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2017-08-29

You may not have thought you were ever likely to hear a mashup of the Game of Thrones theme tune and Kanye West's voice, but this is 2017 we're living in. Not only is this kind of video experimentation expected, it's encouraged. The clip above from The Ringer has gone viral on Twitter. It's not hard to see why: despite the odd premise, the result is pretty catchy. Kanye would surely be proud. '13 Reasons Why' drops chilling Season 3 trailer Julia Louis-Dreyfus reacts to Marianne Williamson's 'Seinfeld' debate reference Stephen Colbert spends 7 minutes gleefully roasting the Democratic candidates Seth Meyers roasts the malarkey out of Joe Biden's old-guy debate schtick

2016-09-10

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Visitors undertake a series of experiences—strolling through allés, pathways, wetlands, groves, and a raised “tower of Voices.” They all lead to the Wall of Names, a series of white marble slabs on the crash site inscribed with the names of the victims. Paul Murdoch Architects converted a former 2,200-acre coalmine in Shanksville, PA, where Flight 93 went down, into a permanent memorial operated by the National Park Service. Visitors undertake a series of experiences—strolling through allés, pathways, wetlands, groves, and a raised “tower of Voices.” They all lead to the Wall of Names, a series of white marble slabs on the crash site inscribed with the names of the victims. KBAS Studio have created a stark gravel field filled with 184 molded and cantilevered concrete, granite, and stainless steel benches, placed along the trajectory of Flight 77. Each bench, or “Memorial Unit,” is engraved with the name and birth year of a victim. The architects describe it as “a place that prompts contemplation but does not prescribe what to think or how to feel.” KBAS Studio have created a stark gravel field filled with 184 molded and cantilevered concrete, granite, and stainless steel benches, placed along the trajectory of Flight 77. Each bench, or “Memorial Unit,” is engraved with the name and birth year of a victim. The architects describe it as “a place that prompts contemplation but does not prescribe what to think or how to feel.” Located at the Wesley Bolin Memorial Plaza near the State Capitol in Phoenix, “Moving Memories,” designed by Jones Studio and coLAB Studio, is a concrete disc topped by an elevated ring of stainless steel and laser cut with 54 quotes related to the attack. As the sun moves, light passes through the etchings and projects them onto the ground below. Some of the phrases, many taken from local newspaper articles, proved controversial, including “must bomb back,” “fear of foreigners,” and “Erroneous US air strike kills 46 Uruzgan civilians.” Officials decided to remove the last of these, but kept almost everything else. Located at the Wesley Bolin Memorial Plaza near the State Capitol in Phoenix, “Moving Memories,” designed by Jones Studio and coLAB Studio, is a concrete disc topped by an elevated ring of stainless steel and laser cut with 54 quotes related to the attack. As the sun moves, light passes through the etchings and projects them onto the ground below. Some of the phrases, many taken from local newspaper articles, proved controversial, including “must bomb back,” “fear of foreigners,” and “Erroneous US air strike kills 46 Uruzgan civilians.” Officials decided to remove the last of these, but kept almost everything else. Created by Russian artist Zurab Tsereteli, this monument, also known as the Tear Drop Memorial, stands at the end of Bayonne’s Military Ocean Terminal. The 10-story-tall, 175-ton bronze structure recreates the forms of the Twin Towers, with a jagged rip through its center and a 4-ton nickel tear hanging from the top. The structure, largely funded by Russia (“this monument will always be a testimony to our unity in the struggle against common threats,” Vladimir Putin said at the Dedication Ceremony) opened in 2006. Ironically Russia has become something of a threat, itself, in the intervening years. Created by Russian artist Zurab Tsereteli, this monument, also known as the Tear Drop Memorial, stands at the end of Bayonne’s Military Ocean Terminal. The 10-story-tall, 175-ton bronze structure recreates the forms of the Twin Towers, with a jagged rip through its center and a 4-ton nickel tear hanging from the top. The structure, largely funded by Russia (“this monument will always be a testimony to our unity in the struggle against common threats,” Vladimir Putin said at the Dedication Ceremony) opened in 2006. Ironically Russia has become something of a threat, itself, in the intervening years. Located on the grounds of the Beverly Hills Fire Department, this memorial garden—designed by Peteris Architects and Oakcrest Landscape— centers around a twisted steel member of the original World Trade Center positioned atop a Pentagon-shaped granite base. Nearby stand basalt replicas of the Twin Towers and a small triangular field of greenery and flowers, representing Shanksville. Encased in the foundation are copies of the Declaration of Independence, the US Constitution, the Gettysburg Address, and a piece of the aircraft from Flight 77. Located on the grounds of the Beverly Hills Fire Department, this memorial garden—designed by Peteris Architects and Oakcrest Landscape— centers around a twisted steel member of the original World Trade Center positioned atop a Pentagon-shaped granite base. Nearby stand basalt replicas of the Twin Towers and a small triangular field of greenery and flowers, representing Shanksville. Encased in the foundation are copies of the Declaration of Independence, the US Constitution, the Gettysburg Address, and a piece of the aircraft from Flight 77. Created by local artist Jorg Dubin, Semper Memento (Latin for “always remember”) comprises two steel beams from the original World Trade Center angled above a stainless steel sphere, supported by a pentagon-shaped concrete base. Located in the city’s Heisler Park, the sculpture has been the victim of vandalism three times, including a recent 5-inch-wide dent found in the sphere. More 9/11 memorials are located in nearby Hermosa Beach and Manhattan Beach. Created by local artist Jorg Dubin, Semper Memento (Latin for “always remember”) comprises two steel beams from the original World Trade Center angled above a stainless steel sphere, supported by a pentagon-shaped concrete base. Located in the city’s Heisler Park, the sculpture has been the victim of vandalism three times, including a recent 5-inch-wide dent found in the sphere. More 9/11 memorials are located in nearby Hermosa Beach and Manhattan Beach. The piece, placed next to Indianapolis Fire Station 13 in downtown, consists of two 11,000-pound beams from the Twin Towers. Behind the beams stand granite monuments with inscriptions and timelines of the events of 9/11. Perched atop one of the beams is a bronze, life-sized sculpture of an American Bald Eagle with wings outstretched, its gaze directed toward New York City. The piece, placed next to Indianapolis Fire Station 13 in downtown, consists of two 11,000-pound beams from the Twin Towers. Behind the beams stand granite monuments with inscriptions and timelines of the events of 9/11. Perched atop one of the beams is a bronze, life-sized sculpture of an American Bald Eagle with wings outstretched, its gaze directed toward New York City. This 14-foot-tall bronze sculpture, representing the pilots, flight attendants, and passengers of the flights that went down on 9/11, was designed by Bryce Cameron Liston and sculpted by Dean Thompson. Sitting on a block of white limestone, it depicts two pilots, two flight attendants, and a child. Granite pavers engraved with the names of 9/11 crew members encircle the site. This 14-foot-tall bronze sculpture, representing the pilots, flight attendants, and passengers of the flights that went down on 9/11, was designed by Bryce Cameron Liston and sculpted by Dean Thompson. Sitting on a block of white limestone, it depicts two pilots, two flight attendants, and a child. Granite pavers engraved with the names of 9/11 crew members encircle the site. Honoring the passengers and crews of American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175, which departed from Logan Airport on September 11, the memorial is anchored by a cube of texture glass, two glazed panels of which are etched with the names of the passengers and crew on the flights. Moskow Linn Architects designed the edifice, which visitors access via two winding walkways that recreate the paths of the two flights. The memorial space, say the architects, symbolizes the break between the world before and after 9/11, and creates a sky-focused space (the view upward is fractured by sculptural insertions) for visitors to reflect and remember the events of that day.   Honoring the passengers and crews of American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175, which departed from Logan Airport on September 11, the memorial is anchored by a cube of texture glass, two glazed panels of which are etched with the names of the passengers and crew on the flights. Moskow Linn Architects designed the edifice, which visitors access via two winding walkways that recreate the paths of the two flights. The memorial space, say the architects, symbolizes the break between the world before and after 9/11, and creates a sky-focused space (the view upward is fractured by sculptural insertions) for visitors to reflect and remember the events of that day.   Designer Victor Walker created Boston’s memorial to the Massachusetts residents killed on 9/11, located on the edge of the Public Gardens in Back Bay. Benches, a small stone plaza, flowers, and trees all surround the curving, low-lying pink granite memorial, which lists 206 names.   Designer Victor Walker created Boston’s memorial to the Massachusetts residents killed on 9/11, located on the edge of the Public Gardens in Back Bay. Benches, a small stone plaza, flowers, and trees all surround the curving, low-lying pink granite memorial, which lists 206 names.   Local architect Liuba Lashchyk created Pennsylvania’s official 9/11 memorial, focused around a spiraling walkway and fountain, both bordered by glass railings inscribed with the names of those lost in the attacks. Its forecourt contains steel remnants from the World Trade Center. Forty-two lights line the walkway, representing the Pennsylvania children who lost parents in the attacks. Local architect Liuba Lashchyk created Pennsylvania’s official 9/11 memorial, focused around a spiraling walkway and fountain, both bordered by glass railings inscribed with the names of those lost in the attacks. Its forecourt contains steel remnants from the World Trade Center. Forty-two lights line the walkway, representing the Pennsylvania children who lost parents in the attacks. This 80-foot-tall stainless steel sculpture, designed by late architect Frederic Schwartz, comprises thousands of feet of welded steel. Its 109 rods represent the 109 Westchester residents originally thought to have perished on 9/11. (Additional local victims have since been identified and had their names added to the sculpture.) The title of the piece comes from a Bruce Springsteen song dedicated to the events of 9/11. This 80-foot-tall stainless steel sculpture, designed by late architect Frederic Schwartz, comprises thousands of feet of welded steel. Its 109 rods represent the 109 Westchester residents originally thought to have perished on 9/11. (Additional local victims have since been identified and had their names added to the sculpture.) The title of the piece comes from a Bruce Springsteen song dedicated to the events of 9/11. Schwartz also collaborated with designer Jessica Jamroz1 to create Empty Sky in Jersey City—twin stainless steel-clad walls, directed toward the World Trade Center site across the river. The imposing surfaces, whose lengths equal those of the sides of the Twin Towers, transect a sloped, grassy mound and are inscribed with the names of New Jersey’s 749 victims of the attacks. Schwartz also collaborated with designer Jessica Jamroz1 to create Empty Sky in Jersey City—twin stainless steel-clad walls, directed toward the World Trade Center site across the river. The imposing surfaces, whose lengths equal those of the sides of the Twin Towers, transect a sloped, grassy mound and are inscribed with the names of New Jersey’s 749 victims of the attacks. Perched on Staten Island’s North Shore, Postcards, dedicated to the 275 Staten Islanders who died on September 11, features two fiberglass structures representing folded postcards, presumably being sent to lost loved ones. Rows of granite plaques along the sides of the two pieces list victims’ names, birth dates, and places of work at the time of the attack. Designed by New York architect Masayuki Sono, it was the first major memorial completed in the New York area. Perched on Staten Island’s North Shore, Postcards, dedicated to the 275 Staten Islanders who died on September 11, features two fiberglass structures representing folded postcards, presumably being sent to lost loved ones. Rows of granite plaques along the sides of the two pieces list victims’ names, birth dates, and places of work at the time of the attack. Designed by New York architect Masayuki Sono, it was the first major memorial completed in the New York area. Designed by local artist Mark Fuller, this tribute features a three-story-tall, bent steel column from the World Trade Center’s South Tower, rising above a landscaped garden, a brick walkway, and 8-foot-tall glass panels etched with the names of 9/11 victims. Designed by local artist Mark Fuller, this tribute features a three-story-tall, bent steel column from the World Trade Center’s South Tower, rising above a landscaped garden, a brick walkway, and 8-foot-tall glass panels etched with the names of 9/11 victims. Dedicated to Naperville native Dan Shanower, who died in the attack on The Pentagon, this memorial, perched on the City’s Riverwalk, is made from 100 pounds of debris from the Pentagon, granite from the part of Pennsylvania where United 93 crashed, a steel beam from the World Trade Center, and an Eternal Flame. A 48-foot wall surrounding the memorial contains images of 140 faces, representing 9/11 victims, created by Naperville schoolchildren and molded onto its surface. Dedicated to Naperville native Dan Shanower, who died in the attack on The Pentagon, this memorial, perched on the City’s Riverwalk, is made from 100 pounds of debris from the Pentagon, granite from the part of Pennsylvania where United 93 crashed, a steel beam from the World Trade Center, and an Eternal Flame. A 48-foot wall surrounding the memorial contains images of 140 faces, representing 9/11 victims, created by Naperville schoolchildren and molded onto its surface. This memorial found a home in the eastern Washington town of Cashmere after the state capital, Olympia, rejected it for commemorating a national event, rather than a state one. The bronze sculpture features a fireman, a flight attendant, an office worker and a member of the military, holding hands and facing outward. It also incorporates steel from the World Trade Center and stone from the Pentagon. 1. Update 9/15/2016: This article was changed to accurately reflect the authorship of The Empty Sky: New Jersey’s 9/11 Memorial This memorial found a home in the eastern Washington town of Cashmere after the state capital, Olympia, rejected it for commemorating a national event, rather than a state one. The bronze sculpture features a fireman, a flight attendant, an office worker and a member of the military, holding hands and facing outward. It also incorporates steel from the World Trade Center and stone from the Pentagon. 1. Update 9/15/2016: This article was changed to accurately reflect the authorship of The Empty Sky: New Jersey’s 9/11 Memorial

2016-08-01

Aug 1 (Reuters) - Dangote Flour Mills Plc : * 9-month group revenue of 49.85 billion naira versus 33.10 billion naira year ago * 9-months ended June 2016 group profit before tax of 2.64 billion naira versus loss of 9.55 billion naira year ago Source: bit.ly/2aVIqrU Further company coverage:

2017-11-04 10:00:13

Joseph Flaherty Contributor Joe Flaherty is director of Content & Community at Founder Collective. More posts by this contributor Dear Hollywood, here are 5 female founders to showcase instead of Elizabeth Holmes Why the ‘end of the startup era’ could be great for entrepreneurs Three prominent tech thinkers recently declared the end of the startup era, questioned the future of tech innovation generally and heralded the rise of the “Frightful Five” — Apple, Amazon, Facebook, Google and Microsoft — who will dominate the future of tech. All of the posts make credible arguments, but ignore how consolidation could be good, even great, for startups. If we define startup success as building cornerstone companies that will go down in history and be worth hundreds of billions of dollars, we may, in fact, be entering a lean period. If we define success as building an ever wider assortment of products, shipping them to tens of millions of users and earning hundreds of millions, or even billions of dollars in short time frames, the good times may just be getting started. Just look at the case of tbh — Ben Thompson suggests that Facebook likely paid ~$80 million for the seed-funded, one-year-old company. Each founder probably made close to $15 million for a year of work, making them better paid than All-Star NBA Champion Stephen Curry. Entrepreneurs may have to settle for acquiring mere generational wealth, rather than becoming “pledge to cure all diseases” wealthy, but the death of startups has been greatly exaggerated. The kind of industry consolidation we see with the “Frightful Five” isn’t new to tech, it’s the norm in most industries and can actually spur innovation. The pharmaceutical and packaged food industries are heavily consolidated, have thriving startup scenes, are hyperactive in M&A and provide a glimpse of how the future of tech may unfold. The pharma industry was one of the earliest tech businesses and is one where first-mover advantage is real. As many leading pharma companies were founded before 1780 as after 1980, and eight of the 10 biggest companies are more than 100 years old. This sounds like the makings of a moribund market, but, in fact, between 2014-2015 there were more than 100 biotech IPOs that generated $10 billion in proceeds. A hundred years after the “winners” were established in pharma, startups are still producing money-making miracle drugs and minting multi-millionaire startup founders with startling regularity. Company Year Founded Market Cap Johnson & Johnson 1886 $382B Novartis 1758 (1) $215B Pfizer 1849 $215B Roche 1896 $201B Merck 1891 $170B AbbVie 1888 (2) $146B Amgen 1980 $130B Sanofi 1718 (3) $121B Bristol-Myers Squibb 1887 $105B Gilead Sciences 1987 $104B 1) Originally founded as Geigy. 2) Originally founded as Abbott Laboratories. 3) Originally founded as Laboratoires Midy. Market Cap data via Google Finance. How did this happen? The established companies have scaled their organizations to handle the drudge work of getting a drug through clinical trials, past FDA review (and its global counterparts) and, once cleared, into the hands of doctors and patients. This organizational structure and scale make them ill-suited to pursue novel R&D, which is where the startups shine. Startups can now orient themselves entirely toward finding breakthrough cures and not worry about commercialization. If a startup develops a novel cancer drug, or even a molecule that looks promising, Sanofi, Novartis or one of their peers will buy it. Critics of the pharma comparison will point out that intellectual property is critical in the biotech/life sciences industries and software-based tech startups don’t have the same negotiating leverage. This is a fair point. However, the pattern of large companies focused on marketing and distribution acquiring nimble innovators also plays out in the packaged food business, which, like software, has little in the way of IP, relies on commodities as inputs and thrives by surfing changing consumer tastes. Look at the top 10 packaged food companies by revenue and the years in which they were founded: Company Year Founded Market Cap Nestlé 1886 (1) $90.2B Pepsico 1898 $62.8B Unilever 1872 (2) $48.3B Coca-Cola 1886 $41.9B Mars 1911 $35.0B Mondelez 1909 (3) $25.9B Danone 1919 $23.7B Associated British Foods 1935 $16.8B General Mills 1856 $16.6B Kellogg’s 1906 $13.0B 1) Originally founded as the “Anglo-Swiss Condensed Milk Company.” 2) Originally founded as “Margarine Unie.” 3) Originally founded as “Kraft Foods.” Market cap data via Business Insider. Despite this consolidation, last year there were 614 food and drink company acquisitions. The diversity of the startups is impressive, their simplicity of their offerings even more so. Krave Jerky served paleo enthusiasts, and Dave’s Bread was a godsend to gluten lovers, but both were rewarded with quarter-billion-dollar exits for improving on product categories that are approximately 10,000 years old. Startups aren’t limited to acquisitions either. Chobani went from a niche product to owning 20 percent of the yogurt market in a little over 10 years. In 2015, two dog food startups debuted on the public markets with a combined $6 billion in market cap. It’s true that the founders of RX Bar will probably not go down in history the way W.K. Kellogg did, but they still managed to turn a $10,000 investment into a $600 million fortune in four years. That seems like the sign of a healthy entrepreneurial ecosystem, not a weak one. Not only could this pattern work in tech, in some sectors it’s already the norm. Google has acquired at least 211 startups since 2001. IAC has owned the online dating space from Match.com and has bought up many of the 45 sub-brands that make up its portfolio. Some believe that the tech industry will be perpetually churning and creating new market leaders. As Friendster gave way to Myspace, and Myspace lost out to Facebook, so shalt Facebook be upstaged by the next great social network. Microsoft once looked unassailable and was ultimately brought low by changing technology and the Justice Department, and so will Google, they say. That’s always a possibility, but the reality is these companies have benefited from capturing billions of users in the crossover from desktop to mobile computing and established business models that are native to the web. The founders of Facebook, Amazon and Google will likely be running their companies for decades to come. Fortune favors efficient entrepreneurs… In a world where new tech startups don’t have a clear path to Facebook-sized valuations, one way to thrive is to avoid raising so much VC funding where becoming the “next Google” is the only way to win. There’s no shame in a $100 million startup. Fred Wilson and USV have created a legendary firm on $1-3 billion dollar exits (with a couple of notable outliers). If a startup isn’t building for the long haul, they should orient themselves to a world where more humble valuations are the norm. There are dozens of startups that got huge with almost no capital. It’s possible to make more money as an entrepreneur by raising very little capital and selling for a low price than raising huge sums and selling for a high price. Entrepreneurs shouldn’t aim small or plan their company around an acquisition, but they shouldn’t close the door on the option by overfunding. …and audacious projects Today, many equate startups and entrepreneurship with the lean, public development process that enabled Mark Zuckerberg to create in a dorm room the most powerful media company the world has ever known. This is not the historical norm. We may be due for a period where major capital expenditures are required to create the platforms of the future. That process can look messy. Magic Leap has been able to easily conjure piles of cash, but thus far has been unwilling to perform even the simplest parlor trick for the press, leading many to speculate that its eventual release will result in a Juicero-like splat instead of a Jobsian reveal. But is it that crazy for a startup to invest $1.9 billion to develop something, that if successful, will be a new kind of display technology with the potential to rival OLED? If this investment pays off, and the patents are strong, Magic Leap will be in a position to compete with Apple, Facebook, Google and Microsoft in the race for AR. Even if it ends up being “just” an awesome game platform, the amount invested isn’t crazy. Sony spent more than $3 billion in R&D developing their third-generation PlayStation console and Microsoft spent $100 million improving their Xbox game controller. If Magic Leap finally ships a functional product, founder Rony Abovitz will deserve plaudits for his capital efficiency. Look to places other than San Francisco… Consumer drones are an $8 billion tech industry that is thoroughly dominated by DJI, a Chinese startup. Perhaps WeChat will decide to take on Facebook in the U.S.? Or Alibaba could one day decide to challenge Amazon in the U.S.? The notion of a Japanese loom maker beating Ford and GM to become the leader in U.S. auto sales seemed crazy at one point as well, but Toyota did it all the same. And who knows what’s being developed in the dorms at Tsinghua University. …including vape shops In a world where Warby Parker, Casper and Juicero are considered tech companies, it’s worth taking a moment to recognize that the e-cigarette category has become an $8 billion market, and is projected to be worth $20 billion in the next five years. This is within striking distance of Ethereum’s market cap, but unlike cryptocurrencies, which have been obsessed over by the tech cognoscenti, e-cigarettes emerged from gas stations and bodegas seemingly overnight. Vape shops won’t spur the next great startup, but their rapid growth shows that tech has not drawn its last (root beer-scented) breath, and that huge opportunities for startups can come from anywhere. Nvidia was founded in 1993 with the goal of making better graphics cards for gamers. By its twentieth anniversary, it had attained a comfortable corporate middle age with a valuation in the single-digit billions. Then AI folks began to rely on Nvidia’s hardware, and the company enjoyed a 10X improvement in their stock price in the space of two years. What was once a company that served a niche segment of the tech industry is now a major player — Nvidia’s market cap is twice as large as Tesla’s! It may be the end of the startup world as we’ve known it, but students of business history should feel fine.

2017-07-12 00:00:00

When Facebook held its first Communities Summit in Chicago last month, Meetup CEO Scott Heiferman watched attentively from his New York City office. His browser trained on Facebook's live video stream, Heiferman watched as Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg told an enthusiastic crowd of his plan to get 1 billion people involved in “meaningful communities” on Facebook. He watched as Zuckerberg explained how the company would go about doing this, rolling out new features designed to bolster Facebook-hosted communities online and off. And he watched as Zuckerberg touted a Facebook group event called “Mommy Meetup" as evidence of the company's ability to bring people closer together in the real world. Then, he shut it off and suited up for battle. Heiferman sledgehammering an iPad to encourage people to spend time offline. Meetup, a scrappy tech company that helps people meet online and then get together offline, is in for what may be the fight of its life. Building “supportive community” — long Meetup’s core mission — is now the first bullet point in Zuckerberg's latest manifesto outlining the future of the company. And Facebook is running hard at it — both with its June Communities Summit and the “Give people the power to build community and bring the world closer together” mission introduced there. After not coming up against a true competitor in its 15-year history, Meetup is now facing off against a determined and formidable challenger armed with a massive network of active users, a vast repository of knowledge about those users' interests, the technological acumen to recommend appropriate groups, and the financial wherewithal to offer event-organizing capabilities free of charge. Heiferman is aware of companies like Vine, Timehop, and Snapchat who’ve competed with Facebook and suffered severe damage. (Remember Meerkat? The livestreaming app’s creators pulled it from the App Store months after the debut of Facebook Live.) But the tenacious Meetup CEO is not the type to lie down without a fight. And indeed, he and his team have a plan. Two weeks before Facebook’s Communities Summit, on the 10th floor of Meetup's downtown Manhattan headquarters, Heiferman sat across from an investor considering putting millions of dollars into his company and outlined where Meetup is going. He started by rattling off a series of impressive stats. More than 20,000 meetings a day take place via Meetup, organized via any number of its 300,000 paid groups, whose members total nearly 40 million people, Heiferman said. The company, he emphasized, had real growth potential, 10x potential. And after discussing the product’s past and present, he turned to its future to explain why. As the investor looked on, Heiferman played an internal video that showed the product Meetup was working toward, one conceived before Zuckerberg’s manifesto, that could be its bulwark against Facebook’s incursion. The video showed a concept for “self-driving Meetups,” as they’re known inside the company. These meetups are formed initially by computers, not humans, allowing for smaller, smarter groups that better fit people’s interests, as opposed to the broader, less tailored groups that exist on Meetup today. Illustrating what Meetup is after, the video showed a person looking for a running group, but instead of a joining an umbrella New York runners group, this person answered a few questions from Meetup, telling it she was specifically interested in an women-only group, made up of intermediate runners, that meets up at a specific entrance of Brooklyn’s Prospect Park every Wednesday. Then, instead of waiting for a human to form this group (and it’s hard to imagine an organizer creating something this specific), Meetup’s software did it on its own. After a critical mass of people told Meetup they were interested in the same type of group, the platform put them in touch and, in the next frame, they were off running. Heiferman watched this video with the look of someone who know he was onto something. More tailored Meetups, he told BuzzFeed News, would give the company a way to serve far more people. “The accuracy, the precision, the specificity — we know plain as day that traditional methods of [organizing] groups and events through apps isn’t going to give people what they want,” he said. “If there’s a meetup that has the right people, the right time, the right place, the right purpose, naturally people are going to go.” Facebook, of course, has the technical wherewithal to mimic those features too. And it’s unknown whether the investor in the room, who declined to be named, was put off by concerns about Facebook. But Jeremy Liew, an early Snapchat investor and partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners, told BuzzFeed News he wouldn’t shy away from companies competing with Facebook. “If they are showing strong engagement, retention, and growth with a competitive product, then I would definitely want to dig in and learn more,” he said. “If I could see a unique insight that was driving new habits and a scalable, repeatable path to growth, then I would definitely consider an investment.” Right after the investor meeting, Heiferman took an elevator a few floors down to a design sprint in which his team was in the midst of bringing the product in the video to life, separating into teams to work on specific bits of it codenamed “Ask,” “Spark,” and “Deliver.” Fiona Spruill, Meetup’s VP of product, said the product would be “absolutely key” to fending off Facebook’s challenge, and that Meetup was in good position because it’s focused only on getting people to interact offline, as opposed to starting at the screen. “We want to have the shortest jumping-off point from online to great in-real-life experience.” The design sprint Heiferman bristles at the notion that smaller companies can’t fend off bigger competitors. In an email following his discussion with BuzzFeed News, he shared a handful of links to articles written by skeptical reporters who seemed unable to conceive a tech giant could lose a battle. “Of course, Google's biggest problem may well be (cue soundtrack from ‘Jaws’) Microsoft,” one Newsweek article about search argued. “Bill Gates is constitutionally unable to countenance the idea that a cheeky Silicon Valley start-up can claim even the mildest role as an Internet gateway.” “It wasn't that long ago that people thought it would only be Microsoft. And then they thought it would only be Google,” Heiferman said. Still, for Heiferman and Meetup, squaring off against Facebook won't be easy. Zuckerberg at the summit made clear that getting people to meet offline is important to Facebook. “Online communities strengthen physical communities by helping people come together online as well as offline, even across great distances,” he told the audience. And as Facebook’s history suggests, when Zuck comes for your bread and butter, it can be difficult, and sometimes impossible, to hold on to it. The convenience of doing everything inside one app with all your friends can be hard to resist, even for the most ardent of brand loyalists. “Facebook is an all-in-one platform. People already use it, are familiar with it, and it's free,” Lauren Kent, an admin of Moms of Beverly, the Facebook group that hosted the moms meetup highlighted by Zuckerberg, told BuzzFeed News. Kent, a former Meetup member, said she chose to use Facebook “simply because it's a free platform whereas Meetup is not. Also, almost 2 billion people already use Facebook.” Still, Meetup is growing even in the face of Facebook’s challenge, adding millions of new members each year. And perhaps, the combination of its characteristic tenacity, a new product that imagines organizing in a brand-new way, and possibly a little cash will put Meetup in position to hold its own. Despite the odds, and admitting that Meetup has a real competitor for the first time in its history, Heiferman thinks the company is in position to thrive. “There’s a giant body pile of all the apps that have said they’re going to be the new Meetup,” Heiferman said. “The fact that Facebook will also be doing stuff that operates in some similar veins, fine. They’ll create good in the world with it. And I’m honestly happy to see that. But our purpose is not to keep people glued to the screen — our purpose is to get people away from the screen and sparking communities that change people’s lives.”

