the chief, said that he talked with Mr. Redstone several times a week and met with him frequently. He said that Mr. Redstone had physical ailments that required him to be under medical supervision, but that he remained in control of decisions related to his health. Contrary to what some people suggested, no one other than Sumner Redstone is making health care decisions for him as it relates to his physical condition, Mr. Dauman said.Speaking at the UBS Global Media and Communications Conference, Mr. Dauman called recent talk on Mr. Redstones condition disturbing. Mr. Dauman added that he was seeking to get away from some of the hyperventilation that has occurred over the last week or so.He was alluding to the attention given to a lawsuit filed nearly two weeks ago by a former companion of Mr. Redstone that challenges the media moguls mental competence. The suit portrays Mr. Redstone as unable to make decisions on his own care and to reliably communicate with others, and it offers embarrassing claims about his physical condition and things like his sexual appetite.Lawyers for Mr. Redstone have asked a judge to dismiss the suit, calling the claims riddled with lies. A Viacom director, meanwhile, has said that Mr. Redstone was mentally capable.In his address Monday, Mr. Dauman also requested a sense of humanity and decency from people talking and writing about Mr. Redstone, calling him someone who has accomplished a whole lot and created a lot of value over his life.Mr. Redstone controls about 80 percent of the voting stock in Viacom and CBS through his private holding company, National Amusements, and is executive chairman of both Viacom and CBS. The lawsuit has prompted broader questions on whether Mr. Redstone should continue at the helm of the media empire, and on the future of the companies. Industry analysts have said that Viacom or CBS could be sold after Mr. Redstone dies.Mr. Dauman also addressed succession plans for the Viacom and CBS, which he said Mr. Redstone put in place more than two decades ago to ensure continuity. If Mr. Redstone dies or is deemed to lack capacity, his stake in National Amusements will be held by a trust, and voting control will go to seven trustees made up of two family members and five nonfamily members.The trustees include Mr. Dauman and Shari Redstone, Mr. Redstones daughter who owns 20 percent of National Amusements. Mr. Dauman has also been designated by Mr. Redstone to be put in charge of his health care decisions, if needed.The group of trustees would have to make fiduciary decisions for the benefit of the trust and the companies it controls, Mr. Dauman said. No one individual will control the trust. It will operate by a majority vote. There is no individual, and its by design.Last week, one of the largest shareholders in the companies raised questions about Mr. Redstones health and his ability to fulfill his duties. Mario Gabelli, whose investment firm, Gamco, is the second-largest voting shareholder in Viacom and CBS, said last week that if Mr. Redstone got paid anything in 2015, it would have a hard time passing any smell test based on the descriptions in the suit.On Monday, Mr. Gabelli said that Mr. Dauman did what he was supposed to do in addressing the structure of what will happen when Mr. Redstone leaves the company.Leslie R. Moonves, the chief executive of CBS, said that the drama surrounding Mr. Redstone was neither distracting the company nor impeding its business. He reiterated Mr. Daumans comments about Mr. Redstones ownership stake going to a trust and said that the company had a strong management team and board of directors.Nothing is going to change, Mr. Moonves said during a session at the UBS conference later in the afternoon. We are very secure.I hope Sumner lives to be 150, he added.

Business

<s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> Credit...Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty ImagesDec. 7, 2015Addressing concerns about the health of Sumner M. Redstone, Viacoms 92-year-old executive chairman, its chief executive said on Monday that Mr. Redstone had an incredible will to live and an enjoyment of life with some physical disabilities.Philippe P. Dauman, the chief, said that he talked with Mr. Redstone several times a week and met with him frequently. He said that Mr. Redstone had physical ailments that required him to be under medical supervision, but that he remained in control of decisions related to his health. Contrary to what some people suggested, no one other than Sumner Redstone is making health care decisions for him as it relates to his physical condition, Mr. Dauman said.Speaking at the UBS Global Media and Communications Conference, Mr. Dauman called recent talk on Mr. Redstones condition disturbing. Mr. Dauman added that he was seeking to get away from some of the hyperventilation that has occurred over the last week or so.He was alluding to the attention given to a lawsuit filed nearly two weeks ago by a former companion of Mr. Redstone that challenges the media moguls mental competence. The suit portrays Mr. Redstone as unable to make decisions on his own care and to reliably communicate with others, and it offers embarrassing claims about his physical condition and things like his sexual appetite.Lawyers for Mr. Redstone have asked a judge to dismiss the suit, calling the claims riddled with lies. A Viacom director, meanwhile, has said that Mr. Redstone was mentally capable.In his address Monday, Mr. Dauman also requested a sense of humanity and decency from people talking and writing about Mr. Redstone, calling him someone who has accomplished a whole lot and created a lot of value over his life.Mr. Redstone controls about 80 percent of the voting stock in Viacom and CBS through his private holding company, National Amusements, and is executive chairman of both Viacom and CBS. The lawsuit has prompted broader questions on whether Mr. Redstone should continue at the helm of the media empire, and on the future of the companies. Industry analysts have said that Viacom or CBS could be sold after Mr. Redstone dies.Mr. Dauman also addressed succession plans for the Viacom and CBS, which he said Mr. Redstone put in place more than two decades ago to ensure continuity. If Mr. Redstone dies or is deemed to lack capacity, his stake in National Amusements will be held by a trust, and voting control will go to seven trustees made up of two family members and five nonfamily members.The trustees include Mr. Dauman and Shari Redstone, Mr. Redstones daughter who owns 20 percent of National Amusements. Mr. Dauman has also been designated by Mr. Redstone to be put in charge of his health care decisions, if needed.The group of trustees would have to make fiduciary decisions for the benefit of the trust and the companies it controls, Mr. Dauman said. No one individual will control the trust. It will operate by a majority vote. There is no individual, and its by design.Last week, one of the largest shareholders in the companies raised questions about Mr. Redstones health and his ability to fulfill his duties. Mario Gabelli, whose investment firm, Gamco, is the second-largest voting shareholder in Viacom and CBS, said last week that if Mr. Redstone got paid anything in 2015, it would have a hard time passing any smell test based on the descriptions in the suit.On Monday, Mr. Gabelli said that Mr. Dauman did what he was supposed to do in addressing the structure of what will happen when Mr. Redstone leaves the company.Leslie R. Moonves, the chief executive of CBS, said that the drama surrounding Mr. Redstone was neither distracting the company nor impeding its business. He reiterated Mr. Daumans comments about Mr. Redstones ownership stake going to a trust and said that the company had a strong management team and board of directors.Nothing is going to change, Mr. Moonves said during a session at the UBS conference later in the afternoon. We are very secure.I hope Sumner lives to be 150, he added. [/INST] Business </s>

Credit...Alexandros Avramidis/ReutersDec. 14, 2015ATHENS Greeces leftist-led government on Monday signed its first major privatization deal, granting a German company the right to lease and manage more than a dozen regional airports.The contract, worth 1.2 billion euros, or $1.3 billion, is part of an effort to privatize state assets and adopt economic changes demanded by international creditors under Greeces 86 billion bailout program. Some other measures are under debate in the Greek Parliament and are scheduled for a vote Tuesday night.The airport management contract had been under negotiation with the German company, Fraport, when Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and his leftist Syriza party stormed to power in January. The party pledged to end years of austerity and foreign oversight by the countrys creditors: the other nations that use the euro, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund.The airport contract talks were revived only after Mr. Tsipras capitulated to creditors during the summer as Greece teetered on the brink of bankruptcy, accepting the countrys third bailout since 2010.The governments debt problems have for years deprived many Greek airports of sufficient money for maintenance and modernization. One exception is the Athens airport, which has already been partly privatized and generally lives up to its role as a modern international hub.Under the accord, Fraport and its Greek partner, the energy firm Copelouzos, have secured a 40-year lease on 14 provincial airports, including those on the popular tourist islands of Corfu, Mykonos, Rhodes and Santorini.The consortium, which is to assume management of the airports in the fall of 2016, has agreed to pay annual rental fees of 23 million and to spend 330 million over the next four years to revamp the facilities, which in many cases are dilapidated and substandard. The consortium said it planned to invest 1.4 billion over the life of the lease.Commenting after the signing, Stergios Pitsiorlas, the head of Greeces privatization agency, described the deal as a very significant development and a strong message, in all directions, that the Greek economy is winning the trust of markets and entering the road toward growth.Since 2010, when Greece signed its first international bailout, its creditors have pushed it to privatize state assets as a way of raising much-needed revenue and spurring growth. However, several governments displayed little appetite for selling assets, and only around 3 billion in revenue has been raised so far through privatizations.The current bailout program calls for the government to raise an additional 6.2 billion from selling or awarding management contracts for state-owned assets over the next three years, money that is to go toward reducing national debt and increasing sorely needed investment.The latest package of economic measures now under debate by Parliament includes the creation of a new privatization fund that would be jointly supervised by Greek and foreign officials. Other actions on the list include overhauling the Greek energy sector and allowing the sale of delinquent loans held by Greek banks to so-called distressed debt funds. (Greeces creditors are particularly concerned about an estimated 107 billion of nonperforming loans that are sapping the countrys banks.)The new measures are widely expected to pass in Tuesday nights vote because the governments Syriza-led coalition has a majority, albeit by three seats, in the 300-member Parliament. The package must be approved if Greece is to receive its next allotment of 1 billion in bailout money.A series of austerity measures and economic overhauls adopted over the last two months has fueled public anger and prompted two general strikes. Mr. Tsipras, who once railed against austerity, has insisted that Syriza has not forgotten its pledges to restore social justice.The government will face a much tougher test next month when it tries to overhaul Greeces costly and dysfunctional pension system. Greek officials are resisting calls for more cuts to pensions, noting that payments have been cut more than 10 times in the last six years. They are seeking other ways of bolstering the system, notably by imposing higher social security contributions for employers and workers.The idea is said to have been greeted with skepticism by creditors, though, as unemployment remains high and thousands of businesses are struggling to remain afloat.Securing support for an overhaul of the pension system is likely to be the biggest challenge yet for Mr. Tsipras.

