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polusa

2019_1_test.csv

2019_1_test.csv0 53010215 1 59549287 2 59633617 3 52963105 4 18321756 ... 162989 4829910 162990 4889401 162991 4884295 162992 4760206 162993 4533244 Name: id, Length: 162994, dtype: int64

President Donald Trump (Photo: Evan Vucci, AP) WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump rang in the new year Tuesday by denouncing a new Democratic plan to re-open the government because it lacks money for a wall along the U.S. Mexico border. "The Democrats, much as I suspected, have allocated no money for a new Wall. So imaginative!" Trump tweeted. "The problem is, without a Wall there can be no real Border Security - and our Country must finally have a Strong and Secure Southern Border!" Democrats have accused Trump of promoting the shutdown, now in its 11th day as well as a new year, by insisting on an expensive that would do little or nothing to stop illegal border crossings. "While @realDonaldTrump drags the nation into #TrumpShutdown Week 2 and sits in the White House & tweets, without offering any plan that can pass both chambers of Congress, Democrats are taking action to lead our country out of this mess," Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi tweeted in promoting her plan Monday. During a New Year's Day tweet storm from the White House, Trump also issued a mocking season's greetings to his critics. "HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERYONE, INCLUDING THE HATERS AND THE FAKE NEWS MEDIA!" Trump tweeted in all caps. He added: "2019 WILL BE A FANTASTIC YEAR FOR THOSE NOT SUFFERING FROM TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME. JUST CALM DOWN AND ENJOY THE RIDE, GREAT THINGS ARE HAPPENING FOR OUR COUNTRY!" HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERYONE, INCLUDING THE HATERS AND THE FAKE NEWS MEDIA! 2019 WILL BE A FANTASTIC YEAR FOR THOSE NOT SUFFERING FROM TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME. JUST CALM DOWN AND ENJOY THE RIDE, GREAT THINGS ARE HAPPENING FOR OUR COUNTRY! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 1, 2019 Later in the morning, Trump issued a more sedate tweet: "Happy New Year!" As Democrats prepare to take charge of the House of Representatives when it convenes on Thursday, they proposed a plan to re-open the government while giving the parties more time to negotiate the sticking point that led to the shutdown: Trump's proposed border wall. The Democrats, much as I suspected, have allocated no money for a new Wall. So imaginative! The problem is, without a Wall there can be no real Border Security - and our Country must finally have a Strong and Secure Southern Border! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 1, 2019 The proposal includes full-year funding for shuttered departments except for the Department of Homeland Security, which handles immigration and border issues. The Democrats instead called for temporary funding of DHS through Feb. 8 as Trump and Congress negotiate a long-term plan, though many party members opposed any federal funding for the wall. "The President is using the #TrumpShutdown to try to force an expensive & ineffective wall upon the American people, but Democrats have offered two bills which separate the arguments over the wall from the government shutdown," Pelosi tweeted. While White House officials said they would not comment on any plan until Congress sends them one, Trump has said in tweets he would oppose any plan that lacks wall funding. On Monday, the president tweeted that "the Democrats will probably submit a Bill, being cute as always, which gives everything away but gives NOTHING to Border Security, namely the Wall. You see, without the Wall there can be no Border Security." Congressional Republicans did not embrace the new Democratic plan. Don Stewart, spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, said that the Republican-run Senate "is not going to send something to the president that he won’t sign." Read or Share this story: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2019/01/01/donald-trump-happy-new-year-haters/2456753002/

polusa

2019_1_test.csv

2019_1_test.csv0 53010215 1 59549287 2 59633617 3 52963105 4 18321756 ... 162989 4829910 162990 4889401 162991 4884295 162992 4760206 162993 4533244 Name: id, Length: 162994, dtype: int64

BERLIN (Reuters) - Police detained a 50-year-old German man early on Tuesday on suspicion of ramming his car into a crowd of people in the northwestern German town of Bottrop, injuring four, in what authorities say may have been a xenophobic attack. The man, who fled the scene, made racist comments when he was later stopped and arrested, according to a statement by local police and prosecutors. “Investigators suspect it was a deliberate attack that may be linked to the xenophobic views of the driver,” the statement said. “In addition, investigators have preliminary information about a mental illness of the driver.” A police spokeswoman said Syrian and Afghan citizens were among those injured, but gave no further details. She said one of the four people injured remained in hospital. The attack occurred after midnight on New Year’s Eve at a crowded plaza in Bottrop. Earlier the driver had steered his car at another pedestrian, who managed to escape unharmed, according to the statement. He also targeted people at a bus stop after fleeing the scene of the Bottrop attack, it said.

polusa

2019_1_test.csv

2019_1_test.csv0 53010215 1 59549287 2 59633617 3 52963105 4 18321756 ... 162989 4829910 162990 4889401 162991 4884295 162992 4760206 162993 4533244 Name: id, Length: 162994, dtype: int64

As the fight over the federal government shutdown entered the new year, President Trump on Tuesday expressed his desire to “make a deal” with House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi over funding for his border wall. “Border Security and the Wall ‘thing’ and Shutdown is not where Nancy Pelosi wanted to start her tenure as Speaker!” Trump tweeted. “Let’s make a deal?” Pelosi is poised to become speaker of the House when Democrats officially take back control of the chamber on Thursday. Trump’s comments come amid the news that House Democrats plan to introduce a legislative package to re-open the government on Thursday – though it is unclear whether Trump or Republicans in the Senate will go along with it. Fox News has learned there is a briefing at the White House on Wednesday for the top two leaders of each party from each chamber for the new Congress to discuss the impasse. The House Democratic plan will include one bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security at current levels through Feb. 8, with $1.3 billion for border security. It doesn't include money for the president's desired wall on the border. Whether the Republican-led Senate, under Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, will consider the bills — or if Trump would sign either into law — was unclear. McConnell spokesman Donald Stewart said Senate Republicans won't not take action without Trump's backing. "It's simple: The Senate is not going to send something to the president that he won't sign," Stewart said. Even if only symbolic, the passage of the bills in the House would put fresh pressure on the president. Republicans and Democrats have been at a standstill over President Trump's demands for $5 billion to fund the border wall. Earlier Tuesday, the president ripped into Democrats for insisting they won’t fund a border wall. “One thing has now been proven,” Trump tweeted. “The Democrats do not care about Open Borders and all of the crime and drugs that Open Borders bring!” Negotiations over the partial government shutdown stalled over the holidays. “Our negotiations are at an impasse at the moment,” Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., the chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said on CBS’ "Face the Nation" on Sunday. “I wish it were not so.” Funding for a slew of federal agencies lapsed at midnight on Dec. 22 – just days before Christmas -- after Congress and the White House failed to pass a spending package. Nine of 15 Cabinet-level departments and dozens of agencies have closed, affecting about a quarter of the federal government. With no resolution in sight, the shutdown is forcing hundreds of thousands of federal workers and contractors to stay home or work without pay. Museums and galleries popular with visitors and locals in the nation's capital will close starting midweek if the partial shutdown of the federal government drags on. Fox News’ Chad Pergram and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

polusa

2019_1_test.csv

2019_1_test.csv0 53010215 1 59549287 2 59633617 3 52963105 4 18321756 ... 162989 4829910 162990 4889401 162991 4884295 162992 4760206 162993 4533244 Name: id, Length: 162994, dtype: int64

Video A mission to rescue 32 people from the Mediterranean Sea needs urgent help, a Welsh campaigner has said. Volunteer Robin Jenkins, from Llantwit Major in the Vale of Glamorgan, is on a Sea-Watch rescue boat that went to the aid of the stranded migrants off Malta. Activists said their ship has "nowhere to go" after being denied entry to European ports for eight days. It has led to calls for the UK government to intervene. The Foreign Office has been asked to comment. Mr Jenkins said people on the boat had an uncertain future.

polusa

2019_1_test.csv

2019_1_test.csv0 53010215 1 59549287 2 59633617 3 52963105 4 18321756 ... 162989 4829910 162990 4889401 162991 4884295 162992 4760206 162993 4533244 Name: id, Length: 162994, dtype: int64

PayPal has reportedly blacklisted “The Hacker News,” a popular cybersecurity news website with millions of followers online. The Hacker News, which has over 2 million Facebook likes and 516,000 Twitter followers, announced the blacklisting in a series of posts on Twitter, Saturday, where the site claimed PayPal refused to give a reason for banning them. “That’s so much frustrating. @PayPal has permanently banned all of our accounts without mentioning any reason and hold wallet funds wrongly for 180 days,” the site claimed. “Upon asking, @AskPayPal also refused to share any details.” That's so much frustrating.@PayPal has permanently banned all of our accounts without mentioning any reason and hold wallet funds wrongly for 180 days. Upon asking, @AskPayPal also refused to share any details. — The Hacker News (@TheHackersNews) December 29, 2018 “Instead of giving a valid reason, company says ‘specific reasons for such a decision is proprietary & it is not released since that could impair PayPal’s ability to do business in a safe and secure manner’… Seriously @PayPal????” continued the site. “You have to mention at least one valid reason.” Instead of giving a valid reason, company says "specific reasons for such a decision is proprietary & it is not released since that could impair PayPal's ability to do business in a safe and secure manner" Seriously @PayPal???? You have to mention at least one valid reason. — The Hacker News (@TheHackersNews) December 29, 2018 In a follow-up post on Monday, The Hacker News declared that PayPal “hasn’t yet provided any reason behind the ban,” and added, “For those asking, banned account was sort of an individual account we used to receive small payments from our sponsors that should not even violate any policy.” Thank you everyone for your support 🎊Happy New Year 2019 😇@PayPal hasn't yet provided any reason behind the ban. For those asking, banned account was sort of an individual account we used to receive small payments from our sponsors that should not even violate any policy. https://t.co/8Pjyr6xV77 — The Hacker News (@TheHackersNews) December 31, 2018 The Hacker News was created in 2010, and the site describes itself as “a leading, trusted, widely-acknowledged dedicated cybersecurity news platform, attracting over 8 million monthly readers including IT professionals, researchers, hackers, technologists, and enthusiasts.” According to cryptocurrency news site Bitcoinist, “PayPal has often instigated funds blocking against corporate clients, including those involved in the cryptocurrency industry, without explanation.” Bitcoinist also reported that “such blocks are part of the service’s terms of use, which include the caveat that users can be frozen out of their accounts without the company being required to explain why.” PayPal has previously blacklisted a number of popular companies and users, including WikiLeaks, Infowars, alternative video-hosting platform BitChute, alternative social network Gab, Chuck Johnson’s fundraising platform FreeStartr, political activist and commentator Tommy Robinson, 2018 Toronto Mayoral election candidate Faith Goldy, and Robert Spencer’s Jihad Watch— which had its PayPal account restored following public outcry. In July, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), a liberal nonprofit organization, expressed concern over payment processing services such as PayPal and Stripe becoming the “de facto internet censors.” “EFF is deeply concerned that payment processors are making choices about which websites can and can’t accept payments or process donations… This can have a huge impact on what types of speech are allowed to flourish online,” expressed an EFF spokesman in a statement. “We’ve seen examples — such as when WikiLeaks faced a banking blockade — of payment processors and other financial institutions shutting down the accounts of websites engaged in legal but unpopular speech. I’m deeply concerned that we’re letting banks and payment processors turn into de facto Internet censors.”

polusa

2019_1_test.csv

2019_1_test.csv0 53010215 1 59549287 2 59633617 3 52963105 4 18321756 ... 162989 4829910 162990 4889401 162991 4884295 162992 4760206 162993 4533244 Name: id, Length: 162994, dtype: int64

Brazil’s new president will feel emboldened to roll back rainforest protections and legitimise police’s use of deadly force It was a softball question at a campaign trail press conference: what would Jair Bolsonaro do on his first day as president? Brazil’s preeminent provocateur wrestled it straight into a Trumpian whirlpool of bluster and barminess. First, Bolsonaro – then still an outsider in the race for power – savaged Beijing. “Open your eyes, because the Chinese are buying Brazil!” he warned the Guardian after the question during a trip to the Amazon last spring. Then, he pondered his own nation, declaring: “[Brazil is like] a patient whose … whole body needs amputating.” Woman who Bolsonaro insulted: 'Our president-elect encourages rape' Read more Finally, the far-right firebrand embarked on a jumbled three-minute rollick through issues including Brazilian politics (“an embarrassment!”), the country itself (“a load of rubbish!”), English NGOs (“a joke”), Donald Trump (“I’m an admirer”) and Israel (“I’ve been there … they raise fish in the desert!”) before concluding his harangue with the six-word pledge that would define his insurgent campaign: “We are going to change Brazil!” Facebook Twitter Pinterest Jair Bolsonaro with his wife Michelle at a Rio polling station in October 2018. He has since ditched planned UN climate talks and appointed a foreign minister who believes climate change is a Marxist plot. Photograph: Ricardo Moraes/EPA It was vintage Bolsonaro: pugnacious, largely nonsensical and yet strangely engrossing – and perhaps a good guide to how the most unlikely president in Brazilian history will govern for the next four years. Few doubt the far-right populist – who took power on Tuesday – is serious about transforming the world’s fourth largest democracy or that his presidency will be an unpredictable and ill-tempered affair. Perhaps no area faces a greater shake-up than the environment. To the horror of the environmentalists he so loathes, Bolsonaro has repeatedly signalled a desire to roll back environmental protections and make it easier to destroy the world’s biggest rainforest. Deeds have accompanied those words. Since his stunning election, Bolsonaro has ditched plans to host key UN climate talks next year and appointed a foreign minister who believes climate change is a Marxist plot. As president, he looks set to take a sledgehammer to Brazil’s hard-earned reputation as a global leader in the fight against climate change and herald a new era of wrecking in the Amazon. 'Liberate' Venezuela from Maduro, urges Bolsonaro ally Read more Foreign policy will also be upended, as Bolsonaro’s Brazil seeks a snug and historic allegiance with Donald Trump’s US and jettisons longstanding friendships with nations ruled by leftists, such as Cuba and Venezuela. “Everything we can legally and democratically do against these countries, we will do,” Bolsonaro recently vowed. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Jair Bolsonaro’s son and fellow congressman Eduardo Bolsonaro in Boa Vista. Photograph: Tom Phillips for the Guardian Bolsonaro’s English-speaking son, Eduardo, appears poised to play a super-sized role in Brasilia’s pivot to the White House, positioning himself as South American answer to Jared Kushner. Since his father’s election, he has hobnobbed with Ted Cruz and Steve Bannon in the US and repeatedly assailed Venezuela’s “narco-dictator” president, Nicolás Maduro. Expect regional tensions to soar in 2019 as Trump and the Bolsonaros gang up on the disintegrating Bolivarian revolution and Maduro responds in increasingly bellicose fashion. On the domestic front, dramatic changes loom, too, as Bolsonaro – egged on by the powerful, ultra-conservative evangelists to whom he owes his election – strives to lead Brazil down a profoundly reactionary path. His decision to name Damares Alves, an anti-abortion evangelical preacher, as head of a new ministry overseeing Brazilian women, families, human rights and indigenous communities is a harbinger of the intolerance and conservatism ahead. The mere prospect of a Bolsonaro presidency has already sent same-sex couples rushing to the altar for fear they might lose such rights once the proud homophobe takes power. With Bolsonaro in office, expect bigotry, hate crime – and resistance from Brazil’s vibrant civil society – to increase. Brazil is already one of Latin America’s most violent societies, suffering a record 63,880 homicides in 2017, but under Brazil’s pro-gun president things are almost certain to get worse. Bolsonaro campaigned as a law and order candidate, vowing to use brute force and bullets to slay the drug traffickers behind much of that violence. But he appears to have no real plan to reduce crime beyond fighting violence with violence, and he is almost certain to fail. Instead, by legitimising the police’s use of deadly force, Bolsonaro’s pro-repression rhetoric is likely to accelerate the already rampant killing. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Bolsonaro supporters hold up a Brazilian flag in front of a tank as army soldiers take part in security preparations for the ceremony. Photograph: Sergio Lima/AFP/Getty Images Rio de Janeiro, whose newly elected, pro-Bolsonaro governor has called for helicopter-borne snipers to be used to execute rifle-carrying criminals – is likely to suffer particularly. More than 1,400 people were reportedly gunned down by Rio police in 2018 – a death every five-and-a-half hours. With Bolsonaro’s blessing, the body count will rise. In the final month before Tuesday’s inauguration, Brazil’s incoming president has hosted weekly Facebook Live broadcasts detailing his controversial and eccentric plans: a crackdown on immigrants who refuse to abandon their own culture and supposedly conspire to marry Brazilian children; a crusade against “unproductive” journalists and leftists who question him; doing away with indigenous reserves because he is convinced Brazil’s tribespeople no longer wish to be stuck “in the Stone Age”. “The big day is arriving – 1 January!” Bolsonaro beamed in one recent webcast. It is a date millions of progressive Brazilians have viewed with dread.

polusa

2019_1_test.csv

2019_1_test.csv0 53010215 1 59549287 2 59633617 3 52963105 4 18321756 ... 162989 4829910 162990 4889401 162991 4884295 162992 4760206 162993 4533244 Name: id, Length: 162994, dtype: int64

The Latest on the partial government shutdown (all times local): 2:45 p.m. As a partial government shutdown extends into its 11th day, the White House has invited congressional leaders to attend a West Wing briefing Wednesday on border security. That's according to a congressional source who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the invitation. The top and second-ranking Democrats and Republicans in both chambers are invited to attend, according to the person, who said the agenda and other attendees were unknown. Trump is demanding billions for a border wall between the U.S. and Mexico this fiscal year, which Democrats have vowed to block. The stalemate has shuttered government offices, disrupted services and furloughed hundreds of thousands of federal employees. The White House did not immediately comment on the invitation. — By Zeke Miller ——— 2:20 p.m. After digging in on border wall funding and forcing a partial government shutdown, President Donald Trump is now asking: "Let's make a deal?" Trump tweeted Tuesday afternoon that dealing with border security, the wall and the shutdown wasn't how incoming Nancy Pelosi wants to start her tenure when Democrats take over the House. The tweet comes after House Democrats released their plan to re-open the government without approving money for the wall. Pelosi is expected to be elected speaker when Democrats take control of the House on Thursday. Trump spent the weekend saying that Democrats should return to Washington to negotiate, firing off Twitter taunts. He then revised his aides' comments to state that he really still wants to build a border wall. The partial shutdown began Dec. 22. ———— 12:20 a.m. House Democrats have released their plan to re-open the government without approving money for President Donald Trump's border wall. At the same time, Trump is struggling to find leverage to break the stalemate days before the GOP's monopoly on Washington power comes to an end. Democrats in the House unveiled two bills Monday to put hundreds of thousands of federal workers back on the job. They were expected to pass them as soon as the new Congress convenes Thursday. Whether the Republican-led Senate, under Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, would consider the bills — or if Trump would sign either into law — was unclear. McConnell spokesman Donald Stewart said Senate Republicans would not take action without Trump's backing. The partial government shutdown began Dec. 22.

polusa

2019_1_test.csv

2019_1_test.csv0 53010215 1 59549287 2 59633617 3 52963105 4 18321756 ... 162989 4829910 162990 4889401 162991 4884295 162992 4760206 162993 4533244 Name: id, Length: 162994, dtype: int64

President Trump wished "the haters" and "the fake news media" a happy new year on Twitter Tuesday morning, urging them to "calm down and enjoy the ride." Mr. Trump's all-capitalized tweet referred to "Trump derangement syndrome," a phrase commonly used by commentators on Fox News to refer to critics of the president who would rather focus on Mr. Trump's mistakes than accomplishments. HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERYONE, INCLUDING THE HATERS AND THE FAKE NEWS MEDIA! 2019 WILL BE A FANTASTIC YEAR FOR THOSE NOT SUFFERING FROM TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME. JUST CALM DOWN AND ENJOY THE RIDE, GREAT THINGS ARE HAPPENING FOR OUR COUNTRY! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 1, 2019 The president is currently locked in a stalemate with congressional Democrats over a partial government shutdown. Incoming House speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer unveiled the outline of a bill to end the partial government shutdown as Democrats take control of the House this week. But the bill includes only $1.3 billion for border security, and since President Trump wants $5 billion for a border wall, the White House said Monday he will reject it. The term "Trump derangement syndrome" is a play on "Bush derangement syndrome," which was coined by conservative columnist Charles Krauthammer in 2003, which he defined as "the acute onset of paranoia in otherwise normal people in reaction to the policies, the presidency – nay – the very existence of George W. Bush." Krauthammer later defined "Trump derangement syndrome" as a "general hysteria" among critics of Mr. Trump. The term has been used by Trump supporters to accuse his opponents of acting hysterically. It has also been used by Press Secretary Sarah Sanders and the president on Twitter before. Mr. Trump has also wished happy holidays to "the haters" before. He has wished "haters" a happy Veterans Day in 2013, a happy Father's Day in 2014, happy 4th of July in 2014, a happy Thanksgiving in 2014, a happy Easter in 2015, happy Memorial Day in 2015, and a happy New Year in 2014 and in 2017.

polusa

2019_1_test.csv

2019_1_test.csv0 53010215 1 59549287 2 59633617 3 52963105 4 18321756 ... 162989 4829910 162990 4889401 162991 4884295 162992 4760206 162993 4533244 Name: id, Length: 162994, dtype: int64

Breaking News Emails Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings. By Suzy Khimm WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump welcomed the dawn of 2019 on Tuesday with an all-caps tweet that wished "everyone" a Happy New Year — "including the haters and the fake news media." The president went on to say that 2019 would be a "fantastic" year for anyone "not suffering from Trump derangement syndrome" — an ailment he has diagnosed his critics with in the past. Trump's message was reminiscent of his tweet at the close of 2016, in which he wished a happy New Year "to my many enemies and those who have fought me and lost so badly they just don't know what to do." At the close of 2014, he extended his well wishes to "all haters and losers." Trump had planned to spend the holidays at his private Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, but put his trip on hold when the partial government shutdown began on Dec. 22. House Democrats unveiled a plan on Monday to re-open the federal government, but their proposal did not include the funding for a border wall that the president has demanded. The Senate's Republican leadership said on Monday that the Senate "is not going to send something to the president that he won't sign." A little over an hour after issuing his first missive, the president sent out a simpler greeting on Twitter: "Happy New Year!"

polusa

2019_1_test.csv

2019_1_test.csv0 53010215 1 59549287 2 59633617 3 52963105 4 18321756 ... 162989 4829910 162990 4889401 162991 4884295 162992 4760206 162993 4533244 Name: id, Length: 162994, dtype: int64

A German man has been arrested after repeatedly driving into crowds of people, injuring at least five, in what authorities said Tuesday appeared to have been intentional attacks against foreigners. Four people were injured in the western city of Bottrop and one person was injured in nearby Essen, while pedestrians managed to jump out of his path in two other attempted attacks in those cities, police said. "The man had the clear intention to kill foreigners," German news agency dpa quoted the top security official in North Rhine-Westphalia state, Herbert Reul, as saying. The victims included a 46-year-old woman, who suffered life-threatening injuries, and a child. Some of the victims were Syrian and Afghan citizens. The attacks began shortly after midnight while people were celebrating New Year's out on the streets. The 50-year-old driver first attempted to hit a group of people in Bottrop, but failed. He then drove into the city center, where he slammed his silver Mercedes into a crowd, injuring four. He then drove toward Essen, where he twice attempted to run people down, injuring one person, before being arrested by police. The man, whose name wasn't released, is being held on suspicion of attempted homicide. Police said the suspect made anti-foreigner comments during his arrest and there were indications he had been treated for mental illness in the past. It's not the first time that a vehicle has been used as an apparent weapon in Germany. In April, a German man drove a van into a crowd in Muenster, killing four people and injuring dozens. The driver, who had sought psychological help in the weeks preceding the attack, then killed himself. On Dec. 19, 2016, a Tunisian man ploughed a truck into a busy Christmas market in Berlin, killing 12 people. The attack was claimed by the Islamic State group. The driver, who fled the scene, was later killed in a shootout with police in Italy.

polusa

2019_1_test.csv

2019_1_test.csv0 53010215 1 59549287 2 59633617 3 52963105 4 18321756 ... 162989 4829910 162990 4889401 162991 4884295 162992 4760206 162993 4533244 Name: id, Length: 162994, dtype: int64

Mayor’s use of New Year’s Eve event to stress city’s openness to Europeans enrages leavers Sadiq Khan has incurred the wrath of Brexiters by including a pro-EU message in the New Year’s Eve fireworks display in London. The mayor hailed the event, in which the London Eye was lit up in the blue-and-yellow colours of the EU flag, as part of a wider message to Europe showing the capital would stay “open-minded” and “outward looking” after Brexit. As the fireworks went off along the Thames, the words “London is open” were said in English, French, German, Italian, Polish, Romanian and Spanish just after midnight. The phrase is often used by the Labour mayor, who opposes Brexit and has called for a second referendum. The event also featured music performances by European artists. “We, in my opinion, are one of the greatest cities in the world; one of the reasons we are one of the greatest cities in the world is because of the contribution made by Europeans,” Khan said just before the display. “I think diversity is a strength and I think what tonight is about is celebrating that diversity.” The display was, the mayor said, about “showing the world, while they’re watching us, that we’re going to carry on being open-minded, outward looking, pluralistic”. In a tweet after the display, the mayor said: “Our one million EU citizens are Londoners, they make a huge contribution, and no matter the outcome of Brexit, they will always be welcome.” While the sentiment might be popular with many Londoners, given the capital voted strongly in favour of staying in the EU, the display brought condemnation from militant Brexiters. The Conservative MP Andrew Bridgen said the message had been “a betrayal of democracy”, telling the Sun: “It’s low, it’s very low to politicise what is an international public event.” Roger Helmer, a former Conservative MEP who defected to Ukip, tweeted: “While the UK is locked in critical negotiations with Brussels, Sadiq Khan chooses to display the other side’s flag on the London Eye. Would he have shown an Argentinian flag during the Falklands War?” The annual display was paid for by £2.3m in funding from the Greater London Authority, offset by revenue from 100,000 ticket sales.

polusa

2019_1_test.csv

2019_1_test.csv0 53010215 1 59549287 2 59633617 3 52963105 4 18321756 ... 162989 4829910 162990 4889401 162991 4884295 162992 4760206 162993 4533244 Name: id, Length: 162994, dtype: int64

Image copyright CV Lenin Image caption The demonstration was a response to protests that prevented women from entering a Hindu temple Women in the southern Indian state of Kerala have formed a 620km (385-mile) human chain "in support of gender equality", amid a row over access to a prominent Hindu temple. The Sabarimala shrine was historically closed to women of "menstruating age" - defined as between 10 and 50. India's top court overturned the ban in September, but protesters have since attacked female visitors. The "women's wall" was organised by the state's left-wing coalition government. Officials told BBC Hindi's Imran Qureshi that around five million women from various parts of Kerala had gathered across all national highways to form the chain, which stretched from the northern tip of Kasaragod to the southern end in Thiruvanthapuram. Organisers had predicted a turnout of around three million. Officials said the short demonstration was to combat inequality and counter the efforts of right-wing groups that support the ban on women. One young demonstrator, Kavita Das, told BBC Hindi: "This is a great way of saying how powerful women are, and how we can empower ourselves and help each other. Of course, I support the move to allow women of all ages into the temple. I don't think tradition or any kind of backwardness should stop women. Those who want to pray must have the right to pray." Why is the ban so political? The Supreme Court decision to let women worship at the Sabarimala shrine came after a petition argued that the custom banning them violated gender equality. But India's ruling party, the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has argued that the ruling is an attack on Hindu values. The issue has become increasingly contentious in the run-up to India's general election, scheduled for April and May. Critics have accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of pursuing a religiously divisive agenda to court the BJP's mostly-Hindu support base. Hinduism regards menstruating women as unclean and bars them from participating in religious rituals - but most temples allow women to enter as long as they are not menstruating, rather than banning women in a broad age group from entering at all. Image copyright CV Lenin Image caption Officials said millions of women formed a human chain stretching across the state 'The temple god is a bachelor' Protesters have also argued that the court ruling goes against the wishes of the temple's deity, Lord Ayappa. They say that the ban on women entering Sabarimala is not about menstruation alone - it is also in keeping with the wish of the deity, who is believed to have laid down clear rules about the pilgrimage to seek his blessings. According to the temple's mythology, Lord Ayyappa is an avowed bachelor who has taken an oath of celibacy - and hence the ban. Very few women have tried to enter the temple amid massive protests in the state, and many who tried have been forced to turn back. Two women managed to reach the main temple premises in October, with more than 100 police protecting them from stone-throwing protesters as they walked the last 5km stretch to the shrine. They were ultimately forced to turn round after a stand-off with devotees, just metres from Sabarimala's sanctum.

polusa

2019_1_test.csv

2019_1_test.csv0 53010215 1 59549287 2 59633617 3 52963105 4 18321756 ... 162989 4829910 162990 4889401 162991 4884295 162992 4760206 162993 4533244 Name: id, Length: 162994, dtype: int64

