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2018

7.0

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Theresa May defended her Brexit plan on Wednesday, saying it delivered on the vote of the people to leave the European Union. “The Chequers deal ... is there because it delivers on the vote that people gave,” May told reporters upon arrival at a NATO summit, referring to a deal brokered at the prime minister’s country residence last week. She said the deal would end freedom of movement, the jurisdiction of the European Court of justice and “vast” British payments into the EU budget. “We deliver that Brexit and we do it in a way that protects jobs and livelihoods and meets our commitment to Northern Ireland,” she said. Reporting by Alissa de Carbonnel

politics

Brexit

(brexit , eu , parliament , labour , mays , britain , corbyn , johnson , prime minister , theresa)

2017

5.0

“They’re putting that image right in our face and saying, ‘Blacks at the bottom, whites at the top.’” WESLEY LYNCH III, a 25-year-old African-American who supports a plan by city officials in New Orleans to remove four monuments related to the Confederacy and its aftermath.

society

confederate monuments

(confederate , monuments , statues , statue , monument , confederacy , confederate monuments , robert lee , charlottesville , removal)

2016

3.0

* Market cautious as BOJ has track record of surprises - analysts * Sharp drops on report Foxconn holds off on signing acquisition * Fed meeting also keeps market cautious - analysts By Ayai Tomisawa TOKYO, March 15 (Reuters) - Japan’s Nikkei share average eased in choppy trade on Tuesday but most investors stayed on the sidelines awaiting the outcome of the Bank Of Japan’s two-day policy meeting. The Nikkei fell 0.3 percent to 17,186.23 points after flirting with positive territory briefly. The benchmark index soared 1.7 percent on Monday. Most market players expect that the BOJ will not make drastic moves on Tuesday, after its decision in late January to move to negative interest rates stunned global markets. But investors were still wary that the central bank could spring another surprise. A decision is expected later in the morning. “The BOJ has a track record of surprising the market so we are cautious,” said Hikaru Sato, a senior technical analyst at Daiwa Securities. Investors were also awaiting the outcome of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s policy meeting on Wednesday. The Fed is not expected to raise interest rates, but investors will be on the lookout for clues about future hikes. “The Fed’s move could move the dollar-yen levels and affect Japanese equities so we are careful about possible volatility this week, too,” Daiwa’s Sato said. Exporters slid, with Toyota Motor Corp falling 0.4 percent and Nissan Motor Co shedding 0.9 percent. Oil shares were weaker after it oil prices fell about 3 percent on Monday before it rebounded slightly during Asian trade on Tuesday morning. Inpex Corp fell 1.0 percent and Japan Petroleum Exploration Co tumbled 3.0 percent. Sharp Corp underperformed the market, falling 1.3 percent after the Nikkei business daily said Foxconn is holding off on signing a Sharp acquisition deal as the Taiwanese company negotiates with main lenders for additional support. The broader Topix dropped 0.3 percent and the JPX-Nikkei Index 400 declined 0.4 percent. (Editing by Kim Coghill)

business

stock market

(nikkei , topix , broader topix , nikkei share , share average , yen , tokyo , ayai , ayai tomisawa , tomisawa)

2016

9.0

Online polls are bad. They’re unscientific because they’re easy to rig: People can vote over and over again. Given the right wing’s fixation on the non-issue of voter fraud, it’s ironic to see the Trump campaign, licking its wounds after the drubbing Trump took in Monday’s debate, cling to them. Even as it has become more and more apparent that Trump lost—and as more and more Trump staffers have admitted that Trump lost—the Trump campaign is still pushing the idea that online polls are more accurate than other polls, which is completely false. On Thursday evening, Trump communications director Jason Miller tried to make the case to Chuck Todd. Even for the Trump campaign, this is some primo gaslighting. To his credit, Todd pushed back, to the point that Miller almost admitted that Trump actually lost. Even within Miller’s blatant falsehoods, there’s an element of something approaching a normal strategy—the way to spin the polls is to say that they represent enthusiasm, even if they are not accurate. But what Miller did here went far beyond spinning. If you needed three and a half minutes of proof of the Trump campaign’s blatant disregard for the truth, this is it.

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2019

5.0

CHICAGO — The year was already shaping up to be difficult for Midwestern farmers. Incomes have slipped, farm bankruptcies have increased and widespread flooding has inundated the region, killing cattle and turning some fields into unplowable pits. Then came Friday’s news from Washington: Trade negotiations with China, long a reliable buyer of Midwestern crops, ended without a deal. President Trump raised tariffs on $200 billion worth of imports, and the Chinese were weighing countermeasures. The breakdown was another blow for American farmers, who just a few weeks ago thought a trade deal was imminent. They now begin another growing season with uncertainty about who will buy their crops and whether they can break even. Though Mr. Trump pledged Friday to help farmers — part of the coalition that put him in office — there were signs of frustration. They raised questions about his negotiating tactics. They said they were worried about what would come next given an already-struggling agricultural economy. “Many people are just torn because people want to support the president of the United States,” said Nancy Johnson, the executive director of the North Dakota Soybean Growers Association. “But it’s very stressful to be in the middle of these very challenging negotiations. Because you’re the person who can’t take hope to the banker to get his loans for operating.” Mr. Trump is generally popular in the rural Midwest. He carried all but two Midwestern states in 2016, won more than 90 percent of the vote in some agrarian counties and has been praised for rolling back environmental regulations. But Mr. Trump’s propensity for imposing tariffs has clashed with the free-trade instincts of the region’s farmers, who have watched lucrative overseas markets for soybeans and other crops shrivel. For some Midwestern Republicans in Congress, the use of tariffs has been a rare point of disagreement with President Trump. Jolene Riessen, who farms near Ida Grove, Iowa, said she remained hopeful that a trade deal would be reached, but she said that the drawn-out negotiations had already hurt her business. “I would just say, ‘Get something done, move ahead, get something done,’” said Ms. Riessen, 58. “The uncertainty is killer for us out here.” Ms. Riessen said she scaled down her cattle operation, partly because of the trade war, and delayed selling some of her soybean crop from last year. She said she remains worried about making new investments in her farm. “When the farmer does well, so does the rest of the United States,” said Ms. Riessen, who declined to say whom she voted for in 2016. “And we’ve just been kind of struggling.” Mr. Trump, who has accused China and other countries of taking advantage of the United States on trade, said he would help farmers weather the trade uncertainty. On Twitter, Mr. Trump suggested that the United States government could buy billions of dollars of agricultural products from farmers. Sonny Perdue, the agriculture secretary, said separately that Mr. Trump had directed his department to work on a plan to help farmers. “@POTUS loves his farmers and will not let them down!” Mr. Perdue said on Twitter. In Shelby County, Ind., Phil Ramsey said he appreciated the president’s reasons for revisiting trade deals, but said the ailing farm economy had been brutal in deeply personal ways. He said he was going without health insurance to save money. He said he has delayed some equipment purchases. “I was very patient a year ago,” said Mr. Ramsey, who grows corn, soybeans and wheat. “I’ve gone from being very patient to being very anxious.” But Mr. Ramsey, a Republican who voted for the president, said his primary frustrations were with China, which the United States accused of reneging on some trade promises, and with Congress, which has not approved a new trade deal with Canada and Mexico. “He can’t do it by himself,” Mr. Ramsey said of the president. “He needs the support of all the U.S. government.” The lack of a trade deal was especially painful in Nebraska, which saw widespread damage from flooding in March. The damage there, as well as in parts of Missouri and Iowa, has turned cropland into debris fields and forced some farmers to evaluate whether they could continue making a living off the land. “It’s a little bit of piling on when you have so many different things that you’re struggling against,” said Steve Nelson, the president of the Nebraska Farm Bureau. “Obviously, the trade issue is one of those. The weather is one of those.” Lance Atwater, 29, who farms corn and soybeans near Ayr, Neb., escaped the worst of the flooding but said that he has seen prices for some of his crops plunge. Mr. Atwater, a Republican who voted for Mr. Trump, said he was eager for a trade deal but taking a wait-and-see approach on the president’s policies. “He’s claimed that he’ll get these trade deals worked out and that it will be a better deal,” Mr. Atwater said on Friday as he hauled grain. “That’s what we’re wanting to see — see those results.” Jerry Mohr, 66, a fourth-generation farmer who grows corn and soybeans near Eldridge, Iowa, said he was growing frustrated. “I admire the president for wanting to make change,” said Mr. Mohr, a Republican who voted for Mr. Trump, “but now we need to perform.” He said the president’s success in finalizing trade deals, as well as expanding ethanol production, would help determine what happens in next year’s election. “If the president comes through on what he says he was going to do, it would be hard for him to lose,” Mr. Mohr said. “If he doesn’t, it’s going to be hard for him to win.” OpinionThe Editorial Board

agriculture

farmers

(farmers , perdue , agriculture , farm , soybeans , tariffs , usda , aid , agricultural , perdue said)

2017

10.0

RIO DE JANEIRO — Federal prosecutors in Brazil on Wednesday charged a Brazilian partner in the former Trump Hotel Rio de Janeiro with paying bribes to propel the city’s bid to host the 2016 Olympic Games. The businessman, Arthur César de Menezes Soares Filho, is a fugitive in the United States, according to Brazilian prosecutors. They expressed frustration over what they characterized as Washington’s reluctance to help in the investigation, contending that American officials did not extradite him, freeze his bank accounts or search his Miami residence as part of an international attempt to bring him to justice. The 157-page criminal complaint made public on Wednesday charts what prosecutors called a “win-win” kickback scheme masterminded by a powerful trio: the former Rio de Janeiro governor, Sérgio Cabral; the recently-ousted head of Brazil’s Olympic Committee, Carlos Arthur Nuzman; and Mr. Soares, who ran several companies that were awarded multimillion government contracts. The complaint does not suggest that anyone in the Trump Organization was involved in, or aware of, the kickback scheme. The Trump Organization pulled out of the project last December, soon after the hotel came under scrutiny in a separate criminal investigation involving investments by public pension fund managers. The Trump Organization on Wednesday declined to comment on the record to questions submitted by email about its relationship with Mr. Soares and whether it had been contacted by investigators. According to the charging document in the Olympic bribery case, Mr. Soares, a longtime associate of the former Rio governor, was the source of at least $2 million in bribes paid to Lamine Diack, the former president of the International Association of Athletics Federations who had a vote in the selection of the 2016 Summer Games. Mr. Diack and his son, Papa Massata Diack — who is accused of acting as the conduit for the bribes — are also defendants in the case unveiled on Wednesday. Prosecutors in Rio de Janeiro say there is much they still don’t know about the scope of the bribery scheme, including whether other people who had a vote in Rio’s selection received bribes. But they expressed disappointment that Mr. Soares, who owns a luxurious seaside villa in Miami, remains at large. They said American law enforcement officials dragged their feet on Brazil’s request to freeze his bank accounts and search his home on Sept. 5, when the investigation, known as Operation Unfair Play, was publicly disclosed. That morning, shortly after dawn, investigators in Brazil served search warrants at Mr. Nuzman’s home and at the Olympic committee office in Rio. Simultaneously, French investigators served a search warrant at a Paris apartment that belongs to Mr. Soares. Brazilian and French investigators had been working jointly since March. Prosecutors in Rio de Janeiro had already been looking into Mr. Soares’s businesses as part of corruption inquiries into the Cabral governorship. Mr. Cabral was sentenced to 45 years in prison last month in a separate corruption case. Mr. Nuzman, the former head of Brazil’s Olympic Committee, has denied wrongdoing. Efforts to reach Mr. Soares in Miami in recent days have been unsuccessful. The possibility that Rio’s selection to host the Games was tainted by bribery made the case a priority for prosecutors in Brazil, who are juggling dozens of high-profile graft cases involving prominent politicians and businessmen. “It was an international case and we assumed the whole world would have an interest in it,” Eduardo El Hage, the lead prosecutor in the Rio de Janeiro federal anticorruption task force, said in an interview. In mid-August, Brazilian prosecutors sent the Justice Department a request for Mr. Soares’s extradition in a 25-page affidavit that laid out their case against him. At the time, Mr. Soares was the subject of a provisional detention order, but had not been formally charged. The affidavit, which was marked “classified,” noted that Brazil intended to serve other arrest warrants in the case on Sept. 5. Brazilian officials said they were hopeful that the authorities in the United States would get involved. After all, Chicago was one of the cities that Rio edged out in the competition to host the Games. The American city’s bid had been championed by President Barack Obama and Oprah Winfrey, both of whom traveled to Copenhagen on the eve of the announcement, hoping to sway committee members. Yet, Brazilian prosecutors said they felt stonewalled by the Americans after they suggested that United States authorities freeze Mr. Soares’s bank accounts and execute a search warrant on his residence in coordination with the other raids on Sept. 5. “It was frustrating,” said Vladimir Aras, a senior Brazilian prosecutor who until recently served as the head of international cooperation at the attorney general’s office in Brasília. “It would have been more fruitful for the collection of evidence if we had counted with the cooperation of the United States.” Brazilian prosecutors say they fear that Mr. Soares may have shielded his assets, and potentially gone into hiding, in recent days. They consider him a flight risk because Mr. Soares had been seeking to obtain Uruguayan and Portuguese citizenship, possibly in an effort to dodge extradition. The first official response that Brazil received from the United States government was delivered on Sept. 5 in a four-page diplomatic note submitted by the State Department. The note said that Brazil’s request had failed to meet the evidentiary standard for extradition. It questioned the strength of some of the evidence that the Brazilians had submitted in the affidavit. The Justice Department declined to comment on the specifics of the case. “The United States is not a safe haven for fugitives from any nation,” Wyn Hornbuckle, a spokesman, said Wednesday. “We value our strong law enforcement relationship with Brazil. As a matter of policy, the department does not comment on specific extradition processes, but we are committed to working together on these matters.” While the United States has a long history of law enforcement cooperation with countries like Brazil, tensions can arise when nations are pursuing parallel investigations with overlapping targets. Mr. Soares’s residence in South Florida, and his history of real estate transactions in the United States, could offer American prosecutors a hook by which to bring their own criminal case. In the United States’ corruption case focused on FIFA — soccer’s global governing body, with headquarters in Switzerland — Brazil has been among the numerous countries that provided substantial help to the United States. But there have been behind-the-scenes tensions, with some countries wanting to take the lead on prosecuting their own citizens and bristling at the idea of being eclipsed by the United States in high-profile cases. Brazilian prosecutors say the Olympic committee in Brazil paid the former Trump hotel 3.8 million Brazilian Reais — an amount currently worth roughly $1.2 million — for the use of hotel rooms during the Games. The hotel carried the Trump name, and the Trump Organization managed the property. But it did not have an equity stake in the hotel. The 13-floor, 171-room hotel was the first Trump Hotel in South America. In a 2014 news release, President Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., an executive vice president of the Trump Organization, hailed the location in the upscale Barra de Tijucaas as “the perfect mix of modernity and nature,” saying it was “poised to emerge as the heart of Rio de Janeiro.” By the time the Games began in early August 2016, the hotel, beset by construction delays, could not deliver the number of rooms it was contractually obligated to make available for Olympic visitors. Under the contract, this should have made the hotel subject to a penalty. Yet, prosecutors say, the hotel was not penalized and got a 30 percent discount in the amount of money it returned to the Olympic Committee for failing to make the rooms ready on time. That leniency, prosecutors say, was emblematic of a “grand accord” by the defendants to turn Olympics-related spending into opportunities for personal gain. In the charging document, prosecutors refer to Mr. Soares as a partner in the hotel. In a statement issued on Wednesday, the hotel, now called LSH Barra Hotel, sought to minimize his role in the venture. It said he never had a formal role in the hotel and characterized him as a relatively minor stakeholder in the investment fund that bankrolled the project. OpinionMarina Silva

sports

rio olympics

(rio , olympic , olympics , rio janeiro , janeiro , rios , games , athletes , brazil , olympic games)

2016

5.0

A state court judge on Wednesday temporarily blocked state authorities from licensing as a child care facility a federal immigration detention center holding migrant children and their mothers. The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services was preparing to issue a child care license to the center, located in Dilley, where families seeking asylum, including very young children, are detained. Ruling on an emergency request by Grassroots Leadership, a prison advocacy group, Judge Karin Crump of Travis County found it was “probable” that new regulations adopted by the department to support the license were inconsistent with state law. On Friday, Texas issued a child care license to a similar detention center nearby in Karnes City. JULIA PRESTON The name of a founder of the University of Tulsa law school, John Rogers, will be removed from campus because of his ties to the Ku Klux Klan. Trustees voted Wednesday to remove the name from the law school building. Mr. Rogers was a lawyer and philanthropist who helped found the law school in 1943, served as its unpaid dean for years and was a trustee for decades. He also helped incorporate the K.K.K.-affiliated Tulsa Benevolent Association. It was founded months after the 1921 Tulsa race riot that left about 300 black residents dead and a thriving section of downtown — known as Black Wall Street — decimated. (AP)

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2017

4.0

Looking for a Trump bump in the economy? Keep waiting. After two months of stellar job creation that convinced administration officials that President Trump’s policies were paying off immediately, employers pulled back sharply on hiring in March. The economy added 98,000 jobs, the Labor Department reported Friday, fewer than half the monthly number for January and February. The report contained some notable good news: The unemployment rate fell to 4.5 percent, the lowest level in almost a decade and a milestone in the long road back from the Great Recession. The rate was 4.7 percent in February. Wages also continued to rise. But the disappointing number of new jobs was jarring for the administration, and well below what economists had expected. It comes as the stock market surge, which followed the November election, subsides and amid signs that economic growth in the year’s first quarter proves weak. Economic perceptions, as well, may not be playing out in reality. Sentiment among consumers and businesses rose after Mr. Trump’s election, but so far, it has not been matched by a comparable increase in spending by either group. “We’ve given up on waiting for hard data to improve,” said Rob Martin, an economist at Barclays. “It’s been five months since confidence increased. If consumption were going to improve, it would have already.” Industries that Mr. Trump emphasized in his campaign — particularly manufacturing — continued to add jobs last month, but at a slower pace. Payrolls in the retail sector, meanwhile, declined further, shedding tens of thousands of jobs. The response from the White House, which crowed last month after more than 200,000 jobs were produced in Mr. Trump’s first full month in office, was muted Friday. Gary D. Cohn, the former Goldman Sachs executive who is director of the White House’s National Economic Council, emphasized the decline in the unemployment rate. “When you look at the jobs report as a whole, I think there’s an awful lot of good news in here,” he told Fox Business Network. Congressional Democrats took a dimmer view. Also watching closely are the policy makers of the Federal Reserve, which has begun to reel in its post-recession stimulus. It raised interest rates last month and said it planned to do so twice more this year. But signs of a sluggish economy could affect how quickly the central bank moves. “This raises the stakes for the April report,” said Joshua Shapiro, chief United States economist at MFR, a research firm. “You need to see things pick up in April, or else March won’t look like aberration.” The market reaction, in any case, was sanguine, with stocks essentially flat for the day. Barclays has said it expects the economy to actually slow in the first half of 2017, before rebounding modestly in the second half. “Given this data today, we see downside risk in our already soft expectations for the first half,” Mr. Martin said. The consensus view on Wall Street is that the economy expanded at an annual rate of 1 percent last quarter, with the pace of growth in the current second quarter rising to 3.5 percent. The March report represents a snapshot of the economy, not an oil painting. And snow and cold weather in many parts of the country clearly took a toll on the construction sector, which barely grew after gaining a total of more than 90,000 jobs in January and February. “January and February were abnormally warm, so they were pumped up, and you had some payback in March exacerbated by the harsh weather,” Mr. Shapiro said. On Capitol Hill, Republicans acknowledged a glass-half-full view of the report. “The economy clearly should be generating higher job growth,” said Representative Pat Tiberi, an Ohio Republican who is chairman of the Joint Economic Committee. “However, the unemployment rate fell to the lowest rate since before the recession.” The top Democrat on the committee, Senator Martin Heinrich of New Mexico, ignored the new jobless rate and focused instead on the disappointing payroll gain. “Today’s jobs numbers show there are still challenges ahead that this administration must address,” Mr. Heinrich said. “President Trump promised that he would be ‘the greatest jobs producer that God ever created.’ Democrats on the Joint Economic Committee will hold him to this promise.” Last month, when February’s payroll gain turned out to be much better than expected, Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary, claimed credit for Mr. Trump. Mr. Spicer called the job creation a result of “the surge in economic confidence and optimism that has been inspired since his election.” Part of the problem for the administration is that its legislative accomplishments in the first hundred days are falling far short of the expectations — notably, for tax cuts and infrastructure spending — since the election. Whether or not they support Mr. Trump, mainstream economists say it will take many months for policy shifts in Washington to move a battleship-like economy with 153 million workers. What is more, the tepid numbers for March mask pockets of strength. For example, a few white-collar sectors like professional and business services are holding up well, adding 56,000 jobs last month. Hyland, a business software designer in Westlake, Ohio, plans to hire at least 300 people this year, Bill Priemer, its chief executive, said. That is a 15 percent increase in head count at the company, and it is a sign of just how quickly demand is growing for new technologies like content management, one of Hyland’s specialties. “We are growing faster than the economy and the enterprise software sector overall,” Mr. Priemer said. “Digital transformation is a big buzzword, but it’s just fancy terminology to describe how business can use technology to streamline their operations.” On the other hand, new technologies are upending venerable industries like retailing, as consumers shift to shopping online and department stores close. The retail sector lost almost 30,000 jobs last month, after a decline of about 31,000 in February. The headline numbers for hiring and the unemployment rate are derived from separate surveys by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, one of establishments, the other of households. Although the two tends to converge over time, they can vary widely from month to month, and March was one of those times. So while businesses showed an anemic gain of 98,000 jobs in terms of payrolls, households reported a 472,000 increase in employment, without any fall in labor participation. That explains why the unemployment rate could fall by 0.2 of a percentage point, even as the number for job creation was far short of expectations. “I think the headline number was clearly impacted by the weather,” said Michelle Meyer, head of United States economics at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. But at some point she said, rosy economic expectations are likely to catch up with a more sober reality. “Sentiment surveys moved sharply higher after the election on expectations of pro-business policies and tax reform,” she added. “So far, that hasn’t happened, and the big question is whether confidence can remain as strong.”

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2018

6.0

Facing a crisis of affordability, officials are trying to reduce real estate demand through a package of tax measures, some aimed at foreign buyers. Condominium towers in Vancouver, British Columbia, where housing costs are up by about 60 percent over the past three years. About a fifth of local homeowners in a survey said they’d like to see prices fall by 30 percent or more.CreditCreditAlana Paterson for The New York Times VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Between multimillion-dollar tear-downs, blocks full of backyard cottages and towering condominiums that are sold and resold several times before they are even built, there is no shortage of anecdotes about this city’s housing frenzy. Here is a new one: Vancouver is so expensive that politicians want to tax its real estate market into submission, and many homeowners — who will lose money if home prices fall — think it’s the best idea they’ve heard in years. “I would like to see a correction to sober up this whole place,” said Rob Welsh, a retired airplane mechanic who lives in a Vancouver suburb. Mr. Welsh bought his house in 2000 and has become a paper millionaire based on its appreciation. It makes him more anxious than happy. “If I got to lose 200 or 300 grand to keep the kids and the future of this place, so be it,” he said. Like many cities around the world, Vancouver is grappling with punishing housing costs that have pushed out large swaths of residents — and are causing distress among young adults who can’t afford rent today and take it for granted that they will never own a home. Part of the reason is the attraction of Vancouver itself, and not just among Canadians. Between its natural beauty, its temperate climate and Canada’s liberal immigration policies, the city has become a magnet for foreign buyers, especially from China. Many places, in both Canada and the United States, have tried remedies to the squeeze: tenant protections, housing subsidies and steps to enable developers to build higher and faster so that more housing will come online. But few have gone as far as British Columbia. Last year, in a provincial election almost entirely about housing costs, citizens voted out the center-right B.C. Liberal Party, which had run British Columbia for 16 years, and brought in a government led by the left-of-center B.C. New Democratic Party. Since then, the New Democrats have not only tried to increase the housing supply, but have also proposed a slew of measures that aim to curb housing demand and chase away overseas buyers. The New Democrats raised British Columbia’s foreign-buyer tax to 20 percent of a home’s purchase price, from 15 percent. (Ontario has a 15 percent tax.) In addition, the party plans to impose higher property taxes on second homes, on families whose primary breadwinner’s earnings come from money abroad and on homes valued at more than 3 million Canadian dollars ($2.3 million). Vancouver has passed a number of local measures, including a tax on empty homes. “There’s no question that many of the measures we are bringing in are bold, but we felt they were critical if we were really going to address this crisis,” Carole James, British Columbia’s finance minister, said in an interview. This would seem politically perilous. Two-thirds of Canadians own their homes, roughly the same share as in the United States. And Canadians, like Americans, expect to make money from the investment. Yet a number of polls, and interviews with homeowners like Mr. Welsh, suggest that Vancouverites are so shocked at the price levels that even homeowners want the market to cool. In 2016, the nonprofit Angus Reid Institute in Vancouver found that roughly two-thirds of residents in the metropolitan area wanted home prices to fall, including half of homeowners. More startling was that one in five homeowners in the survey expressed a desire to see home prices fall by 30 percent or more. No doubt, many voters would think twice about that opinion if home prices actually crashed. Still, respondents “were clearly reacting from a place of deep anxiety, even desperation, about their own or their loved ones’ ability to access the housing market,” said Shachi Kurl, executive director of Angus Reid. And so far, people like what they see from the new government’s attempts to rein in the market: In a separate Angus Reid poll this year, large majorities of British Columbians supported the housing measures proposed by the New Democratic government. “Unbeknownst to many people in the local population, Vancouver has been sold as a subsidized resort town and retirement community to the world,” said Josh Gordon, a political science professor at Simon Fraser University here. “We are now seeing the culmination of that dynamic.” Vancouver, surrounded by snow-capped mountains and wide maritime views, has never been especially cheap. But home and condominium prices are up by close to 16 percent over the past year, and about 60 percent over the past three, according to the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver. What makes these gains so remarkable is that unlike Silicon Valley, London or New York — where the presence of high-paying tech and finance jobs helps explain housing costs — Vancouver has relatively low salaries. As part of their bid for Amazon’s second headquarters, Vancouver officials boasted about having “the lowest wages of all North American tech hubs.” “We have plenty of jobs, but you might need two or three of them to be able to afford a place to live,” said Andy Yan, director of the City Program at Simon Fraser. How much of the city’s housing demand is coming from China is hotly debated. Government statistics show that foreign buyers own about 5 percent of the housing stock in the metropolitan area, but the numbers are several times as high for new condominiums, which helps to explain why a surge of building hasn’t done much to reduce prices, according to an analysis by Mr. Yan. And this almost certainly underestimates the influence of foreign capital, since the data exclude Canadian immigrants with money from overseas. The real estate industry contends that the issue is not an influx of Chinese, who have been coming to Vancouver for decades, but zoning restrictions that prioritize low-density living, outside of a few high-rise areas. “I live 15 minutes from the downtown core in a house,” said Keith Roy, a real estate agent. “That’s crazy. I should be in a townhouse at this distance, maybe even a low-rise condo building.” The figures show, however, that unlike other expensive West Coast cities like San Francisco, where the housing supply has long lagged behind population growth, Vancouver has consistently produced new housing. Over the past decade, the housing stock has grown by about 12 percent, while the population has grown by about 9 percent, according to the city. This disparity has persuaded the city to broaden its measures beyond just a push for new buildings to efforts like the empty homes tax. “It’s getting out of the mind-set that just more is better,” said Gil Kelley, the city’s general manager of planning, urban design and sustainability. Tom Davidoff, an economist at the University of British Columbia, said it was all of the above. Vancouver is popular with foreign buyers, yes. But it also has strict zoning laws that reserve most of the city’s land for single-family homes, as well as high income taxes but low property taxes of about a quarter of a percent of the property value. “The message we have sent the world is, ‘Come and buy our real estate, but do not try to make a living here,’” Mr. Davidoff said. “Mission accomplished.” While the new government’s housing measures are popular with many voters, richer homeowners are fuming. A recent stroll through Vancouver’s wealthier West Side turned up bright red signs protesting the tax on $3 million homes. “Are you angry yet?” read one. “Rally against the N.D.P. tax grab now.” A group of wealthy homeowners also petitioned to get Mr. Davidoff, the economist, fired. His sin: talking favorably about increased property taxes. However it happened, Vancouver’s transformation to an international gateway has given the city something of an identity crisis. For Vancouverites who a generation ago took it for granted that they could buy a home or condo near the urban core, the trade-offs for the steep rise in prices are hard to accept. “People who live and work in Vancouver can’t afford to live here,” said Nathalie Baker, a lawyer who is in favor of measures to cool the market, even though she owns a home here. “And that is a very significant problem.”

real estate

housing prices

(vancouver , toronto , housing , canadian , canadas , housing market , toronto vancouver , home prices , foreign buyers , ottawa)