Business

<s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> Credit...Alexandros Avramidis/ReutersDec. 14, 2015ATHENS Greeces leftist-led government on Monday signed its first major privatization deal, granting a German company the right to lease and manage more than a dozen regional airports.The contract, worth 1.2 billion euros, or $1.3 billion, is part of an effort to privatize state assets and adopt economic changes demanded by international creditors under Greeces 86 billion bailout program. Some other measures are under debate in the Greek Parliament and are scheduled for a vote Tuesday night.The airport management contract had been under negotiation with the German company, Fraport, when Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and his leftist Syriza party stormed to power in January. The party pledged to end years of austerity and foreign oversight by the countrys creditors: the other nations that use the euro, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund.The airport contract talks were revived only after Mr. Tsipras capitulated to creditors during the summer as Greece teetered on the brink of bankruptcy, accepting the countrys third bailout since 2010.The governments debt problems have for years deprived many Greek airports of sufficient money for maintenance and modernization. One exception is the Athens airport, which has already been partly privatized and generally lives up to its role as a modern international hub.Under the accord, Fraport and its Greek partner, the energy firm Copelouzos, have secured a 40-year lease on 14 provincial airports, including those on the popular tourist islands of Corfu, Mykonos, Rhodes and Santorini.The consortium, which is to assume management of the airports in the fall of 2016, has agreed to pay annual rental fees of 23 million and to spend 330 million over the next four years to revamp the facilities, which in many cases are dilapidated and substandard. The consortium said it planned to invest 1.4 billion over the life of the lease.Commenting after the signing, Stergios Pitsiorlas, the head of Greeces privatization agency, described the deal as a very significant development and a strong message, in all directions, that the Greek economy is winning the trust of markets and entering the road toward growth.Since 2010, when Greece signed its first international bailout, its creditors have pushed it to privatize state assets as a way of raising much-needed revenue and spurring growth. However, several governments displayed little appetite for selling assets, and only around 3 billion in revenue has been raised so far through privatizations.The current bailout program calls for the government to raise an additional 6.2 billion from selling or awarding management contracts for state-owned assets over the next three years, money that is to go toward reducing national debt and increasing sorely needed investment.The latest package of economic measures now under debate by Parliament includes the creation of a new privatization fund that would be jointly supervised by Greek and foreign officials. Other actions on the list include overhauling the Greek energy sector and allowing the sale of delinquent loans held by Greek banks to so-called distressed debt funds. (Greeces creditors are particularly concerned about an estimated 107 billion of nonperforming loans that are sapping the countrys banks.)The new measures are widely expected to pass in Tuesday nights vote because the governments Syriza-led coalition has a majority, albeit by three seats, in the 300-member Parliament. The package must be approved if Greece is to receive its next allotment of 1 billion in bailout money.A series of austerity measures and economic overhauls adopted over the last two months has fueled public anger and prompted two general strikes. Mr. Tsipras, who once railed against austerity, has insisted that Syriza has not forgotten its pledges to restore social justice.The government will face a much tougher test next month when it tries to overhaul Greeces costly and dysfunctional pension system. Greek officials are resisting calls for more cuts to pensions, noting that payments have been cut more than 10 times in the last six years. They are seeking other ways of bolstering the system, notably by imposing higher social security contributions for employers and workers.The idea is said to have been greeted with skepticism by creditors, though, as unemployment remains high and thousands of businesses are struggling to remain afloat.Securing support for an overhaul of the pension system is likely to be the biggest challenge yet for Mr. Tsipras. [/INST] Business </s>

Olympics|Felix Loch Keeps Hold on Luge, Winning Second Straight Goldhttps://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/10/sports/olympics/felix-loch-keeps-hold-on-luge-winning-second-straight-gold.htmlCredit...Josh Haner/The New York TimesFeb. 9, 2014KRASNAYA POLYANA, Russia There was little drama at the Sanki Sliding Center here Sunday night as Felix Loch of Germany continued his domination of the mens luge event at the Sochi Games and won a second consecutive Olympic gold medal.Many of the other lugers all but conceded to Loch after Saturdays two runs; he was the only rider to record a trip time faster than 52 seconds. Loch then extended his lead in the third run, on Sunday, before officially claiming his prize with a solid final trip that gave him a cumulative time of 3 minutes 27.526 seconds.Its really crazy; its unbelievable, Loch said. Im really overwhelmed.Loch, 24, is the clear future of the sport. It was fitting, then, that he beat two legends with a remarkably consistent performance. Albert Demchenko of Russia, 42, finished 0.476 seconds behind Loch, becoming the oldest man to earn a medal in luge. Armin Zggeler of Italy, 40, was 1.271 seconds slower than Loch and earned bronze. Zggelers medal was his sixth, a total that includes two golds; he became the first man to earn a medal in six different Olympics.I have no words, Zggeler said afterward. It has been good for me to represent Italy. Over all, it has been good for me and good for Italy.The Americans in the event struggled to keep pace with the top riders. Christopher Mazdzer finished 13th, Tucker West 22nd and Aidan Kelly 24th.A bunch of emotions happening right now, Mazdzer, 25, said. Its an experience-based sport, and Im not quite old enough to hang with the big dogs yet.

Sports

<s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> Olympics|Felix Loch Keeps Hold on Luge, Winning Second Straight Goldhttps://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/10/sports/olympics/felix-loch-keeps-hold-on-luge-winning-second-straight-gold.htmlCredit...Josh Haner/The New York TimesFeb. 9, 2014KRASNAYA POLYANA, Russia There was little drama at the Sanki Sliding Center here Sunday night as Felix Loch of Germany continued his domination of the mens luge event at the Sochi Games and won a second consecutive Olympic gold medal.Many of the other lugers all but conceded to Loch after Saturdays two runs; he was the only rider to record a trip time faster than 52 seconds. Loch then extended his lead in the third run, on Sunday, before officially claiming his prize with a solid final trip that gave him a cumulative time of 3 minutes 27.526 seconds.Its really crazy; its unbelievable, Loch said. Im really overwhelmed.Loch, 24, is the clear future of the sport. It was fitting, then, that he beat two legends with a remarkably consistent performance. Albert Demchenko of Russia, 42, finished 0.476 seconds behind Loch, becoming the oldest man to earn a medal in luge. Armin Zggeler of Italy, 40, was 1.271 seconds slower than Loch and earned bronze. Zggelers medal was his sixth, a total that includes two golds; he became the first man to earn a medal in six different Olympics.I have no words, Zggeler said afterward. It has been good for me to represent Italy. Over all, it has been good for me and good for Italy.The Americans in the event struggled to keep pace with the top riders. Christopher Mazdzer finished 13th, Tucker West 22nd and Aidan Kelly 24th.A bunch of emotions happening right now, Mazdzer, 25, said. Its an experience-based sport, and Im not quite old enough to hang with the big dogs yet. [/INST] Sports </s>

tech fixWe are beholden to a few Big Tech overlords for much of our digital lives. We can be more conscientious about it.Credit...Glenn HarveyJuly 29, 2020In the morning, you check email. At noon, you browse social media and message friends. In the evening, you listen to music while shopping online. Around bedtime, you curl up with an e-book.For all of those activities, you probably used a product made or sold by Google, Amazon, Apple or Facebook. Theres no simple way to avoid those Big Four. Even if you subscribed to Spotify, you would probably still be using a Google Android phone, an Amazon speaker or an Apple iPhone to stream the music. Even if you deleted Facebook, you might still be using the Facebook-owned Instagram or WhatsApp.Being beholden to a small set of companies that touch every corner of our digital lives is precisely why lawmakers have summoned the chief executives of Amazon, Google, Facebook and Apple to testify in an antitrust hearing on Wednesday. Expect the tech titans to be grilled over whether their companies have become so powerful and far-reaching that they harm rivals and all of us, too.So what can we do if we want to break out of the stranglehold of Big Tech?At first glance, there may not seem like much we can do to escape. Its not like you can start shopping at local bookstores and put Amazon out of business, said Jason Fried, the founder of Basecamp, a Chicago-based company that offers productivity apps.But the more I thought about this, the more I realized that there were some steps that we could take to better support techs little guys, too. We would do ourselves and smaller businesses a favor by staying informed on alternatives, for one. We could change our consumption patterns so that we were not just buying new products from the tech giants. And we could show our support for indie developers who make the apps we love.As Mr. Fried put it, We can do things to change our own conscience. Heres how.When possible, find alternativesStep One to becoming a more conscientious consumer is doing some research.While Google Chrome may be the most popular web browser, there are alternatives that collect less data about us. And while all of our friends are on Facebook, there are also smaller apps or methods we can use to stay connected with them. The key is to read news sites and tech blogs to learn about options.You have to read and be informed, said Don Heider, chief executive of the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University. Otherwise, youre not going to have a clue of where to go and what to pick and what the impact is.Mr. Heider pointed to a few examples: Instead of Google Chrome, people can download great browsers, including DuckDuckGo, Brave and Opera, which focus on stronger privacy and security protections. Instead of Facebook, we can tell our friends to hang out with us on social media apps like Vero and Mastodon, which are both ad-free, he said.The same goes for Amazon. Instead of ordering paper towels and hand sanitizer on Amazon, consider picking up those items at a local store. Instead of ordering a new dog collar on Amazon, consider buying a custom-made one from an independent merchant on Etsy.Mr. Fried says he rarely shops on Amazon, takes cabs instead of Ubers and finds books via IndieBound, a resource for buying titles from local bookstores. When the default is just Amazon, Amazon, Amazon, youre just feeding the flame, he said.Why buy new? Buy usedSpeaking of alternatives, theres a different way to buy tech hardware altogether: Purchase gadgets used or refurbished.When you buy a new phone or computer, your dollars go directly to the tech giants who created the products. But when you buy used, you are supporting a broader community of small businesses that repair and resell equipment.Many of us generally shy away from used electronics because we fear the products may be in shoddy condition. The reality is that resellers work with technicians who restore products to their former glory before putting them up on sale and the gadgets are often backed by a warranty. Reputable vendors of used goods include GameStop and Gazelle.Buying used also contributes to a broader mission: the so-called right to repair movement.Unlike car mechanics, small electronics repair shops have limited access to the parts and instructions that they need to service our smartphones, tablets and computers. Public advocacy groups and the repair community have pushed to pass legislation that would require electronics manufacturers to share all of the components and information needed to fix our gadgets.If more people opt to buy used or refurbished goods, that will show that there is demand for repaired products. That, in turn, puts pressure on manufacturers to make repair more accessible to independent technicians and consumers, said Carole Mars, the director of technical development and innovation at the Sustainability Consortium, which studies the sustainability of consumer goods.It comes down to accepting refurbished and demanding refurbished, Dr. Mars said. That will lead you to ask, Why cant I get this product used or fixed? Its because the company locked it down.So try to make this a habit: Whenever you are shopping for an electronic online, check if there is a used or refurbished option. If there is one in good condition, go for it and save some bucks.Support indie developersA lot of what we do with our devices is made possible by smaller companies that produce our apps and games. One way to show our support to David rather than Goliath is to have some patience and empathy for the indie developers.People often get frustrated when an app or game they love gets a big software update and charges another $3 to $10 for the new version, for example. Try not to get irritated these are small outfits trying to survive, not big corporations trying to milk you and be willing to pay. Its the same amount of money as a cup of coffee or a sandwich, and youre polishing a piece of software that you love.If you can pay for software that you like, said Brianna Wu, a game developer, you probably have an ethical responsibility to do so in the same way that youd have the ethical responsibility to tip a waitress. The reality is that most of the time when you play an indie video game, that group of people have bet their entire companys future on you paying for it.Keep in mind also that small app developers lack the huge marketing budgets of our tech overlords. They rely largely on all of us to do grass-roots marketing in the form of written reviews or word of mouth, said David Barnard, founder of the app studio Contrast. So when you love an app, tell your friends about it.Ill close with an example: My favorite piece of indie software for the Mac is Fantastical, a calendar app, which does a better, more reliable job organizing my online calendars than Apples calendar app.It was an expensive calendar app $50 but its kept me punctual, which makes it worth every penny.