2020-01-05 00:00:00

You’ve probably never heard of Suunto unless you’re a die-hard fitness watch enthusiast, but the company’s latest wrist-worn gadget might have a larger audience than before. It seems to be the first smartwatch the company’s offered, its first Wear OS watch, and a watch that attempts to make Google’s smartwatch operating system more outdoorsy than ever before. It’s called the Suunto 7, and it sounds like it’s a multisport watch that could theoretically be the best of both worlds, with the GPS tracking, offline outdoor maps, heart rate sensors, an altimeter, sleep tracker, and (70-plus) exercise modes you’d expect from a Garmin-style fitness watch. There are also the standard benefits of Google’s Wear OS like summoning Google Assistant, turn-by-turn Google Maps directions, Google Fit, Google’s catalog of apps and watchfaces, and being able to tap to pay with Google Pay on your wrist. The company also suggests that it has a pretty decent-sized battery for a Wear OS watch at 48 hours of battery life, or 12 hours in GPS / GLONASS / Galileo tracking mode. If true, that’d be better than we typically see from Wear OS watches (we haven’t tested any that reliably get over 18 hours of battery life), but it’s a good bit short of what the industry expects from sports watches — much less sports watches with solar panels built in. It uses the same Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 3100 chip as other recent WearOS devices. This isn’t a small watch, with a 50mm (1.97-in) face and a body that’s over a half-inch thick. But that isn’t unusual for watches that can be worn while swimming laps (it’s water resistant up to 50 meters) or weaving a mountain bike down a tree-topped trail. It takes standard 24mm interchangeable straps, weighs 70 grams, and will be available at the end of January for $499.99.

2018-12-12 00:00:00

LONDON (Reuters) - S&P Global said on Wednesday there would have to be a significant deterioration in the French government’s finances before any kind of credit rating downgrade becomes a possibility. S&P rates France AA with a ‘stable’ outlook but the country has been in focus after weeks of often violent “yellow vest” protests forced President Emmanuel Macron to announce 10 billion euros ($11.37 billion) of minimum wage rises and tax cuts. Worries that politically-sensitive pension and healthcare cuts could also end up being watered down have driven up bond market borrowing costs, but S&P said that, from a rating perspective at least, there was no immediate threat. “France’s rating is in the middle of the (AA stable) rating band so you probably need a fair amount of deterioration for it to start moving into negative territory,” S&P’s lead global sovereign analyst Roberto Sifon-Arevalo told Reuters. France’s near 100 percent debt-to-GDP is ratio is higher than many countries but S&P expects Macron’s government to “cushion” the additional spending by making cuts or raising revenues elsewhere.     On the risk to healthcare and pension reforms Sifon-Arevalo added: “we would analyse the degree of the watering down and what if anything is done to compensate, otherwise you might find yourself overreacting and that is something we want to avoid.” ($1 = 0.8797 euros) Reporting by Marc Jones; Editing by Kirsten Donovan

2020-02-03 00:00:00

ZURICH (Reuters) - The Swiss National Bank (SNB) has updated its criteria for collateral eligible for SNB repos to prevent U.K.-domiciled securities losing their eligibility after Brexit, the central bank said on Monday. The United Kingdom was added to the list as a host economy for eligible issuers, the SNB said. Recognised stock exchanges and representative markets in the United Kingdom are considered eligible markets, while securities whose ultimate or intermediate depository is in the United Kingdom and which are delivered through SIX SIS Ltd meet the criteria for eligibility, it added. Reporting by John Miller, editing by John Revill

2019-06-06

The five beaches are silent at dawn but forever haunted. As the sun rose Thursday over the Normandy coastline where thousands of men bled and died 75 years ago, a fast-diminishing number of World War II veterans remembered D-Day and hoped the world never forgets the sacrifices made to dismantle Nazi tyranny. The sea of mercury blue couldn't have been more peaceful as day broke over Omaha Beach, the first of five code-named beaches where the waters ran red the morning of June 6, 1944, when Allied forces came ashore to push the Nazis out of France. Hundreds of people, civilians and military alike, hailing from around the world, gathered at the water's edge, remembering the troops who stormed the fortified Normandy beaches to help turn the tide of the war and give birth to a new Europe, since at peace. On the western edge of Omaha, dense crowds formed a human chain and tossed red and white chrysanthemums into the gently lapping waves, remembering. Veterans' descendants spoke about family members who fought on the beach and laid red roses at the feet of a statue of an infantryman clutching a rifle and hauling a fallen comrade. A lone piper played in Mulberry Harbor, exactly 75 years after British troops came ashore at Gold Beach. "It is sobering, surreal to be able to stand here on this beach and admire the beautiful sunrise where they came ashore, being shot at, facing unspeakable atrocities," said 44-year-old former U.S. paratrooper Richard Clapp, of Julian, North Carolina. After Britain's spirited anniversary tribute Wednesday to the derring-do of the Allied forces that set off from England to defend democracy, France is hosting a series of solemn ceremonies Thursday in the country where so many young lives ended in sand and sea. Gratitude was a powerful common theme. "Thank you to all those who were killed so that France could become free again," French President Emmanuel Macron said Thursday, standing with British Prime Minister Theresa May and uniformed veterans overlooking Gold Beach. They were taking part in a ceremony laying the cornerstone of a new memorial that will record the names of thousands of troops under British command who died on D-Day and ensuing Battle of Normandy. "If one day can be said to have determined the fate of generations to come, in France, in Britain, in Europe and the world, that day was the 6th of June, 1944," May said. "As the sun rose that morning," she said, note one of the thousands of men arriving in Normandy "knew whether they would still be alive when the sun set once again." To the veterans, she said "the only words we can - thank you." Dick Jansen, 60, from the Netherlands, drank Canadian whisky from an enamel cup on the water's edge, where people held moments of silence and some saluted. "Every time we come here, we drink at the moment they came onto the beach, a whisky for the guys who came no further," he said. Norwegian Sigrid Flaata drove from Oslo in a 1942 restored jeep to honor the soldiers who died on D-Day. Belgian Filip Van Hecke called his journey a "small effort to pay homage." Passing on memories is especially urgent, with hundreds of World War II veterans now dying every day. A group of five Americans parachuted into Normandy on Wednesday as part of a commemorative jump, and showed up on the beach Thursday morning still wearing their jumpsuits, all World War II-era uniforms, and held an American flag. All five said they fear that the feats and sacrifices of D-Day are being forgotten. French President Emmanuel Macron and President Donald Trump will look out over Omaha Beach, the scene of the bloodiest fighting, from the cemetery with grave markers for over 9,000 Americans, servicemen who established a blood bond between the U.S. and its trans-Atlantic allies. "I have all kinds of friends buried," said William Tymchuk, 98, who served with the 4th Canadian Armored Division during some of the deadliest fighting of the brutal campaign after the Normandy landings. "They were young. They got killed. They couldn't come home," Tymchuk, who was back in Normandy, continued. "Sorry," he said, tearing up. "They couldn't even know what life is all about." The biggest-ever air and seaborne invasion took place on D-Day, involving more than 150,000 troops that day itself and many more in the ensuing Battle of Normandy. Troops started landing overnight from the air, then were joined by a massive force by sea on the beaches code-named Omaha, Utah, Juno, Sword and Gold, carried by 7,000 boats. In that defining moment of military strategy confounded by unpredictable weather and human chaos, soldiers from the U.S., Britain, Canada and other Allied nations applied relentless bravery to carve out a beachhead on ground that Nazi Germany had occupied for four years. "The tide has turned! The free men of the world are marching together to Victory," Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower predicted in his order of the day. The Battle of Normandy, code-named Operation Overlord, hastened Germany's defeat less than a year later. Still, that single day cost the lives of 4,414 Allied troops, 2,501 of them Americans. More than 5,000 were injured. On the German side, several thousand were killed or wounded. From there, Allied troops would advance their fight, take Paris in late summer and march in a race against the Soviet Red Army to control as much German territory as possible by the time Adolf Hitler died in his Berlin bunker and Germany surrendered in May 1945. The Soviet Union also fought valiantly against the Nazis — and lost more people than any other nation in World War II — but those final battles would divide Europe for decades between the West and the Soviet-controlled East, the face-off line of the Cold War. "The heroism, courage and sacrifice of those who lost their lives will never be forgotten," said Queen Elizabeth, who was an army mechanic during World War II while her father George was king. "It is with humility and pleasure, on behalf of the entire country — indeed the whole free world — that I say to you all, thank you."

2018-10-02

Washington (CNN)President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he believes the reaction to the allegations of sexual assault and other misconduct against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh makes it "a very scary time for young men in America." "It is a very scary time for young men in America, where you can be guilty of something you may not be guilty of," Trump said. "This is a very, very -- this is a very difficult time. What's happening here has much more to do than even the appointment of a Supreme Court justice." The allegations against Kavanaugh -- including sexual assault and exposing himself to a young woman in college -- have sparked the latest reckoning in America about sexual assault and men's treatment of women, bringing the #MeToo movement back to the fore. And while Trump has called Christine Blasey Ford, who testified to Congress that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her while they were in high school, "credible" and "compelling," he has continued to support Kavanaugh's confirmation and emphatically defend his character. Trump's comments on Tuesday were just the latest instance of the President expressing concern about the public outcry resulting from the allegations against Kavanaugh and the impact on other men. "It's a very scary situation where you're guilty until proven innocent. My whole life I've heard you're innocent until proven guilty, but now you're guilty until proven innocent. That is a very, very difficult standard," Trump told reporters on the South Lawn of the White House. "You could be somebody that was perfect your entire life and somebody could accuse you of something." During the 2016 campaign, at least 15 women accused Trump of misbehavior ranging from sexual harassment and sexual assault to lewd behavior around women. They came forward in the wake of a 2005 "Access Hollywood" tape that was released in October 2016 in which he is caught saying on a hot mic: "And when you're a star, they let you do it. You can do anything ... Grab them by the p****. You can do anything." The White House -- through press secretary Sarah Sanders and others -- has dismissed all the allegations against him as old news that had been litigated during the campaign. While many prominent public figures have seized on the latest resurgence of the #MeToo movement to send a message to women and victims of sexual assault that their voices are being heard, Trump has focused on backing up the accused. He's offered few words to women. Moments after he addressed his concerns for young men in America, the President was asked if he had a message for young women. "Women are doing great," Trump replied, before walking off to board Marine One. Trump's comments echoed remarks his son Donald Trump Jr. made in an interview with the Daily Mail on Monday, when he was asked if he is more afraid for his sons or his daughters in the wake of the reaction to the allegations against Kavanaugh. "I mean, right now, I'd say my sons," Trump Jr. said in the interview. "I've got boys, and I've got girls. And when I see what's going on right now, it's scary." The President also made similar comments last week when he was asked about his message to young men in America. "Somebody could come and say 30 years ago, 25 years ago, 10 years ago, five years ago, he did a horrible thing to me. He did this, he did that, he did that and, honestly, it's a very dangerous period in our country," Trump said during a news conference in New York. Asked at that news conference about the message being sent to young women, Trump focused on women's complaints about how Kavanaugh has been treated through his confirmation process. "I'll tell you this, the people that have complained to me about it the most about what's happening are women. Women are very angry," Trump said. "I have men that don't like it, but I have women that are incensed at what's going on."

2016-10-24

FRANKFURT, Oct 24 (Reuters) - China’s Alipay has agreed with U.S.-based Verifone to integrate its mobile app on Verifone payment terminals at merchants in Europe and North America, the latest such deal to reach Chinese consumers travelling abroad. Alipay, which counts 450 million active users in China, is the top mobile payments player there. It is a unit of privately held ANT Financial, which is in turn an affiliate of publicly traded Chinese Internet giant Alibaba.com. It has begun actively expanding outside Asia this year via partnerships with Western payment providers. Verifone terminals are used by most of the top 200 retailers in the United States, a spokesman said. Instead of seeking to go head to head with major payments players outside its home market, Alipay targets the fast growing Chinese tourism market, which numbered 117 million travellers in 2014, according to the United Nations World Tourism Organisation, and is forecast to double by 2020. Through the Verifone deal announced on Monday, Alipay is targeting top-tier merchants across retail, luxury goods, health supplement and department stores. Alipay and rival WeChat, a unit of Tencent, together make up 90 percent of the Chinese mobile payments market, with gross merchandise value estimated at more than $1 trillion last year, dwarfing other mobile payment systems around the world, according to iResearch China estimates. Sabrina Peng, the president of Alipay International, said in a recent interview that her company’s ambition is to become a global payments provider over the next decade, with 60 percent of its transaction volume coming from outside China. “We are targeting 2 billion users in the next 10 years,” she said. French payment terminal supplier Ingenico announced in August an expanded deal with Alipay to allow merchants across Europe to use Ingenico’s payment gateway to accept payments from Alipay users visiting the region. The Alipay service is also being integrated into terminals from Concardis, a payments provider for merchants in German-speaking Europe. Wirecard, also of Germany, is developing a payment system that uses two-dimensional QR barcodes popular in China to help merchants across Europe accept payments from Alipay users. Alipay has a similar deal with mobile payments start-up Zapper in Britain to allow Chinese tourists to use QR codes in more than 1,000 restaurants there. (Reporting by Eric Auchard; Editing by Ruth Pitchford)

2019-05-21

Japanese automakers, led by Toyota Motor President Akio Toyoda, had more harsh words for U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday after he labeled international auto imports a threat to national security last week. "We are dismayed to hear a message suggesting that our long-time contributions of investment and employment in the United States are not welcomed," said Toyoda, chairman of the Japanese Automobile Manufacturers Association. Toyoda said that he was "deeply disappointed" in Trump and that trade restrictions "would deliver a serious blow to the U.S. auto industry and economy." The group released new data that shows the companies have collectively invested about $51 billion in manufacturing in the United States over the last several decades. The group also estimates its members have created almost 94,000 manufacturing jobs at their U.S. plants and more than 1.6 million indirect jobs, like at dealerships and suppliers in the U.S. "These numbers speak for themselves about JAMA member companies' long history of local contributions and commitment as U.S. corporate citizens, and we are certain that neither imported vehicles and parts nor our American operations 'threaten to impair' the U.S. national security," Toyoda said. Direct U.S. employment at Japanese manufacturers is at an all-time high, JAMA USA General Director Manny Manriquez said. From 2011 to 2018, direct employment at Japanese automakers operating in the U.S. grew by nearly 29%, compared with the overall growth rate of 8% across all U.S. manufacturing jobs. "We think this is an incredible achievement for international car companies," Manriquez said. "We've got a long history of continuing to strengthen the manufacturing base in the U.S." Japanese automakers have a wide reach in the U.S., according to the JAMA data. JAMA manufacturers, including Honda, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Subaru and Toyota, have 24 manufacturing plants, 45 research and development design facilities, and 39 distribution centers across 28 states in the U.S. Japanese manufacturers today build more than a third of the vehicles manufactured in the U.S., according to the data. In 2018, JAMA manufacturers built 3.7 million vehicles and 4.4 million engines. More than 420,000 cars and trucks built by Japanese companies were exported from the U.S. that year. JAMA said Japanese brands have produced more than 84 million vehicles in the U.S since 1982 and purchased more than $1 trillion in auto parts that were built in the U.S. since 1986. Manriquez said Japanese vehicles have become popular in the U.S. because of the way they're built. "Japanese automakers became known for building very high quality, reliable vehicles that become very affordable to fix," Manriquez said. Trump on Friday issued a new directive giving Japan and the European Union six months to renegotiate their trade deals with the U.S. so that the "American automobile industry, its workforce, and American innovation" are protected. Trump said U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer will "address the threatened impairment" of national security from auto imports and will negotiate a deal that protects American-owned automakers. Following Trump's proclamation, Toyota Motor said that it "sends a message to Toyota that our investments are not welcomed, and the contributions from each of our employees across America are not valued." The company added it hopes trade negotiations can be resolved quickly "and yield what is best for the American consumer, workers and the auto industry." Though the tariff negotiations are "early days at this point," Manriquez said tariffs are a bad policy that can cause cost increases and hurt consumers and global competitiveness. He added that Japanese automakers are "truly integral to the U.S. auto industry."

2017-02-28 00:00:00

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump said he believes the extra $54 billion dollars he has proposed spending on the U.S. military will be offset by a stronger economy as well as cuts in other areas. “I think the money is going to come from a revved up economy,” Trump said in a Fox News interview broadcast on Tuesday, hours before he was to address a joint session of Congress. “I mean you look at the kind of numbers we’re doing, we were probably GDP of a little more than 1 percent and if I can get that up to 3 or maybe more, we have a whole different ball game.  It’s a whole different ball game.” Reporting by Doina Chiacu; Editing by Catherine Evans

2019-07-01

(Updates prices) SINGAPORE, July 1 (Reuters) - Copper touched its highest in six weeks on Monday after a U.S.-China trade truce eased tensions between the world's top two economies that have threatened global growth and metal demand. U.S. and Chinese presidents on Saturday agreed to resume trade talks after both sides offered concessions, but Chinese state media warned of a "long road" before the countries can reach a deal, with potentially more fights ahead. Benchmark copper in London rose as much as 1.4% to $6,075 a tonne, its highest since May 20, before easing slightly to $6,057.50 a tonne at 0700 GMT. Shanghai copper ended 0.8% higher to 47,360 yuan ($6,921.14) a tonne. "The markets hopes were realised, with Trump and Xi agreeing to resume talks. This should boost sentiment in the base metals sector," said ANZ in a note. Most base metals rallied in early Asian trading hours but soon moved to trade in mixed ranges as investors reassessed the development in trade talks and amid disappointing factory data from China, the world's top consumer of many metals. "Significant obstacles remain to obtaining a long-term agreement," said Michael Taylor, Moody's Investors Service managing director, citing differences on core issues and a lack of mechanism to settle dispute between the two nations. "The talks could still suffer further setbacks and the risk of further tariffs has not been removed yet," Taylor said in a note. China's factory activity unexpectedly shrank in June amid faltering demand as the Sino-U.S. trade war drags on, private and official surveys showed. Shanghai aluminium fell 0.6% and tin closed down 0.8%. London nickel retreated 1% to $12,560 a tonne after touching its highest since April 18 in early trade on Monday, while Shanghai nickel dropped 2.1%. "Nickel price was so strong last week due to short position squeeze for ShFE July contract. Most investors already closed their position before July 1, so the buying activities came down (this week)," said a China-based nickel analyst. "Lots of investors have been shooting (down) nickel price since March, as the nickel pig iron production is so high while the stainless steel market is not good," the analyst added. FUNDAMENTALS * CHUQUICAMATA: Chile's Codelco, the world's top copper miner, said on Friday its Chuquicamata mine was fully operational after a two-week long strike that had docked output from the sprawling deposit came to an end. * GLENCORE: The number of artisanal miners killed by a landslide at a copper and cobalt mine run by Glencore in Congo rose to 43 on Friday and officials said the army would deploy at the mine as the search for more victims continued. * For the top stories in metals and other news, click or PRICES Three month LME copper Most active ShFE copper Three month LME aluminium Most active ShFE aluminium Three month LME zinc Most active ShFE zinc Three month LME lead Most active ShFE lead Three month LME nickel Most active ShFE nickel Three month LME tin Most active ShFE tin ARBS ($1 = 6.8428 Chinese yuan renminbi) (Reporting by Mai Nguyen; Editing by Rashmi Aich)

2016-02-18 08:11:09

Nike has terminated its relationship with Manny Pacquiao, the champion boxer who is campaigning for the Senate in the Philippines, one day after he publicly apologized for calling people in gay relationships “worse than animals” during an interview with a local broadcaster. “We find Manny Pacquiao’s comments abhorrent,” Nike said in a statement. “Nike strongly opposes discrimination of any kind and has a long history of supporting and standing up for the rights of the LGBT community. “We no longer have a relationship with Manny Pacquiao.” Pacquiao, 37, a born-again Christian and second-term congressman in the Philippines, had a lucrative sponsorship deal with Nike for many years, but by Wednesday night the company had removed all of his branded merchandise from its online store. Outrage over Pacquiao’s remarks began to spread on Monday, when a video of him criticizing gay people during an interview with TV5, a Philippine network, was shared widely online. “It’s common sense. Do you see animals mating with the same sex?” he said in the interview. “Animals are better because they can distinguish male from female. If men mate with men and women mate with women, they are worse than animals.” Pacquiao’s comments drew swift condemnation from gay rights groups, celebrities and fellow politicians in the Philippines, where Senate elections are scheduled for May. On Tuesday, he responded to the wave of criticism with a videotaped apology he posted to social media. “I’m sorry for hurting people by comparing homosexuals to animals,” he said, wearing a T-shirt with a prominent Nike logo on the chest. “Please forgive me for those I’ve hurt. I still stand on my belief that I’m against same-sex marriage because of what the Bible says, but I’m not condemning L.G.B.T. I love you all with the love of the Lord. God bless you all, and I’m praying for you.” That apology appears to have been insufficient for Nike, the world’s largest sports apparel brand and a supporter of several L.G.B.T. groups. The retailer found itself in an awkward position once before over Pacquiao’s disapproval of homosexuality. In 2012, an article about his opposition to same-sex marriage included a biblical verse that suggests gay men should be put to death. The language was inserted by the author, not Pacquiao, but anger over the article led to an online petition calling on Nike to drop the boxer. Pacquiao, who has won championships in eight weight classes, is revered in the Philippines for both his athletic success and his personal story, rising from poverty to international stardom and political office. He has consistently performed well in the polls in his race for one of the country’s 24 Senate seats, which some observers predict he would one day use as a springboard to a presidential bid. This week, though, political rivals seized on his comments about gay people and crafted them into attacks. “That statement was below the belt,” Neri Colmenares, a Congressman from the left-wing Bayan Muna party told The Manila Times. He said Pacquiao “should stop adding to the discrimination problem.” It remained to be seen what effect the remarks would have in the politics of the Philippines, a deeply Catholic country. Speaking to The Associated Press, the fight promoter Bob Arum, who works with Pacquiao, said the comments were a campaign tactic meant to fire up his conservative supporters and win votes. “What he said is completely for home consumption for Filipinos wrestling with the question of legalizing same sex marriage,” Arum said. Boxing has remained an important source of income and prestige for Pacquiao as his political career has advanced, although he recently said that he would retire from the sport this year. He lost to Floyd Mayweather Jr., last May in a bout that shattered Pay-Per-View records and brought Pacquiao a paycheck estimated to be worth more than $100 million. He is currently training for an April 9 fight with Timothy Bradley that he says will be his last.

2019-09-26 00:00:00

Remember the Jurassic era of oil markets in, uh, mid-September, when aerial attacks left the Saudis reeling and talk of big geopolitical risk premium was all the rage? Things look rather different now. Driving the news: Both Brent and WTI prices have come down a lot since soaring after the attacks that initially knocked 5.7 million barrels per day of Saudi production offline. The chart above captures WTI's moves. Prices this morning were around $61.15 for Brent and $56.14 for WTI. Why it matters: The return of prices to nearly pre-attack levels shows the market effect of the Saudi moves to bring back output fast. But it's also a sign that soft economic conditions have reasserted their influence. “Less than two weeks after the attacks on Saudi Arabia, the oil market has returned to business as usual,” Norbert Ruecker, head of economics at Julius Baer, tells Bloomberg. What's new: "Oil steadied on Thursday due to optimism that the United States and China could resolve their trade dispute, though prices came under pressure from Saudi Arabia’s moves to restore output quickly after attacks on its oil installations," Reuters writes.

2016-04-29

(Adds quote, detail) BEIRUT, April 29 (Reuters) - A “regime of calm” will be enforced in parts of Syria’s Latakia and Damascus regions from 1:00 a.m. (2200 GMT) on April 30, in order to “secure the implementation of the agreed cessation of hostilities”, a Syrian military statement said on Friday. A statement from the Syrian Army General Command did not mention the city of Aleppo, focus of fighting, and did not explain what military or non-military action a “regime of calm” would involve. It would last for 24 hours in the Eastern Ghouta region east of Damascus and in Damascus, and for 72 hours in areas of the northern Latakia countryside. “This is in order to sever the road for some terrorist groups and their supporters, who strive to prolong this state of tension and instability and to find pretexts to target peaceful civilians,” the statement said. A Feb. 27 cessation of hostilities agreement was intended to allow an opportunity for peace talks and delivery of humanitarian relief across Syria. Peace talks in Geneva aimed to end a war that has created the world’s worst refugee crisis, allowed for the rise of Islamic State and drew in regional and major powers, but the negotiations have all but failed and a cessation of hostilities agreement to allow them to take place has all but collapsed. (Reporting by Lisa Barrington; editing by Ralph Boulton)

2017-11-13

Nov 13 (Reuters) - Shenzhen Huakong Seg Co Ltd * Says it gets securities regulator’s approval to for share private placement Source text in Chinese: bit.ly/2jppLNt Further company coverage: (Reporting by Hong Kong newsroom)

2018-04-05 00:00:00

During any low point in your life, it's important to have a good circle of family and friends that you can rely on — and that's even more true if you're struggling with your mental health. If you're going through depression, you may already be getting help from a mental health professional, but having a solid support system is important, too. Jamie Justus, LCSW, a therapist based in Austin, says that even if you have people you can rely on, asking for help is hard because unfortunately, there's still a stigma around having a mental health condition and needing help. "They may worry about being experienced as a burden, perceived as weak, or that others will see the illness of depression instead of the person," she says. Not only can reaching out make people feel vulnerable, Deborah Serani, PsyD, a psychologist in Smithtown, NY, says that sometimes depression itself prevents people from asking for help. Depression can cause people to be fatigued and to isolate themselves, she says, which makes it even harder to talk to people. "They just don't have the wherewithal to reach out," Dr. Serani says. As daunting as it may seem, sharing how you feel with someone close to you could be a big step towards recovery. Read on for our expert-backed advice on how to reach out to people when you're at a low point. While these tips aren't meant to be comprehensive, hopefully they'll help you heal. If you are experiencing depression and need support, please call the National Depressive/Manic-Depressive Association Hotline at 1-800-826-3632 or the Crisis Call Center’s 24-hour hotline at 1-775-784-8090. Read These Stories Next: What To Remember If You Experience A Depression Relapse This Is Exactly What Happens When You Start Therapy How To Help Your Partner Face Their Anxiety — Because That's The Only Way They'll Heal

2020-03-12 00:00:00

SAO PAULO, March 12 (Reuters) - Brazil airline Azul on Thursday became the first Latin American carrier to implement a hiring freeze and also put some workers on unpaid leave as the carrier grappled with collapsing demand due to the global coronavirus outbreak. Azul on Friday also disclosed it had a net loss of 2.3 billion reais ($477.69 million) in the fourth quarter of 2019, affected by a weak Brazilian currency. ($1 = 4.8148 reais) (Reporting by Marcelo Rochabrun; Editing by Christian Plumb)

2019-06-27 00:00:00

WELLINGTON (Reuters) - Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Thursday replaced the housing minister and appointed a team of senior officials to tackle New Zealand’s housing crisis, in her first cabinet reshuffle since taking power in 2017. Ardern, 38, enjoys celebrity status overseas but her government has been criticized at home for falling short on some of its promises, especially to build affordable homes. Ardern appointed Energy Minister Megan Woods as housing minister, replacing Phil Twyford who has come under fire in recent months for the failure of a government project to build housing called KiwiBuild. Woods will lead a three-member team that will look into government housing. The team includes Twyford and the minister of broadcasting and communications, Kris Faafoi. “KiwiBuild has not progressed as well or as quickly as we’d hoped or expected,” Ardern said at a news conference announcing the reshuffle. “It has become clear to me that the range of challenges in fixing the housing crisis are too great for one minister. Therefore, I am putting in place a team of senior ministers to deliver the full breadth of our housing plan, from KiwiBuild right through to tackling homelessness,” she said. House prices in New Zealand have soared more than 50 percent over the past decade, and almost doubled in its biggest city of Auckland. The center-left government promised it would deliver 100,000 homes through KiwiBuild over 10 years, but the plan is far behind schedule with only a few hundred built. This was Ardern’s first cabinet reshuffle since taking office in 2017, although last year she asked two ministers to step aside. [nL3N1VL6ZC] Since taking office, Ardern has increased the minimum wage and boosted benefits for poor families, but has faced several economic and political problems. Primary school teachers, nurses and bus drivers walked off work several times over the past year demanding better wages and fewer working hours. Business confidence in the government sank to decade lows last year and is still subdued. Reporting by Praveen Menon; Editing by Robert Birsel

2019-11-12 00:00:00

Pictured above: Eamonn O'Rourke RenoRun is a shopping platform for deliveries of construction materials directly to job sites, saving contractors time and money wasted on shopping trips. Co-founder and CEO Eamonn O'Rourke has firsthand knowledge of these inefficiencies, with more than 20 years' experience building homes and managing construction projects. RenoRun is currently available in Montreal, Toronto and Austin, Texas, and the company has plans to expand to more U.S. cities soon.