2019

10.0

(For a live blog on the U.S. stock market, click or type LIVE/ in a news window.) * BofA, PNC, BNY Mellon rise on strong results * Drug distributors seek to settle opioid lawsuits-WSJ * United Airlines gains on raising 2019 profit forecast * Futures off: Dow 0.16%, S&P 500 0.20%, Nasdaq 0.28% (Adds comments; updates prices) By Shreyashi Sanyal and Arjun Panchadar Oct 16 (Reuters) - Wall Street inched lower on Wednesday as a congressional bill related to the Hong Kong protests stoked fears of more friction with China, even as another batch of positive earnings reports underscored a solid start to third quarter results. Bank of America, the second-largest U.S. bank by assets, rose 2.3% in premarket trading after beating Wall Street estimates for third-quarter profit as it earned more in advisory fees and grew its loan book. PNC Financial Services Group Inc and Bank of New York Mellon Corp also gained about 1.5% after topping quarterly profit expectations. The reports followed robust results on Tuesday from JPMorgan Chase & Co and Citigroup Inc, showing consumer confidence remained strong despite recession fears that have led businesses to pull back on spending and borrowing. Analysts have forecast a 3% drop in third-quarter earnings for S&P 500 companies, projecting their worst quarterly performance in nearly three years, according to Refinitiv data. “We play this game every quarter where expectations are talked down and then there is roughly two-thirds of a surprise to the upside,” said Scott Brown, chief economist at Raymond James in St. Petersburg, Florida. The prolonged trade war between the United States and China, however, has taken a toll on both global growth and financial markets this year. The U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday passed legislation related to pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong. In response, China warned that bilateral relations would be damaged if the measures became law. Conflicting reports on the state of Brexit talks also added to the mix. At 9:01 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were down 42 points, or 0.16%. S&P 500 e-minis were down 6 points, or 0.2% and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 22.5 points, or 0.28%. United Airlines was up 2% after topping analyst estimates for quarterly profit, and increased its 2019 profit target. Abbott Laboratories fell 3.3% after the medical device maker trimmed the upper end of its full-year earnings forecast and missed quarterly revenue estimates. Its results were in sharp contrast to those from Johnson & Johnson and UnitedHealth Group Inc, which reported upbeat results on Tuesday and raised their full-year profit forecasts. Tech heavyweights Netflix Inc and International Business Machines are due to report later on Wednesday. McKesson, AmerisourceBergen and Cardinal Health jumped between 3% and 6% after a report that the drug distributors were in talks with state and local governments to settle thousands of opioid lawsuits for $18 billion. Data on Wednesday showed a fall in U.S. retail sales for the first time in seven months in September. (Reporting by Shreyashi Sanyal and Arjun Panchadar in Bengaluru; Editing by Bernard Orr)

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2019

1.0

MILAN/ROME (Reuters) - Italy’s Banca Carige (CRGI.MI) will raise up to 3 billion euros ($3.43 billion) in debt using a state guarantee after Rome approved emergency measures to shore up the ailing bank, marking a major about-face by the ruling coalition. Italy’s populist government has set up a 1.3 billion euro fund to support Carige after the European Central Bank (ECB) last week put the Genoa-based bank under temporary administration, following a failed attempt to raise capital from investors. This represents a significant shift by the 5-Star Movement, part of the coalition government with the right-wing League, which was highly critical of past decisions to use taxpayer money to prop up banks. Carige has emerged as Italy’s latest major problem bank after the previous center-left government rescued rival Monte dei Paschi (BMPS.MI) and bankrolled the takeover of two regional lenders by Intesa Sanpaolo (ISP.MI) in 2017. Italian banks have been hit by a deep recession that soured nearly a fifth of all client loans. The 5-Star and the League defended their decision as a move to shield small savers, prompting accusations of hypocrisy from the opposition. “They only needed 10 minutes at a late-night cabinet meeting to disavow five years of lies and insults directed against us,” former center-left Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said on Twitter. Italy’s UILCA union welcomed the shift after a meeting in Genoa on Tuesday with Carige’s administrators. “An appropriate change of mind after statements such as ‘We won’t give a penny to banks’, so that conditions are now in place to rescue the Liguria-based bank,” UILCA head Massimo Masi said. Union sources told Reuters the administrators told the meeting any job cuts would only happen after Carige clinched a merger requested by regulators, but they also noted there was no potential partner currently in sight. The unions expressed concerns about Carige’s plan to shed more problem loans after the bank said it would invite potential bidders to cut impaired debts below 10 percent of total lending, compared with 27.5 percent at the end of September. Carige, which has faced liquidity crises in the past, said on Tuesday it would use the state guarantee to sell bonds, but added it was unlikely to turn to the government for capital. In a decree which came into force on Tuesday, Italy reinstated a measure adopted in the past to provide liquidity to banks and committed up to 300 million euros for a guarantee provided by the Treasury on new bonds issued by Carige in addition to funds it may borrow from the Bank of Italy. The decree also authorized the state to buy up to 1 billion euros in Carige shares by the end of September under a “precautionary recapitalization” scheme previously used for Monte dei Paschi, but Carige has said that applying for state aid is “a very marginal option”. European Union rules governing state aid allow for a solvent bank to receive public money to fill a hypothetical capital shortfall under a shock scenario. Carige fared poorly in ECB stress tests last year. Weakened by decades of mismanagement and an excessive exposure to the depressed local economy, Carige has piled up more than 1.5 billion euros in losses since 2014, mostly due to bad loans. It has since raised 2.2 billion euros in three successive cash calls, but when the bank’s shares were suspended on Jan. 2, it was worth just 84 million euros. Italian banks in November came to Carige’s rescue by providing second-tier capital via a 320-million-euro hybrid bond. But Carige’s top shareholder, the Malacalza family of steel magnates, in December blocked a new share issue of up to 400 million euros that would have been guaranteed by the bond’s conversion into equity. The Malacalzas, who have already poured more than 400 million euros into Carige, have said they first want more clarity on the bank’s future. Carige can still use the bond to beef up its core capital if this fell below minimum requirements and sources have told Reuters a possible conversion, which can be requested by the bank itself or supervisory authorities, remains on the table. In the meantime, Carige’s administrators have sought a reduction in the 16 percent rate the bank pays on the bond. A source at the banking fund that bought the bond said a meeting would take place on Wednesday to discuss Carige’s proposal. Additional reporting by Stefano Bernabei in Rome, Andrea Mandala in Milan and Paola Balsomini in Genoa; editing by Jane Merriman, G Crosse

finance

banking

(banca , gmt , italian , monte dei , dei , paschi , monte , dei paschi , italys , euros)

2017

6.0

"Today I played with my mother, showing how she will look when her hair – which has fallen out from chemo - grows. Her reaction." "It's always been me, my father, and her," she said. "The sudden shock was huge and my dad was pretty shaken up; I had to keep up a tough front. The first, heaviest sessions were done with my father there with her. She cried, and he stayed by her side the whole time. During the treatment my father and I tried to make her laugh at any cost, with theater, musical numbers, everything done by just us two." "What a beautiful thing." "She's refused to allow any pictures since she began treatment, but after I told her about all the positive messages, and about how we could inspire other people, in the end she let it stay up." This post was translated from Portuguese.

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None

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2016

7.0

(Reuters) - CBS Corp (CBS.N), owner of the most-watched U.S. television network, on Thursday posted a 27.4 percent rise in quarterly profit that beat expectations as licensing revenue from its new “Star Trek” series offset slower advertising sales. Shares of the media company slipped 0.02 percent to $54.20 in extended trading, after closing at $54.21 on the New York Stock Exchange. The company, which owns cable channel Showtime, radio stations and publishing house Simon & Schuster, said net income rose to $423 million, or 93 cents per share, in the second quarter ended June 30 from $332 million, or 67 cents per share, a year earlier. Analysts on average had expected 86 cents, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Advertising revenue dropped 2.6 percent to $1.55 billion, partly because of a year-ago surge from the National Collegiate Athletic Association basketball finals broadcast, the company said in a statement. Advertising contributes almost half of CBS’s total revenue. CBS will benefit later this year from double-digit ad price increases that were locked in during the advance selling season for fall TV shows, as well as strong demand for political ads during the U.S. presidential election campaign, Chief Executive Leslie Moonves told analysts on a conference call after the company released earnings. CBS has focused on boosting revenue from online subscription streaming services such as Netflix Inc (NFLX.O) and its own CBS All Access in order to rely less on advertising and attract younger viewers. CBS All Access and an online streaming service on Showtime each have about 1 million subscribers, Moonves said. Content licensing and distribution revenue rose about 16 percent to $943 million, accounting for about 28.7 percent of total revenue. The company said it benefited from a deal to stream “Star Trek” television episodes on Netflix in international markets. CBS, home to shows such as “NCIS,” “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” and “The Big Bang Theory,” said total revenue rose 2.1 percent to $3.29 billion in the quarter. Analysts on average had expected $3.21 billion. CBS on Thursday raised its quarterly dividend to 18 cents per share from 15 cents announced in May. It also increased its share buyback program to $6 billion from $1 billion. Reporting by Nikhil Subba in Bengaluru and Lisa Richwine in Los Angeles; Editing by Don Sebastian and Richard Chang

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None

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2016

4.0

April 26 (Reuters) - O2 Czech Republic * says expects peak period of CAPEX in coming quarters * says believes is able to compensate for negative impact of roaming regulation, mobile data seen as growth driver * “We do believe we will be able to compensate whatever negative roaming effect will be there by activities we have described. What we see as the source of growth is definitely mobile data in both the Czech Republic and Slovakia,” Chief Financial Officer Tomas Kouril says. * has entered TV/media broadcasting market, offering production * company investing into new growth areas * Q1 CAPEX CZK 457 mln, up 47.9 percent y/y * on share buyback, says parameters still in place, has not been in market since March 15 Further company coverage:

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None

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2017

11.0

A gradual increase in interest rates is the best way to deal with inflation and support the U.S. economy, Loretta Mester, president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, told CNBC Thursday. "I think a gradual path is the best strategy we have for prolonging the expansion," she said. "Obviously we want to be responsible to changes in the economic outlook and as data comes in we are always revising the outlook," Loretta, a non-voting member of the Fed, said, mentioning she looks at inflation and inflation expectation numbers. In October, the Federal Reserve said the U.S. economy had been expanding at a steady pace and suggested that another rate hike could take place in December. The central bank has also began rolling off its $4.5 trillion balance sheet under its quantitative easing program, in an attempt to normalize monetary policy. Oil prices have traded close to two-year highs this week due to some political instability in the Middle East. As a result, inflation could be pushed higher and thus requesting a more hawkish stance from the Fed. However, Loretta told CNBC that this doesn't worry her "for the moment." "It's certainly part of the data that we will be looking at and focusing on," she said. "The key thing will be, does it upset inflation expectations? Will they arise? Will they respond to those oil price increases?" Loretta wondered. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump has proposed changes to the U.S. tax system. Though the package is still far from being approved by every political institution, some Fed officials have warned that it could hurt the path of inflation. Tax changes could boost economic growth in the short-term, but also spook inflation and raise debt levels. Loretta said she included some fiscal stimulus in her forecasts but because there are no details on how deep the reform will actually go, the tax plan doesn't have an impact for now on monetary policy. "It's really hard to tell what will be in that final tax package," she said. She added she included "a little bit" of fiscal stimulus in her outlook, but it does not have "a huge impact at this point." "It's very difficult to build something in when you didn't really have the particulars of what formulation that tax package will be," she said.

finance

Federal Reserve

(fed , feds , powell , inflation , rates , yellen , rate , federal reserve , reserve , monetary policy)

2017

5.0

May 17 (Reuters) - Larry Jewelry International Co Ltd : * Trading in shares has been halted at 9:02 a.m on 17 May 2017 Source text for Eikon: Further company coverage:

None

None

(trading halt , halt pending , pending announcement , halt , pending , eikon company , text eikon , eikon , trading , source text)

2019

11.0

Russian President Vladimir Putin said that his country has always had "great respect" for the U.S. and hopes it will not be accused of meddling in the 2020 U.S. election. Speaking to an audience at the Russia Calling investment forum in Moscow on Wednesday, Putin said he believed Russia had "many common interests with the United States." "The U.S. is a great power, and we have always treated them with great respect, were twice allies in the two world wars, this is our common history," he said, according to a translation. Relations between Putin and President Donald Trump have been cordial despite a raft of U.S. sanctions imposed on Russia following its 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine, its role in a pro-Russian uprising in eastern Ukraine and its meddling in the 2016 U.S. election. There have been signs of sanction fatigue in Europe but Trump has been under pressure from U.S. lawmakers not to ease pressure on Russia, however. Russia's neighbor Ukraine is currently under the spotlight following a phone call between Trump and its new President Volodymyr Zelensky that prompted an impeachment inquiry into the U.S. president, who is accused of trying to pressure Ukraine into investigating his political rival Joe Biden. Trump denies the accusation. Putin said he hoped Russia would not be accused of meddling again as the focus has shifted on Ukraine. "Hopefully no one accuses us of election interference in the United States. Now they're accusing Ukraine. We'll let them deal with that themselves," he said. "But these factors of internal politics and the internal political struggle in the United States has a negative impact on Russian-American relations. I hope this will come to an end in the future — we are ready," he said. U.S. sanctions that were first imposed on Russia in 2014 made the country "anxious" at first, Putin told the audience of investors in Moscow, but he insisted they had in fact spurred the economy to be more self-reliant. "We all have made a very serious and great step to increase our economic and technical sovereignty. In this sense, of all these limitations and sanctions were useful for our economy," he said. Putin added that sanctions had led to billions of dollars of trade losses for Europe and less for Russia. He also said that the U.S. had "shot themselves in the leg" by limiting U.S.-Russian trade. The sanctions from 2014 onwards affected certain Russian sectors, including the financial industry, entities and individuals. The sanctions lists have increased each year and global risk management firm The Risk Advisory Group noted in September that the list now consists of more than 500 companies and 300 individuals. But Russia has now largely weathered the restrictions after a period of capital flight and a financial crisis a few years ago. Russian equities are among some of the world's top performers this year amid relatively low valuations and a strengthening currency. Net returns on the MSCI Russia index were up more than 40% year-to-date as compared to the overall MSCI Emerging Market Index, which was up 10.35% in the same period, data from the MSCI at the end of October showed. Russia's central bank has tamed high inflation in the last few years with a policy of high interest rates (the interest rate was 17% in December 2014) but has since gradually lowered rates as inflation has fallen. In October, the central bank again cut its main interest rate by a surprising 50 basis points to 6.5% and signaled that it could cut the rate again in the coming months. In its October statement, Russia's central bank said that "the Russian economy's growth rate still remains subdued" and it maintained its 2019 GDP growth forecast in the range of 0.8–1.3%.

politics

russia

(putin , russia , russian , vladimir putin , vladimir , helsinki , russian president , summit , president vladimir , moscow)

2017

6.0

Since Orange is the New Black debuted on Netflix in 2013 — and Piper Kerman's book on which the series is based on was published in 2010 — audiences have only gotten one side of the story regarding the relationship between Piper Chapman and Alex Vause. Now, for the first time, the real-life Alex is speaking out about what she says really happened. In an interview with Vanity Fair, Catherine Cleary Wolters opened up about her relationship with Kerman. Despite what the Netflix series would have us believe, Wolters said that she and Kerman never had sex in prison. The only time the two were ever in the same facility was during a five-week stint in Chicago when they were both there to testify against a co-conspirator in their case. On the flight there, the two were seated together, and Wolters said Kerman refused to speak to her at all. However, during the time they spent together in Chicago, Wolters told Vanity Fair, “We made some mean dinners together, though, out of cans of cheese, corn chips, and chili, and Piper learned how to communicate effectively through a toilet — a little something you’ll never pick up at Smith.” While Kerman spent 13 months in Danbury Correctional Institution, Wolters said she served about 20 years between her time incarcerated or on parole for her involvement in the drug ring. Also at odds with the story told on-screen is the portrait of Vause as the older lesbian who "seduced" Chapman. Wolters is also clear that she was not the first woman that Kerman was ever with. "I was not the older sexy, glamorous lesbian who snatched her from her pristine Smith College cradle," she told Vanity Fair. She also claimed that they were never girlfriends, but were "friends with benefits" who had "a crazy mad love affair," and that Kerman was involved in the drug ring before the two became romantically involved, not after, as portrayed on the show. Despite its inaccuracies, Wolters understands that it is a fictional TV show that must be entertaining. In fact, she's a fan of the show. Wolters said she has watched the entire thing and will continue to watch because she finds the show interesting and the cast incredible, and she likes watching Prepon have lesbian sex on-screen. But she's clear with Vanity Fair, saying that, “This story isn’t about a fun ride through some old familiar haunt, giving me little glimpses and peeks of some fond old stomping ground. Christ, it’s my nightmare." Read These Stories Next: The Hottest Movie Sex Scenes, Ever (NSFW) Sick Of TV? These Shows Will Get You Addicted All Over Again Sex & The City Episodes Were All Based On Real Sexcapades

television

Orange is the New Black

(orange new , new black , taystee , litchfield , poussey , orange , piper , oitnb , prison , inmates)

2016

5.0

Right up until the end, the composer Richard Rodgers had the gift. That elusive thing known as melody poured out of him unceasingly, until his death in 1979 at 77. As for song lyrics, the death of Oscar Hammerstein II in 1960 robbed him of his second great collaborator, after Lorenz Hart, and led Rodgers to try his hand at the craft in his hit 1962 musical, “No Strings.” On Sunday evening, “I Have Confidence: Rodgers After Hammerstein,” the season finale of the Lyrics and Lyricists series at the 92nd Street Y, introduced audiences to mostly obscure show tunes written by Rodgers during the last third of his career. That’s right, the last third: a stretch of time roughly as long as each of his major collaborations. Ted Chapin, the genial president of the Rodgers and Hammerstein organization for three decades, hosted the show. The evening might have been a dutiful slog, but for the appearance of the actor Larry Pine to read Rodgers’s reflections on songwriting, which, together with slides, film clips and a superior cast (T. Oliver Reid; Betsy Wolfe; Karen Ziemba; and Ben Crawford, a phenomenal young baritone) infused the songs with freshness and enthusiasm. The director Lorin Latarro gave the show a gliding momentum that suited the songs, many of which were waltzes. As Mr. Chapin pointed out, Rodgers was the Broadway musical’s modern “waltz king,” whose style remained outside the grand, sweeping Viennese tradition. The musical director and pianist Joseph Thalken’s arrangements for a sextet that included two strings were light but elegant. The unspoken question remained: Did Rodgers’s songs, written after Hammerstein and Hart, with lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, Martin Charnin and Sheldon Harnick, match the quality of his best earlier work? In a word: No. That said, most of the less familiar songs heard on Sunday had an unerring grace and facility, along with a diminished sense of scale. Rodgers, as Mr. Chapin said, may have fought depression and alcoholism, but despair rarely, if ever, found its way into his songwriting. Like Hammerstein, he was an optimist and a romantic. My favorite, among the most familiar, was “Something Good,” a witty celebration of good karma that Rodgers composed for the film “The Sound of Music.” “Somewhere in my youth or childhood,” the lyrics muse. “I must have done something good.” A happy ending.

theater

Broadway

(theater , broadway , musical , previews , 2122396200 , shakespeare , hamilton , play , brantley , plays)

2016

12.0

President-elect Donald TrumpDonald John TrumpPossible GOP challenger says Trump doesn't doesn't deserve reelection, but would vote for him over Democrat O'Rourke: Trump driving global, U.S. economy into recession Manchin: Trump has 'golden opportunity' on gun reforms MORE said he’s donated millions to the Donald J. Trump Foundation, even as he accused the media of failing to report his charitable giving. “I gave millions of dollars to DJT Foundation, raised or recieved millions more, ALL of which is given to charity, and media won't report!” Trump tweeted Monday night. I gave millions of dollars to DJT Foundation, raised or recieved millions more, ALL of which is given to charity, and media won't report! The DJT Foundation, unlike most foundations, never paid fees, rent, salaries or any expenses. 100% of money goes to wonderful charities! On Saturday, the president-elect said he would dissolve the foundation amid mounting scrutiny over potential conflicts of interest with his business holdings. Trump said he was dissolving the charity to avoid the appearance of having a conflict of interest, though he has previously said that he would be legally immune from such conflicts as president. “To avoid even the appearance of any conflict with my role as President I have decided to continue to pursue my strong interest in philanthropy in other ways,” Trump said Saturday. The foundation is been the subject of an investigation by the New York attorney general's office, based on Washington Post reports that the charity’s funds may have been used to personally benefit Trump. The Post investigation revealed that Trump had not given the charity any of his own money in a number of years and that he used its funds to buy portraits of himself and other memorabilia. The foundation was also fined by the IRS for making a political donation of $25,000 in support of Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi — a violation of rules governing the use of charity funds. Bondi later declined to pursue an investigation into the now-defunct Trump University and is now serving on the Trump transition’s executive committee. New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman’s office said Saturday that the charitable endeavor can’t cease operations until its investigation is complete. View the discussion thread. The Hill 1625 K Street, NW Suite 900 Washington DC 20006 | 202-628-8500 tel | 202-628-8503 fax The contents of this site are ©2019 Capitol Hill Publishing Corp., a subsidiary of News Communications, Inc.

politics

trump foundation

(trump foundation , foundation , charity , foundations , selfdealing , charities , york attorney , schneiderman , charitable , underwood)

2017

3.0

Ever since the world's first lab-grown hamburger debuted back in 2013, the industry of in vitro meat production has been accelerating at a breakneck pace. We're closer than ever to having lab-grown meat on grocery store shelves, but as the barriers of technology and cost are broken down, one significant hurdle remains: How do we convince people to eat it? Winning over meat-eaters, the industry's target market, will take effort. Telling consumers that lab-grown meat is better for the planet won't be enough—history shows that this hasn't convinced many to change what's on their plates. Add in the fact that people are wigged out that this meat is produced in a lab, instead of on a living animal, and it gets harder still. To really get people to change, in vitro meat manufacturers will have to bring something else to the table. David Kay is the business analyst for Memphis Meats, which revealed its new lab-grown chicken and duck this week. He told me the company's plan is to make a product that's identical to meat as we know it, and then to educate people about why their version is better. "We don't see us as asking folks to change their diet," Kay told me. "All we're doing is producing the same product that people have enjoyed for millennia in a different process that's better for the environment, the animals, and public health. We think if we communicate that clearly, folks will be able to get behind this." In vitro meat is made by collecting a small amount of stem cell tissue from a living animal and then cultivating it to multiply naturally into muscle and fat. Compared to factory farming, it uses much less land and water, produces way less greenhouse gas emissions, and doesn't harm any animals. Because it's cultivated, it can also be enhanced to be more nutritious or less fatty, and doesn't need to use antibiotics, which, when used in farming, contribute to the rise of antibiotic-resistant superbugs. But environmental messaging is often ineffective when it comes to changing people's diets. The link between eating animal products and climate change is well established, yet the majority of people have no idea how big of an impact eating meat has on the environment. Most people are aware that factory farming uses some pretty cruel practices, yet only 3 percent of Americans identify as strictly vegan or vegetarian. Our diets are culturally entrenched. Even when we know how problematic our food system is, changing what we eat is no easy feat. "There will probably be that initial thought that it's gross or not natural, but factory farming is gross and unnatural," said Suzanne Lipton, a sustainable food expert and the project manager at Columbia University's Earth Institute. "If [lab-grown meat] was leaner, or had more protein per calorie, that could lead to people switching, as well as a lower price point." Ultimately, it might be cost that convinces people to make the switch. Memphis Meats says that by 2021 it will be able to make its product cheaply enough to launch to consumers. Innovators in this field claim that, once scaled up, in vitro meat can be even cheaper than traditional meat. At that point, they'll be appealing to customers on a much more effective level than their conscience: their wallets. Subscribe to pluspluspodcast , Motherboard's new show about the people and machines that are building our future.

food

meats

(meat , labgrown , plantbased , cultured , cultured meat , labgrown meat , meats , memphis meats , clean meat , animal)

2018

5.0

Nationwide transit ridership in March 2018 was 5.9 percent below March 2017, according to the latest data published by the Federal Transit Administration. Following three years of steady declines, these numbers present a dire picture of the nation’s transit industry. Ridership declined in all of the nation’s 38 largest urban areas (and the 39th, Providence, gained only 0.1 percent new riders). Transit systems in Austin, Boston, Charlotte, Cleveland, Miami, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, San Diego, and Tampa-St. Petersburg all suffered double-digit declines, with Austin losing 19.5 percent and Charlotte 15.4 percent despite being two of the fastest growing urban areas in the nation. Data from 2017 showed that ridership in Seattle and Houston grew from 2016, providing hope to transit advocates that other regions could reverse ridership declines if they emulated the examples of those two cities. But transit systems in both Seattle and Houston lost riders in March 2017.   A recent article in Bloomberg claimed that the decline in ridership “is confined to buses,” implying that cities can reverse the decline by building expensive rail transit systems. But that wasn’t even true when the article was written (it admitted that heavy-rail ridership was declining), and the March data show all major forms of transit are declining: buses, commuter rail, light rail, and heavy rail. Cities that have spent billions of dollars on rail transit have not been immune from the decline. Charlotte won new rail riders by opening a new light-rail line in March, but it lost 2.5 bus riders for every rail rider gained. Denver also lost about 2.5 bus riders for every new rail rider. Dallas, Los Angeles, Salt Lake, and several other regions lost both rail and bus riders. Denver-area voters agreed in 2004 to spend billions building new rail transit lines, and the region has opened several lines since then. Yet by 2016 transit carried only about 10,000 more of the urban area’s commuters to work than it did in 2000, while nearly 280,000 more commuters drove to work. Transit apologists offer many excuses for ridership declines, such as low gas prices and crumbling infrastructure. But gas prices were 10 percent higher in March 2018 than March 2017 and ridership is declining even in areas with brand-new transit infrastructure. The fundamental problem is that big-box transit — moving people in 60-passenger buses, 450-passenger light-rail trains or 1,500-passenger heavy-rail or commuter-rail trains — no longer works in American cities. Such transit made sense a century ago when most jobs were in downtowns surrounded by dense residential areas. But today only New York City comes close to looking like that. Modern urban areas have far more jobs scattered across the suburbs than concentrated in downtowns. Job location is only one of many factors people consider when deciding where to live. The result is jobs, residences, retail, schools, and other activity centers are widely dispersed. The number of transit trips taken by the average urban resident declined from nearly 300 in 1918 to about 60 in 1964, when Congress began offering federal subsidies to transit. Since then, federal, state, and local governments have spent more than $1.1 trillion on transit subsidies, yet trips per urban resident have fallen to about 38 in 2017. Here’s a stark reality: according to table B08141 of the 2016 American Community Survey, just 4.3 percent of American workers live in households without cars — and 58 percent of them don’t rely on transit to get to work. Transit doesn’t even work for people who don’t have cars, much less is it able to compete for the business of most of those who do. Some propose to redesign American cities to serve obsolete transit systems: forcing more jobs downtown, building high-density transit-oriented developments in transit corridors, and turning highway and street lanes into dedicated bus lanes. Yet huge changes in urban form are needed to get a small change in transit usage, and the benefits are trivial. Transit isn’t particularly green, using more energy and producing more greenhouse gases, per passenger mile, than the average car. Seattle has done the most to reshape itself into an early twentieth-century city. Draconian land-use policies and tax subsidies increased the city’s population density by 25 percent since 2000 and increased the number of downtown jobs from 215,000 in 2010 to 281,000 in 2017. These policies came at a terrible price: housing is no longer affordable and traffic is practically gridlocked. The urban area gained 58,000 transit commuters since 2000, but it also gained 190,000 auto commuters. It is time to stop thinking that transit is somehow morally superior to driving and that it deserves the $50 billion in subsidies that it receives each year. Ending the subsidies would lead to a variety of private transit alternatives where people will use them and allow cities to concentrate on relieving congestion and making roads safer and cleaner for everyone else. Randal O’Toole (@antiplanner) is director of the Transportation Policy Center at the Independence Institute (@i2idotorg), a free market think tank in Denver, and a senior fellow with the Cato Institute (@CatoInstitute) in Washington, D.C. He is author of the forthcoming book, Romance of the Rails: Why the Passenger Trains We Love Are Not the Transportation We Need. View the discussion thread. The Hill 1625 K Street, NW Suite 900 Washington DC 20006 | 202-628-8500 tel | 202-628-8503 fax The contents of this site are ©2019 Capitol Hill Publishing Corp., a subsidiary of News Communications, Inc.

transportation

subway

(subway , transit , mta , train , trains , riders , cuomo , station , transportation , congestion)

2017

12.0

(CNN)President Donald Trump went back to Twitter Wednesday morning following Alabama's election stunner, claiming that he didn't endorse Republican candidate Roy Moore in the primary election because Trump knew Moore wouldn't be "able to win." "The reason I originally endorsed Luther Strange (and his numbers went up mightily), is that I said Roy Moore will not be able to win the General Election. I was right! Roy worked hard but the deck was stacked against him!" Trump tweeted early Wednesday morning. Trump heavily endorsed Strange during the Alabama primary, traveling to the state to campaign alongside him, something Trump never technically did for Moore in the state of Alabama, Instead, Trump held a campaign-style rally in Florida, just over the border and still in the Alabama media market. In the days following the primary in September, multiple tweets in support of Strange were deleted from Trump's Twitter account after his loss. While the election results came in Tuesday night, Trump tweeted a somewhat conciliatory message, congratulating Democrat Doug Jones on winning "a hard fought victory." "The Write-in votes played a very big factor, but a win is a win," Trump tweeted less than an hour after most news organizations had made the call Jones would win. "The people of Alabama are great, and the Republicans will have another shot at this seat in a very short period of time. It never ends!" Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill told CNN that while results are not yet certified, it is "highly unlikely" Jones will not be the winner of the Senate race. On Tuesday, a source close to the White House said that Moore loss, "is an earthquake" and "devastating" for the President, who endorsed Moore on Twitter and rallied for him at a campaign event just across state lines.

politics

Roy Moore

(moore , alabama , roy moore , roy , moores , doug jones , jones , mr moore , strange , doug)