Breaking News Emails Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings. By Associated Press SAO PAULO — Once an outsider mocked by fellow lawmakers for his far-right positions, constant use of expletives and even casual dressing, former army captain Jair Bolsonaro is taking office as Brazil's president Tuesday. A fan of President Donald Trump, the 63-year-old longtime congressman rose to power on an anti-corruption and pro-gun agenda that has energized Brazilian conservatives and hard-right supporters after four consecutive presidential election wins by the left-leaning Workers' Party. Bolsonaro is the latest far-right leader to come to power by riding waves of anger at the establishment and promises to ditch the status quo. Jair Bolsonaro. MAURO PIMENTEL / AFP - Getty Images "I will cry" upon seeing Bolsonaro inaugurated, said Paulo de Sousa, a teacher from Rio de Janeiro who traveled to the capital of Brasilia for the ceremony. "It will be a wonderful year. We have to help our president to achieve that. There will be jobs, health and peace." Brasilia will be under tight security, with 3,000 police patrolling the event. Military tanks, fighter jets and even anti-aircraft missiles will also be deployed. The increased security came at Bolsonaro's request. His intestine was pierced when a knife-wielding man stabbed him at a campaign rally in September, and he has to wear a colostomy bag. His sons, politicians themselves, insist their father could be targeted by radicals, but security officials have not spoken of threats. Bolsonaro has done little moderating since being elected in October, with progressives and liberals decrying stances that they say are anti-homosexual, sexist and racist. The incoming president, who spent nearly three decades in Congress, has also drawn international criticism for his plans to roll back regulations in the Amazon and his disinterest in social programs in a country that is one of the world's most unequal in terms of income. On the economic front, where Bolsonaro will ultimately lead Latin America's largest economy is unknown, as during the campaign he reversed course from previous statist stances with pledges to lead market-friendly reforms. He also promised to overhaul Brazil's pension system and privatize several state-owned companies, which has given him wide support among financial players. Bolsonaro says he will prioritize the fight against crime in a nation that has long led the world in annual homicides. More than 63,000 people were killed last year. Human rights groups fear his defense of police violence could shield officers from investigations of misconduct and lead to more extrajudicial killings. Brazil's President-elect Jair Bolsonaro, left, and Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meet in Rio de Janeiro on Friday. Leo Correa / Pool photo via AP The most notable foreign leaders planning to attend the inauguration are also associated with far-right movements: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. Leftist Presidents Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela and Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua, deemed dictators by Bolsonaro, were uninvited by Bolsonaro's team after the foreign ministry sent them invitations. The United States will be represented by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Seven of Bolsonaro's 22 Cabinet ministers are former military personnel, more than in any administration during Brazil's 1964-1985 dictatorship. That has sparked fears among his adversaries of a return to autocratic rule, but Bolsonaro insists he will respect the country's constitution. Bolsonaro's vice president is a retired general, Hamilton Mourao. Bolsonaro's Liberal and Social Party will have 52 seats in Brazil's 513-member lower house, the second largest bloc behind the Workers' Party. T-shirts featuring the image of Jair Bolsonaro are on sale in Brasilia. Eraldo Peres / AP Photo Michael Shifter, president of the think tank Inter-American Dialogue, believes the president will have trouble achieving major changes. "The obstacles are formidable, including in the business community. In some cases, necessary reform will clash with the business interests and incomes of large numbers of lawmakers," Shifter said.

polusa

2019_1_test.csv

2019_1_test.csv0 53010215 1 59549287 2 59633617 3 52963105 4 18321756 ... 162989 4829910 162990 4889401 162991 4884295 162992 4760206 162993 4533244 Name: id, Length: 162994, dtype: int64

Breaking News Emails Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings. By Associated Press SAO PAULO — Jair Bolsonaro was sworn in as Brazil's president Tuesday, taking the reins of Latin America's largest and most populous nation with promises to overhaul myriad aspects of daily life and put an end to business-as-usual governing. For the far-right former army captain, the New Year's Day inauguration was the culmination of a journey from a marginalized and even ridiculed congressmen to a leader who many Brazilians hope can combat endemic corruption as well as violence that routinely gives the nation the dubious distinction of being world leader in total homicides. A fan of U.S. President Donald Trump, the 63-year-old longtime congressman rose to power on an anti-corruption and pro-gun agenda that has energized conservatives and hard-right supporters after four consecutive presidential election wins by the left-leaning Workers' Party. Bolsonaro is the latest far-right leader to come to power by riding waves of anger at the establishment and promises to ditch the status quo. Jair Bolsonaro. MAURO PIMENTEL / AFP - Getty Images Tuesday's festivities in the capital of Brasilia began with a motorcade procession along the main road leading to Congress and other government buildings. Bolsonaro and his wife, Michelle, stood up in an open-top Rolls-Royce and waved to thousands of onlookers. They were surrounded by dozens of guards on horses and plain-clothes bodyguards who ran beside the car. Brasilia was under tight security, with 3,000 police patrolling the event. Military tanks, fighter jets and even anti-aircraft missiles also were deployed. Journalists were made to arrive at locations seven hours before festivities began, and many complained on Twitter of officials confiscating food they had brought for the wait. The increased security came at Bolsonaro's request. His intestine was pierced when a knife-wielding man stabbed him at a campaign rally in September, and he has to wear a colostomy bag. His sons, politicians themselves, insist their father could be targeted by radicals, but security officials have not spoken of threats. Bolsonaro did little moderating since being elected in October, with progressives and liberals decrying stances that they say are anti-homosexual, sexist and racist. The incoming president, who spent nearly three decades in Congress, has also drawn international criticism for his plans to roll back regulations in the Amazon and his disinterest in social programs in a country that is one of the world's most unequal in terms of income. On the economic front, where Bolsonaro will ultimately lead Latin America's largest economy is unknown, as during the campaign he reversed course from previous statist stances with pledges to lead market-friendly reforms. He also promised to overhaul Brazil's pension system and privatize several state-owned companies, which has given him wide support among financial players. Bolsonaro says he will prioritize the fight against crime in a nation that has long led the world in annual homicides. More than 63,000 people were killed last year. Human rights groups fear his defense of police violence could shield officers from investigations of misconduct and lead to more extrajudicial killings. Brazil's President-elect Jair Bolsonaro, left, and Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meet in Rio de Janeiro on Friday. Leo Correa / Pool photo via AP The most notable foreign leaders planning to attend the inauguration are also associated with far-right movements: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. Leftist Presidents Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela and Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua, deemed dictators by Bolsonaro, were uninvited by Bolsonaro's team after the foreign ministry sent them invitations. The United States was represented by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, though Trump tweeted his congratulations. "The U.S.A. is with you!" Trump said Tuesday on Twitter after praising Bolsonaro's inaugural address. Seven of Bolsonaro's 22 Cabinet ministers are former military personnel, more than in any administration during Brazil's 1964-1985 dictatorship. That has sparked fears among his adversaries of a return to autocratic rule, but Bolsonaro insists he will respect the country's constitution. Bolsonaro's vice president is a retired general, Hamilton Mourao. Bolsonaro's Liberal and Social Party will have 52 seats in Brazil's 513-member lower house, the second largest bloc behind the Workers' Party. T-shirts featuring the image of Jair Bolsonaro are on sale in Brasilia. Eraldo Peres / AP Photo Michael Shifter, president of the think tank Inter-American Dialogue, believes the president will have trouble achieving major changes. "The obstacles are formidable, including in the business community. In some cases, necessary reform will clash with the business interests and incomes of large numbers of lawmakers," Shifter said.

polusa

2019_1_test.csv

2019_1_test.csv0 53010215 1 59549287 2 59633617 3 52963105 4 18321756 ... 162989 4829910 162990 4889401 162991 4884295 162992 4760206 162993 4533244 Name: id, Length: 162994, dtype: int64

The people running your money have a lot to prove in 2019. Hedge-fund managers once again lagged the broader market and will have to show they are worth their high fees. Those that don’t deliver could be forced to shut their doors. On the passive-investment side, a price war is afoot. Index-fund managers are all nearing zero in fees, with...

polusa

2019_1_test.csv

2019_1_test.csv0 53010215 1 59549287 2 59633617 3 52963105 4 18321756 ... 162989 4829910 162990 4889401 162991 4884295 162992 4760206 162993 4533244 Name: id, Length: 162994, dtype: int64

Federal regulators are scrutinizing fees imposed by Norfolk Southern Corp., Union Pacific Corp. and other railroads that are meant to get their customers on board with new procedures to operate more efficiently. The large U.S. railroad operators are overhauling operating plans to streamline the movement of locomotives and railcars across their networks, emulating the turnaround plan implemented during the past two years at CSX Corp., which operates a rail network in the Eastern U.S. ...

polusa

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Some 25,000 truck drivers haul goods from the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach to nearby warehouses and rail yards for shipping to U.S. retailers and manufacturers. Since 2011, nearly 1,000 drivers have filed complaints against trucking companies for workplace violations. But some $40 million in judgments and fines assessed by courts and by the California labor commissioner in the last four years remain unpaid, according to labor groups.

polusa

2019_1_test.csv

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Interested in Chicago? Add Chicago as an interest to stay up to date on the latest Chicago news, video, and analysis from ABC News. Add Interest Preliminary numbers indicate that homicides in Chicago fell by about 100 last year compared to 2017, though the total again eclipses the number of homicides in Los Angeles and New York combined, according to data released Tuesday. Police in Chicago, the nation's third largest city, report that 561 homicides were committed between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, 2018. That compares to 660 homicides in 2017 and more than 770 in 2016, which marked a 19-year high that put a national spotlight on Chicago's persistently high rates of gun violence. Chicago police credit the decreases in part to the addition of more than 1,000 new officers in recent years. Police also cite the creation of high-tech nerve centers in 20 out of 22 police districts, where officers rely on gunshot-detection technology and predictive analytics that help quickly get police to areas where violence is most likely to erupt. "Are we where we want to be? Of course not," Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson told the Chicago Tribune in a recent interview. But he added: "I do think we are taking steps in the right direction." Official numbers for 2018 are expected to be released in several weeks, according to the department. Johnson has previously said "a reasonable goal" would be to one day get the annual number of homicides to below 300. Although the decrease in 2018 is significant, the homicide total is a repeat of 2016 and 2017, when the number of killings in Chicago was higher than the combined total in the country's two other largest cities. As of about mid-December, New York reported 278 homicides and Los Angeles had 243. President Donald Trump has often singled out Chicago's high homicide rate, tweeting in 2017: "If Chicago doesn't fix the horrible 'carnage' ... I will send in the Feds!" Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has accused Trump of oversimplifying the problem and potential solutions. While homicide numbers dropped in many districts in Chicago in 2018, they went up in several neighborhoods on the city's South and West Sides. Those areas have been plagued for years by gun and gang-related violence, including Englewood and West Garfield Park. Victims of gun violence in 2018 included a 12-year-old She'nyah O'Flynn of Covert, Michigan, who was spending time with her father in Chicago over the summer. Police said she likely wasn't an intended victim when she was shot while getting out of a car in West Garfield Park. Police have said most killings in Chicago are tied to street gangs, with members vying for control of territory or simply retaliating for perceived slights by gang rivals, which these days are typically communicated through social media. The number of shootings fell 14 percent in 2018 compared to the same period last year, and the numbers are down by 32 percent since 2016, when there were more than 3,500. Through Dec. 18, 2018, there were 2,391 shootings in Chicago. More than 9,500 illegal guns were seized in 2018, the most in five years, a police statement on the data said. Closer cooperation between local and federal law enforcement has also led to an increase in federal gun prosecutions in recent years, according to police. Overall, crime citywide was down 10 percent in 2018 compared to the year before. Robberies and carjackings were both down 19 percent, and car thefts decreased 11 percent, the department figures show. The addition of more than 200 license-plate reader systems in squad cars, bringing the total number to 240, has also aided police in locating stolen vehicles, the department said. The release of the crime data comes as a judge continues to mull over whether to approve an over 200-page plan drafted by the city and the Illinois attorney general to reform Chicago police under federal court supervision. The police department and the mayor have been criticized following the 2014 slaying of black teenager Laquan McDonald by a white police officer . McDonald was shot 16 times by Officer Jason Van Dyke, who was convicted of second-degree murder in October. A video, which showed the teen holding a knife and walking away from officers, prompted an investigation of the police department by the Justice Department, which found widespread abuses. Other officers are accused of trying to coordinate false reports to protect Van Dyke. Emanuel and police brass began implementing reforms well before the reform plan, also known as a consent decree, was presented to U.S. District Judge Robert Dow for approval. The draft plan stems from a lawsuit filed by Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, one that was not opposed by Emanuel.

polusa

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TEL AVIV — As Belgium ushered in the New Year last night, an edict officially started effectively banning kosher slaughter in the country’s Flanders region, where about half of Belgium’s Jewish population lives. The ordinance covers a zone that is a major exporter of meat to other European Jewish communities. It was passed by the Flemish region’s parliament in 2017, purportedly out of concern expressed by animal rights activists who argue it is more humane to “stun” animals before slaughtering them. The edict bans the slaughter of all animals not first stunned, outlawing kosher slaughter which does not allow for prior stunning. While stunning may be more benevolent than general practices in non-religious slaughterhouses, kosher slaughter is among the most humane methods of slaughter and has some advantages for the animal over mass stunning, raising questions about the real intentions of the de facto Flanders region ban. Similar bans are under consideration in various European countries. Contrary to depictions by activists, kosher slaughter may be more humanitarian and merciful than the actual consequences of factory “stunning,” which is designed to quickly kill animals in large quantities. The factory stunning process is aimed at rendering the animal quickly unconscious utilizing such methods as adaptive-bolt stunning devices which administer harsh blows to the animal’s skull or shoot a bolt into the brain. Electrical stunning is commonly used on sheep, calves and pigs. It is described by Britain’s Royal Society for the Protection of Animals (RSPCA) thusly: “An electrical current is passed through the animal’s brain via a large pair of tongs, causing temporary loss of consciousness. Some systems also pass the current through the heart, so the animal is not just stunned but also killed.” For poultry, the following method of electrical stunning is utilized, the RSPCA explains: “Birds are hung upside down by their legs on metal shackles along a moving conveyor belt. They move along the production line to a stunning water bath; when the bird’s head makes contact with the water, an electrical circuit between the water bath and shackle is completed, which stuns the bird. The conveyor belt then moves the birds to a mechanical neck cutter, which cuts the major blood vessels in the neck.” In mass slaughter conditions, things do not always go as planned and some animals need to be stunned multiple times or the stunning is inadvertently skipped. In stunning, the animals witness the process on other animals while they are crammed in line under stressful conditions to be factory stunned. By contrast, kosher slaughter allows for only one animal at a time to be quickly killed by an expert, and no animal can witness the death of another animal. As far as the method, kosher slaughter, known as shechita, is designed for rapid and humane practice with the goal of limiting animal suffering. The Jewish website Aish.com explains: Ironically, given all the smears being made about the kosher method of killing animals for food, shechita is among the most humane. In shechita, only animals that are healthy and uninjured are used for food. A specially trained butcher called a shochet, who has trained extensively, makes a rapid incision with an instrument that is surgically sharp across an animal’s neck, severing all the major blood vessels and structures in one instantaneous moment. This causes the animal to become unconscious immediately and results in a quick, near-painless death. Some have argued that the ban and similar legislation being debated across Europe may be aimed at the influx of Muslim migrants, since halal also requires the animal to be slaughtered while alive although Islamic slaughter has fewer rules than its Jewish counterpart. While the Flanders region singled out slaughter, the country still allows for the hunting of animals in the wild. The ban touches a raw nerve for Europe’s Jews, already facing an uptick in anti-Semitic incidents across the region. Besides impacting Muslims, such bans have an immediate effect on observant Jews who can only eat kosher meat. Many European communities are supplied kosher meat by Jewish slaughterhouses in Antwerp, part of the region where kosher slaughter is now banned. Unlike the Flanders region, several other European countries that banned slaughter without prior stunning or sedation maintain exemptions for humane ritual slaughter. Brussels-based European Jewish Association spokesman Alex Benjamin explained that the new ordinance sends a negative signal to the local Jewish community. “Either unwittingly or wittingly, it has a negative effect,” he said. “It sends a signal to the Jewish population here … that we don’t really respect you or your practices.” Rabbi Menachem Margolin, chairman of the Europe Jewish Association, suggested the ban smears kosher slaughter as inhumane when it is known to be the opposite. “To have the government interfere in this way is damaging to the reputation of the Jewish people as a community. It implies that we as a group are irresponsible with the welfare of animals and need government supervision, which is, of course, a very negative view of us,” he stated. For some, the Flemish move is eerily reminiscent of a Nazi-era ban that utilized the same method of requiring stunning before slaughter. Haaretz previously recalled: On April 21, 1933, Nazi Germany enacted a law that had the effect of outlawing kosher slaughter in the country. The law did not actually mention Jews or shechita (kosher slaughter); instead, it prohibited the killing of animals for food if they hadn’t first been stunned or anesthetized. Because kosher slaughter requires that the animal be conscious at the time it is killed, it no longer conformed to the law. As Europe wrestles with newfound challenges, the continent must ensure the safety of all of its citizens and fight to maintain its democratic character, which should include the right of such religious practices as humane ritual slaughter. Aaron Klein is Breitbart’s Jerusalem bureau chief and senior investigative reporter. He is a New York Times bestselling author and hosts the popular weekend talk radio program, “Aaron Klein Investigative Radio.” Follow him on Twitter @AaronKleinShow. Follow him on Facebook.

polusa

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A 50-year-old German man has been arrested on suspicion of carrying out a xenophobic attack after driving his car into a group of people, including Syrian and Afghan citizens. Four people were wounded, one of whom remains in hospital. German police said the man rammed his car into pedestrians in a crowded plaza in the north-west town of Bottrop, just after midnight on New Year's Eve. He reportedly made racist comments when he was later stopped and arrested. Police said the driver had earlier tried to mow down one pedestrian, who managed to get out of the way. Later, he also targeted a group of people at a bus stop in the nearby city of Essen, they said. "Investigators suspect it was a deliberate attack that may be linked to the xenophobic views of the driver," a statement from local police and prosecutors said. "In addition, investigators have preliminary information about a mental illness of the driver."

polusa

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A whole new take on putting the paper to bed The time for Theresa May to urge parties to put their differences aside was when she emerged from a needless general election without a majority (Theresa May urges MPs to back Brexit deal, 1 January). Instead she chose to lob a large bung in the direction of the DUP and press on regardless. An appeal for unity then would have had an air of statesmanship, whereas now it just reeks of desperation. Professor Trevor Curnow Lancaster • I greatly enjoyed reading about the rediscovery of an enormous ice store to the south of London’s Regent’s Park (Site works reveal hidden 18th-century ice store, 29 December). However, if the writer believes that the history of the ice trade with Norway has been in any way “lost”, he should pay a visit to the London Canal Museum, just down the road in King’s Cross, where the history is fully articulated. While there, he can also view the two enormous ice wells that exist beneath the museum’s ground floor. John Robinson London • Was Henry Yates’s article (New Year Evil: How Jools Holland’s seasonal lies ruined the annual Hootenanny) really written on 31 December? Jem Whiteley Oxford • I’ve worked with many colleagues who also became good friends. None has yet become a bedfellow (Quick crossword, 29 December). What on earth goes on in the Guardian offices? Lesley Kant Norwich • Does Spain realise that Gibraltar is in Bucks (Letters, passim)? Alec Sandison Ottery St Mary, Devon • Join the debate – email guardian.letters@theguardian.com • Read more Guardian letters – click here to visit gu.com/letters • Do you have a photo you’d like to share with Guardian readers? Click here to upload it and we’ll publish the best submissions in the letters spread of our print edition

polusa

2019_1_test.csv

2019_1_test.csv0 53010215 1 59549287 2 59633617 3 52963105 4 18321756 ... 162989 4829910 162990 4889401 162991 4884295 162992 4760206 162993 4533244 Name: id, Length: 162994, dtype: int64

I really understood what Deborah Frances-White wanted to convey regarding the paradigm-shifting journey that many people – men and I might also add women – have to make to understand what the #MeToo “brigade” want to share and change about their experiences of the world and male privilege (On second thoughts … I was wrong to think all men got #MeToo, 31 December). I read it twice as it’s written in wonderfully plain English. What I would now like to do is plagiarise and change the words related to women and sexism, so instead we refer to racism/black and minority ethnic people. So, the points made would apply to the regular, even everyday, experience of racism, covert and overt, conscious and unconscious or outright discriminatory behaviour that is normalised in our society. Alas, there are no built-in penalties for racist attitudes or behaviour. It is normal. For many, what I write here has already “gone too far”! Diane Rutherford Birmingham • Join the debate – email guardian.letters@theguardian.com • Read more Guardian letters – click here to visit gu.com/letters • Do you have a photo you’d like to share with Guardian readers? Click here to upload it and we’ll publish the best submissions in the letters spread of our print edition

polusa

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Readers discuss who is to blame for the rise in homelessness in the UK and what should be done about it With great sadness I read the housing secretary James Brokenshire’s comments explaining away the responsibility of the government with individual causes to homelessness (Rise in homelessness not result of our policies, says housing secretary, 19 December). When homelessness is growing, it is a responsibility of the government and a failure of its policy. This has been validated in Finland, where homelessness has decreased due to strong governmental determination. Looking at your growing numbers of homelessness, the reasons seem obvious. It has taken too long to move from talk to action. First, the supply of affordable social housing has been insufficient. Second, the Housing First model is not yet implemented on a national scale and the overall solution to homelessness relies heavily on temporary accommodation. But most important, the more severe hindrance for the paradigm change is cultural: a very civilised way of not-working-together. The Finnish policy is based on the Housing First model: a homeless person is rented out a permanent flat unconditionally and provided support. This has proven to be a sustainable solution, even economically. But the most evident prevention of homelessness has been affordable social housing and housing benefits. Each year in Finland, 6,000-9,000 new, affordable, good quality social housing flats come to the market, and housing benefit also makes it possible for people with low incomes to rent a flat from the private market. After the Homelessness Reduction Act, hope for a real change has been in the air. Crisis has provided a detailed plan for ending homelessness: no need to copy anything from us. Ending homelessness is not a utopian ideology. One may need shelter from the storm but you need a home to lead a decent life. As George Orwell said: “Either we all live in a decent world, or nobody does.” Juha Kaakinen CEO, Y-Foundation, Finland • James Brokenshire’s refusal to acknowledge any connection between government policy and the rise in rough sleeping bears the hallmarks of a government in denial. Instead of seeking to attribute the crisis to the spread of psychoactive drugs and LGBT young people being thrown out of home, he should refer to the government’s own data, which shows that since 2014 the loss of a private tenancy has been the biggest cause of homelessness in England. According to research by Generation Rent, 94% of this rise can be blamed on no-fault evictions, which have more than doubled since 2009. The truth is that the precariousness of private sector tenancies, combined with a chronic shortage of social housing, punitive welfare reforms and successive years of cuts to homelessness prevention services, have created a perfect storm. Ever greater numbers of vulnerable people are being forced into temporary accommodation or worse, or are having to take their chances on the streets. This may be unpalatable for ministers, but without a grasp of the causes of the crisis, they are unlikely to be able to remedy it. Liz Rutherfoord Chief executive, Single Homeless Project • Most people who have mental health, drug and relationship problems are not homeless and dying on the streets. The rise in homelessness, including sleeping rough since 2010 and the increase in deaths since 2013, is a direct result of government policy in failing to provide local authorities and the third sector with the funding for accommodation and personal assistance (Deaths of homeless people up by a quarter in five years, 21 December). Also, as has been well documented, cuts in services since 2010 have resulted in far less preventative help for those in need and on the edge of homelessness. Perhaps most worrying of all is how the under-funding of key services, including failures in the rollout of universal credit, is creating a welfare system underpinned by punishment, regulation and deterrence, where it is becoming acceptable for some to ridicule, set fire and urinate on the street homeless. Prof Mike Stein University of York • Your article fails to acknowledge that the prime advocate of this approach was Boris Johnson when he was mayor of London (Councils pay for rough sleepers to leave town, 29 December). His “flagship” approach to clearing the streets of the capital of street sleepers included returning them to their home towns or offering support to address reasons for homelessness. The scheme, entitled “No Second Night out” also included the sanction of no further help if these offers were not taken up. Despite no tangible evidence of the scheme’s success, the government ordered all local councils to adopt the same approach. Clearly this muddle-headed approach hasn’t worked as we are now seeing unprecedented levels of homelessness and will continue to do so unless councils are enabled to provide the safe and affordable homes that are badly needed. Mrs Chris Cawthorne Worcester • Join the debate – email guardian.letters@theguardian.com • Read more Guardian letters – click here to visit gu.com/letters • Do you have a photo you’d like to share with Guardian readers? Click here to upload it and we’ll publish the best submissions in the letters spread of our print edition

polusa

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U.S. authorities fired tear gas into Mexico during the first hours of the new year to repel about 150 migrants who were trying to breach the border fence in Tijuana. An Associated Press photographer witnessed at least three volleys of gas launched onto the Mexican side of the border near Tijuana's beach early Tuesday. It affected the migrants, including women and children, as well as members of the press. Migrants who spoke with AP said they arrived last month with the caravan from Honduras. U.S. Customs and Border Protection says in a statement that the gas was aimed at rock throwers on the Mexican side who prevented agents from helping children who were being passed over the concertina wire. The agency says 25 migrants were detained.

polusa

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REYNOSA, Tamaulipas – Gulf Cartel gunmen and Mexican military forces clashed throughout the streets on the last day of 2018. For several months, this border city has served as the scene of a fierce turf war between rival cartel factions. The fighting took place on Monday in the eastern side of the city, not far from the Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge. Law enforcement sources revealed to Breitbart News that Gulf Cartel gunmen attacked Mexican soldiers and Tamaulipas state police, setting off a fierce shootout that lasted for almost an hour. A citizen journalist driving near the international bridge recorded the battle in a series of videos shared on social media. The fighting spread out from the areas near the international port of entry to various rural communities and dirt roads, where the gunmen tried to escape. During the clash, cartel gunmen took to one of the main avenues in the city to deploy hundreds or makeshift road spikes. Known as “ponchallantas,” the bail-based devices are meant to cause traffic jams and slow pursuing military forces. A second video taken from inside the federal offices at the international bridge revealed the staccato sound of machine gunfire as cartel and military forces clashed. Authorities did not reveal how many were hurt or killed.

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Breaking News Emails Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings. By Associated Press ATLANTA — Georgia's outdated election system has drawn criticism from cybersecurity experts and voting integrity advocates, and now a commission tasked with examining potential replacements is preparing to make recommendations to lawmakers. The paperless system was closely scrutinized during last year's nationally watched gubernatorial race between Democrat Stacey Abrams and Republican Brian Kemp, who was Georgia's secretary of state and chief elections official. Abrams and her allies accused Kemp of suppressing minority votes and mismanaging the election, including by neglecting elections infrastructure. Kemp, now governor-elect, has vehemently denied those allegations. Cybersecurity experts have warned that the touchscreen voting machines Georgia has used since 2002 are unreliable and vulnerable to hacking, and provide no way to do an audit or confirm that votes have been recorded correctly because there's no paper trail. The state's voting system has been challenged in lawsuits, including one filed after the November election by Fair Fight Action, a nonprofit backed by Abrams. In addition to the outdated machines, critics also raised concerns after security lapses exposed the personal information of Georgia voters. U.S. District Judge Amy Totenberg wrote in September that Georgia election officials had stalled too long in the face of "a mounting tide of evidence of the inadequacy and security risks" of the state's voting system. She declined to order the state to use paper ballots in the midterm elections, saying there was not enough time before voting began. But she warned that "these same arguments would hold much less sway in the future." Kemp has insisted that the current system is secure and reliable. But after legislative efforts to replace it failed earlier this year, he established the Secure, Accessible and Fair Elections, or SAFE, Commission in April to study potential replacements. Made up of lawmakers, political party representatives, voters and election officials, the commission is expected to make recommendations before the legislative session begins Jan. 14. A vendor demonstration of election technology is scheduled for Thursday. Ryan Germany, general counsel for the secretary of state's office, told the commission at a meeting last month in Macon that Georgia must act quickly. "The 2020 election cycle is an aggressive goal, but I think it's the correct goal," he said, adding that the state would almost certainly face additional litigation if a new system isn't in place by then. The commissioners seemed to agree Georgia's system should produce a paper record and that election officials should conduct post-election audits. Voters wait to cast ballots at the Pittman Park Recreation Center in Atlanta, Georgia, on Nov. 6, 2018. Melina Mara / The Washington Post via Getty Images file Some commission members said they support paper ballots that voters mark by hand, filling in bubbles with a pen or pencil. But others prefer touchscreen ballot-marking machines that print a paper record. Republican State Rep. Barry Fleming, who co-chairs the commission, said costs vary widely. Initial expenditures would be roughly $50 million for a hand-marked paper ballot system and about $150 million for a ballot-marking machine system, he said at last month's meeting. Georgia Tech computer science professor Wenke Lee, the only computer and cybersecurity expert on the commission, told his fellow commissioners that technology evolves quickly and investing in an expensive, tech-heavy system could leave Georgia with an outdated system again within just a few years. He recommended hand-marked paper ballots read by optical scanner. "From a cybersecurity point of view, that's the best available solution," he said at the meeting. "Now, if you say we don't want that, you need to justify why." Supporters of ballot-marking machines argue that they reduce voter error and provide better accessibility for voters with disabilities. They say the touchscreen machines are similar to those in use now, so voters already know how to use them. Critics say such machines are no more secure than the current system and don't actually allow voters to verify their votes. The machines print out barcodes that correspond to the voter's selections, as well as a separate list that's readable by a voter. But votes are counted by machines that scan the barcodes, so there's no way for voters to know whether what's scanned actually reflects their votes, said Marilyn Marks, executive director of the Coalition for Good Governance, which has sued the state over the current system. Additionally, she said, voters may not notice if a race is missing or may not remember how they voted on, say, "Statewide Referendum B." Wenke said voters might not bother to review a printout. If what the machine recorded is incorrect and the voter doesn't catch it, the ability to audit is meaningless, he said. Commission member Darin McCoy, the probate judge and election superintendent in Evans County, dismissed that concern. "If we provide the voter with a paper ballot of what they've done and they don't take the time to look at that and verify, there's nothing we can do," he said. "That's the voter's responsibility." After the commission makes its recommendations, lawmakers would have to pass legislation to change the state's election laws. Funding would have to be secured and the system purchased in time to educate election workers and voters. Whatever they decide, the timeline is tight. Commission members seemed to agree they'd like to have a trial run during the November 2019 municipal elections and implement a new system statewide for the 2020 election cycle.

