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COMPTON, Calif. Marion "Suge" Knight will remain behind bars for the next six weeks in a murder case while lawyers prepare for a hearing that prosecutors said Monday could include evidence of other crimes. Knight is currently charged with murder, attempted murder and hit-and-run after he struck two men in a Compton parking lot during a Jan. 29 confrontation. His lawyers say the men were struck by accident as Knight tried to escape an attack. The decision to keep him jailed came at a hearing that also shed light on Knight's hospitalization last week after he pleaded not guilty. His attorney, David Kenner, said the co-founder of Death Row Records passed out and had serious breathing problems after his arraignment. He didn't elaborate but said he doesn't think his client is receiving adequate care. "Right now we're at the mercy of what the Los Angeles County jail decides is appropriate or not appropriate," Kenner said in court. Knight sat with his head cocked to the side during much of the hearing convened to discuss possible bail. A prosecutor and Knight's attorneys sought a delay to prepare for the next hearing, which Deputy District Attorney Cynthia Barnes said might include evidence of a "very large stack of uncharged crimes." She declined to elaborate. Kenner said he had not seen any details but is not worried. He expects to challenge the claims in court and "make sure what we're getting is the truth." Knight, 49, is due back in court on March 20. If convicted, he could be sentenced to life in prison. Knight politely responded yes when Barnes asked Monday whether he approved of a delay in his case to give both sides time to prepare for the bail review hearing. In another matter, Superior Court Judge Richard Ocampo denied a request to allow Knight to be evaluated by his personal physician. Doctors with the county jail system were adequate to treat Knight, and his attorney should give them information about Knight's ailments, the judge said. Kenner said he would file details about his client's health under seal. But he noted after the hearing that he doesn't think Knight should have been discharged from the hospital. Last year, doctors found a blood clot in Knight's chest after he passed out at a Las Vegas jail, where he was being held on a robbery charge filed in Los Angeles, Kenner said outside court. His attorneys at the time said the clot was related to Knight being shot six times in August at a nightclub. Knight was a key player in the gangster rap scene that flourished in the 1990s, and his label once listed Dr. Dre, Tupac Shakur and Snoop Dogg among its artists. Knight lost control of the company after it was forced into bankruptcy. Authorities contend Knight intentionally struck Terry Carter and another man in the parking lot of a Compton burger stand. Carter's funeral was held Saturday and attracted nearly 2,000 people. The confrontation occurred after Knight got into an argument at a site where a promotional video for the film "Straight Outta Compton" was being shot. The film depicts the rise of the rap group N.W.A. ___ Anthony McCartney can be reached at http://twitter.com/mccartneyAP
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Switzerland's Stan Wawrinka said he is happy to shake up his February schedule as he makes a return to the Rotterdam World Tennis tournament for the first time in a decade. Last year's Australian Open winner was to have played here 12 months ago, but a combination of injury plus the sheer shock of lifting a first Grand Slam title kept him away. "I'm excited to be back. I feel good. It's important for me to come to play here. it a great tournament, a good indoor court. "I haven't played indoor in February for 10 years," said Wawrinka, who lost in the 2005 second round here to Roger Federer." AFP
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These incredible images were captured when a photographer quit their job and travelled 13,000 miles across the United States. Shane Black took 10,000 beautiful images across 32 states to create the dazzling timelapse video. The 26-year-old from Ohio spent a total of two months completing the trip and funded it by teaching photography workshops in a few select cities along the way. Despite how incredible the footage is Shane was surprisingly new to timelapse when he set out on his epic adventure. Videographer / Director: Shane Black Producer: Nick Johnson Editor: Joshua Douglas
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The All-Star break is almost here. The NBA's elite will flock to New York later this week for the annual sports spectacle, culminating with the marquee game at Madison Square Garden on Sunday night. It's a time for the league to showcase itself and its stars, and it's a chance for players and coaches to pause from the regular season's 82-game grind. And unlike in past years, everybody might actually be able to unwind. The NBA doubled the days off between games this season after players encouraged Commissioner Adam Silver to rework the schedule. Teams will have a minimum break of eight days between games, allowing even those who participate in All-Star weekend to get a few days of real rest. While nobody will complain about it, the extended break presents new challenges. Players will need to stay in