Tech

<s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> tech fixWe are beholden to a few Big Tech overlords for much of our digital lives. We can be more conscientious about it.Credit...Glenn HarveyJuly 29, 2020In the morning, you check email. At noon, you browse social media and message friends. In the evening, you listen to music while shopping online. Around bedtime, you curl up with an e-book.For all of those activities, you probably used a product made or sold by Google, Amazon, Apple or Facebook. Theres no simple way to avoid those Big Four. Even if you subscribed to Spotify, you would probably still be using a Google Android phone, an Amazon speaker or an Apple iPhone to stream the music. Even if you deleted Facebook, you might still be using the Facebook-owned Instagram or WhatsApp.Being beholden to a small set of companies that touch every corner of our digital lives is precisely why lawmakers have summoned the chief executives of Amazon, Google, Facebook and Apple to testify in an antitrust hearing on Wednesday. Expect the tech titans to be grilled over whether their companies have become so powerful and far-reaching that they harm rivals and all of us, too.So what can we do if we want to break out of the stranglehold of Big Tech?At first glance, there may not seem like much we can do to escape. Its not like you can start shopping at local bookstores and put Amazon out of business, said Jason Fried, the founder of Basecamp, a Chicago-based company that offers productivity apps.But the more I thought about this, the more I realized that there were some steps that we could take to better support techs little guys, too. We would do ourselves and smaller businesses a favor by staying informed on alternatives, for one. We could change our consumption patterns so that we were not just buying new products from the tech giants. And we could show our support for indie developers who make the apps we love.As Mr. Fried put it, We can do things to change our own conscience. Heres how.When possible, find alternativesStep One to becoming a more conscientious consumer is doing some research.While Google Chrome may be the most popular web browser, there are alternatives that collect less data about us. And while all of our friends are on Facebook, there are also smaller apps or methods we can use to stay connected with them. The key is to read news sites and tech blogs to learn about options.You have to read and be informed, said Don Heider, chief executive of the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University. Otherwise, youre not going to have a clue of where to go and what to pick and what the impact is.Mr. Heider pointed to a few examples: Instead of Google Chrome, people can download great browsers, including DuckDuckGo, Brave and Opera, which focus on stronger privacy and security protections. Instead of Facebook, we can tell our friends to hang out with us on social media apps like Vero and Mastodon, which are both ad-free, he said.The same goes for Amazon. Instead of ordering paper towels and hand sanitizer on Amazon, consider picking up those items at a local store. Instead of ordering a new dog collar on Amazon, consider buying a custom-made one from an independent merchant on Etsy.Mr. Fried says he rarely shops on Amazon, takes cabs instead of Ubers and finds books via IndieBound, a resource for buying titles from local bookstores. When the default is just Amazon, Amazon, Amazon, youre just feeding the flame, he said.Why buy new? Buy usedSpeaking of alternatives, theres a different way to buy tech hardware altogether: Purchase gadgets used or refurbished.When you buy a new phone or computer, your dollars go directly to the tech giants who created the products. But when you buy used, you are supporting a broader community of small businesses that repair and resell equipment.Many of us generally shy away from used electronics because we fear the products may be in shoddy condition. The reality is that resellers work with technicians who restore products to their former glory before putting them up on sale and the gadgets are often backed by a warranty. Reputable vendors of used goods include GameStop and Gazelle.Buying used also contributes to a broader mission: the so-called right to repair movement.Unlike car mechanics, small electronics repair shops have limited access to the parts and instructions that they need to service our smartphones, tablets and computers. Public advocacy groups and the repair community have pushed to pass legislation that would require electronics manufacturers to share all of the components and information needed to fix our gadgets.If more people opt to buy used or refurbished goods, that will show that there is demand for repaired products. That, in turn, puts pressure on manufacturers to make repair more accessible to independent technicians and consumers, said Carole Mars, the director of technical development and innovation at the Sustainability Consortium, which studies the sustainability of consumer goods.It comes down to accepting refurbished and demanding refurbished, Dr. Mars said. That will lead you to ask, Why cant I get this product used or fixed? Its because the company locked it down.So try to make this a habit: Whenever you are shopping for an electronic online, check if there is a used or refurbished option. If there is one in good condition, go for it and save some bucks.Support indie developersA lot of what we do with our devices is made possible by smaller companies that produce our apps and games. One way to show our support to David rather than Goliath is to have some patience and empathy for the indie developers.People often get frustrated when an app or game they love gets a big software update and charges another $3 to $10 for the new version, for example. Try not to get irritated these are small outfits trying to survive, not big corporations trying to milk you and be willing to pay. Its the same amount of money as a cup of coffee or a sandwich, and youre polishing a piece of software that you love.If you can pay for software that you like, said Brianna Wu, a game developer, you probably have an ethical responsibility to do so in the same way that youd have the ethical responsibility to tip a waitress. The reality is that most of the time when you play an indie video game, that group of people have bet their entire companys future on you paying for it.Keep in mind also that small app developers lack the huge marketing budgets of our tech overlords. They rely largely on all of us to do grass-roots marketing in the form of written reviews or word of mouth, said David Barnard, founder of the app studio Contrast. So when you love an app, tell your friends about it.Ill close with an example: My favorite piece of indie software for the Mac is Fantastical, a calendar app, which does a better, more reliable job organizing my online calendars than Apples calendar app.It was an expensive calendar app $50 but its kept me punctual, which makes it worth every penny. [/INST] Tech </s>

It was 2000, and Bill Clinton was upbeat. The internet, he said, was opening up the world. Theres no question China has been trying to crack down on the internet, he said. Good luck. Thats sort of like trying to nail Jell-O to the wall. The internet would inevitably push China toward democracy, he said. How could any country control something so free-flowing and still hope to be technologically vibrant? Something would surely have to give. He was wrong. Today, China has the worlds only internet companies that can match Americas in ambition and reach. It is years ahead of the United States in replacing paper money with smartphone payments, turning tech giants into vital gatekeepers of the consumer economy. And it is host to a supernova of creative expression in short videos, podcasts, blogs and streaming TV that ought to dispel any notions of Chinese culture as drearily conformist. Karmas a Bitch, a meme All this, on a patch of cyberspace that is walled off from Facebook and Google, policed by tens of thousands of censors and subject to strict controls on how data is collected, stored and shared. Chinas leaders like the internet they have created. And now, they want to direct the nations talent and tech acumen toward an even loftier end: building an innovation-driven economy, one that produces world-leading companies. Not long ago, Chinese tech firms were best known for copying Silicon Valley. Google Baidu YouTube Youku Uber Didi But the flow of inspiration now runs both ways. American social media executives look to Tencent and ByteDance for the latest tricks for keeping users glued to their phones. Tencents WeChat app, an all-in-one hub for socializing, playing games, paying bills, booking train tickets and more, paved the way for the increasingly feature-stuffed chat apps made by Facebook and Apple. Facebook recently took a page from TikTok, a Chinese service that is a sensation among Western tweens, by releasing its own highly similar app for creating goofy short videos. If people in the West didnt see this coming, it was because they mistook Chinas authoritarianism for hostility toward technology. But in some ways Chinese tech firms are less fettered than American ones. Witness the backlash against Big Data in the United States, the calls to break up giants like Facebook and the anxiety about digital addiction. None of those are big problems for Chinese companies. In China, there is pretty much only one rule, and it is simple: Dont undermine the state. So titans like Weibo and Baidu heed censorship orders. Unwanted beliefs and ideologies are kept out. Beyond that, everything is fair game. Start-ups can achieve mammoth scale with astonishing speed; they can also crash brutally. Thanks to weak intellectual property protections, they can rip one another off with abandon not great for rewarding innovation, but O.K. for consumers, who get lots of choices. And the money just keeps flowing in. In another advantage, old-school industries like media, finance and health care have been dominated by lumbering state-run giants. That has allowed internet champions like Alibaba and Tencent to sew themselves into these businesses with ease. With their mobile payment platforms, the two giants have built sprawling ecosystems in which vast amounts of commercial activity now take place. Little remains of daily life that has not been transformed. Shopping. Getting a loan. Renting a bike. Even going to the doctor. This level of clout hasnt gone unnoticed by Chinas leaders. Never in the Communist era have private entities wielded such influence over peoples lives. To keep tech in its place, the government is demanding stakes in companies and influence over management. Regulators have reprimanded online platforms for hosting content they deem distasteful too raunchy, too flirty, too creepy or just too weird. Thats why the best way for tech companies to thrive in China is to make themselves useful to the state. Nearly everyone in China uses WeChat, making the social network a great way for the authorities to police what people say and do. SenseTime, whose facial recognition technology powers those fun filters in video apps, also sells software to law enforcement. Image recognition software by SenseTime Crowd analysis software by SenseTime Identification software by SenseTime labeling people and cars in real time Participants at a Chinese internet conference identified by Face++ software The risk for these companies is that the government demands more, sucking away resources that could be better spent chasing innovations or breaking into new markets. In China, says Lance Noble of the research firm Gavekal Dragonomics, the governments support can be a blessing and a curse.