2016-02-25 00:00:00

Washington (CNN)Former CIA and National Security Agency Director Gen. Michael Hayden says the rhetoric from the GOP candidates in the presidential race is scary -- and he suspects the rest of the world is concerned, too. Hayden was responding Thursday to a question from CNN's Michael Holmes about the rhetoric on the campaign trail, with Holmes mentioning Texas Sen. Ted Cruz's promise of carpet bombing ISIS and GOP front-runner Donald Trump's praise for waterboarding and harsher interrogation techniques as well as a proposed temporary ban on foreign Muslims. "We have taken ... very complicated, serious issues and we've pushed them down to the level of bumper stickers," Hayden said. "That scares me and I'm sure it scares a lot of the rest of the world." In terms of the U.S. position in the world, Hayden said America is doing a good job at what he called the "close battle," or immediate fights. But he said we lagged in the "deep battle," which is stopping people planning to do harm to the U.S. three to 10 years down the road. And he added the world has significantly changed and the West needs to realize it. "Iraq no longer exists. Syria no longer exists. They aren't coming back. Lebanon is teetering and Libya is long gone," Hayden said. "This is a tectonic moment," he added. "Within that we then have the war against terrorism. It's an incredibly complex time."

2018-05-09 14:54:15

Fiction When you purchase an independently reviewed book through our site, we earn an affiliate commission. DARWIN’S GHOSTS By Ariel Dorfman 296 pp. Seven Stories Press. $26.95. In his latest novel, the distinguished Argentine-born Chilean-American writer Ariel Dorfman seeks to gauge the moral debt Western civilization owes the third world after 500 years of brutal despoilment. Preposterously plotted and crammed with overly potted history, “Darwin’s Ghosts” doesn’t come close to succeeding. The book requires its first suspension of disbelief as it opens, in 1981, on the morning of a Boston-area youth’s 14th birthday. But when Fitzroy Foster’s parents take his photograph, the Polaroid that emerges shows the face of a defiant, shaggy-haired stranger, “some sort of barbarian, an uncivilized brute.” Every picture the family shoots, regardless of which camera they use, inserts “the visitor” into Fitzroy’s place. In the years that follow, the young man goes into seclusion, fearful that the interloper will show up on public security cameras and other people’s casual snapshots. If that happens, Fitzroy thinks, he’ll be incarcerated and forced to undergo intrusive medical inspection. Investigating the phenomenon with the help of Fitzroy’s impossibly bubbly, beautiful and brilliant girlfriend, Cam, the Foster family discovers the mysterious image belongs to a 19th-century member of the indigenous Kaweshkar people from Tierra del Fuego. The young man had been kidnapped by explorers from Europe and brought back there for scientific study and public amusement, just one in a long series of imperialist depredations. The apparition that has infested Fitzroy is evidently exacting some kind of retribution. Of course, the Fosters want to know why their son has been chosen for punishment. As they intensively search old books and photographic archives, their discoveries are recounted secondhand and undramatically, requiring plot contrivances that strain credulity even within the spacious contours of a fantastic novel. Who among Fitzroy’s ancestors may have been involved in the dismal trade that brought so many indigenous people to Europe, only to languish and die there? In their research, the Fosters hope, they may discern what the ghost (whom they come to call Henri, with increasing sympathy) demands of Fitzroy and how their son can atone for his ancestors’ crimes. Cam eventually marries Fitzroy and becomes a groundbreaking microbiologist, though not a very good one. She claims to have discovered the genetic explanation for Fitzroy’s condition. After some nonsense about proteins and neurotransmitters, she announces that “each human contains within himself, within herself, all their ancestors, a trove of what was seen and heard and smelled and touched, residues of certain experiences that drastically impressed them, pressed into them, expressed who they were. We encompass [them] in some tangle of our DNA.” The idea echoes Lamarckism, which in the early 19th century hypothesized the inheritability of acquired characteristics before it was disproved by genetic theory. Cam offers further double talk about how inherited “visual memory” might rearrange the cells on Fitzroy’s face when he’s being photographed. Given Dorfman’s Latin American heritage, a critic might lazily excuse these conceits as features of magic realism, but “Darwin’s Ghosts,” with its materialist explanations and its prosaic writing, is hardly more than pedestrian science fiction. The novel depends on another bogus idea wrapped in pseudoscience, the notion that personal guilt can be passed down among generations, making descendants accountable for the actions of their distant ancestors (as opposed to all of us being responsible for addressing history’s present-day consequences). These are surprisingly illiberal themes for Dorfman, a public intellectual and admirable human rights advocate, but he doesn’t appear to have thought out their implications. Much of “Darwin’s Ghosts,” including its plot, its characters and its storytelling voice, would have benefited from more thought.

2018-01-29 18:15:04

Instagram copied the ‘Snap’ and now it might be going after the ‘chat’. A video calling feature was spotted in a non-public version of Instagram by WhatsApp industry blog WABetaInfo. It would let users who’ve begun an Instagram Direct message thread to video chat with each other. That could let people spend even more time in the app, but by actively communicating, rather than passively browsing which Facebook has come to admit isn’t good for our well-being. For now, though, Instagram is refusing to comment. When asked about the feature, a spokesperson told TechCrunch “We don’t comment on rumors and speculation”. That’s different than its more affirmative boilerplate statement given when it does confirm tests of forthcoming features, “we’re always testing new experiences for the Instagram community.” That’s what the company told us earlier this month when we reported Instagram’s partnership with Giphy for Stories GIFs…which launched a week later. So this video calling feature might never launch. But Instagram already lets people call in via video to each other’s Live Stories like they’re on a TV talk show, and send short ephemeral video clips over Direct. It recently launched a standalone Direct messaging app. And video calling has become one of the most popular features of Instagram parent Facebook’s Messenger app — with 17 billion video chats occurring in 2017, up 2X from 2016. So given that Instagram has the capability, interest, and infrastructure to add video calling, why wouldn’t it? WABetaInfo spotted the video call button in the top right of the chat screen, with it only available when messaging with people who’ve already accepted your Direct request. Leaked usage data from The Daily Beast’s Taylor Lorenz outed how Snapchat Stories sharing has stopped growing, in part because of competition from Instagram Stories, but users are still addicted to Snapchat’s chat feature. Snapchat offers audio and video calling as well as photo, audio clip, video clip, and text messaging, effectively making it an alternative to one’s phone itself. Messaging is the center of the mobile experience, generating the most device opens and time spent. As Facebook tries to shift the behaviors it instills from harmful, zombie-like scrolling to real interpersonal interaction, doubling down on messaging is a clear path. And Facebook’s apps are always hungry for younger users who might not have phone numbers or bountiful mobile plans, and therefore might especially benefit from this new feature. Now we’ll have to wait and see whether soon you’ll be calling friends on the Insta-phone. Or is it the Phonogram?

2019-07-02 00:00:00

SYDNEY, July 2 (Reuters) - Australia’s conservative government is close to securing enough votes to pass sweeping tax cuts after independent lawmakers said on Tuesday they were poised to strike an agreement with Prime Minister Scott Morrison. Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg proposed in April A$158 billion ($110 billion) in tax cuts over the next decade, primarily aimed at middle-income earners. That was on top of tax cuts of A$144 billion last year. The plan, widely sought amid a slowing economy, needs the support of three independents and minor parties to become law after the main opposition Labor party said it would oppose the legislation in Australia’s upper house Senate, where the government does not have a majority. Senator Stirling Griff said his Centre Alliance party was close to committing the final two votes the government needs to pass the bill. “It’s getting close,” Griff told Australian Broadcasting Corp. Radio. “We’re 100% behind income earners getting an extra boost in their pay packet.” A conservative independent lawmaker has already committed to supporting the legislation. About 10 million middle- and low-income earners will receive a rebate worth up to A$1,080 ($746.28) per person should the legislation pass this week. The tax cuts would be a welcome relief to Australia’s central bank, which has said government action was needed to boost consumer spending in order to revive an economy that is growing at its slowest in a decade. Economists have estimated the tax breaks would inject about A$7.5 billion into the economy over 2019/20. The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) will meet on Tuesday, when a second interest rate cut in two months is possible. While economists believe the RBA will cut interest rates to an historic low of 1.00% on Tuesday, Australia’s top central banker has said monetary policy is not the most effective tool to boost economic growth. ($1 = 1.4360 Australian dollars) (Reporting by Colin Packham Editing by Paul Tait)

2019-07-19 00:00:00

(Reuters Health) - Heart attack rates dropped among older adults in Scotland in the decade after a nationwide indoor smoking ban took effect, a new study suggests. Scotland banned smoking in all enclosed public spaces and workplaces in 2006. There was a 17% reduction in heart attacks in the first year after the ban took effect, compared to just a 4% decline over the same period in England, where public smoking rules didn’t change, the study team notes. In Scotland between 2000 and 2016, there were a total of 117,161 heart attacks. Among men and women aged 60 and older, the smoking ban was followed by a roughly 13% reduction in heart attacks over the study period. The ban didn’t appear to impact heart attacks for younger people, however. “People tend to start smoking when they are young, many years before they reach the age at which heart attacks tend to occur,” said Dr. Jill Pell, director of the Institute of Health and Wellbeing at the University of Glasgow in the UK and coauthor of the study. “Therefore, any effect from discouraging people from starting to smoke is likely to take more time to become apparent,” Pell said by email. Even before the smoking ban, heart attack rates were declining in Scotland, the study team notes in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes. But the legislation contributed to additional reductions, they conclude. In a previous study of the smoking ban, Pell and colleagues found a reduction in heart attacks among both smokers and non-smokers, she said. In a separate study, they also found that the number of smokers trying to quit increased immediately prior to the ban. While these studies were not designed to prove whether or how the ban directly prevented heart attacks, “there is likely to be a contribution from both encouraging smokers to quit and from protecting both non-smokers and smokers from other people’s secondhand smoke,” Pell said. Heart attack rates dropped slightly more for women over 60: 14% versus 13.2% for men. “In younger people overall, there appeared to be less of an impact across the 10-year period,” said Stephanie Mayne, a researcher at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania who wasn’t involved in the study. “This might be due to changes in other heart disease risk factors, like obesity and diabetes, during the same time period,” Mayne said by email. Even so, the results offer fresh evidence of the benefits of avoiding secondhand smoke and living in places where it’s not as easy to start or continue smoking, said Judith Prochaska, a researcher at Stanford University in California who wasn’t involved in the study. “As much as feasibly possible, avoid exposure to secondhand smoke,” said Prochaska, who has received funding from Pfizer and Achieve, companies that make smoking cessation drugs. “If you live with someone who smokes, work to set up a policy to limit smoking to outside of the home and not in the car,” Prochaska said by email. “And if you live in an apartment complex that allows smoking, advocate for a change in policy.” SOURCE: bit.ly/2YVlotG Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes, online July 1, 2019.

2017-06-13 00:00:00

(Adds details) By Ernest Scheyder HOUSTON, June 13 (Reuters) - North Dakota’s daily oil production rose 2 percent in April as rising crude prices encouraged companies to pump more, complicating OPEC’s attempts to stabilize global markets. The state pumped 1.05 million barrels of oil per day in April, up from 1.03 million bpd in March, according to data from North Dakota’s Department of Mineral Resources, which reports on a two-month lag. Natural gas production rose 6 percent to 1.8 million cubic feet per day. North Dakota’s oil well count hit 13,717 in April, an all-time high. The state’s drilling rig count has been steadily rising, with the count on Friday at 55, 10 percent higher than in April. North Dakota regulators said in a statement they expect oil prices to be weak through at least October. OPEC members last month agreed to maintain their own production cuts, though rising output in states like North Dakota has been offsetting the cartel’s moves. “The markets are watching to see if U.S. shale production offsets OPEC cuts keeping crude oil inventories high,” Lynn Helms, the DMR director, said in a statement. (Reporting by Ernest Scheyder; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

2017-11-30 00:00:00

Nov 30 (Reuters) - Resonance Health Ltd: * - ‍AGHA SHAHZAD PERVEZ WILL ASSUME ROLES OF CFO AND COMPANY SECRETARY EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY​ * ‍ADRIAN BOWERS HAS ACCEPTED REDUNDANCY FROM HIS PART TIME POSITION AS CFO​ Source text for Eikon: Further company coverage:

2019-04-17 00:00:00

An ex-NFL running back is facing murder and child abuse charges in the death of a 5-year-old girl -- after officials say he killed her through rigorous exercise used to punish her. 28-year-old Cierre Wood -- a former star running back at Notre Dame -- appeared in a Las Vegas courtroom Tuesday in the death of his girlfriend's daughter, La'Rayah Davis. Davis died on April 9 -- and prosecutors say it's because Wood forced her to complete a hellacious workout routine unsuited for a 5-year-old. Officials say Wood claimed Davis had behavior issues -- he also described her as "chunky" -- so to punish her, Wood would force her to run wind sprints and do sit-ups and wall squats inside their apartment. Officials say Wood admitted Davis couldn't complete a second round of sit-ups on April 9 -- and flailed backward, smacking the back of her head against the floor. She then got up and swayed -- and then collapsed. She was pronounced dead a short time later. Officials say Wood had a slogan for the punishment -- calling it, "Learning through fun." The girl's mother, Amy Taylor, has also been charged with murder -- and officials say she also abused the child before her death. Prosecutors say Taylor admits the 5-year-old was complaining of chest pains in the days before her death -- after her mother had sat on her chest and stomach to punish her for misbehaving. Officials say Taylor also admitted to having "popped" her daughter on the day she died. During Tuesday's hearing, the judge says photos of Davis' body show severe injuries -- and told the court, "Once you’ve seen them, you can’t ever unsee them." The case is due back in court soon. As for Wood, he was a stud running back in college -- rushing for 1,102 yards as a junior in 2011. He was suspended in 2012 for 2 games for violating team rules. Wood signed with the Houston Texans as an undrafted free agent in 2013 but never panned out. He bounced around to the Patriots, Seahawks and Bills ... before ultimately landing in the Canadian Football League. He hasn't been on a CFL roster since May 2018.

2018-10-03 06:00:04

THE STONE The battle over the Supreme Court nomination is not about truth. It is about who controls meaning. Ms. Mann is a professor of philosophy at the University of Oregon. The Supreme Court nomination hearings of Brett Kavanaugh and the ensuing storm over the sexual assault allegations made against him have exposed many things, but perhaps most of all, they have exposed the depth, belligerence and intransigence of misogyny in our time. What we have been witnessing is the form misogyny takes when the most powerful, wealthy and entitled of white men find themselves confronted by women unwilling or unable to keep silent any longer. Donald Trump provided a typical example on Tuesday when he used his platform as president to openly mock Christine Blasey Ford and her testimony during a rally in Mississippi. The uproar over the Kavanaugh hearings — even more powerful than the one that followed the release of the “Access Hollywood” tape during the presidential campaign, on which Donald Trump boasted about committing sexual assault — has plunged the nation into a sort of civil war. As a philosopher, I am inclined to see this as a war between two epistemic worlds. By “epistemic world” I mean a broadly shared framework for knowing in which emotions, moral sensibilities and reason are all informed by certain values, either consciously or unconsciously held. These values are at stake in moments like this one, and so are the material power arrangements that support and give rise to them. When our epistemic world is threatened, we feel ourselves being undone. In the first world, privileged white men get to do with impunity what other men at least have to think twice about, and for women who dare to speak of them, the punishment is swift and devastating. Aggressive sexual behavior toward women, far from disqualifying a candidate for the highest offices in the land, demonstrates the kind of manhood that is felt to be a qualification for such positions (though no one with public power can say this out loud anymore — only “the base” can speak clearly). In the second epistemic world, the default position is to believe women who make sexual assault allegations, the good ol’ boys’ network seems ugly and out of date (#timesup), and too often moral outrage substitutes for real thinking, and more important, for real power. That photograph of the panel of 11 white men who represent the Republicans on the judiciary committee for Kavanaugh’s nomination provokes such unease in the second epistemic world, because it is the visual representation of the kind of institutionalized white male power that is supposed to be receding into the past. But make no mistake — the “old” world represented by that photograph is right here, right now, and despite the remarkable gains of the #MeToo movement, it controls every branch of our government. Much of the media spectacle around the Kavanaugh nomination has made it seem as if the epistemic battle is about the truth. She says he did this to her. He says he didn’t. The very notion of a “he said, she said” situation reduces the conflict to a battle of credibility — but we are mistaken if we think the clash of belief is over the facts of the matter. The women who’ve brought the allegations forward and the Democrats who demanded an investigation from the beginning hoped that getting to the truth would break the epistemic impasse. The investigation is going ahead, but the Republicans still hope to win a battle of belief, sealed off from the truth. This suggests that both sides believe the alleged facts are likely to be true. Speakers on Kavanaugh’s behalf have repeatedly betrayed this belief by saying things that imply that even if he did do these things, they are typical rambunctious male behavior and not worth ruining his career over. Kavanaugh’s supporters want to be sure that what is at stake is not truth but meaning. It isn’t really about who you believe so much as which epistemic world you believe in. Will the first epistemic world retain its power to determine the status of such happenings, to determine what they mean, how they matter? Retaining the power of meaning is tightly connected to retaining the power to continue reproducing a world that looks like that disturbing photograph. In identifying the response to the women who have gone public with accusations against Kavanaugh as misogynist rather than sexist, I refer to a helpful distinction made by the philosopher Kate Manne in her book “Down Girl: The Logic of Misogyny.” Whereas sexism justifies patriarchal social arrangements by differentiating between women and men, she points out, misogyny works by differentiating between “good women” and “bad women,” by rewarding the good ones and punishing the bad. It “should be understood,” Manne writes, “primarily as the ‘law enforcement’ branch of a patriarchal order, which has the overall function of policing and enforcing its governing norms and expectations.” A central mechanism for enforcing these determinations is the deployment of misogynist attacks against women who have stepped out of line by stepping forward to intervene in national politics. These attacks take the form of an attempt to annihilate the women as epistemic subjects. Every stupid remark (“She admits she was drunk,” “She’s mixed up,” “Why didn’t she report at the time?”) is designed to dismantle her status as a knower. Structuring the hearing as if the accuser were on trial by hiring a sex-crimes prosecutor to question her discloses the real purpose of the process. Misogynist attacks on the one giving testimony also take on the temporal structure of a typical sexual assault, in which time is sped up and pressure to hurry up and do it right now is applied incessantly (“Drink this,” “Drink faster,” “I’ve gotta have it now,” “You’re holding out on me,” “I don’t wait, I just start kissing,” “Shove her in the room quick before she knows what’s happening,” “Get her drunk,” “O.K., get in line”). This is typical of all manner of sexual violence against women. While the Republicans made a show of giving Dr. Blasey “all the time she needs” during the hearing itself, the entire process has involved a pitched a battle over time, in which the Republicans’ determination to rush the Kavanaugh decision and their outrage over delays echoes and repeats the hurry-up temporality of sexual assault. Kavanaugh himself was enraged by having to wait. “I wanted a hearing the day after the allegation came up,” he shouted. “I wanted to be here that day!” I am a 57-year-old full professor of philosophy tenured at a well-respected research institution, who might be tempted to engage in an abstract analysis of these dynamics and leave it at that. This is what we are told “doing philosophy” entails. But in this case, I must evoke my own experience to get at the deep meaning of such events. So, #MeToo. I was gang raped by my sister’s boyfriend and his friends at what was supposed to be a party. I was 19, a sophomore in college. They were in their 30s, graduate students at another institution. My sister’s boyfriend, whom I considered a trusted friend, and his roommates had invited us to their home. They immediately started pushing shots of tequila on us (“hurry up,” “drink more”). I had so little experience with alcohol at that point, I had no idea how fast I could be incapacitated. When we were drunk enough, my sister was escorted away to sleep and I remember the image of her departure and the fear that cut like a knife through the fog. My memories are broken and choppy after that. They are mostly still photographs, even today in sharp focus. At certain points there is a short video burned into my brain; these memories are surrounded by periods of blackness. I don’t know everything that happened that night. I know enough. (This kind of assault is not shocking, to allege such an assault is not outrageous. Julie Swetnick’s claims are not from the “twilight zone,” they are from a typical American college campus.) When I pulled my sister out of her boyfriend’s bed and insisted we leave immediately, the sun was just coming up. We found a bus stop. She was my closest friend, but I didn’t breathe a word about having been raped on that bus ride, or when we got home, or for years after that, to her or anyone else. Why? Because shame was a living, aggressive, willful, enormous thing, set loose inside my body. In the next days and weeks, I waged an internal battle to contain it. This battle was so viscerally urgent, so physical in its immediacy, reporting the rape to the police didn’t even occur to me. I never forgot what those men did to me, but I forced the memories down into a tiny, locked compartment. “This will not matter,” I swore to myself over and over. My life was not derailed. Silence enabled that victory. Had I been dealing with the misogyny, with the outraged, aggressive sympathy for men that erupts when women disclose sexual assault in a hostile epistemic world — I knew this intuitively even at 19 — the shame would have been fed and grown. It would have taken me down. Over time, I worked my way into another epistemic world, one which, for all of its problems, is less cruel to women. In this world such events matter because of the harm suffered, because of the injustice they inflict and because they are recognized as one mechanism among many for the reproduction of men’s dominance over women. This world is perhaps bigger than it has ever been before in this #MeToo moment. In this world I can speak. When one makes one’s experience public, however, particularly if one names the perpetrators, particularly if they are powerful white men, the entrenched, material, institutionalized power of that other epistemic world — as Christine Blasey Ford, Deborah Ramirez and Julie Swetnick are experiencing now — slams like a wrecking ball into the very heart of a life. Each of these women got legal counsel before they went public with their stories, took measures to ensure their safety before or just after they did so, and Dr. Blasey took a lie-detector test. In her opening statement for the reopened Kavanaugh hearing, Dr. Blasey described herself as “terrified.” All of this reinforces what their years of silence indicate, that the “law enforcement” branch of patriarchy is alive and well. Aided and abetted by misogyny, presidents are elected, Supreme Court justices are seated. If this nomination succeeds, women’s human rights will be set back for decades. Whatever happens, we owe a debt of gratitude to the women who have stepped up as a matter of civic duty to challenge the epistemic world where such men deserve power, women who are now confronting its well-oiled machinery of misogynist annihilation. Bonnie Mann is a professor of philosophy at the University of Oregon. Now in print: “Modern Ethics in 77 Arguments” and “The Stone Reader: Modern Philosophy in 133 Arguments,” with essays from the series, edited by Peter Catapano and Simon Critchley, published by Liveright Books. Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook and Twitter.

2018-02-05

During last night’s Super Bowl, Lucasfilm released a brief teaser for Solo: A Star Wars Story, saying that a full trailer was coming today. The teaser showed off a new-looking Millennium Falcon, Donald Glover as Lando Calrissian, Chewbacca, and Alden Ehrenreich as Han Solo. This morning, ABC’s Good Morning America dropped the promised full trailer. This full trailer shows off the origins of one of Star Wars’ most iconic heroes: Han Solo. In it, Ehrenreich’s Solo says that he’s been running scams since he was a kid, was kicked out of a flight academy for “having a mind of my own,” and says that he wants to be the best pilot in the galaxy. He meets with Woody Harrelson’s new character Beckett, who tells him that he’s putting together a crew. Like Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, the trailer for Solo lends a new vibe to the Star Wars universe. This has much more of a gangster / heist flick vibe, with plenty of gunfights, crazy flying, and harrowing escapes along the way. The film had a rough production: midway through its shoot, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy fired directors Christopher Miller and Phil Lord due to differing creative visions for the film, and replaced them with Apollo 13 director Ron Howard, who filmed extensive reshoots. Regardless of the production troubles, a prequel film about the origins of Han Solo is a concept that has made even the most die-hard fans of the franchise wary. Star Wars’ troubled history with prequels combined with the feeling that Lucasfilm is telling a story that doesn’t necessarily need to be told (never mind that this exact story has been told in the now non-canon Expanded Universe) means that expectations for the film will be high. This trailer does help ease some of the worries that have built up along the way about the status of the film and the story, but it will have to really nail one central question: do we really need a Han Solo prequel? We’ll find out when the film hits theaters on May 25th, 2018.

2018-08-25

JAKARTA (Reuters) - Rikako Ikee is embracing the pressure of success after becoming the first swimmer to win six gold medals at a single Asian Games when the Japanese teenager roared to victory in the 50 meters freestyle on Friday. Two years before her country hosts the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, the 18-year-old, who became the first female competitor to win six Asian Games golds, is prepared for the weight of expectation on her shoulders after dominating her rivals in Jakarta. “I don’t feel pressure too much,” Ikee told reporters after clinching her sixth gold. “For me, I gain power from fans cheering and from pressure. I make up my mind to work harder when I get more support and it becomes my motivation.” Only North Korean shooter So Gin-man, who won seven golds and a silver at New Delhi in 1982, has won more titles at one Asian Games, but Ikee did match his overall mark of eight medals with two relay silvers in Jakarta. Ikee’s exploits are all the more remarkable as they came so soon after a strong showing at the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships, where she won four medals to prove she can match the best the United States and Australia have to offer. The Jakarta haul gave her 12 major medals, including seven golds, in just 16 days with Ikee now shifting her attention to the world records held by Sarah Sjoestroem, including the Swede’s 55.48 seconds mark in the 100 metres butterfly. “I’m getting close to setting the world record but I haven’t done that yet. It is my goal and it is important to work harder to achieve that goal from now on,” said Ikee, whose national record time in the event is 56.08. “If everything goes well, I think I will be able to set the world record,” the Tokyo native added. “I was able to record 56 seconds but haven’t recorded 55 seconds yet. I will be tough on myself to work harder, when I go into races and practice.” Japanese swimmers enjoyed an impressive showing in Jakarta, matching China’s tally of 19 golds but edging out their rivals by 52 medals to 50 to prevent the Chinese from topping the standings for the first time since the 1998 Games in Bangkok. The improvement will give the home crowd in Tokyo belief that they can expect a better return than the team managed at Rio 2016, where Japan picked up two golds in the pool and seven in total. Ikee is leading a new generation of Japanese swimmers, including breaststroke specialists Satomi Suzuki and Yasuhiro Koseki, who will be tough to beat in home waters. “The Japanese team is getting better every year,” Ikee added. “We are getting closer to the world’s top countries like the U.S., Australia and China little by little. When you look at relay races, you can tell that. We will acquire skills individually to be ready for Tokyo 2020.” Japan also possess world record holder Ippei Watanabe and Olympic gold medalist Kosuke Hagino in their ranks. “Tokyo 2020 will be held in our country, so athletes are trying to get good results at the Olympics,” added Ikee, who will be taking a rest before the World Championships in South Korea next year. “I think it is important to try to drastically challenge during this period, which is between the Rio Olympics and Tokyo Olympics.” “All Japanese athletes are trying their best toward Tokyo 2020, so I think the good results will come along with it.” The Japanese Olympic Committee have set an ambitious target of 30 gold medals at Tokyo 2020, almost double their existing record of 16 (Tokyo 1964 and Athens 2004). However, should Ikee replicate her Jakarta form in Tokyo, that golden goal looks well within reach. Reporting by Jack Tarrant; Editing by John O'Brien

2019-07-05 12:39:00

Eric Martell, a railroad engineer, was working the overnight shift on July 3 in Worcester, Mass., when he came across something unexpected: two twin baby boys left alone in a double stroller near the tracks.  “I saw the little baby wave at me,” Martell said to NBC Boston. “I saw his little arm, he started sucking his thumb, and I was like, ‘Oh my God, there’s a baby in there.&apos” The twins, who had been left near a trash and recycling facility, appeared to be in good health and are approximately 9 months old, reports NBC Boston. “They seemed healthy. They actually had shoes on, they were a little bit chubby, like a baby’s supposed to be,” Martell told NBC Boston. “They were left with bottles and one of them even had a little binky, they were in a nice carriage.” Martell began calling out to see if the children’s parents were around, but to no avail. He then called 911, and said he rocked the kids as he waited for police to arrive. Authorities responded around 12:15 a.m., according to NBC Boston. The Worcester police department has not yet responded to PEOPLE’s request for comment. “One of the little guys looked up to me, gave me the biggest little smile and I was like, ‘It’s going to be alright, buddy. It’s going to be alright, I got you,&apos” Martell told NBC Boston. According to a statement on the Worcester police website, the babies appeared unharmed. They have been identified and are currently in the custody of the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families.  It remains unclear whether charges will be filed against the babies’ parents. “The intent is under investigation,” a police spokesperson told CNN.  Carl Wooden, who claimed to know the babies’ mother, told WCVB he was with the family about an hour before the children were discovered. “I’m in shock still. I’m, like, walking around in circles just totally in awe,” Wooden said to WCVB. “It’s traumatizing to me that something like this could even happen.” Anyone with information about the incident is asked to contact the Worcester Police Detective Bureau at 508-799-8651.