2017

1.0

This article originally appeared on EW.com. As if sweeping all seven of its categories at the Golden Globes wasn’t enough, La La Land continued its hot streak on Sunday with a sales bump for its soundtrack. The soundtrack for Damien Chazelle’s hit musical hit No. 1 on iTunes’ albums chart less than an hour after winning the Globes for Best Original Score and Best Original Song, per the Los Angeles Times. On Monday morning, it was still sitting pretty in that top spot. La La Land captured a record seven categories in all, including best actor and actress in a musical or comedy for stars Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone, best director and screenplay for Chazelle, the score and song honors, and best picture for a comedy or musical. But even the losers in the original song category saw a bump from their night in the Globes spotlight — as of Monday morning, the soundtracks for the animated films Sing and Moana were also in the top 10 on the iTunes albums chart. See the full list of Golden Globe winners here.

movies

Oscars

(oscars , best picture , awards , oscar , academy , nominations , la land , la la , nominated , picture)

2018

2.0

Sen. Jeff FlakeJeffrey (Jeff) Lane FlakeArpaio considering running for former sheriff job after Trump pardon Overnight Energy: Warren edges past Sanders in poll of climate-focused voters | Carbon tax shows new signs of life | Greens fuming at Trump plans for development at Bears Ears monument Carbon tax shows new signs of life in Congress MORE (R-Ariz.) on Sunday pushed back on the White House's characterization that President TrumpDonald John TrumpTrump pushes back on recent polling data, says internal numbers are 'strongest we've had so far' Illinois state lawmaker apologizes for photos depicting mock assassination of Trump Scaramucci assembling team of former Cabinet members to speak out against Trump MORE was joking when he called Democrats "treasonous" for not clapping at the State of the Union, saying the president's comments are not a joking matter.  "I don't think it's a joking matter to say that somebody is treasonous, and he ought to stop it," Flake told NBC's Chuck Todd on "Meet the Press."  "Words matter," the Republican senator, who recently announced his retirement, said. "When he talks about fake news, for example, I gave another speech about how that gives aid and comfort to authoritarians around the world who are now labeling their opposition or dismissing real dissent as fake news. "So these things matter."  Flake has often criticized the president. Earlier this month, he ripped Trump after the president suggested it was treason for Democrats not to applaud during his State of the Union speech, saying the remarks were "not normal."  "One who levels such a charge knows neither the meaning of treason nor the power that the words of a president carry. ... Our silence will also mark the day that we failed to recognize that this conduct in an American president is simply not normal," the senator said during a speech on the Senate floor.  View the discussion thread. The Hill 1625 K Street, NW Suite 900 Washington DC 20006 | 202-628-8500 tel | 202-628-8503 fax The contents of this site are ©2019 Capitol Hill Publishing Corp., a subsidiary of News Communications, Inc.

politics

taxes

(flake , flakes , tax shows , new signs , flake said , signs life , shows new , carbon tax , jeff flake , sen jeff)

2017

11.0

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Russia, China, Egypt and Bolivia boycotted an informal public United Nations Security Council meeting on Venezuela on Monday organized by the United States, saying the 15-member body should not be involved in the situation. “The issue is about meddling with the internal domestic affairs of Venezuela,” Russian U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia told reporters, adding that he hoped the country could settle its issues peacefully without any external interference. U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley told the meeting: “The fact that the (Venezuelan) government would go so far as to try and get people not to show up to a meeting is guilt. And that’s unfortunate.” Venezuela is suffering from a harsh economic crisis and President Nicolas Maduro’s government has clamped down on the opposition, jailing or otherwise barring from office many dissenting leaders and activists. Dozens of people have died in violence since the opposition began a sustained wave of protests in April. Met by rubber bullets, water cannon and tear gas fired by the National Guard, the protesters say the crisis demands an early presidential election that they are sure Maduro would lose. His popularity has been pounded lower by triple-digit inflation and acute food and medicine shortages. “We received pressure from regional partners not to have this meeting,” Haley said. “This goal is not to degrade anyone. This is not to humiliate a region. This is only to lift up the region.” Uruguay’s Deputy U.N. Ambassador Luis Bermudez attended the U.N. meeting, but said his country did not believe the situation in Venezuela was a threat to international peace and security. Venezuela’s U.N. Ambassador Rafael Dario Ramirez spoke to reporters as the meeting was being held, flanked by Nebenzia, Chinese Deputy U.N. Ambassador Wu Haitao and Bolivian U.N. Ambassador Sacha Sergio Llorentty Soliz. “The meeting is a hostile and clearly interfering act of the United States that undermines the principle of sovereignty of a member state of the U.N.,” Ramirez said. “We condemn this act of political manipulation.” European Union foreign ministers approved economic sanctions, including an arms embargo, on Venezuela on Monday, saying regional elections last month marred by reported irregularities had deepened the country’s crisis. The United States has also imposed targeted sanctions on top Venezuelan officials. The U.N. Security Council also met behind closed doors in May, at Washington’s request, to discuss the crisis in Venezuela. Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by James Dalgleish

politics

venezuela

(maduro , venezuela , venezuelan , venezuelas , pdvsa , caracas , maduros , guaido , venezuelans , president nicolas)

2016

1.0

Athleta has been forced to remove a pair of pants. The brand had been accused of copying a K-Deer, an small athletic wear company based in Westwood, New Jersey, Fortune first reported. The pants that were in question are Athleta's High Rise Bold Stripe Chaturanga tights, which ostensibly bear striking similarities to K-Deer's Signature Stripe pants, namely the Sophia, Jody, and Alexis versions. "My cousin, who works with me, sent me a screenshot — and that was my first view of it," founder Kristine Deer said to Business Insider, "and that was my first view of it. And it was — I think like I said before [to Fortune, a], very jaw dropping moment. Wow. How could this be?" Deer said she logged onto Instagram and received notifications regarding the image. "People were tagging me, saying, 'are you collaborating with them? Are you affiliated? Did you sell them the design?' And I couldn't believe it, in like a whole other way, because there's no way that we are affiliated with them." But soon, she started to see an influx of comments from her supporters. People commented on Athetla's Instagram page — on a post with the pants in question — saying they would never shop at Athleta again. "People were angry," Deer said, largely because the Stripe Series sends donations to various causes, such as brain cancer and domestic violence. Each pair of pants was named after a specific woman who was played an influence in Deer's life. And loyal K-Deer customers posted photos on Instagram, highlighting the glaring similarities side-by-side, along with the hashtags #IStandWithKDeer and #BoycottAthleta. Many of these posts were complete with indignant captions, imploring consumers to shop locally and support smaller businesses. "Without any provoking, any discussion, without any question or request, our fans and our customers stepped up and started to speak out," she said, adding that she's "still kind of overwhelmed." Deer said she hasn't "heard anything from Athleta at this point. We obviously have legal counsel advising us in certain ways, there for us if we do hear anything. The only thing that we've noticed that they've taken them off their shelves and off the website. Anything beyond that, we're stil operating business as usual because do have a business to run. " Gap has confirmed to Business Insider that Athleta has since pulled the pants. "At Athleta, our customers always come first and, after hearing recent feedback on the High Rise Bold Stripe Chaturanga Tight, we have decided to remove it from our assortment," Debbie Felix, a spokesperson for Athleta, wrote in a statement to Business Insider. Deer has posted a heartfelt thank you note on the company's Instagram page. "In light of the hundreds of shares, comments, and personal messages, the K-DEER team and I would like to thank you for sharing your loyal and heartfelt support. I'm so honored to be surrounded by a community of people who respect us and honor the values that our business has been built upon, as reflected in our Signature Stripes." "I honestly respect the business of Gap and Athleta," Deer said to Business Insider. "But I don't respect the way that, you know, they chose to take something of mine that has been so popular for over two years and call it their own. It's something that we see often in fashion. It's not easy to protect. It's devastating for many companies who have completely lost their business because someone else came in and took what they started."

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2016

11.0

MANILA, Philippines (Reuters) - Officials and organizers of the Miss Universe 2016 competition confirmed on Wednesday the next pageant will be held in Manila, the capital of the Philippines, in January 2017. Miss Universe Organization Vice President Shawn McClain signed contracts with Philippine sponsors led by former governor Chavit Singson who will invest $11 million into the event. Singson said he was glad to see the Miss Universe pageant “back home.” McClain said the Miss Universe Organization wants to host the pageant in Manila again for its “energetic” and “engaged” fan base. The live broadcast of the competition draws 500 million viewers worldwide, including many from the Philippines, according to McClain. The Philippines was the first Asian country to host the annual competition in 1974 and again held the pageant in 1994. Filipina beauty queen Pia Wurtzbach holds the Miss Universe crown from 2015. Reporting by Reuters TV in Manila; Editing by David Gregorio

pageants

miss america

(miss , miss america , pageant , miss universe , pageants , contestants , universe , miss usa , america organization , swimsuit)

2020

1.0

Critical Shopper Our columnist surveys his lovingly curated closet and finds that there is also joy in letting go. Around 10 years ago to the day, I wrote my first column as the Critical Shopper. In that time, I’ve written about more than 150 stores, spanning luxury outposts and discount retailers, malls and pocket-size shops, decades-old spots and places that quickly vanished. But I’ve never written about the one I’m most familiar with. That would be me: I am a store. Come shop with me. We all are, really, in this time of post-Kondo closet-thinning, mainstreamed ethics of sustainability and easy access to online marketplaces. And selling your things online is part of the modern condition of being vulnerable on the internet. It requires you to be present, decent and transparent. You have wares to offer, and you hope someone else might find them worthy. Please accept my goods and, by extension, me. And so every day I am a writer, and I am also a seller. I find retailing alternately anxiety-inducing and soothing, a plaintive plea followed by a sturdy hug. As a person who believes in the idea that an object always has an intended home, finding the right buyer for something I can’t use has an almost narcotic effect. I pack things with care. I hope people are excited to receive them and will put them to good use. A couple of years ago, I sold a particularly rare and, shall we say, experimental pair of Yamamoto sneakers that never looked right on me. When someone finally bought them, after three or so years of no bites, I got so excited that I started a conversation with him about where he’d learned about the sneakers and where he was planning to wear them in his small town. It was honestly more gratifying than owning the shoes. But selling things is unmistakably work. Every day, sometimes for a few minutes and sometimes for embarrassingly more than that, I scan my inventory — clothes from my closet on Grailed, records from my collection on Discogs, and various ephemera accumulated over the years on eBay. Sometimes I rifle through my stuff for things I’m finally ready to let go of. Sometimes I’m taking pictures of new things to post, figuring out how to avoid shadows from my godforsaken track lighting. Sometimes I adjust the prices of items that have been sitting a little too long, nudging anyone who might be paying attention. I maintain a supply of cardboard boxes of varying sizes and buy packing tape in bulk. I try to be timely with replies, even when I’m traveling. I keep a set of tabs open in my browser for any package that’s still in transit. I am both proud and a little ashamed to say I have maintained a perfect customer service rating on each platform (though not without triumphing in the occasional tug of war with a fussy buyer or scammer). Once, when I was on urgent deadline, I fended off one question after another, around a dozen in all, from a teenager in the Midwest — he better have been a teenager — about an item I knew had a limited audience and was therefore eager to unload. My customer service? A+, five stars, 10/10 would shop again. I have limits, though. Twice in recent weeks, I have been asked by a potential buyer to measure a specific part of my body, in order to — I hope — better gauge the fit of a garment. I declined. What hole deep inside me all of this fills isn’t totally clear. What I do know is that when several layers of life seem unpredictable, or unwieldy, it can be gratifying and motivating to sell something, pack it up tight, take it to the post office and know that in short order its going to be put to better use. The benefits are ethical and environmental, and also financial, but mostly psychological. There is some ancillary professional benefit as well: At least part of how I see stores when I’m shopping is rooted in the steps I know are required to successfully get an item into the hands of someone who wants it. As a shopper, I don’t want to be fawned over, and I don’t want to be outright ignored. I simply want to know that if I have a question, someone will be there to answer it. That’s true when buying things from a random person on the internet, too, so I try to give all the information upfront I think someone might need — and definitively enough that if they have a question, they’ll know I’ve got the answer and will ask for it. It is, in short, a tiny exercise in trust, each and every time. And for someone who shops as part of his job, and who’s rarely happier than at the moment of purchase, the slow and steady drip of outgoing items helps to remind that it can be just as powerful to let go.

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2016

8.0

COLOMBO, Aug 1 (Reuters) - Sri Lankan shares ended higher on Monday driven by foreign buying in Commercial Bank of Ceylon on hopes of higher profits after the recent policy rate hike announcement by the central bank. Last week, the central bank raised its key interest rates by 50 basis points to more than two-year high each in a surprise move aimed at curbing stubbornly high credit growth that is adding to concern about inflationary pressures. Top-listed lender Commercial Bank rose 3.1 percent as foreign investors bought more than 795,000 shares on a net basis. Overseas investors were net buyers of 428.6 million rupees worth of shares on Monday, mainly due to foreign buying in Commercial Bank. However, they are net sellers of 4.22 billion rupees worth of shares so far this year. “The margin between the deposit and lending rate is expected to increase after the rate hike. That means banks will have higher profit margins in this quarter,” said Danushka Samarasinghe, research head, Softlogic Stockbrokers. The benchmark Colombo stock index ended up 0.26 percent, or 16.55 points, at 6,410.42. The bourse lost 0.54 percent last week to post its first weekly fall in four. Stockbrokers said the market is also awaiting an economic policy announcement from Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, scheduled for this month. Turnover stood at 898.1 million rupees ($6.16 million), more than this year’s daily average of around 726.6 million rupees. $1 = 145.7500 Sri Lankan rupees Reporting by Shihar Aneez and Ranga Sirilal; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips

finance

rupees

(rupees , sri lankan , lankan , sri , million rupees , lankan rupees , colombo , rupees worth , plc , reuters sri)

2018

5.0

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) - The force was not with “Solo: A Star Wars Story” at the box office. The latest installment struggled over the Memorial Day weekend, securing $103 million in 4,381 North American locations over the four-days, according to Monday estimates. It came in way under projections, opening with $84.7 million over three days, and just $148 million globally. “Solo” represents the lowest opening for a “Star Wars” film since Disney took over the franchise starting with 2015’s “The Force Awakens.” As the first film in the sequel trilogy, “The Force Awakens” launched with a massive $248 million three-day total. A year later, “Rogue One” debuted with $155 million, while the most recent installment prior to “Solo” — “The Last Jedi” — bowed just five months ago in December 2017 with $220 million. “Solo” did help land the best domestic Memorial Day weekend since 2014 when “X-Men: Days of Future Past” was the top film. However, it wasn’t enough to land the highest Memorial Day opening. That title still belongs to “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End,” which debuted with $139.8 million in 2007. The second standalone “Star Wars” anthology film has received mixed reviews. It currently holds an A- CinemaScore, along with a 71% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. “Solo” was the only wide release this weekend, meaning the rest of the North American box office consists of a series of holdovers. “Deadpool 2” slid to No. 2, where it made $55 million from 4,349 screens over four-days. That brings its domestic total up to $219 million. In third is another heroic blockbuster, “Avengers: Infinity War.” The Marvel and Disney title’s scored $21.2 million in 3,768 locations. In five weeks, its domestic tally has topped $626 million, while globally it has made $1.9 billion. “Book Club” landed in fourth during its sophomore outing. Paramount’s latest comedy took in $9.5 million for the three days on 2,810 screens. Its domestic total now reads $34.2 million after earning $12.5 million for the four-day weekend. That leaves Warner Bros.’ “Life of the Party” at No. 5, with $6.9 million from 2,937 locations for the four days. Its three-day total was $5 million, while its three-week domestic grosses lands at $40.9 million. Also in the top 10 is the little documentary that could— “RBG.” The title centered on the life and career of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg made $1.5 million on just 415 screens over the four-day weekend. In four weeks, the Magnolia and Participant Media film has grossed an impressive $6 million. “Solo” still boosts the domestic box office 23.1% compared to Memorial Day weekend in 2017, according to comScore. Meanwhile, the year-to-date box office is up 7.6%.

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2019

8.0

* MSCI Asia-Pacific index up 0.8%, Nikkei rises 1% European stock futures gain in early trade * Trump delays tariffs on some China imports, boosts sentiment * Crude oil prices dip after previous day's big surge * Asian stock markets: https://tmsnrt.rs/2zpUAr4 By Shinichi Saoshiro TOKYO, Aug 14 (Reuters) - Asian stocks joined a global equities surge on Wednesday, after Washington delayed tariffs on some Chinese imports and gave much-needed relief for markets gripped by political and economic turmoil. In early European trade, futures for the pan-region Euro Stoxx 50 were up 0.15%, German DAX 0.17% and Britain's FTSE 0.25%. The tariff news largely offset a raft of disappointing China data for July, although the safe-haven yen enjoyed a lift amid the deepening gloom in the world's second-biggest economy. Wall Street stocks soared overnight as U.S. President Donald Trump backed off his Sept. 1 deadline for 10% tariffs on the remaining Chinese imports, delaying duties on cellphones, laptops and other consumer goods in the hopes of blunting their impact on U.S. holiday sales. The surge in U.S. stocks lifted MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan by 0.8%. The Shanghai Composite Index advanced 0.6% while Hong Kong's Hang Seng, which has been hurt by disruptions from large anti-government protests, rose 0.5%. South Korea's KOSPI advanced 0.7% and Japan's Nikkei rose 1%. Yet Wednesday's bounce hardly clawed back the sizable losses for equities over recent months, and broad market sentiment remained fragile given that the U.S.-China trade conflict is still far from resolved. Uncertainty around political risks such as the unrest in Hong Kong also continue to keep investors on edge. Kenta Inoue, senior market economist at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities, pointed out that Trump's tariff delay came just as U.S. stocks were stalling. "This appears to be a routine ploy by the U.S. president, who applies trade pressure on China when stocks are doing well and opts for compromise when they are not," Inoue said. The S&P 500 advanced to a record high at the end of July, but it has lost momentum due to factors including U.S.-China trade angst. The index rose 1.5% on Tuesday, but is still down 1.8% in August. The year-long tariff dispute between the world's biggest economies has already disrupted global supply chains and slowed economic growth. Growth of China's industrial output slowed much more than expected to 4.8% in July from a year earlier, official data showed on Wednesday, in the latest sign of faltering demand as the United States ramps up trade pressure. July's pace was the slowest since February 2002. "President Trump did delay the tariffs and while this is positive for equities, the markets will remain wary of the tariffs still being implemented come December," said Masahiro Ichikawa, senior strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management. "And while the tensions in Hong Kong are not a main calibre theme for all markets, their negative impact has been multiplied as they have taken place simultaneously with developments in Argentina." Fears of a possible return to interventionist policies, and by extension a possible debt default, jolted global markets this week after conservative Argentina President Mauricio Macri was handed a trouncing by the opposition in presidential primaries over the weekend. In currencies, the safe-haven yen advanced 0.25% to 106.485 per dollar as the weaker-than-expected Chinese economic data reinforced the view that resolving the trade war was a long way off even with Trump delaying some additional tariffs. In volatile trading, the yen retreated to 106.980 per dollar overnight before finding its footing. On Monday, the Japanese currency had brushed a seven-month peak near 105.000. The dollar index versus a basket of six major currencies was flat at 97.822 after advancing nearly 0.5% the previous day. The euro was steady at $1.1169 after slipping 0.4% against the dollar on Tuesday. The greenback's advance stalled as the sharp rise in U.S. yields seen overnight ran out of momentum. The 10-year U.S. Treasury note edged down 2.5 basis points to 1.676% after climbing 6 basis points overnight. The yield had plumbed a three-year low of 1.595% a week ago. Crude prices soared as Washington's decision to delay imposing some tariffs eased worries about a global economic slowdown, although Tuesday's soft Chinese data cut short the rally. Brent crude oil futures were down 0.88% at $60.76 per barrel, losing steam after jumping nearly 5% the previous day. (Editing by Shri Navaratnam and Richard Borsuk)

stocks

Asiapacific shares

(mscis broadest , asiapacific shares , index asiapacific , broadest index , shares outside , outside japan , asiapacific , reuters asian , broadest , asian)

2019

5.0

The Supreme Court on Tuesday blocked an Indiana law barring abortions based on a fetus' sex, race or disability, while allowing a separate state measure requiring fetal remains to be buried or cremated to take effect. The justices declined to review a lower court's decision overturning a law restricting when and why an abortion could be performed. Vice President Mike Pence signed the measure into law in 2016 when he was Indiana governor, and it was blocked by the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals last year. That case is the latest abortion challenge the Supreme Court's new conservative majority has passed up. However, it doesn’t indicate whether the court will eventually take up a challenge to Roe v. Wade, as a spate of conservative states including Alabama, Georgia and Missouri approve laws meant to directly challenge the 1973 ruling legalizing abortion nationwide. In an unsigned opinion, the justices wrote that the state has a "legitimate interest" in the disposal of fetal remains. They reversed the 7th Circuit decision blocking that provision, reinstating Indiana's measure without first holding a hearing. Indiana argued the prevalence of prenatal screening has led many women to opt for abortion when fetal abnormalities like Down syndrome are detected. Supporters of abortion rights said the law was unconstitutionally intrusive, defying Supreme Court precedent protecting a woman's right for an abortion until the fetus is viable outside of the womb, generally considered to be around 24 weeks. "A woman, not the legislature, gets to decide whether an abortion is the right decision for her and her family," said Ken Falk, legal director with the ACLU of Indiana, who represented Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky in the case. A spokesperson for Pence, while commending the court's decision over fetal remains, said the administration remained "hopeful" that the high court would one day take up a legal challenge addressing state bans on abortion that are based on sex, race or disability. "Countries across the globe prohibit selective abortion — and the United States should do the same,” Alyssa Farah, press secretary for the vice president, said in a statement. Although Justice Clarence Thomas agreed with the court's decision to refuse the case, he wrote in a fiery concurring opinion that the justices may eventually consider the constitutionality of similar laws. "Given the potential for abortion to become a tool of eugenic manipulation, the Court will soon need to confront the constitutionality of laws like Indiana’s," he wrote. "But because further percolation may assist our review of this issue of first impression, I join the Court in declining to take up the issue now." Justice Sonia Sotomayor said she would have declined to take up both parts of the Indiana case. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, in a dissenting opinion, disagreed with the majority's ruling on the fetal remains question. The Supreme Court internally wrangled over the Indiana case for an unusually long time. The case, Box v. Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky, was first listed on the justices' docket in January. Reaction to the court's decision from groups opposing abortion was mixed, given the split decision over different parts of the Indiana law. The anti-abortion group Susan B. Anthony List and its research arm Charlotte Lozier Institute thanked the court "for affirming today that nothing in the Constitution or precedents of this Court prohibits states from requiring that the remains of human children be treated better than medical waste." However, they said it was "gravely disappointing" that the court did not take up the ban on abortion based on sex, race or disability. The groups' statement also praised Pence for his long history of shaping anti-abortion policies that are now considered mainstream in the Republican party. Abortion rights advocates criticized the court for upholding the fetal remains provision. “Today the Court let another unwarranted restriction on abortion stand," Jennifer Dalven, director of the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project, said in a statement. "While this ruling is limited, the law is part of a larger trend of state laws designed to stigmatize and drive abortion care out of reach." The high court has declined to hear two other abortion challenges in the current term, the first since Justice Brett Kavanaugh joined the bench. A divided Supreme Court in February temporarily blocked a Louisiana law requiring abortion providers to have admitting privileges at local hospitals. However, the court may take up the Louisiana case for a full review later this year. Justices in December declined abortion rights case concerning whether states can cut Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers from their Medicaid programs.

abortion

Roe v. Wade

(abortion , abortions , planned parenthood , parenthood , reproductive , antiabortion , clinics , roe , planned , pregnancy)

2017

12.0

View the discussion thread. The Hill 1625 K Street, NW Suite 900 Washington DC 20006 | 202-628-8500 tel | 202-628-8503 fax The contents of this site are ©2019 Capitol Hill Publishing Corp., a subsidiary of News Communications, Inc.

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(communications view , thread hill , 2019 capitol , site 2019 , view discussion , discussion thread , hill , 2026288500 , 2026288503 fax , hill 1625)

2016

8.0

Lewis Beale writes about culture and film for the Los Angeles Times, Newsday and other publications. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author. (CNN)A lot of people seem to be mad at Clint Eastwood these days, and for good reason. His recent defense of Donald Trump and his racially charged comments -- that the Republican presidential nominee "says a lot of dumb things" but that people should "get over it" -- have not exactly made Eastwood look like a paragon of racial equality. But human beings are complex creatures, which means that Eastwood is a set of contradictions. His defense of Trump's comments about Hispanics and Muslims is no doubt reprehensible, and has caused many people to label him as a hardcore racist. But in excoriating him, those same critics have forgotten that for years Eastwood has, in his own way, been one of the most racially sensitive people in Hollywood. Years ago, a friend pointed out to me that Woody Allen, darling of film critics and urban intellectuals, never seemed to cast any minorities in his films, even in the background. Join us on Facebook.com/CNNOpinion. Yet Clint Eastwood, often reviled for his conservative/libertarian politics, has consistently cast, and acted with, black performers, many of them in key roles -- not just in the "Dirty Harry" films, where for example, Felton Perry played his partner in "Magnum Force," but also in pictures like "Bronco Billy" (Scatman Crothers) and "The Eiger Sanction" (Vonetta McGee). I wrote a piece about this for the Los Angeles Daily News, and to this date, no one has contradicted my findings. So I ask you: Does a racist make a film like "Gran Torino," in which a grumpy old racist learns compassion for others when a Hmong family moves in next door? Does a racist make a film like "Bird," the story of black jazz musician Charlie Parker? Does a racist appear in a film in which his lover is a black woman, as McGee was in "The Eiger Sanction?" Does a racist consistently appear along with, or cast black performers in key roles in his films (Morgan Freeman in "Unforgiven" and "Million Dollar Baby," Isaiah Washington and Lisa Gay Hamilton in "True Crime")? Does a racist become a lifelong lover of blues and jazz, and make a 2003 documentary called "Piano Blues," that features performers like Ray Charles, Pinetop Perkins, Big Joe Turner and Oscar Peterson? Does a racist marry Dina Marie Ruiz, a Hispanic woman? (The couple divorced two years ago after 17 years of marriage.) I don't know where Eastwood's head is these days. He seems to have settled into grumpy old manhood, which has made him something of a joke, as far as his public statements are concerned. But his current antics do not negate the years when he was one of the few white filmmakers in Hollywood who showed some sensitivity toward minority performers and their stories. To those of you willing to throw his entire career out the window because of his recent stupidity, I can only quote Jesus: "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone."

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2020

2.0

TikTok is testing a user profile redesign that’s remarkably similar to Instagram. The new profile shifts avatars and follow count to the left, and places more emphasis on user bios. The redesign was first spotted by New York Times reporter Taylor Lorenz. A TikTok spokesperson confirmed the company was testing a redesign to The Verge: ”We’re always looking for ways to improve the user experience on TikTok. We are currently testing profile designs and functionality to ultimately give users more ways to personalize and engage with their profiles.” Looks like TikTok is redesigning user profiles to look almost exactly like Instagram (new design vs old) pic.twitter.com/uQAHPwaZoh TikTok copying Instagram’s UI is part of a playbook for social networks. They’re constantly “borrowing” ideas and features from their competitors. Instagram itself is no stranger to copying; Instagram Stories famously took Snapchat’s entire model of ephemeral content. TikTok hit 1.5 billion downloads in November and was the third most-downloaded non-gaming app in 2019 — beating out Facebook and Instagram, which were in fourth and fifth place, respectively. The fast-growing app is clearly on Facebook’s radar; Facebook owns Instagram, which is currently testing a video editing tool in Brazil called Reels. Reels, in turn, copies TikTok’s best features like speed adjustment and the ability to borrow audio from other videos. If TikTok does end up rolling out the Instagram-like profile design to all its users, it could be the start of all social networks feeling exactly the same — especially if Instagram decides to copy the best parts of TikTok, too.

social media

TikTok

(tiktok , bytedance , tiktoks , app , musically , videos , users , bytedances , douyin , content)

2017

8.0

View the discussion thread. The Hill 1625 K Street, NW Suite 900 Washington DC 20006 | 202-628-8500 tel | 202-628-8503 fax The contents of this site are ©2019 Capitol Hill Publishing Corp., a subsidiary of News Communications, Inc.