World

<s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> It was 2000, and Bill Clinton was upbeat. The internet, he said, was opening up the world. Theres no question China has been trying to crack down on the internet, he said. Good luck. Thats sort of like trying to nail Jell-O to the wall. The internet would inevitably push China toward democracy, he said. How could any country control something so free-flowing and still hope to be technologically vibrant? Something would surely have to give. He was wrong. Today, China has the worlds only internet companies that can match Americas in ambition and reach. It is years ahead of the United States in replacing paper money with smartphone payments, turning tech giants into vital gatekeepers of the consumer economy. And it is host to a supernova of creative expression in short videos, podcasts, blogs and streaming TV that ought to dispel any notions of Chinese culture as drearily conformist. Karmas a Bitch, a meme All this, on a patch of cyberspace that is walled off from Facebook and Google, policed by tens of thousands of censors and subject to strict controls on how data is collected, stored and shared. Chinas leaders like the internet they have created. And now, they want to direct the nations talent and tech acumen toward an even loftier end: building an innovation-driven economy, one that produces world-leading companies. Not long ago, Chinese tech firms were best known for copying Silicon Valley. Google Baidu YouTube Youku Uber Didi But the flow of inspiration now runs both ways. American social media executives look to Tencent and ByteDance for the latest tricks for keeping users glued to their phones. Tencents WeChat app, an all-in-one hub for socializing, playing games, paying bills, booking train tickets and more, paved the way for the increasingly feature-stuffed chat apps made by Facebook and Apple. Facebook recently took a page from TikTok, a Chinese service that is a sensation among Western tweens, by releasing its own highly similar app for creating goofy short videos. If people in the West didnt see this coming, it was because they mistook Chinas authoritarianism for hostility toward technology. But in some ways Chinese tech firms are less fettered than American ones. Witness the backlash against Big Data in the United States, the calls to break up giants like Facebook and the anxiety about digital addiction. None of those are big problems for Chinese companies. In China, there is pretty much only one rule, and it is simple: Dont undermine the state. So titans like Weibo and Baidu heed censorship orders. Unwanted beliefs and ideologies are kept out. Beyond that, everything is fair game. Start-ups can achieve mammoth scale with astonishing speed; they can also crash brutally. Thanks to weak intellectual property protections, they can rip one another off with abandon not great for rewarding innovation, but O.K. for consumers, who get lots of choices. And the money just keeps flowing in. In another advantage, old-school industries like media, finance and health care have been dominated by lumbering state-run giants. That has allowed internet champions like Alibaba and Tencent to sew themselves into these businesses with ease. With their mobile payment platforms, the two giants have built sprawling ecosystems in which vast amounts of commercial activity now take place. Little remains of daily life that has not been transformed. Shopping. Getting a loan. Renting a bike. Even going to the doctor. This level of clout hasnt gone unnoticed by Chinas leaders. Never in the Communist era have private entities wielded such influence over peoples lives. To keep tech in its place, the government is demanding stakes in companies and influence over management. Regulators have reprimanded online platforms for hosting content they deem distasteful too raunchy, too flirty, too creepy or just too weird. Thats why the best way for tech companies to thrive in China is to make themselves useful to the state. Nearly everyone in China uses WeChat, making the social network a great way for the authorities to police what people say and do. SenseTime, whose facial recognition technology powers those fun filters in video apps, also sells software to law enforcement. Image recognition software by SenseTime Crowd analysis software by SenseTime Identification software by SenseTime labeling people and cars in real time Participants at a Chinese internet conference identified by Face++ software The risk for these companies is that the government demands more, sucking away resources that could be better spent chasing innovations or breaking into new markets. In China, says Lance Noble of the research firm Gavekal Dragonomics, the governments support can be a blessing and a curse. [/INST] World </s>

Asia Pacific|Cambodia to Bring Wild Tigers From Abroad in Fight Against Extinctionhttps://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/07/world/asia/cambodia-tigers.htmlCredit...Mark Remissa/European Pressphoto AgencyApril 6, 2016A plan to fight the extinction of wild tigers in Cambodia would require importing the big cats from abroad, in what conservationists say would be the first transnational tiger reintroduction.The last tiger seen in the wild in Cambodia was in its east in 2007, Un Chakrey, communications manager for the conservation group WWF-Cambodia, said on Wednesday. Poaching and the loss of habitat have wiped out tigers in Cambodia, and the species is considered functionally extinct there, with no breeding pairs, WWF-Cambodia said.Under a plan approved last month by the Cambodian government, a small number of tigers will be imported and introduced to the Mondulkiri Protected Forest, the last place in the country a tiger was seen.The first phase of the plan would call for two male tigers and five to six female tigers to be released, Mr. Un Chakrey said.The tigers would most likely come from India, though Thailand and Malaysia are other possibilities, Mr. Un Chakrey said. They could be introduced as soon as 2020, he said.The Cambodia program would learn from the experiences of India, which has had success in reintroducing tigers.Next week, representatives of 13 so-called tiger-range countries across Asia will meet in New Delhi to discuss a plan to double the number of the animals across the region by 2022. The population in 2009 was estimated to be 3,200.Studies in 2006 and 2010 indicated that tigers inhabited less than 6 percent of their historical range, according to the Red List of Threatened Species compiled by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources.

World

<s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> Asia Pacific|Cambodia to Bring Wild Tigers From Abroad in Fight Against Extinctionhttps://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/07/world/asia/cambodia-tigers.htmlCredit...Mark Remissa/European Pressphoto AgencyApril 6, 2016A plan to fight the extinction of wild tigers in Cambodia would require importing the big cats from abroad, in what conservationists say would be the first transnational tiger reintroduction.The last tiger seen in the wild in Cambodia was in its east in 2007, Un Chakrey, communications manager for the conservation group WWF-Cambodia, said on Wednesday. Poaching and the loss of habitat have wiped out tigers in Cambodia, and the species is considered functionally extinct there, with no breeding pairs, WWF-Cambodia said.Under a plan approved last month by the Cambodian government, a small number of tigers will be imported and introduced to the Mondulkiri Protected Forest, the last place in the country a tiger was seen.The first phase of the plan would call for two male tigers and five to six female tigers to be released, Mr. Un Chakrey said.The tigers would most likely come from India, though Thailand and Malaysia are other possibilities, Mr. Un Chakrey said. They could be introduced as soon as 2020, he said.The Cambodia program would learn from the experiences of India, which has had success in reintroducing tigers.Next week, representatives of 13 so-called tiger-range countries across Asia will meet in New Delhi to discuss a plan to double the number of the animals across the region by 2022. The population in 2009 was estimated to be 3,200.Studies in 2006 and 2010 indicated that tigers inhabited less than 6 percent of their historical range, according to the Red List of Threatened Species compiled by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. [/INST] World </s>

GadgetwiseFeb. 5, 2014Lights are no longer just for lighting.With the development of LED lamp technology, the lowly light bulb is doing more than turning on and off. A lamp can be the centerpiece of an environment meant to improve health, moods and even food.LEDs can create light in multiple colors, generate less heat and use a fraction of the energy of older types of bulbs. And LEDs can be controlled remotely from a PC or smartphone app, as programmable as a television.Theres a tremendous potential for LED lighting to go beyond illumination, said John Strainic, General Electrics general manager for consumer lighting. Were asking people to think about lighting as more than just an impulse purchase.Because of the LED manufacturing process, the light that the technology creates is weighted toward the blue end of the spectrum. That is true whether the LED is used in a light bulb, a tablet or a television display.That blue light has its advantages: Blue stimulates a photoreceptor in the eye that reduces melatonin production and helps a person stay awake.You have to start thinking of light as a drug, said Terry K. McGowan, the director of engineering for the American Lighting Association, a trade group. That is why Lighting Science, an LED manufacturer, is now selling Awake and Alert, an LED lamp that keeps people pumped up by pumping up the blue. Conversely, the companys Good Night lighting product reduces the blue output, helping people sleep. This summer, Lighting Science will offer its Rhythm Downlight, a lamp controlled by a smartphone app that adjusts blue light based on a users sleep schedule.The Awake and Alert lamp does not look brighter, but our circadian system sees it as such, said Robert Soler, Lighting Sciences director of lighting research. We always felt that there was so much more you can do with light than just increase vision.Philips sells its own range of energy-enhancing lights, including its Wake-up Light and to combat winter blues the goLITE BLU, a panel of blue LEDs.In Europe, Philips is experimenting with its HealWell system in hospitals. By changing colors based on time of day, it encourages a patient to wake up, feel more relaxed and sleep more easily. At a field study at the Maastricht University Medical Center in the Netherlands, cardiology patients were found to sleep longer and experience reduced depression.In the United States, Lighting Science is working on a similar system, and expects to offer products by the end of this year. Unfortunately, many hospitals have removed solariums, but lots of studies have shown that they improve recovery time, said Mr. Soler of Lighting Science.While the ability to alter an LED lamps color opens up new uses for light, the fact that LEDs can be remotely controlled significantly changes their potential.With Osram Sylvanias ULTRA iQ system, users can program lamps to turn on when a key is put in the lock. Philipss Hue system, on the other hand, allows users to create their own lighting moods and then send those instructions to special lamps via a smartphone app. The lights can also be programmed to respond to specific events, such as by glowing a prescribed color when it is time to remove the roast from the oven.Tabus Lumen TL800lamp uses Bluetooth connectivity to control the lamp from a smartphone, allowing the user to change colors, dim the bulb and synchronize lighting effects to the rhythm of a song played on the phone.But synchronizing lighting to events is much more than a parlor trick. Philips has designed lighting systems that decrease growing times and increase yield for greenhouse vegetables and flowers, by using a lights specific hues.In the Netherlands and Canada, among other places, tomato and vegetable growers are using Philipss LEDs to improve bulk, increase fruit growth and reduce vegetable maturation time while reducing energy costs.We find the optimal light recipe for the grower, said Udo van Slooten, a Philips Lighting general manager for horticulture. Within the next few years, the worlds major lighting companies expect to expand LEDs connected capabilities, particularly with sensors.For example, sensors could tell how many people are in a room and their location, and direct the proper amount of lighting to where it is needed. Medical patients prone to agitation could be calmed once facial recognition technology identifies them and changes the hue of an examining room to more calming tones. When older people enter a room, lighting intensity can be raised to compensate for their decreased ability to see.Today, lighting is becoming an appliance, like a blender, said Mr. McGowan of the American Lighting Association. I tell people when they move, they should take their LED bulbs with them.