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Call it, as President Trump does, a “wall.” Lately, he’s been saying, “steel slats.” Or call it, as Democrats did in 2006, a “fence.” Back then, before the Democratic Party got hijacked by this crazy left-wing fringe, Democrats joined President George W. Bush and Republicans in Congress to erect a physical barrier to halt illegal aliens from streaming across the border illegally. President Barack Obama voted for it. As did his vice president, Joseph R. Biden. Even America’s perennial “next president,” Hillary Rodham Clinton, voted for the “Secure Fence Act of 2006.” As did Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer and Sen. Dianne Feinstein, Democrat of the kooky state of California. Even honorary Democrat, Sen. John McCain of Arizona, voted for the “Secure Fence Act of 2006.” Now, they tell us, it is immoral to construct a physical barrier along the border. It kills children, they claim, who have been dragged through the dangerous desert by irresponsible adults to cross the border illegally. Sen. Tim Kaine, who will forever go down in political history as America’s “next vice president,” took the occasion of Christmastime to use the border crisis to politicize the Christian holiday while at the same time dragging religion into politics. Mr. Kaine announced that no less than Joseph and Mary — and even Jesus, Himself — are stranded at the border today. “Today we think about the enduring message of a young couple turned away because there was no room, only to give birth to a child in a humble stable,” Mr. Kaine preached over Twitter on Christmas Day. “The world is filled with millions seeking refuge, and we are all like innkeepers — let us choose wisely in how we treat them.” Perhaps all the “refugees” at the border can go live with Mr. Kaine and his family and he can take care of them all. And since he failed so spectacularly at the whole “next vice president” thing, maybe he can go into preaching full time and make enough money to support all the millions of “refugees” living in his basement. There is another Christmas story about the border this year. His name is Cpl. Ronil Singh, a California police officer who immigrated legally from Fiji and was living the American Dream and serving his community. The day after Christmas this year, Cpl. Singh was shot and killed, allegedly, by an illegal alien, who was part of a violent street gang. Cpl. Singh left behind a grieving wife and a 5-month-old son. This is what happens in society when a nation of laws devolves into lawlessness. Social “justice” trumps “equal justice under law” and becomes a mockery. This is the party that Democrats have turned into. They stand with “sanctuary cities” and abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement over laws and equal justice. It is true that they are playing word games today. But their silly sophomoric semantics are not over words like “wall” or “fence” or “slats” or “barrier.” There is only one word that they are having fits over today. That word is “Trump.” Democrats would rather shut down the federal government, sacrifice justice and slay the law in the name of “sanctuary” for illegal aliens. It has become their latest religion. Anything to keep from standing beside President Trump on the side of equal justice under law. • Contact Charles Hurt at churt@washingtontimes.com or on Twitter @charleshurt.

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Breaking News Emails Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings. / Updated By Elisha Fieldstadt and Associated Press The brother of a U.S. citizen arrested in Russia on espionage charges said Tuesday that he's innocent and was in Moscow to attend a wedding. Paul Whelan, a retired Marine, was arrested in Moscow on Friday. The Russian Federal Security Service, in announcing the arrest three days later, said Whelan was caught "during an espionage operation," but gave no details. "We are deeply concerned for his safety and well-being," his brother, David Whelan, said in a statement posted on Twitter. "His innocence is undoubted and we trust that his rights will be respected." The Russian spying charges carry a prison sentence of up to 20 years. Paul Whelan at the Kremlin in Moscow in 2006. United States Marine Corps. David Whelan said on MSNBC that his brother was part of a wedding party, and the friend who was getting married had asked him to lead tours around the Kremlin because he had been to Russia before. "He loves to travel so I wasn't at all surprised that he would be confident going to Russia. He has a law enforcement background, he's got his marine background, he does corporate security and he's aware of the risks of traveling in certain parts of the world," Whelan said. The company Whelan works for, BorgWarner, an automotive parts supplier, said in a statement that Whelan serves as the company's director of global security and oversees a facility in Auburn Hills, Michigan, as well as other locations "around the world." A company spokeswoman said Whelan has worked for the company since 2017 and is responsible for securing facilities and assets. She added that BorgWarner does not have a facility in Russia. Before that, Whelan worked for Kelly Services, a staffing company, according to a spokeswoman. Kelly Services is based in Michigan, but works with companies all over the world and does have a presence in Russia. A Marine Corps article from 2007 said Whelan used the Rest and Recuperation Leave Program "experiencing the post-soviet era of Moscow and St. Petersburg, Russia." The program gave service members a 15-day break, and paid for them to travel anywhere in the world. At the time, Whelan was a staff sergeant serving with the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing in Iraq. The article noted that most deployed service members took the opportunity to go home for free, but Whelan is quoted in the article noting that "it gives those of us who are single an opportunity to travel throughout the world wherever we want to go and experience the diversity of culture." Whelan, 48, had been in Russia for a day or two before Friday when he stopped contacting his family back in the U.S., and then they learned that he had missed the wedding. The family learned of Whelan's detention from online news reports on Monday, his brother said. "It just never would have occurred to me that A) he would have any sort of trouble in a large metropolitan area or B) that his background would suggest that he would willing to commit any crime, let alone an espionage crime," said David Whelan. He added that the embassy in Moscow was helping his family figure out what happened, but because of a 72-hour window that has to pass before they gain access to Paul Whelan, "no one, as far as I know, has seen or spoken to him yet." The State Department said Monday it had received formal notification from the Russian Foreign Ministry of the arrest and was pushing for consular access. The department did not identify Whelan at the time or provide any information about the case, citing "privacy considerations." Whelan said Tuesday his family was "doing the best we can in light of very little information and a rather implausible situation." He said they have faith that his brother will come home safe. "I think Paul has a superior set of skills to most of us," Whelan said. "And so hopefully he won't have to [deploy] too many those skills in order to survive and to come home." The arrest comes as U.S.-Russian ties are severely strained, in part over Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election as well as the conflict in eastern Ukraine and Moscow's annexation of the Crimean Peninsula in 2014. The U.S. and other Western countries have imposed sanctions against Russian officials, companies and banks. A Russian gun-rights activist, Maria Butina, is in U.S. custody after admitting she acted as a secret agent for the Kremlin in trying to infiltrate conservative U.S. political groups as Donald Trump was seeking the presidency. She pleaded guilty in December to a conspiracy charge as part of a deal with federal prosecutors. Russian President Vladimir Putin has claimed the case is fabricated and that Butina entered the guilty plea because of the threat of a long prison sentence.

polusa

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2019_1_test.csv0 53010215 1 59549287 2 59633617 3 52963105 4 18321756 ... 162989 4829910 162990 4889401 162991 4884295 162992 4760206 162993 4533244 Name: id, Length: 162994, dtype: int64

Breaking News Emails Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings. / Updated By Associated Press WASHINGTON — The brother of a U.S. citizen arrested in Russia on espionage charges said Tuesday that he's innocent and was in Moscow to attend a wedding. Paul Whelan was arrested in Moscow on Friday. The Russian Federal Security Service, in announcing the arrest three days later, said Whelan was caught "during an espionage operation," but gave no details. "We are deeply concerned for his safety and well-being," his brother, David Whelan, said in a statement posted on Twitter. "His innocence is undoubted and we trust that his rights will be respected." Paul Whelan, a U.S. citizen, was detained in Russia. Courtesy of Paul Whelan The Russian spying charges carry a prison sentence of up to 20 years. He said the family last heard from Paul Whelan, a retired Marine, on Friday, "which was very much out of character for him, even when he was traveling." The State Department said Monday it had received formal notification from the Russian Foreign Ministry of the arrest and was pushing for consular access. The department did not identify Whelan at the time or provide any information about the case, citing "privacy considerations." The arrest comes as U.S.-Russian ties are severely strained, in part over Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. A Russian gun-rights activist, Maria Butina, is in U.S. custody after admitting she acted as a secret agent for the Kremlin in trying to infiltrate conservative U.S. political groups as Donald Trump was seeking the presidency. She pleaded guilty in December to a conspiracy charge as part of a deal with federal prosecutors. Russian President Vladimir Putin has claimed the case is fabricated and that Butina entered the guilty plea because of the threat of a long prison sentence.

polusa

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President Trump has invited congressional leaders to a briefing Wednesday on "border security" at the White House, congressional sources confirm. The meeting will be the first sit-down between Trump and Democratic leaders Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer in 22 days since their contentious sit down in the Oval Office last month. The meeting will include the top two leaders in each party and each chamber. The White House has not provided any information on the meeting or the administration officials who will be present. After 11 days of no progress, the president signaled on Twitter that he's ready to make a deal. "Border Security and the Wall 'thing' and Shutdown is not where Nancy Pelosi wanted to start her tenure as Speaker! Let's make a deal?" he tweeted. The president has continued to blame Democrats for the shutdown, labeling it the "Schumer Shutdown." However at that Oval Office meeting in December the president told Schumer he would take the blame. "I will be the one to shut it down. I'm not going to blame you for it. The last time you shut it down, it didn't work. I will take the mantle of shutting it down." House Democrats have prepared two bills aimed at ending the partial government shutdown but neither includes any new money for President Trump's border wall. The bills were made public Monday afternoon and House Democrats hope to vote on them by Thursday. The measures include a mix of short-term and long-term funding plans to re-open the government agencies that have been closed for 10 days, after a dispute over funding the construction of a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border. The first bill includes year-long funding plans for every government agency currently closed, with the exception of the Department of Homeland Security. The second bill would reopen and fund the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) only on a short-term basis. The so-called “Continuing Resolution” funding bill would keep the lights on at DHS only until Feb. 8, 2019, and continue current funding of $1.3 billion for border security. The president signaled he'd reject their proposal, saying in a tweet Monday: "The Democrats will probably submit a Bill, being cute as always, which gives everything away but gives NOTHING to Border Security, namely the Wall." "Please explain to the Democrats that there can NEVER be a replacement for a good old fashioned WALL!" he tweeted.

polusa

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SAN JOSE, Calif. — Silicon Valley ended 2018 somewhere it had never been: embattled. Lawmakers across the political spectrum say Big Tech, for so long the exalted embodiment of American genius, has too much power. Once seen as a force for making our lives better and our brains smarter, tech is now accused of inflaming, radicalizing, dumbing down and squeezing the masses. Tech company stocks have been pummeled from their highs. Regulation looms. Even tech executives are calling for it. In the face of such a sustained assault, this might be a good moment for Big Tech to lie low. It could devote some of its mountains of cash — Apple alone has $237 billion in the bank — to genuine good works, and allay widespread fears it wants to control your data and your destiny. That is not the path the companies are taking. “The tech companies are not flinching,” said Bob Staedler, a Silicon Valley consultant. “Nothing has hit them on the nose hard enough to tell them to cut back. Instead, they are expanding. They’re going around the country acquiring the best human capital so they can create the next whiz-bang thing.” There is so much of life that remains undisrupted. The companies are competing to own the cloud — to become, in essence, the internet’s landlord. They have designs on cities: Google made a deal in 2017 to reimagine a chunk of waterfront Toronto from the ground up. Amazon is reworking the definition of community from the inside, as warehouses in rural areas provide the urban middle class with everything they want to stay home all weekend.

polusa

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2019_1_test.csv0 53010215 1 59549287 2 59633617 3 52963105 4 18321756 ... 162989 4829910 162990 4889401 162991 4884295 162992 4760206 162993 4533244 Name: id, Length: 162994, dtype: int64

(Recasts with infrastructure spending, operating surplus, analysis) * Infrastructure spending falls from last year’s ultra-high level * Projected revenue growth slows to 1.2 percent * Investment incentives hit revenues by capping fees * Budget deficit projected to shrink slightly * Government says it is running operating surplus By Andrew Torchia DUBAI, Jan 1 (Reuters) - Dubai expects to almost halt the growth of state spending this year as revenues expand more slowly because of the emirate’s efforts to stimulate business investment, according to the 2019 state budget released on Tuesday. State spending will total 56.8 billion dirhams ($15.5 billion), the plan showed. That would be only a marginal increase from last year’s original budget plan of 56.6 billion dirhams, which was a 19.5 percent rise from 2017. Last year, budgeted infrastructure spending shot up by close to 50 percent, to 11.9 billion dirhams, as Dubai made preparations to host the Expo 2020 world’s fair. These preparations will continue but some Expo projects have now been completed, and the 2019 budget projects a fall in infrastructure spending to 9.2 billion dirhams. Meanwhile, state revenues are projected to reach 51 billion dirhams this year, up just 1.2 percent from last year’s budget plan, which included a 12 percent jump in revenues. To attract foreign investment and keep Dubai competitive against rival economies in the region, the government decided last year to reduce some of the fees it charges, freeze fee increases for three years, and refrain from imposing any new fee without providing a new service. Since non-tax revenues account for 64 percent of total revenue in the budget, the investment incentives have had a significant impact on the government’s ability to finance higher spending. The 2019 budget projects a deficit of 5.8 billion dirhams, down slightly from the projected 2018 deficit of 6.2 billion dirhams. Abdulrahman Saleh al-Saleh, director-general of Dubai’s Department of Finance, said in a statement that the government was running an operating surplus, excluding investment spending and non-recurring revenue, of 850 million dirhams. (Additional reporting by Tuqa Khalid Editing by Robin Pomeroy)

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New Year’s Day brought thousands of demonstrators to the streets of Hong Kong to denounce China’s oppressive policies and to demand respect for human rights and the rule of law. “Looking back at the year that passed, it was a very bad year,” said protest organizer Jimmy Sham. “The rule of law in Hong Kong is falling backward.” Estimates for the size of the demonstration ranged from 3,200 to 5,500 people. Even the higher estimate would be only half the size of last year’s annual demonstration. Reuters noted that number included about a hundred independence activists who called for Hong Kong to declare independence from China, which regards such talk as sedition and demands increasingly harsh punishment for “separatists.” Some of them waved Tibetan and Taiwanese flags to show their solidarity for other targets of Chinese repression. “There will be continuous suppression on the Hong Kong independence movement, but the movement will grow stronger and stronger,” independence activist Baggio Leung predicted. Baggio Leung was one of the young independence-minded legislators who was banned from his elected office in 2016 for inserting gestures of defiance toward China in their oath of office. Democracy activists saw China’s intervention to keep Leung out of his seat as a fatal blow to Hong Kong’s judicial independence. Leung, now a spokesman for a Hong Kong independence group, warned in October that China is taking the island “backward a hundred years” to the xenophobia of the Boxer Rebellion through actions such as evicting Financial Times editor Victor Mallet. “Beijing will never distribute power. It will not let you enjoy a real democratic system. Without sovereignty, everything is just empty talk, including a democratic system,” Leung said. On Tuesday, Leung and some other independence activists reported acts of harassment, including the theft of demonstration supplies from a storage room and a menacing group of masked men stalking student leaders. The activists blamed legal and extralegal harassment for the lower turnout of this year’s demonstration, along with a sense of fatalism about Chinese dominance overcoming Hong Kongers. Demonstrators on Tuesday lamented Mallet’s expulsion, the banning of the pro-independence Hong Kong National Party, draconian new national security legislation, and recent scuttling of a corruption investigation into a prominent pro-China politician as signs of growing political repression on the island. They were also apprehensive about possible jail sentences for leaders from the huge protests in 2014. “We have experienced a lot in 2018 – society, politics and people’s livelihood have all regressed. I can’t see hope in 2019,” said protester Kwan Chun-pong. “I’m afraid the pressure will continue. We’re going to face a few difficult years, but we must stand firm,” predicted retired professor and human rights activist Joseph Cheng, who noted that at least Hongkongers are still allowed to protest, unlike the people of mainland China. Those protest rights were sorely tested by an edict from Hong Kong officials that pro-independence banners could not be displayed outside government offices, a demand that organizers from the Civil Human Rights Front described as “unprecedented” and refused to obey. Organizer Jimmy Sham said the Civil Human Rights Front does not support independence but respects the right of individuals to advocate the position. He denounced the ban on independence banners as a human rights violation with little justification under Hong Kong law. “I cannot see why our freedoms are limited once we step in the gateway of the forecourt. Are the streets we march along not under the reign of the government?” he asked. According to the South China Morning Post, the small contingent of independence activists broke away from the main protest march before it reached the government buildings where independence banners were banned. A few stalwarts did make a point of pushing past security guards and marching through the government square with a placard reading, “Only with two countries will there be two systems.” The SCMP reported small groups of pro-Beijing marchers also took to the streets and “were involved in minor confrontations with their rivals in the larger rally.”

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Peruvian President Martin Vizcarra says he's deciding how he will respond to the attorney general's move to dismantle a team investigating the sweeping Odebrecht corruption case. Vizcarra cut short a trip to Brazil on Tuesday, returning home to address the case that set off street protests on New Year's Eve. With hours left in the old year, Attorney General Pedro Chavarry removed two prosecutors leading the probe into high-ranking officials suspected of taking bribes from Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht. Four of Peru's past presidents are suspected of having links to Odebrecht, including one who is jailed. Chavarry said nullifying the team was necessary. The president says he will not let down Peruvians who want to purge corruption from the political system.

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Image caption Former council leader Heather Smith said she was resigning as a councillor after "horrendous events" in 2018 A former leader of what was dubbed the country's "worst-run council" has resigned as a councillor. Heather Smith quit as Northamptonshire County Council leader in March after a report recommended it be scrapped after it ran out of money. In a resignation letter for Oundle, Ms Smith said it was time to put "horrendous events of 2018" behind her and to "move on". It means a by-election for an authority which is due to be axed in 2020. Image caption County Hall in Northampton town centre is a listed building, and the council has considered selling it Last year the authority banned itself from spending any further funds. In an email sent to the council's monitoring officer, Susan Zeiss, on the evening of 31 December, Ms Smith said: "I do not believe my presence will serve any useful purpose anymore to the council." She also claimed to have suffered "shameful bullying" by Northamptonshire's MPs, who called for government commissioners to be brought in to oversee the authority when she was leader. Those commissioners remain in place, and the government has since also begun overseeing children's services at the council, after a report found people in its care were at "potential risk". Northamptonshire County Council was forced to ban all new spending in February, and then again in July, because of "severe financial challenges" and Kettering MP Philip Hollobone said it had become "the worst run in the country". Image copyright PA, UK Parliament and BBC Image caption All seven of Northamptonshire's MPs had previously called for commissioners to be brought into the County Council The authority plans to cut spending on agency staff and highways services, while boosting tax receipts, to tackle a £65m funding shortfall. Theresa Grant, who became chief executive at the end of July, said the authority had suffered from "poor leadership historically" and warned there may be further service cuts to "balance the books". The Conservative-led authority - and the county's seven other councils - are expected to be replaced with two, new, unitary ones in 2020.

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US supreme court chief justice John Roberts is using his annual report on the federal judiciary to highlight the steps the branch has taken to combat inappropriate conduct in the workplace. In December 2017, Roberts asked that a working group be put together to examine the judiciary’s workplace conduct policies. His request followed news reports about prominent federal appeals court judge Alex Kozinski, who retired following multiple accusations by women, including former law clerks, that he had touched them inappropriately, made lewd comments and showed them pornography. The working group of judges and judiciary officials that Roberts asked be convened issued a report in June, finding that inappropriate conduct is not widespread among the judiciary branch’s 30,000 employees but also is “not limited to a few isolated instances”. The group offered a range of recommendations for further action. Roberts, in his New Year’s Eve report issued just before midnight, endorsed those recommendations, which focus on revising the codes of conduct the judiciary has for judges and employees, streamlining the process for identifying and correcting misconduct, and expanding training programs aimed at preventing inappropriate behavior. Roberts did not say anything in the report about the sexual assault allegations that nearly derailed the confirmation of the court’s newest justice, Brett Kavanaugh, and enraged many. In testimony before senators in September, psychology professor Dr Christine Blasey Ford alleged that a drunken Kavanaugh violently restrained her and attempted to rape her at a party when they were teenagers. Kavanaugh denied the allegations. Also, last year, before he became a supreme court nominee, Kavanaugh hired the son of Kozinski, a close friend, to serve as his clerk, even though the clerk, Clayton Kozinski, had not earned a spot on the Yale Law Journal, as almost all of Kavanaugh’s previous Yale clerks had. The decision to hire Clayton Kozinski smacked of the kind of cronyism that is rife in federal courts. It was especially common for Kavanaugh, who not only had a reputation for hiring “model-like” female clerks, but also the children of powerful friends and allies. Roberts, meanwhile, noted that the working group did not give the judiciary branch “a completely clean bill of health” and that it concluded that when misconduct happens it is “more likely to take the form of incivility or disrespect than overt sexual harassment” and “frequently goes unreported”. Roberts noted that since the working group’s report was issued, changes to the judiciary’s code of conduct and disciplinary procedures have been proposed, including enlarging the definition of workplace misconduct. Other changes include lengthening the time that employees have to report misconduct. The administrative office of the United States courts, which oversees the day-to-day operation of the federal courts, has also created an office of judicial integrity to monitor workplace conduct issues. Individual federal courts have also been studying their workplaces and adopting changes, and Roberts said the supreme court would also add to its existing policies and training programs. The working group Roberts instituted will remain in place for the next year to monitor progress. “The job is not finished until we have done all that we can to ensure that all of our employees are treated with fairness, dignity and respect,” Roberts wrote.

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Preliminary numbers indicate that homicides in Chicago fell by about 100 last year compared to 2017, though the total again eclipses the number of homicides in Los Angeles and New York combined, according to data released Tuesday. Police in Chicago, the nation's third largest city, report that 561 homicides were committed between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, 2018. That compares to 660 homicides in 2017 and more than 770 in 2016, which marked a 19-year high that put a national spotlight on Chicago's persistently high rates of gun violence. Chicago police credit the decreases in part to the addition of more than 1,000 new officers in recent years. Police also cite the creation of high-tech nerve centers in 20 out of 22 police districts, where officers rely on gunshot-detection technology and predictive analytics that help quickly get police to areas where violence is most likely to erupt. "Are we where we want to be? Of course not," Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson told the Chicago Tribune in a recent interview. But he added: "I do think we are taking steps in the right direction." Official numbers for 2018 are expected to be released in several weeks, according to the department. Johnson has previously said "a reasonable goal" would be to one day get the annual number of homicides to below 300. Although the decrease in 2018 is significant, the homicide total is a repeat of 2016 and 2017, when the number of killings in Chicago was higher than the combined total in the country's two other largest cities. As of about mid-December, New York reported 278 homicides and Los Angeles had 243. President Donald Trump has often singled out Chicago's high homicide rate, tweeting in 2017: "If Chicago doesn't fix the horrible 'carnage' ... I will send in the Feds!" Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has accused Trump of oversimplifying the problem and potential solutions. While homicide numbers dropped in many districts in Chicago in 2018, they went up in several neighborhoods on the city's South and West Sides. Those areas have been plagued for years by gun and gang-related violence, including Englewood and West Garfield Park. Victims of gun violence in 2018 included a 12-year-old She'nyah O'Flynn of Covert, Michigan, who was spending time with her father in Chicago over the summer. Police said she likely wasn't an intended victim when she was shot while getting out of a car in West Garfield Park. Police have said most killings in Chicago are tied to street gangs, with members vying for control of territory or simply retaliating for perceived slights by gang rivals, which these days are typically communicated through social media. The number of shootings fell 14 percent in 2018 compared to the same period last year, and the numbers are down by 32 percent since 2016, when there were more than 3,500. Through Dec. 31, 2018, there were 2,391 shootings in Chicago. More than 9,500 illegal guns were seized in 2018, the most in five years, a police statement on the data said. Closer cooperation between local and federal law enforcement has also led to an increase in federal gun prosecutions in recent years, according to police. Overall, crime citywide was down 10 percent in 2018 compared to the year before. Robberies and carjackings were both down 19 percent, and car thefts decreased 11 percent, the department figures show. The addition of more than 200 license-plate reader systems in squad cars, bringing the total number to 240, has also aided police in locating stolen vehicles, the department said. The release of the crime data comes as a judge continues to mull over whether to approve an over 200-page plan drafted by the city and the Illinois attorney general to reform Chicago police under federal court supervision. The Police Department and the mayor have been criticized following the 2014 slaying of black teenager Laquan McDonald by a white police officer . McDonald was shot 16 times by Officer Jason Van Dyke, who was convicted of second-degree murder in October. A video, which showed the teen holding a knife and walking away from officers, prompted an investigation of the police department by the Justice Department, which found widespread abuses. Other officers are accused of trying to coordinate false reports to protect Van Dyke. Emanuel and police brass began implementing reforms well before the reform plan, also known as a consent decree, was presented to U.S. District Judge Robert Dow for approval. The draft plan stems from a lawsuit filed by Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, one that was not opposed by Emanuel. ___ This story has been corrected to show that there were 2,391 shootings in Chicago through Dec. 31, 2018, not through Dec. 18, 2018.

polusa

2019_1_test.csv

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Washington -- The brother of a U.S. citizen arrested in Russia on espionage charges said Tuesday that he's innocent and was in Moscow to attend a wedding. Paul Whelan was arrested in Moscow on Friday. The Russian Federal Security Service, in announcing the arrest three days later, said Whelan was caught "during an espionage operation," but gave no details. "We are deeply concerned for his safety and well-being," his brother, David Whelan, said in a statement posted on Twitter. "His innocence is undoubted and we trust that his rights will be respected." My brother was detained by the Russian government on Friday as an alleged spy. While the law library + info focus will remain, you may see an increase in off-message topics until we get him safely home. pic.twitter.com/2HIF1UmS1b — David Whelan (@davidpwhelan) January 1, 2019 The Russian spying charges carry a prison sentence of up to 20 years. He said the family last heard from Paul Whelan, a retired Marine, on Friday, "which was very much out of character for him, even when he was traveling." The State Department said Monday it had received formal notification from the Russian Foreign Ministry of the arrest and was pushing for consular access. The department did not identify Whelan at the time or provide any information about the case, citing "privacy considerations." The arrest comes as U.S.-Russian ties are severely strained, in part over Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. Suspected Russian spy Maria Butina admits to conspiracy A Russian gun-rights activist, Maria Butina, is in U.S. custody after admitting she acted as a secret agent for the Kremlin in trying to infiltrate conservative U.S. political groups as Donald Trump was seeking the presidency. She pleaded guilty in December to a conspiracy charge as part of a deal with federal prosecutors. Russian President Vladimir Putin has claimed the case is fabricated and that Butina entered the guilty plea because of the threat of a long prison sentence.

polusa

2019_1_test.csv

2019_1_test.csv0 53010215 1 59549287 2 59633617 3 52963105 4 18321756 ... 162989 4829910 162990 4889401 162991 4884295 162992 4760206 162993 4533244 Name: id, Length: 162994, dtype: int64