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(communications view , thread hill , 2019 capitol , site 2019 , view discussion , discussion thread , hill , 2026288500 , 2026288503 fax , hill 1625)

2019

9.0

Demi Moore is single, but not exactly ready to mingle. The 56-year-old actress appears on Tuesday’s episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, where she reveals that she’s currently taking a break in the romance department. “[I’m single] by choice,” Moore tells DeGeneres, 61. When asked if she would try dating apps — like Raya, the private, membership-based dating app used by many a celebrity — Moore laughs, swiftly telling DeGeneres, “no.” Instead, Moore says her current focus is on her full house of four-legged friends. “I have 7 dogs,” she says. “They’re rescues!” Moore stopped by Ellen to promote her new memoir, Inside Out, which also dropped on Tuesday. The star made headlines ahead of the book’s release after candidly opening up about her past relationships with ex-husbands Bruce Willis and Ashton Kutcher. On Monday, the actress sat down with Diane Sawyer on Good Morning America and revealed how she picked herself up after her life began to unravel when she and Kutcher decided to go their separate ways seven years ago. “I lost me,” Moore told Sawyer in the GMA interview about her new book. “I think the thing if I were to look back, I would say I blinded myself and I lost myself.” In the book, the star also writes that Kutcher was unfaithful during their marriage and that the two had experimented with threesomes. Though the threesomes she says were something Kutcher wanted, Moore tells DeGeneres that she wasn’t forced into them in any way. “I don’t think it should be applied that he instigated,” she says on the talk show, adding that she’s spoken to Kutcher since she’s written the book. “I think it was — and again, in trying to keep the perspective on my story — he expressed something that was a fantasy and it was in my efforts to want to please and be what I thought he wanted.” “It was a misguided sense of not really wanting to look at the harder question or maybe what was really missing,” Moore explains. “Or in my case, because I really felt like I had created an addiction to him; my codependency, in a way I never had before, I’ve never had that attachment.” Also on Ellen, Moore opens up about her close friendship with Willis. The former couple was married from 1987 to 2000, and share daughters Rumer Willis, 31, Scout Willis, 28, and Tallulah Willis, 25. “I’m really grateful for — rolling all the way back, it’s been a long time since we separated — that we were both able to be clear that our children were our priority and that whatever we had was not theirs and find a way to share and be a family in a different form,” the mother of three says. “And even though it can require some healing and some time, I think it’s made a huge difference in our children’s lives. To be able to feel that they don’t have to choose.” The Ghost actress tells DeGeneres she hopes that readers can relate to how she’s been able to overcome the obstacles in her life. “It is my story but maybe some part of that is yours too,” she says. “In my own journey what I realized is that what happened to me isn’t who I am. And the things I’ve done, whether I’ve been proud or have felt guilt and shame, are not who I am. They’re just things I’ve done.” “I hope for anyone reading it that they can recognize some part of themselves that doesn’t feel love and start to see that we are love,” Moore continues. “Everything that we are, we are love.” The actress goes on to say that she’s ultimately not nervous about how people, like Kutcher, will react because she’s confident she’s told a story solely from her point of view. “I have no interest in blaming or villainizing anyone,” Moore says. “The journey in the book is about overcoming and in a sense, this is my story. My point of view. If anyone else in the book, including my daughters, if they see things differently — and in some cases, they did; they had somethings they had sensitivities to, because it being my story, it didn’t always allow for the context of say things that created the pain they had of when they weren’t speaking to me — [but] for me to share, it was truly honest about what my experience was.” The Ellen DeGeneres Show airs weekdays in syndication (check local listings).

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2019

6.0

SANTIAGO, June 11 (Reuters) - Chilean Mining Minister Baldo Prokurica said on Tuesday the government of the South American mining powerhouse would favor neither private nor state investment as it seeks to ratchet up output of its world-leading reserves of ultralight battery metal lithium. At a gathering of lithium investors in Santiago, Prokurica said the administration of center-right President Sebastian Pinera would work to ensure a combination of both state and private investment to double Chile´s production to 230,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent per year by 2023. The country produced 96,053 tonnes of the white metal, which is used to make electric vehicle batteries, in 2018. Demand is expected to triple by 2025. “This government is not partial to either the private or public sector when it comes to the development of lithium,” Prokurica told the Fastmarket´s Lithium Supply and Markets Conference. Prokurica´s statement comes one week after billionaire businessman Pinera, a champion of investors, said in a state of the nation address that his administration would soon release a long-awaited state lithium policy to promote development of the industry. Prokurica´s speech did not provide specific details of that policy. Chile´s policy toward lithium has been deeply critiqued as unclear for newcomers. Despite prime production conditions and upward of 50 percent of the world´s reserves, according to United States Geological Survey data, the country has not permitted a new lithium mine since the boom for the metal began in 2014. Chile now requires private miners to partner with the state or obtain a special permit known as a CEOL to mine lithium on their own. The problem, would-be miners say, is that the government has yet to provide guidelines for obtaining a CEOL. Nor has it announced a uniform royalty or tax scheme that would help investors gauge the risks. In his talk in Santiago, Prokurica emphasized Chile´s geological advantages, citing the country´s 45 salt flats. Chile relies entirely on top producers SQM and Albemarle Corp operations in the Salar de Atacama, one of the world´s richest known sources of lithium. Emma Hall, Tianqi Lithium Corp’s vice president for corporate development and marketing, said she saw opportunities for new players in Chile´s market but said rules were not the only constraint. “We´re all looking forward to details of the new policy to be published,” she said. “It’s not just the regulatory approvals that are required. You´ve got to have a good resource.” (Reporting by Dave Sherwood Editing by Bill Trott)

mining

lithium

(lithium , albemarle , sqm , atacama , batteries , tianqi , chile , lithium carbonate , carbonate , lithium producer)

2016

12.0

When it comes to fame, Will Smith is never too busy for his fans. Smith, 48, made an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Monday night, where he admitted that he loves being famous. “I want people to recognize me,” he said laughing. “I’ve met a lot of people where fame can be a burden, and I just love it.” The Suicide Squad actor shared a funny run-in he had with a fan recently, where being one of Hollywood’s top leading men really paid off — literally! Smith recalled an incident when he was driving home only to discover that he was out of gas, and without his wallet. After pulling into a gas station, the actor did some quick thinking on how to get out of his predicament. “I looked over on the other side and I saw a dude. He was, like, 36, and I was like, ‘That dude is a Fresh Prince fan.’ You can spot ’em!” Smith said. “So I kinda rolled the window down and after a couple of minutes, he was like, ‘Will?’ “ Once the fan spotted him, the actor knew he was home free. “He said, ‘Hey, man, can I get a picture?’ I said, ‘Yeah man, I need about $10.,’ ” he said. Smith said he offered to pay the man back, but he wouldn’t give him his information. “He was like ‘Dude no way, no way. That’s yours.’ “

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2016

3.0

TOKYO, March 31 (Reuters) - Weekly net trading in shares on the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, Japan’s main stock exchange, in thousands of yen. A negative figure indicates net selling. Week to: TOTAL Proprietary Brokerage Mar 25 -8,364,297 39,907,112 -48,271,409 Mar 18 -31,165,383 176,897,068 -208,062,451 Mar 11 -8,177,119 879,799,828 -887,976,947 Mar 4 6,566,593 -13,773,546 20,340,139 Feb 26 91,155 -125,129,968 125,221,123 Breakdown of brokerage totals: Week to: Institutions Individuals Foreigners Securities Cos Mar 25 175,611,190 -15,982,176 -206,949,242 -951,181 Mar 18 48,644,282 182,554,899 -450,990,878 11,729,246 Mar 11 94,044,895 201,747,285 -1,193,504,294 9,735,167 Mar 4 328,378,140 -188,380,865 -106,550,783 -13,106,353 Feb 26 575,617,329 -38,538,796 -407,244,579 -4,612,831 Source: Tokyo Stock Exchange (Compiled by Tokyo Newsroom)

business

stock market

(nikkei , topix , broader topix , nikkei share , share average , yen , tokyo , ayai , ayai tomisawa , tomisawa)

2019

6.0

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A group of U.S. senators on Monday asked the U.S. Justice Department to disclose if President Donald Trump or anyone else in the White House has sought to interfere in the continuing review of the proposed $26 billion merger of T-Mobile US Inc and Sprint Corp. The six Democratic senators, including presidential candidates Elizabeth Warren, Amy Klobuchar and Cory Booker, cited media reports that senior White House officials may be trying to influence the Justice Department’s investigation of anti-trust issues in the deal. The letter, which went out Monday, cited Trump’s reported effort to push regulators to attempt to block AT&T Inc’s acquisition of Time Warner. “In light of the potential implications of this transaction for American consumers, we write to reiterate that the department’s decisions should be based on an impartial analysis of the facts and the law, and must be entirely free of improper political influence,” the letter said. The White House declined to comment while Justice Department spokesman Jeremy Edwards said the review process was “free from any improper political influence.” The deal won support from the U.S. Federal Communications Commission last month but still needs approval from the Justice Department. The senators’ letter cited Reuters’ report last month that said the department’s antitrust division staff recommended the deal be blocked. The letter also referred to a Fox Business report that senior White House officials were supportive of the transaction. “The prospect of department leadership ignoring a career staff recommendation to block a transaction – based on more than a year of investigation – and allowing an anticompetitive merger to proceed under pressure from the White House is deeply troubling,” the letter said. A majority of FCC commissioners plans to vote to approve the deal after the companies agreed to sell Sprint’s prepaid brand Boost Mobile. The final decision on whether to allow two of the four nationwide wireless carriers to merge lies with political appointees at the Justice Department, headed by antitrust division chief Makan Delrahim. T-Mobile, whose parent company is Deutsche Telekom AG, and Sprint, which is controlled by Japan’s SoftBank Group Ltd, did not immediately comment. In April, the White House declined Democrats’ request to disclose documents that could show whether Trump sought to intervene in the AT&T Time Warner review. Trump, a long-time critic of AT&T unit CNN, on Monday wrote on Twitter “that if people (stopped) using or subscribing to @ATT they would be forced to make big changes at @CNN, which is dying in the ratings anyway.” AT&T declined to comment. Its shares were up 1.1% in trading Monday. Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Bill Trott

business

mergers and acquisitions

(att , time warner , warner , atts , merger , directv , stephenson , antitrust , time warners , warners)

2017

12.0

ABOARD A U.S. MILITARY AIRCRAFT (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said on Friday that as offensive operations against Islamic State in Syria entered their final stages, he expected the focus to move towards holding territory instead of arming Syrian Kurdish fighters. Speaking with reporters on a military plane en route to Cairo, Mattis did not say if there had already been a halt to weapons transfers. U.S. President Donald Trump informed Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan in a call last week that Washington was adjusting military support to partners on the ground in Syria. The Syrian Kurdish YPG spearheads the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an alliance of Kurdish and Arab militias fighting Islamic State with the help of a U.S.-led coalition. Turkey’s presidency had previously reported that the United States would not supply weapons to Kurdish YPG fighters in Syria. Until now, the Pentagon has only gone as far as saying it was reviewing “adjustments” in arms for the Syrian Kurdish forces, which Ankara views as a threat. “The YPG is armed and as the coalition stops offensive (operations) then obviously you don’t need that, you need security, you need police forces, that is local forces, that is people who make certain that ISIS doesn’t come back,” Mattis said. When asked if that would specifically mean the U.S. would stop arming the YPG, Mattis said: “Yeah, we are going to go exactly along the lines of what the President announced.” Ankara has been infuriated by Washington’s support for the YPG militia, seen by Turkey as an extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has fought a decades-long insurgency in Turkey and is designated a terrorist group by Ankara, the United States and European Union. The United States expects to recover heavy weapons and larger vehicles from the YPG, but lighter weapons are unlikely to be completely recovered, U.S. officials have said. Earlier this week, the U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State said more than 400 U.S. Marines and their artillery would be leaving Syria after helping to capture the city of Raqqa from Islamic State. Mattis said that was part of the United States changing the composition of its forces to support diplomats to bring an end to the war. “The troops are changing their stance...that includes with our allies who are now changing their stance as they come to the limits of where they are going,” Mattis said. Reporting by Idrees Ali; Editing by Mary Milliken

politics

turkey

(turkey , turkish , kurdish , syrian , syria , ypg , erdogan , kurds , ankara , turkeys)

2017

7.0

In the world of low-stakes legal claims, robots could be the best lawyers. DoNotPay — a chatbot created by Stanford junior Joshua Browder — has gotten people out of 375,000 parking tickets since 2015, free of charge, Yahoo Finance reports. That's about $10 million in value. Browder hopes to make free legal help even more accessible, and he's adding 1,000 new categories to DoNotPay's repertoire. The categories range from reporting discrimination to disputing a credit card charge, and the bulk of the help that DoNotPay provides customers is writing "strongly-worded lawyerly letters" to stake their claims. Why it matters: This isn't the first we've seen of AI in the legal world, but the role of robots in law has largely been limited to doing the research work to support litigators, as paralegals do. DoNotPay is an example of a bot that can in fact do the litigating. How it works: DoNotPay asks clients a series of questions and organizes their answers into a letter template. Through machine learning and as AI technology advances, the chatbot will likely sophisticate its approach beyond the simple plug-and-chug. What's next: One idea Browder has to monetize is to allow business to sponsor the bot for certain legal tasks. "[T]hink dealership sponsoring the parking ticket bot for a particular city," TechCrunch says.

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2019

10.0

October 2 marks the one-year anniversary since the murder of Saudi critic Jamal Khashoggi, a killing that sparked a global furor surrounding the kingdom's royal family. The murder of Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist, took place in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. It was carried out by a 15-man hit squad that traveled from Saudi Arabia on diplomatic passports. Saudi Arabia's ruling family has denied it ordered the murder but evidence has mounted since the killing that implicates high-level Saudi officials. In June, the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Agnes Callamard, said that Saudi Arabia is responsible for the "pre-meditated execution" of Khashoggi. Callamard, also determined that there was credible evidence, warranting further investigation of high-level Saudi officials' individual liability, including that of the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The crown prince said last week that he takes "full responsibility" for the murder but denied allegations that he ordered the killing. In an interview with CBS's "60 Minutes," he said the killing was a "heinous crime" and a "mistake" by individuals working for the Saudi government. In the immediate weeks following Khashoggi's murder, when more details began to emerge, Saudi's stock exchange, the Tadawul, fell sharply as investors feared the kingdom's relationship with the international community would suffer. Saudi stocks saw their biggest intraday drop since December 2014 almost two weeks after the murder, when President Donald Trump warned of a "potential severe punishment" for the kingdom — although no punishment has come to pass. Still, over the 12 months since Khashoggi's death, the Tadawul index has risen and fallen to hit the exact same level it was a year ago. Analysts say that Saudi Arabia has largely escaped punishment for the murder because it is too important as a strategic ally in the Middle East. There are major economic considerations too — Saudi Arabia is one of the world's largest oil producers and it's also a large buyer of U.S., U.K. and European arms. Saudi Arabia has made significant efforts to attract more inflows of foreign investment after its economy shrank in 2017 for the first time in nearly a decade. The International Monetary Fund predicts that its economy will grow 1.9% in 2019 and 3% in 2020, aided by a stronger non-oil sector. "It's difficult to tell if there's been any direct impact on the Saudi Arabian economy from Khashoggi's death," Jason Tuvey, senior emerging markets economist at Capital Economics, told CNBC Tuesday. "But the clearest indirect evidence we've had that it could have deterred investors is that foreign direct investment into the kingdom has remained very low. The crown prince has pinned his hopes on attracting more foreign investment as part of his efforts to diversify the economy away from oil." According to the UN's World Investment Report for 2019, FDI (foreign direct investment) flows to Saudi Arabia rose from $1.4 billion in 2017 to $3.2 billion in 2018, still significantly lower than the 2008 peak of $39 billion. "Political factors and lower oil prices were largely responsible for lower than usual FDI flows to Saudi Arabia. Recent efforts aimed at economic diversification in the country have identified FDI as a key priority, however," the report noted. The political direction of the kingdom is under close scrutiny. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was seen as a modernizing force in Saudi Arabia, having presented his 'Vision 2030' program of economic reforms and plans to diversify the economy away from oil. He has also overseen a crackdown on corruption and social reforms, such as women being able to drive. Saudi Arabia's foreign policy could be off-putting for some investors given its military operation in Yemen against Iranian-backed Houthi rebels, and its bitter relations with its regional rival Iran. "Khashoggi's murder came about a year after we saw the corruption crackdown, which also contributed to general investor uncertainty over the direction that the kingdom is taking politically," Tuvey noted. "There had been signs of capital flight around the time of the murder but in the longer-term the main damage is likely to come via the hit to the kingdom's attractiveness for direct investment." The Khashoggi case threatened to overshadow the crown prince's moves to modernize the kingdom — for a while at least, according to Ayham Kamel, head of MENA at Eurasia Group. "The Khashoggi issue cannot be easily swept under the rug and the crown prince has now realized that he needs a more proactive approach that embraces the need for some measure of accountability," he told CNBC Wednesday. "The long-term challenge for the kingdom remains structural and revolves around the effectiveness of reforms and the ability of the government to attract foreign investors to build up a non-oil economy."

politics

Saudi Arabia

(khashoggi , saudi , khashoggis , consulate , crown prince , arabia , saudi arabia , jamal , crown , jamal khashoggi)

2017

3.0

NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Trump administration’s firing of Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara sent shockwaves through New York, but veterans of the high-profile office expect a longstanding mission of cracking down on political corruption and Wall Street wrongdoing to remain intact. Staffed with more than one hundred career prosecutors, the Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s Office has a long history of being apolitical and pursuing a wide range of investigations into terrorism, public corruption, securities fraud and cyber crime, former prosecutors said. Lorin Reisner, former head of the office’s criminal division from 2012 to 2014, who is now in private practice at law firm Paul Weiss, said the priorities of the office are unlikely to change, regardless of who replaces Bharara. “Generations of SDNY prosecutors have been told that their job is to do the right thing, for the right reasons, every day, in every case,” he said, using the acronym for the office, the Southern District of New York. Hanging in the balance are ongoing investigations of potential fraud at Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc and its ties to a mail-order pharmacy and of two massive data breaches at Yahoo Inc, including one affecting more than one billion user accounts. The office is also investigating a major cyber heist from the Bank of Bangladesh involving funds which moved through the New York Federal Reserve bank. Bharara, appointed by President Barack Obama in 2009, lived up to the office’s reputation, investigating Republicans and Democrats alike. He has been overseeing a probe into Democratic New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s fundraising. “It would be tremendously difficult for any U.S. attorney to come in and politicize that office,” said Carrie Cohen, a former prosecutor who worked under Bharara and is now in private practice at Morrison & Foerster. President Donald Trump has yet to announce a replacement for Bharara or the other remaining 45 U.S. attorneys from the Obama era who were asked to step down on Friday. U.S. attorneys are political appointees requiring confirmation by the U.S. Senate. They usually leave office when a new president is elected, although some remain for months to help with the transition. But Bharara’s removal from office came as a surprise because Trump had met with him after the election and indicated he would be retained. Bharara refused to resign, prompting his firing on Saturday. Whoever Trump appoints to replace Bharara will likely reflect U.S. Attorney General Jeff Session’s priorities, including a desire to crack down on violent crime and less of a focus on civil rights cases. There is growing speculation among former prosecutors and others in the legal community that Bharara’s replacement will be Marc Mukasey, a defense lawyer whose father served as attorney general under Republican President George W. Bush. Mukasey declined to comment on Sunday. In the short-term, the office will be headed by acting U.S. Attorney Joon Kim. He is a veteran of the office, returning under Bharara in 2013 as a key deputy following an earlier stint from 2000 to 2006. In between, he was a partner at the Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton law firm. A spokesman for the office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Outside of public corruption, Bharara was perhaps best known for overseeing a wave of cases focused on insider trading. Many of the investigations were already underway when Bharara took office in August 2009. But he became the face of the crackdown, landing on the cover of Time magazine in 2012 with the headline “This man is busting Wall St.” The new U.S. attorney will have some latitude on what to focus on in the future. “Each U.S. attorney has his own order of priorities and how they see the resources of the office best used and each U.S. attorney also has the right to discontinue an investigation if they feel it’s a waste of time,” said Ben Brafman, a leading defense lawyer. Sessions has, however, already signaled a shift away from some Obama administration priorities. Unlike Bharara and his former bosses in the Obama administration, Sessions advocates trying foreign militants before military commissions instead of in civilian courts. Bharara had pushed for trials in civilian courts while Sessions has criticized that approach and vouched for the ongoing value of trying foreign defendants before military tribunals. On civil rights, Norman Siegel, former executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, said there was “growing anxiety” about the future of such cases since Bharara’s firing. Additional reporting by Nate Raymond, Mark Hosenball, Jonathan Stempel and Nathan Layne; Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi and Mary Milliken

law

bharara

(bharara , bhararas , preet , bharara said , mr bharara , preet bharara , southern district , attorney , attorneys , attorney southern)

2016

6.0

(Reuters) - Centerview Capital Technology Management, the technology-focused private investment arm of Centerview Partners investment bank, is opening an office in Atlanta and has added a new partner in Silicon Valley, the firm said on Wednesday. Dave Dorman, a founding partner at the firm who is a former chief executive at AT&T (T.N), said in an interview that Centerview is looking to invest in local companies that may come out of universities in the area such as Georgia Tech, Emory and the University of Georgia. “There are a lot of entrepreneurial fires burning there,” Dorman said, adding that the Atlanta region has spawned cyber-security and marketing systems technology firms. Centerview Capital was an investor in Atlanta-based, SecureWorks Corp (SCWX.O), one of the year’s only technology IPOs, which raised $112 million in April and now has a market capitalization of $1.08 billion. The former cyber security unit of Dell closed trading Tuesday at $13.28 per share, below its IPO price of $14. Centerview is also an investor in Quantenna Communications Inc, a U.S. company that designs Wi-Fi chips used in set-top boxes and wireless routers. Reuters previously reported that Quantenna had hired banks for an IPO later this year. Centerview Capital Technology generally invests in later-stage private companies that are looking to raise capital to expand before going public. It was founded in 2013 by Dorman, Ned Hooper, former Chief Strategy Officer of Cisco Systems and Sandhya Venkatachalam, a former Skype executive. Dorman, who will lead the Centerview Capital Technology office and be based there, said the firm has made six investments from its first fund of more than $200 million, and is looking to make two or three more investments before raising another fund. “Our plan and hope would be to raise a second fund in due course,” he said. The firm’s other three partners are based in Menlo Park, California. Centerview said on Wednesday it also hired Buno Pati, an entrepreneur and venture capital investor to be a partner. Pati has been an adviser at Centerview Capital Technology since 2014. Reporting by Liana B. Baker in SAN FRANCISCO; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell

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2017

5.0

In a phone call Tuesday afternoon, President Donald Trump discussed meeting face-to-face with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Hamburg this July – a detail that was omitted from the White House’s brief readout of the call. The news of the potential meeting on the sidelines of the G20 conference in Hamburg, the first between the two leaders since Trump took office, was provided only by the Kremlin’s readout of the call. In their second conversation since January, Trump and Putin also discussed violence in Syria, the threat of North Korea and Middle East terrorism in what the White House characterized in its 124-word synopsis as a “very good” conversation. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who participated in the call, told reporters he didn’t keep track of how long the conversation lasted. “It was a very constructive call that the two presidents had,” Tillerson said at the State Department. “It was a very, very fulsome call, a lot of detailed exchanges. So we’ll see where we go from here.” During his January call with the Kremlin, Trump was joined in the Oval Office by Vice President Mike Pence, chief of staff Reince Priebus, then-National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, chief strategist Steve Bannon and press secretary Sean Spicer. This time, the White House didn’t say who else huddled with Trump around the Resolute Desk as he spoke to Moscow. The brief White House statement also didn’t mention whether Trump brought up the violence against Putin opponents in the Ukraine, the future of Syrian President Bashar Assad, anti-gay violence in Chechnya, or the alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election – all issues that German Chancellor Angela Merkel confronted Putin about earlier Tuesday in a tense face-to-face meeting in Moscow, the first time the two leaders have met in over two years. The White House did say the call with Putin “included the discussion of safe, or de-escalation, zones to achieve lasting peace for humanitarian and many other reasons.” While the statement made no explicit mention of Assad, the White House said that Trump and Putin “agreed that the suffering in Syria has gone on for far too long and that all parties must do all they can to end the violence.” The White House also said the administration will be sending a representative to attend cease-fire talks in Astana, Kazakhstan, on May 3 and 4. A State Department official said the United State would be represented by Stuart Jones, the acting assistant secretary for Near Eastern Affairs. The Russian readout described the tone of the Trump call as “businesslike” and described a “constructive atmosphere” between the leaders. Democrats immediately criticized the White House for not holding a tougher line against Putin, whose military backs the Syrian leader – whose chemical attacks on women and children in April galvanized Trump to order airstrikes against the Syrian regime. “Instead of sending Putin a tough messaging on backing Assad’s brutal regime, Trump appears to be opting for a strategy of appeasement,” said Adrienne Watson, the deputy communications director at the Democratic National Committee. She noted that the White House readout of the call made no mention of “Russia’s abysmal record on human rights, no clear message on Assad’s future in Syria, and no condemnation of Russia’s continued aggression in Ukraine. It’s clear that ultimately, Putin is getting what he wants from Trump.” The call came on the same day that Trump’s 2016 campaign foe, Hillary Clinton, gave her most extensive interview since the election and blamed Putin, in large part, for her loss. "He certainly interfered in our election and it was clear he interfered to hurt me and helped my opponent," Clinton said in an interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour, one that briefly kicked the daily White House press briefing off two of the three cable networks. "If you chart my opponent and his campaign's statements, they quite coordinated with the goals that leader who shall remain nameless had,” Clinton said. Nahal Toosi contributed to this report.

politics

russia

(putin , russia , russian , vladimir putin , vladimir , helsinki , russian president , summit , president vladimir , moscow)

2017

4.0

Well, this is a new one.  Scott Pruitt, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), is under investigation by his own agency for misstating the basic scientific consensus on human-caused global warming.   Turns out that providing misguiding scientific information to the public isn't a cool thing to do, after all — even in the Trump administration. EPA administrator Scott Pruitt is fast becoming one of the most controversial of President Donald Trump's cabinet picks. He is leading the push to unravel the Obama administration's landmark climate change policies while overseeing a historic downsizing of the agency he runs.  Global average surface temperatures in 2016 (top line) compared to other years. But Pruitt may have crossed a legal line when, during an interview on March 9 with CNBC's "Squawk Box" morning show, he denied the reality of human-caused climate change, contradicting findings published on his own agency's website.  "No, I would not agree that it's a primary contributor to the global warming that we see." "I think that measuring with precision human activity on the climate is something very challenging to do and there's tremendous disagreement about the degree of impact, so no, I would not agree that it's a primary contributor to the global warming that we see," Pruitt said, when asked if he thinks carbon dioxide emissions are the main "control knob" on the planet's climate. "But we don't know that yet, as far as ... we need to continue the debate and continue the review and the analysis," he said.  Pruitt's comments put him at odds with the conclusions of his own agency's climate scientists, who have found that carbon dioxide emissions endanger public health and welfare.  At the urging of the Sierra Club, the EPA's scientific integrity official is reviewing Pruitt's comments to see if they violate the agency's scientific integrity policy, which requires that all agency employees — including political appointees like Pruitt — "communicate with honesty, integrity, and transparency." The policy also states that policy makers  "... Shall not knowingly misrepresent, exaggerate, or downplay areas of scientific uncertainty associated with policy decisions." President Donald J. Trump, left, is greeted by EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt on March 28, 2017. While there is debate within the scientific community about the specific impacts and severity of global warming, there is virtually no daylight between climate scientists regarding why the world is warming in the first place, let alone carbon dioxide’s leading role in causing it. In requesting an agency review into Pruitt's CNBC interview the Sierra Club wrote in a March 14 letter: "Coming from the head of EPA in a major public forum, these statements undermine and delegitimize established climate science. They represent a significant loss of scientific integrity at the agency." The EPA has not specified an end date for the investigation, but said the matter could be referred back to the Office of the Inspector General, who could take disciplinary action.  “Administrator Pruitt makes no apologies for having a candid dialogue about climate science and commonsense regulations that will protect our environment, without creating unnecessary regulatory burdens that kill jobs," EPA spokeswoman Liz Bowman said in response to an initial Reuters story on the inquiry. "Differing views and opinions on scientific and technical matters is a legitimate and necessary part of EPA’s decision-making process, which is consistent with EPA’s scientific integrity policy that was in place even during the Obama administration," she added. According to the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations has contributed the most to global warming since 1750, when accounting for other greenhouse gases and natural factors that influence the climate, such as volcanoes and solar variability.  Last year was the warmest on record since 1880, beating out 2015 for the title. Not coincidentally, carbon dioxide levels are at their highest in all of human history.

environment

climate change

(climate , climate change , green new , new deal , change , inslee , warming , green , global warming , carbon)

2019

2.0

(CNN)It's the beginning of a friendship the internet didn't know it needed. Chrissy Teigen, the (unofficial) mayor of Twitter, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, renowned Instagrammer and Instant Pot chef, are supposedly watching the Grammy Awards together. And there's pizza involved. Teigen put out a plea to the Democratic congresswoman on Friday. "hello my hero, do you wanna come over and watch the grammys with us? there will be pizza," Teigen tweeted. "Modern Family" actor Jesse Tyler Ferguson, who will apparently also be at this pizza party, sweetened the deal by offering up his own slices. "She can have my portion!" he responded. Naturally, Ocasio-Cortez accepted the offer. "yes! we can live-tweet me burning something in the kitchen," the congresswoman said. "perfect! we have extremely different strengths except I still sometimes burn things," Teigen wrote back. The internet proceeded to lose its mind. "NAME A BETTER DUO, I'LL WAIT," tweeted Jules Suzdaltsev. "I am absolutely here for this friendship," Becky Holloman tweeted. Here's everything you need to know to watch the Grammys on Sunday. But if you'd rather watch Teigen and Ocasio-Cortez watch the Grammys, well ... you're not alone.