Tech

<s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> GadgetwiseFeb. 5, 2014Lights are no longer just for lighting.With the development of LED lamp technology, the lowly light bulb is doing more than turning on and off. A lamp can be the centerpiece of an environment meant to improve health, moods and even food.LEDs can create light in multiple colors, generate less heat and use a fraction of the energy of older types of bulbs. And LEDs can be controlled remotely from a PC or smartphone app, as programmable as a television.Theres a tremendous potential for LED lighting to go beyond illumination, said John Strainic, General Electrics general manager for consumer lighting. Were asking people to think about lighting as more than just an impulse purchase.Because of the LED manufacturing process, the light that the technology creates is weighted toward the blue end of the spectrum. That is true whether the LED is used in a light bulb, a tablet or a television display.That blue light has its advantages: Blue stimulates a photoreceptor in the eye that reduces melatonin production and helps a person stay awake.You have to start thinking of light as a drug, said Terry K. McGowan, the director of engineering for the American Lighting Association, a trade group. That is why Lighting Science, an LED manufacturer, is now selling Awake and Alert, an LED lamp that keeps people pumped up by pumping up the blue. Conversely, the companys Good Night lighting product reduces the blue output, helping people sleep. This summer, Lighting Science will offer its Rhythm Downlight, a lamp controlled by a smartphone app that adjusts blue light based on a users sleep schedule.The Awake and Alert lamp does not look brighter, but our circadian system sees it as such, said Robert Soler, Lighting Sciences director of lighting research. We always felt that there was so much more you can do with light than just increase vision.Philips sells its own range of energy-enhancing lights, including its Wake-up Light and to combat winter blues the goLITE BLU, a panel of blue LEDs.In Europe, Philips is experimenting with its HealWell system in hospitals. By changing colors based on time of day, it encourages a patient to wake up, feel more relaxed and sleep more easily. At a field study at the Maastricht University Medical Center in the Netherlands, cardiology patients were found to sleep longer and experience reduced depression.In the United States, Lighting Science is working on a similar system, and expects to offer products by the end of this year. Unfortunately, many hospitals have removed solariums, but lots of studies have shown that they improve recovery time, said Mr. Soler of Lighting Science.While the ability to alter an LED lamps color opens up new uses for light, the fact that LEDs can be remotely controlled significantly changes their potential.With Osram Sylvanias ULTRA iQ system, users can program lamps to turn on when a key is put in the lock. Philipss Hue system, on the other hand, allows users to create their own lighting moods and then send those instructions to special lamps via a smartphone app. The lights can also be programmed to respond to specific events, such as by glowing a prescribed color when it is time to remove the roast from the oven.Tabus Lumen TL800lamp uses Bluetooth connectivity to control the lamp from a smartphone, allowing the user to change colors, dim the bulb and synchronize lighting effects to the rhythm of a song played on the phone.But synchronizing lighting to events is much more than a parlor trick. Philips has designed lighting systems that decrease growing times and increase yield for greenhouse vegetables and flowers, by using a lights specific hues.In the Netherlands and Canada, among other places, tomato and vegetable growers are using Philipss LEDs to improve bulk, increase fruit growth and reduce vegetable maturation time while reducing energy costs.We find the optimal light recipe for the grower, said Udo van Slooten, a Philips Lighting general manager for horticulture. Within the next few years, the worlds major lighting companies expect to expand LEDs connected capabilities, particularly with sensors.For example, sensors could tell how many people are in a room and their location, and direct the proper amount of lighting to where it is needed. Medical patients prone to agitation could be calmed once facial recognition technology identifies them and changes the hue of an examining room to more calming tones. When older people enter a room, lighting intensity can be raised to compensate for their decreased ability to see.Today, lighting is becoming an appliance, like a blender, said Mr. McGowan of the American Lighting Association. I tell people when they move, they should take their LED bulbs with them. [/INST] Tech </s>

https://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/01/business/international/imf-sdr-renminbi-china-explainer.htmlCredit...Jens Meyer/Associated PressNov. 30, 2015The United States dollar was once the standard reserve currency for the International Monetary Fund. But in the 1960s and early 70s, as the Vietnam War dragged on and the United States ran persistent trade deficits, the dollar came to be seen as overvalued.A New Means of ExchangeRising trade in the 1960s was putting stress on the supply of two key assets gold and the United States dollar that were needed to support the global monetary standard developed at Bretton Woods after World War II.To ease the strain, the I.M.F. in 1969 created special drawing rights. Each S.D.R. was equivalent to 0.888671 gram of fine gold which, at the time, was the amount of gold one United States dollar could buy. Although an S.D.R. is not a currency as such (it is really just an accounting entry), it can be used by member countries as a reserve asset. S.D.R.s may also be used when the I.M.F. lends money to its member countries or is repaid for loans. A country holding S.D.R.s converts them into one of its component currencies (like dollars or sterling) before they can be spent on goods or services.The Collapse of a StandardThe dollars peg to gold formally ended on Aug. 15, 1971, when President Richard M. Nixon said the government would no longer convert foreign-held dollars into gold. The new policy, announced in a televised speech to the country, was part of a sweeping new economic plan aimed at reducing inflation and unemployment. By 1973, all the major world currencies were floating in value against each other.Responding to the changes, the monetary fund in 1975 based its system on a basket of 16 widely used currencies. Six years later, the basket was simplified to the currencies of the Group of Five industrial nations: the United States dollar, the Japanese yen, the German mark, the British pound and the French franc.The Euro Joins the BasketIn 1999, the collection of reserve currencies was juggled again when the euro was introduced. The euro replaced the French franc and German mark as part of the special drawing rights. The change would be the last until the addition of Chinas renminbi, which will take effect on Oct. 1, 2016.After the change, the weightings of one S.D.R. will be: 41.73 percent for the American dollar, 30.93 percent for the euro, 10.92 percent for the Chinese renminbi, 8.33 percent for the Japanese yen and 8.09 percent for the British pound.Using S.D.R.sAccording to the I.M.F., as of today, 204.1 billion S.D.R.s (equal to about $285 billion) have been created and allocated to member countries.Many central banks use the system in calculating the value of their reserves. By adding the renminbi to this group, the I.M.F. effectively considers the currency to be safe and reliable. Besides the symbolic weight the inclusion carries, there are ways China will gain greater global clout. For example, China will have somewhat more influence in international bailouts, like Greeces debt deal.

Business

<s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> https://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/01/business/international/imf-sdr-renminbi-china-explainer.htmlCredit...Jens Meyer/Associated PressNov. 30, 2015The United States dollar was once the standard reserve currency for the International Monetary Fund. But in the 1960s and early 70s, as the Vietnam War dragged on and the United States ran persistent trade deficits, the dollar came to be seen as overvalued.A New Means of ExchangeRising trade in the 1960s was putting stress on the supply of two key assets gold and the United States dollar that were needed to support the global monetary standard developed at Bretton Woods after World War II.To ease the strain, the I.M.F. in 1969 created special drawing rights. Each S.D.R. was equivalent to 0.888671 gram of fine gold which, at the time, was the amount of gold one United States dollar could buy. Although an S.D.R. is not a currency as such (it is really just an accounting entry), it can be used by member countries as a reserve asset. S.D.R.s may also be used when the I.M.F. lends money to its member countries or is repaid for loans. A country holding S.D.R.s converts them into one of its component currencies (like dollars or sterling) before they can be spent on goods or services.The Collapse of a StandardThe dollars peg to gold formally ended on Aug. 15, 1971, when President Richard M. Nixon said the government would no longer convert foreign-held dollars into gold. The new policy, announced in a televised speech to the country, was part of a sweeping new economic plan aimed at reducing inflation and unemployment. By 1973, all the major world currencies were floating in value against each other.Responding to the changes, the monetary fund in 1975 based its system on a basket of 16 widely used currencies. Six years later, the basket was simplified to the currencies of the Group of Five industrial nations: the United States dollar, the Japanese yen, the German mark, the British pound and the French franc.The Euro Joins the BasketIn 1999, the collection of reserve currencies was juggled again when the euro was introduced. The euro replaced the French franc and German mark as part of the special drawing rights. The change would be the last until the addition of Chinas renminbi, which will take effect on Oct. 1, 2016.After the change, the weightings of one S.D.R. will be: 41.73 percent for the American dollar, 30.93 percent for the euro, 10.92 percent for the Chinese renminbi, 8.33 percent for the Japanese yen and 8.09 percent for the British pound.Using S.D.R.sAccording to the I.M.F., as of today, 204.1 billion S.D.R.s (equal to about $285 billion) have been created and allocated to member countries.Many central banks use the system in calculating the value of their reserves. By adding the renminbi to this group, the I.M.F. effectively considers the currency to be safe and reliable. Besides the symbolic weight the inclusion carries, there are ways China will gain greater global clout. For example, China will have somewhat more influence in international bailouts, like Greeces debt deal. [/INST] Business </s>

Credit...Eric Francis/Associated PressFeb. 15, 2014CORVALLIS, Ore. In what has become something of a mantra for Oregon State Coach Pat Casey, he opened the baseball season by saying the polls do not matter. One has the perennially ranked Beavers at No. 2, the teams highest spot ever.Ill say the same thing I said last year, Casey said. Im not impressed at all.About 40 miles down the road, Oregon is ranked as high as No. 6 in the national polls, and Coach George Horton is saying essentially the same thing: The Ducks have not proved anything yet.Well just have to let our baseball speak for itself, Horton said.Once again, the state of Oregon has two college baseball teams receiving national attention.The Beavers and the Ducks were picked to finish first and second in the Pacific-12 Conference, which has always been strong in the sport. League teams have won 28 N.C.A.A. baseball titles, more than any other conference.U.C.L.A., last seasons College World Series champion, was picked by the leagues coaches to finish third this year.I like our team, Casey said of the Beavers. We have to stay healthy, and we obviously have to play at a very high level in order to compete in our conference and with the people we play out of conference. So I do like our team, but I think they would tell you weve got a long way to go.For the past decade, college baseball has grown much more popular in Oregon since the Beavers, then underdogs, became the fifth college program to win back-to-back C.W.S. titles in 2006 and in 2007.Casey, who is entering his 20th season in Corvallis, has taken the team to the postseason for the past five years, a team record.The Beavers went 52-13 last season, advancing to the C.W.S. for the fifth time the fourth under Casey. Oregon State went 24-6 in the Pac-12 for the teams third conference title since Casey took over.ImageCredit...Kevin Clark/The Register-Guard, via Associated PressAlthough the Beavers have lost key contributors in pitcher Matt Boyd, shortstop Tyler Smith and catcher Jake Rodriguez, they will have pitchers Ben Wetzler and Andrew Moore and outfielder Michael Conforto returning.In 2009, Oregon reinstated its baseball program after a 28-year hiatus. The Ducks made a splash by hiring Horton, a two-time national coach of the year who led Cal State Fullerton to the C.W.S. six times and the N.C.A.A. title in 2004.After holding open tryouts for the team in Hortons first season, the Ducks surprisingly went to the postseason the next year. But so far, the C.W.S. has eluded them.Last season, Oregon won a team-record 48 games and finished second in the Pac-12. But the nationally seeded Ducks fell to Rice in their regional series.We havent finished yet, Horton said at the teams preseason news media gathering. Weve had expectation years where we fumbled. The last two years, we thought we had a competitive ball club, won our share of one- and two-run games and put ourselves in position to host regionals and super regionals and had national seeds. But weve squandered opportunities.The Ducks have lost a few of the stars from last seasons team. First baseman Ryon Healy and pitcher Jimmie Sherfy graduated, and pitcher Cole Irvin had season-ending Tommy John elbow surgery. But they return infielder Scott Heineman and outfielder Tyler Baumgartner.Oregon and Oregon State opened their seasons this weekend. The Beavers were playing in the Husker Classic in Tempe, Ariz., and the Ducks were visiting Hawaii for a four-game series. The Ducks and the Beavers will play each other five times after splitting last seasons series, 2-2.Ultimately, a combination of factors will determine how their seasons turn out. That is why Casey says he does not have a lot of faith in preseason polls.Team chemistrys always one of the most important things, he said. We have enough people there. We have the people, if they choose to be strong leaders and they choose to have chemistry and hang with each other, that well have the same type of bond as last season.Casey added: Winning fixes a lot of problems. When you come out and you have a lot of success early, you feel good. Its when youre struggling that real leadership and chemistry comes to the top.