rhythm, and coaches will need to keep them focused. "I always thought the games were a little ragged after a four-day break. After an eight-day break, I'm not sure what to expect," said Warriors coach Steve Kerr, who is leading the Western Conference All-Star team. Kerr, like most coaches, is telling his players to take a couple of days off to rest their bodies and then do some light conditioning and basketball activities to keep their bodies in tune. He's asking Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson not to overexert themselves with travel and the dizzying daze that is All-Star weekend. Of course, most players are happy to participate in the league's showcase, especially younger ones and those on losing teams. After all, it's the only opportunity all season to get away from the tedious time with their teams. "Once that is over, it's back to reality," said Sacramento Kings center DeMarcus Cousins, a first time All-Star. "It's just going to be a break from reality." Games will resume Thursday, Feb. 19, though most teams don't begin playing again until Feb. 20 and 21. The format is a one-year test and the league will discuss future scheduling in the offseason. "It's different," Dallas Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said. "The good thing is with the longer break there are two practice days coming off of it, so I think it'll be fine. I give Adam a lot of credit. He listened to the players about this and really immediately gave them what they asked for." Here are some other things to keep an eye on in the NBA this week: HEATING UP IN CLEVELAND: Miami makes its first trip to Cleveland since LeBron James returned to the Cavaliers over the summer. The Heat beat the Cavs 101-91 on Christmas in Miami, but Cleveland is rolling now. The Cavs had won 12 straight until losing Friday at Indiana, and improved to 32-21 with a 120-105 win over the Lakers on Sunday. POP'S MILESTONE: Spurs coach Gregg Popovich remained one win shy of 1,000 for his career after San Antonio's 87-82 loss at Toronto on Sunday night. He could get there Monday at Indiana or Thursday night at Detroit. Popovich ranks ninth on the NBA career wins list, which is led by Don Nelson at 1,335. MEMPHIS ON THE MOVE: The Grizzlies have won 13 of their last 15 games to climb to the No. 2 spot in the West three games behind Golden State. The Grizzlies, who beat East-leading Atlanta on Sunday, host Brooklyn on Tuesday and visit Oklahoma City on Wednesday before the break. COACHING CHANGES: Jacque Vaughn became the second coach fired this season when Orlando dismissed him on Thursday following a 15-37 start. Sacramento was 11-13 when it fired Michael Malone on Dec. 14. The Kings, who promoted assistant Tyrone Corbin to the interim job, are 7-19 since making the move. If either team wanted to hire a full-time replacement before the offseason, the All-Star break might be the best time. LATE BREAK: The Cavs and Bulls will be the last teams to start the All-Star break. The Central Division rivals will have the stage to themselves Thursday night when they play in Chicago. The Cavs won the first two meetings. __ STAT OF THE WEEK: The Warriors became the seventh team in NBA history to have two or more players score 50 points in a game in the same season. Stephen Curry had 51 points in Golden State's 128-114 win over Dallas on Wednesday night after Klay Thompson tallied 52 against Sacramento on Jan. 23. The "Splash Brothers" are the first teammates with 50-point performances in the same season since Jamal Mashburn and Jim Jackson in 1994-95 with the Mavericks. ___ Antonio Gonzalez can be reached at: www.twitter.com/agonzalezAP
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Wall Street is betting that he can deliver promised growth
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A drone strike in Afghanistan has killed a militant commander who recently swore allegiance to Islamic State (IS), officials say. The police chief of Helmand said that former Taliban commander Mullah Abdul Rauf had died in the strike. It emerged last month that Rauf had sworn allegiance to IS after falling out with the Taliban. Tribal elders in northern Helmand say a car carrying up to six people was destroyed while crossing the desert. The car was loaded with ammunition and exploded, reports said. The Afghan Intelligence Agency also said Rauf had been killed. However, his death has not yet been confirmed by Nato sources. Recruiting in Helmand The militant commander's brother-in-law and four Pakistanis were also killed in the attack, Helmand police chief Nabi Jan Mullahkhel was quoted by Reuters as saying. Rauf, who spent six years in Guantanamo Bay after being captured by US forces in 2001, was reported to have fallen out with the leader of the Taliban, Mullah Omar. He swapped the white flags of the Taliban for the black flags of IS and recruited followers in Helmand. Rauf was then named as deputy leader of IS in "Khorasan" - an old name for Afghanistan - by the organisation in Syria. The most senior IS commander for the region is Saeed Khan, who is based in Orakzai tribal agency in Pakistan. Islamic State controls swathes of Syria and Iraq and has a small but growing presence in parts of Afghanistan. Correspondents say it poses the first serious challenge to the coherence of the Taliban leadership for many years.