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None

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2016

4.0

Following a week packed with product launches, a Facebook's developer conference, F8, is set to shed new light on the power of chatbots, live streaming and the Messenger app. Facebook's F8, an annual pow wow for technologists that build products on top of the Facebook platform, commences early Tuesday in San Francisco. Rife with business ideas, the schedule bursts with guides for monetizing Messenger, Instagram, video streaming, payments, games and apps. Facebook has been mum so far on the announcements in store for the conference and did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment. But based on recent roll-outs and rumors swirling, here are some changes that could be fleshed out at the event. Read More Chatbots rise, and the future may be 're-written' Perhaps the most buzzed-about announcement expected from F8 is rollout of a chatbot — a robot, powered by artificial intelligence, that you communicate with on Facebook's Messenger app. Rather than launch an additional app to book a flight or hail a car, one could theoretically chat up a bot to do the task in an more "natural" way of communication, USA Today reported. That could mean spending even more time on Facebook — talking to businesses, to boot. Canadian messaging app Kik is among apps that have already launched "bot shops" with partners like H&M and Sephora. Read MoreZuck tries Facebook Live ... doesn't go well Bots or no bots, Facebook already showed its big investment in live video last week, when CEO Mark Zuckerberg himself took to the airwaves, debuting features to make it easier for users to find and share clips. There may even be an announcement of a standalone video app at F8, Macquarie Research analyst Ben Schachter wrote in a Thursday research note. Despite a rocky start, it wasn't long before Live Video was heralded as the "future of TV" thanks to an exploding watermelon streamed by Buzzfeed last Friday. What does that mean for developers? A platform that's more competitive with Alphabet's YouTube and Twitter's Periscope, according to Schachter. "With the recently launched features for Facebook Live along with potential new video experiences, we expect video on (and possibly off-FB) to remain one of the most important areas for FB," Schachter wrote. Read MoreThe future of TV: 800K watch a watermelon explode While Live Video was busy stealing the spotlight, Facebook quietly broke out some new features aimed at small business owners last week. Business pages now have usernames with "@" signs similar to those used for tagging friends. These usernames will give each page a unique identity and allow users to interact with the business owners via Facebook's Messenger app, the company said in a release Thursday. Other updates include a feature called Messenger Links and Codes, where business can share a clickable link or scannable QR-like codes that open a Messenger conversation with the business. It's all tied to Facebook's push toward eCommerce, Schachter wrote, likely to be expanded at F8's sessions. Read MoreWhy the NFL went to Twitter instead of Facebook Though virtual reality has been an ancillary business for Facebook, the Oculus-owner boasts several VR sessions on the technology at F8. And Schachter said he expects partnership announcements, starting with sports and entertainment companies, to emerge from the conference. "We expect FB to say it's still early days, but to start to focus on allowing users to generate their own VR content," Schachter wrote. "This will be the first large FB event post Oculus launch and we expect the focus to shift from hardware to the software/content for the platform." While you can send peer-to-peer payments, and pay your Uber via Messenger, Facebook has yet to venture into in-person transactions. But that could be the next step for Facebook to face-off against fellow tech-titan Apple, Rosenblatt Securities analyst Martin Pyykkonen told Investor's Business Daily. It's an opinion bolstered by reports by investigative technology blog The Information. "We expect the F8 pitch will include Facebook's Messenger app pushing further into a wide variety of business and consumer services," Pyykkonen wrote in a note cited by IBD. "We are especially focused on Facebook's developer direction with mobile payments within the Messenger app."

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2017

4.0

Show Us Your Wall On a recent afternoon, with wind and rain lashing against the windows of her apartment on Central Park West, Patsy Tarr stood in her dining room surrounded by a few of her favorite artworks by Robert Rauschenberg, Roy Lichtenstein and Donald Judd. A photograph of Merce Cunningham by Barbara Morgan hung nearby, and an Alexander Calder mobile dangled over the table. “If we open the windows,” she said, “it actually spins around.” Sadly, it wasn’t spinning weather. Ms. Tarr, president of the 2wice Arts Foundation, which publishes 2wice and Dance Ink — the latest issue is out now — began collecting in the early 1980s with a plan: buy works by artists who worked with choreographers. Ms. Tarr sees dance in unexpected places. In one of her favorites, “Dovima With Elephants,” Richard Avedon’s 1955 photograph of that model posed between two elephants at the circus, she is reminded of the choreographer Twyla Tharp. “Dovima is between these old, wrinkled, heavy, enchained elephants,” Ms. Tarr said. “He juxtaposes the high and the low, the circus, and this always makes me think of Twyla’s choreography.” She treasures an Annie Leibovitz photograph of Ms. Tharp dancing in Central Park. Ms. Tarr, wearing a vintage Geoffrey Beene jumpsuit — “he fits right in with this crowd” — recalled when she first saw Ms. Tharp’s work. “The feet were so fast doing all this ballet stuff and the top was sort of shimmying and shrugging, and I kept thinking, ‘This is so mixed up!’” she said. Ms. Tarr laughed in delight. “That’s what makes her great.” What’s the story behind the Rauschenberg? It’s a “Shiner,” which is what a group of his works are called. The Shiners all reflect back the people who are looking at the painting; the surface constantly changes. It’s painted on aluminum. See? You and I are now in the painting. This painting is practically a dance. How did you put this room together? It’s been this way since the ’80s. I think we started with the Rauschenberg and then we moved onto the Judd [a horizontal wall work with a reflective back, not shown]. I loved the dance that Trisha Brown made called “Newark,” and I thought that his collaboration with her on it was one of the finest that she ever did. The Judd deals with interior space. When I look at it, I always think about how Trisha might have moved through it. The Lichtenstein came later. I am particularly interested in the pop artists. The ’60s were the decade that I really grew up in, but the market for those artists is way beyond me at this point, so now I don’t even look. How would you describe your taste? Primarily abstract, primarily American and primarily artists from the ’50s and ’60s. Why? I like very elegant work. And because I spend so much time looking at modern dance, I think I have grown to love abstract art: It all just looks like dance. [Laughs] When I started looking at Merce’s work in the late ’60s and early ’70s, it was just like: “Oh! This is my taste.” Do you think of specific dances in this room? I really don’t. I think of the artists and their point of view and how the art somehow speaks to that point of view. It’s very hard in dance. You go home at the end of a performance empty-handed. Here, you can look at artists who share a philosophy with a choreographer: You can commune with a choreographer.

art

artists

(art , museum , artists , exhibition , paintings , artist , painting , gallery , museums , works)

2018

7.0

Ariana Grande may love her comedian fiancé Pete Davidson, but that doesn't mean she found his joke about the bombing at her concert in Manchester funny. On May 22, 2017, a single suicide bomber detonated a bomb at the Manchester Arena, where Grande held a concert. Twenty-two people were killed by the attack, and many more were injured. Which brings us to a joke that Davidson allegedly made about the Manchester tragedy. According to The Mirror, the Saturday Night Live star allegedly remarked during a set at Los Angeles club The Laugh Factory that Grande should know how famous she was following the attack, because "Britney Spears didn’t have a terrorist attack at her concert." Now, Grande is responding to the alleged comment. After a fan on Twitter called out Davidson for the insensitive comment, the "No Tears Left To Cry Singer" replied with her own thoughts on the subject, which seemingly confirmed that, yes, the joke did take place. "this has been v tough & conflicting on my heart. he uses comedy to help ppl feel better ab how f-ed up things in this world are. we all deal w trauma differently," Grande wrote to the fan. "I of course didn’t find it funny. it was months ago & his intention wasn’t/ is never malicious but it was unfortunate." Davidson's own father was killed in the terrorist attack in New York City on September 11, 2001, something he is open about in his own comedy. Grande reportedly got a tattoo in honor of Davidson's dad, which matches Davidson's own tat. In a statement immediately following the attack at her concert, Grande said: "From the day we started putting the Dangerous Woman Tour together, I said that this show, more than anything else, was intended to be a safe space for my fans. A place for them to escape, to celebrate, to heal, to feel safe and be themselves. [The victims] will be on my mind and in my heart everyday, and I will think of them with everything I do for the rest of my life."

music

Ariana Grande

(grande , ariana , davidson , ariana grande , grandes , manchester , pete davidson , pete , concert , arianagrande)

2019

1.0

Robots are amazing things, but outside of their specific domains they are incredibly limited. So flexibility — not physical, but mental — is a constant area of research. A trio of new robotic setups demonstrate ways they can evolve to accommodate novel situations: using both “hands,” getting up after a fall, and understanding visual instructions they’ve never seen before. The robots, all developed independently, are gathered together today in a special issue of the journal Science Robotics dedicated to learning. Each shows an interesting new way in which robots can improve their interactions with the real world. First there is the question of using the right tool for a job. As humans with multi-purpose grippers on the ends of our arms, we’re pretty experienced with this. We understand from a lifetime of touching stuff that we need to use this grip to pick this up, we need to use tools for that, this will be light, that heavy, and so on. Robots, of course, have no inherent knowledge of this, which can make things difficult; it may not understand that it can’t pick up something of a given size, shape, or texture. A new system from Berkeley roboticists acts as a rudimentary decision-making process, classifying objects as able to be grabbed either by an ordinary pincer grip or with a suction cup grip. A robot, wielding both simultaneously, decides on the fly (using depth-based imagery) what items to grab and with which tool; the result is extremely high reliability even on piles of objects it’s never seen before. It’s done with a neural network that consumed millions of data points on items, arrangements, and attempts to grab them. If you attempted to pick up a teddy bear with a suction cup and it didn’t work the first ten thousand times, would you keep on trying? This system learned to make that kind of determination, and as you can imagine such a thing is potentially very important for tasks like warehouse picking for which robots are being groomed. Interestingly, because of the “black box” nature of complex neural networks, it’s difficult to tell what exactly Dex-Net 4.0 is actually basing its choices on, although there are some obvious preferences, explained Berkeley’s  Ken Goldberg in an email. “We can try to infer some intuition but the two networks are inscrutable in that we can’t extract understandable ‘policies,’ ” he wrote. “We empirically find that smooth planar surfaces away from edges generally score well on the suction model and pairs of antipodal points generally score well for the gripper.” Now that reliability and versatility are high, the next step is speed; Goldberg said that the team is “working on an exciting new approach” to reduce computation time for the network, to be documented, no doubt, in a future paper. Quadrupedal robots are already flexible in that they can handle all kinds of terrain confidently, even recovering from slips (and of course cruel kicks). But when they fall, they fall hard. And generally speaking they don’t get up. The way these robots have their legs configured makes it difficult to do things in anything other than an upright position. But ANYmal, a robot developed by ETH Zurich (and which you may recall from its little trip to the sewer recently), has a more versatile setup that gives its legs extra degrees of freedom. What could you do with that extra movement? All kinds of things. But it’s incredibly difficult to figure out the exact best way for the robot to move in order to maximize speed or stability. So why not use a simulation to test thousands of ANYmals trying different things at once, and use the results from that in the real world? This simulation-based learning doesn’t always work, because it isn’t possible right now to accurately simulate all the physics involved. But it can produce extremely novel behaviors or streamline ones humans thought were already optimal. At any rate that’s what the researchers did here, and not only did they arrive at a faster trot for the bot (above), but taught it an amazing new trick: getting up from a fall. Any fall. Watch this: https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/hwangbomovie4.mp4 It’s extraordinary that the robot has come up with essentially a single technique to get on its feet from nearly any likely fall position, as long as it has room and the use of all its legs. Remember, people didn’t design this — the simulation and evolutionary algorithms came up with it by trying thousands of different behaviors over and over and keeping the ones that worked. Let’s say you were given three bowls, with red and green balls in the center one. Then you’re given this on a sheet of paper: As a human with a brain, you take this paper for instructions, and you understand that the green and red circles represent balls of those colors, and that red ones need to go to the left, while green ones go to the right. This is one of those things where humans apply vast amounts of knowledge and intuitive understanding without even realizing it. How did you choose to decide the circles represent the balls? Because of the shape? Then why don’t the arrows refer to “real” arrows? How do you know how far to go to the right or left? How do you know the paper even refers to these items at all? All questions you would resolve in a fraction of a second, and any of which might stump a robot. Researchers have taken some baby steps towards being able to connect abstract representations like the above with the real world, a task that involves a significant amount of what amounts to a sort of machine creativity or imagination. Making the connection between a green dot on a white background in a diagram and a greenish roundish thing on a black background in the real world isn’t obvious, but the “visual cognitive computer” created by Miguel Lázaro-Gredilla and his colleagues at Vicarious AI seems to be doing pretty well at it. It’s still very primitive, of course, but in theory it’s the same toolset that one uses to, for example, assemble a piece of Ikea furniture: look at an abstract representation, connect it to real-world objects, then manipulate those objects according to the instructions. We’re years away from that, but it wasn’t long ago that we were years away from a robot getting up from a fall or deciding a suction cup or pincer would work better to pick something up. The papers and videos demonstrating all the concepts above should be available at the Science Robotics site.

robots

boston dynamics

(robot , robots , boston dynamics , robotics , dynamics , spotmini , humanoid , robotic , boston , cozmo)

2016

7.0

Despite decades on the list of “bad” fats that harm the heart, butter, on its own, is not linked to increased risk of heart disease after all, according to a recent analysis of existing research. Eating more butter was even weakly tied to a lower risk of diabetes, the authors found. Some people hold that butter is a “villain” while others think it is a superfood of sorts, and this review supports neither argument, said senior author Dariush Mozaffarian of the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University in Boston. “The findings really suggest butter is neither of those things, whether you eat a lot or none at all, there’s not a big difference,” he told Reuters Health. The authors reviewed nine large studies including a total of more than 600,000 people who reported what they ate and were followed over time. Overall, 28,000 people died during the studied periods, almost 10,000 people developed cardiovascular disease and 24,000 were diagnosed with diabetes. Consumption of butter among people in the studies ranged from none to a tablespoon (14 grams) or more daily. Researchers found a very small increased risk of dying from any cause based on how much butter people ate. For every additional tablespoon, risk rose by 1 percent compared to people who didn’t eat butter. But that difference is so small it could be due to chance. Risk for heart attacks, strokes and overall cardiovascular disease was similar regardless of butter intake, according to the results in PLoS ONE. Each additional tablespoon of butter consumed was tied to a 4 percent lower risk of developing diabetes. “Butter’s net health effect is pretty neutral,” Mozaffarian said. Other daily dietary choices, like getting enough fruit and vegetables, may be more important for your health, he said. “These results mean that we should not over-emphasize the role of butter for health, and consider its health effects against the alternative choices,” said Dr. Nita Forouhi of the University of Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine in the UK who was not part of the new research. Other studies have linked habitual butter intake to higher low-density-lipoprotein(LDL) cholesterol and potentially with weight gain over time, Forouhi told Reuters Health by email. “This finding is not a license to eat all the butter one wants, but there is no need to single it out as being particularly unhealthy,” Forouhi said. “The findings for type 2 diabetes may be real, but they may also be limited by the complexity of doing this type of research as some people may selectively under- or over-report or avoid consumption,” Forouhi said. “Or there might be alternative explanations such as the other dietary factors that could not be accounted for leading to what is known as residual confounding. For now, it is best to consider butter being neutral for diabetes risk.” SOURCE: bit.ly/29S63Bc PLoS ONE, online June 29, 2016.

diet

fats

(diet , fats , foods , cholesterol , dietary , fat , diets , mediterranean diet , ultraprocessed , trans fats)

2020

1.0

LONDON, Jan 19 (Reuters) - The closure of the Woodford fund in Britain showed how the $184 trillion shadow-banking sector can be vulnerable even in normal market conditions, the Financial Stability Board (FSB) said in a report on Sunday. Shadow banking refers to investment and credit-like transactions outside conventional banks. It includes open-ended funds, money market funds, hedge funds, special investment vehicles, securitisation and insurers. The FSB, which coordinates financial rules for the Group of 20 Economies (G20), said its narrow measure of “non-bank financial intermediation” grew by 1.7% to $51 trillion in 2018, or 13.6% of total global financial assets. By contrast, the growth rate averaged 8.5% annually in 2012-17, when shadow banking grew rapidly as banks faced heavier regulation following the 2007-09 financial crisis. The narrow measure covers shadow banking activities that the FSB believes could pose bank-like risks to financial stability. The regulator’s broad measure of shadow banking dipped slightly to $183.7 trillion in 2018, the first drop since 2008 — declines un stock markets in 2018 hit asset valuations. The pullback has been generally reversed as Wall Street rallied to record highs last week. Total global financial assets grew by 1.4% to $379 trillion in 2018, driven largely by banks, the FSB said. The FSB singled out the flagship open-ended equity fund run by British stock picker Neil Woodford, which was suspended in June 2019 after being unable to meet redemption requests from investors. It has since been closed down, with its investors due to get some of their money back in coming weeks. The Woodford fund highlighted potential vulnerabilities at some open-ended funds, which typically offer daily redemptions, that have significant investments in assets that are illiquid or hard to sell quickly without incurring losses, the FSB said. Moreover, the suspension of the Woodford fund occurred in a benign financial market, the FSB noted. The events surrounding Woodford have prompted the Bank of England to consider how a fund’s redemption terms can better reflect the difficulty of selling illiquid assets, such as commercial real estate. Reporting by Huw Jones, editing by Larry King

None

None

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2016

8.0

KIEV (Reuters) - A Ukrainian lawmaker on Friday divulged more details of what he said were payments made to Donald Trump’s campaign chief in the U.S. presidential race by the political party of the Kremlin-backed former Ukrainian leader Viktor Yanukovich. MP Serhiy Leshchenko said money was allocated for Trump aide Paul Manafort to finance services such as carrying out exit polls at elections, buying computers and conducting research. The largest single payment was $3.5 million. Manafort has denied allegations - first made in the New York Times on Monday - that he received cash payments worth more than $12 million over five years that were itemized on secret ledgers belonging to Yanukovich’s Party of Regions. Ukrainian anti-corruption investigators have corroborated the existence of what they called a “black ledger” of payments made by Yanukovich’s party but stressed that they could not establish whether Manafort himself received money. Leshchenko, a member of President Petro Poroshenko’s parliamentary faction, called on Ukrainian authorities to send a request for assistance to Washington to investigate Manafort. “Manafort didn’t work for free in Ukraine, he served the Party of Regions for over 10 years and it is clear that his work was paid,” Leshchenko told a news conference. “The money was transferred in cash and it is impossible to trace the transactions, but I have no doubt as to the authenticity of these documents,” he said. “If Mr Manafort denies any allegations, I think he has to be interrogated into this case and prove his position that he was not involved,” Leshchenko added. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s campaign has previously said the allegations were evidence of “more troubling connections between Donald Trump’s team and pro-Kremlin elements in Ukraine”. Trump, a Republican, has spoken favorably in the past of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Last month, he invited Russian hackers to find “missing” emails from Clinton’s time as secretary of state, when she used a private email server to conduct government business, although he later described that call as sarcasm. In response to the earlier report in the New York Times, Manafort denied any impropriety in a statement on Monday. “I have never received a single ‘off-the-books cash payment’ as falsely ‘reported’ by The New York Times, nor have I ever done work for the governments of Ukraine or Russia,” he said. Trump overhauled his top political team this week, demoting Manafort, who was brought on as campaign chief in June to professionalize its approach but struggled to get the wealthy businessman to rein in his freewheeling ways. Writing by Matthias Williams; editing by Mark Heinrich

politics

manafort

(manafort , manaforts , gates , mr manafort , muellers , paul manafort , mueller , ellis , prosecutors , kilimnik)

2016

6.0

June 15 (Reuters) - Midea Group Co Ltd : * Says it to provide guarantee of up to $1.6 billion for a living electric apparatus company and its subsidiaries, after acquisition of the living electric apparatus company Source text in Chinese: goo.gl/r28ADN Further company Coverage: (Beijing Headline News)

None

None

()

2018

3.0

The Libre Initiative is launching an online ad today in which a Dreamer calls for Congress to use the omnibus to pass a permanent solution for Dreamers. "This White House is offering us a pathway to citizenship. We’re so close and now we need congress to step up," he says. The ad is part of a six-figure campaign that targets Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Nevada, Ohio and Washington D.C. Why it matters: The Libre Initiative, funded by Koch, is the largest conservative Latino group, and one of few right-leaning groups looking to capture the votes of immigrants and the Latino community in the midterms despite Trump's hardline stances on immigration.

None

None

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2017

6.0

The absolutely gorgeous game developed by Level-5 in association with Studio Ghibli, Ni No Kuni, is getting a sequel, and it’s coming with some changes. But not everyone is super into the idea of them yet.  On the E3 showfloor this week, I played a slice of Ni No Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom. The demo mostly consisted of two big boss battles: one, a fire-breathing dragon; and the other, a fist-pounding guerrilla creature. Playing as Evan, a young adult and overthrown king of Ding Dong Dell, I thrust my sword at the claws and furry butt of my boss enemies. I dodged and rolled away from their attacks, and used my special water or fire-based hits when I could.  Surrounded by my friends on the battle stage, it all felt very familiar to the original game. With one difference: I would also periodically roll over near my Higgledies friends, a new feature in Ni No Kuni II. These little critters group up by color: I saw white, green, red. When they’re ready to be activated, their group lights up in an indicating circle, and I would roll over to strategically press X to unleash their buffs. According to a press release, “The Higgledies will provide invaluable support during battles including offensive and defensive buffs, increasing special attack power for Evan and his friends, and assist in attacking enemies.”  The Higgledies After duking it out against the two bosses, I sat down to speak to the game’s director, Akihiro Hino.   I asked Hino-san, through a translator, how development on the game was going. The team at Level-5 has apparently grown exponentially throughout this project as the ideas in the game were growing. I asked him why he chose to showcase two boss battles for their E3 demo. It was because of the flashy action, and how he felt it was representative of the battle system they’re moving forward with, he told me.  But one of the very first questions I wanted to ask was why Familiars weren’t making a return in the sequel, since they were such a beloved feature in the first Ni No Kuni.   “I’m always pursuing new elements and game mechanics and ways for people to play and enjoy games,” Hino-san told me through a translator. “In developing the sequel, I didn’t want to recycle an old system. Which is where the idea of the Higgledies came from, partially. Unlike the previous game where the companions were kind of there — the Familiars were there as your companion — the Higgledies really change the way you can strategize in battle and they’re almost like a support system. It opens up the playability and range of how players can interact and navigate boss battles really well. I’m really excited to be able to use the Higgledies in that way.”  Though the Higgledies don’t have the same kind of Pokémon-quality of capturing, training, and leveling up that Familiars did in Ni No Kuni I, they do add to battle strategy in a new way.   Drippy — who is not a Familiar but your guiding fairy and a secondary character throughout the game — is another aspect of Ni No Kuni that players have felt strongly about. You either hated or loved Drippy. His tendency to be chatty — even during battles — either annoyed or delighted you (it probably annoyed you). I asked Hino-san whether Drippy would be making a return in the sequel.  “Yes, there is going to be a character closely resembling Drippy in their role,” Hino-san said. “As you progress through the story, you may encounter a race very close to what Drippy did in Ni No Kuni I. This character is going to transform into these guardians, or holy beasts, in the story. I would almost argue that there is going to be a Drippy-like character that plays an even more important role in Ni No Kuni II.”  As for his thoughts on players’ feedback on Drippy’s personality?   “There were some similar reactions in Japan, I would say, as well. The person we cast to help build the character was a comedian and, of course, he has a lot of commentary and a lot of thoughts on his mind which doesn’t always filter. We wanted to have this very lovable, approachable person with a clean perspective, but also a lot of times there’s one too many words. It’s very understandable that he would come across as annoying. I wanted to include that human element in the character.”  Longfang But there’s an even more substantial addition to Ni No Kuni II that hasn’t been as highlighted yet, and that’s the game’s kingdom building system.   “[In] a lot of more traditional RPGs, the gameplay cycle is: you go into a dungeon, you find treasure, you get the loot, improve your armor, improve your weapons, and that would allow you to unlock different dungeons. But what’s really interesting about the kingdom building system is not only are there those elements present, but you also need to collect good, talented people,” Hino-san said. “So you need to be judging people and fitting them into your kingdoms in specific ways that will improve how your kingdom grows as well. That’s a very new element.”  As you discover and, presumably, conquer or perhaps re-conquer new kingdoms, it’s your responsibility to ensure the kingdom’s success. “Depending on how you allocate these talents in your kingdom, that’s going to greatly affect the rate of growth and what kind of kingdom you’re going to have,” he said. I wondered if the wrong call might bring your kingdom crumbling down in failure, but the game is more about finding and leveraging the right fit — even if that fit might not initially be apparent — than it is about the risks of the complete and total loss of that kingdom.   Some players of the original Ni No Kuni complained about the grinding nature of the game — which is a quality that’s fairly inherent to many RPGs. Hino-san believes that the kingdom building system helps Ni No Kuni II diversify enough away from that. “In the game cycle for Ni No Kuni II, we’ve kind of helped alleviate a little bit of that repetition in the kingdom system where you’re out adventuring, you’re collecting resources, you’re collecting loot, and you’re collecting talented people to put them into position. Watching your kingdom grow is a direct reflection of all your efforts, and I think that really helps create a game that has a very comfortable cycle and doesn’t feel as much like grinding,” he said.  Ni No Kuni II will be out on Nov. 10 for PS4 and PC.

video games

Nintendo Switch

(nintendo , game , games , mario , switch , console , fortnite , esports , nintendos , super mario)

2016

3.0

Snapchat has hired longtime Pandora executive Tom Conrad as its new VP of Product. Conrad spent a decade at Pandora and was running product and also serving as the company’s CTO by the time he left back in 2014. Now he’ll report directly to Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel, who is a very strong-minded and hands-on product CEO himself. A Snapchat spokesperson confirmed the hire. “We’re excited to welcome Tom to the Snapchat team,” the company wrote in a statement shared with Re/code. It’s an important hire for Snapchat. For starters, it should give Spiegel more freedom to focus on building Snapchat into a business, a much-needed step as the company works to validate its $16 billion valuation and move toward an IPO. The company is targeting $300 million to $350 million in revenue in 2016, a jump of six or seven times its 2015 revenue goal. Hitting that number will require a lot of attention. Just as critical, perhaps, is the importance of getting the head of product hire just right. Exhibit A is Facebook, where CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Product VP Chris Cox have figured out how to balance a hands-on CEO with a day-to-day product boss. Twitter, on the other hand, has had four product heads in the past two years, a constant change-up that has crippled the company’s attempts to bring on new, more mainstream users. Snapchat will have the same challenge as Twitter: Building a relevant product that will also help scale its user base, which is currently north of 100 million daily active users. Conrad started at Snapchat Monday. This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

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2017

1.0

MIAMI/NEW YORK (Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Thursday ordered a Volkswagen executive charged in the Justice Department’s diesel emissions investigation held without bail pending trial. Oliver Schmidt was arrested Saturday at Miami’s International Airport as he planned to fly home after a vacation. He was one of six current and former VW executives charged this week in U.S. District Court in Detroit. The other five are in Germany and are unlikely to be extradited. U.S. Magistrate Judge William Turnoff ruled Schmidt was a flight risk. His lawyers said they planned to appeal the decision. The Justice Department also said Schmidt “faces what would be an effective life sentence” if convicted. Schmidt is charged with eleven felony counts, which could be punished by up to 169 years in prison, the government said. Volkswagen AG agreed to plead guilty and pay $4.3 billion in civil and criminal fines.

automobiles

Volkswagen emissions scandal

(volkswagen , vw , diesel , emissions , audi , volkswagens , emissions tests , vws , diesel emissions , vehicles)

2019

10.0

TL;DR: The relaxing Philips wake-up light is on sale for £64.99 on Amazon, saving you 38% on list price. We know it's all everyone has been talking about lately, but since the clocks have gone back in the UK, the darkness has been almost unbearable. We're now in that horrible stage of the year where most people will leave for work in the dark, and come home in the dark. It's at this point that we need to take matters into our own hands, and invest in a device that gives back some of that light. The Philips wake-up light eases you into the day by recreating a natural sunrise, with two natural wake-up sounds and 10 personalised light intensities. You also have the option of a radio function, and four display brightness levels. Basically, everything is adjustable to match what you prefer.  You can now pick up the Philips wake-up light for £64.99 on Amazon. This is down by 38% on list price, saving you over £40. That's a healthy saving on a device that can bring a little light back into your life. Make this winter more bearable with the help of the Philips wake-up light. Philips wake-up light — £64.99 (list price £105) See Details