2020-01-09 18:05:17

Walking a fine line on politics and free expression, the International Olympic Committee published guidelines for how competitors can make statements at the Tokyo Games. LAUSANNE, Switzerland — The International Olympic Committee is taking no chances. Amid an increase in athlete activism and rising political tensions worldwide, the organization has settled on strict — and specific — guidelines for the types of actions, gestures and statements competitors at this summer’s Tokyo Olympics will be permitted to make. No kneeling. No politically motivated hand gestures. No political messages on signs or armbands. And absolutely no disruptions of medals ceremonies. The I.O.C. announced the guidelines Thursday after a meeting of its athlete commission, where the organization’s challenge was to balance growing demands from athletes to be able to speak out on issues with ensuring the Games pass without sparking diplomatic incidents. Many of the guidelines announced Thursday merely codify existing rules. Rule 50 of the Olympic Charter already bars athletes from staging political protests on the field of play or at medal ceremonies. But until now, the guidelines were ambiguous about what constituted a political display. “We needed clarity and they wanted clarity on the rules,” said Kirsty Coventry, the chairwoman of the I.O.C. Athletes’ Commission, which oversaw the creation of the three-page document explaining what is not permitted. “The majority of athletes feel it is very important that we respect each other as athletes.” At the same time, the guidelines also sought to clarify the places where athletes were free to express themselves. Those include interviews and news conferences, including those conducted on the grounds of the Games, and through digital and traditional media outlets, and “on other platforms” — presumably a reference to social media sites like Twitter and Instagram. Those forums often serve as a ready microphone for athletes across the sporting spectrum. Potential violations of the new guidelines, the I.O.C. said, would be evaluated by an athlete’s national Olympic committee, the international federation for the sport involved, and the I.O.C. Disciplinary action will be taken on a case-by-case basis “as necessary,” the I.O.C. said. The new guidelines come more than a half-century after the American sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos famously raised gloved fists at the 1968 Mexico City Games, and amid a rise in political activism by athletes like the football player Colin Kaepernick and the soccer star Megan Rapinoe, among many others. But they also follow a series of recent podium protests in international competitions. In August, the United States Olympic Committee disciplined two athletes for incidents that took place on the medals podium at the Pan American Games in Peru. The fencer Race Imboden, who had knelt after receiving his medal, and the hammer thrower Gwen Berry, who had raised her fist during the national anthem, were placed on probation for 12 months each in what was widely viewed as a warning to other American athletes ahead of the Olympics. A month earlier, at swimming’s world championships, athletes from Britain and Australia refused to share a podium with the Chinese champion Sun Yang because they objected to his participation over doping concerns. “It is a fundamental principle that sport is neutral and must be separate from political, religious or any other type of interference,” according to a document spelling out the guidelines. “Specifically, the focus for the field of play and related ceremonies must be on celebrating athletes’ performance, and showcasing sport and its values.” The I.O.C. noted that the rules about political statements already applied even to the head of state of the host country, who is limited to a single sentence of specific language when opening the Games. Some athlete groups outside of the I.O.C.’s orbit have criticized what they see as a double standard where politics is concerned. Global Athlete, a pressure group, said the organization’s leaders have long politicized sport when it suited them, citing the efforts of the I.O.C. president, Thomas Bach, to support a joint North and South Korean team at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang. “If athletes want to speak up — in which they respect others rights and freedoms detailed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights — we should embrace their diverse opinions,” the group said. “Silencing athletes should never be tolerated, and to threaten them with removal from the Olympic Games is another sign of the imbalance of power between sport leaders and athletes.”

2017-11-16 00:00:00

The Alabama Republican Party issued a statement Thursday confirming that it still supports Roy Moore despite recent sexual misconduct allegations against him. The party's 21-member steering committee met to consider what to do about Moore, the GOP nominee for Senate, in light of a growing number of allegations that he pursued or forced himself on women when they were teenagers and he was in his 30s. “The ALGOP Steering Committee supports Judge Roy Moore as our nominee and trusts the voters as they make the ultimate decision in this crucial race," Alabama Republican Party Chairwoman Terry Lathan said in the statement. “Judge Moore has vehemently denied the allegations made against him. He deserves to be presumed innocent of the accusations unless proven otherwise. He will continue to take his case straight to the people of Alabama." Moore has pushed back on the accusations, even as Republican Party leaders such as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman Cory Gardner have called for him to withdraw from the race. The controversy has given Democrats an opportunity to win the Dec. 12 special election against Moore in deeply Republican Alabama. Lathan cast Democratic nominee Doug Jones, a former U.S. attorney, as a threat to President Donald Trump and the GOP in her statement backing Moore. “There is a sharp policy contrast between Judge Moore, a conservative Republican who supports President Trump, and the liberal Democrat who will fight and thwart the agenda of our president," Lathan continued. "We trust the Alabama voters in this election to have our beloved state and nation’s best interest at heart. Alabamians will be the ultimate jury in this election — not the media or those from afar.”

2018-05-31 09:29:17

Following the new trend among streaming TV services to combine digital-first channels with traditional TV content, Philo today announced it’s expanding its live TV service with the addition of Cheddar Big News, People TV, and Tastemade. The Tastemade channel goes live today, with the other two shortly after. Philo is a relative newcomer to the streaming TV market, having launched its service in November following its early endeavors as an on-campus TV provider. Its $16-per-month option is designed for cord cutters who care more about entertainment than they do sports. By ditching sports programming, Philo undercut its competitors to become one of the cheapest ways to watch traditional cable TV channels, like A&E, AMC, BBC America, Comedy Central, Discovery Channel, Food Network, HGTV, Investigation Discovery (ID), Lifetime, MTV, TLC, Travel Channel, VH1, Viceland and others. It also later added an expansion pack for $4 more per month that adds nine more channels, while still providing a 30-day cloud DVR and the ability to stream in HD on up to 3 devices at once. Despite its affordable pricing, Philo is still something of an unknown in a market where even big brands like YouTube TV and Hulu are having to spend large marketing budgets just to create awareness around their live TV offerings. YouTube TV, for example, became a sponsor for the NBA Finals and the World Series to spread the word. A new angle these services are trying now is to add on digital channels to bring in the internet audience. In April, YouTube TV added its first digital-only networks with the launch of two channels from Cheddar, followed in May by the additions of Tastemade and The Young Turks. Hulu, too, recently added Cheddar. Meanwhile, Sling TV already offers Cheddar, as does Pluto. These additions also serve as a cheap way to offer viewers more programming, without having to increase prices. The same hold true for Philo, which is keeping the same rates as before, following the expansion. “We built Philo for everyone who feels like TV was no longer serving them, and this is one more way we can stand apart,” said Philo CEO Andrew McCollum, in a statement. As for gaining exposure, that’s a harder nut to crack. Philo’s newest attempt here is a just launched referral program, offering a $5 credit for each referral, and $5 for the person referred.

2016-11-11

Nov 11 (Reuters) - SeQuent Scientific Ltd * Gautam Kumar Das, joint MD, wil cease to be joint MD effective Jan 7 * Sharat Narasapur will be appointed as joint MD of co Source text: bit.ly/2fGZsPo Further company coverage:

2018-09-11 00:00:00

Alibaba is turning AliExpress Russia into a joint venture with the Russian Direct Investment Fund, mobile carrier Megafon and internet giant Mail.ru, the companies said on Tuesday. Alibaba will own only 48% of the new entity, which will also include other assets from the partners. The bottom line: The deal should enable AliExpress and its merchants to tap into Mail.ru's 100 million users and function as a a one-stop shop of e-commerce, social media, and gaming services for Russian users.

2016-05-05 15:14:00

How badly do you have to lose before it starts being worth it? Major League Baseball's bottom-feeding teams have only recently started struggling with this question in anything resembling an ongoing, serious matter. Until a decade or so ago the idea of tanking, such as it was, restricted itself in scope to a single season. When things went bad enough, usually around the All-Star Break, the team would realize contention was a lost cause, trade the players that wouldn't be coming back the following season for whatever prospects they could get, and let nature take its course. And so the team would lose, a lot, with young players getting seasoning in the big leagues and the club getting a higher overall position in the draft the following spring. The Tampa Bay (Devil) Rays weren't the first team to have a multi-year development plan, not by a long shot. They were, however, one of the first teams to more or less accept, in something approaching a public-facing way, that being bad for multiple seasons was a prerequisite to becoming good. And when the Rays got good, they got good seemingly overnight: 66-96 in 2007 and then 97-65 in 2008, a season that ended with a trip to the World Series. They even rebranded around the sudden change in fortune, dropping the "Devil" from their name for nebulous Jesus-related reasons and embracing the idea that instead of cool, floppy marine life, they would now demonstrate the properties of both a wave and a particle. Since the change, the only time the Rays have won fewer than 80 games was in 2014. They are sunlight now. What looked like a sudden turnaround had in fact begun several years earlier. In a way they never quite did during their free-spending, totally backwards expansion years, the Rays had decided to capitalize on being a bad team that had yet to find its feet. The product on the field at the major league level remained terrible, but the front office focused on accumulating talent in the minors, all of which arrived and made good basically at the same time. It was a good strategy given the situation, and it was unique mainly in how little money it cost the people running the Rays to pull off; "developing young players over a long period of time to make the team better" was not particularly a new concept in baseball. Expressly and transparently not caring about the fate of the major league team while waiting for that young talent to arrive, however, was a new twist. Ten years later, the Moneyball 'revolution,' such as it is or was, is old news. Statistical innovation is an accepted part of baseball orthodoxy, and optimization is in. Last year, two teams made good on a version of the promise the Rays made their ownership interests and fans: the Chicago Cubs and Houston Astros, who had both been bad for the preceding half-decade or so more or less on purpose, suddenly both became very good. They did it by anchoring their rosters with homegrown talent, guys fans watched develop during those lean years with ever greater hopes for their futures—while the clubs continued to make big profits at the major league level despite uncompetitive teams. In the end, everyone got what they wanted, more or less. The owners made a lot of money, the executives were feted as visionaries, the fans got to brag that their team of choice built a competitive roster the Right Way, From Scratch, Instead of Just Buying a Damn Winner, and, most importantly, the teams went deep in the postseason, with the Cubs almost making it to the World Series. Houston has struggled mightily this season, but Chicago seems very much for real. The system works, or can be made to work if executed properly. When a formula finds success, there will be copycats. There's a problem here, though: if your team's plan is to be cheap and bad for three years while accruing draft picks and signing pool space until the kids are ready to play, you'll very much want to guarantee a top three pick. The elite, can't-miss talent that can change a team's fortune in one pick—the Kris Bryants and Carlos Correas of the world—can generally be found only at the very top of the first round. Teams still have to find and develop everyday contributors in later rounds, but for the tank gambit to work, there needs to be cost-controlled superstar talent at the top of the system. So good luck with all that. And one other thing: it gets a lot harder if too many other teams have the same idea. Which brings us to the Cincinnati Reds, Atlanta Braves, Milwaukee Brewers, and Philadelphia Phillies. The first two of these clubs have just started their tear-it-down rebuilds, essentially punting on the season before it began. The Reds got what they could for Mike Leake and Johnny Cueto at the 2015 trade deadline, then dealt Todd Frazier to the White Sox, shopped Jay Bruce around to a number of teams, and sent Aroldis Chapman to literally anyone who would take him off their hands, which turned out to be the Yankees. Atlanta held a full-on fire sale, dumping Shelby Miller, Andrelton Simmons, Alex Wood, Cameron Maybin, Jim Johnson, and, according to reports that were swiftly if not entirely convincingly denied by the team, entertained the notion of trading franchise first baseman Freddie Freeman. The Brewers are getting in on the action too; payroll dropped by $40 million between 2015 and 2016 and Milwaukee seems committed to getting rid of even more, if the rumors surrounding Jonathan Lucroy's availability are true. Outfielder Khris Davis showed a lot of promise over the last two years for Milwaukee, but was never going to be on the next good Brewers team, and so off he went to Oakland. The Brewers do have some help on the way, but it'll take a couple years to arrive, and after so much futility in recent seasons out of Milwaukee, fans seem ready for a Cubs-style rebuild. Of course, a Cubs-style rebuild requires more than picks; the Brewers (and everyone else) will have to evaluate talent and win some trades. A major piece of the puzzle for Chicago was Jake Arrieta, one of the best pitchers in baseball, falling in their lap thanks to an incompetent pitching development program in Baltimore. This brings us to Philadelphia. The Phillies cut almost $60 million in payroll this offseason and went into the year with something that could barely be called a major league roster at spots. The Phillies' dirty little secret is their org is absolutely stacked, and they could be good again as soon as next year. Hell, they still haven't ruled out being decent this year, although no team with a bullpen like theirs and an outfield routinely featuring both David Lough and Peter Bourjos can reasonably sustain a winning record like the one the team currently has. But that's four teams built to lose big, which guarantees that at least one of them will be picking outside of the top three. And they're far from the only bad teams in baseball. The New York Yankees are looking disastrous for a number of reasons, none of them related to a burn-it-all down rebuild; that simply isn't done in the Bronx. The Minnesota Twins remain an institutional mess shackled by bad pitching, and the Astros have started the season looking more like the bad old Houston teams than the breakout squad from last season. Teams like the San Diego Padres and the Miami Marlins, who generally stink for non-strategic reasons, are out there, too. It's crowded at the bottom. There is, of course, also the moral reason not to tank. Savvy though it may be, it's also directly contrary to the spirit of the game, which is why seldom few teams ever admit that they're doing it. But the "moral" reasons to do or not do things on baseball's business side will always finish far behind the imperative to win, especially for fanbases that haven't had much to cheer for in recent years. The real question is: how many teams can run towards the bottom of the standings before one or more of them is left holding the bag, and forced to do it all again the next year? This year, at least one franchise stands a pretty good chance of finding out.

2018-09-04 00:00:00

On Monday, the New Yorker announced that Steve Bannon would be headlining its annual festival in October. A few hours and a massive wave of anger, backlash, and condemnation later, the magazine changed its mind and decided to yank Trump's former chief strategist from the festival's lineup. The interview was slated to take place at the 19th annual New Yorker Festival, which features an array of prominent and influential figures and voices from across political, cultural, and artistic spectrums. So when the New York Times reported that Bannon, who left the White House last year and was ousted from Breitbart — a website he once described as "the platform for the alt-right” — would be the event's main fixture, people had some ~feelings~ and swiftly shared their outrage en masse, including celebrities and writers scheduled to attend. In his statement, Remnick wrote that he had spent the past few months trying to nail down an interview with Bannon. "By conducting an interview with one of Trumpism’s leading creators and organizers, we are hardly pulling him out of obscurity. Ahead of the mid-term elections and with 2020 in sight, we’d be taking the opportunity to question someone who helped assemble Trumpism," the editor reasoned. The point of interviewing someone who holds far-right, racist, and anti-Semitic beliefs, Remnick stated, "is to put pressure on the views of the person being questioned."

2018-01-31

Jan 31 (Reuters) - MANGOLD AB: * Q4 OPERATING REVENUE SEK ‍37.8​ MILLION VERSUS SEK 27.2 MILLION YEAR AGO * Q4 PRE-TAX PROFIT SEK 3.9 MILLION VERSUS SEK 0.6 MILLION YEAR AGO Source text for Eikon: Further company coverage: (Gdynia Newsroom)

2017-02-23

Feb 23 (Reuters) - Malath Cooperative Insurance And Reinsurance Company: * CMA approves capital decrease of Malath Cooperative Insurance and Reinsurance to 120 million riyals from 300 million riyals Source text for Eikon: Further company coverage:

2020-03-12 00:00:00

March 12 (Reuters) - Tenax Therapeutics Inc: * TENAX THERAPEUTICS COMPLETES ENROLLMENT IN PHASE 2 PULMONARY HYPERTENSION TRIAL * TENAX THERAPEUTICS - TOP-LINE DATA FOR PHASE 2 PULMONARY HYPERTENSION TRIAL EXPECTED IN Q2 2020 Source text for Eikon: Further company coverage:

2019-11-19 00:00:00

Washington (CNN)The House of Representatives on Tuesday passed a short-term funding bill in an effort to avert a government shutdown before funds expire later in the week. The vote was 231-192. The stopgap legislation, known as a continuing resolution, will extend funding through December 20, setting up another spending deadline on the eve of the winter holidays. The current deadline for funding is Thursday. The measure now needs to be taken up by the Senate and then signed by the President to prevent a shutdown. The expectation is that if the House and Senate both pass a funding bill, the President will sign it. The push to keep the government funded comes as the House is in the midst of contentious and high-profile public impeachment inquiry hearings as part of an investigation into President Donald Trump by House Democrats that has led to an escalation of partisan tensions on Capitol Hill. "With a government shutdown deadline just days away, this continuing resolution is necessary to keep government open as we work towards completing the appropriations process," House Appropriations Chairwoman Nita Lowey, a New York Democrat, said in a statement. Lawmakers have not yet been able to reach bipartisan agreement on the twelve regular annual appropriations bills needed to fund the government, but the passage of another stop-gap measure will allow for more time to negotiate. Congress already passed a short-term funding extension earlier in the year -- at the end of September -- that set up the impending funding deadline this week. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer announced on Monday that the House would vote on the funding bill on Tuesday. "We must use this additional time to fully fund the government before the end of the year," he said. A dispute over funding for a wall at the US-Mexico border triggered a partial government shutdown last year that extended into the start of the new, 116th Congress with Democrats refusing to sign off on the President's demand for his signature campaign promise. That shutdown broke the record for the longest government shutdown in US history. This story has been updated with additional developments Tuesday.

2016-08-03

A police officer with the Washington, DC, Metro Transit system was arrested Wednesday for attempting to provide support to ISIS. Nicholas Young, 36, is being accused of purchasing $250 worth of gift cards for mobile messaging apps intended for ISIS. He is due in court Wednesday afternoon. Young is now the first US police officer to face a terror-related charge. Court documents show Young has been under FBI surveillance since 2010, when he was first interviewed in connection to an acquaintance who pleaded guilty to providing materials to support a terrorist organization. The following year, he traveled to Libya where he told FBI agents he joined rebel forces seeking to overthrow Muammar Qaddafi. Young had allegedly expressed concerns about being surveilled. In 2011, he told an FBI informant that he frequently took the battery out of his cell phone when he wanted to talk freely. In a conversation about FBI surveillance, Young allegedly told the informant, "we should pour gasoline on their cars and light them." Over the next several years, Young allegedly had a number of meetings with undercover law enforcement agents and an FBI confidential informant, who posed as a US military reservist of Middle Eastern descent who wanted to join ISIS. According to court documents, Young advised the man on how to travel to avoid being detected by law enforcement. During a 2015 interview with law enforcement officials regarding an allegation of domestic violence, Young described dressing up as "Jihadi John" for a 2014 Halloween party. He also said he had previously dressed up as a Nazi and collects Nazi memorabilia. He also allegedly showed the officials a tattoo of a German eagle on his neck.. On July 18, 2016, Young communicated with a man he believed to be an ISIS fighter — but was in fact an undercover FBI agent. The message was about purchasing gift cards for mobile messaging apps that ISIS allegedly uses to communicate with new recruits. According to the affidavit filed in support of the criminal complaint, on July 28, Young sent 22 gift cards totaling $245 to the undercover FBI officer posing as a member of ISIS. The message Young allegedly sent said, "Respond to verify receipt ... may not answer depending on when as this device will be destroyed after all are sent to prevent the data being possibly seen on this end in the case of something unfortunate." Young faces a maximum of 20 years in prison if convicted.

2019-12-06 00:00:00

BEIRUT, Dec 6 (Reuters) - France plans to convene a meeting of an international support group for Lebanon on Dec. 11 to mobilise assistance for the country as it grapples with an acute economic crisis, a Lebanese government official said on Friday. A European official said invitations had been sent out for the Dec. 11 meeting in Paris. The Lebanese official said Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were expected to be invited. “It is a meeting to attempt to mobilise assistance to help Lebanon deal with the acute crisis that it is facing,” the Lebanese official said. Reporting by Tom Perry and John Irish; Writing by Tom Perry in Beirut; Editing by Catherine Evans

2020-03-06 00:00:00

Despite a bumpy ride for the dollar over the last few days, one strategist told CNBC that it's one of the best places to park your money during the current market turmoil. On Friday morning, the dollar index, which measures the greenback versus a basket of major currencies, was trading around 0.25% lower at 96.574. It comes after a month which saw the index gain around 2%, before falling back over 3% from its February high. David Bloom, global head of FX strategy at HSBC, said currency traders should consider what the U.S. is "throwing" at the coronavirus outbreak. The U.S. Federal Reserve cut its benchmark interest rate by 50 basis points on Tuesday in an attempt to mitigate some of the economic impact of the coronavirus crisis, and The House of Representatives passed a sweeping bill Wednesday allocating more than $8 billion in funds. "You've got the best starting point, you've thrown 50 basis points at it, you're throwing billions at it, and everyone says, 'I'm bearish,'" Bloom told CNBC's "Squawk Box Europe" on Thursday.  According to Bloom, the Fed's surprise move actually made the dollar more appealing than other G-7 currencies like the euro. Usually, when a central bank cuts rates its currency falls; after the Fed's emergency rate cut Tuesday, the dollar index fell sharply.   Despite this, Bloom emphasized its risk-off properties. "One thing about the dollar is when you buy it, you get a free insurance policy against all bad things," he said. "That's why the dollar performs well and I think it'll continue." "The U.S. is in the best place to start off with; we saw from the numbers yesterday it's the strongest economy, and they've got policy action they're putting in. Wouldn't you prefer that to someone who sits back and does nothing?" He said the European Central Bank "can't" cut interest rates because they're already so low. The ECB's main deposit rate currently sits at -0.5%. Jane Foley, senior FX strategist at Rabobank, also suggested the dollar would remain strong as coronavirus fears continued to weigh on sentiment. "Irrespective of Fed rate cuts, in our view demand for the USD is likely to be firm as long as the coronavirus crisis continues and fears of recession build in various parts of the global economy," she said in a note on Wednesday. Foley noted that Rabobank had already forecast a mild recession in the U.S. this year, irrespective of the outbreak, but said the "closed nature" of the American economy meant the fallout was likely to be "far greater elsewhere." "Given the importance of the USD as a transactional currency and a store of value, this is not an environment that is likely to encourage a steady flow out of the greenback," she added. "By contrast, fears of a liquidity crunch are likely to bolster USD demand." However, other analysts are less bullish in their outlook for the dollar. In a note on Wednesday, Kit Juckes, macro strategist at Societe Generale, speculated that the Fed was "not done cutting quite yet" — and other economic factors would pull the dollar downward. "What will drag the dollar durably lower won't be Fed easing as much as slower growth. That's coming," he said.

2019-10-03 00:00:00

Digital advertising platforms Taboola and Outbrain, which provide content recommendation boxes on publisher websites, are merging in hopes of becoming a bigger competitor to digital advertising giants such as Google and Facebook. Taboola and Outbrain are the companies that place boxes with titles such as "8 Celebs Who Have Severe Illnesses" or "I Gave HelloFresh A Taste. Here's Why I'm Never Going Back." They also deliver traditional web ads. Those bring in revenue for the publisher websites that they sit on. As a result of the merger, announced Thursday, the companies say they'll now reach 2 billion people per month. Facebook says it has 2.41 billion monthly active users as of June, while Google says its Display Network reaches 90% of people on the internet. The deal comes as the big digital advertising companies face antitrust scrutiny and questions about their use of consumer data. In a statement, Taboola founder and CEO Adam Singolda said the deal seeks to give advertisers more "meaningful choice" outside of the "walled gardens" of Facebook and Google. "We're passionate about driving growth for our customers and supporting the open web, which we consider critical in a world where walled gardens are strong, and perhaps too strong," he said. "Working together, we will continue investing to better connect advertising dollars with local and national news organizations, strengthening journalism over the next decade." The tenor of the statements is reminiscent of a new campaign from The Trade Desk, which hinted that players such as Google and Facebook are threatening the open internet. Though Facebook and Google control a majority of the global digital ad market, with Amazon also catching up, other smaller players such as Snap and Twitter are growing and picking up market share. Singolda will become the CEO of the combined company, which will be called Taboola. Outbrain shareholders will receive shares representing 30% of the combined company plus $250 million in cash, the companies said. In July, Singolda said on CNBC's "Squawk Box" that the industry is seeing a slew of companies giving small businesses and brands an alternative to the biggest digital advertising companies. He said having so much ad spend going to so few companies creates a disadvantage from a pricing and data access perspective. Taboola said its consolidated media buying platform will be more efficient for advertisers and will bring higher revenue and user engagement for publishers.

2019-07-16 00:00:00

Have you seen the video of someone who appears to use a drone to launch fireworks into a partying crowd in Brazil? Well, it's not exactly what it claims to be. The video, which has been circulating on Reddit in recent days, has a title which loosely translates to "When you have funk dancing on the street, upload your drone with a rocket and finish the party." People have widely taken it at face value — as a person who was upset by a loud street party getting some rather spectacular revenge via drone. But it seems the whole thing was a stunt by a popular Brazilian Instagram personality, Lucas Albert, and his pals. As some media outlets have reported, the clip appears on Albert's Instagram with a caption that says roughly, "My friends did a barbecue on the street and they did not invite me look at what I did with them." View this post on Instagram Meus amigos fizeram um churrasco na rua e não me convidaram olha oq eu fiz com eles kkkkkkkkk aquela trolagem do nada ❤️ semana que vem tem guerra de bruxos 🧙‍♂️ 🤣🤣🤣🤣 A post shared by LUCAS ALBERT (@eulucasalbert) on Jul 13, 2019 at 4:28pm PDT Albert went on to address the video in clips posted to an Instagram story. He derided the way the video had become "fake news" and claimed "it was a joke" he pulled off with friends. The story also featured clips of people shooting fireworks at each other, putting the ultimate combination of drone and bottlerockets into fuller context. One Brazilian news outlet strung together some of the clips below (starting at the 1:15 mark).  Just because this is a stunt doesn't make the situation any less dangerous, but the whole thing is a lot less engrossing when you know the real story.