Sports

<s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> Credit...Eric Francis/Associated PressFeb. 15, 2014CORVALLIS, Ore. In what has become something of a mantra for Oregon State Coach Pat Casey, he opened the baseball season by saying the polls do not matter. One has the perennially ranked Beavers at No. 2, the teams highest spot ever.Ill say the same thing I said last year, Casey said. Im not impressed at all.About 40 miles down the road, Oregon is ranked as high as No. 6 in the national polls, and Coach George Horton is saying essentially the same thing: The Ducks have not proved anything yet.Well just have to let our baseball speak for itself, Horton said.Once again, the state of Oregon has two college baseball teams receiving national attention.The Beavers and the Ducks were picked to finish first and second in the Pacific-12 Conference, which has always been strong in the sport. League teams have won 28 N.C.A.A. baseball titles, more than any other conference.U.C.L.A., last seasons College World Series champion, was picked by the leagues coaches to finish third this year.I like our team, Casey said of the Beavers. We have to stay healthy, and we obviously have to play at a very high level in order to compete in our conference and with the people we play out of conference. So I do like our team, but I think they would tell you weve got a long way to go.For the past decade, college baseball has grown much more popular in Oregon since the Beavers, then underdogs, became the fifth college program to win back-to-back C.W.S. titles in 2006 and in 2007.Casey, who is entering his 20th season in Corvallis, has taken the team to the postseason for the past five years, a team record.The Beavers went 52-13 last season, advancing to the C.W.S. for the fifth time the fourth under Casey. Oregon State went 24-6 in the Pac-12 for the teams third conference title since Casey took over.ImageCredit...Kevin Clark/The Register-Guard, via Associated PressAlthough the Beavers have lost key contributors in pitcher Matt Boyd, shortstop Tyler Smith and catcher Jake Rodriguez, they will have pitchers Ben Wetzler and Andrew Moore and outfielder Michael Conforto returning.In 2009, Oregon reinstated its baseball program after a 28-year hiatus. The Ducks made a splash by hiring Horton, a two-time national coach of the year who led Cal State Fullerton to the C.W.S. six times and the N.C.A.A. title in 2004.After holding open tryouts for the team in Hortons first season, the Ducks surprisingly went to the postseason the next year. But so far, the C.W.S. has eluded them.Last season, Oregon won a team-record 48 games and finished second in the Pac-12. But the nationally seeded Ducks fell to Rice in their regional series.We havent finished yet, Horton said at the teams preseason news media gathering. Weve had expectation years where we fumbled. The last two years, we thought we had a competitive ball club, won our share of one- and two-run games and put ourselves in position to host regionals and super regionals and had national seeds. But weve squandered opportunities.The Ducks have lost a few of the stars from last seasons team. First baseman Ryon Healy and pitcher Jimmie Sherfy graduated, and pitcher Cole Irvin had season-ending Tommy John elbow surgery. But they return infielder Scott Heineman and outfielder Tyler Baumgartner.Oregon and Oregon State opened their seasons this weekend. The Beavers were playing in the Husker Classic in Tempe, Ariz., and the Ducks were visiting Hawaii for a four-game series. The Ducks and the Beavers will play each other five times after splitting last seasons series, 2-2.Ultimately, a combination of factors will determine how their seasons turn out. That is why Casey says he does not have a lot of faith in preseason polls.Team chemistrys always one of the most important things, he said. We have enough people there. We have the people, if they choose to be strong leaders and they choose to have chemistry and hang with each other, that well have the same type of bond as last season.Casey added: Winning fixes a lot of problems. When you come out and you have a lot of success early, you feel good. Its when youre struggling that real leadership and chemistry comes to the top. [/INST] Sports </s>

Justin Bieber And Your Latin Grammy Goes to ... Marc Anthony's Producer! 1/30/2018 Justin Bieber came up empty-handed after winning a Latin Grammy for "Despacito" ... because it was sent to Marc Anthony's producer by accident. Carlos Escalona Cruz -- who worked on Marc's Grammy-winning children's album -- "Marc Anthony for Babies" -- tells TMZ he got Bieb's award in the mail this week. Bieber won the accolade back in November for his feature on Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee's "Despacito" remix -- but he wasn't there in person, so didn't get it the day of. Looks like he didn't get it all, actually -- 'cause it showed up on Cruz's doorstep Monday. Cruz tells us he was shocked to have received the Biebs' hardware, and says he reached out to Grammy brass (ha) right away to clear up the confusion. He says they apologized for the mistake and instructed him to send it back right away to get it to the rightful owner. It's unclear whether Bieber got Cruz's Grammy -- but one thing is for sure ... sometimes it's worth showing up to these things in person. Just a thought, JB.

Entertainment

<s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> Justin Bieber And Your Latin Grammy Goes to ... Marc Anthony's Producer! 1/30/2018 Justin Bieber came up empty-handed after winning a Latin Grammy for "Despacito" ... because it was sent to Marc Anthony's producer by accident. Carlos Escalona Cruz -- who worked on Marc's Grammy-winning children's album -- "Marc Anthony for Babies" -- tells TMZ he got Bieb's award in the mail this week. Bieber won the accolade back in November for his feature on Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee's "Despacito" remix -- but he wasn't there in person, so didn't get it the day of. Looks like he didn't get it all, actually -- 'cause it showed up on Cruz's doorstep Monday. Cruz tells us he was shocked to have received the Biebs' hardware, and says he reached out to Grammy brass (ha) right away to clear up the confusion. He says they apologized for the mistake and instructed him to send it back right away to get it to the rightful owner. It's unclear whether Bieber got Cruz's Grammy -- but one thing is for sure ... sometimes it's worth showing up to these things in person. Just a thought, JB. [/INST] Entertainment </s>

VideotranscripttranscriptWere Stuck in the Middle: How Young Iranians Feel About U.S. SanctionsThe United States was the only country to leave the multilateral nuclear deal with Iran. The Trump administration quickly moved to snap back crippling sanctions on Iran. We spoke with the countrys top diplomat and young Iranians to see how these moves have affected their lives.Arash is one of the many Iranians I spoke with on Telegram to see how theyre dealing with U.S. sanctions. He says hes having trouble buying the bare essentials his family needs. The U.S. was the only country to leave the multilateral nuclear deal, and quickly moved to put pressure on Iran. We will be instituting the highest level of economic sanction. Economic pressure is nothing new for Iranians, but many say this is the most hopeless theyve ever felt. Many Iranians I spoke with seemed exhausted by this back-and-forth with the West and frustrated by the gridlock. One person was against the Iranian government altogether and saw Trumps exit from the nuclear deal as a blessing. And it could get worse: The U.S. imposed a second round of sanctions on Iran on Nov. 5. This round is focused on stopping the sales of Iranian oil and petrochemical products. It could be a big hit to Irans economy because oil generated $50 billion in revenue last year. Irans foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, isnt backing down despite sanctions and tough talk from the U.S. We have, in fact, survived in spite of the U.S. pressure for 40 years. If they try to put pressure on Iran, if they try to threaten Iran, Iranians respond very negatively to pressure and threats. And it will further strengthen the resolve of the Iranian people to resist. International companies started to cut ties with Iran after Trump left the nuclear agreement in May. In the face of U.S. sanctions, many companies got cold feet and got out of the Iranian market. But some countries, like India, China and Turkey, say they are committed to buying Iranian oil despite the threat of U.S. sanctions. And Zarif says the U.S. posturing impacts how Iranians want to interact with the West. Well, the Iranians have lost some hope in engagement. But the international community has failed. So, that has long-term consequences for Irans foreign policy behavior. For now, both countries are steadfast in their positions and people are continuing to be caught in the middle.The United States was the only country to leave the multilateral nuclear deal with Iran. The Trump administration quickly moved to snap back crippling sanctions on Iran. We spoke with the countrys top diplomat and young Iranians to see how these moves have affected their lives.CreditCredit...Arash Khamooshi for The New York TimesNov. 11, 2018The strain was evident in Alireza Karimis voice as he described his struggle to obtain the diazoxide pills his father needs to lower insulin levels and fight pancreatic cancer.The medicine has to be imported, and until recently that was not a problem. But for the past three months, Mr. Karimi has not been able to find it anyplace, and there is now only one bottle left.Now that this medicine isnt here, were forced to give him only one per day, Mr. Karimi said in an interview over Telegram, a popular messaging app for Iranians. The reduced dosage has created complications, like the threat of convulsions and the need to monitor his father 24 hours a day to make sure his insulin levels do not spike, which could send him into a coma.Anxieties over the availability of medicine are mounting in Iran with the reimposition this month of sanctions by the United States after President Trump withdrew from the nuclear deal.Harsh banking restrictions and the threat of secondary sanctions for companies doing business with Iran have made it nearly impossible for foreign pharmaceutical companies to continue working in the country.Trump administration officials say that the sanctions will not affect trade in humanitarian items, but many are skeptical.The fact is that the banks are so terrified by the sanctions that they dont want to do anything with Iran, said Grard Araud, Frances ambassador to the United Nations. So it means that there is a strong risk that in a few months really there will be a shortage of medicine in Iran.The Trump administrations maximum pressure campaign is starting to remove some of the few avenues that Iran had left to conduct banking for humanitarian items.One pharmaceutical importer in Iran, speaking on the condition of anonymity for fear of harassment by the authorities, said the banking sanctions had unnerved many of his European and American clients, who are looking for signals from the Treasury about what banks they can work with without risking penalties.ImageCredit...Agence France-Presse Getty ImagesIt creates a problem where even when you have a European company that wants to sell to Iran, due to the absence of banks being there, payments cant regularly and reliably be made into Europe, said Esfandyar Batmanghelidj, an expert in sanctions and humanitarian trade with Bourse and Bazaar in London.Mr. Batmanghelidj added that the Treasury had been slow or even unwilling to issue licenses authorized by Congress for humanitarian reasons. The licenses allow companies to do business with Iran and other countries that the United States has blacklisted as sponsors of terrorism.The problems are compounded by Irans own economic problems, which have led to a steep decline in the nations currency, the rial, and to steep increases in drug costs, since most are imported. Mr. Karimi said his fathers diazoxide pills used to cost roughly $28 a bottle but the last time he bought any, three months ago, the price had increased to $43.In some cases, shortages have been attributed to patients stockpiling medicines or to the governments efforts to control the supply, knowing that access to hard currency might be difficult in the near future.Recently, nearly 200 mental health professionals wrote an open letter to the authorities about the declining availability of medicines. One of the signatories, Dr. Amir Hossein Jalali, a psychiatrist in Tehran, said in an interview over Telegram that even some domestically produced medicines that need raw materials from outside of the country have also faced a lot of shortages.He said it was hard to change a patients medical routine, especially in mental health and chronic illnesses. Finding an effective treatment can be difficult, and even substituting medicine with something from the same chemical family can lead to a deterioration in the patients condition.Maryam Peyman, who has multiple sclerosis, recently went through her last bottle of Orlept, a German medication. For three months she was unable to find any more, or a replacement drug, making it impossible for her to work or even to concentrate.After three months of extreme discomfort without Orlept, a drug normally used for epilepsy but also prescribed for neurological issues, she finally found a domestically produced alternative, but that is far from ideal.Now that Im using Iranian-made medicine, it gives me headaches and impaired vision, she said. The German medicine didnt give me any headaches. It increased concentration, and it didnt impact my eyesight.Mr. Batmanghelidj said that the Trump administration could improve the situation by issuing clear guidelines for pharmaceutical companies doing business with Iran.Theres been nothing to date other than lip service from Pompeo, he said referring to Mike Pompeo, the American secretary of state. Its either reflective of infighting in the administration or negligence thats taking place.