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2016

2.0

Still from Squeezed by Shadows, 2013, Carla MacKinnon © the artist Human consciousness: it's something we all share (some of us more than others), yet barely understand. It's a tricky and enigmatic subject that neuroscience, art, psychology, philosophy, folklore, and religion all attempt to grapple with. The inroads they've made into the topic are the subject of London's Wellcome Collection's latest exhibit, States of Mind: Tracing the Edges of Consciousness. It follows on from their yellowbluepink experience last year, an installation by Ann Veronica that featured densely colored mists that people attempted to navigate through, which aimed to disorientate and challenge our everyday perceptions. For this second part of the museum's investigation into consciousness, the exhibition explores some of the trickier phenomena of the human mind, addressing some of the same issues yellowbluepink raised. It also looks at early scientific innovators like Francis Crick—who discovered the structure of DNA molecules—and whose pioneering research into the study of conciousness paved the way for modern neuroscience. “Consciousness is a fascinating subject, as magical as it is everyday," curator Emily Sargent says in the press release. "We all know what it is like to be conscious, but it remains a challenge to truly define it. This makes it rich territory both for artists and scientists alike.” Alphabet in Colour by Vladimir Nabokov, as interpreted by Jean Holabird © the artist A Synesthesia, a popular topic for art and artists, is explored through Vladimir Nabokov's "colored hearing" alphabet which is reproduced as watercolors by American illustrator Jean Holabird. The letters A to Z are presented in the colors that Nabokov "sees" for each one, along with his illustrative descriptions. So "the long A of the English alphabet has for me the tint of weathered wood," yet the "French A evokes polished ebony." "B has the tone called Burnt Sienna by painters," there is "creamy D," the "drab shoelace of H," "huckleberry K," the letter V becomes "matched with 'Rose Quartz,'" and there is the "unripe apple of P." It makes you wonder how this sense of seeing letters as colors informed Nabakov's own writing and reading. And it's also worth noting that research published in 2014 by the University of Sussex says, in some instances, you can train the brain to acquire synesthesia like Nabokov's letter-color parallels. Goshka Macuga, 'Somnambulist' 2006, Courtesy the artist and Kate MacGarry Things get creepy in the show when it comes to consciousness and sleep. Sleepwalking is explored with reference to German Expressionist horror masterpiece The Cabinet of Dr Caligari, where the doctor of the title conditions a sleepwalker, Cesare, to commit murder. Cesare is made into a menacing, lifelike sculpture in an accompanying piece called Somnambulist (2006) by Goshka Macuga—with Dr. Caligari playing beside it on a screen, the eerie figure lies there daring you to turn your back on it, adding a sense of the uncanny and automata in reference to the human mind.  Further creepiness is presented in the form of real murder stories that have happened while people claim to have been sleepwalking. One that happened in 2003 in Manchester, England involves a son who beat his 83-year-old dad to death after they both drank loads of alchohol. The son claimed he remembered none of it and was horrified by his actions. He was eventually cleared of murder.  The Nightmare, Henry Fuseli, 1781 © Trustees of the British Museum Further sleep weirdness comes in the form of sleep paralysis, when somebody who is sleeping is semi-conscious but can't move a muscle. It is only temporary, but anyone who's experience will know how freaky it is. It's embodied in the famous painting, The Nightmare, by Henry Fuseli which shows an incubus sitting atop a woman's chest. The exhibition also highlights its presence in folklore from various cultures. In Buddishm, it's related to a magical god who uses a metal chain and sword to paralyze evil spirits. In Carla MacKinnon’s installation, Squeezed by Shadows, people who suffer from sleep paralysis recount their terrifying experiences and hallucinations to the sights of disturbing abstract images. Further demonic embodiments of states of consciousness come when the exhibition looks at the "reversible coma" that is general anaesthetic, the very common medical practice that puts the patient in a bizarre state of mind that "is as close to brainstem death as it is possible to get and survive." A painting from 1912 by Richard Tennant Cooper shows ghouls with large heads attacking an unconscious man with surgical equipment, relating the effects of chloroform. An unconscious naked man, R Cooper, 1912, credit - Wellcome Library The unreliability of the human mind and our memories is touched on in A. R. Hopwood's False Memory Archive, which features, among other things, submitted false memories by people that they were convinced were true. "For years I was convinced as a child I had visited Russia with my family. It turned out I had actually been on holiday in Overstand, Norfolk [in the UK]," runs one such example. Others recall gliding down stairs without touching the steps or seeing actions through others eyes. It highlights how often memories are part-fiction, part-fact, influenced by dreams, films, books, artworks, stories, and anecdotes we hear. In that sense, our recollections are often tainted by the interconnected pathways of the neural brain, clouding our perceptions. False Memory Archive, Crudely Erased Adults (Lost in the Mall), A.R. Hopwood, 2012-13, Courtesy of the artist Shift, a film by Aya Ben Ron shows the lives of clinically unaware patients who are in a persistent vegetative state—it differs to a coma in they can respond to stimuli and even smile, but these are considered reflexes rather than conscious acts. Ron's film shows the lives of these people and those that care for them. Scientists don't yet know how much consciousness they experience, but fMRI scanners used with some patients in this condition show that, while in the scanner, they can respond better when asked to imagine performing certain activities. Like, for instance, when asked to play a sport, the fMRI shows their brains responding in the same way as a healthy brain would, and in this way researchers conduct conversations, via the machinery, with them. It makes for a very informative, inquisitive, yet touching investigation into the strange mystery that is human consciousness. It also shows how personal and subjective it is, and how there's so much we've still got to find out. Aya Ben Ron, Shift (3 chapters), 29min, DV, 2009-2011 States of Mind: Experiences at the Edge of Consciousness is at the Wellcome Collection, London, NW1 from now until October 16. Related: Biohacker Lisa Park Has Art on the Brain Walt Whitman's 'Song of Myself' Becomes a Trippy Cartoon Audiovisual Installation Explores the Concept of Consciousness

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2016

5.0

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The main concern regarding the financial stability of banks in the euro zone is that new EU rules on rescuing lenders without using taxpayers’ money have not yet been tested on them, the European Central Bank’s chief economist said on Tuesday. Speaking at a conference in Brussels, Peter Praet said that financial stability has been enhanced but added that “the main concern is that bail-in for large and complex institutions has not been tested yet”. “On paper we have much better recovery and resolution processes, but they have not been tested yet. I would still put a question mark on this,” Praet said. Bail-ins allow regulators to force losses on banks’ shareholders, bondholders and large depositors when a lender has to be wound down, meaning taxpayers’ money does not have to be used. The new bail-in rules have been made operational since the beginning of this year. Reporting by Francesco Guarascio; Editing by Hugh Lawson

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2018

7.0

(Reuters) - Neymar inevitably grabbed the headlines and plaudits again after Brazil’s 2-0 World Cup win over Mexico on Monday but their real campaign heroes have been elsewhere. Brazil’s defensive record under coach Tite has been remarkable, with only six goals conceded in 25 matches, and they have been just as miserly in Russia where they have only conceded one goal. Their round-of-16 tie against Mexico was another object lesson in defending from the central pairing of Thiago Silva and Miranda, assisted by full backs Fagner and Filipe Luis and given an extra layer of protection by Casemiro in midfield. Many teams would have wilted under the pressure as Mexico poured forward in the first 20 minutes just as they had in their famous 1-0 win over Germany — but Brazil were made of sterner stuff. Strong, athletic and intelligent, they comfortably prevented Mexico from turning territorial domination into real chances. Every time a Mexican tried to get the byline, there was a well-timed tackle to stop him; every time they got into a good shooting position, there was a body in the way to block the shot; and every time the ball was crossed into the Brazilian area, there was a foot or head to repel it. When Hector Herrera received the ball on the edge of the penalty area in what seemed like a good shooting position, he was immediately surrounded by four defenders and his shot was charged down. One of the key differences since Tite took over two years ago has been that Brazil try to win the ball cleanly in midfield. Under his predecessors, Dunga and Luiz Felipe Scolari, Brazil adopted a destructive form of tactical fouling with the aim simply to stop the opposition playing. For Tite, on the other hand, a foul in midfield is a wasted chance to win back possession and start a new attack. After his team beat Austria 3-0 in a warm-up friendly, Tite lauded his players for only conceding eight free kicks. “That shows that we use aggressive marking to try and win the ball and then come out playing,” he said. On Monday, they conceded even fewer — six free kicks. Brazil are usually thought of as an attacking team but, in fact, they take very few risks, usually parking three players on the halfway line even when they win a corner, and on Monday they allowed Mexico to enjoy 53 per cent of possession. They have looked even more solid now that Filipe Luis, well-schooled in the art of marking under Diego Simeone at Atletico Madrid, has replaced the more cavalier Marcelo at left back. There were plenty of other examples of Brazil’s defensive prowess to admire on Monday such as a superbly timed tackle by Fagner on Hirving Lozano in the second half. Even in stoppage time, when Lozano got the ball in a dangerous position in the penalty area, he was immediately surrounded by four defenders. There was simply no way they were going to allow Mexico through. (This version of the story fixes typo on third para from the end) Writing by Brian Homewood, editing by Neil Robinson

sports

soccer

(world cup , cup , league , premier league , champions league , champions , messi , manchester , soccer , liverpool)

2018

11.0

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain’s biggest defence company BAE Systems (BAES.L), which counts Saudi Arabia as its third biggest customer, stuck to a forecast for flat earnings in 2018 and said programmes in the UK and the United States were making progress. BAE’s update is its first since companies have come under pressure for doing business with Saudi Arabia in the wake of the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2. BAE makes 16 percent of its annual sales from selling Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets and other arms to Saudi Arabia. It did not mention Saudi in its trading statement. “Whilst a degree of geopolitical turbulence exists, the potential pipeline for Typhoon remains positive with opportunities both with partner nations and through exports,” the company said on Thursday. Germany has pledged to suspend arms exports to Saudi Arabia over Khashoggi’s killing. [nL8N1X37FU] The case has raised questions about the UK government’s 10 billion pound deal to sell Saudi Arabia 48 new Typhoons, which are made by BAE Systems and its partners. The deal, confirmed in a memorandum of understanding in March, has not been finalised, and is not reflected in BAE’s 2018 financial statements. BAE, which builds ships and fighter jets for the UK, and combat vehicles and other equipment for the United States, said that for 2018 earnings per share would be in line with the previous year, with some small additional benefit from exchange rates. The company repeated a line it has given in the past that it saw limited impact on its business from Britain leaving the European Union as it had little trade with the EU. Reporting by Sarah Young; editing by Mark Potter and Jason Neely

arms exports

saudi arabia

(arms exports , arms , saudi , saudi arabia , arabia , eurofighter , exports saudi , exports , export , eurofighter typhoon)

2018

9.0

Target is "deeply troubled" by the Trump administration's escalating trade war, saying it threatens to undermine the U.S. economy, penalizes American families and raises prices on everything from backpacks to playpens. Target is among the hundreds of retailers and other companies pushing back against President Donald Trump's new 10 percent tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese goods. The U.S. trade representative, Robert Lighthizer, has received almost 6,200 comment letters on the proposed trade penalties so far. "We are disappointed that despite broadly expressed concerns from companies and groups across a variety of industries, the administration has continued to escalate the threat of tariffs that would penalize American families," Target's chief merchandising officer, Mark Tritton, said in the company's Sept. 6 letter. Walmart, Sears, Petland, Dollar General and a coalition of roughly 300 retailers — including IKEA North American Services, Kohl's, L.L. Bean, the Gap, Macy's and Under Armour — sent letters strongly opposing the tariffs. The administration levied trade penalties of 10 percent to 25 percent on a variety of consumer products in this latest round that take effect Monday. The tariffs apply to clothing, shoes, home goods, children's products, furniture and other imports from China. Tritton said the import taxes would raise the prices on basic family necessities such as cribs and infant car seats — and even raise the costs of sending a child to college because of the higher duties on desks, bookshelves and other dorm room needs. Dollar Tree CEO Gary Philbin argued for dozens of exemptions from the tariffs, saying they would seriously harm the discount retailer's customers, "many of whom are low-income and rely on our stores for their daily necessities." The taxes would also have a "significant negative impact" on the company itself, impacting thousands of products, costing "tens of millions of dollars" in revenue, stifling growth and threatening jobs, he said in a Sept. 6 letter. "The merchandise we import from China is the product of low-cost, labor-intensive manufacturing processes — the exact opposite of the kinds of 'industrially significant technology' that the investigation is targeting," he said. Sears executive Dean Schwartz also argued against the merits of the tariffs. He said they would have significant impact on the retailer, which is already struggling. "A 'remedy' for China's unfair acts which harms U.S. retailers, consumers and an iconic U.S. brand such as Sears is not much of a remedy at all," Schwartz wrote in his Sept. 5 letter. Walmart, the largest retailer in the United States, also opposed the tariffs, saying it is "very concerned about the impacts these tariffs would have on our business, our customers, our suppliers and the U.S. economy as a whole." The group letter signed by roughly 300 retailers said they cannot shift their suppliers and production out of China "without massive disruption and cost increases due to materials availability, quality, compliance, and capacity in other countries." "Millions of U.S. jobs in our industry's global value chains — including those in research and design, supply chain, manufacturing, compliance, logistics, and retail — would be put at risk if a new 10 percent or 25 percent tax were imposed, due to fewer sales, less investment, and cost increases throughout U.S. supply chains," the group wrote.

international trade

tariffs

(tariffs , trade , china , chinese , goods , trade war , chinese goods , tariff , beijing , xi)

2018

4.0

(CNN)The White House announces that President Donald Trump has signed the presidential memorandum for sending National Guard troops on assignment to the southern border. Here is the full memorandum: April 4, 2018 SUBJECT: Securing the Southern Border of the United States 1. The security of the United States is imperiled by a drastic surge of illegal activity on the southern border. Large quantities of fentanyl, other opioids, and other dangerous and illicit drugs are flowing across our southern border and into our country at unprecedented levels, destroying the lives of our families and loved ones. Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) and other deadly transnational gangs are systematically exploiting our unsecured southern border to enter our country and develop operational capacity in American communities throughout the country. The anticipated rapid rise in illegal crossings as we head into the spring and summer months threatens to overwhelm our Nation's law enforcement capacities. 2. The combination of illegal drugs, dangerous gang activity, and extensive illegal immigration not only threatens our safety but also undermines the rule of law. Our American way of life hinges on our ability as a Nation to adequately and effectively enforce our laws and protect our borders. A key and undeniable attribute of a sovereign nation is the ability to control who and what enters its territory. 3. Our professional and dedicated U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents and officers, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, and other Federal, State, and local law enforcement personnel work tirelessly to defend our homeland against these threats. They risk their lives daily to protect the people of this country. Theirs is a record of dedication and sacrifice, meriting the unwavering support of the entire United States Government. 4. The situation at the border has now reached a point of crisis. The lawlessness that continues at our southern border is fundamentally incompatible with the safety, security, and sovereignty of the American people. My Administration has no choice but to act. 5. The Department of Defense currently assists other nations in many respects, including assisting with border security, but the highest sovereign duty of the President is to defend this Nation, which includes the defense of our borders. 6. The President may assign a mission to the Secretary of Defense to support the operations of the Department of Homeland Security in securing our southern border, including by requesting use of the National Guard, and to take other necessary steps to stop the flow of deadly drugs and other contraband, gang members and other criminals, and illegal aliens into the country. The Secretary of Defense may use all available authorities as appropriate, including use of National Guard forces, to fulfill this mission. During the administrations of Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, the National Guard provided support for efforts to secure our southern border. The crisis at our southern border once again calls for the National Guard to help secure our border and protect our homeland. Therefore, by the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, including section 502 of title 32, United States Code, and section 301 of title 3, United States Code, I hereby direct as follows: Section 1. The Secretary of Defense shall support the Department of Homeland Security in securing the southern border and taking other necessary actions to stop the flow of deadly drugs and other contraband, gang members and other criminals, and illegal aliens into this country. The Secretary of Defense shall request use of National Guard personnel to assist in fulfilling this mission, pursuant to section 502 of title 32, United States Code, and may use such other authorities as appropriate and consistent with applicable law. Sec. 2. The Secretary of Homeland Security shall work with the Secretary of Defense to provide any training or instruction necessary for any military personnel, including National Guard units, to effectively support Department of Homeland Security personnel in securing the border. Sec. 3. The Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Homeland Security, in coordination with the Attorney General, are directed to determine what other resources and actions are necessary to protect our southern border, including Federal law enforcement and United States military resources. Within 30 days of the date of this memorandum, the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Homeland Security, in coordination with the Attorney General, shall submit to the President a report detailing their findings and an action plan, including specific recommendations as to any other executive authorities that should be invoked to defend the border and security of the United States. Sec. 4. Any provision of any previous proclamation, memorandum, or Executive Order that is inconsistent with the actions taken in this memorandum is superseded to the extent of such inconsistency. Sec. 5. (a) Nothing in this memorandum shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect: (i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or (ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals. (b) This memorandum shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations. (c) This memorandum is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person. DONALD J. TRUMP ###

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2016

8.0

ZURICH, Aug 3 (Reuters) - LafargeHolcim Ltd has agreed to sell to Huaxin Cement Co Ltd most of the non-listed Chinese cement assets of Lafarge China Cement Ltd for an estimated 208 million Swiss francs ($215 million), the Swiss-French cement group said. “Following our announcement earlier this week to divest our listed entity Shuangma, this transaction is a further important step towards streamlining our operations in China,” Chief Executive Eric Olsen said in a statement on Wednesday. The sale of 13 cement plants and four grinding stations with an annual cement capacity of 18 million tonnes, which requires regulatory and other approvals, would reduce net debt by 376 million francs, it added. $1 = 0.9676 Swiss francs Reporting by Michael Shields; editing by Brenna Hughes Neghaiwi

finance

swiss francs

(swiss , francs , swiss francs , zurich , million swiss , million francs , affect swiss , swiss stocks , swiss bluechip , bluechip smi)

2019

1.0

New York Today [Want to get New York Today by email? Here's the sign-up.] It’s Monday. Happy Data Privacy Day. Your apps know where you were last night, and they’re not keeping it secret. Weather: Sunny but cold all day, with temperatures not budging above 30. Rain tomorrow, turning to snow tomorrow night. Alternate-side parking: in effect till next Monday. Roger Stone, the Trump adviser and self-proclaimed dirty trickster arrested on Friday at his home in Florida, is the latest figure indicted in the Mueller probe investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election. But long before his present appearance on the national stage, Mr. Stone perfected his bare-knuckled brand of political warfare in New York. Back in high school in Westchester County in the late 60s, Mr. Stone said he orchestrated the ousting of the student president and elevated himself. “I built alliances and put all my serious challengers on my ticket,” Mr. Stone told The Times in 1999. “Then I recruited the most unpopular guy in the school to run against me. You think that’s mean? No, it’s smart.” Other highlights from Mr. Stone’s activities in New York: 1980: He helped run Ronald Reagan’s presidential campaign in New York and Connecticut. The Times called him “equally adept at cajoling or threatening.” 1982: Mr. Stone’s 30th birthday party was hosted at the 21 Club in Midtown by Roy Cohn, Senator Joe McCarthy’s right hand man during the Communist witch hunts of the 1950s. (Among Mr. Cohn’s later clients: Donald Trump.) 2000: Mr. Stone and Mr. Trump agreed to pay a $250,000 fine to the state and apologize for running newspaper ads under the name of a front group for Mr. Trump’s lobbying effort against casino interests in the Catskills. 2007: Mr. Stone was forced to quit working for the New York State Senate leader Joseph Bruno after he was accused of making a threatening phone call to the ailing father of Gov. Eliot Spitzer. (Mr. Stone denied it to me and told me he was getting a tattoo of Richard Nixon’s face on his back during the time of the alleged call.) 2008: Mr. Stone took credit for unearthing evidence that drove Mr. Spitzer from office, which Mr. Stone said he obtained from a prostitute at a sex club in Florida. 2010: Mr. Stone advised the campaign for governor of Kristin M. Davis, the former madam who claimed to have supplied prostitutes to Mr. Spitzer. The Times’s Nikita Stewart reports: One night a year, hundreds of volunteers fan out onto New York’s streets to count the number of people sleeping on sidewalks, living in encampments in parks or calling the subway home. This year’s annual Homeless Outreach Population Estimate, known as the HOPE count, happens from 10 p.m. tonight until 4 a.m. tomorrow. About 3,500 people have signed up to help count, the city Department of Homeless Services said. The survey is mandated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to estimate how many homeless people are living sheltered and unsheltered nationwide, which determines federal funding. Last January, an estimated 78,676 homeless people lived in New York City, the most of any city in the country, according to HUD data. To keep counters on their toes, paid decoys will roam the streets in what is known as the Shadow Count. The more of them that volunteers find during the HOPE count, the more accurate it is supposed to be. Cop-turned-author-turned police official: Edward Conlon, a retired city detective and the author of the best-seller “Blue Blood,” is now the director of executive communications for the city’s police commissioner. No safe haven: An Islamic enclave near the Catstkills has repeatedly been targeted by online conspiracy theories. Armani redecorates: The redesign of its Madison Avenue store to include branded apartments above shows how the luxury market is turning from goods toward experiences. Ode to paper playbills: An arts journalist says digital playbills just aren’t the same. Paths to power: An interactive map shows how each member of Congress got to office. Football player accused of punching N.Y.P.D. sergeant: Some believe the police union’s response was racist. [Want more news from New York and around the region? Check out our full coverage.] The mini crossword: Here is today’s puzzle. Old tech to halt bus thefts: Transit officials are quickly installing key ignitions into the newer buses, which currently have push-start buttons. [Daily News] Shot at a vigil: Four young women were shot at a vigil in Newark for two teens killed in a car crash. [CBS New York] State Court officers cooperated with ICE agents in arrests at courthouses: Documents were obtained through a Freedom of Information Law request. [DocumentedNY] A $30 minimum wage? One candidate for public advocate is pushing the idea. [Patch] Leave that email for the morning: A City Council bill would ban employers from requiring workers to respond to electronic communications after hours. [NBC] $298.3 million lottery winner: A truck driver bought the winning ticket in Brooklyn last month, and, of course, quit his job. [CBS] The author of a new book about the damage done by misdemeanor criminal charges and high bail speaks at the Brooklyn Historical Society. 6:30 p.m. [$5] Performances from recently produced work by black playwrights at the Schomburg Center. 6:30 p.m. [Free] Ever wonder what it’d be like to live through a zombie outbreak? At the New York Hall of Science, you can play a simulation. Through Feb. 15, times vary. [$11 adult, $8 child] — Derek Norman Events are subject to change, so double-check before heading out. For more events, see the going-out guides from The Times’s culture pages. Last week we told you about the Bronx Zoo’s unconventional way of celebrating Valentine’s Day: by naming a roach after your loved one. Here’s another idea: dinner at White Castle. The chain famous for its greasy sliders has a long-running tradition of offering table cloths, candles and table service on Valentine’s Day. As a vegetarian, I would not normally visit White Castle. But the hamburger chain — whose first location in New York City opened in 1930 — now offers a plant-based “Impossible” burger that “bleeds." The website Eater called it “one of the country’s best fast-food burgers, period.” “The searing process imparts them with a golden, caramelized, Maillard-style char,” Eater raved. “This stands in stark contrast to the chain’s standard slider, where a paper-thin beef patty, plagued by a sickly gray hue, looks like someone shaved the wrong end of a cow over a mandoline and microwaved the result.” Reservations are going fast. It’s Monday — nothing’s impossible. Dear Diary: When Sam and I broke up, I decided to sell everything. New York makes it easy. The woman who bought our kitchen table was from Williamsburg. She appeared to be around my age, late 20s, but I could be wrong. She left in an Uber after I detached the legs for her. A friend bought a pair of printed fabric chairs for $80. She also took some shelves and a plant. Sam never watered the plants anyway. One time I joked that all of our plants had an absent father. It’s the kind of joke that makes me sad now. The blue couch went to two girls from Crown Heights. They were younger than me, but not by much. I told them it was comfortable enough to sleep on if you removed the back cushions. Sam’s dad slept on it when he visited from California. The bookshelf went to a former co-worker who lives in Manhattan. I kept the books. I sold the night stands to Julia, a hometown friend, someone I knew could handle color. They were bright yellow. I sold the coffee table to a very demanding woman who contacted me through Craigslist. It was the first time I had ever gotten a cashier’s check. A couple bought the curtains. They didn’t need the curtain rod so I left it for the next tenant. The red kitchen chairs were Sam’s. They were harder to sell, but someone eventually bought them for $40. The man who bought them kind of looked like Sam. Is it weird that I’m jealous of our furniture? It found a new life so quickly. I worry that it’s going to take me a long time. — Sarah Joyce New York Today is published weekdays around 6 a.m. Sign up here to get it by email. You can also find it at nytoday.com. We’re experimenting with the format of New York Today. What would you like to see more (or less) of? Post a comment or email us: nytoday@nytimes.com.

politics

Roger Stone

(stone , stones , wikileaks , credico , roger stone , roger , corsi , mr stone , mueller , stone said)

2018

1.0

Sean Hannity: The New York Times is trying to distract you. They say Trump tried to fire Mueller, but our sources aren’t confirming that!Sean Hannity, minutes later: Alright, yeah, maybe our sources confirm Trump wanted to fire Mueller. But so what? That’s his right. Anywho... pic.twitter.com/yUIt7Un56d Fox News host Sean Hannity on Thursday pushed back against reports that President TrumpDonald John TrumpTrump pushes back on recent polling data, says internal numbers are 'strongest we've had so far' Illinois state lawmaker apologizes for photos depicting mock assassination of Trump Scaramucci assembling team of former Cabinet members to speak out against Trump MORE attempted to fire Robert Mueller, the special counsel leading the Russia probe, calling it a distraction. "At this hour The New York Times is trying to distract you," Hannity said on his program, in reference to the newspaper's report Thursday night that Trump ordered White House counsel Don McGahn to fire Mueller last summer. Trump reportedly backed down from his demands when McGahn threatened to resign instead of carry out the order. McGahn reportedly refused to take Trump's request to the Justice Department, saying that firing Mueller could be disastrous and could raise questions of obstruction of justice. "Our sources, and I've checked in with many of them, they're not confirming that tonight. And the president's attorney dismissed the story and says 'nope, no comment, we're not going there tonight,'" Hannity said on his program. Ty Cobb, a lawyer who serves as the liaison between the administration and Mueller's team, had declined to comment for the Times report Thursday. Hannity, who has echoed Trump's concerns about political bias at the FBI and in Mueller's investigation, went on to question the legitimacy of the newspaper's report. "How many times has The New York Times and others gotten it wrong?" he said. But minutes later, Hannity reversed his claim, saying Fox News sources confirmed The New York Times's reporting. "All right, so we have sources tonight just confirming to Ed Henry that, maybe, yeah, Donald Trump wanted to fire the special counsel for conflict. Does he not have the right to raise those questions?" Hannity asked. "You know, we'll deal with this tomorrow," Hannity said, before pivoting to a different topic. Updated: 11:15 p.m.   View the discussion thread. The Hill 1625 K Street, NW Suite 900 Washington DC 20006 | 202-628-8500 tel | 202-628-8503 fax The contents of this site are ©2019 Capitol Hill Publishing Corp., a subsidiary of News Communications, Inc.

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2018

11.0

Poem The power of insinuation: Although the title tells us straight, the nod to James Brown —followed by that suggestive first line — plunges us into a squeamish, all-too-familiar outrage. Is no quarter safe from despair? Surely our current national poet laureate doesn’t mean to take us there? For Tracy K. Smith, a consummate weaver of words, meaning is a many-layered continuum. She shows us the world as we have fashioned it — a reminder that even sweeping global ills like environmental abuse, sexual hierarchy and territorial ambition are fueled at the hearth by the everlasting deadly sins of lust and greed. Selected by Rita Dove

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None

(novel , books , book , novels , poetry , fiction , literary , poems , writers , writer)

2019

2.0

Ellen Page did not mince words when asked about homophobia in today's political climate. Speaking to Stephen Colbert on The Late Show, Page, who married wife Emma Portner last year, revealed that she dealt with plenty of intolerance of LGBTQ+ people in her career. The Umbrella Academy's star, who came out in 2014, and hosted the Viceland series Gaycation, told Colbert that "the levels of misogyny and homophobia I've dealt with [working in entertainment]...has been really unfortunate." "I dealt with a lot of stuff that was totally normalized," said Page. "Since really young... I would give [that young person] a hug. I would tell her she's not alone, and that she can reach out to people. And that the behavior is not okay." Page also called out Vice President Mike Pence for setting back LGBTQ+ rights as governor of Indiana. "Mike Pence wishes I couldn't be married. Let's be clear. The vice president wishes I didn't have the love with my wife. He wanted to ban that in Indiana, he believes in conversion therapy, he has hurt LGBT people in Indiana so much." She also connected the recent homophobic and racist attack on Jussie Smollett to political leadership that does not seem to care about protections for LGBTQ+ people. "I don't know [Jussie Smollett] personally. I send him all of my love," said Page. "Connect the dots. This is what happens. If you are in a position of power, and you hate people, and you want to cause suffering to them, you go through the trouble, you spend your career trying to cause suffering, what do you think is going to happen? Kids are going to be abused, and they will kill themselves, and people will be beaten on the street." Check out the full video below. The Netflix star received praise on Twitter for her candor. Page is not the only celebrity to call out Pence in recent weeks. Lady Gaga fired back at Pence and his wife Karen during her Enigma show in Las Vegas. "If Mike Pence thinks it’s acceptable that his wife works at a school that bans LGBTQ, you are wrong," the Star Is Born actress told the crowd. "You say we should not discriminate against Christianity? You are the worst representation of what it means to be a Christian." Page has long spoken out about LGBTQ+ acceptance. On Colbert's show in 2015, she admitted that staying in the closet was "toxic." "I feel so grateful for [coming out]," she told Colbert, tearing up. "I feel so grateful to feel how I feel now, compared to [how I felt] when I was a closeted person. It's not a nice place to be."

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2017

4.0

April 27 (Reuters) - Liaoning Cheng Da Co Ltd * Says Q1 net profit up 137.8 percent y/y at 695.4 million yuan ($100.87 million) Source text in Chinese: bit.ly/2qhGcKc Further company coverage: ($1 = 6.8940 Chinese yuan renminbi) (Reporting by Hong Kong newsroom)

business

earnings

(percent yy , yy , q1 net , kong newsroom , reporting hong , says q1 , newsroom april , renminbi reporting , yuan renminbi , yuan)

2019

11.0

If you've ever been on a trip to China, you'll know that paying for things can be very difficult if you're a tourist. WeChat Pay and Alipay are two of the most popular mobile payment methods in China, and most people pay on those platforms using barcodes, known as QR codes, on their phones. Not many places accept foreign cards like Visa or Mastercard and tourists have few options but to use cash — but all that's about to change. Chinese tech giant Tencent operates WeChat Pay's QR code payment systems, while Alibaba affiliate Ant Financial runs Alipay's platform. Previously, users could not use the two digital payment platforms if they did not have a Chinese bank account  But On Tuesday, Ant Financial announced it is launching a version of the Alipay app that will support international debit or credit cards. After downloading Alipay on Google's Android or Apple's iOS, users can register for the international version of the app using their foreign mobile number. Users can then top up money onto a pre-paid virtual card and begin using Alipay across China. Ant Financial said Alipay will support Visa, Mastercard, Japan's JCB and Singapore's Diners Club cards. Tencent also said on Tuesday that it would provide support for the same cards, as well as American Express, on WeChat Pay. Visa tweeted in response to the Tencent news: "This partnership means that we'll be working towards an environment where Visa cardholders will be able to use their Visa card in China at the millions of places where WeChat Pay is accepted, instead of having to rely on cash." Millions of visitors go to China each year. In 2018, a total of 141 million inbound visitors were in China, up 1.2% compared to a year earlier. This is the first time WeChat Pay and Alipay will be available to international users. So far both companies have focused on getting merchants abroad to accept the payment methods so that Chinese tourists can pay when they go on holiday. But both firms have not launched versions of their apps for users based outside mainland China and Hong Kong. Each morning, the “Beyond the Valley” newsletter brings you all the latest from the vast, dynamic world of tech – outside the Silicon Valley.