Breaking News Emails Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings. By Associated Press SALT LAKE CITY — A woman who helped kidnap Elizabeth Smart is living several blocks from a Salt Lake City elementary school following her release from prison in September, according to Utah's sex-offender registry. Wanda Barzee, 73, is listed in the registry as living in an apartment near the school after her initial placement in a halfway house. She was released on parole much earlier than anticipated, despite her refusal to cooperate with mental health professionals while incarcerated. Federal probation officers did not return a telephone message Monday seeking comment about the living arrangement for Barzee near Parkview Elementary School. Elizabeth Smart walks to a press conference at the Utah State Capitol in Salt Lake City on Sept. 13, 2018. Jeffrey D. Allred / The Deseret News via AP She was sentenced to 15 years in prison in 2010 after pleading guilty to helping her husband, street preacher Brian David Mitchell, who abducted Smart at knifepoint in 2002 when she was 14 and repeatedly raped her. Smart was held captive for nine months before she was found and rescued. Smart, now 31, has become a child safety advocate and is married with three young children. She said in a statement that people with a history of child abuse and sexual violence such as Barzee shouldn't be allowed to live close to schools. "Every possible caution and protection should be taken when it comes to protecting our children. Whether a person is deemed a current threat or if they have a history of child abuse, neglect, sexual violence, etc., prudent measures should be taken, including housing them as far away as possible from schools, families and community centers," Smart said. Smart previously criticized Barzee's release, which came more than five years earlier than expected after the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole determined it had miscalculated the time Barzee was required to serve in prison. Smart called it "incomprehensible" that someone who had not cooperated with her mental health evaluations or risk assessments could be let out, but also said she wouldn't let Barzee's release stop her from living her life. Barzee is serving five years of federal supervised release. The release guidelines don't seem to set limits on how close she can live to a school. Sex offenders in Utah are prohibited from going on school grounds, according to state rules. The school, which has students from kindergarten through fifth grade, is closed for winter break. Yandary Chatwin, a spokeswoman for the Salt Lake City School District, had no immediate comment.

polusa

2019_1_test.csv

2019_1_test.csv0 53010215 1 59549287 2 59633617 3 52963105 4 18321756 ... 162989 4829910 162990 4889401 162991 4884295 162992 4760206 162993 4533244 Name: id, Length: 162994, dtype: int64

MAZAR-I-SHARIF, Afghanistan — At least 27 members of security forces in northern Afghanistan were killed by the Taliban in a series of coordinated attacks on Tuesday, officials said, and dozens of others were wounded. The deadliest violence took place in Sar-i-Pul Province, where the Taliban attacked Afghan security forces in three areas, killing a total of 21 people, officials said. The officials did not provide a breakdown of casualties. Zabihullah Amani, the spokesman for the governor of Sar-i-Pul, said the Taliban had simultaneously attacked the center of Sayad District, security outposts along the highway linking Sar-i-Pul with Jowzjan, and a village with oil wells. “It was a very strong attack,” Mr. Amani said. “Two security outposts were captured by the Taliban; 25 members of security forces were also wounded during the clashes.”

polusa

2019_1_test.csv

2019_1_test.csv0 53010215 1 59549287 2 59633617 3 52963105 4 18321756 ... 162989 4829910 162990 4889401 162991 4884295 162992 4760206 162993 4533244 Name: id, Length: 162994, dtype: int64

Behind the wheel of his silver Mercedes-Benz, this driver was out to kill, police say. A German man repeatedly drove into crowds in the western city of Bottrop in what authorities there are characterizing as a hate crime. The driver, who was arrested in the Tuesday mayhem, appeared to be targeting foreigners, police said. He injured at least five people, one of whom has life-threatening injuries. “The man had the clear intention to kill foreigners,” German news agency dpa quoted the top security official in North Rhine-Westphalia state, Herbert Reul, as saying. Some of the victims were Syrian and Afghan citizens. The attacks began shortly after midnight while people were celebrating New Year’s out on the streets. The 50-year-old driver first attempted to hit a group of people in Bottrop, but failed. He then drove into the city center, where he slammed his Mercedes into a crowd, injuring four. He then drove toward Essen, officials say. There he twice attempted to run people down, injuring one person, before being arrested by police. The man, whose name wasn’t released, is being held on suspicion of attempted homicide. Police said the suspect made anti-foreigner comments during his arrest and there were indications he had been treated for mental illness in the past. It’s not the first time that a vehicle has been used as an apparent weapon in Germany. In April, a German man drove a van into a crowd in Muenster, killing four people and injuring dozens. The driver, who had sought psychological help in the weeks preceding the attack, then killed himself. On Dec. 19, 2016, a Tunisian man plowed a truck into a busy Christmas market in Berlin, killing 12 people. The attack was claimed by the Islamic State group. The driver, who fled the scene, was later killed in a shootout with police in Italy.

polusa

2019_1_test.csv

2019_1_test.csv0 53010215 1 59549287 2 59633617 3 52963105 4 18321756 ... 162989 4829910 162990 4889401 162991 4884295 162992 4760206 162993 4533244 Name: id, Length: 162994, dtype: int64

LONDON — The American man who was arrested last week in Russia on a spying charge is a Marine Corps veteran who was in Moscow to attend a wedding, his family said on Tuesday. Russia’s Federal Security Service, known as the F.S.B., said on Monday that the American, Paul N. Whelan, had been detained on Friday “during an act of espionage,” and that a criminal case had been opened against him. Conviction on a spying charge in Russia carries a prison sentence of up to 20 years. “We noticed that he was not in communication,” his parents and siblings said in a statement, “which was very much out of character for him even when he was traveling.” They said they had not learned of his arrest until it was reported by the news media on Monday. Since then, they have contacted an array of United States government offices.

polusa

2019_1_test.csv

2019_1_test.csv0 53010215 1 59549287 2 59633617 3 52963105 4 18321756 ... 162989 4829910 162990 4889401 162991 4884295 162992 4760206 162993 4533244 Name: id, Length: 162994, dtype: int64

Four illegal migrants who tried to commandeer a ship in the Thames estuary have appeared in court. Samuel Jolumi, 26, Ishola Sunday, 27, Toheeb Popoola, 26, and Joberto McGee, 20, are thought to have stowed away on the Grimaldi cargo ship Grande Tema in Lagos, Nigeria. They were discovered by the ship’s crew partway into the journey — but escaped once it reached the iconic Thames Estuary which wends its way into London. The would-be illegal migrants then armed themselves and tried to threaten the crew into bringing the ship closer to the shoreline so they could make a swim for it — potentially very dangerous, given its enormous size — and smeared faeces on the windows of the bridge after they refused and locked themselves in. The situation was only brought to an end when the Royal Navy’s elite Special Boat Service (SBS) unit stormed the ship and took the migrants into custody. MIGRANTS IN THE THAMES: Hijacking Ended as Special Forces Storm Ship https://t.co/kTwKnNm2Vr — Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) December 22, 2018 “These are four Nigerian nationals who boarded a ship as stowaways, that ship was headed towards Tilbury in Essex,” said prosecutor Sam Doyle. “They were discovered on that ship that had departed from Lagos in Nigeria and they were held in a quarantine cabin behind the bridge. “The crew welded a set of bars over a porthole and secured bars over the exterior of the door. “It is a working vessel and it wasn’t possible to have four stowaways left to roam the ship. “On the morning of Friday 21st December they were quarantined and the bar fitted across the window was bent down allowing one of them to escape through the window and remove the bars across the door.” Doyle received a 21-day adjournment after explaining to the judge that the case currently “appears to be under-charged”. At present, the migrants are facing only being charged with the minor offence of affray. Follow Jack Montgomery on Twitter: @JackBMontgomery

polusa

2019_1_test.csv

2019_1_test.csv0 53010215 1 59549287 2 59633617 3 52963105 4 18321756 ... 162989 4829910 162990 4889401 162991 4884295 162992 4760206 162993 4533244 Name: id, Length: 162994, dtype: int64

President Donald Trump issued a special Twitter all-caps New Year’s greeting on Tuesday. “HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERYONE, INCLUDING THE HATERS AND THE FAKE NEWS MEDIA!” he wrote. The president promised great things ahead in 2019, despite Democrats taking power in the House of Representatives. “2019 WILL BE A FANTASTIC YEAR FOR THOSE NOT SUFFERING FROM TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME,” he wrote. “JUST CALM DOWN AND ENJOY THE RIDE, GREAT THINGS ARE HAPPENING FOR OUR COUNTRY!” The president also took shots at Democrats for refusing to fund a wall as part of border security. “The problem is, without a Wall there can be no real Border Security – and our Country must finally have a Strong and Secure Southern Border!” he wrote. HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERYONE, INCLUDING THE HATERS AND THE FAKE NEWS MEDIA! 2019 WILL BE A FANTASTIC YEAR FOR THOSE NOT SUFFERING FROM TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME. JUST CALM DOWN AND ENJOY THE RIDE, GREAT THINGS ARE HAPPENING FOR OUR COUNTRY! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 1, 2019 Happy New Year! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 1, 2019

polusa

2019_1_test.csv

2019_1_test.csv0 53010215 1 59549287 2 59633617 3 52963105 4 18321756 ... 162989 4829910 162990 4889401 162991 4884295 162992 4760206 162993 4533244 Name: id, Length: 162994, dtype: int64

Be it smartwatches or smart speakers, it’s never been easier to make gadgets. But only the big players have the muscle to survive Imagine a shopper in an electronics store. Look, there’s a Fitbit display, with its “activity bands” which measure your steps and show details. Or, more pricey, its Versa smartwatch. Perhaps to save money, just buy the activity band? But wait … just over there are some generic activity bands, and they’re cheaper. Maybe save some money with those. Move along a bit, and there are GoPro cameras. But once again, there are some slightly cheaper models beside them; not well-known brands, but a camera is a camera, surely? Further along, there’s a Parrot drone. Next to those is a Sonos speaker, which works with Amazon’s Alexa. But beside it is a cheaper Amazon Echo, and a voice-controlled Google Home, and a Siri-enabled Apple HomePod. Why would you go with the smaller brand, faced with those offerings from tech’s behemoths? Or, at the previous displays, why not just buy the cheaper models? That’s the challenge for many consumer electronics firms. Not how to make things, or how to distribute them and get them in front of potential buyers. It’s how to make a profit. Out of Fitbit, GoPro, Parrot and Sonos – each operating in different parts of the consumer electronics business – only the latter made an operating profit in the last financial quarter, and all four have made a cumulative operating loss so far this year. The 20 best gadgets of 2018 Read more Making a profit in hardware has always been difficult. By contrast, in software, all the significant costs are in development; reproduction and distribution are trivial – a digital copy is perfect, and the internet will transport 0s and 1s anywhere, effectively for free. If your product is free and ad-supported, you don’t even need anti-piracy measures; you want people to copy it and use it. Software companies typically have gross margins of around 80%, and operating profits of 40% or so. In hardware, though, the world now seems full of companies living by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’s mantra that “your [profit] margin is my opportunity”. Indeed, Amazon is one of the reasons why long-term profit is more elusive: it provides a means for small startups to distribute products without formal warehousing arrangements, and compete with bigger businesses at lower cost. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Shenzhen, southern China - the global hub for consumer hardware manufacturers Photograph: bingfengwu/Getty Images/iStockphoto That, together with the rise of a gigantic electronic manufacturing capability in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, about an hour’s drive north of Hong Kong, has made the modern hardware business one where only those with huge reserves of capital and brand recognition can hope to thrive. Apple, Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Samsung, and Sony can probably rely on their brand name; after that, it’s survival of the fittest. So is it already game over for GoPro and the rest? None is a newcomer. GoPro was founded in 2002 by Nick Woodman, who wanted to capture better pictures of a surfing trip to Australia; it came to market in June 2014. Sonos was also founded in 2002, focusing on multi-room high-quality sound, and came to the market earlier in 2018. Fitbit was set up in March 2007, and joined the stock market in June 2015. Parrot is the oldest of them all, founded in 1994 and has made many consumer electronics products, including a voice-recognition system (in 1995) and a Bluetooth-based hands-free kit for cars in 2000. Parrot got into drones, both for consumers and business, in 2010 and early in 2018, its chief executive and co-founder, Henri Seydoux, confidently called the drone market “the emergence of a new industry with global strategic and economic stakes”. By November, though, he was contemplating a 40% year-on-year crash in revenues. The shares sank to an all-time low of €1.58 – down from €37 in 2015 – valuing Parrot at less than its cash reserves. Seydoux insists the consumer drone market is just “taking a break”. Fitbit is struggling to move away from fitness bands – simple devices that record steps and calories burnt – where low-cost Chinese products are swamping the market. It is trying to shift into smartwatches, which are higher-priced, have more uses and generate higher customer loyalty. But it’s not easy; in the first nine months of the year it sold 8.4m fitness bands – and 2.8m smartwatches. The opportunity is there: Fitbit has 25m users who pay a subscription to its services, and could be future smartwatch buyers. But in the most recent quarter it made a $200m operating loss on sales of $940m and over the past eight quarters it has made a net loss of $624m. Its shares, which hit $47 soon after its IPO in 2015, are now $4.97. GoPro has managed to stabilise its unit sales, at around 1m per quarter, but profitability has remained elusive. So it is trying to encourage owners onto a subscription offering, at $5 per month; so far 185,000 have signed up, generating about $11.1m a year. That’s about the same revenue as selling an extra 44,000 cameras – but the profit on subscriptions, as with software, is far higher than on the hardware. Its shares are currently at $4.24, down from $87 in 2014. Facebook Twitter Pinterest A new GoPro Karma foldable drone. The drone consumer market had its fair share of problems, even before the Gatwick aiport incident. Photograph: Josh Edelson/AFP/Getty Images “It’s harder for any company that focuses mainly on hardware to survive in the long term,” says Francisco Jeronimo, a smartphone analyst for the research group IDC. “But the big problem for many of these companies is that there isn’t a strong incentive to keep buying them. I might buy a GoPro, but I don’t need it on a daily basis if I have a smartphone. Same with Parrot – it’s a very niche segment. These companies were so eager to get to an IPO that they took advantage of the hype around their category, but haven’t been able to reinvent themselves, and they need to do that to keep alive.” The risk for such companies is that they are consigned to the virtual, or real, cupboard under the stairs to gather dust, while smartphone capability expands to take on functions that once needed a separate device. Sign up to the daily Business Today email or follow Guardian Business on Twitter at @BusinessDesk Yet it’s never been easier to make and sell hardware. Crowdfunding sites such as Kickstarter and Indiegogo provide easy ways to find early adopters who will stake money on entrepreneurs with unproven designs, which can then be realised in Shenzhen. The Pebble smartwatch raised $10.3m as a Kickstarter project in 2012, then its biggest-ever fundraising; it topped that in 2015, raising $20.3m for a newer model. Yet in December 2016 it announced it would close, citing financial trouble. (Fitbit bought its intellectual property – essentially, the smartwatch software – for $23m.) “Crowdfunding sites are great for attracting early adopters, but the majority of consumers don’t go there,” says Jeronimo. “It misleads companies into thinking their category is going to explode.” Even while it tried to expand beyond those early adopters, Pebble’s problem (which is now also Fitbit’s problem) was that Apple launched its own smartwatch in 2015, and quickly became the largest smartwatch maker. Sonos, similarly, found that a market it once had to itself – multi-room speakers streaming music and radio from the internet – turned into a jostling match with Amazon in 2014, followed by Google and most recently, Apple. Suddenly, everyone is making a “smart speaker”, and Sonos’s hardware-only model has come into sharp focus because it doesn’t have a native voice assistant (it is adding Amazon’s Alexa and Google’s ‘OK Google’). The ability for the big players to squash smaller players isn’t unique to hardware; Facebook has tried to do it to rivals such as Snapchat. But in hardware, firms such as Sonos find themselves assaulted by both the big brands and the unheard-of ones leveraging Shenzhen and Amazon’s distribution. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Early on, the smartphone market was dominated by BlackBerry or Motorola, but their status was quickly eroded as the market expanded. Photograph: Sergei Savostyanov/TASS Sonos’s response has been to insist that people will move upmarket, to its better sound quality. It is also looking for collaborations, most notably with Ikea, whose fruits are promised in 2019. Patrick Spence, the Sonos CEO, is confident he can rely on the existing Sonos user base of 20m devices across 7.4m households. “We have a strong base of existing customers that we can tap into and have a good relationship with,” he said in November. “And so, I think that puts us at an advantage, [compared to rivals] quite frankly.” But Amazon is coming up fast: it is reckoned to have 35m of its Echo devices installed in the US alone. The squeeze on smaller hardware players has played out before, in PCs and smartphones. In the mid-1990s, the PC market was dominated by American companies such as IBM, Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Gateway, Apple, Compaq, NCR, Packard Bell and Zenith. As manufacturing costs in the US rose, they shifted production to Taiwan, South Korea and, gradually China – only to be usurped by local rivals using that manufacturing expertise and building international distribution networks. Now, only Dell, HP and Apple remain; the three other biggest PC makers are Acer and Asus, of Taiwan, and China’s Lenovo. Similarly in smartphones, the early advantage that American companies such as BlackBerry and Motorola had in 2009 was quickly eroded as the market expanded. Now there are hundreds of Chinese companies offering smartphones. But profits are thin: Counterpoint Research estimated recently that the top five smartphone companies grab 99% of the profits – leaving 600 others to scrap for the remaining 1%.

polusa

2019_1_test.csv

2019_1_test.csv0 53010215 1 59549287 2 59633617 3 52963105 4 18321756 ... 162989 4829910 162990 4889401 162991 4884295 162992 4760206 162993 4533244 Name: id, Length: 162994, dtype: int64

Breaking News Emails Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings. By Jeff Cox, CNBC Everything was going right for the stock market until Oct. 3. Then everything went wrong. Up to that point, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had been up about 8 percent for the year — a solid gain if not quite as gaudy as the year before. More importantly, the fundamental backdrop was solid: The economy was growing at a better than 3 percent clip, corporate profits were around their highest levels in eight years, and the Federal Reserve seemed in control of monetary policy and interest rates. The market traded flat that day, with little indication that there was anything that should disrupt the powerful bull run into the end of the year. Then, it happened. In a seemingly off-the-cuff remark in a PBS interview after the market had closed, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said interest rates were “a long way ” from what he considered neither stimulative nor restrictive — the central bank’s holy grail of “neutral” where it could stay put over at least the medium term. The comment garnered headlines but didn’t seem to generate an inordinate amount of attention. The Dow dropped about 157 points the next day — a notable decline but not particularly scary for a blue-chip average that was knocking on the door of 27,000. But then the next day it fell some more. And then some more. And then still more. Ultimately, the index very briefly edged into bear market territory — a 20 percent drop. More importantly, the market’s worst fear was exposed, namely that a Fed that had been so generous in underpinning the bull market with scads of liquidity and low interest rates was now ready to change direction. “We believe [the] Fed triggered [the] market panic of 2018,” Tom Lee, managing partner at Fundstrat Global Advisors, wrote. As the days and weeks progressed, Wall Street suddenly had a new reality to face: A market that seemed bulletproof was now susceptible to a whole range of worries. Gains that had been taken for granted over the course of the last nine years were in jeopardy. A wobbly economy, an uncertain future with interest rates and a president who wouldn’t stop talking about the stock market posed grave dangers. Worries become worrying Lee termed the sell-off a “midlife crisis” for the market and not a recession. The market has a lot to overcome, though, to make him right. While the Powell statement in itself was enough to set off a minor tidal wave in selling, it released a cascade of other concerns that investors had heretofore ignored and couldn’t be overcome even after the Fed chief tried to walk back the “long way” from neutral gaffe. Suddenly, the U.S.-China trade battle, of which Wall Street had largely taken the optimistic view i.e., that it would be settled with little global disruption, seemed an existential danger. Ditto for the global slowdown, a messy Brexit and the general chaos that had pervaded Washington since President Donald Trump’s election. For his part, Trump didn’t help. As Wall Street wobbled, the president turned up the heat on Powell and his colleagues. Intensifying criticism that had begun earlier in the year, Trump wondered aloud whether he had made the right choice in replacing former Fed Chair Janet Yellen with Powell and said over and over again that the central bank’s rate hikes were the biggest threat to the U.S. economy. He went so far as to take on the Fed on Christmas Eve during a violent sell-off: Trump’s strategy tying the stock market’s performance to the economy under his watch had always been a risky one, and with a potential bear market looming it became even riskier. And it seemed the more he talked about the market, the worse things got, and investors continued to worry where the bottom would come. Looking ahead, looking up Still, there’s reason for optimism. The economy remains strong, despite a Wall Street consensus that the pace of growth will slow. Unemployment is holding around a 50-year low and job growth continues apace, despite persistent conventional wisdom that there’s not much more room to expand and a worsening in labor conditions also could be in the cards. Corporate profits, after growing just north of 20 percent for 2018, probably will slow as well, though an earnings recession seems nearly as unlikely as a conventional economic one. FactSet estimates earnings will grow 8 percent for all of 2019, a substantial decline but still a move forward. Consumer and business sentiment has edged lower but is still well above historical norms. Moreover, there’s not a single strategist of the major Wall Street firms who thinks the market will finish 2019 lower than it started. And even the Fed issues could fade from view. Current futures pricing anticipates zero rate hikes, and the central bank historically has been loathe to surprise the market, even though Fed officials currently project two increases before 2019 closes. “With the last Fed decision of the year behind us and the market having gone through a dramatic pullback since, we believe that barring an appearance of a ‘black swan’ event, or the shock of a bolt from the blue, the worst of the declines experienced by stocks in 2018 are behind us,” John Stoltzfus, chief market strategist at Oppenheimer, said in a note. Echoing the White House position, as expressed through Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Stoltzfus blamed programmed trading and “technical factors” rather than “a deterioration in economic and corporate fundamentals” as the reason for the fourth-quarter selling. In the big picture, Stoltzfus expects the S&P 500 to end 2019 at 2,960. The good news is that represents a 19 percent jump from Friday’s close. The bad news is it’s a hair below the year-end 3,000 target he had for the large-cap index at the start of 2018. “We believe investors should view this as an opportunity to gain equity exposure at attractive valuations to market segments that appear oversold,” he said. Indeed, investors can take some solace in that the year ended with a mild Santa Claus rally on Wall Street, albeit under volatile conditions. The gains bought the major averages up more than 6 percent apiece following the disastrous Christmas Eve dive. However, Stoltzfus, like many of his Wall Street colleagues, believes the market in 2019 will endure some more pain and volatility before finally straightening out and climbing higher.

polusa

2019_1_test.csv

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Fears of electoral fraud are rising in the Democratic Republic of the Congo after officials said a total block on internet connections and SMS services imposed after Sunday’s chaotic presidential poll could last for several weeks. Both the opposition and ruling coalition have claimed victory in the elections – the third since the 2002 end of a civil war in which millions died. The poll, which some observers hope may bring a measure of political stability to the vast central African country, was marred by widespread logistics problems, insecurity and an outbreak of Ebola. Millions were left unable to vote. Barnabé Kikaya Bin Karubi, a senior adviser to the outgoing president, Joseph Kabila, said internet and SMS services were cut on Monday to preserve public order after “fictitious results” began circulating on social media. “That could lead us straight toward chaos,” Kikaya told Reuters, adding that the connections would remain cut until the publication of preliminary results on 6 January. The signal to Radio France Internationale, one of the most popular news sources in the DRC, was also down, and the government withdrew the accreditation of RFI’s main DRC correspondent late on Monday for having aired unofficial results from the opposition. Opposition activists said they believed the internet had been cut off to prevent people circulating information that could allow the official count to be challenged when it is announced. “It is very straightforward. They don’t want us to compile our own totals of votes,” said one Kinshasa resident who requested anonymity. Olivier Kamitatu, a spokesperson for opposition candidates, said the media crackdown was part of a “plan to obscure the truth of the ballot box”. The measures drew a sharp response from several western powers. In a statement supported by the UK and France, the EU and the US called on authorities to restore the internet and to allow the country’s two main election monitors – the National Episcopal Conference of Congo (CENCO) and Symocel, an alliance of citizens’ observer missions – access to the count. The election, which passed off mostly peacefully, could bring about the central African country’s first ostensibly democratic transition of power in its troubled history and chart a road to a better future. Others fear renewed instability if the opposition rejects the results and calls for protests. Already delayed by two years, the poll was postponed by a further week to allow further time to overcome logistical challenges in a country of 80 million inhabitants spread over an area the size of western Europe with almost no metalled roads. Kabila’s second electoral mandate expired in 2016 and he only reluctantly called new elections under pressure from regional powers. The constitution forbade him from standing again and critics claim he hopes now to rule through the handpicked government candidate, Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary. The president congratulated “the Congolese people” for having “accomplished their civic duty in peace and dignity” in a new year address broadcast on national television on Tuesday. “There can be no doubt. The DRC is not only a republic but … a democracy too,” he said. But analysts have long said the period after the elections would be more dangerous to the long-term stability of the DRC than the polls themselves. Opposition parties have pledged to oppose any result they see as fraudulent, promising to paralyse the country with a campaign of protests. “If the results during the publication of the presidential results don’t reflect the truth … trouble will break out across the city,” said Fabrice Shweka, a resident of the eastern city of Goma. In Sunday’s poll, Shadary, a hardline interior minister under EU sanctions for his role in a bloody crackdown on pro-democracy activists last year, faced off against two main opposition challengers, Félix Tshisekedi and Martin Fayulu. A survey shortly before the vote put Fayulu, a former business executive, ahead by more than 20 points. Shadary came in third on 19%. In a statement late on Monday, Fayulu complained about irregularities during Sunday’s vote but said he was encouraged by the determination of Congolese people to vote despite long queues and voting machines that broke down. “I call for vigilance across the board and the general mobilisation of all Congolese so that the truth of the ballot box, the sole witness to the will of the Congolese people, can reward their efforts and sacrifices,” he said. Congolese election rivals deploy musical powers of persuasion Read more Members of Fayulu’s campaign team have accused the government of ordering the shutdown to avoid broadcasting his “overwhelming victory” in Sunday’s poll. The DRC has refused international offers of help to conduct the elections, stating that it would compromise its sovereignty. Hundreds of polling places opened hours late because they did not have the needed lists of registered voters. Many voters could not find their names on the lists and there were problems with more than 500 of the electronic voting machines. Many polls stayed open into the night to allow those waiting in line to cast ballots. At least one Kinshasa polling station didn’t manage to open until after the official closing time. The government’s last-minute decision to bar an estimated 1 million people in two opposition-stronghold cities from voting on Sunday, citing the deadly Ebola outbreak in the eastern part of the country, prompted protests. The DRC suffers widespread corruption, continuing conflict, endemic disease, some of the world’s highest level of sexual violence and malnutrition. It is also rich in minerals, including those crucial to the world’s smartphones and electric cars. The country has not known a peaceful transfer of power since winning independence from Belgium in 1960.

polusa

2019_1_test.csv

2019_1_test.csv0 53010215 1 59549287 2 59633617 3 52963105 4 18321756 ... 162989 4829910 162990 4889401 162991 4884295 162992 4760206 162993 4533244 Name: id, Length: 162994, dtype: int64