World

<s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> VideotranscripttranscriptWere Stuck in the Middle: How Young Iranians Feel About U.S. SanctionsThe United States was the only country to leave the multilateral nuclear deal with Iran. The Trump administration quickly moved to snap back crippling sanctions on Iran. We spoke with the countrys top diplomat and young Iranians to see how these moves have affected their lives.Arash is one of the many Iranians I spoke with on Telegram to see how theyre dealing with U.S. sanctions. He says hes having trouble buying the bare essentials his family needs. The U.S. was the only country to leave the multilateral nuclear deal, and quickly moved to put pressure on Iran. We will be instituting the highest level of economic sanction. Economic pressure is nothing new for Iranians, but many say this is the most hopeless theyve ever felt. Many Iranians I spoke with seemed exhausted by this back-and-forth with the West and frustrated by the gridlock. One person was against the Iranian government altogether and saw Trumps exit from the nuclear deal as a blessing. And it could get worse: The U.S. imposed a second round of sanctions on Iran on Nov. 5. This round is focused on stopping the sales of Iranian oil and petrochemical products. It could be a big hit to Irans economy because oil generated $50 billion in revenue last year. Irans foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, isnt backing down despite sanctions and tough talk from the U.S. We have, in fact, survived in spite of the U.S. pressure for 40 years. If they try to put pressure on Iran, if they try to threaten Iran, Iranians respond very negatively to pressure and threats. And it will further strengthen the resolve of the Iranian people to resist. International companies started to cut ties with Iran after Trump left the nuclear agreement in May. In the face of U.S. sanctions, many companies got cold feet and got out of the Iranian market. But some countries, like India, China and Turkey, say they are committed to buying Iranian oil despite the threat of U.S. sanctions. And Zarif says the U.S. posturing impacts how Iranians want to interact with the West. Well, the Iranians have lost some hope in engagement. But the international community has failed. So, that has long-term consequences for Irans foreign policy behavior. For now, both countries are steadfast in their positions and people are continuing to be caught in the middle.The United States was the only country to leave the multilateral nuclear deal with Iran. The Trump administration quickly moved to snap back crippling sanctions on Iran. We spoke with the countrys top diplomat and young Iranians to see how these moves have affected their lives.CreditCredit...Arash Khamooshi for The New York TimesNov. 11, 2018The strain was evident in Alireza Karimis voice as he described his struggle to obtain the diazoxide pills his father needs to lower insulin levels and fight pancreatic cancer.The medicine has to be imported, and until recently that was not a problem. But for the past three months, Mr. Karimi has not been able to find it anyplace, and there is now only one bottle left.Now that this medicine isnt here, were forced to give him only one per day, Mr. Karimi said in an interview over Telegram, a popular messaging app for Iranians. The reduced dosage has created complications, like the threat of convulsions and the need to monitor his father 24 hours a day to make sure his insulin levels do not spike, which could send him into a coma.Anxieties over the availability of medicine are mounting in Iran with the reimposition this month of sanctions by the United States after President Trump withdrew from the nuclear deal.Harsh banking restrictions and the threat of secondary sanctions for companies doing business with Iran have made it nearly impossible for foreign pharmaceutical companies to continue working in the country.Trump administration officials say that the sanctions will not affect trade in humanitarian items, but many are skeptical.The fact is that the banks are so terrified by the sanctions that they dont want to do anything with Iran, said Grard Araud, Frances ambassador to the United Nations. So it means that there is a strong risk that in a few months really there will be a shortage of medicine in Iran.The Trump administrations maximum pressure campaign is starting to remove some of the few avenues that Iran had left to conduct banking for humanitarian items.One pharmaceutical importer in Iran, speaking on the condition of anonymity for fear of harassment by the authorities, said the banking sanctions had unnerved many of his European and American clients, who are looking for signals from the Treasury about what banks they can work with without risking penalties.ImageCredit...Agence France-Presse Getty ImagesIt creates a problem where even when you have a European company that wants to sell to Iran, due to the absence of banks being there, payments cant regularly and reliably be made into Europe, said Esfandyar Batmanghelidj, an expert in sanctions and humanitarian trade with Bourse and Bazaar in London.Mr. Batmanghelidj added that the Treasury had been slow or even unwilling to issue licenses authorized by Congress for humanitarian reasons. The licenses allow companies to do business with Iran and other countries that the United States has blacklisted as sponsors of terrorism.The problems are compounded by Irans own economic problems, which have led to a steep decline in the nations currency, the rial, and to steep increases in drug costs, since most are imported. Mr. Karimi said his fathers diazoxide pills used to cost roughly $28 a bottle but the last time he bought any, three months ago, the price had increased to $43.In some cases, shortages have been attributed to patients stockpiling medicines or to the governments efforts to control the supply, knowing that access to hard currency might be difficult in the near future.Recently, nearly 200 mental health professionals wrote an open letter to the authorities about the declining availability of medicines. One of the signatories, Dr. Amir Hossein Jalali, a psychiatrist in Tehran, said in an interview over Telegram that even some domestically produced medicines that need raw materials from outside of the country have also faced a lot of shortages.He said it was hard to change a patients medical routine, especially in mental health and chronic illnesses. Finding an effective treatment can be difficult, and even substituting medicine with something from the same chemical family can lead to a deterioration in the patients condition.Maryam Peyman, who has multiple sclerosis, recently went through her last bottle of Orlept, a German medication. For three months she was unable to find any more, or a replacement drug, making it impossible for her to work or even to concentrate.After three months of extreme discomfort without Orlept, a drug normally used for epilepsy but also prescribed for neurological issues, she finally found a domestically produced alternative, but that is far from ideal.Now that Im using Iranian-made medicine, it gives me headaches and impaired vision, she said. The German medicine didnt give me any headaches. It increased concentration, and it didnt impact my eyesight.Mr. Batmanghelidj said that the Trump administration could improve the situation by issuing clear guidelines for pharmaceutical companies doing business with Iran.Theres been nothing to date other than lip service from Pompeo, he said referring to Mike Pompeo, the American secretary of state. Its either reflective of infighting in the administration or negligence thats taking place. [/INST] World </s>