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2017

12.0

Gayle Tzemach Lemmon is a CNN contributor and a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. She is the author of "Ashley's War: The Untold Story of a Team of Women Soldiers on the Special Ops Battlefield." The opinions expressed in this commentary are hers. (CNN)When does a picture generate far more than a thousand words? When it is a photo of two young women representing two different Middle Eastern nations. And one of those nations is Israel. Ask Sarah Idan, Miss Iraq, and Adar Gandelsman, Miss Israel. The two Miss Universe contestants, representing two countries with no diplomatic ties and a difficult history, took a selfie together before the pageant competition this November in Las Vegas -- in which Iraq was competing for the first time in 45 years. Each young woman posted the photo on Instagram. And now what began as a Vegas quick pic has become anything but fleeting, as Idan faces online criticism and real-life physical threats, which she says have led her family in Iraq to flee the country for their safety. When the online world crosses into real life, a photo can often have lasting consequences. And when global politics reaches the ground level, the personal act no longer exists. Two young women become vessels for bigger messages and broader conversations. Whether they choose to be or not. "The aim of the photo was an expression of hope for world peace," Idan wrote on Instagram after a social media furor erupted in reaction to the selfie. We tend to talk about geopolitics in sweeping statements, stripped of the complexity possessed by individual lives. We deploy grand adjectives that describe nameless, faceless people engaged in nameless, faceless acts. But all politics is personal. And in the era of the selfie, the personal goes global in an instant, puncturing the impersonality of headlines. Along the way it also can generate an international uproar, offer a venue for political statements and capture worldwide attention. Two young people from the same region don't get to be two young people taking a picture at an international event; they are compelled to stand for causes and peoples larger, greater and more subject to others' interpretation than any one person can be. Idan's message of peace could be seen as political on multiple levels. Idan, who grew up in Iraq but now lives in the United States, was already making history entering the competition in the first place. She offered the world a striking image of a nation that has endured so much bloodshed and destruction in the past decade, a country so many outside its borders know only for its pain and loss. It's also a country many who know it recognize for the resilience and strength of its citizens. Spend even a moment in Iraq and you will see the courage its mothers and fathers possess as they try to shepherd families through conflict and upheaval. And yet now Idan is a symbol of something else: the aspiring singer and songwriter is becoming a Rorschach test for her fellow Iraqi citizens, for an international media which is closely following her story and, most to the point of this piece, for her judges and jury on social media, which continues to weigh in on her decision to take the picture in the first place. Those angry about the photo see her as a traitor to the Palestinian cause. Those who applaud see her as a messenger for peace. Those in the media flocking to share her experience see her as a great story that captures the region's complexity and contradictions. "It's an honor to be the first woman woman in over 40 years...representing in miss universe 2017," Idan wrote in early November in a post for Facebook. But now that joy has given way to fear as an online mob, quick to react and even faster to weigh in, condemns her act. None of this changes the fact that two young people standing up for their fellow citizens don't get to be just two young people experiencing a spontaneous moment. Crowdsourced judgment comes swiftly and brutally. And, in this case, it creates security threats for a young woman who thought she was just taking a photo. If only peace were as contagious and as quick to spread as the sharing of a selfie.

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2020

3.0

Gasoline prices in the wholesale and futures markets crashed on Monday as more states issued stay-at-home orders, severely dampening demand for fuel. Some spot cash prices around the U.S. were down 40% or more Monday, and futures prices for gasoline in New York Harbor lost 24% for gasoline due for delivery in April.  As a result, the prices drivers pay at the pump could fall by as much as 20% in a matter of weeks and in some areas, could reach a low below $1 a gallon ultimately in select markets. "The reason is clear. No one is driving," said Daniel Yergin, vice chairman IHS Markit. He said demand for gasoline could fall by about 50% during the coronavirus response period. About a dozen states have required residents to stay home to stop the spread of coronavirus, since California first issued its statewide order Thursday. Wholesale spot prices for gasoline in New York Harbor on Monday fell to 31 cents per gallon, down 19 cents from Friday's level. Gasoline in the spot market in Chicago fell to 24.5 cents, down 20 cents. RBOB gasoline futures for April fell 24.5% to $0.45 per gallon. "This is the most dire I have ever seen it for refiners," said Tom Kloza, global head of energy analysis at Oil Price Information Services. Gasoline prices in the spot market were about $1.50 per gallon in January, Kloza said. The market has already been crushed. Gasoline started falling with oil prices early in the year, starting with the loss of demand when China shut down its cities to fight the virus. Then prices fell even more dramatically, when OPEC failed to reach a production deal with Russia. "It's beyond a crash," said Kloza. "It's unprecedented,  but that word is being used a lot." Kloza said refiners could be forced to cut back capacity by 30%. At the pump, consumers were still paying an average $2.12 per gallon nationally for unleaded gasoline Monday, according to AAA, but Kloza expects prices to fall sharply. The lowest prices in the U.S. could ultimately be below $1 gallon in some areas, he said. "I expect that the national retail average for gasoline will be below $2 a gallon by April, and I believe we're on our way to $1.70 as the national average by the middle of April, and we could go lower if this continues," said Andrew Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates. Lipow said he believes demand has already dropped by about 25% nationally for gasoline. "Colonial Pipeline, starting tomorrow, is reducing its shipments of gasoline by 20% and a number of refineries are reducing their production by 20%," he said. "The trend [of demand destruction] is only going to continue to grow as more states and municipalities require the consumer to stay home." Kloza expects global oil demand to drop by 12% to 15%, at a time when the world has been adding refining capacity. The U.S. used 9.7 million barrels a day of gasoline last week, and that could fall to about 5 million barrels a day, Kloza said. "My quick workbook on this suggests whereas last April we spent $1.1 billion a day on gasoline, I think this April we're looking at $350 million a day. We're going to be saving $20 billion on gasoline this month," he said. Refiner stocks were hit hard Monday. Valero stock was down 15.6% in heavy trading, and Hollyfrontier was off 16%.

gas prices

gasoline prices

(gasoline , gallon , gasoline prices , average price , prices , gas prices , lundberg , kloza , gas , gasoline demand)

2017

2.0

Twitter may have re-oriented itself and laid off part of its workforce to streamline its business, but it still doesn’t look like it is bringing in enough money to keep Wall Street happy. Here is the biggest data point from the company’s fourth-quarter earnings report: according to the company, advertising revenue totaled $638 million, which was down slightly year-over-year. A reversal in its advertising growth is certainly not going to help Twitter’s case, which needs to be able to pitch itself to advertisers as a legitimate alternative to Facebook — and now Snap, which is expected to go public in March and already generated $400 million in 2016. Twitter needed to show that it could have a strong fourth quarter given that the 2016 U.S. presidential election — probably one of the most Twitter zeitgeist-y moments of all time — happened. Beyond that, President Donald Trump is also an active Twitter user, giving it additional strength as a go-to platform for news. Despite that, revenue for its users in the U.S. was also down. Twitter was essentially gifted one of the largest news cycles and engagement moments it’s probably ever seen in its lifetime, and it still looks like its core issues on monetization are growing. Not surprisingly, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey specifically said on the earnings call that 2017 was the year that Twitter would be working on simplifying and building better ad products. “2017 will be about simplifying and differentiating our revenue products,” he said. “It’ll take time for all the results we want to see.” Twitter reported earnings of 16 cents per share on revenue of $717.2 million, whereas Wall Street was looking for earnings of 12 cents per share on $740.1 million in revenue in its fourth-quarter earnings report. So while Twitter was able to essentially operate more efficiently. it still isn’t doing the job it needs to be doing in monetizing its user base. That revenue growth is even only up marginally from the same quarter a year ago, and Twitter’s revenue growth appears to be rapidly becoming a very big sticking point for the company beyond its usual problems with slow user growth. “As we’ve previously stated, revenue growth will continue to lag audience growth in 2017 and could now be further impacted by escalating competition for digital ad spending and the re-evaluation of our revenue product feature portfolio, which could result in the de-emphasis of certain product features,” Dorsey said as part of the earnings announcement. Twitter’s stock continues to fall and its core business is starting to stumble, which means it’s going to be increasingly attractive to activist investors looking to agitate change in its business. While Twitter is still a platform with hundreds of millions of users, Wall Street may find itself too impatient to wait for Dorsey and his team — which are regularly churning through executives — to figure out where to take the company and start with some fresh eyes. That Dorsey splits his time between two companies (Square and Twitter) is probably not helping the situation either. [graphiq id=”lMwXCqr5Mpf” title=”Twitter Inc. (TWTR) Quarterly Revenue & Growth Rate” width=”650″ height=”529″ url=”https://sw.graphiq.com/w/lMwXCqr5Mpf” link=”http://listings.findthecompany.com/l/445483/Twitter-Inc-in-San-Francisco-CA” link_text=”FindTheCompany | Graphiq” frozen=”true”] Twitter added 2 million new users, and is now up to 319 million monthly active users — which is a trickle, but that’s kind of to be expected for Twitter right now as it has yet to make any drastic product changes. Not surprisingly, the stock is once again getting punished, and was down as much as 11% in pre-market trading. Amid all this, Twitter has been looking for newer ways to figure out how to monetize its user base if it isn’t going to be able to rapidly grow it for now. One way it’s tried to boost engagement among its users is pushing further into live-streaming, like for NFL games and the presidential debates. Twitter says video is its largest revenue-generating ad format, as well. Across the 400 events that Twitter broadcast, the company said it attracted 31 million unique viewers — 52% for sports, 38% for news and politics, and 10% for entertainment. In October last year, Twitter said it would lay off 9% of its workforce as it began to rejigger itself following the collapse of potential acquisition talks with suitors like Disney and Salesforce. Part of the problem that even posed issues for the company in those talks was that it was the home of a lot of harassment and abuse, which at the time still had not been addressed at a product level. Twitter, to that extent, has started making some moves toward silencing abuse in order to curb the harassment problem that’s plagued the platform throughout its existence. Twitter, which has traditionally moved slow and incrementally — as so not to scare off its highly devoted users with too drastic changes — is at least trying to point itself and its product roadmap in the right direction. Twitter will be trying to scrape together as much good news as it can going forward. One contextless data point it’s offered is its DAU growth, in which daily active users rose 11% year-over-year and are growing at an accelerating rate. But without an actual base number for DAUs, we really have no idea of how much that actually amounts to. There are now many looming shadows over Twitter. What happens to its user base as everything shifts toward video, and does that help them? What do potential changes from the new administration, such as the selection of a new FCC chair, mean? Can it figure out a way to monetize its user base beyond its slowing ad business as its pipeline of new users remains a trickle? All of these are questions Dorsey needs to answer, and so far it seems like Wall Street hasn’t like what they’ve heard so far. For some perspective, just looking at Twitter’s stock price in the past year — with the huge spike below being acquisition talks — that says quite a bit about the state of the product in Wall Street’s eyes under Dorsey for his year-ish tenure. [graphiq id=”cfGeHovrtEF” title=”Twitter Inc. (TWTR) Stock Price – 1 Year” width=”600″ height=”459″ url=”https://sw.graphiq.com/w/cfGeHovrtEF” link=”http://stock-screener.findthecompany.com/l/8469/TWTR” link_text=”FindTheCompany | Graphiq” frozen=”true”]

social media

Twitter

(twitters , dorsey , twitter , jack dorsey , user growth , active users , jack , user , users , twitter shares)

2017

5.0

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Emmanuel Macron will be president of France after beating Marine Le Pen of the far-right National Front by 65 percent to 35 percent in Sunday’s runoff, Belgian newspaper La Libre Belgique said, citing a projection based on early results by pollster Ipsos. An independent centrist and former economy minister, Macron would become France’s youngest head of state, aged just 39. Reporting by Alastair Macdonald; @macdonaldrtr

politics

French presidential election

(le pen , le , macron , pen , fillon , macrons , french , marine le , mr macron , france)

2019

9.0

(The opinions expressed here are those of the author, a columnist for Reuters.) By Andy Home LONDON (Reuters) - A sharp fall in Japanese physical premiums for fourth quarter shipments is the latest sign that aluminum is not immune from the demand weakness that is sapping the industrial metals complex. The timing, however, is ironic. Years of chronic overproduction appeared to be coming to an end with global output actually falling so far this year and large off-market stocks finally starting to diminish. Demand hasn’t been a problem for aluminum in the past, thanks to its growing usage in an automotive sector focused on light-weighting vehicles. That has changed over the course of this year. Physical market premiums are confirming what a bombed-out London Metal Exchange (LME) aluminum price has been saying. Growth in aluminum usage is braking sharply and analysts are starting to downgrade already low price forecasts. (Graphic: Aluminum Demand Weakness, here) The first reported deal for aluminum shipments to Japan in the fourth quarter has been signed at $97 per tonne over the LME cash price, down from $108 in the third quarter. Whether that becomes the benchmark deal for regional premiums next quarter remains to be seen, given other Japanese buyers are still trying to negotiate an even lower premium with producers. The direction of travel, however, is clear. The premium is going to be set at the lowest level since the first quarter of this year. And this despite the fact that China’s aluminum export surge is abating. Exports of semi-fabricated products, which jumped by more than 20% last year, rose by just under 6% over the first seven months of this year. Rather, it’s poor demand in Japan itself that is the main driver of a falling premium. Japan’s domestic shipments of flat-rolled products, extrusions and foil fell by 4.2%, 2.2% and 8.3% respectively in the first half of the year, according to the Japan Aluminium Association. U.S. premiums have been drifting lower as well, although from a much higher base due to the impact of tariffs. The CME’s Midwest premium cash contract, indexed against S&P Global Platts’ assessment of the local market, is currently trading just shy of 18 cents/lb ($396 per tonne) compared with over 19 cents ($420) in May. Here too, product shipments have been sliding to the tune of 1.6% in the first half of the year, according to the U.S. Aluminum Association. Only Europe appears to be bucking the trend, with the CME’s duty-unpaid premium contract rising to a one-year high of $110 per tonne over LME cash prices. Rather than implying stronger demand, though, higher European physical premiums reflect the re-emergence of stocks financing deals, which reduce the amount of metal available to the spot market. LME nearby prices are trading at a sizeable discount to further forward prices. The three-month price closed on Thursday at a $31.75-per tonne premium over cash metal. Such a contango structure on the forward curve means easy profits for stocks financiers who “earn” the difference between the two. In fact, profits just got a bit easier still thanks to the U.S. Federal Reserve cutting interest rates in July for the first time in a decade. LME contango is also a sign of metal availability, even if that’s not immediately apparent from falling LME stocks. Exchange aluminum stocks, however, have long stopped generating any useful signal about the market’s fundamental dynamics. They are more a function of storage mechanics together with LME spread gyrations. The key takeaway is that the European premium is rising on financial not manufacturing demand. Indeed, stocks financing thrives during periods of surplus metal not supply-chain tightness. Research house CRU forecast at its London aluminum conference in April that global aluminum usage growth was set to ease to 1.7% this year from 3% in 2018 and 6% in both 2017 and 2016. Even that forecast looks on the optimistic side. Russian producer Rusal said at the time of its Q2 results that global primary aluminum demand rose by just 1% in the first half of the year, with Chinese demand up by 1.4% and the rest of the world flat relative to last year. And it’s not as if things have got better since then with manufacturing indices around the world sliding into negative territory and no resolution of the on-again-off-again U.S.-Sino trade talks. Analysts at Goldman Sachs have just downgraded their 3-month and 6-price forecasts to $1,850 and $1,900, from $1,950 and $2,000, respectively due to faltering demand. London aluminum is today trading around the $1,800-per tonne level having fallen to a two-and-a-half year low of $1,734 last month. The severity of the decline in aluminum’s previously stellar usage growth rate is troubling. The obvious explanation is that aluminum’s high exposure to the automotive sector is now backfiring as car sales around the world, not least in China, continue to contract. Automakers are struggling with the same economic uncertainty that is depressing industrial metal prices. Moreover, an industry-wide move toward electric-vehicle technology adds a structural dimension to the cyclical downturn. Aluminum should be one of the beneficiaries of that transition to battery-powered vehicles given its combination of light weight and strength. As such, the industry seems confident that it’s just going through a cyclical blip. CRU, for example, forecast in April that demand would recover to 3% next year. However, there is a nagging doubt that this sharp demand slowdown is telling us that something else has changed in aluminum’s usage profile, even if it’s not yet clear what. Time will tell. The market already has enough to worry about right now. And for the first time in many years, it’s not over-production. Editing by Susan Fenton

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2018

1.0

Mally Mall doesn't have a problem with the way Donald Trump is handling the economy, only with how the prez handles the American people. We got Mally Mall heading into Lucky Strike in Hollywood Thursday night and surprisingly the rapper had something nice to say about Trump, but only when it comes to the way 45 does business for America. Trump's been shaking the U.S. economy, first by pulling America out of the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiated under the Obama administration and now enforcing trade laws. The TTP is now an 11-nation pact that will be signed in March, without the U.S. Mall says he doesn't mind Trump shaking the economy, but when it comes to the people, Trump's been "too real" and needs to stop making racist comments.

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2019

8.0

Japan and South Korea stir up an old, odd rivalry. Mr. Buruma is a writer and a professor at Bard College. In a rational world, South Korea and Japan ought to be the best of friends. Their cultures and languages are closely linked. Their economies are deeply entangled. And as the only liberal democracies in East Asia (along with Taiwan), they have to contend with the threat of North Korean belligerence and Chinese domination. But the world is not so rational, and so the two American allies have recently become engaged in a flaming economic row, ostensibly sparked by historical wrongs. Late last year, the South Korean Supreme Court ruled that Japanese companies should compensate Koreans who were forced to work in Japanese factories and mines during World War II. Assets of major Japanese companies, such as Nippon Steel and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, have been seized in South Korea, and they could soon be sold. The Japanese government protested that this matter had already been resolved in 1965, when the two countries reached an agreement claiming to settle “completely and finally” all colonial-era claims in exchange for financial aid and loans from Japan worth $500 million. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan retaliated last month by slapping controls on vital exports to South Korea. He cited reasons of national security, but few believe that. Demonstrators in Seoul then protested against a Japanese “economic invasion,” and the South Korean government threatened to stop sharing military intelligence with Japan. This latest spat follows many others to do with history: the alleged lack of sincerity in official Japanese apologies for having subjected Korea to brutal colonial rule between 1910 and 1945; fights over revisions to school textbooks that downplay Japan’s wartime aggression; the refusal of conservative Japanese governments to admit that Korean women were systematically recruited to serve as sex slaves of the Japanese Imperial Army. But of course, the history between Japan and the Korean Peninsula goes back much farther than 1910 — at least as far back as the fourth century, when some Koreans began to move to Japan, bringing valuable skills. Both nations have distinct cultures that developed at the periphery of Chinese civilization. This sometimes produced an odd kind of rivalry, with each trying to prove that it was closer to the Chinese centers of power than the other. There were also times of extreme violence. Japan invaded Korea in the last years of the 16th century and laid much of the country to waste. Relations were not always hostile, however. Much Chinese culture — including pottery, music and religion, notably Buddhism — reached Japan via the various Korean kingdoms. Akihito, the emperor of Japan from 1989 until just a few months ago, when he abdicated, startled many Japanese by declaring that his family had Korean roots. Since Japan is farther away from China than South Korea is and separated from it by a sea, the Japanese could afford to stay relatively aloof for long stretches of their history. Periods of cultural borrowing and paying a certain degree of tribute to the Chinese Empire gave way to many years of relative isolation. The Koreans, despite their reputation for living in a “hermit kingdom,” couldn’t afford to ignore the Chinese. They had to pay more tribute to keep their far more powerful neighbor at bay. Korean kingdoms were formally independent but only so long as they recognized China as the superior civilization and the dominant political force. Having to stave off greater and potentially belligerent powers bred a fierce nationalism among Koreans. But it also did something more insidious: Korean elites became very adept at collaborating with foreign nations, sometimes out of necessity, sometimes to fight off domestic political rivals. In the early 20th century, some Koreans were close to the Chinese, some to the Russians and some to the Japanese. After the Japanese empire annexed the Korean Peninsula in 1910, Koreans faced a choice between almost hopeless resistance and collaboration. Much of the Korean elite chose the latter, not always for disreputable reasons. Cooperating with the Japanese was one way to modernize the country. Universities and newspapers were founded, railways built, industries established and so on. But Koreans remained second-class subjects of the Japanese emperor and in the latter stages of colonialism were made to relinquish their culture and language and to conform to the Japanese. The humiliation of being forced into subservience to a nation often seen as a rival and never a master ran deep, and it still poisons relations between the two countries. The same tangled history of submission and collaboration continues to have a toxic effect on domestic politics in South Korea. Park Chung-hee, the authoritarian leader who signed the 1965 agreement to let bygones be bygones, had been an arch-collaborator. He had served as an officer in the Japanese Imperial Army; right-wing Japanese politicians considered him a friend. One of them was Nobusuke Kishi, who became prime minister after having spent some time in jail as an indicted war criminal. (He was never tried.) Mr. Abe, one of the most nationalistic politicians since World War II, is his grandson. Koreans on the left have never forgiven the conservative South Korean elite for its record of collaboration. They pride themselves on resistance against both the Japanese and right-wing authoritarians like Mr. Park. Most former collaborators and their offspring were members of conservative parties. The disgraced former president Park Geun-hye is Mr. Park’s daughter. She was driven from power and into prison because of corruption scandals, but the animus against her from the left also had much to do with her family background. Family is very important in Korean, as well as Japanese, politics. Moon Jae-in, the current president of South Korea, is a man of the left, which is why it makes sense for him to break with the 1965 agreement with Japan. The reason is not simply a legacy of anti-Japanese resentment, made worse perhaps by the fact that Japan is now led by the grandson of a leader accused of war crimes, including the use of Chinese and Korean slave labor. More important is the bitterness against the political class in Korea that is still tainted by those crimes. Mr. Abe, for his part, has his own political fish to fry. His grandfather tried to revise the postwar Constitution, written by the Americans in 1946, which bans the Japanese from using military force. Most Japanese then, happy with the country’s official pacifism, opposed Mr. Kishi’s attempt. Mr. Abe would dearly like to fulfill his grandfather’s wishes. A majority, if smaller now, of Japanese would probably still oppose such a move. Lest one assume that Mr. Abe’s goal is only inspired by chauvinism, it’s worth considering that one of the first people to question the wisdom of Japanese pacifism was Richard Nixon in 1953, when he was vice president of the United States. Mr. Nixon believed that a revision to Japan’s pacifist Constitution would serve to turn the country into a more formidable ally against communism. In a way, the Cold War never ended in East Asia. The big threat to East Asian democracies is China, as well as those North Korean missiles. Both Japan and South Korea formally are allies of the United States, with many American troops on their soil. But here again, history counts. Used to making necessary accommodations to superior force, the South Koreans have been drawing closer to China. Some Koreans appear to be more worried about Japanese remilitarization than they are about China. Japan, on the other hand, still clings to the protection of the United States. That was the payoff for its having a pacifist Constitution: America would shield it from any aggression by its neighbors. The Japanese are unlikely to give this up easily. So far, the Cold War order in East Asia — with Japan and South Korea serving as prickly allies of America against the Communist powers — has been relatively stable. This could change soon, however, not only because China is growing ever more intimidating, but also because President Trump has disparaged the United States’ security treaty with Japan as a bad deal. Until recently, America’s trade policies with its Asian allies were designed to keep military security tight. Now that Mr. Trump levies trade to make friends and allies conform to his whims, the East Asian order does not look so stable anymore. In a purely rational world, Japan would lead a democratic alliance with South Korea, Taiwan and much of Southeast Asia to balance the might of China. In a world fueled by historical passions, America’s retreat will almost certainly drive South Korea even closer to China, while Japan, possibly with a revised Constitution — and perhaps even, down the road, its own nuclear arms — might pull back behind its sea walls, hoping to be left alone by untrustworthy alien powers. Such a move might ensure peace for some time. It has in the past. But only a fool would bet on it. Ian Buruma, a professor at Bard College, is the author of “Inventing Japan: 1853-1964” and “The Wages of Guilt: Memories of War in Germany and Japan.” The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips. And here’s our email: letters@nytimes.com. Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook, Twitter (@NYTopinion) and Instagram.

geography

asia

(south korea , japan , south , japanese , korea , south korean , korean , seoul , japans , south koreas)

2019

1.0

Spotify has begun testing a new type of ad in Discover Weekly, its personalized playlist of music that’s the streaming service’s flagship feature. The company says that, for the first time, it will allow a brand to “sponsor” this playlist as opposed to just running ads. It believes many advertisers will be interested in this opportunity due to the playlist’s ability to reach heavily engaged Spotify users, and because it allows advertisers to “own the personalized listening experience” on Spotify. According to Spotify, Discover Weekly listeners stream more than double the amount of users who don’t listen to the playlist because of the personalized experience it offers. That will make the ad product more compelling, compared with brands’ existing ability to sponsor other editorial playlists on the service. With Spotify’s Sponsored Playlist ad product, brands can surround Spotify’s free listeners with audio or video messages in ad breaks, and gain Spotify’s help in building a collaborative marketing plan. Microsoft will kick off the launch of branded ads by running an A.I. ad campaign called “Empowering Us All.” This will explore A.I. across sectors like Education, Healthcare and Philanthropy. Spotify says it was a good fit for the launch, as Discover Weekly is customized for each user by taking advantage of A.I. technology. “At Microsoft we are focused on empowering every individual and organization to do more. Our work in AI is a central part of that mission to unlock human ingenuity,” said Erin Bevington, General Manager of Global Media at Microsoft, in a statement. “Our partnership with a technology innovator like Spotify offered a way for us to effectively share that message within a personalized entertainment experience powered by AI.” Spotify recently passed 200 million monthly active users, but is now looking to new ways to generate revenue from its user base beyond simply converting free users to premium subscribers. The company has been growing its subscriber base at a steady pace, but Wall St. hasn’t been happy with its financials. One issue is that its newer promotions, like its low-cost student and family plans, have seen its average revenue per user dropping – as of Q3 2018, it had fallen 6 percent year-over-year to $5.50. A more valuable ad product could help bring these numbers back up. “Personalization has quickly gone from a nice-to-have to an expected consumer experience that delights audiences and marketers are craving opportunities to be part of it” said Danielle Lee, Global Head of Partner Solutions at Spotify, in a statement. “Our new Discover Weekly ad experience positions advertisers for success and ensures that our fans are hearing messages that embody the ethos of discovery.” Brand sponsorships for Discover Weekly are currently in beta testing, says Spotify.

music

music streaming

(spotify , music , spotifys , soundcloud , apple music , streaming , playlists , playlist , music streaming , artists)

2016

9.0

U.S. auto sales declined slightly in August following a period of strong growth, according to The Wall Street Journal.  Sales at General Motors Co. reportedly fell 5.2 percent, to 256,429 vehicles, last month, which a spokesman said was expected due to a tighter dealership inventory and a 20 percent-off promotion in July that pulled demand forward and left stores with a trimmer stock in August. View the discussion thread. The Hill 1625 K Street, NW Suite 900 Washington DC 20006 | 202-628-8500 tel | 202-628-8503 fax The contents of this site are ©2019 Capitol Hill Publishing Corp., a subsidiary of News Communications, Inc.