2017-01-11 05:00:00

Music videos are an inherently audiovisual medium, which makes them perfectly suited to explore the concept of synesthesia (where the stimulation of one sense is experienced as another; colors are heard or sound seen). This idea is the basis for two new music videos by French electronic quartet N U I T. The conceptually-paired videos are called "Hold Your Horses" (above) and "Looking for Gold" (below) taken from the group's upcoming Looking for Gold EP. Both are directed by Cedric Rolando. In the videos, each element of the imagery—blurry, shimmering landscapes, gold horses, ghostly unstructured faces, or even more abstract forms—reacts in real time to the music. In the "Hold Your Horses" video, for example, the horses' gallop takes expression from the drums and the bass arpeggio, while a lighthouse beam blinks with the rhythm of a synthesizer. Lightning cracks at the sound of high pitched voices while a ghostly face fades when its associated voice does. "The interpretation is left totally free to the spectator," explains Rolando to The Creators Project. "but there's a constant bond between the music and the graphics."  Rolando's interest in synesthesia, particularly the link between sound and image, began in earnest from playing the games of celebrated Japanese video game designer Tetsuya Mizuguchi. Mizuguchi's 2002 release Rez and 2011's Child of Eden are both considered classics in the merging and interaction of sound and vision. In the video, synesthesia is articulated in a way that is not unlike when you shut your eyes while listening to a song—maybe you've ingested some narcotics, who knows?—and your mind's eye projects some inner visuals shaped by the music. This idea—minus the narcotics—of closing your eyes and letting forms appear informed the very early stages of how Rolando first thought up some of the visuals, using these raw subconscious musings as direct inspiration to storyboard the videos. To translate the storyboard into the final videos, Rolando separated the audio layers—voices, chorus, the various instruments—and then translated them onto separate CG video layers. Using audio keys he was able to convert sound values into graphics like opacity, rotation, speed, brightness, and color values. It was all done in After Effects, with some stop motion Kinect footage used for the horses—inspired by Eadweard Muybridge—and for the ghostly face, which is his own face, motion-captured. "In my point of view, there are intrinsic images in sound and vice-versa, in this way, each sound could be 'translated' in the video," notes Rolando. "It could be more or less literal, more or less abstract. So I don't really decide about shapes, forms, aesthetic, it's already there in the sound. Dark and deep sounds will be a more dark and foggy atmosphere, voices will be more energetic and reactive, sustained notes could be lights, but there are no generic rules because it's all about feelings." You can find out more about N U I T on their website here. Check out the splash page for the videos here. Find out more about the work of Cedric Rolando at his website here. Related A Virtual Reality Experience Gave Me Synesthesia Flaming Spiral GIFs Will Make You Want to Light Shit on Fire Minimalist Optical Patterns Emerge in Max Cooper's New Music Video

2016-08-17

(Adds reaction) By William James and Huw Jones LONDON, Aug 17(Reuters) - Britain set out plans on Wednesday to punish financial advisers who tell their clients how to bend the law to avoid paying tax, including hefty fines designed to target what it called the “supply chain of tax avoidance”. The plans are the first action by new Prime Minister Theresa May after a promise to clamp down on corporations and wealthy individuals who illegally evade taxes or use legal tax avoidance schemes to exploit loopholes and reduce their bills. Britain’s finance ministry said tax authorities should be able to impose fines on tax planners, advisers and accountants to target those who promote the avoidance schemes rather than just those who use them. “People who peddle tax avoidance schemes deny the country of vital tax revenue and this government is determined to make sure they pay,” junior Treasury minister Jane Ellison said, as the government published a document inviting industry feedback. Recouping lost tax revenue has become an important part of efforts to balance Britain’s public finances, as well as a political necessity to respond to voter outrage at perceived injustices in the tax system. Tax authorities estimate that 2.7 billion pounds ($3.51 billion) was lost to avoidance schemes in the 2014 financial year. If a scheme is deemed to breach tax rules, advisers could have to pay a fine equal to the amount the avoidance scheme helped its users save, the government said. Tax planning and advisory services are a lucrative part of Britain’s world-leading financial and business services sector, which overall contributes just under a third of the country’s economic output. The government said its legislation was aimed at a shrinking but persistent minority who seek to exploit tax laws, but some in the sector warned that the plan could suffer from mission creep, with serious unintended consequences. “The government need to be careful that in their efforts to wipe out avoidance schemes they do not prevent taxpayers from getting access to honest, impartial advice on the law,” said John Cullinane, Tax Policy Director at the Chartered Institute of Taxation. Despite years of trying to clamp down, critics say the government has failed to bring tax avoidance under control. “Tax advisers’ lack of accountability for the damage they inflict on societies is a serious problem,” said Toby Quantrill of charity Christian Aid, welcoming the draft proposals. In a July speech just before she became prime minister, May named Amazon, Starbucks and Google, all of whom have been criticised over the amount of tax they pay in Britain, saying everyone had a responsibility to pay taxes. The ‘big four’ accountancy firms, Deloitte, Ernst & Young, KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers , received over 9 billion pounds in fees in Britain according to a 2015 industry survey by Accountancy Age. Ernst & Young said they supported improving certainty and transparency in the tax system, while KPMG said it treated seriously the conflict between taxpayers’ right to minimise their tax liability and their duty to pay a fair amount. PwC said any new measures must be appropriately targeted and proportionate. Deloitte did not immediately comment. The government plans proposed naming advisers who were penalised as a way to deter others, and also mooted ways to make firms reveal who they are marketing schemes to so that authorities can warn customers in advance. The proposed penalties are in line with other recent efforts to punish those who evade taxes and use avoidance schemes, but the decision to aggressively target the advisory industry has raised concerns. “My worry and my concern would be that over the longer term, will this start to creep into other areas of basic accountancy, tax advice that is routine for all businesses?” said Nimesh Shah, Partner at London chartered accountants Blick Rothenberg. “The end users of these services, their costs will creep up because the of the red tape and the legislation that we in the profession have to think about.” (Additional reporting by Tom Bergin; editing by Stephen Addison)

2017-08-08

Aug 8 (Reuters) - * Rapha strengthens leadership position and growth ambitions with investment from RZC * US-based RZC investments is now majority shareholder in business * Simon Mottram will remain as Chief Executive and has retained a significant part of his stake in business * William Blair, Pinsent Masons and Withers advised company on transaction Source text for Eikon:

2016-05-16 12:15:00

Meteorologist Liberté Chan got flack for wearing a dress that exposed her shoulders, and then her news station was criticized for having her cover up on-air – but Chan says she was not forced to put on the sweater. “For the record, I was not ordered by KTLA to put on the sweater,” Chan wrote on her blog. “I was simply playing along with my co-anchor’s joke, and if you’ve ever watched the morning show, you know we poke fun at each other all the time.” “And, also for the record, there is no controversy at KTLA. My bosses did not order me to put on the cardigan, it was a spontaneous moment. I truly love my job, I like my bosses and enjoy working with my coworkers. Since talking to my team, I want our viewers to know it was never our intention to offend anyone. We are friends on and off the air and if you watch our newscast, you know that.” Chan didn’t intend to wear the sparkly, fringed black dress that caused a “slew of negative emails from viewers saying the dress was inappropriate for air,” at first – she was initially wearing a black and white patterned dress, but it looked “semi-transparent” against the green screen Chan uses for her weather forecasts. She made it through two hours of the broadcast in her dress before her co-anchor handed her the sweater during the 8 a.m. hour. “I was surprised since I hadn’t seen any of the emails and didn’t think there was anything that inappropriate (the beads/sequins were probably a little much for the morning, but what girl doesn t like something that sparkles?!), so I played along and put on the sweater,” Chan explains. But people on Twitter immediately called out the station for making her cover up, with some questioning if they even received angry emails about her outfit in the first place. @KTLA @KTLAMorningNews you looked great. Shame when a news agency caves in to people to a little criticism about a dress. — K.C. (@killerwrangler) May 16, 2016 Talk about a coverup. You are a class act, @libertechan. But unacceptable @KTLAMorningNews had you cover up during the weathercast. Period. — Michele Raphael (@michelebraphael) May 16, 2016 seriously a women's body is hers she can dress it anyway she wants…despite other people's opinions. 👌 — Jessica (@1950smoderngirl) May 16, 2016 https://twitter.com/_/status/732042753631096832 Chan’s co-worker read off the angry emails in a Facebook Live video, which included one that said, “Looks like she didn’t make it home from her cocktail party last night.” “It’s a dress, people! Can’t we talk about my weather performance?” Chan responded. Chan says there’s no hard feelings though, and thanked her followers for their tweets of support.

2017-11-10

Nov 10 (Reuters) - San Miguel Pure Foods Company Inc * Approved declaration of dividends for common shareholders at 1.50 pesos per share Source text for Eikon: Further company coverage:

2016-04-07

Artist’s rendering of what the sky might look like from Planet 9. Image: Caltech/R. Hurt (IPAC)Ten years ago, billions of humans had their worldview upended when a group of astronomers announced that the solar system only contains eight planets. Now, the same guys are trying to rewrite our childhood mnemonics once again. A ninth planet may exist after all, and it isn’t Pluto.In January, Caltech’s Konstantin Batygin and Mike Brown (the astronomer credited with killing Pluto) shared compelling evidence of a planet larger than Earth and over five hundred times further from the Sun. Planet nine hasn’t been spotted—its existence is inferred by the improbable orbits of a handful of distant, icy objects. A race is on to find the mysterious world, and help is coming from all corners of the astronomical community.“I’ve never seen anything like this happen before,” Brown told Gizmodo. “People look at the evidence and they are convinced. It almost makes me worried.”Planet nine’s overwhelmingly positive reception is indeed rather odd. This isn’t the first time astronomers have speculated about a distant world sitting in or beyond the icy ring of primordial rocks known as the Kuiper belt. They’ve been doing so for decades. As Brown puts it, “Anytime anything funny happens in the outer solar system, somebody will jump up and down and say planet.”“People look at the evidence and they are convinced. It almost makes me worried.” But in every prior instance when astronomers have cried planet, the case has unraveled upon further analysis. This time, the evidence has only grown stronger. The first hint came in 2003, when Brown spotted a 600 mile-wide object circling the Sun on a highly elliptical path, far beyond the outer limit of the Kuiper belt.The orbit of Sedna (red) compared with the outer planets and Pluto (purple). Image: NASASedna, named after the Inuit goddess of the sea, was the coldest, most distant known object to orbit the Sun, and nobody could explain how it got there. In a paper published the following year, Brown and his colleagues speculated Sedna could have been dragged into its extreme orbit by a passing star or an unseen planet. For more than a decade, it remained an isolated curiosity.Then in 2014, astronomers Chad Trujillo and Scott Sheppard announced the discovery of another distant object on a Sedna-like orbit, followed by a set of six Kuiper belt objects that share a bizarre orbital feature. Each of these icy rocks traces an elliptical path that loops out in the exact same part of the solar system. What’s more, all of their orbits are all tilted the same direction, pointing about 30 degrees down relative to the ecliptic plane (the plane in which planets orbit the Sun). Based on our understanding of Kuiper belt dynamics, any one of these orbits is extremely unlikely. The chance of all six being some sort of grand cosmic coincidence? Approximately one in 14,000. That’s when Batygin, a theoretician, and Brown, an observer, decided to put their heads together. “Our initial goal was to demonstrate that this was not a planet—that it’s some other dynamical effect,” Batygin said.The six most distant objects in the Solar System with orbits exclusively beyond Neptune (magenta), all mysteriously line up in a single direction. A planet ten times the mass of Earth with an orbit anti-aligned with the other planets can account for this. Image: Caltech/R. Hurt (IPAC)And yet, after two years of calculations and supercomputer simulations, a planet is what they found in the math. It turns out Sedna, all six Kuiper belt objects, and a handful of other weird rocks that orbit perpendicular to the plane of our solar system, can all be explained by a distant planet roughly ten times the mass of the Earth. “What we’re really predicting here is not just the existence of a planet, but a physical process through which the shape of the outer solar system is explained,” Batygin said. According to Batygin and Brown’s calculations, Planet nine sits in an elongated, “anti-aligned” orbit—its point of closest approach to the Sun is directly opposite that of all other planets. It takes the frigid world 10 to 20 thousand years to complete a full orbit, and at its furthest point, it’s roughly 1,200 Earth distances (a hundred billion miles) away.In January, Batygin and Brown published their findings in the Astronomical Journal. The announcement that a ninth planet may exist after all was not only embraced by the millions of laypersons who could finally fill the dark, Pluto-shaped holes in their hearts, but also by the scientific community. Folks with expertise ranging from the Big Bang to Saturn’s rings started asking whether a phantom planet may be lurking in their data.At this point, if astronomers are correct about Planet nine, it’s only a matter of time before we find it.The obvious way to prove the existence of a planet is to actually see the thing. In Planet nine’s case, that’s going to be tricky, because objects thirty times further from the Sun than Neptune on a good day don’t reflect a lot of light. But Brown, who’s built a career around finding small, distant Kuiper belt objects, is optimistic that Planet nine can be spotted. “In principle, this is exactly the same thing we do to look for KBOs,” Brown said. “You take a picture, go back, take another picture later, and see if something moved. If you told me exactly where Planet nine was, I could find it pretty easily.”The trouble is, we don’t know where Planet nine is, and its entire orbit is freakin’ enormous. And while astronomers can bag hundreds of random Kuiper belt objects by simply pointing a telescope at the sky, finding a specific object way off in the cosmic boondocks is going to be tougher.“If you told me exactly where Planet nine was, I could find it pretty easily”“For KBOs, we’re interested in a statistical sample,” Brown said. “For Planet nine, we just want to find it. So we have to be very systematic about surveying the sky, and we can’t leave any patch undone.”The best instrument for this job—both in terms of sensitivity and wide field of view—is Subaru, an 8.2 meter optical-infrared telescope located on the dormant volcano of Mauna Kea, Hawaii. Batygin and Brown have already put in a request for time on the popular telescope this fall. Meanwhile, several of their colleagues are bringing the southern hemisphere into the planet hunt, using a well-placed dark energy camera at an observatory in Chile.The Subaru telescope on Mauna Kea. Image: Dr. Hideaki Fujiwara - Subaru Telescope, NAOJBut you don’t need to be good with a telescope to help find Planet nine. Agnès Fienga, a planetary dynamicist at the Nice Observatory in France, has an entirely different take on how we can locate the beast— NASA’s Cassini probe. Since 2003, Fienga and her colleagues have used radio ranging data collected by the Cassini probe’s navigational system to precisely track the motion of Saturn. By doing so, they’ve constructed detailed models of the movement of all planets and major asteroids in the solar system. When Batygin and Brown published an orbital trajectory for a ninth planet, Fienga realized that her models could help narrow the search. “It’s not too complicated to add a supplementary planet and just test the theory,” Fienga told Gizmodo.By sticking Planet nine in a solar system model calibrated with over ten years of Cassini data, Fienga and her colleagues have already ruled out half of the planet’s possible positions in the sky. “This study is awesome,” Batygin said, noting that the positions Fienga’s team eliminated include perihelion—the planet’s closest approach to the Sun. This independently confirms Batygin’s view that the planet currently sits in a more distant orbit. Meanwhile, Nick Cowan of McGill University has thought of yet another way we can detect Planet nine—through its heat signature. Even an icebox of a planet like this one emits a small amount of energy at millimeter radio wavelengths. This turns out to be the same type of energy cosmologists use to study the birth of the universe.“Nature is amazingly good at making planets, and she puts them wherever the hell she wants”“I am not an expert on Planet nine at all, nor am I a cosmologist,” Cowan, who studies the composition of exoplanet atmospheres, told Gizmodo. But when his colleague Gil Holder suggested that Planet nine’s heat signature might be detectable with the instruments used to study the cosmic microwave background (CMB)—the ubiquitous energy signature left over from the Big Bang—Cowan’s interest was piqued.“I did a calculation, and came up with a surface temperature of 20 to 40 Kelvin,” Cowan said. That’s insanely cold, and it means Planet nine radiates about 2,000 times less heat than Uranus or Neptune. “I thought this crackpot idea would be over at this point,” he said.When Cowan brought his calculations back to Holder, he learned he was mistaken. “Turns out, we use Uranus and Neptune to calibrate CMB [experiments] because they’re really bright,” he said. “2,000 times colder is totally doable.” Neptune, the furthest known planet, is used to calibrate measurements of the cosmic microwave background. Image: NASACowan, Holder, and Nathan Kaib of the University of Oklahoma wrote up a paper on the idea, which is currently in review at The Astrophysical Journal. Cowan is hopeful that next-generation cosmology experiments will be able to detect Planet nine, or at least narrow the search. And if we’re really lucky, that faint heat signature might already exist in somebody’s CMB data.Batygin, for his part, continues to run model simulations. Several weeks back, those models got a big boost when Michele Bannister of the University of Victoria, Canada, revealed yet another Kuiper belt object on the same funky orbit as Planet nine’s original flock of six. “Our biggest worry was that the next set of objects we discover are going to destroy the pattern—that our brains had somehow tricked us,” Batygin said. “Instead, the first new object is exactly where our models say it should be. It basically falls on the mean.”Although we should save the champagne for hard proof, most astronomers agree that the case for a large, unseen planet beyond the Kuiper belt has never looked better. “I am not one hundred percent sure if there is a planet or not,” Fienga said. “But I think in a year we should have almost a definite answer.”And if we do discover a Planet nine? It’ll certainly expand our perspective on the solar system, just as discoveries of Kuiper belt objects did in the early 2000s. It’ll help us piece together our celestial history—how the planets formed, why they’re all so different, and how they arrived in their present orbits. And it’ll shed light on the diversity of worlds we can expect to find orbiting other stars.“The most exciting thing about Planet nine to me is that it’s uncharted territory,” Cowan said. “You do the math and realize, you could easily hide a planet out there, maybe more than one. Nature is amazingly good at making planets, and she puts them wherever the hell she wants.”Batygin agrees. “I think the one thing we we can be certain of,” he said, “is that the solar system hasn’t run out of mysteries.” Correction 4/9/16: An earlier version of this article stated that Batygin and Brown published their recent findings on Planet nine in the Astrophysical Journal. In fact, it was the Astronomical Journal. The text has been corrected.

2017-02-23 12:00:00

There is a heavenly place in Chicago where you can have fried chicken slathered in honey butter and, naturally, it's called Honey Butter Fried Chicken. When Josh Kulp and Christine Cikowski met in culinary school, after both pursuing other careers, they started hosting an underground supper club in their apartments, known as Sunday Dinner Club. Over the years, their living room dinners became more and more popular and on one fateful night, when they were serving fried chicken with a corn cake topped with honey butter, the butter accidentally ended up on the chicken and the rest was history. In this episode of Chef's Night Out, Josh and Christine head out with their CDC Cam Waron and friend Maurizio Fiori of Half Acre Brewing Co. They start their night out at La Sirena Clandestina for a Brazilian feast, then go to Billy Sunday for proper cocktails, and finish it all off with steak tacos at Taqueria El Asadero. The night ends back at HBFC, where Josh and Christine whip up fried chicken fried rice for a group of hungry friends. Season 7 Episode 4 of Chef's Night Out. Watch more

2017-05-02 00:00:00

May 2 (Reuters) - Hershey Co : * Board of directors of Hershey Company today announced quarterly dividends of $0.618 on common stock * Announced quarterly dividend of $0.562 on Class B common stock Source text for Eikon: Further company coverage:

2019-02-06

By age 30, Grant Sabatier had earned over $1 million through a combination of reducing his spending and boosting his income. He believes that lots of people could earn extra cash in much the same way he did: In addition to negotiating his salary at his marketing job, which started at $50,000 a year, Sabatier worked up to 13 side hustles at a time to bring in more income, doing everything from flipping domain names to buying and selling Volkswagen campers. But if you want to significantly boost your earnings, he says, you first need to get past the myth that time is money. "It's everywhere in our world and our culture," he tells CNBC Make It. "I remember my parents telling me it when I was a kid. But in reality, time is not money at all." Money is limitless, while time isn't: "You can always go out and make more money," he says. "You're never going to get back your time. Once this moment is gone, you're not going to get it back forever." Most people picture a direct correlation between time spent and money earned, he says, assuming that, if you work X hours, you earn Y dollars. But although you can't change the number of hours you have, you can increase how much you earn in that time. Sabatier's secret? Trade other people's time for money. "The simple idea here is that you want your money to be making money and other people to be making money for you," he says. Take dog walking, for example. If you walk each dog yourself, you're limited by the number of hours you have. But if you connect other people with dog owners and take a cut of the profits, you're able to hire as many dog walkers per hour as you can find, Sabatier explains. "All of a sudden, you're no longer limited by your own time to make money," he says. "You're trading other people's time and compensating them for their time. So you become a connector between supply and demand." If you don't have the time to develop a lucrative small business or side hustle, you can still put your money to work. The simplest way to start earning passive income is by investing in the stock market, which you can do through a retirement savings fund, such as a 401(k) or Roth IRA. You can also look into robo-advisors, which curate a mix of stocks and bonds for you, based on the level of risk you choose. Whether you're brainstorming business ideas or investing, or both, earning more often requires first changing your mindset. "If you think that time is money, you're going to miss that opportunity to make as much money as possible," Sabatier says. To decide if a project is worth your time, he suggests asking yourself a simple question: "Is this worth trading my life for?" "If you lead with that question and realize that you're never going to get this hour back," he says, "not only might you think twice about how you're making money, but it only makes sense then to make as much money as possible for that hour of your life."

2017-03-02 08:00:00

The bad news for Bella Hadid is that fashion show producers continue to keep booking her and ex-boyfriend The Weeknd for the same shows. The good news is that sister and fellow catwalk queen Gigi Hadid is the perfect person to help her shake it all off. Both Hadid sisters walked in H&M's fashion show during Paris Fashion Week on Wednesday, where, as luck would have it, The Weeknd (birth name: Abel Tesfaye) was hired to perform as the models made their final walk-through. The singer is debuting a collaboration with the Swedish retailer this week, so it's not just H&M trying to screw with Bella. For those that haven't been keeping up with their celebrity couple news (for shame!), Hadid and The Weeknd broke up in November after nearly two years of dating. They soon reunited, amicably enough, when Hadid walked in the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show while her ex performed, but that was before he began stepping out with new love Selena Gomez. The new relationship has reportedly caused hurt feelings on Hadid's part, and understandably so: It was her first heartbreak. So, yes, crossing paths in Paris was not exactly ideal. But as this clip from an eagle-eyed Elle.com fashion editor shows, Bella handled it beautifully with Gigi at her side. Check out that supportive hand-holding and knowing look. Sisters before misters, y'all. Bella later shared this photo of her with Gigi and model pals like Kendall Jenner and Joan Smalls. Eat your heart out, Abel. The 20-year-old model recently spoke to Teen Vogue about the split. "It was my first breakup ... and so public," Hadid shared. "As an outsider, you might think I handled it so well, but it’s always in your heart, and you always feel it very heavily. "But I’ll always respect him, and I’ll always love him," she added." Sometimes you want to be sad about it or handle it differently, but at the end of the day, you never want to burn a bridge that you’ve fought so hard to build." Especially when you might be working at the same fashion show.

2020-03-19 00:00:00

(Reuters) - American Airlines Group Inc (AAL.O) has secured a new year-long $1 billion credit line, taking its available liquidity to $8.4 billion, a regulatory filing showed on Thursday. Companies have been shoring up their cash positions, as the coronavirus pandemic increasingly raises the prospect of a global economic downturn. Airlines are among the corporations in most desperate need for cash, with the International Air Transport Association forecasting the global industry will need up to $200 billion of state support. Washington has proposed $50 billion in loans for a rescue package, but not offered any grants as the airlines had requested, as they drastically reduce flights, park jets and cut costs including executive pay. American said it had to maintain a minimum aggregate liquidity of $2 billion under the new credit agreement. (bit.ly/2U1A4al) Reporting by Uday Sampath in Bengaluru; Editing by Vinay Dwivedi

2018-04-06 00:00:00

(Reuters) - Spain’s Rafael Nadal returned to action with a 6-2 6-2 6-3 Davis Cup win over Germany’s Philip Kohlschreiber on Friday to set a record for the longest winning streak in the competition’s history. World number one Nadal had not played since he retired from his Australian Open quarter-final against Marin Cilic in January with a leg injury, but made light work of Kohlschreiber to draw five-time winners Spain level at 1-1 in the tie. Victory meant Nadal set the record for the longest Davis Cup winning streak in combined singles and doubles rubbers with 23 matches in a row. Holders France were tied 1-1 with Italy in Genoa and 2005 winners Croatia were also deadlocked against visitors Kazakhstan after a day of thrilling action on indoor red clay in Varazdin. The heavily-favored U.S. team took a 2-0 lead against a depleted Belgium side on the indoor hard courts in Nashville to come within a point of their first Davis Cup semi-finals in six years. Nadal was swiftly back in the swing of things in Valencia, dismantling Kohlschreiber after Alexander Zverev blew away David Ferrer 6-4 6-2 6-2 to put Germany in front. The 31-year-old Nadal hardly put a foot wrong on his return, having produced 14 of his 30 winners in the opening set of a lopsided contest. Kohlschreiber also went down tamely in the second before putting up more of a fight at the start of the third, but 16-time grand slam winner Nadal was relentless and wrapped up the match. “It’s positive of course, winning in straight sets, it was a solid match. I feel comfortable back on the clay,” Nadal said on the Davis Cup website. “It’s a great feeling to be back, coming back from injuries is always difficult, but it’s great to be in front of my crowd on a very memorable day. I’m very happy with the match.” Lucas Pouille fired the French ahead with a labored 6-3 6-2 4-6 3-6 6-1 win over Andreas Seppi before home favorite Fabio Fognini redressed the balance with a 6-7(6) 6-2 6-2 6-3 defeat of Jeremy Chardy. Pouille looked in cruise control after he swept aside Seppi in the opening two sets but the slugfest went the distance after the Italian fought back in front of a passionate home crowd. The hosts were in danger of falling 2-0 behind as Chardy snatched the opening set tiebreak against Fognini before the 30-year-old Italian raced through the rest of the match to keep the tie in the balance. Croatia’s Cilic breezed past Dmitry Popko 6-2 6-1 6-2 to give the hosts the lead against Kazakhstan but the visitors hit back after Mikhail Kukushkin overpowered Borna Coric 3-6 7-6(5) 6-4 6-2. Miami Open champion John Isner smashed 43 aces to overcome a surprisingly stiff challenge from world number 319 Joris de Loore to win the United States’s first point with a 6-3 6-7(4) 7-6(8) 6-4 victory in a match that lasted over three hours. It appeared like an upset was in the works when the speedy and hard-serving de Loore broke world number nine Isner to open the third set. But the towering American battled back, wearing the 24-year-old Belgian down with his punishing serve over the course of their marathon match in front of a partisan crowd at Belmont University in Nashville. Isner’s countryman Sam Querrey faced less resistance from Ruben Bemelmans in the second match, winning 85 percent of his first service points to dispatch the Belgian 6-1 7-6(5) 7-5 to win the U.S.’s second point. “It felt good. It’s always nice to play second after your teammate gets a win. So John took a little pressure off of me, which was nice of him, so thanks John,” Querrey said during an on-court interview. The shorthanded Belgian team were playing without David Goffin and Steve Darcis, who are both sidelined with injuries. The U.S. will have a chance to advance to the Davis Cup semi-finals for the first time in six years with a doubles win on Saturday, when Querrey and Ryan Harrison and take on Bemelmans and de Loore. Writing by Zoran Milosavljevic in Belgrade and Rory Carroll in Los Angeles; Editng by Toby Davis, Pritha Sarkar, Ken Ferris and Sudipto Ganguly

2017-09-14 00:00:00

Pamela Adlon as Sam Fox. One night in May, a bear snuck onto the set of Better Things and flipped over a dumpster in search of food. In the morning, her cubs were hanging out on the tennis court next to the house where the FX show was wrapping up its sophomore season. During their lunch break, the cast and crew shared cell phone videos they got of the cubs earlier that day. “Remember, this is a wild animal,” a producer announced. “She has new babies that she’s trying to protect, so give her space and don’t get too close. Make sure she doesn’t feel threatened.” There was a chuckle from the back. “All the same rules apply for Pamela, right?” actor Greg Cromer joked. Pamela Adlon — co-creator, executive producer, and star — was crouching in the back. Without missing a beat, she silently shot her hand up and flipped him the bird. Pamela Adlon as Sam Fox, Olivia Edward as Duke, Mikey Madison as Max, Hannah Alligood as Frankie. Cromer’s comparison was not entirely wrong. Better Things is a show about a single mom, Sam Fox (Adlon), raising her daughters Max (Mikey Madison), Frankie (Hannah Alligood), and Duke (Olivia Edward). Sam balances her role as mother alongside her full-time acting career and, occasionally, a low-key dating life. The show is based on Adlon’s own experiences; she even dedicated the Season 1 finale to her three daughters. “My show is very handmade,” Adlon told BuzzFeed News as she arrived on the Los Angeles set, pre–bear warning, in sweatpants and a T-shirt with a hole in the side. You hear her before you see her, scream-laughing “my buddy!” at someone near the front door (everyone is “buddy” or “pal”). “I’ve been doing this my whole life,” she said, leaning up against the staircase bannister. Well, 35 years, to be exact. One of Adlon’s first big roles was in 1982’s Grease 2, and she’s sustained a varied and successful career, primarily in TV and voiceover work, ever since. “I’m very observational, and I’ve also been a documentarian. I’ve documented and recorded everything.” Her already deep voice was a little scratchier than usual — she'd caught a nasty cold on the plane ride home from the 2017 Peabody Awards ceremony, where Better Things was honored for its first season. “My ears haven’t popped from my flight yet, but I brought home the gold!” she cackled and then abruptly coughed. She left the Peabody upstairs in one of the bedrooms so everyone could stop by and “take a damn selfie.” The set, a two-floor stucco house nestled at the end of a cul-de-sac in a twisty Altadena neighborhood, feels less like a set and more like, well, a home — genuinely lived in, like you just walked into someone’s afternoon barbecue or graduation party. Someone was plunking out “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” on the piano, and Alligood and Edward were chasing each other up and down the stairs. Lincoln, the three-legged dog who plays family pet Chewie, ran up and greeted newcomers at the front door. (“Pamela doesn’t like anything too theatrical,” said actor Celia Imrie, who plays Phyllis, Sam’s over-the-top English mother.) Every surface in the home is covered in jewel-toned carpets and throw pillows and, maybe most importantly, art. “These are my grandmother’s paintings,” Adlon said, walking up the staircase and running her hands over the framed prints, “and I can touch these because they’re fake.” She brought her real paintings from home last season, but found them unceremoniously stacked on top of one another on the last day of filming. “This is a reproduction of my own David Choe. Marilyn Manson, who’s a friend of mine, he did that.” “Grandmother, grandmother, grandmother,” she rattled off as she pointed at three different paintings. “My mother, and this is Slutface, my friend. Oh!” she squawked and turned like she’d suddenly remembered she left the gas on. “And this is where I almost accidentally killed Lenny Kravitz last season!” she laughed, offering no further explanation. Hannah Alligood as Frankie in "September," the first episode of Season 2. “Leave the paintings at home” is just one of many lessons Adlon learned from the first season of her show. Last season she directed two episodes; before that, she had never directed television at all. For Season 2, which starts Sept. 14, she’s directing all 10 episodes. “Directing wasn’t part of my ambition,” Adlon yelled through the slightly ajar bathroom door upstairs as she changed into Sam's wardrobe, her holey T-shirt flying out onto the floor. Adlon's transition to directing was more pragmatic than desired. “It’s not fucking fun, and it’s not easy. I know how to cut the fat off, because I’ve been an actor for so long. I see how much time and money gets wasted, and there’s no reason for it. There isn’t a fucking chain of emails that has to happen before a decision is made; it just all flows through one fun, small lady.” Her Better Things co-creator, co-writer, and and longtime collaborator Louis C.K. — the two first met when C.K. cast her in HBO’s Lucky Louie back in 2006 — is the first one who got her thinking about directing. “Because of how long she’s been in television and movies, she has an amazing vocabulary for getting ideas across,” C.K. said in August. “She’s one of these people who takes your phone and makes a beautiful image, so I always thought she had potential as a director.” Translating that potential has been a challenge for Adlon, considering she's a self-proclaimed pleaser. “I’m a mommy and I take care of my crew and my cast and my people,” she explained, now fully in costume, sitting cross-legged on the upstairs bedroom floor next to the discarded holey T-shirt. All three of her onscreen daughters, in separate interviews, described her as maternal in some capacity (Alligood: “She really is my second mom”; Madison: “Everyone’s mom”; Edward: “My mom, pretty much”). But, as Adlon said, “I also know that it’s not a popularity contest, and I’ve gotta get what I need to get.” And she’s good at getting what she needs to get. Pamela Adlon, Olivia Edward, Hannah Alligood, and Mikey Madison. Later in the day, downstairs, the crew was setting up an outdoor scene in the road. Time was a little tight, and the director of photography was debating the best angle to shoot from. “Are you a betting man?” Adlon asked, and didn’t wait for him to answer. “Ten bucks. If I see a fucking piece of anything in the shot, you owe me ten bucks,” she smiled; he smiled back, and she walked away to finish blocking the scene. Adlon rarely stands still on set. That’s partly because she’s extremely deft at keeping the energy levels up — she only pauses when no one’s looking, rubbing her temples and giving in to the head cold for a few seconds — and partly because the production can’t really afford to. She took Edward, her youngest onscreen daughter, by the hand and walked her through the scene. She made a quick note to tweak a line in the script. “I don’t know how she does all this stuff,” Cromer, who plays Jeff (Sam’s best friend’s ex-husband), whispered right before the cameras started rolling. “I stare in wonder.” Adlon didn’t hear him then, but she's certainly heard that before. “Everybody goes, How do you do it? How do you do it?” she said later, back upstairs. “It’s because I’ve been a single mom raising three girls by myself for the past decade. There is nothing harder or more gnarly than that. This is a fucking vacation.”