Credit...Sean Gallup/Getty ImagesDec. 1, 2015LONDON Volkswagen successfully lobbied to remove two key parts of Europes forthcoming auto emissions tests, an internal email shows, including a provision to measure the significant pollution released when an engine is started but hasnt yet warmed up.The automaker also argued against requiring special, high-speed tests for cars designed to be driven fast. Volkswagen, which owns the Porsche, Lamborghini and Audi brands, is a leading producer of fast cars. Such topics must be deleted, a Volkswagen executive wrote in an email last year to the European Commission, the European Unions executive branch, referring to the two provisions.The new tests, which still face a battle in the European Parliament, will be the first in Europe to require screening car pollution outside of a laboratory and in road tests meant to more closely reflect real driving. The email was included among documents made public by the commission after a request by Corporate Europe Observatory, a Brussels-based advocacy group.The name of the Volkswagen executive who lobbied on the issue of real-world tests was redacted by the European Commission. The email was written by the VW official on behalf of the European Automobile Manufacturers Association, a trade group. Cara McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the group, could not say whether other automakers had weighed in on the same topics.Regulations set in Europe have far-flung resonance because European emissions standards are followed by many countries beyond Europe, including India and Argentina. The email reflects the strong hand that carmakers have long had in negotiating over Europes auto regulations.The methods used to test cars for emissions of nitrogen oxides and other airborne pollutants have taken on a new urgency. In September, Volkswagen admitted that it had cheated on traditional lab tests by installing in some 11 million diesel vehicles special software that senses when a car is being subjected to testing. Since then, the loopholes in Europes regulations have met scrutiny and criticism.As world leaders and activists gathered in Paris this week for the United Nations climate-change conference, the VW scandal and the European Unions difficulty in agreeing to effective auto emissions tests serve as sobering reminders that goals or agreements can be hard to enforce in practice.In the email, the VW executive wrote that automakers cannot agree to a regulation including undefined topics like cold start or high speed, adding that both must be deleted. Testing cold starts refers to measuring the prodigious emissions that occur during the everyday act of starting and warming up a car when the engine is cool.Lucia Caudet, a spokeswoman for the European Commission, said the commission still intended to develop a plan to measure cold starts in future addendums to the regulation, which is scheduled to take effect in 2017. The commission is developing a specific cold start test, she wrote in an email, which better reflects emissions in real driving scenarios like short city trips.Fred Baerbock, a spokesman for Volkswagen, said in a statement that the email sent by the VW executive to the commission last year was part of the normal exchange of expertise that is part of every lawmaking in the E.U. He said it was sent by the Volkswagen executive on behalf of the automakers trade group during technical discussions and should not qualify as lobbying by Volkswagen.The trade group spokeswoman said that it was fully supporting the development of this test in order to ensure that emissions more closely reflect real-world conditions.The new European road tests will require automakers to meet new emissions targets on the road, in addition to complying with lab tests. Regulators in the United States and Canada recently began their own road tests of diesel car emissions, though the American tests are focused solely on catching automakers cheating on lab tests.Volkswagen has played a major role in shaping automotive testing in Europe. In addition to its lobbying on the real-world tests, executives from its Audi division took the lead in helping shape a second test that is to debut in 2017 a revamping of laboratory procedures that have long been used to measure tailpipe pollution.As far back as 2010, an executive at Audi laid out a template for the new tests. In subsequent years, Audi executives, some of them specialists in emission certification, also played leading roles in two committees that helped draft the fine print for the test. In these meetings, engineers representing manufacturers largely outnumbered regulatory bodies. The group working on emission tests was led by a member of the German transport ministry throughout the development process of the test.VW also this year lobbied to give large passenger vehicles like vans and buses more leeway in meeting existing emission regulations. That proposal was dropped after VWs emissions scandal became public.John German, a former official at the Environmental Protection Agency and a senior fellow at the International Council on Clean Transportation, an environmental group that played a pivotal role in uncovering Volkswagens cheating, has been critical of the exclusion of cold starts from the road tests, calling it a significant shortcoming.Cold starts are a critical aspect of the testing, he wrote in an email. For gasoline vehicles, the majority of emissions occur during the cold start. It is less for diesels, but still significant.Mr. Baerbock of VW said that at the time the objection was raised, cold starts needed to be defined better in order to be included into the regulation, so automakers boiled it down to asking for the deletion of this issue.The Volkswagen executive also wrote that a proposal to conduct special road testing at about 100 miles per hour and higher for particularly speedy vehicles was not acceptable and crossed out the proposed language from an excerpt included in the email.The new road tests, as currently conceived, limit the highest speed at which testing can occur. The industry and regulators negotiated that speed because pollutant emissions worsen at higher speeds. The Volkswagen executive told the commission that automakers were willing to allow testing at speeds as high as around 91 miles per hour, instead of about 81 miles per hour, which the industry had previously insisted upon but only if at the same time the plans for a special test for high-speed vehicles will be deleted.The industry appears to have largely prevailed because the high-speed test is no longer part of the European plan. The road test is capped at about 91 miles per hour, with a cushion that allows for speeds of up to 100 miles per hour no more than 3 percent of the time. Mr. Baerbock said that an extra high-speed test is not representative for E.U. driving because driving at such speeds was rare.Perhaps the most significant difference between the European and American approaches is that regulators in the United States conduct their own tests to check whether manufacturers claims are accurate. By contrast, in Europe, testing is left to automakers and their contractors, which will continue to be the case in the new road and lab tests.It is still the manufacturers themselves testing or testing facilities that are commissioned by the manufacturers, with very little or no oversight by the authorities, Peter Mock, I.C.C.T.s Europe managing director, said.The future of the road tests is in some doubt, however, because they face a difficult fight in the European Parliament. Many members oppose a recent move by the European Commission to change the road tests in a concession to the industry, making them far easier to meet.Bas Eickhout, a Dutch lawmaker who sits on the European Parliaments environment committee, said he expected the committee to vote to reject the road tests as currently drafted. There is a broad majority in favor of objecting, he said. The issue would then go before the Parliament at large, where the outcome is less clear. If rejected, the commission will have to redraft the rules.Gerben-Jan Gerbrandy, another environment committee member who is a member of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe, a centrist bloc, agreed, saying he expected a large majority in the committee to object. He also criticized the commissions handling of the new tests, saying, Its clear this has become an absolutely political decision.

Business

<s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> Credit...Sean Gallup/Getty ImagesDec. 1, 2015LONDON Volkswagen successfully lobbied to remove two key parts of Europes forthcoming auto emissions tests, an internal email shows, including a provision to measure the significant pollution released when an engine is started but hasnt yet warmed up.The automaker also argued against requiring special, high-speed tests for cars designed to be driven fast. Volkswagen, which owns the Porsche, Lamborghini and Audi brands, is a leading producer of fast cars. Such topics must be deleted, a Volkswagen executive wrote in an email last year to the European Commission, the European Unions executive branch, referring to the two provisions.The new tests, which still face a battle in the European Parliament, will be the first in Europe to require screening car pollution outside of a laboratory and in road tests meant to more closely reflect real driving. The email was included among documents made public by the commission after a request by Corporate Europe Observatory, a Brussels-based advocacy group.The name of the Volkswagen executive who lobbied on the issue of real-world tests was redacted by the European Commission. The email was written by the VW official on behalf of the European Automobile Manufacturers Association, a trade group. Cara McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the group, could not say whether other automakers had weighed in on the same topics.Regulations set in Europe have far-flung resonance because European emissions standards are followed by many countries beyond Europe, including India and Argentina. The email reflects the strong hand that carmakers have long had in negotiating over Europes auto regulations.The methods used to test cars for emissions of nitrogen oxides and other airborne pollutants have taken on a new urgency. In September, Volkswagen admitted that it had cheated on traditional lab tests by installing in some 11 million diesel vehicles special software that senses when a car is being subjected to testing. Since then, the loopholes in Europes regulations have met scrutiny and criticism.As world leaders and activists gathered in Paris this week for the United Nations climate-change conference, the VW scandal and the European Unions difficulty in agreeing to effective auto emissions tests serve as sobering reminders that goals or agreements can be hard to enforce in practice.In the email, the VW executive wrote that automakers cannot agree to a regulation including undefined topics like cold start or high speed, adding that both must be deleted. Testing cold starts refers to measuring the prodigious emissions that occur during the everyday act of starting and warming up a car when the engine is cool.Lucia Caudet, a spokeswoman for the European Commission, said the commission still intended to develop a plan to measure cold starts in future addendums to the regulation, which is scheduled to take effect in 2017. The commission is developing a specific cold start test, she wrote in an email, which better reflects emissions in real driving scenarios like short city trips.Fred Baerbock, a spokesman for Volkswagen, said in a statement that the email sent by the VW executive to the commission last year was part of the normal exchange of expertise that is part of every lawmaking in the E.U. He said it was sent by the Volkswagen executive on behalf of the automakers trade group during technical discussions and should not qualify as lobbying by Volkswagen.The trade group spokeswoman said that it was fully supporting the development of this test in order to ensure that emissions more closely reflect real-world conditions.The new European road tests will require automakers to meet new emissions targets on the road, in addition to complying with lab tests. Regulators in the United States and Canada recently began their own road tests of diesel car emissions, though the American tests are focused solely on catching automakers cheating on lab tests.Volkswagen has played a major role in shaping automotive testing in Europe. In addition to its lobbying on the real-world tests, executives from its Audi division took the lead in helping shape a second test that is to debut in 2017 a revamping of laboratory procedures that have long been used to measure tailpipe pollution.As far back as 2010, an executive at Audi laid out a template for the new tests. In subsequent years, Audi executives, some of them specialists in emission certification, also played leading roles in two committees that helped draft the fine print for the test. In these meetings, engineers representing manufacturers largely outnumbered regulatory bodies. The group working on emission tests was led by a member of the German transport ministry throughout the development process of the test.VW also this year lobbied to give large passenger vehicles like vans and buses more leeway in meeting existing emission regulations. That proposal was dropped after VWs emissions scandal became public.John German, a former official at the Environmental Protection Agency and a senior fellow at the International Council on Clean Transportation, an environmental group that played a pivotal role in uncovering Volkswagens cheating, has been critical of the exclusion of cold starts from the road tests, calling it a significant shortcoming.Cold starts are a critical aspect of the testing, he wrote in an email. For gasoline vehicles, the majority of emissions occur during the cold start. It is less for diesels, but still significant.Mr. Baerbock of VW said that at the time the objection was raised, cold starts needed to be defined better in order to be included into the regulation, so automakers boiled it down to asking for the deletion of this issue.The Volkswagen executive also wrote that a proposal to conduct special road testing at about 100 miles per hour and higher for particularly speedy vehicles was not acceptable and crossed out the proposed language from an excerpt included in the email.The new road tests, as currently conceived, limit the highest speed at which testing can occur. The industry and regulators negotiated that speed because pollutant emissions worsen at higher speeds. The Volkswagen executive told the commission that automakers were willing to allow testing at speeds as high as around 91 miles per hour, instead of about 81 miles per hour, which the industry had previously insisted upon but only if at the same time the plans for a special test for high-speed vehicles will be deleted.The industry appears to have largely prevailed because the high-speed test is no longer part of the European plan. The road test is capped at about 91 miles per hour, with a cushion that allows for speeds of up to 100 miles per hour no more than 3 percent of the time. Mr. Baerbock said that an extra high-speed test is not representative for E.U. driving because driving at such speeds was rare.Perhaps the most significant difference between the European and American approaches is that regulators in the United States conduct their own tests to check whether manufacturers claims are accurate. By contrast, in Europe, testing is left to automakers and their contractors, which will continue to be the case in the new road and lab tests.It is still the manufacturers themselves testing or testing facilities that are commissioned by the manufacturers, with very little or no oversight by the authorities, Peter Mock, I.C.C.T.s Europe managing director, said.The future of the road tests is in some doubt, however, because they face a difficult fight in the European Parliament. Many members oppose a recent move by the European Commission to change the road tests in a concession to the industry, making them far easier to meet.Bas Eickhout, a Dutch lawmaker who sits on the European Parliaments environment committee, said he expected the committee to vote to reject the road tests as currently drafted. There is a broad majority in favor of objecting, he said. The issue would then go before the Parliament at large, where the outcome is less clear. If rejected, the commission will have to redraft the rules.Gerben-Jan Gerbrandy, another environment committee member who is a member of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe, a centrist bloc, agreed, saying he expected a large majority in the committee to object. He also criticized the commissions handling of the new tests, saying, Its clear this has become an absolutely political decision. [/INST] Business </s>