Automobiles

Automakers

(ford , gm , sales , vehicles , automakers , auto , automaker , suvs , trucks , fords)

2019

6.0

It's been over two decades since The Lion King became an instant Disney classic, and this summer the animated movie is getting a live-action revival, similar to Dumbo and Aladdin. The adaptation is going to have all the drama of the original — Mufasa's death is the saddest scene in cinematic history (don't @ us) — but with a new notable cast that features Donald Glover, Beyoncé, and Seth Rogan. With all the excitement for this remake, it comes as no surprise that there's a coordinating makeup collection. Because, in this day and age, an adjacent eyeshadow palette cements a movie as a cultural phenomenon. And who better to create The Lion King-inspired makeup line than the man who is responsible for Beyoncé's glow? Sir John was tapped by Disney to bring the iconic film to life in makeup form, and he partnered with Luminess Cosmetics to create the 8-piece collection. As a first step, Sir John took a safari in Johannesburg, South Africa. There, he was inspired by everything from the red pigments in the dirt to the rich colors in the animals' fur. The collection features an eyeshadow palette, sculpting palette, highlighter, and lip products — all made with the movie and the spirit of Africa in mind. One other important thing Sir John considered: inclusivity. "The most important thing in creating this line was that it translates to every complexion," the makeup artist tells Refinery29. "Women are looking at me to create a line that everyone can bring home. So, this can work with a lighter skin tone like Nicole Kidman to darker skin tones like Lupita Nyong'o." While we wait for the limited-edition collection to drop on June 15 and The Lion King movie to premiere on July 19, we're giving you a closer look so that you can get your coins ready. Ahead, all the products in The Lion King Limited-Edition Collection by Sir John x Luminess. At Refinery29, we’re here to help you navigate this overwhelming world of stuff. All of our market picks are independently selected and curated by the editorial team. If you buy something we link to on our site, Refinery29 may earn commission. Sir John x Luminess Be Brave Matte Lipstick This collection has small details — like the rose-gold in the packaging and the imprinted patterns on the lipstick bullets — that will make it a collector's item. This highly pigmented, matte lipstick leaves a velvety finish and comes in two shades: a nude-mauve and a bold red.The Lion King Limited-Edition Collection by Sir John x Luminess Be Brave Matte Lipstick, $24, will be available on June 15 at luminessbeauty.com. Sir John x Luminess Be Prepared Liquid Lipstick If you prefer liquid lipsticks, the collection has got you covered with this full-coverage, yet lightweight formula that comes in two shades: a brick red and a cinnamon brown. Sir John chose the burgundy shade to mimic the fruit juice Rafiki anointed Simba with in the Circle of Life scene.The Lion King Limited-Edition Collection by Sir John x Luminess Be Prepared Liquid Lipstick, $24, will be available on June 15 at luminessbeauty.com. Sir John x Luminess Legacy Tinted Lip BalmFor days when you want a more natural lip look, this nourishing lip balm has a hint of sheer color and a glossy finish.The Lion King Limited-Edition Collection by Sir John x Luminess Legacy Tinted Lip Balm, $24, will be available on June 15 at luminessbeauty.com. Sir John x Luminess Can't Wait To Be Queen Eyeshadow PaletteSir John's favorite product in the lineup is this 12-pan eyeshadow palette that will transport you to Africa with its rich colors. "We went for colors that would be aspirational to have in your kit," says Sir John.The Lion King Limited-Edition Collection by Sir John x Luminess Can't Wait To Be Queen Eyeshadow Palette, $42, will be available on June 15 at luminessbeauty.com. Sir John x Luminess Circle of Life HighlighterIf you take a closer look at the packaging of this highlighter, you'll notice the glitter detail is meant to reflect Simba seeing Mufasa in the stars. You'll be shining just like those stars when you apply this universal powder, which can be used on both face and body.The Lion King Limited-Edition Collection by Sir John x Luminess Circle of Life Highlighter, $40, will be available on June 15 at luminessbeauty.com. Sir John x Luminess Kingdom Sculpting PaletteDon't think of this as just a six-pan contouring palette, it's so much more, according to Sir John. It comes with cool tones that can be used to define facial features or dusted onto the eyelids. "It doesn't matter if you're super minimal, this is just an easy daytime palette," he says.The Lion King Limited-Edition Collection by Sir John x Luminess Kingdom Sculpting Palette, $42, will be available on June 15 at luminessbeauty.com.

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2020

2.0

Feb 24 (Reuters) - FRESENIUS MEDICAL CARE NORTH AMERICA: * FRESENIUS MEDICAL CARE NORTH AMERICA - U.S. FDA HAS CLEARED NOVALUNG FOR TREATMENT OF ACUTE RESPIRATORY OR CARDIOPULMONARY FAILURE * FRESENIUS MEDICAL CARE NORTH AMERICA - EXPECTS NOVALUNG TO BE AVAILABLE WITHIN U.S. MID-YEAR 2020 Source text for Eikon: Further company coverage:

healthcare

clinical trials

(patients , drug , fda , cancer , novartis , clinical , therapeutics , treatment , pharmaceuticals , phase)

2018

7.0

“You could at least make the gesture of not dropping them off at a Greyhound station and saying ‘Bye, it’s been real.’ ” JULIE SCHWIETERT COLLAZO, who has raised money for families separated at the border, expressing frustration over the government’s handling of the subsequent reunifications.

migration

unaccompanied children

(separated , children , parents , families , detention , migrant , hhs , unaccompanied , border , sabraw)

2019

12.0

Biotech is breaking out. The SPDR S&P Biotech ETF (XBI) climbed to a new 52-week high following a wave of deals in the group. Among them were Merck's $2.7 billion purchase of cancer drugmaker ArQule, Sanofi's $2.5 billion buyout of Synthorx, a company specializing in cancer and autoimmune disorder therapies, and Roche's freshly extended $4.3 billion takeover offer for gene therapy developer Spark Therapeutics. Monday's slight gains brought the XBI's year-to-date gains to 32%, more than double the roughly 15% move for the broader Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLV) and exceeding the 25% rise in the S&P 500. These deals tell Strategic Wealth Partners chief Mark Tepper that biotech's bigger players are in need of growth, but they also help build the bull case for some of the group's smaller names. "People are living longer, so there's definitely a need for new, innovative drugs, especially [related to] cancer," Tepper said Monday on CNBC's "Trading Nation." "We prefer biotech companies where there's already a product in the market right now because it gives you better revenue visibility." While "small-cap biotech companies can ... be hit-or-miss" investments, he added, those that have already gone through the complex approval processes required to bring their products to market are largely a better bet. "Exact Sciences is one of the top names on our watch list right now," he said. "They specialize in colorectal cancer. So, traditional testing methods cause a lot of patients to either put off or avoid getting tested, and what they've done is they've developed a less invasive, more patient-friendly way to test, and now the FDA's actually approved it for younger people as well, so their market's grown." Better yet for buyers, shares of Exact Sciences have lost serious steam since midsummer, falling over 28% from their July 30 peak of $123.99, as of Monday's close. The stock ended Monday's trading session down more than 2% at $84.19. "They're making some acquisitions, they're working to diversify their revenue stream, and the stock's been beaten up," he said. "Valuation's looking much better now at the current price levels. I mean, the stock had a great run, they had a tremendous quarter, but expectations were just super high [and] the thing pulled back. However, the growth story's still intact and I think right now is a good entry point." Craig Johnson, senior technical research analyst at Piper Jaffray, also finds pockets of strength in biotech. Even though much of the XBI's gains for the year have been made in the past three months, Johnson said in the same "Trading Nation" interview, he is still seeing "a lot of charts at inflection points ... continuing to put up very good relative strength." In short, "we don't think it's over," Johnson said. "If you take a look at the chart of the XBI itself, it has just broken out of a consolidation, which we'd call kind of a symmetrical triangle consolidation. From our perspective, at minimum, you're going to go back to the old highs at about [$]100, which doesn't seem like a lot right now, but keep in mind that we've had a very strong move." "Once you have this kind of breakout, you typically have a surge ahead, then you ... pull back and retest," Johnson said. "I suspect that pullback takes you back to about 85-90, and I would definitely be a buyer of this on pullbacks because I think it's going to be a very solid investment as you move into 2020." The XBI closed at $94.53 on Monday, up about one-tenth of 1%. The XLV ended the day less than 1% lower at $99.71. Disclaimer

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2016

8.0

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Australia’s Tom Burton used a tense pre-start battle on Tuesday to snatch the gold medal from Croatia’s Tonci Stipanovic who had led the Olympic Laser regatta for 10 straight tests before the final medal race. Stipanovic, forced by Burton into an illegal bump with the Australian boat, had to take a penalty turn and finished ninth, ending up with silver rather than gold. Both Burton and Stipanovic had ensured themselves one of the top two podium spots on points before the medal race. Bronze was won by New Zealand’s Sam Meech, who managed a third in the medal race, just enough to kill off Brazilian Robert Scheidt’s hopes of a record sixth sailing medal in six Olympic games. Scheidt, 43 and Brazil’s greatest Olympian, sailed one of the best races of his life to win the medal race but the nine-times Laser world champion’s performance was not enough to slip past Meech in the overall points total. As a result, Scheidt, one of only three sailors to win five Olympic sailing medals, missed his first podium in a 20-year Olympic career that began in 1996 in Atlanta. Editing by Clare Fallon

sports

olympics

(olympic , olympics , medal , biles , gold , medals , rio , championships , bronze , gold medal)

2017

3.0

Photographing a region as contentious as the West Bank would assumedly manifest as an attempt to document divisions between the many sides and ideologies defining the territory—from the Palestinians who have inhabited the land for thousands of years, to liberal Israelis hoping for a two-state solution, to more extreme individuals on either side of these divides. Photographer Michele I. Arazi, however, takes a very different approach in his most recent body of work, Homestead. In it, Arazi focuses less on identifying which side is "right," opting instead to produce a visual record of his experiences amongst a specific set of individuals: the conservative, committed, and self-described "nationalistic" Israelis occupying the Jewish settlements along the West Bank. "Generally, it's not a media-friendly, journalist-friendly environment," Arazi tells Creators, referencing the widely-held sentiment that the media presents a biased image of settlers and their communities. "I was asking people for no small thing," he continues, "because I was asking to join them on their daily routine." Without a specific agenda, Arazi hoped to shadow these individuals,  simply documenting what he witnessed.  In 2014, Arazi contacted roughly 30 people, asking them to consider being photographed for the work. "All of them said no. Every single one refused," he recalls. "And so my response to that was, 'Okay, I respect that. Would it be okay for me to fly over? I will drive to wherever you live, and I'll show you my work, and I'll explain to you what it is I'm interested in." Some of the people he contacted agreed to meet ­in person, and in 2015, Arazi organized a second trip to visit those who would eventually agree to be the subjects of Homestead. One of his subjects was a farm owner who, after a rather accusatory and contentious first encounter, agreed to let Arazi visit and photograph his farm, under one condition: no photos were to be taken of him. The man's daughter, Sarah, showed Arazi around, and they invited him to stay with them on the farm for a few days. "We're sitting, we're having dinner, and there has to be 40 people at the table," Arazi recalls of the communal meals the family and their farmhands shared each evening. "We're about to sit down and [Sarah] looks at me and she says, 'Michele, can I ask you a personal question?' And like a bad joke, the whole room goes quiet." When Arazi agreed, Sarah asked him who he voted for. "The room is dead [silent], and I tell her, 'Sarah, I haven't voted for ten years, because I don't live here. But the last time I did vote," he tells her that he cast his vote for a political party known for being fervently at odds with the ideologies surrounding him. Likening this party to Bernie Sanders, Arazi explains that he realized no one had ever crossed their paths who had voted that way. After a moment, when the table livened once more, Arazi turned to Sarah and asked her whether he could ask a personal question, as well. "She says, 'Yeah, sure!' Silence again. I say, 'Did I misrepresent myself?' She looks at me, and she says, 'No, no, absolutely not. You never said you were on our side… It's totally cool.'" Arazi says that avoiding misrepresentation is paramount to his practice as an artist, as well as being party to meaningful dialogue. "As long as you don't misrepresent yourself, there will be a conversation," he explains. "This is what I took away from it: The biggest danger, in my opinion, is to denote whole sections of the population as people who are not a party to a conversation by the mere views they hold," Arazi continues. "If you speak with the other side, I'm of the firm belief [...] that you will find shades of grey, that you will find potential common ground, and that you might be able to slowly develop ideas that are profoundly flawed, deeply imperfect, never offering you a safe sense of having a clear moral ground, but would [improve] the wellbeing of the very people you are looking to help." While recounting his experiences in the West Bank, Arazi recalls advice given to him by friend and war correspondent Itai Anghel. "He says, 'When you go to see for yourself and you are genuinely open to form your impressions—you come open minded, you don't come with an agenda, you don't come to prove something, you really come to look and see—what do you see?'" "It won't be the whole truth, but it will be a section of it. When you genuinely go to see for yourself, magical things happen. People don't respond in the way you think they would respond," Arazi says. Biases unfurl, each side's worldview can get a little bigger, and in the end, dialogue allows the art to become "a portrait or an artist's account of that experience," one which each side can recognize themselves in. Homestead is part of an exhibition by the School of the International Center of Photography's graduating class. Arazi's work is on display without captions, deliberately mounted in an unstable manner, and will be on display until March 12. All of his photographs from the West Bank can be found here. Related:  Immigration to Israel, Explored in Two Controversial Photography Projects How Israel's Most Influential Choreographer Created a New Language of Modern Dance Photos from Inside a Decade of Protests in Israel and Palestine

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2019

11.0

LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Described as “a banana on steroids”, enset may be the superfood you’ve never heard of, let alone tasted, but scientists say it could be a life saver for a warming world. The plant, which grows up to 10 meters (39 ft), is a staple for 20 million people in the Ethiopian Highlands who turn it into bread and porridge, construction materials, packaging, cattle feed and medicine. “People are saying this is a new wonder crop,” said James Borrell, a scientist at London’s Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, which is researching the plant’s potential. “It’s amazingly resilient. It’s said to be very drought tolerant and we’re trying to test that,” he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. Enset, which has been dubbed “the tree against hunger”, was among a shopping list of unusual ingredients spotlighted by leading London chefs at an event on Wednesday night organized by Food Forever, an initiative promoting food diversity. Although a close relative of the banana, enset’s orange fruit is full of bullet-like seeds and inedible. Instead, starchy tissue from the trunk and giant underground corm - the bulbs can weigh up to 100kg (220lb) - is turned into a pulp and buried in a pit to ferment before being made into a chewy flatbread called kocho. Yeshak Fantu, who runs an Ethiopian restaurant in London, described kocho as “the fish and chips” of his home region and said enset had helped stave off hunger during drought. Borrell said the plant was a “really exciting part of the mix” for food security under climate change because it grows in a huge range of conditions - “from baking to foggy and freezing cold” - and can be harvested any time. This means it could provide back-up in case of seasonal gaps in other crops, pest infestations, disease or erratic weather. “It’s like an insurance policy,” he said. “In a lot of the world, you can have enough food for 50 weeks of the year, but imagine you had none for two. That’s still a massive problem.” Planting enset as a buffer crop for lean times could reduce the potential for conflict and avoid the need for aid, he added. Although enset grows wild from Ethiopia down to South Africa, it has only been domesticated in the Ethiopian Highlands, which has mystified researchers. Scientists, who are now DNA-sequencing hundreds of varieties, hope enset could boost food security in other countries, such as Zambia and Malawi. “We are really interested in trying to identify the varieties that grow in the hottest and driest conditions so that in the future we can help farmers adapt,” Borrell said. Reporting by Emma Batha @emmabatha; Editing by Lyndsay Griffiths. Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women's and LGBT+ rights, human trafficking, property rights, and climate change. Visit http://news.trust.org

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2017

11.0

Though they were just toddlers when High School Musical premiered, the kids of Stranger Things share an inexplicable love for the corny 2006 Disney Channel movie.  As they told Jimmy Fallon on Thursday's Tonight Show, they love the movie so much that they watched it together on Halloween night. And yes, they know all the lyrics. These kids have some wild ideas about who should be president in 2020 Seth Meyers roasts the malarkey out of Joe Biden's old-guy debate schtick Stephen Colbert spends 7 minutes gleefully roasting the Democratic candidates Julia Louis-Dreyfus reacts to Marianne Williamson's 'Seinfeld' debate reference

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2017

6.0

Guess spider venom doesn't include caffeine. Just before Spider-Man swings back into theaters on July 7 in Spider-Man: Homecoming, the famed web-slinger dropped into a local Starbucks for a latte ... and naturally, it was all captured on video. In a new viral video produced to help promote the upcoming film Spider-Man: Homecoming, Chris Silcox, star Tom Holland’s stunt double, dropped down from the ceiling at a local Starbucks to surprise unsuspecting customers. Behind the scenes of SPIDER-MAN viral video shoot in Brooklyn, New York. crew workers attach Spider-Man's harness. Commissioned by Sony and shot by viral video gurus Thinkmodo (the same company behind Devil baby, Traffic cop lifts taxi cab), the video takes place in a real, retrofitted Williamsburg, Brooklyn coffee shop. As customers line up for their coffees, a Starbucks barista calls out customer names, including Spider-Man’s. A moment later, the teenage web-slinger drops down through an air conditioner vent right above the counter, grabs his coffee, and then zips back up through the ceiling.  The video was shot over two days with real Starbucks baristas and customers. The reactions are priceless and it clearly gave some customers an extra wake up jolt along with their caffeine. Oh, and watch the whole thing closely for a big cameo by someone extremely well versed in Spider-Man lore. Not everyone was scared to death. While Thinkmodo has done its share of stunt videos, this new Spider-Man video is a bit of a departure from what the company has done in the past. “It’s the first time we’ve taken a convention created by a brand and used that in the script,” said Thinkmodo’s James Percelay last week, referring to Starbucks' custom of taking names, putting them on cups, and then calling them out when the coffee is ready. What’s more unusual is that Starbucks is not a Thinkmodo client — the viral video represents, according to Percelay, a “creative agreement” between Sony and Starbucks. For Thinkmodo, this meant that they didn’t have to over-brand the video beyond promoting the Spider-Man character and his teenage antics in the coffee shop. Nothing to see here, just Spider-Man scaring the caffeine out of Starbucks patrons. To create the realistic Spider-Man and his web effect, Thinkmodo went in search of a Starbucks with extraordinarily high ceilings, and then built a false ceiling below it that matched the original, right down to the wood paneling. Spider-Man rides down attached to a rig and a thin, remarkably strong Kevlar cable. Behind the scenes, the cable, which can support up to 1,000 pounds, was attached to a pulley system that kept Spider-Man’s web-slinging moves smooth. To get the inside story on the viral video shoot and Spider-Man: Homecoming, Mashable sent stuntman Chris Silcox some questions: How uncomfortable is that harness? We spent the whole day together ... in a skin-tight suit! So my harness and I have to get very comfortable! When you're done at the end of the day you each have your bruises. Were you worried that people might, out of shock, throw their mocha lattes at you? When a very bright upside-down superhero appears out of no where, what do you do? Little kids seemed to take to Spider-Man best, which was funny! [They thought,] "Of course Spidey's here ... Why wouldn't he be here to grab a Cap'n Crunch Frappuccino?! It's hot out!" Plus, if a mocha latte was thrown at me, the amazing baristas working with us — who were actually working and gave every single person we surprised a drink and a smile — would have helped me clean my Tony Stark suit in a jiffy. You have the Spider-Man voice down pretty well. Did you practice? When we're in the suit it's necessary to be as much like Tom [Holland] as possible. While prepping and filming, we studied Tom's approach specifically and had a few weeks of training with him. Being around him as much as we were makes the job easier. Plus, I'm a big Spidey fan, so anything I might have said comes from whatever Stan Lee left in my memory. What percentage of the stunts did you handle in the new Spider-Man movie? We had three stunt doubles for Tom: Holland Diaz, David Elson, and myself. We all shared as much of the load as possible. Our time there before filming was setting up & testing the action with George Cottle & Brycen Counts our stunt coordinators, and Ilram Choi, our fight coordinator. Two and a half months of prep/rehearsal prior to filming, we choreographed 8-10 different fight sequences, and tested out countless other gags for every stunt player, villain, and of course, for Web-Head himself. We did it all! Is this your first Superhero gig? Funny enough, no. I played a superhero on a huge set for a Cirque du Soleil show called Viva Elvis. I had this bad ass black & white suit with red gloves and boots. We flew through the air in circus loops and chased/battled each other on this gigantic trampoline, 30 ft. high, [on the] behemoth of a set! It was probably some of the most fun I've ever had. That ... and on Spider-Man Homecoming of course!

movies

marvel

(marvel , avengers , spiderman , infinity , endgame , captain , infinity war , thanos , captain america , captain marvel)

2017

4.0

Cedric Anderson — the man who police say shot and killed his estranged wife, Karen Elaine Smith, along with an 8-year-old student at a California elementary school on Monday — had apparently described Smith as an “angel” on his Facebook page. The page that seemingly belongs to Anderson, 53, also has a photo in March with Smith, also 53, enjoying a date night. Police say the couple had only been married for “a few months” and had been separated for several weeks. Anderson shot and killed himself after shooting Smith, police said. (Two of her students, including the 8-year-old boy, were hit because they were behind her, according to police.) A video posted in February appears to show Anderson saying Smith was “making me really happy.” He also said, “She knows when to ignore me,” as he laughed and smiled. The caption on the post read: “I love being married to Karen Smith-Anderson!” A post on what appeared to be Smith’s Facebook page invited friends to the couple’s wedding in January, with the caption, “All are welcome to share our day!” The shooting was first reported at 10:27 a.m. local time at North Park Elementary School in San Bernardino, California. Police said the shooting occurred in a multi-grade special education classroom with students from first to fourth grade. “[The shooter] entered the classroom — and without saying anything, and armed with a large caliber revolver, he shot his wife,” San Bernardino Police Chief Jarrod Burguan said at a Monday afternoon news conference. “He came in and very, very quickly upon entering the classroom started shooting,” Burguan said. “I am told he reloaded.” What precipitated the shooting was not immediately clear, though police said Anderson had a history of domestic violence and weapons charges.

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None

()

2017

5.0

President Donald Trump has given Main Street and Wall Street "hope and optimism" on the economy, billionaire real estate investor Sam Zell told CNBC on Tuesday. In an interview on "Squawk Box," Zell called former President Barack Obama's $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 a "half-a----d stimulus bill." Trump could repeal enough regulations to give a $1 trillion boost to the economy, Zell said, adding he's more optimistic today than he was before the election. He said deregulation can "achieve the same objective [and] really create stimulus and spend no money." Zell recalled that a couple years ago, he thought the U.S. economy was in the late innings. But now, the Equity Group Investments chairman said the Trump presidency is sending the late-cycle growth picture into "extra innings." Still, Zell said overall he's been more of a seller of assets than a buyer in the past few years. While describing himself as socially liberal and fiscally conservative, Zell said he likes Trump's choices on judges, and calls the president's Cabinet picks "great."

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None

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2018

1.0

An Ethereum startup called Prodeum disappeared from the web on Sunday after raising a grand total of $11 USD from investors in a crowdsale. Shortly after the website disappeared, a message appeared on its homepage: “penis.” Prodeum’s website now redirects visitors to the Twitter account of a cryptocurrency trader (they did not immediately respond to our request for comment), and its Twitter account has been deactivated. Prodeum is at least the second Ethereum startup to pull up stakes after raising money from people in events called Initial Coin Offerings, or ICOs, in which a startup funds their enterprise by taking cryptocurrency from people in exchange for digital tokens. Some ICOs have managed to raise millions of dollars, and the last startup to vanish after conducting an ICO—Confido, which disappeared from the internet in late 2017—made off with roughly $374,000. (A message later appeared on Confido’s site stating that it would buy back investors’ tokens, but it’s unclear if that took place.) Prodeum, by comparison, only seems to have raised $11 based on the Ethereum address that was advertised on Prodeum’s site as being the ICO address. (Update: After this article was published the contents of the ICO wallet were sent to another wallet. That wallet contains roughly $100, with the other funds all coming from a single wallet that predates the Prodeum ICO and contains 46 cents.) Prodeum’s pitch, according to a cached version of its webpage, was to track vegetables in a supply chain using digital addresses on a blockchain—a decentralized ledger at the heart of Ethereum and other cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. The Prodeum website, for what it’s worth, is flashy and overall very well done. To throw off the suspicious, if you click a photo of any of Prodeum’s staff, you’re taken to that person’s associated LinkedIn profile. It also appears, as Buzzfeed journalist Ryan Mac noted on Twitter, that the startup was paying people on Fiverr to promote the ICO by writing “Prodeum” on their bodies. Still, it doesn’t seem like all the promotion was enough to make Prodeum’s crowdsale profitable. There’s one part of the ongoing Prodeum saga that doesn’t seem to fit anywhere neatly, though. It’s penis. What could it mean? It doesn’t have a goading quality—no “Ha ha we got you” vibe—probably because they only made enough to buy two Big Mac meals. It could feasibly be a simple troll, the equivalent of scrawling a dick in Sharpie across a bathroom wall. But Prodeum’s website was elaborate enough to suggest real care and effort on the part of the perpetrators. To me, the small “penis” that was left on Prodeum’s site instead silently screams with nihilism. Because, I mean, what else is there to say? Get six of our favorite Motherboard stories every day by signing up for our newsletter . UPDATE: This article was updated when the funds from the digital wallet associated with the Prodeum ICO were moved into another wallet.

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None

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2017

2.0

The Kardashian-Jenner sisters have made no bones about the fact that they are extremely body positive. As in, there is probably nothing in the world that you could say to shame them out of wearing exactly what they want to wear or stop them from posting an array of semi-nude photos to their Instagram accounts. They’ve also all been pretty outspoken about being proponents of freeing the nipple, from Kendall’s closet full of see-through tops to Kim’s “sheer nipple vibes” in Miami. And now it seems Khloé Kardashian is getting in on the pro-areola action, posing for a selfie in a transparent lace bodysuit. In a portrait posted to her hairstylist Jen Atkin‘s account, Khloé shows off her latest haircut, as well as a little something extra. Atkin captioned the shot, “Back w my little A1 from Day 1 @khloekardashian” gushing over the new scissors that allowed her to cut the reality star’s hair so perfectly blunt. In the image, the Revenge Body host also shows off a full smoky eye, red lip, and a sheer white Gooseberry Intimates bodysuit over which Atkin has placed two red heart emojis to obscure her nipples and keep things Instagram-appropriate. The reality star has warned us in the past about her proclivities to go sans-bra, saying in one of People‘s “5 Questions” videos, “I don’t mind a good nipple. We all have them. They are just not as offensive to me as they are to other people. I obviously don’t want a nip slip, but if it happens, it’s not like, ‘Omg I’m so humiliated.’ It’s not the end of the world to me. Other slips would be the end of the world to me, but nip slips I’m just like, ‘Everyone has them who cares.’” As for nipple covers, she adds, “I literally don’t like to use them and Monica is the one who forces me to use them. I’m like Monica, get over it. It’s my boobs I don’t care. She’s like my mom I love her.” So it seems when Monica’s away, Khloé’s heart emojis come out to play. What do you think of Khloe’s latest lingerie look? Sound off below!

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None

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2018

6.0

A black firefighter was reported to police while conducting standard inspections around homes in Oakland, Calif., according to the San Francisco Chronicle. In a separate incident the same day, the uniformed firefighter was questioned and videotaped by a resident who considered him suspicious. “From the outside, it certainly appears to be unfair and unwarranted,” fire Capt. Damon Covington, president of the Oakland Black Firefighters Association, told the newspaper. “The fire service is a microcosm of the world. Racism exists in the world, and it exists in Oakland and everywhere else.” Kevin Moore, a firefighter with the Oakland Fire Department, was reported to police last month while conducting vegetation-management inspections, according to the Chronicle, which noted that inspections can be conducted even when residents aren't home. Moore told the newspaper that he always tries to get a resident's attention before doing an inspection, adding that he's never trying to "be incognito." But on May 16, a resident grew concerned that Moore might be an imposter. Firefighter Megan Bryan told the Chronicle that she was an acting officer that day and received a call. She said she was frustrated because no one ever calls the police on white firefighters for doing an inspection. A resident also video-recorded Moore on a cellphone that same day and questioned him about what he was doing. “He kind of startled me,” Moore said. “He says, ‘Well, what are you doing here?’ I say, ‘We’re here doing our annual vegetation inspection.’ Then he asks for ID. I say no problem. He takes a picture of my ID and says I need to get a different one. I’ve had that ID for years. It’s kind of dark, and I’m more of a dark-skinned black guy, but you can still see me.” The fire department would not say where the incidents occurred, and the residents were not named. Other recent incidents of racial profiling have sparked public protests and criticism online. Last month, Starbucks closed more than 8,000 stores to conduct anti-bias training after two African American men were arrested at one of the company's Philadelphia locations, where a store manager had called the police on the two men as they waited for a friend. View the discussion thread. The Hill 1625 K Street, NW Suite 900 Washington DC 20006 | 202-628-8500 tel | 202-628-8503 fax The contents of this site are ©2019 Capitol Hill Publishing Corp., a subsidiary of News Communications, Inc.

shipwreck

Ghost Ship

(almena , ghost ship , warehouse , oakland , ghost , ship , alameda county , alameda , derick , 36 people)

2018

7.0

Hailey Baldwin, left, and Justin Bieber, center, are engaged. Selena Gomez, right, dated Bieber on-and-off for years. (AP) Hailey Baldwin  used to ship  Justin Bieber  and  Selena Gomez . In a series of recently resurfaced tweets from 2011-2012, Baldwin -- who&aposs  now engaged to Bieber  after just weeks of dating -- wrote gushing messages about the then-couple. "I don&apost care what anyone says but Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez together is the definition of a teenage dream! #word," Baldwin, 21, tweeted in September 2011 -- and has since deleted -- according to The Cut. Hailey Baldwin Posts Then Deletes an Underwear Selfie Without Her Engagement Ring In January 2012 Baldwin was at it again,  Refinery 29 reports . The model called Bieber, 24, and Gomez "the perfect couple" in response to a since-deleted tweet from another user. The next month,  according to Brides , Baldwin expressed disappointment that the then couple didn&apost attend the Vanity Fair Oscars party together. Baldwin and Bieber made it official when the "Sorry" singer popped the question in the Bahamas over the weekend. Justin Bieber and Hailey Baldwin Confirm Their Engagement With Sweet Messages "Justin decided to propose to Hailey in front of a group of people in the Bahamas, but had been planning to ask her for a couple weeks now,"  a source told ET  following the engagement. "The ring is gorgeous and Hailey is over the moon with joy. The two can’t stop telling their friends and family how excited they are for their journey together. The two have always had a great bond, and it is stronger now than ever." Justin Bieber Engaged to Hailey Baldwin: A Timeline of How She Went From His Friend to Fiancée The engaged pair dated briefly in 2015 before  calling it quits  in 2016.  A source told ET  late last month that the pair have been "casually dating for roughly a month" and that "things seem to be heating up as the two are spending more and more time together."

entertainment

Justin Bieber

(bieber , justin , justin bieber , hailey , biebers , baldwin , hailey baldwin , biebs , gomez , selena)