2018-10-16 16:30:02

Three weeks before the 2018 midterms, more than a dozen Republican-held House seats appear to have tipped toward Democrats — and dozens more are in play too, according to polls and expert race ratings. Meanwhile, only a handful of Democrat-held seats appear to be in danger of flipping to the GOP. The magic number for Democrats is 24: that is, they need to pick up, on net, 24 seats from Republicans to cement a House majority. (That exact tally can change slightly depending on how you categorize certain ambiguous contests, such as the one in Pennsylvania where two incumbents are running against each other. But I find 24 to be the most helpful number to keep in mind.) Currently, there are not yet that many individual contests in which Democrats are believed to have a solid advantage over GOP candidates. If we exclude toss-up contests and look only at how many races are at least leaning toward flipping, the Cook Political Report currently has Democrats favored to gain 15 seats on net. FiveThirtyEight has them clearly favored to net around 22, which would be agonizingly close. Yet here’s the thing: There are many more remaining toss-up and other competitive contests — and they’re overwhelmingly in Republican-held districts. For instance, Cook ranks 53 more GOP-held seats as in play (either toss-up or Lean Republican), and only four Democratic seats. That means that Democrats have a target-rich environment in which to pick up the remaining wins they need — and that the GOP is, essentially, playing whack-a-mole, trying to defeat Democratic challengers who keep popping up in so many places. Strong fundraising numbers and generic ballot polling are making Democrats confident their candidates have the wind at their backs. Already, they appear to be in striking difference of a takeover. But they still, of course, haven’t quite put this thing away. Here’s the current state of play. To start off, the consensus among election watchers is that Democratic candidates have already gained a solid advantage in enough districts to pick up at least a dozen seats, on net. This is one takeaway that’s consistent across qualitative expert analyses like the Cook Political Report (from Cook’s House editor Dave Wasserman, a must-follow for election watchers), model-based forecasts like FiveThirtyEight’s, and recent press coverage such as a New York Times piece listing several races for which Republican outside groups are canceling their ad spending. To narrow down the races currently deemed most likely to change party control, let’s be conservative and set the bar pretty high. Let’s look at seats that, as of Tuesday midday, 1) are rated “Lean D” or “Likely D” by Cook, and 2) in which FiveThirtyEight’s “Classic” forecast gives the Democratic candidate a more than 75 percent chance of winning. Fifteen GOP-held seats meet those criteria. How many more seats are leaning toward Democrats at this point? Cook only puts one more GOP-held seat in the Lean Democrat category — Rep. Pete Roskam (IL-06). FiveThirtyEight, meanwhile, rates nine more GOP-held seats as leaning toward Democrats (which it defines as the Democratic candidate having more than a 60 percent chance of winning). But these gains would be undercut by the one to three seats Democrats currently are expected to lose. Depending on how you add these together, it would put Democrats with a net gain of somewhere between 13 and 21 seats. That is, of course, short of the 24-seat net gain they need for a majority. It’s the next tier of the House map that strikes such terror into the hearts of Republicans, though. That’s because they have dozens more seats that are either toss-ups or just leaning toward the GOP rather than solidly in their camp. Democrats, meanwhile, have just a handful of their own seats in comparable danger. Using the Cook ratings for simplicity (the other ratings and models are not quite exactly the same but are generally similar), 53 Republican-held seats are in that next tier — 29 they rate toss-ups, and 24 others they rate Lean Republican. Democrats have just four comparable seats — the two Minnesota open seats mentioned above, as well as two open seats in Nevada. (Cook doesn’t believe a single Democratic House incumbent is at serious risk of losing at this point.) The GOP-held toss-ups are: Beyond that, Cook ranks another two dozen GOP-held seats as Lean Republican: And even beyond that, there are another two dozen Republican-held seats that Cook says “are not considered competitive at this point, but have the potential to become engaged” — the Likely Republican seats. So basically, should Democrats pick up the seats they’re already favored in, they’ll have a great many options as they try to cobble together the last few seats they need for a majority. That’s why most believe they’re the favorites to take over control right now — Republicans are, essentially, trying to play whack-a-mole. The flip side is that if Republicans do manage to come close to running the table in those many toss-ups and Lean Republican races, they would maintain control at this point. Bearing 2016’s lessons in mind, we should also of course keep in mind that the polls could be off, or that future news could produce a late swing toward either party. But this, it seems, is our best sense of the current state of play: Democrats are within striking distance of a majority, and have many possible opportunities to help them get there, but it’s not a sure thing just yet.

2016-11-28 00:00:00

Nov 28 (Reuters) - Haitong Securities Co Ltd * Says it receives penalty decision from china’s securities regulator for lack of due diligence when connecting to external trading systems * Says illegal income of 28.65 million yuan ($4.15 million)will be confiscated, company will be fined for 85.96 million yuan Source text in Chinese: bit.ly/2fWdo4W Further company coverage: ($1 = 6.9045 Chinese yuan renminbi) (Reporting by Hong Kong newsroom)

2018-11-05 00:00:00

President Donald Trump said Monday that it’s likely there will be a shakeup of his Cabinet after the midterm elections, though he declined to elaborate on any changes aside from filling the vacant U.N. ambassador post. Trump told reporters before he left Washington for his final campaign blitz that “administrations usually make changes after midterms” and predicted that his White House “will be probably right in that category too, it's very customary.” Any coming personnel moves wouldn’t be placed on any sort of timeline, the president said, except for naming his new U.N. ambassador, an announcement he said would come “before the end of the week.” The current ambassador to the U.N., former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, unexpectedly tendered her resignation last month after less than two years on the job, though in an open press meeting with Trump in the Oval Office he said he’d known she would step down for about six months. “For the most part I love my Cabinet, we have some really talented people,” Trump said Monday, touting new trade deals his administration had negotiated and saying his Cabinet had accomplished “so many different things including foreign affairs.” The first two years of the Trump administration have seen remarkable levels of turnover, with eight Cabinet officials having been fired or resigned thus far. Asked whether he would make any changes at the Defense secretary post, Trump seemed surprised. “Why would I do that?” he asked. “Is that the new rumor?” Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has reportedly clashed with the president repeatedly, and his future was questionable after a White House expose published this summer quoted Mattis as bashing Trump’s intelligence. Trump also would not say whether he would be getting rid of his Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, who last week was referred to the Justice Department by Interior’s inspector general for possible ethical breaches. Trump said he hadn’t read any of the reports about Zinke, but praised the job he’d done so far. “I think he’s done a very good job, I do think he’s done a very good job,” he said. Attorney General Jeff Sessions is also atop most lists of White House officials likely to depart after the midterms, and Sen. Lindsey Graham, a close ally of the president, said Monday morning that there would be a new leader at the Justice Department “most likely early next year.”

2019-06-11 00:00:00

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he would sit down soon with his Democratic opponents in the U.S. Congress for negotiations over U.S. immigration policy. Speaking to reporters on the White House South Lawn before departing for Iowa for the day, Trump did not explain what specifically he would talk about with the Democrats, amid stark differences over how to handle a surge of illegal immigrants along the U.S. southern border. A spokesman for House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said there had been no outreach from the White House to Pelosi on immigration negotiations. Congress has not yet acted on a request by Trump for $4.5 billion in additional money to help deal with a surge of migrants at the southern border with Mexico. Democrats in Congress say they support most of Trump’s request, including more money for the Department of Health and Human Services to help child immigrants who have traveled to the border without their parents. But they have objected to some of Trump’s proposal, such as using funds to send more U.S. troops to the border and to expand the number of beds in detention facilities. Many in Congress are skeptical, however, of a wide-ranging immigration reform package moving through Congress. Republicans have been clamoring for tightening U.S. asylum laws in order to more easily deport undocumented immigrants. Democrats are pushing for enactment of legislation to give permanent legal status to “dreamer” migrants who have spent many years living in the United States after being brought here as children by their parents. Reporting By Makini Brice and Richard Cowan, Writing by Steve Holland; Editing by Cynthia Osterman

2016-12-20

Dec 20 (Reuters) - Astivita Ltd * proposed offer is 1 share for every 1 share held at record date at 10 cents per share raising some $3.086 million after costs * It will be undertaking a non-renounceable rights issue opening on 4 january 2017 Source text for Eikon: Further company coverage:

2019-04-01

SEOUL (Reuters) - Samsung C&T Corp and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd have almost doubled the size of a contract related to the construction of a semiconductor production line, taking the project’s total cost to 1.46 trillion won ($1.29 billion). The contract covers finishing work on the line at Samsung Electronics’ Hwaseong plant on South Korea’s west coast, Samsung C&T said in a stock exchange filing after market close on Friday. Samsung C&T is the construction arm and defacto holding company of the Samsung Group. The two companies added 739 billion won to the 723 billion won of the finishing work contract initially signed in September, Samsung C&T said. The work is due for completion by the end of April 2020, it said. Reporting by Ju-min Park; Editing by Christopher Cushing

2019-02-24

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. and Chinese negotiators on Sunday are discussing tariffs and an enforcement mechanism for a potential trade deal after making good progress on structural issues during talks on Saturday, a source familiar with the situation told Reuters. The two sides were also discussing commodities on Sunday, the source said, adding that progress had been made across the board. Reporting by Jeff Mason; Editing by Peter Cooney

2016-02-16 13:00:00

As anyone who has ever woken up on the bathroom floor wearing a comedy sombrero will know, much of what makes tequila fun has little to do with the spirit itself. It stems from the tacos that preceded that first fateful round of shots (well, you needed to line your stomach), the obligatory Mariachi band soundtrack at whichever Tex-Mex joint you find yourself in, and most of all, the satisfaction of slamming down your conquered shot glass and sucking triumphantly on a lemon wedge. Traditionally used to offset the sharp taste of tequila, licking a line of salt from your hand (or someone else's, depending on how lit your girls' Mexican night got), downing a shot, and ramming a lemon or lime slice in your mouth is a dangerously enjoyable drinking ritual. This week saw a triumph for the tequila accompaniments when health and safety experts reiterated that despite the protests of some overly cautious bartenders, there is no law against serving tequila shots with lemon slices and salt. As The Publican's Morning Advertiser reports, the issue was debated by 14 members of the "Myth Busters Challenge Panel" held by British regulatory body Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to debunk inaccurate health and safety advice. Discussing the case of a nightclub bar manager who refused to serve the spirit with its usual chasers because of safety fears, the panel concluded that no legislation prohibits the serving of tequila with salt and lemon. In a statement, they said: "This looks like a case of quoting an easy excuse—possibly to cover up poor customer service." It seems that some bars are using misplaced—or completely made up—fears of drinkers injuring themselves with salt and citrus fruit as a way to get out of paying for extra lemon orders. The HSE panel added: "The bar should simply serve the drink in the traditional way as requested and not misuse health and safety legislation in this way." You heard the experts. Arriba, arriba!

2019-06-22 08:46:15

LONDON — Britain on Saturday honored members of the so-called Windrush generation, people from the Caribbean who were encouraged to migrate here to help the country rebuild after World War II, but struggled to prove their citizenship in a recent immigration crackdown. On Saturday, which was declared the first National Windrush Day, Prime Minister Theresa May of Britain announced that a memorial to their efforts would be built at Waterloo Station, where many immigrants first arrived in London after docking at Southampton. It was also where they met friends and family member who had already settled in Britain. Mrs. May called the occasion an “annual opportunity to remember the hard work and sacrifice of the Windrush generation.” “They crossed an ocean to build a future for themselves, for their communities, and above all for the United Kingdom — the country that will always be their home,” Mrs. May added. But the tribute on Saturday was overshadowed by criticism of the government’s immigration policy and by the lingering effects of a clampdown on members of the Windrush generation last year. And the prime minister’s tribute video drew a backlash, with critics reminding the public of Mrs. May’s legacy before she became prime minister. As minister responsible for immigration, Mrs. May championed a “hostile environment” policy intended to make life in the country difficult for undocumented migrants and to dissuade potential arrivals. The Windrush name comes from the ship that brought the first large group of residents from British colonies in the Caribbean to the country in 1948, at the invitation of the government, to fill a postwar labor shortage. More followed, many with children, over the next quarter-century. Though born in colonies, they held British citizenship under the laws in force at the time, and were entitled to live and work in Britain. Many arrived as children on parents’ passports. But those who could not prove that they had arrived before 1973 lost jobs, were denied medical care, were evicted or detained, and even threatened with deportation. After personal stories surfaced in the British news media, the government backed down and apologized. [Read: Renford McIntyre was made homeless after the government declared him an undocumented immigrant.] The government set up a grant of 500,000 pounds, about $640,000, last year to help towns and cities across the country organize street parties, exhibitions and talks for national Windrush Day. The government also vowed to help Caribbean-born residents with a hardship fund of up to £200 million, but compensation has been dribbling out, according to The Guardian. Only 13 people had received any compensation as of early this month. On Saturday, Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, posted a video message posted on Twitter in which he called out the “disgraceful” treatment of the Windrush generation, saying it “will go down as one of the most shameful episodes in our history.” Mr. Khan said many Londoners were still facing “unacceptable challenges” because of Mrs. May’s “hostile environment” policy. Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the opposition Labour Party, made his own video tribute. “This generation came to Britain to rebuild this country after the Second World War,” he said. “They should have never been treated like this.” The Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants said in a message on Twitter, “The Windrush scandal would have stayed a secret without the bravery of those who spoke out about the disgraceful way our government treated them.” The Guardian remembered Richard Stewart, a retired cricket player, who was among those caught up in the government clampdown. He died a week ago without receiving compensation. In reaction to Mr. Stewart’s death, David Lammy, a Labour lawmaker, slammed the Home Office, the British agency responsible for immigration. “Your continued failure of the Windrush generation has left a permanent scar,” he wrote on Twitter.

2018-09-13 17:00:03

Our guide to the city’s best classical music and opera happening this weekend and in the week ahead. MIRANDA CUCKSON AND MICHAEL HERSCH at National Sawdust (Sept. 18, 8 p.m.). A leading composer, noted for works of bleak despair, as well as a notable pianist in his own right, plays with our leading contemporary-music violinist, able to take on the most difficult of works with seeming ease. Their concert should be among the more special ones you will hear at the start of the new season. Selections from Mr. Hersch’s music include “The Vanishing Pavilions,” “In the Snowy Margins,” “Fourteen Pieces” and “One Day May Become Menace.”646-779-8455, nationalsawdust.org GABRIEL KAHANE at Murmrr Ballroom (Sept. 20, 8 p.m.). A singer-songwriter of unerring quality, Mr. Kahane boarded a train the day after the 2016 presidential election and, phoneless, rode nearly 9,000 miles around the nation. “Book of Travelers,” a new album on Nonesuch, is the result, and you can hear it at this concert, too. Opening for him is Johnny Gandelsman, playing Bach.lpr.com NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC at David Geffen Hall (Sept. 14-15, 8 p.m., Sept. 20, 7 p.m.). “The Art of the Score” concludes this week with two performances featuring “2001: A Space Odyssey” and its soundtrack of Strauss, Ligeti and more. André de Ridder will be on the podium, but for previous screenings of Stanley Kubrick’s film in 2013, Alan Gilbert took the lead. His successor, Jaap van Zweden, conducts the opening gala concert — his first as the official music director — on Thursday, leading Stravinsky’s “The Rite of Spring,” Ravel’s Piano Concerto (with Daniil Trifonov) and the premiere of Ashley Fure’s “Filament.”212-875-5656, nyphil.org TERRY RILEY at National Sawdust (Sept. 15, 7 p.m.). Julian Wachner, who is an artist in residence at National Sawdust this year, leads Trinity Wall Street’s Novus NY ensemble in a program devoted mostly to this Minimalist master, including “Madrigal” and “Archangels.” There’s also music for a cello octet by Gity Razaz.646-779-8455, nationalsawdust.org TESLA QUARTET at Baryshnikov Arts Center (Sept. 19, 7:30 p.m.). This unusual program interrupts two decadent, late-Romantic quartets by Szymanowski and Debussy with Berio’s “Sequenza III” for solo voice. Alexandra Smither is the soprano.646-731-3200, bacnyc.org

2017-07-11 19:59:06

Neil J. Welch, a maverick F.B.I. official who helped mastermind the political corruption sting operation that ensnared a senator and six congressmen and negotiated the surrender of the escaped killer of Kitty Genovese, died on June 29 in Omaha. He was 90. His death was confirmed by his son Brien. Mr. Welch joined the Federal Bureau of Investigation after law school, seeing it, he said in a 1979 interview, as “a good place to start my career.” He stayed for nearly three decades. As the special agent in charge of field offices in Buffalo, Detroit and Philadelphia and the supervisor of the biggest office, in New York, where his title was assistant director, he won the respect of agents as an innovator and motivator. But he often vexed his bosses in Washington by focusing his investigations not on bank robbers and draft dodgers but on organized crime and corruption. He often expressed contempt for what he described as the “ponderous” and “ineffectual” headquarters bureaucracy under J. Edgar Hoover, the former F.B.I. director. “You could put sandbags around the building and shut off the phones,” he once said, “and the bureau’s criminal investigative work would be better off for it.” In the 1970s, Mr. Welch butted heads with his hidebound superiors in Washington by refusing to engage in the dirty tricks authorized under Cointelpro, the bureau’s counterintelligence operation that targeted anti-Vietnam War protesters and radical groups as varied as the Socialist Workers Party and the Ku Klux Klan. Mr. Welch preferred to focus on wrongdoing by public officials. His most spectacular corruption case was the multiyear Abscam investigation, which he oversaw with Thomas P. Puccio, head of the Justice Department’s Organized Crime Strike Force for the Eastern District of New York. The case culminated in 1980 with charges against federal legislators and local officials in New Jersey and Pennsylvania for accepting bribes from agents posing as Arab sheikhs and businessmen in return for political favors. Defense lawyers argued that their clients had been entrapped, but the courts disagreed. The convicted defendants included Senator Harrison A. Williams Jr., a New Jersey Democrat, and Representatives John Jenrette, a South Carolina Democrat; Richard Kelly, a Florida Republican; Raymond F. Lederer and Michael Myers, Pennsylvania Democrats; John M. Murphy, a New York Democrat; and Frank Thompson Jr., a New Jersey Democrat. In 1968, Mr. Welch conducted nearly an hour of gun-to-gun negotiations that led to the surrender of Winston Moseley, the convicted killer of Kitty Genovese, the 28-year-old woman he had stalked and stabbed to death in 1964 near her apartment in Kew Gardens, Queens. Her murder shocked the nation’s conscience after The New York Times reported that 38 of her neighbors ignored her screams for help — although years later The Times acknowledged that the number of witnesses and what they had perceived had been overstated. After escaping from a hospital where he had undergone minor surgery while serving life sentence, Mr. Moseley took five hostages, raped one and holed up in a suburban Buffalo apartment. “He kept cocking and re-cocking his gun, holding it dead center on my chest,” Mr. Welch recalled in “Inside Hoover’s FBI: The Top Field Chief Reports” (1984), written with David W. Marston. “He didn’t realize it,” Mr. Welch recalled, “but I had a small snub-nosed revolver pointed at him too, although it was in my weak left hand, in my overcoat pocket.” Asked in 1980 in a Boston Globe interview how he negotiated with an armed convicted killer who, given his life sentence, had nothing to lose, Mr. Welch replied, “Very carefully.” Neil John Welch was born on Aug. 9, 1926, in St. Paul, to Thomas Welch, a railroad foreman, and the former Leone O’Neil. He was raised in Omaha. He enlisted in the Navy at 17 and served in the South Pacific during World War II. He attended Omaha University (now the University of Nebraska, Omaha) on the G.I. Bill and earned a law degree from Creighton University in Omaha. His wife, the former Geri McLeod, died in 2013. In addition to his son Brien, he is survived by another son, Neil Jr.; six grandchildren; and a brother, Jerome. Mr. Welch joined the F.B.I. in 1951 and remained until 1980, leaving as he neared the mandatory retirement age of 55. He later served as the justice secretary, overseeing several law enforcement agencies, for the State of Kentucky. He was named special agent in charge of the Buffalo field office in 1966. While he was serving there, the F.B.I. and Canadian authorities learned the alias under which James Earl Ray was traveling, leading to his arrest in the killing of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. In 1979, rejecting the characterization of himself as a maverick, Mr. Welch told The New York Times Magazine: “I always thought I was in the mainstream, in tune with what most agents thought. But apparently I wasn’t in tune with the hierarchy in Washington.” He offered one indication of how he was perceived in Washington: When he left Buffalo for a bigger field office in Detroit, he said, a bureau official told him, “Detroit is yours because no one else wants it.” Beginning in 1975, Mr. Welch ran the Philadelphia office, where he supervised investigations into police brutality and corruption. Those investigations led to the convictions of a number of state officials and prompted the state legislature to tighten ethics regulations. Mr. Welch was one of five candidates (and the only F.B.I. agent) recommended by a presidential screening panel in 1977 to succeed Clarence M. Kelley as F.B.I. director. Mr. Welch urged the panel to choose a distinguished federal jurist instead. President Jimmy Carter eventually named William H. Webster, a federal judge from Missouri. In 1978, Judge Webster promoted Mr. Welch to succeed J. Wallace LaPrade as head of the New York office, which with more than 800 agents was the bureau’s largest. Mr. LaPrade had been dismissed from his New York job after being accused of withholding information from a Justice Department investigation into illegal surveillance of the Weathermen and other radical groups. He faced perjury charges, was named as an unindicted co-conspirator in a related case and was transferred when he refused to quit. He described himself as a scapegoat. “I plan to take this office apart brick by brick,” Mr. Welch vowed at the time, “and reassemble it.” After he arrived in New York, an admirer gave him a brick as a gift. Mr. Welch kept it on his desk to remind him of his vow. An obituary on Wednesday about the longtime F.B.I. agent Neil J. Welch misstated the year of his birth. He was born on Aug. 9, 1926 — not 1927. (As the obituary correctly noted, he was 90.) Because of an editing error, the obituary also misidentified the state for which Mr. Welch served as justice secretary. It is Kentucky, not Kansas. Because of an editing error, an obituary on Wednesday about the longtime F.B.I. agent Neil J. Welch misstated the name of a New Jersey politician convicted in the Abscam case, which Mr. Welch oversaw with Thomas P. Puccio. He was Frank Thompson Jr., not Franklin Thompson.

2019-06-24

TL;DR: This 27-inch iMac Pro features one of the most powerful processors Apple has ever made, and Amazon has it on sale for $4,669.92 — a savings of about $330. When you're shopping around for laptops and laptop-tablet hybrids, portability is the name of the game, and physical specs like weight and dimensions are just as important to consider (if not more so) as devices' software functionality. They're sort of like the toy poodles of the electronics world: They're just as much an accessory as they are a practical companion. But a different P-word usurps priority when you get into desktop computers, and that's power. They're the Rottweilers of computers: Since their shtick isn't fitting into designer purses, they can be as big and brawny as you need them to be. The latest iMac Pro sports one of Apple's most powerful processors to date, which I guess would make it the alpha dog in a pack of fierce Rottweilers. It's specially designed to tackle the heavy workloads of video editors, photographers, software developers, data scientists, and other skilled professionals (hence the "Pro" in its name). Want one? Go fetch: Amazon has a 27-inch iMac Pro on sale right now, shaving $329.08 off its usual retail price. That 3.2GHz 8-core Intel Xeon W processor with Turbo Boost up to 4.2GHz is certainly a focal point, but that's not all the iMac Pro has to offer: It also comes with Radeon Pro Vega graphics — the best workstation-class graphics of any Mac ever — for ridiculously fast performance and jaw-dropping 2D and 3D visuals. (The latter can also be credited to the iMac Pro's Retina 5K display, which supports a billion colors and boasts 500 nits of brightness across 14.7 million pixels.) You wouldn't know it just by looking at it, though: It's sleek and super thin at just 5mm thick. Each iMac Pro purchased on Amazon comes with a matching Magic Keyboard and Magic Mouse 2. Storage-wise, the iMac Pro gives you 32GB of RAM, configurable up to 256GB (!), as well as a whopping 1TB of SSD. Feel free to toss all sorts of apps, programs, and projects on this bad boy; it can handle it.  Buy a space gray iMac Pro on Amazon for $4,669.92 (a $4,999.99 value) and you'll get two free matching wireless accessories with your purchase: the Magic Keyboard and the Magic Mouse 2. Apple iMac Pro — $4,669.92 See Details

2018-09-25 00:00:00

Paul John Vasquez -- who played a bunch of minor roles in huge TV shows, including "Sons of Anarchy," "NYPD Blue" and "CSI: NY" -- has died ... TMZ has learned. Sources close to Vasquez tell TMZ ... Vasquez died Monday night from an apparent heart attack at his father's home in San Jose. We're told his dad found him unconscious and paramedics were called but they were unable to revive him. The cause of death is still under investigation. Vasquez is the second actor from the popular TV show to have died in the last few months. We broke the story ... Alan O'Neill was found dead by his girlfriend back in June but no foul play was suspected. Vasquez appeared in 2 episodes of 'SoA' back in 2011. According to his IMDB profile, Vasquez wrote the short film "Thug Alley" which was in pre-production. He was 48.