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While there are more women senators in the newly seated Congress than ever before, a New York Times story from Feb. 2, 2015 highlights the loss in women leading committees. Last year, when Democrats controlled the Senate, women led a record nine committees, including the all powerful Appropriations Committee. With the Republican win of the Senate in the last election, there are now only two women who chair committees senators Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski. What happened? Women's leadership in Congress is dominated by women Democrats and there are too few women Republican senators and congressional representatives. Given the central role that women Senators played in the budget stand-off in 2013, a reduction in women's leadership is not likely to bode well for this Congress. Overall, in the Senate, Democratic women hold 14 seats and Republican women hold six. It's even worse in the House, where Democratic women hold 66 seats to Republican women's 22 seats. It wasn't always so. In the mid-80's, the numbers were nearly equal. While Democratic women increased their representation by six-fold over the past three decades, Republican women have only increased two-fold. If Republican women had kept pace with Democratic women, we'd be close to the 30% mark for women's representation in Congress, an international benchmark for effective representation by women. Instead, the US ranks 75th in the world in women's representation. Standing alone, US Democratic women would be ranked 27 th in the world, similar to countries such as Austria and Germany. Conversely, Republican women's representation, which is currently 11% of Republican seats, would hold a ranking of 116 th in the world, alongside countries like India and Jordan. Why haven't Republican women kept up? The answer is clear: the pipeline of female Republican candidates is smaller you may recall the legendary "binders full of women" Mitt Romney needed since his own network of candidates was primarily male. The Political Parity Project studied this challenge and published a report in January that shows that Republican women are weeded out in the primary process: "GOP women are far less likely to enter or win a primary election than their Democratic peers. Those who do run are often stuck in the starting block without adequate coaching and support." We can name this problem "gendermandering," an unintended consequence of "gerrymandering." While gerrymandering seeks to redraw districts to suit the political party in power, some political scientists have used the term gendermander to describe the increased likelihood that re-districting will marginalize a woman incumbent . When districts are re-drawn, they often become "safer" for either party, i.e., either more conservative or liberal. And more conservative districts aren't good for Republican women, who are negatively perceived as more liberal than their male peers despite many examples to the contrary think Joni Ernst, Sarah Palin, and Carly Fiorina. Conversely, in a liberal district, Democratic women are viewed as more liberal than Democratic men and so they jump in the race more often. Put simply, Democratic women are running and winning more often. Recently-elected Republican representative Renee Elmers may have been viewed as conservative when she won her election in November, but her recent efforts to stop restrictive abortion legislation will no doubt disappoint the party faithful, who dominate Republican parties. It's likely she will be challenged in her next Republican primary. Across many dimensions, female senior leadership hovers in the high teens. In the US, women hold 16.9% of board seats at Fortune 500 companies. Likewise, 16% of executives are women in the private sector. This makes Republican women's representation at 11% look particularly anemic. Research shows that adding women to top leadership in business leads to better corporate performance and improved stock prices. The advantages of having more women in Congress also have data behind it. A recent study by political scientists at the University of North Carolina and the University of Kansas shows that women are key to reducing gridlock . The men in the survey were more likely to avoid talking across the aisle and more likely to judge political arguments solely on partisan lines. We are only a few years away from the 2020 election that will determine the next round of Congressional redistricting. Let's hope that voters will demand bi-partisan redistricting as they have done in California, and thus create fewer polarized districts. As districts become more balanced, Republican women might start catching up with Democratic women. Let's also hope that Hillary Clinton's likely presidential bid along with prominent female Republican candidates like Carly Fiorina will help bring new energy to all women, and draw more of them into races. It will be difficult for Democratic women to raise women's leadership to the levels that this country needs without the help of Republican women. Follow Marya on Twitter @maryastark . We welcome your comments at [email protected] .