Get the Better newsletter. By Herb Weisbaum The new year is a good time to assess your finances and resolve to do better. While some things — such as fluctuating interest rates and the volatile stock market — are out of your control, you can adjust to changes in the economy and your personal life during the last (and next) 12 months. Here are seven financial resolutions that can make a big difference for you and your family: 1. Pay down credit card debt “If there ever was a year to make paying down your credit card bills a New Year's resolution, this is it,” said Bruce McClary, vice president for communications at the National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC). “Credit card interest rates are at record-high levels right now, and there's a sense that a recession is on the horizon, so you don’t want to be carrying high interest credit card debt into what could turn out to be a recession year.” The national average for credit card interest is currently 17.59 percent, according to Bankrate.com, and financial experts expect rates to continue going up in 2019. To make a dent in that costly balance, you’ll need to make more than the minimum payments. Paying the minimum either “keeps you running in place or sends you backwards,” McClary told NBC News BETTER. If you’re still using the card to make charges and only paying the minimum, that balance will grow, dragging you even deeper into debt. 2. Create a family budget It’s hard to control your spending when you don’t have a family budget to keep track of where the money is going. Only two in five adults closely watch their spending, a figured that hasn’t changed since 2007, NFCC surveys show. “Those who have a household budget are better prepared to overcome unexpected financial challenges while staying on track to reach savings goals,” McClary said. “Without a budget, you run the risk of taking on too much debt or damaging your credit by missing monthly credit card or loan payments.” TIP: It's not always easy to manage a budget, especially when expenses are greater than income. To get personal and confidential guidance from a financial expert, contact a non-profit credit counseling agency near you. 3. Look for higher returns for cash investments Rising interest rates mean higher returns for savers. But you can’t wait for these higher interest rates to land in your lap, you’ve got to find them. “Most banks and credit unions are still pretty stingy with their payouts,” said Greg McBride, chief financial analyst at Bankrate.com. “Move your money into a top-yielding online savings account. It’s federally insured, fully liquid and it can be linked to your existing checking account for easy transfers back and forth. Some high-yield savings accounts currently pay as much as 2.4 percent interest, which is more than 10 times the national average. 4. Contribute more to your retirement accounts The IRS raised the annual contribution limits on employer-sponsored retirement plans, as well as Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) by $500 in 2019. The new maximum for 401(k)s and similar plans increases from $18,500 to $19,000. Employees 50 and older can make an additional $6,000 catch-up contribution. If you can’t set aside the full amount and your employer has a matching program, at least contribute enough to get that match — it’s free money. The IRA contribution limit increases from $5,500 to $6,000 — the first increase since 2003. Those 50 and older can also make a $1,000 catch-up contribution. “If you don’t have a workplace plan, but you or a spouse has earned income, you're eligible for an IRA. You can set that up with your bank, brokerage firm or a mutual fund company,” McBride said. While boosting maximum contributions by $500 may not sound like a big deal, it is. Save that extra $500 every year for 30 years — and earn an average annual return of 5 percent — and you'll have an additional $35,000 for retirement. 5. Build an Emergency Fund Life happens. Whether it’s a new set of tires or a furnace repair, you need to be prepared for these unexpected expenses. Four in ten Americans could not cover an emergency expense of $400, according to the Federal Reserve Board’s Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households report. “Choosing to establish an emergency fund is one of the smartest personal finance decisions you can make,” said Matthew Frankel, a certified financial planner who writes for The Motley Fool. “Having emergency savings can prevent you from having to go into debt or tap into your retirement savings, if an unforeseen expense arises.” Your goal: Save enough money to cover six months of living expenses. Don’t be intimidated by what may seem like an impossibly large figure — just get started. For example, if you want $1,000 in your emergency fund by the end of 2019, set up an automatic transfer of $40 from every bi-weekly paycheck to a separate savings account that’s specifically for your emergency fund. 6. Pay Your Bills On Time Pay late and you’ll get hit with needless penalty fees. More importantly, your credit score will take a beating and that can have serious consequences. It can limit your ability to get a loan or rent an apartment, make it harder to get wireless phone service, and it could drive up the cost of insurance. Payment history is the most important factor used to determine credit scores. A single late payment of 30 days or more can cause your score to drop by 100 points or more. And it will take years to erase the damage. If you can’t pay off the balance in full, at least make the minimum payment that month. It’s much better than paying late. If the problem is remembering to pay, set up automatic payments or payment reminders. 7. Don’t react to current stock market volatility Resolve not to panic and make any rash financial decisions when you receive your year-end retirement account and brokerage account statements. “The ugly fourth quarter in the stock market isn’t fun for anyone, but volatility is normal at a time when interest rates are rising and there are concerns about a deepening trade dispute with China,” Bankrate’s McBride said. “Do not jeopardize your long-term financial security by making knee-jerk reactions to short-term market volatility.” MORE FROM BETTER Want more tips like these? NBC News BETTER is obsessed with finding easier, healthier and smarter ways to live. Sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

polusa

2019_1_test.csv

2019_1_test.csv0 53010215 1 59549287 2 59633617 3 52963105 4 18321756 ... 162989 4829910 162990 4889401 162991 4884295 162992 4760206 162993 4533244 Name: id, Length: 162994, dtype: int64

In a year fraught with voter fraud allegations, many of which resulted in prosecutions across Texas, counties along the Mexican border stood out as hotbeds for investigative activities. Here are the top 5 voter fraud cases along the Texas border in 2018: 1. Three arrested in Starr County investigation for fraudulently filling in mail-in ballots–one for a dead person. In January, authorities arrested Ernestina Barron, 50, a Rio Grande City school district employee, on three counts of election fraud and three counts of a fraudulent application for a mail-in ballot for filling out applications illegally for other voters in an earlier election. Days later, officials charged Erika Lozano-Pelayo, 37, after she purportedly submitted an absentee ballot for a voter who died but remained on the voter registration rolls. A third woman, Belinda Garcia, 45, surrendered to the Starr County Special Crimes Unit on a charge of fraudulently applying for a mail-in ballot. She reportedly said the voter was disabled but this was not true. 2. 14 Hidalgo County residents charged in voter fraud scheme. A total of 14 residents were arrested for their purported roles in a voter scheme that recruited people to falsely claim residential addresses so they could vote in specific races and manipulate the results of a 2017 Edinburg city election. Investigators with the Hidalgo County DA’s office, the Texas Rangers, and Office of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton initially arrested four of the suspects in May 2018, all of whom illegally voted in that 2017 election. One was a convicted human smuggler serving probation who voted illegally. Two claimed to live in the city’s limits, but, in fact, resided elsewhere. Another suspect was only charged with making a false statement on a voter registration form. In June, county officials charged a fifth person with two counts of illegal voting. Then, in November, nine more were arrested. The investigation continues and more arrests may come in 2019. 3. Non-U.S. citizen indicted for leading “voter assistance” ring that targeted elderly and disabled voters in Hidalgo County. In June, a Hidalgo County grand jury indicted Marcela Guttierrez, a non-U.S. citizen on an illegal voting charge for misleading a voter to believe she was demonstrating how to use a voting machine when, actually, Guttierez voted for a slate of candidates she was paid to support in a June 2016 Hidalgo city runoff election. Two of her fellow campaign workers, Sylvia Arojano and Sara Ornelas, also were charged with seven counts of unlawfully assisting voters. Reportedly, Arojano is married to a school board member for the Hidalgo County school district. 4. Poll watcher accuses Hidalgo city official of unlawfully assisting a voter in the 2018 midterm. In December, the Texas Secretary of State escalated a voter fraud complaint to Paxton’s office. A poll watcher accused Hidalgo City Councilman Rodolfo “Rudy” Franz of unlawfully assisting a voter during the 2018 midterm election’s early voting period. The complaint alleged that Franz suggested and instructed the voter on who to vote for on their ballot even though Franz was asked multiple times by election workers to stop. 5. Texas Democratic Party accused of encouraging noncitizens to vote in 2018 November midterm in Rio Grande Valley. An October complaint accused the Texas Democratic Party of mailing “altered” voter registration applications to noncitizens in the Rio Grande Valley. The mailers allegedly had the U.S. citizenship box pre-checked, creating false claims to voter eligibility. The document urged recipients to vote in the November midterm election. The box asking if a voter will be 18 years of age on or before election day also was pre-filled. The Public Interest Legal Foundation, an election integrity law firm, alerted Starr and Hidalgo county district attorneys, Paxton, Texas Secretary of State Rolando Pablos, and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) about the complaint. Subsequently, Pablos referred the complaint to Paxton’s office for further investigation. While Texas border voter fraud cases permeated Breitbart News coverage, other high profiles cases in the Lone Star State garnered honorable mentions: Texas AG to prosecute three indicted on nine counts of voter fraud in Nueces County 2016 Democratic primary runoff. Paxton announced his office would prosecute three residents indicted by a grand jury on nine counts of voter fraud stemming back to a May 2016 Nueces County Democratic primary runoff election. County Clerk Kara Sands presented data to a local commissioners court in January that unmasked the alleged voter fraud. Salvadoran illegal immigrant living in East Texas since the 1980s was indicted on voter fraud and immigration violations charges. In June, Texas prosecutors indicted Salvadoran national Mario Obdulio Orellana, 57, who lived illegally in the state since the 1980s. Officials said Orellana purportedly falsified documents to obtain a U.S. birth certificate, applied for and received a U.S. passport and a Social Security number. Prosecutors said Orellano claimed to be a U.S. citizen when he registered to vote and fraudulently cast a ballot in the 2016 presidential election. Mexican national faces deportation after pleading guilty to voter fraud in Texas. In September, Mexican national Laura Janeth Garza, 38, pleaded guilty to voter fraud charges for voting in three election cycles, including 2016. She did so by stealing a Texan’s identity to obtain a U.S. passport and Social Security number. The American citizen victim learned about the fraud when she tried to apply for a passport in her own name and discovered Garza already did so. Garza was sentenced to 10 years in jail, after which she will be deported. Texas AG: Democratic Party leader funded “voter fraud ring” in Tarrant County. In October, Paxton’s office indicted four North Texas women for their alleged roles in a “voter fraud ring” that targeted the elderly in select northern Fort Worth precincts during the March 2016 Democrat Party primary election. Subsequently released court documents revealed the ringleader, Leticia Sanchez, 57, allegedly paid her co-defendants with funds provided by the then Tarrant County Democratic Party Executive Director, Stuart Clegg. The scheme reportedly intended to influence the outcome of certain down-ballot races. Allegedly, they did this by “seeding” or proliferating mail-in ballots through forged signatures and altering historical applications, then resubmitting them without the voter’s knowledge. In Texas, illegal voting is a second degree felony punishable up to 20 years in $10,000 fine. Making a false statement on a voter registration application is a Class B misdemeanor. Follow Merrill Hope, a member of the original Breitbart Texas team, on Facebook and Twitter.

polusa

2019_1_test.csv

2019_1_test.csv0 53010215 1 59549287 2 59633617 3 52963105 4 18321756 ... 162989 4829910 162990 4889401 162991 4884295 162992 4760206 162993 4533244 Name: id, Length: 162994, dtype: int64

The credit-reporting industry has largely escaped new oversight from Washington following the 2017 hack of Equifax Inc. that exposed the personal information of millions of Americans. That could change in 2019 when Democrats take over the House of Representatives. House Democrats have put legislation responding to the Equifax hack at the top of their agenda for this year. A handful of existing proposals, some bipartisan, offer a road map for possible changes to how the industry handles consumer information, including subjecting...

polusa

2019_1_test.csv

2019_1_test.csv0 53010215 1 59549287 2 59633617 3 52963105 4 18321756 ... 162989 4829910 162990 4889401 162991 4884295 162992 4760206 162993 4533244 Name: id, Length: 162994, dtype: int64

DOUGLAS, Wyo.—Chesapeake Energy Corp., best known for its trailblazing pursuit of natural gas from shale formations, is making a big bet on the oil below the rolling grasslands of eastern Wyoming. Its timing doesn’t look great. U.S. oil prices have fallen more than 40% since early October to close at $45.41 a barrel on Monday, straining the finances of the debt-laden company co-founded by Aubrey McClendon, the late wildcatter. It is a rough time to be planning new shale wells anywhere, but especially in Wyoming’s Powder River...

polusa

2019_1_test.csv

2019_1_test.csv0 53010215 1 59549287 2 59633617 3 52963105 4 18321756 ... 162989 4829910 162990 4889401 162991 4884295 162992 4760206 162993 4533244 Name: id, Length: 162994, dtype: int64

The S&P 500 in 2018 3,000 Daily closes 9/20 PEAK 2,930.75 2,750 2,500 2,250 Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May Jun. Jul. Aug. Sep. Oct. Nov. Dec. The S&P 500 in 2018 3,000 Daily closes 9/20 PEAK 2,930.75 2,750 2,500 2,250 J F M A M J J A S O N D The S&P 500 in 2018 3,000 Daily closes 9/20 PEAK 2,930.75 2,750 2,500 2,250 Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May Jun. Jul. Aug. Sep. Oct. Nov. Dec. After an unexpectedly bad year for the stock market, investors are looking for clues about what 2019 will bring. The hope on Wall Street is that the underlying economy of the United States is sound, that the recent selling will burn itself out and that stocks will resume their record-setting climb. But the risk is that the plunge, the worst annual decline in a decade, could be the start of something more sinister. The forces that pushed the S&P 500 down 6.2 percent in 2018 are still in place. The economy is still doing well, but it does not appear to be as strong as it once was. President Trump is lashing out at the Federal Reserve and the central bank’s interest-rate increases pose a risk to corporate profits and investors’ appetite for stocks. America’s trade war with China continues, and the technology giants that dominate the stock market face heightened scrutiny about their business practices. As investors try to gauge the seriousness of these risks, stocks could lurch in different directions at each new event. A meeting of the Fed later this month, an earnings report in February or a trade-negotiation deadline in March could all prove to be catalysts for a big rise or fall. But Wall Street’s top stock pickers are still expecting gains next year, even if they’re not quite as boisterous in their predictions as they once were. “It could get more frightening before it gets better,” said James Paulsen, chief investment strategist at the research firm Leuthold Group. “But I think we survive for another run.” Last year was a reminder of how unpredictable stock markets can be. In January, with corporate tax cuts in place, the outlook for the market in the United States was great. And stocks did hit a record high in September, with Apple and Amazon becoming the first publicly traded American companies to be valued at more than $1 trillion. But 2018 was also turbulent, with markets falling sharply in February and again at the end of the year. The S&P 500 narrowly avoided one grim milestone: a 20 percent drop from its high, a decline that would signal the start of a bear market. The index ended 2018 down 14.5 percent from its high point, and a bear market could yet be in store should stocks experience another decline similar to what they went through in early December. If that happens, the pessimism that has hovered over the stock market could leach into the rest of the economy, as companies grow wary of taking risks, expanding or adding more workers. Here are the factors that will help determine whether that happens this year. Borrowing costs could hurt Interest rates in 2018 3.5 % 10-year Treasury note yield 3.0 2.5 2.0 1.5 Federal funds target rate (upper limit) 1.0 0.5 0 Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May Jun. Jul. Aug. Sep. Oct. Nov. Dec. Interest rates in 2018 3.5 % 10-year treasury note yield 3.0 2.5 2.0 1.5 Federal funds target rate (upper limit) 1.0 0.5 0 J F M A M J J A S O N D Interest rates in 2018 3.5 % 10-year Treasury note yield 3.0 2.5 2.0 1.5 Federal funds target rate (upper limit) 1.0 0.5 0 Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May Jun. Jul. Aug. Sep. Oct. Nov. Dec. Rising interest rates, and expectations about where those rates are headed, may have weighed on stock prices more than anything else in 2018. With the United States’s economy humming, the Fed increased its target rate four times in 2018, pushing up borrowing costs across the economy. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note, which is the basis for debt like home mortgages and corporate loans, climbed to its highest level since 2011 before falling back. When borrowing costs rise too much, they can be restrictive. Companies and consumers pull back, and the economy suffers. In the worst case, a recession could occur. Stocks tumbled as investors became increasingly concerned that the Fed, under a new chairman, Jerome H. Powell, would raise interest rates too far and send a chill through the American economy. Only more data on the state of the economy will ease the concerns about growth. If investors see the economy growing steadily, jitters over the Fed’s intentions and the recession fears that gripped stocks could fade. “We’re going to see if the market was wildly hysterical about a recession,” said Ed Yardeni, chief investment strategist at Yardeni Research. If not, then investors could hang on the Fed’s every move, and monetary policy meeting, in 2019. President Trump is a factor Heading into 2018, in the days after Mr. Trump’s tax cuts were enacted, investors were mostly buoyant about his presidency and tolerant of his unpredictable declarations on Twitter. That bullishness persisted even after it became clear that Mr. Trump was serious about imposing restrictions on trading partners as a way of gaining concessions from them. But as the trade war continued, unresolved tensions with China started to become a concern, and Mr. Trump’s proclamations started to make investors jumpy. When Mr. Trump referred to himself on Twitter as “Tariff Man,” the message helped spur a drop of more than 3 percent in the S&P 500. ....I am a Tariff Man. When people or countries come in to raid the great wealth of our Nation, I want them to pay for the privilege of doing so. It will always be the best way to max out our economic power. We are right now taking in $billions in Tariffs. MAKE AMERICA RICH AGAIN — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 4, 2018 It wasn’t just the tweets about China that began to bother investors. Mr. Trump also roiled the markets with criticism of the Fed, which he blamed for the stock market turmoil. This is a change for the market. When the investment bank RBC Capital Markets surveyed big investors in December about what kept them up at night, Mr. Trump topped the list (interest rates and the trade war ranked second and third). The only problem our economy has is the Fed. They don’t have a feel for the Market, they don’t understand necessary Trade Wars or Strong Dollars or even Democrat Shutdowns over Borders. The Fed is like a powerful golfer who can’t score because he has no touch - he can’t putt! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 24, 2018 When it comes to Mr. Trump, investors have a lot to consider. They will have to weigh whether a partial government shutdown will dampen the economy; what a House of Representatives controlled by Democrats or staff turnover at the White House could mean; and what might happen if the United States and China can’t reach a trade deal by a March 1 deadline. Global growth has already been slowing Commodity prices in 2018 PRICE OF OIL PRICE OF COPPER $ 100 a barrel $ 4.00 per pound Brent crude futures contracts Generic futures contracts $3.28 80 3.00 $66.87 60 $2.68 2.00 $54.15 40 1.00 20 0 0 J F M A M J J A S O N D J F M A M J J A S O N D Commodity prices in 2018 PRICE OF OIL $ 100 a barrel 80 $66.87 60 Brent crude futures contracts $54.15 40 J F M A M J J A S O N D PRICE OF COPPER 3.50 per pound $ $3.28 3.00 $2.68 2.50 Generic futures contracts 2.00 J F M A M J J A S O N D Commodity prices in 2018 PRICE OF OIL PRICE OF COPPER $ 100 a barrel $ 4.00 per pound Brent crude futures contracts Generic futures contracts $3.28 80 3.00 $66.87 60 $2.68 2.00 $54.15 40 1.00 20 0 0 J F M A M J J A S O N D J F M A M J J A S O N D The trade war’s most evident impact so far has been in large overseas economies, which appear to be taking a turn for the worse. China, Japan and the European Union showed signs of slowing down late in 2018, and reliable indicators of global growth like the price of oil and copper are flashing warnings. Growth may accelerate if trade agreements are forged in 2019. But the problems could be deeper. China’s methods for pulling its economy out of a rut probably are not as effective as they once were. And the battle between Italy’s populist government and the European Union over the country’s spending plans may heat up again. The European economy could also be hit hard if Britain crashes out of the European Union without an agreement that keeps trade flowing freely. That could be avoided if Parliament approves a withdrawal deal Prime Minister Theresa May has struck with the union. But that is no sure thing. Mrs. May, lacking the necessary support, was forced to delay a vote originally set for last month until mid-January. She has been trying, so far unsuccessfully, to extract changes from European officials in hopes of improving the chances of passage when that vote comes. If Parliament ultimately rejects Mrs. May’s proposal, investors will probably remain nervous. And support may grow among lawmakers for a second referendum on whether Britain should leave the European Union. If that happens, stocks — including those in the United States — may rise on the hope that Britons vote to stay. Technology stocks have unique challenges Technology stocks versus the S&P 500 in 2018 PERCENT CHANGE FROM JAN. 1 TO PEAK (SEPT. 20) + 100 % Netflix + 75 Amazon + 50 Microsoft + 25 Apple Google S&P 500 0 Facebook – 25 PERCENT CHANGE FROM SEPT. 20 TO DEC. 31 + 25 % 0 S&P 500 – 25 – 50 Technology stocks versus the S&P 500 in 2018 PERCENT CHANGE FROM JAN. 1 TO PEAK (SEPT. 20) + 100 % Netflix + 75 Amazon + 50 Microsoft + 25 Apple Google S&P 500 0 Facebook – 25 PERCENT CHANGE FROM SEPT. 20 TO DEC. 31 + 25 % 0 S&P 500 – 25 – 50 Technology stocks versus the S&P 500 in 2018 PERCENT CHANGE FROM JAN. 1 TO PEAK (SEPT. 20) + 100 % Netflix + 75 Amazon + 50 Microsoft + 25 Apple Google S&P 500 0 Facebook – 25 PERCENT CHANGE FROM SEPT. 20 TO DEC. 31 + 25 % 0 S&P 500 – 25 – 50 The market’s fate also depends on whether investors fall back in love with large technology companies. Last year, companies like Facebook, Apple, Amazon and Netflix helped push key stock benchmarks like the S&P 500 and Nasdaq composite to records, and then dragged those indexes down when the companies went into free-fall. The tech giants’ shares plunged in part because they were deemed to be too expensive. Put another way, investors went from being optimistic that the companies’ future earnings would be terrific, to worried that they wouldn’t. Some of the large tech firms also face substantial problems in their own operations that could take time to resolve. Apple, for example, counts on China as both a market where it sells iPhones and a manufacturing hub. Facebook is spending large sums of money to try to protect its network from interference. Any sign that its systems have been abused with the goal of swinging an election could subject it to regulation. Facebook is not alone in facing this concern. Some analysts say that large tech companies are now in a position to similar to what big banks confronted after the financial crisis of 2008. “The tech companies are a heck of a lot better run than the financial companies were in 2007,” said Savita Subramanian, equity strategist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, “but their incentives may not be aligned with the best interests of employees and shareholders.” Quite a few things have to go right for stocks to recover in 2019 The United States economy has to grow at a strong enough pace to deliver the corporate earnings that investors are hoping for. But if the economy grows quickly, investors may return to worrying about higher interest rates. If the Fed can tread a delicate middle ground, the trade war winds down and the economies of Europe and China stabilize, a recovery in stock prices could hold.

polusa

2019_1_test.csv

2019_1_test.csv0 53010215 1 59549287 2 59633617 3 52963105 4 18321756 ... 162989 4829910 162990 4889401 162991 4884295 162992 4760206 162993 4533244 Name: id, Length: 162994, dtype: int64

NASA's New Horizons spacecraft has survived humanity's most distant exploration of another world. Ten hours after the middle-of-the-night encounter 4 billion miles away, flight controllers in Laurel, Maryland, received word from the spacecraft late Tuesday morning. Cheers erupted at Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Laboratory, home to Mission Control. An anxious spill-over crowd in a nearby auditorium joined in the loud celebration. New Horizons zoomed past the small celestial object known as Ultima Thule 3 ½ years after its spectacular brush with Pluto. Scientists say it will take nearly two years for New Horizons to beam back all its observations of Ultima Thule, a full billion miles beyond Pluto. At that distance, it takes six hours for the radio signals to reach Earth. CBS News' Bill Harwood reported that on Sunday, moving within 1.2 million miles of its quarry, the nuclear-powered spacecraft was finally close enough to begin capturing images that showed more than a single point of light, revealing a clearly elongated body as suggested by earlier observations using ground-based telescopes. JHU/APL Ultima Thule is thought to be literally frozen in time, a pristine remnant of the original disk of rocky debris that coalesced to form the solar system some 4.6 billion years ago. The first high-resolution image is expected to be unveiled during a news briefing Wednesday. "This is a very mysterious object," said Hal Weaver, the New Horizons project scientist. "This is potentially the most primitive object that's ever been visited by a spacecraft. ... We think it was one of the earliest objects that formed, and who the heck knows what it's going to look like, what it's going to tell us?"

polusa

2019_1_test.csv

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Image copyright Google Image caption The man was taken to hospital after the incident on Owen Road in Kirkdale A man has been taken to hospital following reports he was shot in the leg. The victim, aged in his 20s, was treated for injuries "not thought to be life threatening", Merseyside Police said. Officers were called to Owen Road in Kirkdale at about 10:20 GMT. Police want to trace two men who were dressed in black, one on a green motorcycle and one on foot. They are believed to have made off towards Stanley Road and officers believe they could "have vital information". Det Ch Insp Ian Warlow urged witnesses to come forward, stressing "carrying a gun can result in serious consequences".

polusa

2019_1_test.csv

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In “The U.S. Military’s Crisis of Imagination,” Douglas J. Feith and Seth Cropsey do an excellent job highlighting the major issues set forth by the National Defense Strategy Commission last month (op-ed, Dec. 20). But they veer off course dramatically by assuming that the grave problems in U.S. defense capability and strategy will be solved by increased defense appropriations from Congress. Money cannot fix the military’s lack of imagination. The big increase in the defense appropriations for fiscal 2019 is almost all going...

polusa

2019_1_test.csv

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BERLIN—A German national drove intentionally into a crowd of people in western part of the country early Tuesday in what police said appears to have been a xenophobic-motivated attack. Police have indications of a mental illness for the 50-year-old German, who drove his silver Mercedes car into a crowd in the city center of Bottrop shortly after midnight, injuring four people, some of them seriously. Among...

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2019_1_test.csv

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BERLIN—A German national drove into a crowd of people in a Western city early Tuesday in what police said appears to have been a deliberate attack motivated by xenophobia. The assault injured seven people, one of them seriously, said authorities, including Afghan and Syrian nationals. The 50-year old German driver first plowed his silver Mercedes into a crowd in the city center of Bottrop shortly after midnight, police said. He then attempted unsuccessfully to drive into another group in nearby Essen before he was detained. ...

polusa

2019_1_test.csv

2019_1_test.csv0 53010215 1 59549287 2 59633617 3 52963105 4 18321756 ... 162989 4829910 162990 4889401 162991 4884295 162992 4760206 162993 4533244 Name: id, Length: 162994, dtype: int64

Last year, we saw the rise of accute flaccid myelitis (AFM), a mysterious polio-like illness affecting dozens of children around the country, while the work of a Chinese scientist led to serious ethical questions about gene editing. Medical breakthroughs like health devices you can wear and 3D printing showed the increasing power of technology in healthcare. Here's how those top health stories could continue on into 2019: Accute flaccid myelitis The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been tracking these mysterious cases since 2014 and assembled a task force in November to help define the cause of the condition. Dr. Tara Narula said it's "very scary for parents because it mostly affects children." "The reality is, I want to keep it in perspective: it is very rare," Narula said on "CBS This Morning." "So we're talking about one or two children out of a million that will be affected per year. Since 2014, about 491 cases. We think it may be caused by a virus. We don't know which one." The virus affects motor neurons on the spinal cord, Narula explained. "It may cause an inflammatory reaction. Certain kids may be genetically susceptible. And what happens is, the child may start out with a mild respiratory-like infection, and then it progresses to weakness in the arms or legs, trouble with vision, swallowing, or speaking," she said. Children recover in certain instances, but others have "progressive or worsening paralysis that remains for a long time, or even respiratory failure." 3D printing of human organs Beyond toys, gadgets, clothing, or even food, researchers are looking to 3D printing for human organs. "It's really going to help with the organ donor issue. We know that 100,000 people are waiting for organs every year, and there's only 16,000 donors, so the idea is that this could be a wonderful thing for that," Narula said. "For example, we would take an MRI of your heart. Create a scaffold structure of exactly of what your heart… looks like. And then the ink would be a mixture of cells and biodegradable materials, essentially printed with that scaffolding. That scaffolding then degrades over time and you're left with a 3D heart," Narula said. "And so the idea is that this is really perfectly suited for your body because [it] came from imaging of you, and it will prevent rejection because it's made from your own cells, the ink is. And so we think we're about five to 10 years away from having this implanted in people, and we think a bladder may be the first organ that we're able to do." Narula pointed out 3D printing is already used for implanting parts for hip replacements or artificial stents. Use of CRISPR gene-editing technology When Chinese scientist He Jiankui claimed to have created the world's first genetically-edited babies in November, "a lot of people in the science community were outraged," Narula said. "Right now, we're using it mostly in cells and animal models to explore treating diseases that can be devastating. Things like cystic fibrosis, Tay-Sachs, Huntington's, sickle cells. It has a lot of promise in the future for things like heart disease and mental health and cancer even," Narula said. "But the problem with what happened this last month is that it was used to alter embryos. And when you're doing that – and the technology is still premature – you're risking creating other mutations in the embryos. Those children could go on to have susceptibilities to other problems down the road, other infections, and now you're altering the genetic code for every child that that child has. So it really needs to be done when the technology is ready. And right now, the scientific community is saying we're not there yet." "I think what the controversy has done is really raise a lot of red flags, and a lot of people are going to be on guard and watching to put up better guidelines about how we use CRISPR going forward," Narula added.