2019-07-18 16:32:00

Mr Eazi is sorry for his unexpectedly muted greeting. Propped up in bed in a boutique hotel in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood, the Nigerian star behind massive regional hits like "Leg Over" and "Skintight" explains he’s dealing with some foot pain, something he quickly plays down at the tail end of a long week in New York City. When you're promoting your sound to an international audience, there's no time to complain about minor knocks. Instead, he starts gregariously explaining how he ended up teaming with two of the world's biggest stars. "The Internet is making the world smaller," he says, succinctly summarizing the circumstances that led to his appearance on one of the summer’s biggest releases yet. As if being one of the biggest names in Afrobeats wasn't enough, he's also effectively the latest member of Latino Gang, as the bio for his 2.5 million follower Instagram account now proudly proclaims. That affiliation became official and public with the release this month of "Como Un Bebé," the final track on Bad Bunny and J Balvin’s collaborative mini-album Oasis, on which Eazi prominently features. Few could have anticipated this historic meeting of the minds between one of contemporary African music's most important names and two of Latin America’s highest-profile hitmakers. "When I listened, it felt like the perfect way to end the record," Eazi says, having been unaware that it would even appear on the project. While some will recall his role as opening act on the North American of Balvin’s 2018 Vibras tour, their connection goes back a bit further. Earlier that year, Eazi performed at a concert in Haiti, around which he met wunderkind Michael Brun during a promoter-organized dinner. That encounter led swiftly to an offer to record together during his stay on the island. "He came with his mobile studio and was sampling beats for me," he says of the roughly half-hour session that led to three or four demos by his count. Not long thereafter, Balvin and Brun met up in New York for a session of their own, during which the Colombian reggaetonero apparently heard some of those results and soon became a Mr. Eazi fan. "I see Balvin post up on his Instagram and he's in his jet playing a song from my mixtape called 'In The Morning,'" he says. A few DMs later, a camaraderie began. Their then-mostly digital friendship turned reality when, based off a casual joking compliment about a Vibras tour flyer shared online, their managers were soon linked to sort out details of adding Eazi to the dates—alongside none other than Michael Brun. Though Eazi’s management expressed reservations that the tour wasn't the artist's typical audience, Eazi dismissed the concern in favor of the unique opportunity to play for this new and different pool of potential listeners. "My goal is to let my music go as far as possible," he says, describing the American arena dates in retrospect as a humbling experience. "The kind of shows I do back in Africa and around the world, everybody’s singing my songs. [The Vibras tour] messed with my mind, but it also made me really ambitious." At Coachella 2019, both Balvin and Eazi played separate sets during the sold-out festival. In between the two weekends, Eazi traveled to Miami and met Sky Rompiendo, the producer responsible for numerous Balvin hits including "Ginza" and "No Es Justo." Together, they worked on "something different" which has yet to see a release. Yet during the time, Eazi exposed them to more self-described "Afro vibes." That immersive introduction birthed "Como Un Bebé" which, unlike the other songs on the surprise-dropped Oasis that showcase Sky and Tainy's respectively broad reggaetón and trap styles, comes courtesy of Nigerian duo Legendury Beatz. "It would've been easy for them to produce it here and make their own interpretation of it," Eazi says of that decisive choice by the urbano team. "They wanted authentic; they wanted to go to the source." With a pulsating bassline and bright dubby synth stabs over a distinctive rhythm, the resulting cut found the urbano superstars trading verses and navigating hooks with the Banku music progenitor, who sings and raps here in three different languages—English, Spanish, and Yoruba. Eazi initially recorded his parts in Miami, but at the time he had no idea what would become of "Como Un Bebé" or that, before long, El Conejo Malo would join in. "We were going back and forth and the next thing I knew, within the space of one week, Sky sends me the stems," he says. "And Bad Bunny is on it." Sure enough, the merging of these artists' individual styles worked exceptionally well, and a week after release led to "Como Un Bebé" appearing on Billboard's Hot Latin Songs. Considering that Afrobeats and urbano share some ancestral reggae DNA, and that both continue to make bold sonic connections with modern-day dancehall styles, the effectiveness of this fresh international fusion isn't entirely surprising. Still, the unprecedented presence of an African song on an American chart populated by Latin music singles is a cross-cultural and commercial moment not lost on Eazi, who sits up excitedly and crosses his legs as he speaks. "It's crazy that the first time it’s coming together, it's coming at the top," he says of this undisputedly high-profile collaboration before adding, "I want to do more stuff like that." Eladio Carrion and Bryant Myers, "Animal" A preview of the Kansas City born, Puerto Rico based trapero’s upcoming debut EP finds him boasting of his sexual potency alongside Myers' gruff and rough vocal tones. Ele A El Dominio, "Mis Hijos" Over a shimmering Yecko beat, the reliably uncensored Puerto Rican rapper takes shots at the likes of Anuel AA and Bad Bunny in a blunt tiraera that likens the urbano stars to his children. Felp 22, Duki, and Rauw Alejandro, "TRAPPERZ A Mafia Da Sicilia (feat. MC Davo & Fuego)" An international assemblage of trap figures come together in a show of unity imbued with the gravity of mob ties. Macotea and Kapuchino, "Desde Abajo" Two of the tri-state areas’ most plugged-in Latin traperos team up for an R&B-tinged cut that unquestionably represents hard for the streets. Ñejo and Miky Woodz, "El Día Que Me Muera" The reggaetón vet often plays the jokester on his Instagram, but he proves dead serious on this mortality minded track alongside the self-proclaimed El O.G.

2018-06-05

Growth in U.S. non-manufacturing increased in May, reaching a 100-month streak of overall expansion. The Institute of Supply Management's measure of the non-manufacturing sector grew to 58.6 from 56.8 in April, beating a forecast of 57.6 by a survey of Thomson Reuters analysts. According to the institute's metric, the 14 U.S. non-manufacturing industries tracked by the index saw 100 straight months of expansion. A reading above 50 indicates expansion in the service sector while a reading below 50 signals contraction. Industry leaders said the primary areas of concern for the service industry come from new tariffs on goods like aluminum and steel as well as increased trade discussions on the North American Free Trade Agreement, the European Union and North Korea. Respondents to the metric said these concerns could raise supply-side costs, affecting the ability to continue growth. "The majority of respondents are optimistic about business conditions and the overall economy," said Chair of the Institute for Supply Management Anthony Nieves. "There continue to be concerns about the uncertainty surrounding tariffs, trade agreements and the impact on cost of goods sold."

2018-03-26 14:31:00

Mary Jane Gacono has struggled with dementia for nearly a decade — and her loving husband, Carl, has been at her side every step of the way. Carl has been eager to have his wife remain at their Annville, Pennsylvania, home for as long as possible, taking charge of most of her care. But one recent morning, Carl, 88, had a doctor’s appointment and had to enlist the help of the couple’s daughter, Becky, to help care for Mary Jane while he was away. While she stepped into her dad’s shoes, Becky got a special look at Carl’s super specific (and sweet) morning routine for his wife of nearly 68 years. “I went over in the morning to help her get ready because he was heading out,” Becky, 55, tells PEOPLE. “That’s his morning routine: getting her to the bathroom, helping her shower, getting her dressed, getting her breakfast and then just being with her throughout the day.” Becky first shared the sweet story with Love What Matters, writing that Carl spent time going over Mary Jane’s morning routine so she was sure to get it just right. A very important step, Carl said, is putting on Mary Jane’s jewelry: “Don’t forget the bracelet with the heart goes on the left with her watch. The other two bracelets go on the right,” Becky wrote in the post. “People with dementia … when things are out of order, it tends to make things a little bit harder. So [Carl] tends to keep to a routine that she is used to,” Becky tells PEOPLE. “She likes to have her jewelry on. Her necklaces and her bracelet and her watch, then on her other arm are her other bracelets. She brushes her hair and then after they’re done with all of that, they head out to eat breakfast together at the table.” Becky says that throughout her parents’ marriage, Mary Jane has always been supportive of Carl and has been his “biggest cheerleader.” “She dedicated her life to loving him and supporting him in all his dreams and being successful. I do think he feels that now it’s his turn,” she says. “He never regrets a day that he has with her, I believed that wholeheartedly. But I do believe he’s tired, exhausted and doing the best he can.” Caretakers help during the weekdays and, along with Becky, some of the couple’s other children also come to help care for Mary Jane — as Becky says it’s clear that her father is “tired” and “exhausted.” “My dad really struggles some days being exhausted and watching his wife who he dearly loves slip away. But he’s doing the best he can. It’s unconditional love without a doubt. And I think the epitome of unconditional love. He has just been amazing through all this, they’ve always been madly in love with each other.” The family chronicles Carl and Mary Jane’s story on a Facebook page called “Our Journey Through Our Mom’s Dementia.”

2019-01-25 18:34:38

On Tennis MELBOURNE, Australia — After bowing out of the Australian Open this week, Jack Sock and his childhood friend and doubles partner, Jackson Withrow, ended up on opposite sides of a great divide. Withrow’s childhood dream was to play professional tennis; doubles proved to be his only portal. Sock, the world’s second-ranked doubles player, has an Olympic gold medal from 2016 that he won in the mixed event, which led to his being honored at a University of Nebraska football game and throwing a ceremonial first pitch at a Kansas City Royals baseball game. In addition, he shares four Grand Slam titles, three in doubles and the other in mixed. Sock, 26, has also climbed as high as No. 8 in singles, which is where he stood last year at this time. His ranking since has tumbled to 105, but singles remains No. 1 in his heart. “I can personally say if I’m not relevant in the singles world and my only choice is to play doubles, I’d probably stop playing tennis,” Sock said. Doubles is supposed to be the harmonic expression of tennis, but at the Australian Open, the doubles court has become the receptacle for petty grievances and philosophical divergences. It started with Bernard Tomic accusing his countryman and Davis Cup captain, Lleyton Hewitt, of a litany of leadership failures, including writing himself into the lineup for Davis Cup. Then Dan Evans, the 189th-ranked singles player, fanned the flames in his native Britain by describing doubles players as athletes “who didn’t make it at singles and people who didn’t have the attitude to work hard enough to make it in the singles game.” Jamie Murray, ranked seventh in doubles, dismissed Evans’s comments as “lazy” and “just total nonsense” and said, “We should be celebrating any success we have in the sport — doubles, mixed doubles, wheelchairs, whatever.” The Australian Open is called the Happy Slam, but the crankiness quotient at this one has been high — as if everybody woke up on the wrong side of 2019. The men’s tour appears to be a house divided over the future of the ATP president and chief executive, Chris Kermode, who some believe should be removed from office. The women have complained that the men do not support gender equity. The men fell in line behind an exasperated Rafael Nadal, who said at a news conference, “I don’t know why you are trying all the time to create these kinds of stories on this thing.” On Wednesday, the tournament’s 10th day, there was harmony, at least in the stands of Rod Laver Arena. During a changeover in the Australian Samantha Stosur’s semifinal victory with Zhang Shuai against Barbora Strycova and Marketa Vondrousova, the Village People blared from the speakers and even the chair umpire got in the act of forming the letters in Y.M.C.A. By the tournament’s stretch run, all of Australia was celebrating doubles since the men’s, women’s, mixed and wheelchair finals included at least one native son or daughter. (An Australian hasn’t won a singles title here since 1978.) But no amount of success will sway Sock to embrace doubles exclusively. Sock, who played most of last year with Mike Bryan because Bryan’s twin, Bob, was nursing a hip injury, won two majors and about $1.3 million playing doubles and $738,747 while compiling a 9-21 record in singles. He finished 17th over all in ATP prize money despite ranking outside the top 100 in singles. “It’s not just singles that you can make a career from in tennis,” said Murray, who has six Grand Slam titles to his brother Andy’s three in singles. “It’s important for a lot of young kids to know that growing up. It’s not easy to make it in the tennis world. There are only a few people that can make a really good living from the game. The journey is incredibly long. However you get there, whether it’s singles or doubles or whatever, there’s options there for you.” With four career singles titles, including three in 2017, Sock would appear to have more options than most. But he doesn’t see it that way. Ryan Harrison, who teamed with Sam Querrey to beat Sock and Withrow in the round of 16 this week, said: “Jack doesn’t want to feel discredited for his singles ability because of his dominance in doubles. And a lot of time his success in doubles overshadows him as a top-10 singles player. He’s going, ‘I’ve been 8 in the world in singles, and people are talking about me like a doubles guy.’ That perception is always going to be difficult for him.” As long as the stigma persists that doubles players are lesser than singles players, the Socks of the sport are going to have a strong incentive to stick to singles. Harrison said he has tried to appeal to Sock’s vanity. “I’ve told him it’d give him more confidence in singles if he took more pride in literally being the most dominant doubles player,” Harrison said. “He feels like he’s being viewed as someone not capable of playing singles.” Mike Bryan said he hated to hear Sock would sooner leave the sport than stick to doubles. “When he gets out on the doubles court, he has a blast,” Bryan said. “And because of doubles, he’s played in some of the biggest stadiums in the world, he’s won a gold medal, he’s been honored at a Nebraska football game. What’s the harm in all of that?”

2018-04-20

After almost 22 years in charge of English Premier League team Arsenal, Arsene Wenger has chosen to step down as manager at the end of the season, despite having another year to run on his current contract. Upon making the announcement the Frenchman said: "After careful consideration and following discussions with the club, I feel it is the right time for me to step down at the end of the season. I am grateful for having had the privilege to serve the club for so many memorable years. I managed the club with full commitment and integrity." There are still five games to go for Arsenal in the Premier League, but a huge focus for them is now on the Europa League, the continent's second-tier club competition. Arsenal is preparing for the first leg of its semi-final against Atletico Madrid on Thursday. The prize on offer is not only a European trophy, which eluded Wenger when they lost on penalties in the final to Galatasaray back in 2000, but also a route back into the Champions League — Europe's top-tier competition — for whoever the new manager at Arsenal next season will be. That's now all on offer for the club this season, after appearing again to fall behind their domestic rivals in the Premier League, where Arsenal is currently down in sixth position. Overseeing the move from its former home of Highbury to the Emirates Stadium and keeping Arsenal competitive is arguably one of Wenger's greatest achievements and until this season he managed 19 consecutive Champions League appearances. Wenger inherited a famously solid back five in 1996 including goalkeeper David Seaman, Tony Adams and Nigel Winterburn and added to them with Sol Campbell at the turn of the Millennium. It was his attacking recruitment in the early part of his Arsenal career in particular, which had an incredible hit rate and included Patrick Veira, Cesc Fabregas and Thierry Henry. Wenger helped to turn them all into eventual World Cup winners and in the case of Henry the club's record goalscorer. Three Premier League titles, but none since 2004 and seven FA Cups make him Arsenal's most successful manager ever, not to mention the famous "Invincibles" side of 2003, when Wenger guided his side to an unbeaten 38-game season. Rival Manchester United's troubles have been well documented after manager Alex Ferguson left, after his 27 years in charge. No league titles since Ferguson's last in 2013 and already onto its third manager since that time, something that Arsenal's sometimes maligned hierarchy will be looking to learn from. There's little doubt that given the amount of control Wenger has displayed during his time at the club that he won't have some say on who his successor is, with more than a few candidates around Europe who might be interested. Former Borussia Dortmund Head Coach Thomas Tuchel, had been widely tipped to be headed for Paris Saint-Germain, but with Wenger himself now possibly available for them, the German could be diverted to the Emirates. Carlo Ancelotti is the most successful living manager in European football and he still hasn't found a new club, following his departure from Bayern Munich earlier this season. The timing of Wenger's praise for the management credentials of his former captain Vieira could also be pertinent as well. He's been learning the coaching side of the game over in America at New York City FC (who incidentally are owned by Manchester City's City Football Group). Asked just prior to his announcement about Vieira, Wenger commented: "He works in the moment in New York and he works for Man City. He's a guy who has the potential one day, yes." When he first arrived in England, many papers in the country led with the headline "Arsene Who?" Although he leaves with Arsenal below its North London rivals Tottenham in the table, he leaves with everyone in football knowing exactly who he is now.

2016-03-14 00:00:00

I've been in Seoul, South Korea for the past week covering the gripping Go face-off between human champion Lee Se-dol and DeepMind AI AlphaGo, and it's been endlessly fascinating. There wasn't a game today, though, so I headed on down to the arty student district of Hongdae to do some drone shopping. What else? Market leader DJI opened its first ever store outside of China — and second ever store in the world — just two days ago here, after first announcing plans in January. The opening also came two days after The Verge reviewed DJI's new flagship consumer drone, the Phantom 4, calling it "the first drone for everyone" because of its radical autonomous features. The store is not what I would call mindblowing — it's very much in the minimalist Apple-inspired tradition for vanity tech retail. And the whirring of propellers aside, it was pretty quiet on my visit, though maybe that's to be expected for a new store on a Monday afternoon. But it is an architecturally neat way for DJI to show off both its range of drones and the things they're capable of. And while drones are still legislatively controversial, placing slick stores in global cities could be helpful for demystifying the technology. Oh, and I didn't buy anything in the end — but I'm thinking I might go back tomorrow to fix that.

2020-03-17 00:00:00

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - A Dutch appeals court on Tuesday ruled the country’s two largest telecommunications providers, KPN NV and VodafoneZiggo, do not have to open their fixed-line networks to competition. The country’s consumer watchdog ACM, had argued that the two together had too much power over the retail internet market. But The Hague Commercial Court of Appeal said the ACM had failed to “prove the existence of such a combined market power.” KPN shares rose sharply on the news and were trading 6.8% higher at 11:05 GMT. Reporting by Toby Sterling; editing by John Stonestreet

2016-04-19 00:00:00

BEIRUT, April 19 (Reuters) - Syrian government forces backed by Russian air power launched a counter-attack against rebels in the northwestern province of Latakia, a rebel group and a conflict monitor reported, as violence was reported across much of the northwest on Tuesday. Targets included towns and villages where a partial truce agreement had brought about a lull in fighting between the government and rebels since Feb. 27. That agreement has unravelled in recent weeks. Air strikes killed at least five people in the town of Kafr Nubl in the insurgent stronghold of Idlib province, and three others in nearby Maarat al-Numan, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring organisation reported. Rockets fired by insurgents, meanwhile, killed three children in nearby Kefraya, a Shi’ite town loyal to the government, it said. State media said the dead were members of one family. The fighting in Latakia was focused on areas where insurgent groups had launched an attack on government forces on Monday, and where battles had often erupted despite the cessation of hostilities agreement. “The regime is trying to storm the area, with the participation of Russian helicopters and Sukhoi (warplanes),” said Fadi Ahmad, spokesman for the First Coastal rebel group in the area. The Observatory said fighting had been raging since morning. Government air strikes and barrel bombing was also reported in northern areas of Homs province that are under rebel control. The use of barrel bombs, or oil drums filled with explosives, has been denied by the Syrian government but widely recorded including by a U.N. commission of inquiry on Syria. The Syrian army could not immediately be reached for comment. (Writing by Tom Perry, editing by Peter Millership)

2018-05-15

Rep. Lou BarlettaLouis (Lou) James BarlettaHead of Pennsylvania GOP resigns over alleged explicit texts Trump's most memorable insults and nicknames of 2018 GOP trading fancy offices, nice views for life in minority MORE (R-Pa.) is projected to win the GOP primary in the marquee race for the Pennsylvania Senate seat now held by Sen. Bob CaseyRobert (Bob) Patrick CaseyThe Hill's Morning Report - Progressives, centrists clash in lively Democratic debate Democrats press Trump Treasury picks on donor disclosure guidelines Pennsylvania school district turns down local businessman's offer to pay off student lunch debts MORE Jr. (D). The Associated Press called the race for Barletta at 9:41 p.m. EDT. Barletta, who was backed by President TrumpDonald John TrumpFacebook releases audit on conservative bias claims Harry Reid: 'Decriminalizing border crossings is not something that should be at the top of the list' Recessions happen when presidents overlook key problems MORE and the Pennsylvania Republican Party, defeated little-known challenger state Rep. Jim Christiana Tuesday for the Republican nomination. Barletta, who has served in the House since 2011, will now face Casey in November. An early supporter of Trump’s during the 2016 election, Barletta jumped into the Senate race with the full backing of the president. Trump touted Barletta as a “great guy” at a Pennsylvania rally earlier this year, and endorsed him in February. Days ahead of Tuesday’s primary, Trump recorded a robocall for Barletta, lauding the congressman as an immigration hard-liner and touting his support for the GOP’s tax plan. Christiana pitched himself as a fresh alternative to both Barletta and Casey, who have both been in Washington for years. But Trump's endorsement of Barletta, coupled with Christiana's low name recognition and fundraising, kept the state legislator from gaining traction. While Barletta was heavily favored to win on Tuesday, the congressman still faced scrutiny during the primary campaign, particularly over his lackluster fundraising. Republicans had major concerns about Barletta's prospects against Casey after Barletta raised only a half-million dollars in the last three months of 2017. Barletta stepped up his fundraising, however, raising more than twice that in the first quarter of this year. But Barletta is still far behind Casey, who has brought in more than $10 million since the beginning of the cycle. Barletta also faced some damaging headlines, which will likely be fodder for Democrats in the general election. In January, CNN reported that, when he was mayor of Hazleton, Pa., Barletta did an interview with American Free Press, a weekly newspaper that promotes anti-Semitic views. Barletta’s deputy campaign manager said the congressman was “not aware of these individuals’ background” when he did the interview, saying the candidate has always condemned “hate, bigotry and racial supremacy in all its forms.” Casey, who has served in the upper chamber since 2007, is one of 10 Senate Democrats up for reelection in a state Trump won in 2016. But while Pennsylvania trended red in 2016, Trump only won the state by less than 1 point. Casey goes into the general election with an edge — especially if Trump’s approval ratings continue to remain underwater closer to the November election. View the discussion thread. The Hill 1625 K Street, NW Suite 900 Washington DC 20006 | 202-628-8500 tel | 202-628-8503 fax The contents of this site are ©2019 Capitol Hill Publishing Corp., a subsidiary of News Communications, Inc.

2016-06-07 00:00:00

The top health insurance lobby on Tuesday announced an overhaul of its membership fees, less than one year after losing two of its biggest members. America’s Health Insurer’s Plans approved the first “major restructuring” since 2003, the group wrote at the bottom of a statement announcing its new chairmen. The statement did not include details, and a spokeswoman for AHIP did not return a request for comment.    The powerful lobby, which worked closely on ObamaCare, has seen seen as losing clout. Over the last year, AHIP lost both UnitedHealth Group, the nation’s largest insurer, and Aetna, the second-largest. The changes come at a precarious time for the insurance industry. Healthcare insurers, which were targeted during the early days of the Affordable Care Act, are again taking heat in 2016, with Hillary ClintonHillary Diane Rodham ClintonLewandowski on potential NH Senate run: If I run, 'I'm going to win' Fighter pilot vs. astronaut match-up in Arizona could determine control of Senate Progressive Democrats' turnout plans simply don't add up MORE calling the companies sworn enemies. The industry is also facing major mergers between Aetna and Humana and between Anthem and Cigna. Also on Tuesday AHIP announced its next two chairmen: Anthem CEO Joseph Swedish for 2017 and Kaiser Permanente CEO Bernard Tyson for 2018. View the discussion thread. The Hill 1625 K Street, NW Suite 900 Washington DC 20006 | 202-628-8500 tel | 202-628-8503 fax The contents of this site are ©2019 Capitol Hill Publishing Corp., a subsidiary of News Communications, Inc.

2016-12-01 15:13:00

Servings: 6Total: 1 hour 30 minutes 1 turkey, skinned and chopped into 8 pieces2 teaspoons salt1⁄2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper1 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper5 tablespoons groundnut oil1 Scotch bonnet pepper4 small yellow onions3 garlic cloves2 heaped tablespoons tomato purée125 grams homemade groundnut butter or smooth peanut butter500 ml chicken stock 1. Place the turkey pieces into a large bowl, add the salt, black pepper, and white pepper, and mix well. 2. In a wide frying pan, fry the turkey with 3 tablespoons of olive oil on a medium heat. The turkey should not overlap, as this will prevent it from browning. If you are using a small pan, fry the turkey in batches. 3. Pierce the Scotch bonnet pepper with a sharp knife and add it to the pan. Piercing the pepper means that as the stew develops it absorbs the flavour of the pepper, but if it becomes too spicy it can be removed at any point. 4. Shake the pan regularly so that the turkey does not stick. Turn over after 5 minutes. While the turkey is browning, finely dice the onions and crush the garlic to a paste. Keep separate and put to one side. 5. After 5 minutes, add half the garlic to the pan and fry for a further 5 minutes, so that the garlic and turkey brown together. When given room in the pan, garlic caramelizes very quickly – this gives a lovely rich flavour and texture which attaches itself to the turkey. When the turkey has browned nicely on both sides, remove it from the pan and put to one side. 6. Using the same pan, slightly increase the heat to medium-high and add the diced onions and 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Cook the onions for 12 minutes, stirring regularly. When they are very soft and dark, turn the heat down to medium and add the tomato purée and the remaining garlic. Mix well and cook for 5 minutes, then add the groundnut butter and stir. 7. Put the browned turkey back into the pan and add the stock slowly while stirring, so that it is incorporated with the sauce. Leave to cook on a low heat for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally. It should reduce slightly and take on a thicker consistency. Serve hot.

2016-05-25

May 25 (Reuters) - Biosyent Inc: * Biosyent signs exclusive distribution agreement for two new cardiovascular products * Intends to submit dossier seeking marketing approval of products to Health Canada in 2016 * Forecasts that the new products will add approximately CAD $20 million to overall revenue of company when they reach “peak sales” Source text for Eikon: Further company coverage:

2017-03-16 00:00:00

March 16 (Reuters) - Adecoagro Sa * Adecoagro reports strong full year and 4q 2016 results; adjusted ebitda in 4q16 was $113.9 million, 42.3% higher year-over-year, driving 2016 full year adjusted ebitda to a record $298.0 million * Q4 sales rose 51.9 percent to $332.1 million * Adecoagro sa - net income in 4q16 was $11.9 million, $21.5 million higher than 4q15 Source text for Eikon: Further company coverage:

2017-02-20

CNN anchor Jake TapperJacob (Jake) Paul TapperButtigieg says voting for Trump is 'at best' looking the other way on racism White House trade adviser says Chinese tariffs are not hurting US Former acting solicitor general: 'Literally unfathomable' that Trump would retweet conspiracy theory about Epstein death MORE is ripping the Conservative Political Action Conference's decision to invite far-right provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos to speak at the annual meeting. In a series of tweets Sunday night, Tapper slammed the invite after a video surfaced of the Breitbart editor appearing to defend pedophilia. Tapper said he initially wanted to avoid discussing the revelation, but was urged to speak out by an unnamed friend, who Tapper said is a victim of sexual abuse. Friend of mine, conservative, could not be more distraught by this Milo tape. Was molested as a child. Horrified. My friend, a survivor of sex trafficking: "Milo straight up defended abusing 13 yr old boys...Please don't let that be normalized" More from survivor of sex trafficking: "Please please please don't let that mess he said go away."How on earth can CPAC defend this? Was planning on ignoring for the most part, for those saying "stop publicizing him." But friend reached out & pled w me to say something And sometimes that's what journalists do - give voice to the voiceless. In this case, a survivor of sex trafficking HORRIFIED by Milo. Preying on children is the definition of evil. Justifying it in any way is sick and disturbing. Has everyone lost their minds? In the video, Yiannopoulos, who is gay, discusses how relationships with older men can be beneficial for young homosexuals who may not have support at home, and later mentions his own sexual abuse as a teenager. “We get hung up on this sort of child abuse stuff to the point where we are heavily policing consensual adults,” Yiannopoulos says in the video. “In the homosexual world, particularly, some of those relationships between younger boys and older men – the sort of ‘coming of age’ relationship – those relationships in which those older men help those young boys discover who they are and give them security and safety and provide them with love and a reliable, sort of rock, where they can’t speak to their parents,” he continues. One of the podcast’s hosts then tells Yiannopoulos that his comment “sounds like Catholic priest molestation.” "I'm grateful for Father Michael," Yiannopoulos says in response. "I wouldn't give nearly such good head if it wasn't for him." The clip is part of a nearly three-hour interview aired on a January 2016 episode of the popular “Drunken Peasants” podcast, and has been on the video streaming service YouTube for over a year. It re-surfaced on Sunday when a conservative blog tweeted it amid news that Yiannopoulos was set to speak at CPAC. Breaking: We obtained the #CPAC2017 Milo Yiannopoulos introductory video. This is a must watch! Well done @mschlapp. pic.twitter.com/2nA0H9woUX Soon after the video was reposted, a board member of the American Conservative Union, the organization that plans the high-profile conference, tweeted that the board of directors was never consulted on the decision to have Yiannopoulos speak at the event. This is why you consult board members. https://t.co/PSvRBBY77n There's nothing about this that's amusing. This isn't about free speech. This is about basic decency. https://t.co/CR9shNipZb   Yiannopoulos has defended his comments, saying he has never and would never defend child abusers. He said he was joking on the podcast when he discussed oral sex, saying it was no different than the gallows humor that might be used by those suffering from AIDS. He said he should not have used the word "boy," which he said gays often use when referring to consenting adults. "I understand that heterosexual people might not know that, so it was a sloppy choice of words that I regret," he wrote on Facebook. "This rush to judgment from establishment conservatives who hate Trump as much as they hate me, before I have had any chance to provide context or a response, is one of the big reasons gays vote Democrat," he wrote.   View the discussion thread. The Hill 1625 K Street, NW Suite 900 Washington DC 20006 | 202-628-8500 tel | 202-628-8503 fax The contents of this site are ©2019 Capitol Hill Publishing Corp., a subsidiary of News Communications, Inc.