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Along a neon strip of Hollywood Boulevard, sandwiched between the Cabo Cantina and a male strip joint called the Hollywood Men, the Musso & Frank Grill does not catch your eye until you step inside. The room is packed with wooden booths, red leather banquettes and white tablecloths. The original wallpaper, a restful art deco mural of woodland and pastures, has faded to gentle browns and beige. Musso & Frank was founded in 1919, and I swear that many of the menu items have been served ever since, including my favorite dishes from the 1950s when I was a teenager. Take Imported Sardines for instance. I haven't tasted one of those luscious, melting, silvery canned fish, soaked in olive oil, for at least 30 years. They were one of the few edible items at my boarding school. Not everyone liked them, so with luck I would get my neighbor's portion too. Corned Beef and Cabbage, Musso & Frank's Tuesday special, was another school regular made without much beef and a lot of rather stinky cabbage. Musso & Frank's is far, far better. I'm also happy to say that Musso & Frank remains a destination for the celebrities who live in the mansions just down the road. Perhaps next visit we'll ask for the Marilyn Monroe or the Charlie Chaplin table, the one at the front where we could observe the antics of the passersby. Perhaps they were an inspiration for Chaplin's classic mimes? Meanwhile, our waiter bounds up to the table. "You're sitting in the Mickey Rooney seat," he says. "Did you know?" He is wearing a traditional tailored short jacket in bright red with black lapels, and to my delight, the kitchen uniform is equally traditional, all white of course, with cloth buttons to withstand laundry bleach. The sous chefs sport puffy, Escoffier -style toques, becomingly collapsed to one side, with white pillboxes for the commis, the least-trained members of the team. The chef himself is easily distinguished across the kitchen by his towering starched toque, not a hint of collapse there. A glance at the menu shows why the kitchen staff is so large. Well more than a hundred dishes are on offer at lunch and dinner. Some, of course, are prepared ahead such as French onion soup and macaroni au gratin, but the vast majority are cooked to order. Boneless garlic chicken has the caution "Please allow 20 minutes." Vegetables come separately and you choose your own, be it broccoli with Hollandaise, French fried onion rings, or garlic toast (Why has that almost disappeared it is so good!). At least a couple of gems such as shrimp Louie date back to the late 1800s. Chicken à la king, that staple of the 1960s fundraising circuit, was mentioned in the New York Times in 1893. Timeless for a reason Like Mozart, there's a reason why these dishes are timeless they are quite simply the best. Caesar salad was very probably on Musso & Frank's original menu in 1919. Julia Child remembered eating it when she was a little girl in the early 1920s. Mind you, there can be ulterior reasons for their survival. When I once mentioned lobster thermidor to a French-trained chef, he smiled mischievously. "That's a dish for Mondays, after the weekend closure. The seafood leftovers go in there so the Cognac and mustard sauce can mask the stale taste." No stale food here though; the sautéed scallops, lump crab cakes and grilled meats are spanking fresh. Fried oysters, baked escargots, grilled lamb kidneys, calf's liver with onions, smoked tongue sandwiches like those my mother made to fortify me on the miserable journeys back to boarding school. All these bring a distant look to my eyes. Half-forgotten flavors, long-treasured treats. When all is said and done, eating well is the best reward! Sautéed Mushrooms I haven't had deep, dark sautéed mushrooms since I lived in Paris in the 1960s. Musso & Frank's version is "secret." Nothing is secret in the kitchen, so here's my version. These mushrooms are delicious with polenta, brown rice, or your favorite steak. Prep time: 3 minutes Cook time: 6 to 9 minutes Total time: 9 to 12 minutes Yield: Makes 2 servings Ingredients 1/2 pound white button mushrooms 2 tablespoons butter 1 clove garlic, chopped 1/2 cup Madeira 1/2 cup consommé or veal stock Squeeze of lemon juice 2 teaspoons grated Parmesan cheese Ground black pepper Directions 1. Trim mushroom stems level with the caps and cut them in quarters. 2. Melt the butter in a frying pan, add the garlic and fry until fragrant, about 1 minute. 3. Add the mushrooms and sauté, stirring often, until tender and liquid from the mushrooms has evaporated, 2 to 3 minutes. 4. Add the Madeira and simmer until reduced by half, 1 to 2 minutes. 5. Add the consommé and reduce also by half, 2 to 3 minutes longer. 6. Sprinkle the mushrooms with the lemon juice and Parmesan with a little pepper and continue simmering until they are glazed, about 1 minute. 7. Taste, adjust seasoning and serve. Main image: Musso & Frank's lobster thermidor: A classic done right. Credit: Elizabeth Weinstein
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John Heilemann and Mark Halperin talk through the new Bloomberg Politics/St. Anselm College Granite State poll.