polusa

2019_1_test.csv

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President Donald Trump (Photo: Carolyn Kaster, AP) WASHINGTON – Whether it's mocking "haters" or attacking retired four-star general Stanley McChrystal for criticizing him, President Donald Trump served New Year's Day notice Tuesday that he is not soothing his aggressive tone. "'General” McChrystal got fired like a dog by Obama," Trump tweeted on the first day of the new year. "Last assignment a total bust. Known for big, dumb mouth. Hillary lover!" The tweet came two days after McChrystal described the president as dishonest and immoral. Earlier in the day, Trump turned a holiday expression into a mocking attack on his critics, urging them to "calm down and enjoy the ride" as the nation heads into 2019. More: Donald Trump rejects Democratic funding plan, wishes Happy New Year to 'haters' More: Government shutdown hitting small businesses, federal workers Wrote Trump: "HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERYONE, INCLUDING THE HATERS AND THE FAKE NEWS MEDIA! 2019 WILL BE A FANTASTIC YEAR FOR THOSE NOT SUFFERING FROM TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME. JUST CALM DOWN AND ENJOY THE RIDE, GREAT THINGS ARE HAPPENING FOR OUR COUNTRY!" McChrystal, the commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, was fired in 2010 by President Barack Obama over critical comments about the administration. On a Sunday broadcast, McChrystal told ABC News' This Week that he would never work for Trump. "I think it's important for me to work for people who I think are basically honest, who tell the truth as best they know it," McChrystal told ABC's Martha Raddatz. “You think he’s a liar?” Raddatz asked. "I don't think he tells the truth," McChrystal replied. "Is Trump immoral, in your view?" Raddatz then asked. "I think he is," McChrystal said. Read or Share this story: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2019/01/01/donald-trump-attacks-general-stanley-mcchrystal-haters-news-media/2457007002/

polusa

2019_1_test.csv

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It is well-understood by now that strange incidences are regularly unfolding on college campuses these days. Take a look at a few of the highlights from 2018, in which a variety of campus events were canceled — each one for its own unique and ridiculous reason. REASON 1: Vague and Unexplained In October, DePaul University blacklisted Turning Point USA’s Charlie Kirk and Candace Owens from speaking on campus. The university’s Vice President of Student Affairs Rico Tyler cited “violent language” and “identified populations being singled out in a demeaning fashion” as his reason for canceling the event, but when asked to explain what he meant by that, Tyler did not respond. REASON 2: Too Many White People St. Catherine’s University in St. Paul, Minnesota, canceled a leadership conference after deciding that too many of its speakers were white. Similarly, organizers for the 2019 California Women’s March recently announced that they, too, have decided to cancel their event due to the lack of melanin in participants’ skin, citing march attendees as “overwhelmingly white.” REASON 3: It Is Dangerous to Go Outside In April, Penn State University banned the school’s Outing Club from going outside, claiming that the great outdoors is too dangerous. Therefore, the 98-year-old student organization was left with no events on its calendar, because “the Outing Club isn’t allowed to go outside anymore.” REASON 4: Jokes Heard by Politically Correct Ears Earlier this month, an event at Columbia University abruptly ended after students took offense to jokes made by a Saturday Night Live (SNL) writer and comedian. The SNL comedian, Nimesh Patel, reportedly had his microphone taken away by the students who invited him while he was in the middle of his act, and then was told to leave. REASON 5: An Angry Mob of Students Attack Scholar and author Charles Murray was unable to speak at Middlebury College in March, after being confronted by an angry mob of students. When Murray and Middlebury professor Allison Stanger attempted to leave, students reportedly “violently set upon the car, rocking it, pounding on it, jumping on and trying to prevent it from leaving campus.” The professor ended up having to visit a hospital after a violent protester “pulled professor Stanger’s hair and twisted her neck.” You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Twitter at @ARmastrangelo and on Instagram.

polusa

2019_1_test.csv

2019_1_test.csv0 53010215 1 59549287 2 59633617 3 52963105 4 18321756 ... 162989 4829910 162990 4889401 162991 4884295 162992 4760206 162993 4533244 Name: id, Length: 162994, dtype: int64

An image of a sailor kissing his same-sex partner after returning to Florida from a months-long Navy deployment has sparked both hate and support online. Television station WJXT reports Bryan Woodington was one of about 300 sailors deployed to the Persian Gulf and Europe in May aboard the USS The Sullivans. The sailors returned home to the Jacksonville area Dec. 21, in time to spend the holidays with their families. The station reports Woodington and his husband of one year, Kenneth Woodington, won a charity lottery to be the first couple re-united for the ceremonial first kiss. The couple kissed for the first time in seven months as cameras rolled and the crowd cheered. Sailor Bryan Woodington kisses his husband Kenneth Woodington Dec. 21 following a seven-month deployment in an image that has sparked both backlash and support online Naval Station Mayport "I miss him very much, and it was our first deployment," Kenneth Woodington told the station. "I've never been away from him that long. It just means so much to have him back." But both the television station and the Naval Station Mayport, which posted an image of the couple kissing on their Facebook page, received backlash. The station reports it received phone calls and emails blasting its decision to publish the images of the kiss. "How sad that your station has dropped to such a low as to show a gay couple kissing on your newscast," one commenter reportedly wrote. But the couple also received an outpouring of support online. "Times have changed when a gay sailor can welcome home his partner without fear," one commenter wrote on the Naval Station Mayport Facebook page. "Welcome home. Life is short, love whoever you want to love." The couple told the station they've received more support than backlash and said the negative comments didn't bother them. "My grandmother always taught me, she said, 'You know. some people have a different life and this is how they are, and you just have to treat them as such, and treat them with kindness and respect,'" Bryan Woodington told the station. Bill Austin, a spokesman for Naval Station Mayport, told the station a same-sex first kiss has happened before, and the couple says the Navy has been supportive.

polusa

2019_1_test.csv

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The United States and Israel officially quit the U.N.'s educational, scientific and cultural agency at the stroke of midnight, the culmination of a process triggered more than a year ago amid concerns that the organization fosters anti-Israel bias. The withdrawal is mainly procedural yet serves a new blow to UNESCO, co-founded by the U.S. after World War II to foster peace. The Trump administration filed its notice to withdraw in October 2017 and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu followed suit. The Paris-based organization has been denounced by its critics as a crucible for anti-Israel bias: blasted for criticizing Israel's occupation of east Jerusalem, naming ancient Jewish sites as Palestinian heritage sites and granting full membership to Palestine in 2011. Israeli U.N. envoy Danny Danon said Tuesday that his country "will not be a member of an organization whose goal is to deliberately act against us, and that has become a tool manipulated by Israel's enemies." The U.S. has demanded "fundamental reform" in the agency that is best known for its World Heritage program to protect cultural sites and traditions. UNESCO also works to improve education for girls, promote understanding of the Holocaust's horrors, and to defend media freedom. The withdrawals will not greatly impact UNESCO financially, since it has been dealing with a funding slash ever since 2011, when both Israel and the U.S. stopped paying dues after Palestine was voted in as a member state. Since then officials estimate that the U.S. — which accounted for around 22 percent of the total budget — has accrued $600 million in unpaid dues, which was one of the reasons for President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw. Israel owes an estimated $10 million. UNESCO Director General Audrey Azoulay took up her post just after Trump announced the pullout. Azoulay, who has Jewish and Moroccan heritage, has presided over the launch of a Holocaust education website and the U.N.'s first educational guidelines on fighting anti-Semitism — initiatives that might be seen as responding to U.S. and Israeli concerns. Officials say that many of the reasons the U.S. cited for withdrawal do not apply anymore, noting that since then, all 12 texts on the Middle East passed at UNESCO have been consensual among Israel and Arab member states. In April, Israel's ambassador to UNESCO said the mood was "like a wedding" after member nations signed off on a rare compromise resolution on "Occupied Palestine," and UNESCO diplomats hailed a possible breakthrough on longstanding Israeli-Arab tensions. The document was still quite critical of Israel, however, and the efforts weren't enough to encourage the U.S. and Israel to reconsider their decision to quit. In recent years, Israel has been infuriated by repeated resolutions that ignore and diminish its historical connection to the Holy Land and that have named ancient Jewish sites as Palestinian heritage sites.

polusa

2019_1_test.csv

2019_1_test.csv0 53010215 1 59549287 2 59633617 3 52963105 4 18321756 ... 162989 4829910 162990 4889401 162991 4884295 162992 4760206 162993 4533244 Name: id, Length: 162994, dtype: int64

Image copyright Whelan family Image caption The Whelan family released an undated photo of Paul Whelan The brother of a US citizen arrested on Friday for spying in Russia has told BBC News he is innocent and was in Moscow to attend a wedding. The family of ex-Marine Paul Whelan, 48, learnt of his arrest on Monday from news reports after wondering why they had not heard from him for days. His twin brother David Whelan says he knew Russia well and cannot believe he would have broken any laws. Russia's FSB state security agency says he was "caught spying" in Moscow. The Michigan man was charged with the crime of espionage, for which he could be sentenced to at least 10 years in prison. The US state department has requested consular access after being notified by the Russian authorities of the detention. Spy scandals have erupted between Russia and America at regular intervals since the Cold War, while Russia's actions in Ukraine since 2014, and allegations of Russian meddling in the 2016 US presidential election, have seen relations plummet. What was Paul Whelan doing in Russia? The FSB says he was detained "during an act of espionage", a wording which implies that Mr Whelan was caught red-handed, the BBC's Sarah Rainsford reports. In a statement tweeted by David Whelan, his family said it had been out of character for him not to be in contact even when travelling. Skip Twitter post by @davidpwhelan My brother was detained by the Russian government on Friday as an alleged spy. While the law library + info focus will remain, you may see an increase in off-message topics until we get him safely home. pic.twitter.com/2HIF1UmS1b — David Whelan (@davidpwhelan) January 1, 2019 Report Speaking to BBC News on Tuesday, David Whelan said his brother had arrived in Russia on 22 December and had been due to return on 6 January. He had been attending the wedding of a fellow former Marine to a Russian citizen and had planned to visit Russia's second city, St Petersburg, in addition to Moscow. Paul Whelan, his brother said, has been visiting Russia for business and pleasure since 2007, working in corporate security, with automotive industry components firm BorgWarner his most recent employer. As well as serving in the US military, he has worked in law enforcement in the past. Image copyright EPA Image caption Mr Whelan has also been planning to visit St Petersburg Paul Whelan would stand out in a crowd, his brother suggested, as he is "about six foot [1.8 metres] and kind of hefty with a former soldier's build". But asked if he could think of any reason why he had attracted the attention of Russian security services, David Whelan was adamant there was none. "I can't imagine how someone with a law enforcement background who is also a former US Marine, and who is now working in corporate security and is also aware of the risks of travel, would have broken any law let alone the law related to espionage," he said. "His innocence is undoubted and we trust that his rights will be respected," the family said in its statement. How has the US responded to the arrest? Paul Whelan's three siblings have contacted Congressional representatives, the US embassy and the state department, which David Whelan described as "very helpful". "Russia's obligations under the Vienna Convention require them to provide consular access," a state department representative told BBC News. "We have requested this access and expect Russian authorities to provide it. Due to privacy considerations, we have no additional information to provide at this time." How extensive is spying between Russia and the US? The two countries have been spying on each other for decades but very few US citizens have been arrested for espionage on Russian territory: In 2013, US diplomat Ryan Fogle was arrested and expelled after being accused of trying to recruit a Russian intelligence officer as a spy In 2000, former naval intelligence officer Edmond Pope was tried and convicted of espionage but pardoned by Russian President Vladimir Putin The two countries have expelled each other's diplomats at intervals, notably last year over the nerve agent attack in the UK, which was blamed on Russia. Last month, a Russian gun rights activist held in the US, Maria Butina, pleaded guilty to conspiracy. US prosecutors say she acted as a Russian state agent, infiltrating conservative political groups. In 2010, 10 Russian agents were arrested in the US for deep-cover espionage and later swapped for four Russians convicted of spying for the West.

polusa

2019_1_test.csv

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Breaking News Emails Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings. By Associated Press NEW YORK — For a decade, Barbara Underwood was an apolitical force in New York, quietly serving as solicitor general before getting an unexpected promotion to become the state's first female attorney general. Now, the 74-year-old Democrat, who abruptly ascended to the office after a scandal felled her predecessor, is going back to her old job after a nearly eight-month turn in the spotlight. This time she will be serving under another woman, Letitia James, another Democrat who was sworn into the job in Albany late Monday night. Underwood will be able to look back on a record as a leading antagonist of President Donald Trump — if only briefly. She sued to put Trump's charitable foundation out of business, accusing him of running it as a wing of his private businesses and political campaign. Underwood also used the courts to challenge his administration on a multitude of policy fronts, including opposing its push to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census. Those attacks earned Underwood scorn from Trump. In a tweet, he bristled that she "does little else but rant, rave & politic against me." Underwood, who has never held elected office and declined to run for the attorney general's job, always said that politics had nothing to do with it. And she said she's content to be going back to the lower-profile job of solicitor general. "I like that role, and so I'm happy to go back to doing it," she told The Associated Press in a recent interview. "I have come to like this too. It's not that I'm eager to leave this, but I'm very happy to be going on to something that I know I like." Underwood was appointed attorney general by the state legislature in May after the surprise resignation of Eric Schneiderman, who quit just hours after The New Yorker posted a story in which four women accused him of slapping or choking them. Schneiderman later apologized to his accusers; the special prosecutor who investigated the allegations declined to bring criminal charges. Underwood said Schneiderman's May 7 resignation came without warning. When the night started, she said, all she and her colleagues knew was that a news article about him was about to be published. "I had no idea that this particular event was going to happen until it happened," Underwood said. They went to a bar to wait for what came next. Schneiderman announced he would resign and a colleague told Underwood: "It looks like you're going to be the next attorney general. Are you ready?" "I thought, 'OK here we go. Let's not lose any time. Let's not lose any morale, any energy," Underwood said. "There was no time lag for me, and I didn't want there to be a time limit for anyone else." She said the big change was having to deal with the media. Underwood didn't seek election to a full term, clearing the way for James, the New York City public advocate, to seek the office. Not facing a campaign likely gave Underwood more flexibility, former state attorney general Dennis Vacco said. "She had an independence and a freedom that wasn't tethered to the will of the people and the ballot box," Vacco, a Republican said. "She leaves a rather stable environment for AG-elect James to come into now." James, who also made history as the first black woman elected to statewide office in New York, praised Underwood for doing an "excellent job." Aside from challenging Trump, Underwood negotiated civil settlements with hospitals that she accused of wrongly billing rape victims for evidence kits, sued Exxon, claiming that it was misleading investors about climate change, and investigated phony public comments submitted to the Federal Communications Commission over internet regulation. The job is the high mark, so far, of a career that Underwood said didn't always "go in a straight line." She has taught law at Yale and was a law clerk for Thurgood Marshall, the first black Supreme Court justice, and for David Bazelon, the former chief judge of the D.C. Court of Appeals. She worked as an assistant district attorney and federal prosecutor in Brooklyn, and was a top deputy to U.S. Solicitor General Seth Waxman during President Bill Clinton's administration. She was also the nation's acting solicitor general for six months in 2001, the first woman in that post. Underwood has argued cases before the U.S. Supreme Court 20 times. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who hired Underwood as solicitor general in 2007, praised her "brilliant legal mind" and professionalism. Underwood said it was an honor to have gotten a chance to serve. "It is a special honor to be in that role right now when so many people are looking to this office to protect them and their rights. I feel privileged to hold this role and to do this important work and I'm glad that people appreciate it."

polusa

2019_1_test.csv

2019_1_test.csv0 53010215 1 59549287 2 59633617 3 52963105 4 18321756 ... 162989 4829910 162990 4889401 162991 4884295 162992 4760206 162993 4533244 Name: id, Length: 162994, dtype: int64

We are trying to be positive, but there’s little likely to put a smile on your face – except for a couple of things … Making predictions in the world of business and economics is a fool’s errand but that’s no reason not to have a crack at it. Here are some things to look out for in 2019, which could be a rollercoaster ride. Global gloom and doom How about global recession, a US-China trade war and a chaotic Brexit for starters? Any or all of these could cast a shadow over people and businesses the world over. The greatest unknown for British business and the economy lies in the possibility of a no-deal Brexit. The automotive industry has warned that production lines could be halted and investment choked off, while Airbus said it would be forced to cut jobs and pull billions of pounds in UK spending. Between them, carmakers and the European aerospace giant support around 1m jobs. That’s before one begins to assess the impact on industries such as pharmaceuticals, aviation, food and drink or London’s financial sector. Then there’s the prospect that the early skirmishes of a Sino-US trade war turn into full-blown hostility. There’s no telling what President Trump will do or say next so any optimism that the spectre of mutually assured destruction will bring everyone back from the brink seems naive. Trade wars, coupled with higher interest rates in major economies such as the US, could place greater drag on a global economy that already seems to be cooling, particularly in Europe and Asia. However, respected economist Nouriel Roubini has said a crash won’t come until 2020. You’ve got to take your crumbs of comfort where you can. The next Carillion? Ever since the outsourcing and construction firm’s ignominious collapse a year ago, pundits and short-sellers have been placing bets on who will be next. The two companies mentioned most often in the same breath as Carillion are Kier and Interserve. Both insist they have taken pre-emptive steps to avoid a similar fate. But there were some concerning words in Kier’s explanation for having to go cap in hand to shareholders for £250m. It warned that banks were pulling back from lending to the construction industry – words that will have sent shivers down the spine of anyone who remembers the last financial crisis. Fracking hell Cuadrilla became the first company to frack for gas since 2011 this year, drilling near Blackpool, Lancashire. Rivals are set to follow suit, with iGas probably the most likely to get fracking in 2019 and petrochemicals giant Ineos also champing at the bit. If Cuadrilla’s experience is anything to go by though, this could mean minor earthquakes in and around the areas where hydraulic fracturing – to give it its full name – takes place. If tremors become commonplace, 2019 could well be the year in which fracking becomes politically unpalatable in the UK for the foreseeable future. Ryanair revolution Ever since Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary agreed to recognise trade unions, he’s been at war with them. The year 2018 involved disruptive strike action by pilots and cabin crew, leading to flight cancellations. Ryanair has made some concessions on pay and conditions but O’Leary isn’t the sort of man to let anyone else have the last word, branding his pilots “a bunch of layabouts” in December. How long can labour relations remain this poor before something has to give? Could 2019 be the year that O’Leary steps down? High street, low sales It’s hard to imagine how conditions on the high street could get much worse. Failures in 2018 included Maplin’s, Toys R Us, House of Fraser and Poundworld. Now Debenhams is in a difficult position. Quick guide Why are high street retailers in trouble? Show Hide What's the problem? Physical retailers have been hit by a combination of changing habits, unseasonably warm weather, rising costs and broader economic problems. This year has seen the disappearance of Toys R Us, Maplin and Poundworld as a result. In terms of habits, shoppers are switching to buying online. The likes of Amazon have an unfair advantage because they have a lower business rate bill, which holds down costs and enables online retailers to woo shoppers with low prices. Business rates are taxes, based on the value of commercial property, that are imposed on traditional retailers with physical stores. At the same time, there is a move away from buying ‘stuff’ as more people live in smaller homes and rent rather than buy. Those pressures have come just as rising labour and product costs, partly fuelled by Brexit, have coincided with economic and political uncertainty that has dampened consumer confidence. How has the festive season gone so far? Trading has been tough, particularly for clothing retailers, as another relatively mild autumn hit sales of costly items such as coats and knitwear while shoppers have held out later than ever in the hope of getting bargain presents. The founder of Sports Direct, Mike Ashley, described November as “the worst on record, unbelievably bad” as he warned that warned that Debenhams and other big retail names faced being “smashed to pieces” by a high street downturn.Even online specialist Asos shocked the City when it issued a profits warning earlier this month as it admitted it had lost sales by not offering steep enough discounts during the Black Friday week. What help do retailers need? Retailers with a high street presence want the government to change business rates. They also want more political certainty as the potential for a no deal Brexit means some are not only incurring additional costs for stockpiling goods but are unsure about the impact of tariffs after March 2019. Retailers also want more investment in town centres to help them adapt to changing trends, as well as a cut to high parking charges which they say put off shoppers. What is the government doing? In the October budget the government announced some relief on business rates for independent shopkeepers. It has also set up a £675m “future high streets” fund under which local councils can bid for up to £25m towards regeneration projects such as refurbishing local historic buildings and improving transport links. The fund will also pay for the creation of a high street taskforce to provide expertise and hands-on support to local areas. What is the outlook in 2019? Some retailers could go under. Weakened by a difficult Christmas – which accounts for the entire annual profits of many retailers, and with further Brexit wobbles to come – retailers are facing a tough 2019. Another rise in the national minimum wage in April and the falling value of the pound against the dollar, which is used to buy goods in the Far East, will also add to costs and hit profits. Photograph: David Levene Brexit contingency plans, including stockpiling of goods, are already costing retailers money. Consumers are reining in spending. Weakness in the housing market means homewares may continue to suffer, while fashion sales remain in the doldrums. The government has offered little sign of relief on punishing business rates, while the threat posed to traditional stores by lightly taxedonline giants is unlikely to abate. Reefer madness Predictions for 2019 have offered precious few reasons to giggle uncontrollably so far but here’s one. The liberalisation of cannabis laws in North America presents huge opportunities for big business. Marlboro cigarette company Altria has agreed to invest $1.9bn in cannabis firm Cronos, while Budweiser owner ABInBev is working with Canadian pot firm Tilray on a $100m research deal into non-alcoholic drinks containing the active ingredients of cannabis, THC and CBS. However, you look at it, 2018 has been a high point (apologies) for the cannabis industry. Marijuana smokers are legion and the US market is gigantic. Expect interest and investment to surge in 2019. Sign up to the daily Business Today email or follow Guardian Business on Twitter at @BusinessDesk Bank battles Legal battles lie ahead for former Barclays’ executives and Lloyds, raising the mouth-watering prospect of finding out which is the tougher opponent for the might of the financial sector, the Serious Fraud Office or television presenter Noel Edmonds. The SFO is set to begin its case against bankers including former Barclays chief executive John Varley over the bank’s fundraising deals in the Middle East at the height of the credit crunch. Meanwhile, Edmonds’ £60m suit against Lloyds for alleged fraud at HBOS is set to continue, with the TV star preparing to file his legal claim.

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2019_1_test.csv0 53010215 1 59549287 2 59633617 3 52963105 4 18321756 ... 162989 4829910 162990 4889401 162991 4884295 162992 4760206 162993 4533244 Name: id, Length: 162994, dtype: int64

Add Bill Gates to the list of executives whose businesses have been ensnared by the Trump administration’s battle with China over technology and trade. The tech tycoon and philanthropist said in an essay posted late last week that a nuclear-energy project in China by a company he co-founded called TerraPower LLC is now unlikely to proceed because of recent changes in U.S. policy toward China. That leaves TerraPower, which had been working on the China project for more than three years, scrambling for a new partner and uncertain...

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2019_1_test.csv0 53010215 1 59549287 2 59633617 3 52963105 4 18321756 ... 162989 4829910 162990 4889401 162991 4884295 162992 4760206 162993 4533244 Name: id, Length: 162994, dtype: int64

The new year brought continued tensions along the U.S.-Mexico border as U.S. authorities fired tear gas at migrants from the Central American caravan that has gathered there. Authorities fired the gas into Mexico to keep roughly 150 migrants from breaching the border fence in Tijuana. An Associated Press photographer witnessed at least three volleys of gas launched onto the Mexican side of the border near Tijuana’s beach early Tuesday. It affected the migrants, including women and children, as well as members of the press. Migrants who spoke with AP said they arrived last month with the caravan from Honduras. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said in a statement that the gas was aimed at rock throwers on the Mexican side who prevented agents from helping children being passed over the concertina wire. The agency says 25 migrants were detained. Such clashes have been common as the migrants, who have put their names on a waiting list that is thousands of names long, have grown restless, with some opting to force their way across the border. U.S. border agents have responded to such moves with tear gas. CBP Commissioner Kevin McAleenan said last year that the Border Patrol’s use-of-force policy allows agents to use tear gas and other nonlethal methods. In November, after a group of migrants tried to rush the border, McAleenan defended the use of tear gas: “As the events unfolded, quick, decisive and effective action prevented an extremely dangerous situation.” The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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The population of Greece is dropping at a rate that has analysts worried about the country’s future as the fertility rate is well below replacement levels and significant brain drain exists. The National Center of Social Research (EKKE) and a special parliamentary committee on demographics and social affairs released demographic data this week, along with projections of the mid- to long-term effects of present trends. During the last seven years, the population of Greece has fallen by 360,000 and will decrease by another 770,000 people over the next 12 years if birth rates remain at current levels, the report projects. These numbers are all the more striking given that Greece’s total population is just over 11 million. The five-year period of 2005-2010 was the last in which Greece’s population saw growth, and ever since then, the population has been falling steadily. Given Greece’s low fertility rate of just 1.34, its graying population, and the “brain drain” caused by the exodus of young people in search of job opportunities, the long-term outlook is grimmer still, the report suggests, and the Greek population could precipitate by as much as 50 percent in the next three to five decades if things continue apace. A separate forecast offered by Worldometers, based on data collected from the United Nations Population Division, projects that by the year 2050, the Greek population will be falling by more than 50,000 per year. A population in sharp decline will trigger further economic and social problems for Greece, as the workforce dwindles and an ever-larger percentage of the populace depends on the nation’s already fragile social security system. Greece is far from alone in its demographic winter. Among European Union nations, the average birth rate is 1.6, significantly beneath the 2.1 live births per woman needed to avoid negative population growth and the global average of 2.4. But while other countries are at least making efforts to prop up their populations by encouraging larger families with economic incentives, the Greek government has persistently failed to deal with the problem head-on, critics suggest. A 2008 documentary titled Demographic Winter: The decline of the Human Family suggested that contrary to previous fears of a “population bomb,” the greatest demographic threat to humanity is not overpopulation but underpopulation. If this is indeed true, Greece is among those leading the pack. Follow Thomas D. Williams on Twitter Follow @tdwilliamsrome

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2019_1_test.csv0 53010215 1 59549287 2 59633617 3 52963105 4 18321756 ... 162989 4829910 162990 4889401 162991 4884295 162992 4760206 162993 4533244 Name: id, Length: 162994, dtype: int64

MOSCOW — Rescue workers pulled a 10-month-old baby boy alive from a partly collapsed apartment building in central Russia on Tuesday, calling him a “New Year miracle” after he survived in the rubble for more than 35 hours in freezing temperatures. An explosion believed to have been caused by a gas leak destroyed at least 25 apartments in the 10-story building in the city of Magnitogorsk early on Monday, killing at least nine people, and dozens of other residents remained missing. The rescue operation, which continued through the night, has been slowed by concerns that other parts of the building might come tumbling down, and the instability delayed the retrieval of one victim until Tuesday evening. The governor’s office said that the overhanging parts of a wall that threatened rescuers have been removed. The temperature in Magnitogorsk, an industrial city at the southern end of the Urals more than 1,000 miles east of Moscow, hovers just over 1 degree Fahrenheit (minus 17 degrees Celsius) in the daytime and minus 20 Fahrenheit or lower overnight.

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2019_1_test.csv0 53010215 1 59549287 2 59633617 3 52963105 4 18321756 ... 162989 4829910 162990 4889401 162991 4884295 162992 4760206 162993 4533244 Name: id, Length: 162994, dtype: int64

President Martin Vizcarra rushed back to Peru from a foreign trip Tuesday to grapple with the attorney general's move to dismantle a team investigating the sweeping Odebrecht corruption case. With hours left in the old year, Attorney General Pedro Chavarry removed two prosecutors leading the probe into high-ranking officials suspected of taking bribes from Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht. His announcement set off street protests in the capital and other cities in Peru, and Vizcarra denounced the action from Brazil, where he had gone to attend the New Year's Day inauguration of President Jair Bolsonaro. "We will not disappoint the population, especially in a year of consolidating our democracy in a fight against corruption," Vizcarra said upon returning. The president said he was still deciding how to proceed to try to overturn Chavarry's action. He could ask a judge to suspend Chavarry from his role as attorney general, a position elected by Peru's five supreme prosecutors. Vizcarra also could ask congress to pass legislation declaring an emergency and removing Chavarry from office. The investigation stems from the admission by Odebrecht, a giant Brazilian construction company, that it paid $800 million in bribes to officials across Latin America to win contracts. It said that included $29 million in Peru, where four past presidents have fallen under suspicion for possible links to the company. Chavarry held a news conference Monday night to announce his decision, though he took no questions. He said he removed the team's chief prosecutor, Jose Domingo Perez, for questioning his election as attorney general and the team's fiscal coordinator, Rafael Vela, who had supported Perez. Prosecutors in Peru are often viewed as corrupt bureaucrats, but Perez has drawn public favor for taking on the political elite, especially powerful opposition leader Keiko Fujimori, who has been imprisoned while she is under investigation. Perez has accused Chavarry of taking steps to cover up investigations into the Odebrecht links of Fujimori and of former President Alan Garcia, both political allies of the attorney general. In early December, Vela and Perez reached an agreement with Odebrecht executives who said they would deliver documents exposing bribes made to officials. Prosecutors say the evidence is key to their cases against Fujimori and Garcia. Prosecutors also have publicly accused Chavarry of having ties with criminal organizations made up of magistrates and businessmen who bartered power for favors or money. Chavarry's decision to dismantle the Odebrecht team sparked strong reaction from human rights groups. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights' executive secretary, Paulo Abrao, said on Twitter that "the decision by the attorney general of Peru must be justified to the public." Transparency International called the move "a huge step backward in the fight against impunity in Peru" and urged the attorney general to reverse his decision. Chavarry's announcement set off demonstrations late Monday by hundreds of people in Lima and at least three other cities. Protesters shouted phrases like "Out with Chavarry" as they waved Peruvian flags.