2019-10-22 00:00:00

Gold steadied in a tight range on Tuesday as investors adopted a cautious approach ahead of a crucial Brexit vote, while focus shifted to the U.S. Federal Reserve's stance on interest rate cuts. Spot gold was steady at $1,484.60 per ounce. U.S. gold futures settled mostly unchanged at $1,487.5. "Everything is really quiet. The biggest factor, with the Fed looming and Brexit on the horizon, in the U.S. is really company earnings right now," said Michael Matousek, head trader at U.S. Global Investors. "People who are trading gold consistently are saying Brexit is going to be a non-event and that's why gold is not moving. (However,) if this is an incorrect assumption, and it becomes a big event, you are going to see a massive move in gold." British Prime Minister Boris Johnson faces two pivotal votes in parliament that will decide whether he can deliver on his pledge to lead Britain out of the EU in nine days' time. Lawmakers vote around 1800 GMT on the 115-page Withdrawal Agreement Bill and then on the government's extremely tight timetable for approving the legislation. Investors are also awaiting the Federal Reserve's month-end monetary policy meeting for further clarity on rates cuts this year. Federal fund futures imply that traders see a 89% chance for a 25 basis-point rate cut by the U.S. central bank in its month-end monetary policy meeting. However, amid mixed signals from Fed policymakers it is unclear if they, overall, will support a cut. "There is a great deal of uncertainty on how the Fed is going to behave going forward and that is reflected in people just waiting for some signal," said Jeffrey Christian, managing partner of CPM Group. Meanwhile, equities eked out small gains after some upbeat corporate results and talk of progress in the China-U.S. trade. China and the United States have achieved some progress in their trade negotiations, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Le Yucheng said on Tuesday. Those comments came a day after U.S. President Donald Trump spoke of optimism about a deal, while White House adviser Larry Kudlow said tariffs on Chinese goods scheduled for December could be withdrawn if talks went well. Optimism surrounding the U.S.-China trade is slightly pressuring bullion, said George Gero, managing director at RBC Wealth Management. Reflecting sentiment, holdings of gold in exchange traded funds tracked by Refinitiv have jumped to their highest since mid-2013. Elsewhere, silver slipped 0.5% to $17.48 an ounce. Platinum was up 0.3% at $890.50 and palladium was 0.1% lower at $1,756.03 an ounce.

2017-03-31

March 31 (Reuters) - hhgregg Inc: * hhgregg - on March 29, co executed consulting agreement with a contractual JV comprised of Tiger Capital Group Great American Group * hhgregg-Consulting deal appoints Tiger Capital Group,Great American Group to conduct sale of merchandise in 132 retail store locations,distribution centers * hhgregg - sales of merchandise shall commence on april 8, only to extent that no acceptable going concern bids are received by company by April 7 * hhgregg - based on terms of consulting deal, co does not anticipate any value will remain from bankruptcy estate for holders of co’s common stock * hhgregg-As per consulting agreement, Tiger Capital Group, Great American Group shall be payed in amount equal to 1.25pct of proceeds from merchandise's sale Source text:(bit.ly/2nmiUAU) Further company coverage:

2017-03-23

March 23 (Reuters) - Yum! Brands Inc - * On March 21, Pizza Hut Holdings, LLC, KFC Holding Co, Taco Bell of America, LLC entered refinancing amendment to credit agreement * Pursuant to agreement company repriced its existing approximately $2.0 billion term loan B facility - SEC filing * Amendment reduces interest rate applicable to term B loan by 0.75% to adjusted LIBOR plus 2.00% * Maturity date for term B loan remains June 16, 2023 Source text: [bit.ly/2mxagUI] Further company coverage:

2016-11-18

For the first time in six years, on this day in 1985, the leaders of the United States and the Soviet Union held a summit conference, which took place in Geneva. President Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev, the general secretary of the Soviet Communist Party, began their talks with an hourlong exchange of views at Fleur d'Eau, a lakeside chateau owned by the Aga Khan. After the official photographers had left the room, the two leaders, who had never met, sat in cream-colored leather armchairs before a roaring fireplace; their interpreters were the only other persons present. In 2000, the U.S. State Department declassified a “memorandum of conversation” that recounted their then-secret conversation from an official American perspective. The memo recounted that Reagan led off by telling Gorbachev that “he approached this meeting with a very deep feeling and hoped that [they] could realize its importance and the unique situation that they were in.” Reagan noted he and Gorbachev “had come from similar beginnings which were quite different from their current positions. He, Reagan, was born and began his life in a small farming community, and now the two of them were here with the fate of the world in their hands, so to speak. The U.S. and the Soviet Union were the two greatest countries on Earth — the superpowers. They were the only ones who could start World War III, but also the only two countries that could bring peace to the world.” Reagan added that “the two of them would talk about many things, including arms, in the main meeting, but he wondered if the primary aim between them should not be to eliminate the suspicions which each side had of the other. The resolution of other questions would follow naturally after this. To talk about arms while such suspicions exist is an empty exercise as both sides are defensive at corresponding negotiations because of these suspicions. Countries do not have mistrust of each other because of arms, but rather countries build up their arms because of the mistrust between them.” For his part, Gorbachev said “many problems had developed in U.S.-Soviet relations and in the world” since the prior summit meeting. He said “he would also speak of these issues at the larger meeting, but would now like to avail himself of the opportunity which such a private meeting affords. He had met with members of [Congress and the Reagan administration]. “But the Soviet side recognized the importance of a meeting with the president, and he, [Gorbachev], would like to talk quietly, with respect for the United States and for the president, about many [outstanding] issues.” Although little substance came of it, both Reagan and Gorbachev expressed their satisfaction with the Geneva summit, which ended on Nov. 21. SOURCE: WWW.HISTORY.COM

2018-06-27

Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy announced on Wednesday that he will retire, unleashing an epic political battle to replace him that could allow President Donald Trump to shift the court to the right for a generation to come. The departure of the 81-year-old Kennedy from his post after more than three decades has the potential to radically reshape the court on issues such as abortion, affirmative action and gay rights, where Kennedy has served as a swing vote. “It has been the greatest honor and privilege to serve our nation in the federal judiciary for 43 years, 30 of those years on the Supreme Court," Kennedy said in a statement. He said that he wanted to spend more time with his family and that his decision would be effective July 31. His exit is expected to create a furious fight in the Senate over his replacement, and it could thrust the often overlooked issue of judicial selection to the forefront in close Senate races in this year's midterms. Trump told reporters Wednesday that Kennedy, whom he said has "been a great justice of the Supreme Court," had come to the White House earlier in the day to inform him of his retirement plans. Trump said he asked Kennedy for recommendations as to his replacement but did not say how the retiring justice responded. The president pledged that his pick for Kennedy's successor would come from lists of potential nominees he already circulated, starting during the 2016 election, when he campaigned on a promise to fill the seat formerly held by Justice Antonin Scalia with another conservative judge. The replacement process will "begin immediately," Trump said, adding, "hopefully, we will pick someone who is just as outstanding." Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) — who in 2016 refused to allow a vote on then-President Barack Obama's nominee to fill Scalia's seat, saying voters should get a say at the ballot box — said Wednesday that the Senate would vote this fall on Kennedy's replacement, before lawmakers elected in November's midterms are sworn in. Senate Republicans lined up in support of filling Kennedy's seat quickly. Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.), a frequent critic of the president who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said in a statement that "the Senate ought to spend August and September confirming the next Justice." Democrats, though, called McConnell a hypocrite for changing his stance from 2016. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) called the majority leader's move "absolute hypocrisy," and Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) and Ed Markey (D-Mass.) all expressed similar sentiments. "Our Republican colleagues in the Senate should follow the rule they set in 2016, not to consider a Supreme Court justice in an election year," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said on the Senate floor. "Anything but that would be the absolute height of hypocrisy." Nominated to the court by President Ronald Reagan after the Senate rejected the more conservative Robert Bork, Kennedy grew to become the swing vote on the court, voting with its more liberal wing on landmark cases that upheld abortion rights and authoring the court's decisions in multiple cases on gay rights, including 2015's Obergefell v. Hodges, in which the court ruled that same-sex couples have the Constitutional right to marry. He famously sided with the majority in Planned Parenthood v. Casey, a 1992 ruling that affirmed the constitutional right to abortion established in Roe v. Wade. Trump, like many conservatives, has voiced a desire to see Roe overturned. But Kennedy has also swung key cases toward the conservatives as well, including notably in Citizens United v. FEC, a 5-4 decision in which the court ruled that government limits on political spending by individuals and organizations constituted a violation of the right to free speech. Of the 17 5-4 decisions handed down by the court in its most recent term, 14 were split along ideological lines, according to Mother Jones. In all 14, Kennedy sided with the court's conservative wing. Still, Kennedy's retirement came as a blow to many Democrats, and cries of “Oh” and “Oh, my God” punctuated a call between members of the Democratic National Committee’s rules and bylaws panel as the news broke Wednesday. Abortion is likely to loom large in the debate over replacing Kennedy. With just a 51-49 GOP majority in the Senate, Republicans can afford to lose only one vote in a confirmation fight. Two Republican senators, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine, are both supporters of abortion rights. "Because President Trump will nominate the next Supreme Court Justice, a woman’s constitutional right to access legal abortion is in dire, immediate danger—along with the fundamental rights of all Americans,” said NARAL Pro-Choice America President Ilyse Hogue in a statement on Wednesday. Kennedy's decision, announced on the court's final day of releasing decisions for the current term, followed a quiet campaign by the Trump White House and its allies to convince Kennedy that it was a suitable time for him to retire and that his replacement would be an esteemed and reputable jurist. Many court-watchers saw that motivation in Trump's selection last year of Neil Gorsuch, a former Kennedy clerk, to fill the vacancy created by Scalia's death in 2016. At Trump's maiden speech to Congress last year, he took a moment to stop and chat with Kennedy. Kennedy's son Justin knows Donald Trump Jr. through work in New York real estate. Kennedy’s other son, Gregory, worked briefly last year on the Trump transition team, handling financial issues related to NASA. One Republican with knowledge of the White House's deliberations said two leading contenders to fill the vacancy were former Kennedy clerks Brett Kavanaugh, now a D.C. Circuit Court judge, and Raymond Kethledge, who sits on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit. White House legislative affairs director Marc Short said last month that Trump could consider nominating someone he has not yet named publicly if a vacancy arose. The president might pick someone seen as less stridently conservative for Kennedy's seat, since moderate Republican senators are likely to face pressure from the left not to confirm anyone viewed as too polarizing. Other people mentioned as possible replacements for Kennedy include those who were interviewed by Trump for the seat Gorsuch eventually filled, 3rd Circuit Judge Thomas Hardiman, 11th Circuit Judge William Pryor and 6th Circuit Judge Amul Thapar. Trump included on previous lists of potential Supreme Court nominees 7th Circuit Judge Amy Barrett, Supreme Court Justice Britt Grant, 11th Circuit Judge Kevin Newsom and Oklahoma Supreme Court Justice Patrick Wyrick. And conservative court-watchers have speculated that former George W. Bush solicitor General Paul Clement, who is the right's go-to litigator at the high court but was not on Trump's latest list, and Sen. Mike Lee of Utah could be candidates for the spot. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), speaking Wednesday to Fox News, said he would like to see Lee be the nominee. Asked by a CBS News reporter if he would be interested in an appointment to the Supreme Court, Lee responded, "Of course." David Siders, Matthew Nussbaum and Eliana Johnson contributed to this report.

2018-12-04 16:09:00

Misogynists are compiling massive databases of sex workers in an effort to threaten, harm, and harass them for making a living. People participating in the viral harassment campaign known as #ThotAudit seek to make it more difficult for those in the sex trade to work. It started with calls to report sex workers to the Internal Revenue Services for tax fraud through the IRS whistleblower program, but has morphed into efforts to attack and intimidate these women in general. Harassers have begun reporting sex workers to payment processors like PayPal and Circle Pay, which have historically been hostile toward adult content. To streamline the process, they’re compiling databases of sex workers, scraped from platforms like Chaturbate, cam sites, and Kik as well as social media platforms like Twitter. It appears as though these databases are being made with automated scripts. One of the largest databases Motherboard was able to find, on 8chan, contained more than 166,000 entries and included screen names, full names (although it’s unclear if any of these are legal names or are accurate), locations, links to wish lists, individuals’ payment processors, and bios. Other spreadsheets break the databases down by individuals’ payment processors and what they use. Motherboard was able to find and download four different databases. All of this is publicly-available information, but complied in this way, makes it easier for people to find, threaten, and harm the people on the lists. #ThotAudit began with a joke post that someone made as a Facebook status in late November, about being audited by the IRS for Snapchat revenue. It was then picked up by misogynists and went viral on Twitter, Facebook, and other social platforms and went from being a joke to something that puts sex workers in danger. “It all started with a shitpost I made,” the person who posted the joke—whose identity Motherboard is choosing not to reveal for their safety—told me in a Facebook message last week. “As for how it went viral I have no idea. I never once thought that one of my innocent joke posts made to make my friends laugh would turn out to start a crusade against sex workers.” But to those harassing women online, this much more than a joke or empty threats. Comments in these 8chan threads explain ways to more effectively report to the IRS, ways to report to payment processors, and say that people doing the reporting should learn the terms of service on payment platforms in order to report sex workers to them. “Remember to also report to payment providers, e-whoring and any selling of porn is banned in their TOS,” one commenter wrote in reply to a database sharing thread. It’s also evolved into a crusade against the left in general: “Report all illegal activities,” another commenter wrote. “Find every piece of law breaking action that the left does. It's fucking easy since they broadcast it all on social media for the public to find. Get their dox, use it to report their illegal activities to the authorities, rinse and repeat.” These targeted reporting campaigns are reminiscent of efforts in the early days of GamerGate, which were focused on getting advertisers to pull support from media outlets that they said were ‘unethical.’ Last week, Wired reported that this campaign is already hurting people in real life, with sex workers being banned from payment processors following reports. And the tactics used by harassers are getting more sophisticated: ThotBot, an automated program for scraping the internet and finding sex workers’ accounts, was short-lived before GitHub banned it, but collected 20,000 profiles with links to their PayPal. The creator of ThotBot told Wired that their aim is the “extermination” of sex workers, and that they should face the death penalty. Read more: Let This Be the Last No Nut November Kate D’Adamo, a sex worker activist and harm reductionist at Reframe Health and Justice told me that cutting off electronic payment processors can be incredibly harmful for sex workers. “Access to financial institutions, like payment processors, is about safety,” D’Adamo told me in an email. “If you can get the money electronically, you don’t have to carry your rent home at 3:00 am on a subway. If you can put your money in the bank and build up credit, you can get a lease for an apartment in your name and not be beholden to a partner. If you don’t keep your savings in cash in your house, a burglary might not mean completely devastating your life. It’s not an option for everyone and for some people having a cash-based gig IS safety. But for those who rely on this, cutting off those resources just means living a more precarious life.” The person who started it all told me that they regret the scale that this has taken. But #ThotAudit grew out of something that already exists online: Men hating women for profiting off of their sexuality. “It bothers me though that some of these girls are getting harassed and even getting death threats over this,” they said. “I genuinely wish I never made that post.”

2018-04-24

The Apple Watch has helped us fulfill all our Power Rangers Communicator-related dreams. Case in point: When the Series 1 was released in 2015, we gave it a rave review. It’s gorgeous, smart, fun, extensible, expensive (a plus if you want to telegraph luxury and excellence) and an object of true desire. Typically priced at upwards of $249, this watch doesn't come cheap. Which is why we were super stoked to learn that Walmart has them on sale for $100 off. From tracking your fitness to receiving calls, this watch can help upgrade your life in plenty of ways. Use clear visuals and statistics to help reach your fitness goals, and keep an eye on all of your notifications without ever pulling out your phone. If you're looking to streamline your life, this watch is a great way to do it. Get it now on sale for $149. Get an Apple Watch Series 1 for $100 off at Walmart See Details

2017-12-15 15:00:00

Have you heard of the Big Mac Index? It’s a way economists measure purchasing power parity (PPP) between nations, using the local price of two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles and onions on a sesame seed bun as a benchmark. I too use McDonald's’ signature dish as a way of understanding the world, albeit in a much more vain way. The iconic sandwich—launched in 1967—is a unit of energy I’m intimately familiar with. Whether it’s delicious or not is a matter of opinion but the fact that each one packs 563 calories is unassailable, constant, a matter of fact. Consequently, I step onto an elliptical machine, enter my weight, cue up Appetite for Destruction and frantically scissor my limbs back and forth like some malfunctioning Rock ‘em Sock ‘em robot until last note of Rocket Queen decays. At that point I can be satisfied that I’ve expended enough energy to consume one Big Mac’s worth of calories more than my body requires to tick over, heal and digest food, without adding heft to my burgeoning dad bod. If I exercise and then resist the urge to replace the energy I’ve used, I theorize, I’ll create a calorie deficit and my body will begin to cannibalize its gelatinous energy stores. Indeed, that’s what I’ve been doing. The thing is, several months into using this McRubric, I remain a skinny dude with a frustratingly pillowy midriff. Before I take ownership of that fact or rethink my Big Mac paradigm entirely, I need to point the finger of blame elsewhere. So I’m pointing it at the elliptical machine. I think the fucker’s lying to me. Julie Daly is the biomechanics engineering manager at Life Fitness, a company that accounts for almost a third of the commercial fitness equipment market and the manufacturers of the machine I huff it out on most mornings at the Chinatown YMCA. She isn’t about to take the rap for my unsightly spare tire lying down. Daly tells me that Life Fitness uses what she calls “gold standard equations” from the American College of Sports Medicine for Life Fitness products. On products to which those formulas can’t be applied, she says, the company conducts in-house VO2 testing (a way of measuring people’s oxygen consumption during incremental exercise and an indicator of cardiorespiratory fitness). “We test a range of people spanning gender, age, weight and fitness level at multiple submaximal exertion levels,” Daly says to me, over email. “We record the volume of oxygen that the subject utilizes during the workout at each known resistance setting. Based on the collected data, we conduct a statistical analysis to develop a calorie prediction equation.” If she and I were standing face at that point, I would have been tempted to lift up my t-shirt, grab some adipose tissue betwixt my forefinger and thumb and ask: “Then what’s up with this shit, Julie?” I mean, I’m already doing what she says is the most important thing a user of fitness equipment can do to get accurate calorie data: entering my weight. That number is easy to remember as it’s immutable and always 15 lbs higher than I want it to be. “Weight is a strong factor in our calorie burn equation and just by doing that [users of cardio equipment will] get the most accurate read possible of their calorie burn,” she says, adding that other factors like heart rate and age don’t have a strong influence on calorie burn and are therefore not accounted for in the caloric equation.” Daly says that due to the array of machines and the variability between individuals, she was unable to share a standard margin of error with me but, understandably, made a strong case for the research behind the calorie feedback Life Fitness equipment spits out. Undeterred, I looked for someone else to backup my feeling that cardio machines are way off base. Dori Arad is a clinical dietitian nutritionist, certified diabetes educator, exercise physiologist and the director of the Metabolic, Body Composition, and Sports Performance Clinic at Mount Sinai St. Luke’s in Manhattan. I first became aware of Arad and the clinic when researching the Bod Pod about nine months ago.The Bod Pod is an egg-like contraption that uses air displacement plethysmography to reckon how much blubber those who clamber inside are sporting. My experience in the Bod Pod revealed that I was 17.8 percent lard. That put me in the “moderately lean” category for a 40-year-old male. Not too bad, but it’s in the sub-12 percent “lean” category that the magic happens: When my rectus abdominis becomes visible to the naked eye and not merely suggested under ideal lighting conditions, two days of eating very little and flexing until I nearly poop my pants. It was in the wake of my body composition assessment that I started thinking about the Big Mac as a benchmark unit of energy. I tried to create a daily calorie deficit of 563-ish calories per day for a weekly energy shortfall of just under 4000 calories per week. But despite all the number crunching, I look remarkably similar to how I did before I logged those hours at the Y. When I told him about my frustrations and the hunch it birthed, Arad was happy to back me up with some science. “It’s tough to put a number on the margin of error with cardio machines because there is a large variability between different individuals,” he says, echoing Daly. “However, there is some research to show that it could be 30 percent or possibly even higher than that.” More from Tonic: A potential 30 percent margin of error on my daily cardiovascular exercise is somewhere between a hash brown and a small fries on the McDonald’s scale. That’s a possible extra 1344 calories per week that I haven’t been accounting for. Is it any wonder that the waist of my pants is shown in relief on my middle two hours after I take them off each evening? Arad went on to explain that two people of the same age, BMI, gender, background, could perform the same amount and intensity of work and and expend a significantly different amount of energy. Part of that difference, he says, can be attributed to differences in resting metabolic rate (RMR)—the amount of calories one’s body burns while idling. “When making an accurate assessment on how much energy you burn while exercising, we need to know how much energy you burn when you don't do anything,” he says. “When you hop on a stationary bike and you exercise for an hour, the machine tells you that you’ve burned 600 calories. But the cardio machines don’t take into consideration the amount of energy you’d be burning during that time simply sitting on a chair next to the bike. If you burn a lot of calories at rest—100 per hour, just as an example—then you have to subtract that from the 600. But if you only burn 50 calories, the exercise would account for more.” Another factor that a gym’s cardio machine can’t currently factor in is the exercise intensity sweet spot at which the body is burning the maximum amount of fat for fuel. “Anyone can make an appointment at the clinic and take the Fatmax test,” he says. “We can figure out the exact point at which the most fat is being mobilized and then they can go to the gym and exercise at that exact intensity.” “So it’s possible that I could be exercising at an intensity that’s not optimal for losing body fat?” I asked, smirking at the irony of my failing at something because I’ve been trying too hard. “It’s quite possible,” he says, adding that having a better idea of their metabolism is going to make a big difference in the way that people exercise and achieving whatever their goals are. Unless AI has been stealthily progressing in a Mean Girls direction, cardio machines are probably not lying to us. What they are doing is giving users the best information they can using aggregated results from tests like the ones Arad conducts at his clinic. That educated guess is going to be right on the money for some people but significantly off target for others because, well, we are all very different. Even if you are the same weight, height, age and gender as another individual the amount of oxygen you consume, how much fat you burn when performing the same work could be disparate. Now I know the utility of a bespoke metabolic assessment, I’ve booked some more tests with Arad. Between the results I get and a reassessment of the items on the dollar menu, I’ll be armed with everything I need to make 2018 my sveltest year in a while. Read This Next: In Defense of Running

2018-02-23 10:40:16

Like a tiny submarine, the chambered nautilus speeds through the ocean on little jets that it creates by sucking in water and spitting it out. However, as ways of movement go, jet propulsion is not usually a very good use of energy. In the ocean’s depths where oxygen gets thin, the nautilus seems to be putting itself at risk by expending so much effort on movement. Fish use far less energy by pushing at the water with their fins. So how does it manage to jet around unscathed in the ocean’s depths? Graham Askew, a biomechanics professor at the University of Leeds, set out with a graduate student, Thomas Neil, to understand better how this shellfish moves. They found that the nautilus is actually a highly efficient jet-propelled creature, wasting much less energy than marine organisms like squid or jellyfish that get around in a similar way. The researchers began their study, which was published Wednesday in Royal Society Open Science, by liberally sprinkling an aquarium with minuscule floating particles of aluminum oxide. Then, one by one, they put five chambered nautiluses into the tank, and let them jet about. They used high-speed cameras, a laser that lit up the particles and software that could record the particles’ movements. In the constellation of specks, they saw the animals sucking in water, then forcing it out in the direction they were moving away from, with the pocket of expelled water and the nautilus shooting apart at velocities they could readily calculate. When they ran the numbers, the researchers saw that the nautilus was able to use 30 to 75 percent of the energy it transferred to the water to move. That was much higher than other similar swimmers. “Squid, they tend to be about 40 to 50 percent efficient,” said Dr. Askew. Bell-shaped jellyfish, which pulse their bells to squirt out water, also tend have lower than 50 percent efficiency. In general, moving very large volumes of water relatively slowly, as a fish’s tail or a diver’s flippers do, wastes less energy than having to swiftly accelerate very small amounts. But nautilus have clearly found a way to make it work. It seems, said Dr. Askew, that when they are sucking in water, they do so in a wide stream, rather than in a more energetically costly narrow one. And they spend more time jetting than they do refilling in certain swimming scenarios, gently eking out the fluid they’ve already sipped in. These strategies may be contributing to their ability to swim efficiently, getting by in situations where more vigorous jetting might get them in trouble, like the low-oxygen deep ocean. Still, for more details about the nautilus’s survival strategies, fans of the creature will have to look to research from other groups. Dr. Askew and colleagues have since turned their focus — and their high-speed camera — to cuttlefish, to learn more about how these jet swimmers move. Read more: Loving the Chambered Nautilus to Death What Eats What: A Landlubber’s Guide to Deep Sea Dining The Cuttlefish, a Master of Camouflage, Reveals a New Trick _____ Like the Science Times page on Facebook. | Sign up for the Science Times newsletter.

2019-11-01 00:00:00

A new poll shows a tight race in Iowa, with Sen. Elizabeth WarrenElizabeth Ann WarrenBiden allies see boost in Tuesday's election results Sanders vows to end Trump's policies as he unveils immigration proposal Trump rails against House Democrats, impeachment inquiry during campaign rally: 'It's all a hoax' MORE (D-Mass.) leading the early voting state and former Vice President Joe BidenJoe BidenBiden allies see boost in Tuesday's election results Trump rails against House Democrats, impeachment inquiry during campaign rally: 'It's all a hoax' Trump acknowledges Warren's rise in the polls, revives 'Pocahontas' slur MORE slipping to fourth. The New York Times–Siena College poll released Friday showed Warren with 22 percent support from likely Democratic caucusgoers, Sen. Bernie SandersBernie SandersBiden allies see boost in Tuesday's election results Sanders vows to end Trump's policies as he unveils immigration proposal Yang seeks donations for 2020 rival Marianne Williamson: 'She has much more to say' MORE (I-Vt.) with 19 percent, South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete ButtigiegPeter (Pete) Paul ButtigiegGabbard, Klobuchar qualify for Democratic debates Iowa poll: Warren, Buttigieg, Sanders and Biden in a tight scrape at the top Biden, Warren and Sanders statistically tied in national poll MORE (D) with 18 percent and Biden with 17 percent. All four fall close to the poll's margin of error of plus or minus 4.7 percentage points. No other candidate was near the top four, who were distantly trailed by Sen. Amy KlobucharAmy Jean KlobucharSenate Democrat introduces bill to protect military families from deportation Gabbard, Klobuchar qualify for Democratic debates Iowa poll: Warren, Buttigieg, Sanders and Biden in a tight scrape at the top MORE (D-Minn.) with 4 percent, Sen. Kamala HarrisKamala Devi HarrisHarris fundraises off expected Sessions Senate run Gabbard, Klobuchar qualify for Democratic debates Iowa poll: Warren, Buttigieg, Sanders and Biden in a tight scrape at the top MORE (D-Calif.) with 3 percent and entrepreneur Andrew YangAndrew YangYang seeks donations for 2020 rival Marianne Williamson: 'She has much more to say' Gabbard, Klobuchar qualify for Democratic debates Iowa poll: Warren, Buttigieg, Sanders and Biden in a tight scrape at the top MORE with 3 percent. The survey is among a series of recent polls showing Warren leading the field in Iowa. A RealClearPolitics average of polls showed the senator ahead of the former vice president by an average of 5 percentage points Friday morning.  Buttigieg's rise in the poll puts him much closer to the front-runners in Iowa than in national polls. He is in fourth place in the nationwide RealClearPolitics average of polls, trailing Sanders by 9 points. Biden said in an MSNBC interview this week that he plans to do “very well” in Iowa and New Hampshire amid questions as to whether he can win the early caucus and primary states.  “I plan on doing very well in both those," he said Tuesday. "I’ve been ahead in Iowa. I’ve been ahead in South Carolina. I’m ahead in all the national polls with the occasional one that pops up that’s different." Researchers surveyed 439 likely Iowa Democratic caucusgoers from Oct. 25 to 30. The Iowa caucuses are just more than three months away, taking place on Feb. 3. More than a dozen people are vying for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination. Updated at 9:08 a.m. View the discussion thread. The Hill 1625 K Street, NW Suite 900 Washington DC 20006 | 202-628-8500 tel | 202-628-8503 fax The contents of this site are ©2019 Capitol Hill Publishing Corp., a subsidiary of News Communications, Inc.