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2019_1_test.csv0 53010215 1 59549287 2 59633617 3 52963105 4 18321756 ... 162989 4829910 162990 4889401 162991 4884295 162992 4760206 162993 4533244 Name: id, Length: 162994, dtype: int64

Man, believed to have been security guard, fatally stabbed and three others injured A man has been stabbed to death at a New Year’s Eve party in Park Lane in central London. Emergency services were called to the West End property at about 5.30am on Tuesday following reports of violence. The victim, believed to be in his early 30s, has not yet been identified but is believed to have been working as a security guard at the venue. The Metropolitan police said two other men, aged 37 and 29, and a 29-year-old woman were also found with stab injuries. They were treated at the scene before being taken to hospital. Their injuries are not believed to be life-threatening. DCI Andy Partridge said: “The incident took place outside a venue that was hosting a private party. I would like to hear from anyone who was present at that event and witnessed this incident. “A number of witnesses have already been spoken to, but it is clear many others who were present are yet to be traced, some of whom may have captured the attack on their mobile phones. It appears the deceased and the two injured males were working as security staff for the party. They were attacked by a group of males who were outside trying to enter the venue. “The female was also attacked as she assisted the security staff in closing the front door of the premises. “This shocking incident happened just hours into a new year, the area was particularly busy with people out celebrating and making their way home from various parties and organised events.” Anyone with information is asked to contact police.

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2019_1_test.csv0 53010215 1 59549287 2 59633617 3 52963105 4 18321756 ... 162989 4829910 162990 4889401 162991 4884295 162992 4760206 162993 4533244 Name: id, Length: 162994, dtype: int64

A U.S. flag waves in front of the Embassy of the United States in Moscow, Russia, on March 30, 2018. (Photo: Yuri Kochetkov, EPA) An American businessman arrested in Russia on espionage charges was in Moscow to attend a wedding and is not a spy, his family says. The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) announced Monday that Paul Whelan, 48, was detained Friday "while on a spy mission." The FSB said the investigation was continuing but that Whelan could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted of espionage. Whelan's family released a statement Tuesday saying they learned of the retired U.S. Marine's arrest through media reports. The family says Whelan had not contacted them Friday, which was "out of character for him even when he was traveling." Family members immediately contacted the State Department, the U.S. Embassy in Moscow and congressional offices. "We are deeply concerned for his safety and well-being. His innocence is undoubted and we trust that his rights will be respected," the statement says. More: American arrested in Moscow 'while on a spy mission,' Russia says More: Maria Butina pleads guilty to conspiracy as agent of Russia in USA The U.S. State Department confirmed it had been notified of the arrest. "Russia’s obligations under the Vienna Convention require them to provide consular access," the State Department said in a statement. "We have requested this access and expect Russian authorities to provide it." Whelan's brother, David Whelan, did not immediately respond to a request for information from USA TODAY. He did, however, tell CNN that Paul Whelan lives in Michigan but was born in Canada to British parents. Whelan works in corporate security for automotive component supplier BorgWarner. But the company said he was not in Russia on company business. "Knowing that he's not dead, it weirdly really helps," David Whelan told CNN. "When we couldn't get ahold of him initially, we were worried, and we are still worried now, but at least we know he is alive." The news came as Russian President Vladimir Putin released a holiday greeting to President Donald Trump that "reaffirmed that Russia is open to dialogue" with the United States. Last month, Russian national Maria Butina pleaded guilty to conspiring to act as an agent for the Kremlin – and agreed to cooperate with federal prosecutors. She has been in jail since her arrest in July. The Kremlin has denied that Butina is a spy. U.S.-Russian relations have been battered by controversy despite Trump's frequent praise of Putin. Scores of Russian diplomats were expelled this year after the poisoning of an ex-Russian spy and his daughter in Britain that was linked to the Kremlin. All this while special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election has brought scrutiny on communications between Trump's inner circle and Russian operatives. Read or Share this story: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2019/01/01/paul-whelan-family-says-he-isnt-spy-russia/2456954002/

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2019_1_test.csv0 53010215 1 59549287 2 59633617 3 52963105 4 18321756 ... 162989 4829910 162990 4889401 162991 4884295 162992 4760206 162993 4533244 Name: id, Length: 162994, dtype: int64

Image copyright Instagram/@dinomelaye Nigerian lawmaker wey dey represent Kogi West district, North Central of di kontri don send New Year message give kontri pipo from wia im dey hide wia im send prayer give God to deliver am. Since Friday, December 28 naim police tanda di domot of Melaye say dem go wait dia till dem arrest am ontop accuse say im join hand wit im thugs wey carri arms to shoot one police officer, Sgt Danjuma Saliu wen im dey im duty post for Kogi state for July 2018. Dem never fit see Dino arrest. Inside tweet wey im put ontop twitter, Dino tok say e no dey fear anybody but God. Di senator also record video to wish pipo happy New Year ontop Instagram. Police tok tok pesin Jimoh Moshood for statement bin say "we don write clerk of National Assembly say make Dino Melaye report for Kogi state police command, to answer for di case, but im no gree show". Senator Dino bin raise alarm last week say police wan arrest and inject am to death. Police release statement say na lie. Dem tell Dino dat time say if e know say im don commit, make e come confess.

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2019_1_test.csv0 53010215 1 59549287 2 59633617 3 52963105 4 18321756 ... 162989 4829910 162990 4889401 162991 4884295 162992 4760206 162993 4533244 Name: id, Length: 162994, dtype: int64

This brings the price of a 24-pack of beer to 382 Qatari riyals, or about $104, and a one-liter bottle of gin (roughly 33 ounces) to 304 riyals, according to news reports. The Qatar Distribution Company confirmed the price increase, but an employee declined to discuss specific prices on Tuesday. The new prices apply only to foreigners living in Qatar who have valid permits to buy alcohol Visitors who want an alcoholic beverage have limited options. The authorities confiscate alcohol at Doha Airport, and drinking in public is banned. A few bars in international hotels do serve foreign visitors, selling beers for around 50 riyals. The price increases that went into effect on Tuesday are likely to be a delicate subject as Qatar prepares to host the soccer World Cup in 2022, when a country of 2.6 million people will open its doors to an expected 1.5 million international visitors. Many have wondered how much Qatari society might bend to accommodate guests who view drinking as a central part of the World Cup experience. Qatari officials have said that alcohol consumption would be more restricted than in other World Cups. They have suggested that some drinking would be allowed in designated zones, and that the country’s courts would deal more gently with visiting fans who consume alcohol than usual. The tax increase seemed to be part of a push to clamp down on “health-damaging goods,” according to a statement released last month by the Ministry of Finance that did not mention alcohol. The new tax will increase the price of sugary drinks by half, while the price of tobacco, alcohol, energy drinks and pork will double, Walid Zidani, an employee of the ministry, said by phone on Tuesday.

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2019_1_test.csv0 53010215 1 59549287 2 59633617 3 52963105 4 18321756 ... 162989 4829910 162990 4889401 162991 4884295 162992 4760206 162993 4533244 Name: id, Length: 162994, dtype: int64

Image copyright MPSHACKNEY Image caption In one of the violent incidents early on New Year's Day, a woman was shot at a nightclub in Hackney Two people have been stabbed to death and four others hurt in separate attacks in London, including one at a private party in the West End. Police were called to Park Lane, Westminster, at about 05:30 GMT following reports of a stabbing. A man, believed to be in his 30s, was found with stab wounds and died at the scene about 30 minutes later. In another attack, a woman was stabbed to death at a property in Southwark. The attacks came on the same evening a woman in her 20s was shot at a New Year event at a nightclub in Hackney. In the West End attack, two men aged 37 and 29, and a woman aged 29, were also found with stab wounds. They were treated at the scene before being taken to hospital. Their injuries are not believed to be life-threatening. 'Security staff' Police said the man who died appeared to be a member of security staff, as were the other two men who were hurt. Detectives have launched a murder investigation and are in the process of informing the man's next-of-kin. A post-mortem examination is due to be held later. Det Ch Insp Andy Partridge said: "The incident took place outside a venue that was hosting a private party. "It appears the deceased and the two injured males were working as security staff for the party, they were attacked by a group of males who were outside trying to enter the venue. "The female was also attacked as she assisted the security staff in closing the front door of the premises." In the Southwark attack, police were called by paramedics to an address in John Ruskin Street, Camberwell, at 04:20. A woman, aged in her early 30s, was found with stab wounds and, despite the efforts of paramedics to save her, she was pronounced dead at 04:50. She has not been formally identified and her next-of-kin have not yet been informed. A man, 34, was initially arrested at the scene on suspicion of attempted murder. He has been taken to a south London police station where he remains in custody.

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2019_1_test.csv0 53010215 1 59549287 2 59633617 3 52963105 4 18321756 ... 162989 4829910 162990 4889401 162991 4884295 162992 4760206 162993 4533244 Name: id, Length: 162994, dtype: int64

An episode of “Patriot Act With Hasan Minhaj” has been removed by Netflix in Saudi Arabia after the country expressed complaints about material in the show. “Now would be a good time to reassess our relationship with Saudi Arabia. And I mean that as a Muslim and as an American,” says Minhaj in the episode titled “Saudi Arabia.” He goes on to discuss the murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was killed in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul in October and was revealed to have been slain on orders from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Khashoggi’s body has not been found. The comedian then addresses the crown prince, referring to him as MBS, by critiquing the United States’ relationship with him and Saudi Arabia. “MBS asked, ‘Why the outrage?’ and frankly, MBS’ confusion is completely understandable. He has been getting away with autocratic shit like [Khashoggi’s killing] for years with almost no blowback from the international community,” says Minhaj. Minhaj then lists example after example of problems in Saudi Arabia, including the imprisonment of human rights activists and his critics and rising numbers of executions, and says that the only people who are fully aware of this are the people of Saudi Arabia, who call Mohammed “Abu Rasasa” ― which translates to “father of the bullet.” “We access God through Saudi Arabia, a country I feel does not represent our values,” says Minhaj, explaining how problematic it is to pray facing Mecca, the birthplace of the Prophet Muhammad, in Saudi Arabia. Minhaj then addresses the Yemen war as “the biggest tragedy of the MBS era.” Netflix confirmed for the Financial Times that it removed the episode in Saudi Arabia last week, “after the country’s Communications and Information Technology Commission made a request to take it down because it allegedly violated the kingdom’s anti-cyber crime law.” “We strongly support artistic freedom worldwide and only removed this episode in Saudi Arabia after we had received a valid legal request — and to comply with local law,” a Netflix spokesperson told HuffPost. According to the Financial Times, Netflix said the Saudi telecoms regulator cited Article 6 of the law as the reason for the complaint, which states that “production, preparation, transmission, or storage of material impinging on public order, religious values, public morals, and privacy, through the information network or computers” is a crime punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine not exceeding 3 million riyals (about $800,000). The episode is still available on Netflix in the United States, and Saudi users can still find it on the show’s YouTube page.

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2019_1_test.csv0 53010215 1 59549287 2 59633617 3 52963105 4 18321756 ... 162989 4829910 162990 4889401 162991 4884295 162992 4760206 162993 4533244 Name: id, Length: 162994, dtype: int64

Private-equity firms, known for buying and selling companies, would like to do more buying and holding. Blackstone Group LP, Carlyle Group LP, CVC Capital Partners and others over the past couple of years have launched funds that can own companies for 15 years or longer. Carlyle and CVC are back in the market raising new long-term buyout...

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2019_1_test.csv0 53010215 1 59549287 2 59633617 3 52963105 4 18321756 ... 162989 4829910 162990 4889401 162991 4884295 162992 4760206 162993 4533244 Name: id, Length: 162994, dtype: int64

Investors enter the new year increasingly uncertain about where the bond market is headed given the turbulent interplay between interest rates, growth, and inflation that intensified toward the end of 2018. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note—which moves inversely to price and helps set borrowing costs for consumers and businesses around the world—climbed higher at the start of 2018 as stocks rose and the dollar weakened. Investors were content to look past geopolitical tensions, and bonds’ fixed rates, given...

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2019_1_test.csv0 53010215 1 59549287 2 59633617 3 52963105 4 18321756 ... 162989 4829910 162990 4889401 162991 4884295 162992 4760206 162993 4533244 Name: id, Length: 162994, dtype: int64

Stock investors are heading into the new year with a sense of wariness after contending with sharp reversals across much of the market in the fourth quarter. Technology shares that had soared in prior years retreated late in 2018, hurt by worries about valuations and signs of slowing sales growth among industry giants such as Apple Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. Energy shares slid with oil prices, while shares of trade-sensitive manufacturers and auto makers lost ground as Beijing and Washington fought over trade policy. ...

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2019_1_test.csv0 53010215 1 59549287 2 59633617 3 52963105 4 18321756 ... 162989 4829910 162990 4889401 162991 4884295 162992 4760206 162993 4533244 Name: id, Length: 162994, dtype: int64

New Year’s Eve brought an unusual run of bad press for the Iran-backed Houthi rebels of Yemen, whose activities are rarely discussed at length by Western media. A report at the Washington Post collected accounts of the Houthis terrorizing civilians and torturing prisoners, while the United Nations complained about food assistance stolen from hungry people in Houthi-controlled areas. The Houthis normally do not receive much attention because the press is focused on collateral damage from the Saudi-led military intervention. The narrative has been about Saudi overreach and the pointless extension of a civil war the Houthis are destined to win, especially during the push to discredit the Saudi government after its agents murdered Washington Post contributor Jamal Khashoggi in Turkey. The fact that the Houthis overthrew the democratically-elected and internationally-recognized government of Yemen and have illegally occupied the capital city of Sanaa since 2014 is scarcely mentioned. The Washington Post clobbered the Houthis on New Year’s Eve with a story about the imprisonment and torture of civilians by the Houthis, beginning with a forthright admission that not enough attention has been paid to human rights violations by the insurgency: In Yemen’s war, a Saudi-led coalition backed by the United States has been vilified for killing thousands of civilians with airstrikes, waging an economic war that has driven millions to the precipice of starvation, and allegedly torturing foes and critics in secret prisons. The criticism has gained more traction since the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Turkey in October focused attention on Riyadh’s behavior and the coalition’s conduct in Yemen. But abuses are also being perpetrated by the rebels, known as Houthis. Torture, detentions and forced disappearances are widespread, according to legal documents and interviews with victims and human rights activists. The abuses are fueling an expanding atmosphere of fear and intimidation in this capital and across rebel-controlled areas. […] The Houthis have targeted activists, journalists, lawyers, religious minorities, business executives — anyone deemed to be against their rule and ideology. Gunmen have raided homes at night, arresting and beating people over minor disputes or for voicing criticism of their movement. Few face trials or have access to lawyers. Courts are either nonexistent or used purely for sentencing, according to human rights activists and victims. The Post noted that many civilians living in Houthi-controlled areas are so terrified of the occupying force that they refuse to speak with the media, believing themselves to be under constant surveillance. Their fears are not unreasonable, as residents of Houthi-controlled areas and foreign aid workers say the paranoid authoritarian insurgency has spies everywhere. Those few willing to talk about their treatment by the rebels spoke of arbitrary imprisonment for years on end, beatings, electrocutions, and psychological torture such as mock executions and threats against the wives and children of prisoners. Among other horrors, the Houthis were accused of roasting prisoners over an open fire, tossing live snakes into their cells, pummeling them with metal chains, and dragging them off to a chamber known by prisoners as “The Workshop” where the jailers went to work on their victims with knives. In early October, when a group of young women marched in the streets of Sanaa to protest rising food prices and frozen government salaries, the Houthis went after them with “daggers, batons, and electric prods.” “The Houthis also sent women to lecture the protesters about committing themselves to Allah and not attending such gatherings,” the Post added. Despite presenting themselves as a pious jihadist movement – another fact grossly under-reported by international media, as is their slogan “Allahu Akbar! Death to America! Death to Israel! Curse Upon the Jews! Victory to Islam!” – the Houthis are said to have become even more corrupt than the decrepit Yemeni bureaucracy they overthrew, looting public treasuries and skimming taxes to enrich themselves while the people under their control sink deeper into poverty and starvation. “People are frustrated. They say, ‘I am hungry, dying, there’s no salary.’ Meanwhile, the Houthis are driving $200,000 Porsches and Range Rovers,” said activist Hisham al-Omeisy, who fled to Egypt after the Houthis arrested and tortured him for accusing them of corruption. Sources for the report said the Houthis grew more brutal and paranoid after they turned on their ally Ali Abdullah Saleh, a former president of Yemen who threw in with the insurgency in a bid to undermine his successor. The Houthis murdered Saleh in 2017 and evidently decided to take off the gloves when dealing with his appalled followers. The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) on Monday announced that humanitarian food assistance has been stolen in Houthi-controlled areas and resold on the open market. The WFP also accused a local partner organization linked to the Houthi Education Ministry of fraud. “It was discovered that some food relief is being given to people not entitled to it and some is being sold for gain in the markets of the capital,” the WFP said, describing photographic evidence of trucks carting away food from distribution centers while local officials falsified paperwork to cover the theft. “This conduct amounts to the stealing of food from the mouths of hungry people. At a time when children are dying in Yemen because they haven’t enough food to eat, that is an outrage. This criminal behavior must stop immediately,” said WFP Executive Director David Beasley. The WFP asked Houthi authorities to help crack down on theft and ensure humanitarian shipments reach the intended beneficiaries, but much of the theft has been perpetrated with the assistance of the insurgency’s bureaucrats. Unfortunately, the Associated Press published the results of an investigation on Monday that found the Houthis’ adversaries were no slouches when it comes to stealing food from the hungry: Across Yemen, factions and militias on all sides of the conflict have blocked food aid from going to groups suspected of disloyalty, diverted it to front-line combat units or sold it for profit on the black market, according to public records and confidential documents obtained by the AP and interviews with more than 70 aid workers, government officials and average citizens from six different provinces. The problem of lost and stolen aid is common in Taiz and other areas controlled by Yemen’s internationally recognized government, which is supported by the Saudi-led military coalition. It is even more widespread in territories controlled by the Houthi rebels, the struggling government’s main enemy during the nearly four years of warfare that has spawned the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. The AP argued that while starvation in Yemen is widely blamed on the Saudi coalition blockading ports controlled by the rebels, in truth a great deal of the $4 billion in humanitarian aid sent to Yemen found its way into the country, only to be stolen by various factional militia or turned aside by roadblocks and combat zones. “In the northern province of Saada, a Houthi stronghold, international aid groups estimate that 445,000 people need food assistance. Some months the U.N. has sent enough food to feed twice that many people. Yet the latest figures from the U.N. and other relief organizations show that 65 percent of residents are facing severe food shortages, including at least 7,000 people who are in pockets of outright famine,” the AP reported. The Houthis responded to these allegations by variously pretending to be surprised by the United Nations and Associated Press findings, refusing to answer their telephones, and denouncing the allegations of torture as a propaganda campaign by the Saudi coalition to “cover up their own crimes.”

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2019_1_test.csv0 53010215 1 59549287 2 59633617 3 52963105 4 18321756 ... 162989 4829910 162990 4889401 162991 4884295 162992 4760206 162993 4533244 Name: id, Length: 162994, dtype: int64

Following North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un’s annual New Year’s Day address Tuesday, President Trump has a golden opportunity to break the current deadlock in denuclearization negotiations with the North. But to succeed, Trump will have to pay attention to what North Korea wants in exchange for surrendering its nuclear weapons, as well as the way Kim would consider giving up those weapons. Kim will not give up his nukes for a handshake, a smile and words of reassurance from the U.S. president. He will demand a high price. His country has spent decades and devoted massive resources to develop its nuclear weapons and missile program, which Kim sees it as his guarantee that the U.S. will not attack the North. CLICK HERE TO READ HARRY KAZIANIS: NORTH KOREAN MYSTERY WEAPONS TEST CREATES POSSIBILITY OF MILITARY CONFRONTATION WITH US. The North Korean leader’s New Year’s speech gives us an important window into his thinking about President Trump’s demand that the North get rid of its nukes. The good news is that Kim used the speech to offer an olive branch to Washington: he is willing to once again meet with President Trump for a second historic summit. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP But at the same time, Kim complained that America is unwilling to negotiate a viable path forward – not just on denuclearization but also on lifting crippling international economic sanctions on the North to build trust. In addition, Kim has long sought a formal peace treaty ending the Korean War to replace the armistice that halted fighting in 1953. “I am willing to meet the United States president at any time for the betterment of our international community,” Kim said in his speech. “However, if the United States does not keep its promise in our international community and misinterprets our patience and intention and continues with the sanctions, then we have no choice for the sake of our national interest and peace of the Korean Peninsula but to come up with new initiatives and new measures.” Kim will not give up his nukes for a handshake, a smile and words of reassurance from the U.S. president. He will demand a high price. In other words, Kim is threatening to scrap denuclearization plans without getting some important concessions from the U.S. Of critical importance, Kim said: “We will not make nuclear weapons and we will not proliferate nuclear weapons, and I have said this, and I will say this again now. If the United States can show corresponding measures, the relationship between the two countries will, through many processes, accelerate for the better. But if the counterpart continues with its past habits, it won’t be good, but I hope they stop this.” In plain English, that means Kim was sending the message that he won’t take further steps to get rid of his nuclear weapons without actions by the U.S., such as beginning to lift at least some economic sanctions on the North. If Kim was being truthful in his speech – always a question mark – he is offering what would amount to an historic arms control agreement, but only in return for big U.S. concessions that might also include withdrawing American troops from South Korea. Ending North Korea’s production and testing of nuclear weapons would prove President Trump’s approach to North Korea is working, knocking down criticism that the U.S. president has received at home. However, the issue of what to do with the North’s existing nuclear weapons stockpile would still have to be dealt with. Kim clearly drew what seems to be a line in the sand, making clear he will not surrender his nuclear arsenal unilaterally, and that he is looking for some sort of “corresponding measures” – meaning his all-important goal of sanctions relief – as the foundation for a path towards a new relationship with Washington. Kim also previewed what will happen next if negotiations collapse. He declared that he might pursue a “new way” if America pushed “one-sided demands”. None of this is surprising at all, and we should not be shocked by Kim’s words. The current deadlock is rooted in a major difference of opinion on what Kim and President Trump agreed to during the Singapore Summit in June. Each side agreed at the summit “to establish new U.S.-DPRK (North Korean) relations in accordance with the desire of the peoples of the two countries for peace and prosperity.” The agreement also said that Kim “reaffirmed his firm and unwavering commitment to complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula” and that “the DPRK commits to work toward complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.” That all seems straightforward, but some in the Trump administration have a different perspective. President Trump’s top national security officials have been trying to swap out that wording in media interviews and press statements, claiming that North Korea agreed to give up its nukes, not simply “work toward complete denuclearization.” In fact, administration officials keep using the line over and over that Kim has agreed to “the final, fully verified denuclearization of North Korea.” Unfortunately, Kim has not. What U.S. diplomats want the North to do is simply give up its nuclear weapons for a promise to relieve sanctions. That’s wishful thinking. No nuclear power armed with long-range intercontinental ballistic missiles and hydrogen bombs – as North Korea is – would ever accept a deal like that. States with the power of atomic arms accept negotiation, not to surrender on all fours. The good news is that we are not headed back to the days when President Trump was threatening “fire and fury” against North Korea and Kim was threatening nuclear war. Thankfully, Kim’s “new way” does not mean a return to missile or nuclear tests – something that could push America to strike. Enter China. Kim could make the case that Beijing should loosen sanctions or completely drop them because Washington is being unreasonable. Over 90 percent of North Korean exports flow through China, meaning the Chinese government has been responsible for enforcing Washington’s maximum pressure strategy of stiff economic sanctions on the North. That’s a fatal flaw that Chinese President Xi Jinping will exploit if current trade negotiations with the U.S. look to be headed in a direction unfavorable to China. The plain truth is that without Chinese cooperation, trade sanctions by the U.S. and other nations on North Korea will have only a very limited impact. The good news is that there is a path forward – thanks to South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in. I will admit, I was no fan of South Korea’s approach, but I can honestly say I have been proven wrong. In what I have called the Moon Miracle, Seoul has chosen to engage the Pyongyang in as many different ways as possible – diplomatically, economically where it can, and working to lessen military tensions. And those efforts are bearing fruit, with a successful Winter Olympics held in South Korea in 2018, an entire year with no North Korean missiles in the sky or nuclear tests, and multiple agreements to lessen tensions along the Korean Demilitarized Zone. Instead of trying to push North Korea into unilaterally surrendering its nuclear weapons, Washington should instead try an approach to reassure the North that America is not a threat, and work to convince Kim that he can trust the U.S. and Seoul far into the future. If Washington were to take the same approach as Seoul – creating the conditions where trust can be built and allowing both nations to work on smaller issues of mutual concern first – such steps could lead to a breakthrough on denuclearization. Perhaps they could even bring about the eventual normalization of relations between the U.S. and North Korea. The Trump administration could, for example, finally offer to the North a “corresponding measure” in response to the North’s offer during the Third Inter-Korean Summit to close or allow inspections of its Yongbyon nuclear facility. That could come in the form of a political declaration that ends the Korean War and an offer to roll back a small amount of sanctions. We can avoid making 2019 another year of tensions on the Korean Peninsula. I say it’s time for President Trump do what he does best: negotiate. But he needs to approach such negotiations realistically, not expecting North Korea to simply give up its nuclear weapons without getting a great deal in return. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE BY HARRY KAZIANIS

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2019_1_test.csv

2019_1_test.csv0 53010215 1 59549287 2 59633617 3 52963105 4 18321756 ... 162989 4829910 162990 4889401 162991 4884295 162992 4760206 162993 4533244 Name: id, Length: 162994, dtype: int64

Pope Francis focused on the importance of motherhood in his New Year’s Day homily, insisting that humanity cannot move forward without rediscovering the gift of maternity. “A world that looks to the future without a mother’s gaze is shortsighted,” the pope told the thousands gathered in Saint Peter’s Basilica for the Mass commemorating the Catholic feast of Mary, Mother of God. Without a mother’s vision, the world “may well increase its profits, but it will no longer see others as children. It will make money, but not for everyone. We will all dwell in the same house, but not as brothers and sisters,” Francis said. “The human family is built upon mothers,” he said. “A world in which maternal tenderness is dismissed as mere sentiment may be rich materially, but poor where the future is concerned.” From the outset of his pontificate in 2013, Pope Francis has insisted upon the importance of both mothers and fathers as the basis for his rejection of same-sex marriage and gay adoption. He has also dismissed the ideology of gender fluidity, urging people to recognize that from the beginning, God made human beings “male and female.” The pope has insisted that marriage is the union of one man and one woman, while declaring that the institution is undergoing a “serious crisis.” Less than a week after Ireland’s 2015 passage of a gay marriage referendum, which the Vatican qualified as “a defeat for humanity,” Pope Francis stressed the indispensable role of mothers and fathers and said that when marriage is seen “as a mere form of emotional gratification,” it loses its value for society. Marriage and the family, he said, “are going through a serious cultural crisis.” This doesn’t mean “they have lost importance,” he said, but rather “the need for them is more acutely felt.” In his 2017 teaching letter on marriage and the family called “The Joy of Love” (Amoris Laetitia), Francis underlined the unique value of both motherhood and fatherhood, while denouncing the “legal deconstruction of the family” through the acceptance of same-sex marriage. In that same letter, Francis condemned gender theory for its denial of “the difference and reciprocity in nature of a man and a woman,” and for its dream of “a society without sexual differences.” “An appreciation of our body as male or female,” he said, is “necessary for our own self-awareness in an encounter with others different from ourselves.” Efforts to cancel out sexual differences based in anatomy are a symptom of a sick society that “no longer knows how to deal with it,” he wrote. Follow Thomas D. Williams on Twitter Follow @tdwilliamsrome

polusa

2019_1_test.csv

2019_1_test.csv0 53010215 1 59549287 2 59633617 3 52963105 4 18321756 ... 162989 4829910 162990 4889401 162991 4884295 162992 4760206 162993 4533244 Name: id, Length: 162994, dtype: int64

The year-end stock selloff saddled major indexes with their worst annual decline since 2008 as concerns over global growth intensified, but retail investors are trying to hold on despite the intense volatility. Some are even taking advantage of the rout, showing the type of support that in the past has helped boost a falling market. Money manager Fidelity, which is both an online brokerage and the country’s largest 401(k) plan administrator, said its customers were buying more than they were selling in the period from Oct....

polusa

2019_1_test.csv

2019_1_test.csv0 53010215 1 59549287 2 59633617 3 52963105 4 18321756 ... 162989 4829910 162990 4889401 162991 4884295 162992 4760206 162993 4533244 Name: id, Length: 162994, dtype: int64

One of the most volatile Christmas weeks in market history hasn’t scared off Ben Bowman. The 41-year-old website content director from Chicago bought Amazon.com Inc. shares three separate times in recent weeks as the company’s tumbling stock price triggered orders he had set below the market price. Mr. Bowman started investing in 2007, right before the financial crisis cratered markets around the world. Going through that selloff and participating in the subsequent recovery has made it easier to keep calm during the current...

polusa

2019_1_test.csv

2019_1_test.csv0 53010215 1 59549287 2 59633617 3 52963105 4 18321756 ... 162989 4829910 162990 4889401 162991 4884295 162992 4760206 162993 4533244 Name: id, Length: 162994, dtype: int64

Ministers are on course to miss their target of increasing the number of mental health staff by 21,000 by 2020, according to NHS workforce figures obtained by Labour. A year after the government made the pledge, NHS mental health trusts in England had employed just 1,524 extra personnel, according to statistics collected by NHS Digital. The very small rise is a setback for Theresa May’s plans to dramatically improve mental health care in order to reduce treatment delays, introduce new waiting times and reduce unmet need. Mental health chiefs and staff groups are worried that staffing problems will undermine those ambitions. In July 2017 the then health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, said the recruitment of 21,000 extra personnel including psychiatrists, mental health nurses and therapists would help the NHS treat 1 million more people with mental health problems by 2020-21 and provide 24/7 care. NHS Digital figures show that in August 2017 mental health trusts employed 179,333 staff. That had risen to 180,858 by August last year. Barbara Keeley, the shadow mental health minister, who highlighted the statistics, said: “This government’s failure to act on the mental health workforce crisis could threaten to turn the burning injustice of mental ill-health that the prime minister pledged to tackle into a raging inferno.” The disclosure of the modest increase comes days before the publication of the NHS long-term plan. In it NHS England will set out how it will use the extra money the prime minister has pledged to give it over the next five years, rising to £20.5bn more by 2023-24. Improvements to mental health care over the next five to 10 years are expected to form a key part of the document. May has made mental health a priority in her two and a half years as prime minister, and promised that the long-term plan will increase mental health’s share of the NHS budget by at least £2bn by 2020-21. The NHS Digital data also shows that if staff employed by two community services trusts in Liverpool and Staffordshire taken over by mental health trusts are included, the overall number of those working for the latter rose by 6,748 between August 2017 and August 2018. However, that higher total includes about 5,000 staff that previously worked for the community trusts being reclassified as mental health staff as a result of the mergers. A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care said: “Mental health is a key priority for the government. We are transforming services with record amounts of funding, with the NHS spending almost £12bn on mental health in 2017-18. “But we want to go further, which is why the prime minister has made parity between physical and mental health a priority for our long-term plan for the NHS supported by at least an additional £2bn a year.”

polusa

2019_1_test.csv

2019_1_test.csv0 53010215 1 59549287 2 59633617 3 52963105 4 18321756 ... 162989 4829910 162990 4889401 162991 4884295 162992 4760206 162993 4533244 Name: id, Length: 162994, dtype: int64

“Blame is better to give than receive.” – "Freewill" by Rush There is always enough blame to go around in Washington. Congressional Republicans long ago washed their hands of the partial government shutdown. No one’s spied Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., around the Capitol since before Christmas. Sources close to McConnell say it’s up to President Trump and Democrats to produce a legislative product that can become law. House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., seemingly checked out after he gaveled the House to order for a rare Saturday session on Dec. 22. As he strode out of the chamber, Ryan absolved himself and the House of any responsibility for the shutdown. The Wisconsin Republican asserted that the solution is “over there,” gesturing across the Capitol Rotunda, toward the Senate chamber. As is standard practice during atypical parliamentary periods such as now, the House approved a resolution granting the speaker leave from opening up and presiding over holiday House sessions. Ryan could be present or appoint a “designee.” No one’s seen Ryan for a week-and-a-half. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., has been virtually silent, also last seen at the Capitol before Christmas. And House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi D-Calif., left the Capitol late in the day on Dec. 22. She was spotted after Christmas in Kona, Hawaii. President Trump and Congressional Republicans know what awaits them around 2:30 p.m. ET Thursday in the U.S. House chamber. Tellers will finish tallying the ballots from House members constituting the 116th Congress. Barring any surprises, Pelosi will become the first peaker to reprise that role since Sam Rayburn, D-Texas, in 1955. In preparation for Pelosi’s return to the speaker’s suite, Republicans dusted off an old play from their political arsenal. It’s as reliable as the reverse flea flicker. A jet sweep. A double tight end set. The "Demonize Pelosi" play. Pelosi doesn’t have great poll numbers. She’ll likely win the speakership but face some Democratic defectors on the floor. Republicans weaponized Pelosi when they campaigned successfully for House control in the 2010 midterms. It worked. They’ll return to that ploy this time, happy to characterize the San Francisco liberal as out of step with Middle America. That’s why Republicans and conservative commentators took pains to needle Pelosi about her presence in Hawaii last week. By contrast, Trump indicated he was hunkered down in the White House, busy visiting troops in Iraq and deprived of a holiday sabbatical at Mar-a-Lago. This was an effort to elevate Pelosi. To show the public that once Democrats seize the majority on Thursday, Pelosi will be back and is “part of the problem.” One Republican congressman said the tactic was to ensure “she owns part of the shutdown.” Most congressional Republicans couldn’t tell you where McConnell or Ryan or McCarthy were during the holidays. Some even criticized Pelosi for being away when they were on vacation themselves. But as Rush sings in the song "Freewill," “blame is better to give than receive.” That’s certainly the case in Washington. On Monday, House Democrats released a two-pronged plan to reopen the government and address the seven outstanding appropriations bills. House Democratic leaders say they will approve a package of six new spending bills to fund much of the federal government through Sept. 30, the end of the fiscal year. The amalgam of bills reflect work Senate appropriators already completed. In fact, the Senate already OK'd a couple of these bills on the floor. A second package would fund the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) at existing levels through Feb. 8. “This will provide some breathing room on border security,” said one House Democratic source familiar with the plan. House Democrats will undoubtedly pass these measures Thursday. Cleaving DHS spending from the other six appropriations helps Democrats apply pressure on Trump and GOPers. Democrats hope Republicans will be hard-pressed to oppose a package to fund the rest of government while isolating the wall fight. Don’t forget that the Senate already passed DHS funding through Feb. 8 in the bill it cleared by voice vote two weeks ago. Democrats think they have a winning issue when they couple that with legislation to which the Senate previously agreed. But most view this gambit as dead in the water. Naturally, Democrats bequeathed this the “Trump Shutdown” since the President told Pelosi and Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., that he’d happily take the blame a few weeks ago. Republicans and the president prefer the more alliterative moniker “Schumer Shutdown.” But with Pelosi ascending to the speakership, Republicans are happy to project blame onto her. That said, Fox News is told that senior White House officials also believe Pelosi is more willing to cut a deal than Schumer. Trump blistered Pelosi, Schumer and Democrats over their absences from Washington, beseeching them to address the shutdown. But there have been no negotiations since the Saturday before Christmas, when Vice President Mike Pence and Acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney met separately with Schumer and McConnell at the Capitol. After Democrats announced their approach to fully reopen the government, Mr. Trump characterized the legislation as “cute.” The partial shutdown hasn’t been “real” on Capitol Hill yet. That all changes Thursday afternoon as Trump enters a new reality with Democrats running the House. He can blast and blame all he wants. Protests will start on Capitol Hill. Post-holiday public opinion polls will come into focus. The decibel level will rise as the debate intensifies. Federal workers off the job -- or on the job with no pay -- will become more desperate. There is lots of blame to go around in Washington -- for those still in Congress or leaving. Even supporters of Paul Ryan, happy about the $5 billion package to fund the wall and avoid the shutdown, note that he did nothing to solve this crisis in his final days as speaker. They pointed to Ryan’s final round of hagiography, punctuated by the speaker’s farewell addresses at the Library of Congress just before the shutdown. Ryan’s valedictory and numerous goodbye videos rubbed many rank-and-file Republicans the wrong way – especially those vanquished in November. After all, the GOP just lost control of the House. In Ryan’s final official speech, he expressed regret for a host of policy goals he leaves unfinished, ranging from tackling the debt to immigration reform. “It’s too bad he never held a position of power around here,” chirped one disgruntled House Republican who asked not to be identified. There’s lots of blame in Washington now. And blame is better to give than receive. But if the shutdown continues much longer, everyone will blame everyone else.

polusa

2019_1_test.csv

2019_1_test.csv0 53010215 1 59549287 2 59633617 3 52963105 4 18321756 ... 162989 4829910 162990 4889401 162991 4884295 162992 4760206 162993 4533244 Name: id, Length: 162994, dtype: int64

The Washington Post has declared that President Donald Trump is “wrong” to claim that former President Barack Obama is building a “wall” around his Washington, DC, home — because Obama only added a fence to a wall. Trump made the claim from the White House on December 30, where he made a point of working through the Christmas and New Year holidays — aside from a surprise visit to Iraq — while Democrats (and journalists) were vacationing far from the capital. The president is holding out for $5 billion funding for a border wall, or steel-slat barrier, from Congress. Democrats have refused to provide the votes, causing a partial government shutdown. In response, Trump has been highlighting Democrats’ past and present support for other kinds of barriers — including the one around Barack and Michelle Obama’s new home to provide personal security. He tweeted: President and Mrs. Obama built/has a ten foot Wall around their D.C. mansion/compound. I agree, totally necessary for their safety and security. The U.S. needs the same thing, slightly larger version! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 30, 2018 The Post, which claims that President Trump has made nearly 8,000 “false or misleading” claims since taking office, objected Monday: “Trump claims there’s a 10-foot wall around the Obamas’ D.C. home. He is wrong.” But the article, Michael Brice-Saddler, actually admits that the Obamas a) have a wall; b) have added to that wall, albeit by building a fence; c) have a home whose security barrier has been described as a “wall” by other media. Brice-Saddler cites the Post‘s fact-checker, which wrote: “The Obamas added security fencing to an enlarged retaining wall in front for the needs of the Secret Service but there is not a ten-foot wall around the house; the front steps are open to the sidewalk. Chain link fencing, but no wall, was added to the back.” The fact-checker also “fact-checked” the joke about a “slightly larger version” at the end of Trump’s tweet: “While Trump says the border wall would be a ‘slightly larger version’ of the alleged Obama wall, he has previously described his proposed wall as 1,000 miles long, made of precast concrete slabs, rising 35 to 40 feet in the air.” Apparently, even true statements can be listed as “false or misleading” by the Post, provided they were made by President Donald Trump. Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. He is also the co-author of How Trump Won: The Inside Story of a Revolution, which is available from Regnery. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak. Photo: file

polusa

2019_1_test.csv

2019_1_test.csv0 53010215 1 59549287 2 59633617 3 52963105 4 18321756 ... 162989 4829910 162990 4889401 162991 4884295 162992 4760206 162993 4533244 Name: id, Length: 162994, dtype: int64

Former 2016 Democrat presidential nominee Hillary Clinton penned a gloomy farewell to 2018 on Instagram Monday, calling the year “a dark time for our country.” “In many ways, 2018 was a dark time for our country. As it ends, I’m grateful to everyone who brought light into it,” Clinton’s post, which showed a photo of her posing with her husband, former President Bill Clinton, and her daughter, Chelsea. The former presidential candidate and secretary of state then listed what she was thankful for, including open borders, activists, journalists, community organizers for the 2018 elections, and others who fought for her shared “values.” “Here’s to more light in 2019, and to a shared commitment to make it as bright as possible,” she concluded. Bill and Hillary Clinton ended 2018 on a lackluster note: the first stop on their 13-city speaking tour in November opened to empty seats. Ticket prices sank low enough in certain cities that the Clintons had to take drastic measures to boost ticket sales, such as selling tickets to their events for half price on Groupon. Hillary Clinton’s hopes for a third shot at the presidency also seemed to fizzle out in 2018, as many Clinton loyalists—such as former interim Democratic National Committee chair Donna Brazile—said it was unlikely Clinton would run for president in 2020.

polusa

2019_1_test.csv

2019_1_test.csv0 53010215 1 59549287 2 59633617 3 52963105 4 18321756 ... 162989 4829910 162990 4889401 162991 4884295 162992 4760206 162993 4533244 Name: id, Length: 162994, dtype: int64

Embattled celebrity lawyer Michael Avenatti spent the end of 2018 enduring humiliation, as his prediction that Donald Trump Jr. would be indicted before New Year’s Ever never came to pass. Back in October, Avenatti assured his followers that unidentified prosecutors would indict the president’s son before his birthday, December 21, and urged people who didn’t believe his prediction to merely look at his “record over the last 7 months.” “Donald Trump Jr. will be indicted before his birthday on 12-31-18,” Avenatti wrote at the time. “If you doubt my prediction, please check my record over the last 7 months. #Winning.” Donald Trump Jr. will be indicted before his birthday on 12-31-18. If you doubt my prediction, please check my record over the last 7 months. #Winning — Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) October 11, 2018 Days after his initial claim, the 47-year-old doubled down, mocking Don. Jr over his supposed legal troubles and boasting that it could “not happen to a nicer guy.” .@DonaldJTrumpJr – Can you confirm that you have no reason to believe that you are about to be indicted for making false stmts to federal agents? Asking for some friends. Btw, this could not happen to a nicer guy. Will your father continue his corruption pattern and pardon you? — Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) October 14, 2018 Avenatti’s comments were in reference to the ongoing FBI investigation into alleged Russian collusion, with some speculation that Don. Jr may be indicted by Special Counsel Robert Mueller. However, such an indictment is yet to take place, making Avenatti’s prediction incorrect. On Monday, Avenatti attempted to downplay his failure, asking Don. Jr whether he had been notified of his “pending indictment.” .@DonaldJTrumpJr (aka Biff): Can you please confirm that you are about to be indicted and have been notified of your pending indictment? If I have any of that wrong, please chime in. — Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) December 31, 2018 After a sympathetic follower noted the passing of his specified date, Avenatti insisted, “The timing may be slightly off, but the prediction will not be.” This is a very dynamic situation with alot of moving pieces. The timing may be slightly off, but the prediction will not be. — Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) December 31, 2018 The false claim is just the latest in a string of major embarrassments for Avenatti, who rose to fame while representing adult actress Stormy Daniels in her lawsuit against President Donald Trump. In October, a federal judge dismissed her defamation lawsuit, and she was later ordered to pay $293,000 for Trump’s legal fees. Last month, Avenatti was himself arrested on allegations of domestic violence against a former girlfriend, although prosecutors have since declined to pursue felony charges and have instead referred the case to the city attorney for possible misdemeanor charges. Amid his rise to fame, the 47-year-old touted himself as a potential candidate for the 2020 Democratic nomination, previously claiming that he would “absolutely” beat Donald Trump in a 2020 run-off. According to polling data released in November, zero (0) percent of Democrats said they want him as their nominee. He has since confirmed that he will not run for president after all. Follow Ben Kew on Facebook, Twitter at @ben_kew, or email him at bkew@breitbart.com.

polusa

2019_1_test.csv

2019_1_test.csv0 53010215 1 59549287 2 59633617 3 52963105 4 18321756 ... 162989 4829910 162990 4889401 162991 4884295 162992 4760206 162993 4533244 Name: id, Length: 162994, dtype: int64

The 2017 tax cut has received pretty bad press, and rightly so. Its proponents made big promises about soaring investment and wages, and also assured everyone that it would pay for itself; none of that has happened. Yet coverage actually hasn’t been negative enough. The story you mostly read runs something like this: The tax cut has caused corporations to bring some money home, but they’ve used it for stock buybacks rather than to raise wages, and the boost to growth has been modest. That doesn’t sound great, but it’s still better than the reality: No money has, in fact, been brought home, and the tax cut has probably reduced national income. Indeed, at least 90 percent of Americans will end up poorer thanks to that cut. Let me explain each point in turn. First, when people say that U.S. corporations have “brought money home” they’re referring to dividends overseas subsidiaries have paid to their parent corporations. These did indeed surge briefly in 2018, as the tax law made it advantageous to transfer some assets from the books of those subsidiaries to the home companies; these transactions also showed up as a reduction in the measured stake of the parents in the subsidiaries, i.e., as negative direct investment (Figure 1).

polusa

2019_1_test.csv

2019_1_test.csv0 53010215 1 59549287 2 59633617 3 52963105 4 18321756 ... 162989 4829910 162990 4889401 162991 4884295 162992 4760206 162993 4533244 Name: id, Length: 162994, dtype: int64

The 2017 tax cut has received pretty bad press, and rightly so. Its proponents made big promises about soaring investment and wages, and also assured everyone that it would pay for itself; none of that has happened. Yet coverage actually hasn’t been negative enough. The story you mostly read runs something like this: The tax cut has caused corporations to bring some money home, but they’ve used it for stock buybacks rather than to raise wages, and the boost to growth has been modest. That doesn’t sound great, but it’s still better than the reality: No money has, in fact, been brought home, and the tax cut has probably reduced national income. Indeed, at least 90 percent of Americans will end up poorer thanks to that cut. Let me explain each point in turn. First, when people say that U.S. corporations have “brought money home” they’re referring to dividends overseas subsidiaries have paid to their parent corporations. These did indeed surge briefly in 2018, as the tax law made it advantageous to transfer some assets from the books of those subsidiaries to the home companies; these transactions also showed up as a reduction in the measured stake of the parents in the subsidiaries, i.e., as negative direct investment (Figure 1).

polusa

2019_1_test.csv

2019_1_test.csv0 53010215 1 59549287 2 59633617 3 52963105 4 18321756 ... 162989 4829910 162990 4889401 162991 4884295 162992 4760206 162993 4533244 Name: id, Length: 162994, dtype: int64

The 19th year of the 3rd millennium began with revelry, reverence and an almost immediate succession of gun violence. HuffPost collected multiple reports from across the U.S. about fatal shootings that occurred Tuesday as Father Time passed on his duties to the Baby New Year. It is by no means a comprehensive list. It’s a snapshot of violence and a reminder that despite the touting of political agendas heavy on combating gun violence, bullets continue to spill blood and claim lives. PHILADELPHIA The City of Brotherly Love recorded its first homicide of 2019 about 12 minutes after midnight. According to police, the shooting happened in the 3200 block of Tampa Street. The victim, who has not yet been identified, died of a single gunshot wound to the head. No suspects in the case have been named. Police said they are reviewing surveillance videos for possible leads. The city had 351 homicides in 2018 — the most since 2007, Philadelphia’s WPVI-TV reported. CLEVELAND Details remain sketchy, but police said three people were killed during a shooting around 12 a.m. Tuesday. The shooting happened in Cleveland’s Brooklyn Centre neighborhood. Two of the victims were found dead at the scene. The third was pronounced dead on arrival at an area hospital, police said. Authorities have not released any additional information. GONZALES, LOUISIANA A dispute involving three men reportedly resulted in a fatal shooting and a hit and run around 12:30 a.m. According to the Gonzales Police Department, three people were arguing at a home on Darla Avenue when 19-year-old Jose Artunez was fatally shot by 21-year-old Adrien Iiborio, of Prairieville. Iiborio allegedly shot Artunez four times and then ran over someone with a car before fleeing on foot. The hit-and-run victim was taken to an area hospital. His condition is not yet known. Police captured Iiborio at about 5 a.m. He was booked into the Ascension Parish Jail on charges of second-degree homicide and attempted second-degree homicide, WAFB News in Baton Rouge reported. CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA The most populous city in North Carolina made it approximately three hours into the New Year before recording its first homicide. According to Charlotte-Mecklenburg police, officers discovered the victim’s body on the porch of a Highlander Court residence. Authorities have not yet identified the victim or named a suspect in the shooting. “We’re still in the early stages of the investigation, there’s a tremendous amount of evidence on the scene,” Maj. Mike Smathers told Charlotte’s WCNC-TV. MILWAUKEE The largest city in Wisconsin saw its first homicide victim of the new year shortly before 3 a.m. Tuesday. Milwaukee police said a 37-year-old man was fatally shot near North 5th Street and West Keefe Avenue. Two other gunshot victims — a 40-year-old man and a 30-year-old woman — were later dropped off at an area hospital. Both are hospitalized in critical condition, police said. Authorities suspect the three shootings are connected. They are searching for a man wearing dark clothing, Milwaukee’s WISN-TV reported. LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY Louisville’s first known homicide of the year happened around 3:15 a.m. in the city’s Parkland neighborhood. The victim, according to the Louisville Metro Police Department, is a black man; no further details have been released. NEW YORK CITY Brooklyn, the most populous borough of New York City, saw a gunshot slaying around 4:30 a.m. The victim, a 29-year-old man whose identity has not yet been released, was found shot in the chest in the hallway of a Stanley Avenue building, police said. The victim was pronounced dead at Brookdale University Hospital. No suspects have been named in connection with the shooting. ROCHESTER, NEW YORK A double shooting at about 5 a.m. resulted in the death of one person and the wounding of another. Authorities discovered the victims after they were dispatched to investigate a reported shooting on Stout Street in northeastern Rochester. The victims have been identified as a man and a woman. The male victim, whose name and age have not been released, was fatally shot in the upper body. The other victim, identified only as a 29-year-old woman, was also shot, police said. The woman was transported to a local hospital for treatment. The Rochester Police Department said her injuries are not considered life-threatening, the Democrat and Chronicle reported. The circumstances of the shootings are under investigation. COLUMBUS, GEORGIA Columbus saw its first known homicide of 2019 around 5 a.m. Tuesday, when 51-year-old Alphonso Walker Jr. was fatally shot after a dispute at the Hannah Heights Apartments. Police took one person into custody at the scene, according to WRBL News in Columbus. No additional details were available. COLUMBUS, OHIO Police in Columbus said the city recorded its first homicide of 2019 just before 6:30 a.m. Tuesday. The victim, who has not been identified, was found shot in the 5500 block of Leigh Run Court. The victim was transported to an area hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Police said the suspected shooter is a male. No additional information was released. TO BE CONTINUED ...

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BRASÍLIA—Jair Bolsonaro was sworn in Tuesday as Brazil’s first right-wing president elected since the end of military rule three decades ago, vowing to restore order to a country hobbled by crime, corruption and a deepening fiscal crisis. The fiery ex-army captain, who is recovering from a near-fatal stabbing during the election campaign, rode in an open-top Rolls-Royce under heavy security to Congress, where he formally took office in a ceremony boycotted by swaths of left-wing politicians. ...

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A nine-year-old boy in Georgia and a six-year-old girl in California were both wounded by possible "celebratory" gunfire amidst New Year's Eve celebrations, according to news reports. The boy was shot around midnight while he set off New Year's fireworks with his family outside his northwest Atlanta home, reports the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The child was "possibly" hit by celebratory gunfire, Atlanta police Capt. Reginald Moorman reportedly said at the scene. The boy was struck in the stomach, underwent surgery and was in stable condition, the paper reports. No suspects have been identified. Television station KRON reports that another child in Oakland, California was also wounded by what police are calling "celebratory" gunfire. The six-year-old girl was playing in the backyard of her family's home during a New Year's celebration around 2 a.m. Tuesday when she was struck by a stray bullet, the station reports. A family member drove the girl to the hospital, where she was listed in stable condition. Oakland police are still investigating. Police departments across the country often warn citizens of the dangers of firing guns into the air each year ahead of New Year's Eve celebrations. Law enforcement officials say a single bullet fired into the air can come down at speeds of up to 300 feet per second and fall anywhere within a two-mile radius. "Celebratory gunfire anywhere is unacceptable and against the law," Michigan's Saginaw police department wrote on its Facebook page. "We want everyone to have a safe, enjoyable New Year's Eve without the fear that their life or someone else's may be cut short by a falling bullet."

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President Donald Trump speaks at a military briefing during an unannounced trip to Al Asad Air Base in Iraq on December 26, 2018. SAUL LOEB/Getty Images President Donald Trump ushered in the new year by doing something that has come to mark his presidency: tweeting. His first tweet of 2019 was not very memorable, as he sent a message praising former adviser Sebastian Gorka and his new book. Dr. Sebastian Gorka, a very good and talented guy, has a great new book just out, “Why We Fight.” Lots of insight - Enjoy! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 1, 2019 That seemed to be a warm-up though and then the president really rang in 2019. He sent an all-caps tweet in which he wished happy new year to everyone, “INCLUDING THE HATERS AND FAKE NEWS MEDIA!” The president then went on to predict that “2019 WILL BE A FANTASTIC YEAR FOR THOSE NOT SUFFERING FROM TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME. JUST CALM DOWN AND ENJOY THE RIDE, GREAT THINGS ARE HAPPENING FOR OUR COUNTRY!” HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERYONE, INCLUDING THE HATERS AND THE FAKE NEWS MEDIA! 2019 WILL BE A FANTASTIC YEAR FOR THOSE NOT SUFFERING FROM TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME. JUST CALM DOWN AND ENJOY THE RIDE, GREAT THINGS ARE HAPPENING FOR OUR COUNTRY! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 1, 2019 He followed up the all-caps message with a much more subdued tweet: “Happy New Year!” Happy New Year! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 1, 2019 After blasting “haters” early in the morning, Trump also made clear he wouldn’t be taking a break from using Twitter to settle old scores and make sure everyone knows that the grudges from 2018 still stand. The president aimed fire at retired Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal, who had characterized him as immoral in a television interview on Sunday. Trump wrote that the retired four-star general “got fired like a dog” is “known for big, dumb mouth” and is a “Hillary lover!” “General” McChrystal got fired like a dog by Obama. Last assignment a total bust. Known for big, dumb mouth. Hillary lover! https://t.co/RzOkeHl3KV — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 1, 2019

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2019_1_test.csv0 53010215 1 59549287 2 59633617 3 52963105 4 18321756 ... 162989 4829910 162990 4889401 162991 4884295 162992 4760206 162993 4533244 Name: id, Length: 162994, dtype: int64

BERLIN — Targeting foreigners, a man repeatedly drove his car at pedestrians celebrating New Year’s Eve in western Germany, injuring four people before being arrested, the police and prosecutors said Tuesday. The suspect made comments disparaging of foreigners when the police detained and questioned him, Herbert Reul, interior minister for the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, where the attacks took place, told reporters on Tuesday. “This is a case of a German deliberately driving into groups of people, people who for the most part were foreigners,” Mr. Reul said. “That means this man clearly intended to kill foreigners.” At least three adults and one child, among them a Syrian and an Afghan, were struck and severely injured, officials said.

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2019_1_test.csv0 53010215 1 59549287 2 59633617 3 52963105 4 18321756 ... 162989 4829910 162990 4889401 162991 4884295 162992 4760206 162993 4533244 Name: id, Length: 162994, dtype: int64

Image copyright Reuters French police say they have stopped 14 migrants from crossing the Channel on a stolen fishing trawler after they were found in the port of Boulogne. A local prosecutor told AFP that police were called when "those seeking to help them on their way" were seen breaking into a boat on the French coast. The migrants, including a mother and two children, said they came from Iraq. The authorities are still looking for two people they suspect of being people smugglers. It comes days after UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid declared a major incident in the Channel due to the rising number of migrants attempting to cross in small boats. He said around 230 people tried to cross in December, but half of them were "disrupted" by French officials and did not leave France. The total number of migrants to have reached the UK by boat since November stands at 239 after 12 migrants - including a 10-year-old boy - were found in Greatstone, Kent, on Monday, having travelled by dinghy. Sorry, your browser cannot display this map Mr Javid has agreed a joint action plan with French authorities to tackle the issue. He announced on Monday that two more Border Force vessels would be brought back from operations in the Mediterranean to help patrol the Channel - joining the one that had already been deployed. "It's both about protecting human life but also about protecting our borders", he said. But Mr Javid was criticised by UK shadow home secretary Diane Abbott, who accused him of exploiting the problem. She told the Guardian: "There's no question that, with Brexit and also with the approach of the meaningful vote in January, people are being whipped up about migration issues, because the government thinks this is the best way of frightening people to vote for their deal."

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2019_1_test.csv0 53010215 1 59549287 2 59633617 3 52963105 4 18321756 ... 162989 4829910 162990 4889401 162991 4884295 162992 4760206 162993 4533244 Name: id, Length: 162994, dtype: int64

Investors are reeling in their expectations for U.S. stocks next year as the global economy shows signs of slowing and monetary policy continues to tighten. With the longevity of the bull market in doubt, many fund managers say they are expecting more volatility ahead. Analysts at a number of firms predicted the S&P 500 would end the year higher, although some, like Morgan Stanley’s chief U.S. equity strategist Mike Wilson, only see the index producing gains in the low single-digit percentage range. The S&P 500 lost...

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2019_1_test.csv0 53010215 1 59549287 2 59633617 3 52963105 4 18321756 ... 162989 4829910 162990 4889401 162991 4884295 162992 4760206 162993 4533244 Name: id, Length: 162994, dtype: int64

The dollar closed out 2018 at the top of the foreign-exchange heap—a feat many investors don’t expect it to repeat in 2019. The WSJ Dollar Index, which measures the U.S. currency’s performance against a basket of 16 others, climbed 4.3% in 2018. The only other major currency to record a gain for the year was the Japanese yen, which rose more than 2%. The...

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2019_1_test.csv0 53010215 1 59549287 2 59633617 3 52963105 4 18321756 ... 162989 4829910 162990 4889401 162991 4884295 162992 4760206 162993 4533244 Name: id, Length: 162994, dtype: int64

The oil market is engulfed by fears of a global growth slowdown, as worries grow that falling demand and robust output from major producers will lead to a supply glut. U.S. crude prices fell 38% from the end of September through the end of 2018—the biggest quarterly slide since the final months of 2014, when oil began a collapse that would eventually push West Texas Intermediate futures below $30 a barrel. On...