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Audi (VOWG_p.DE) outsold German rival Mercedes-Benz in January, boosting deliveries by 10 percent to a record 137,700 cars on strong demand from China, the United States and Germany. Volkswagen's luxury division said on Monday that strong momentum behind sales of the enhanced A3 compact series and the revamped TT sports car fueled volume in China and the U.S. by 15 percent and 14 percent, respectively. Deliveries also jumped 14 percent in Audi's German home market and 20 percent in Brazil, while plunging 13 percent in Russia, the Ingolstadt-based manufacturer said. Mercedes (DAIGn.DE) last Friday posted record sales of 125,865 models in January, a 14 percent gain on year-earlier levels. Luxury-car sales champion BMW (BMWG.DE) is expected to publish deliveries later this week. (Reporting by Andreas Cremer; Editing by Christoph Steitz)
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Greece's new anti-austerity government is seeking a renegotiation of its hated 240-billion-euro ($270-billion) bailout, but time is running out for both Athens and its international creditors to reach a deal. Here are the key dates in the coming weeks and months as Greece tries to avoid a default and possible exit from the euro, with a major crunch point coming at the end of February when its bailout deal expires. February 10: Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, whose radical left Syriza party won elections on January 25, faces a confidence vote in the Greek parliament, his first political hurdle since taking office. After that he must push through his choice for president. Tsipras is expected to easily win the confidence vote, which comes two days after he set out his key policies in a major speech to parliament. Tsipras told lawmakers he would not ask for an extension of the Greece's bailout and would instead seek a bridge loan until June to win time for a new deal. February 11: Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis will take Greece's debt proposals to an extraordinary meeting of the "Eurogroup" of 19 eurozone finance ministers in Brussels. February 12: The European Union's 28 national leaders meet in Brussels, their first gathering since Tsipras took office. While Greece is not officially on the agenda, which is focused on Ukraine and terrorism, Tsipras will have the chance for crucial meetings on the margins including with Europe's most powerful leader, the pro-austerity German Chancellor Angela Merkel. February 16: The "Eurogroup" of eurozone finance ministers is due to hold a scheduled meeting in Brussels that will nevertheless be dominated by attempts to reach a deal on Greece, whether temporary or long term. Any renegotiation of Greece's massive debt obligations will take place at the Eurogroup, which is led by Dutch finance minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem, who was so far objected that Greece revisit its bailout or secure a new short-term loan. Theoretically a deal would have to be done here as the eurozone's 19 parliaments would all have to accept it before the end of the month. February 28: Greece's bailout agreement with the eurozone expires. In December, eurozone ministers agreed to extend the European portion of the EU-IMF rescue by two months from the end of 2014. This gave Greece extra time to fulfill reform commitments made to the troika, the widely-loathed EU, IMF and ECB mission tasked with enforcing Greece's international bailout. Without the troika's approval, Greece will not get the final 1.8 billion euro loan instalment from the eurozone, leaving it at risk of being unable to pay its creditors. Greece says it does not want a further extension and would rather start from scratch with a new deal. July 20: Greece faces a huge repayment to the ECB of 3.5 billion euros. According to several analysts, Greece can survive without a backstop until this date, as long as the ECB keeps some level liquidity available to Greece's banks, but afterwards it faces a default. August 20: Athens owes the ECB another 3.2 billion euros.
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The U.S. economy has turned the corner, with sustainable growth in business activity and jobs, said Treasury Secretary Jack Lew. "We're getting some benefit now from oil prices in terms of the economy getting a bit of a boost on top of that. So I'm feeling pretty confident that we're looking at a good period ahead," Lew said in an exclusive interview that aired on CNBC's " Squawk Box " on Monday. One area where Lew would like to see further increases is in wages, despite a 12 cents an hour move higher in January's better-than-expected employment report that represented the largest monthly gain in the economic recovery and an annualized growth rate of 2.2 percent. "We need more wage growth that people can really feel," he said. Strong upward revisions in November and December pushed average job creation to 336,000 for the past three months, according to Friday's report from the U.S. Labor Department. Overall economic activity has not been as robust. Growth estimates for the first quarter were converging around a 2.5 percent pace after the Commerce Department reported last month a weaker-than-expected 2.6 percent growth rate for the fourth quarter. But Lew remained optimistic: "We're seeing a comeback in manufacturing, now we're seeing housing and construction come back. And we've seen the deficit go way down, all at a time when we have people who are now finding the security of having health care coverage that they didn't have before." Lew also brushed off Republican critics who said President Barack Obama's near $4 trillion budget, which included a proposal for an increase in capital gains and dividend taxes from the current 23.8 percent, would hurt growth. "The 28 percent capital gains rate was the rate that was in effect when President Reagan was in office, and the economy did just fine at that time with that rate," he said. As for the strong dollar, which has hurt many American multinational companies this earnings season, Lew said recent currency moves reflect the strength of the U.S. economy compared to the rest of the world. "In a relative basis it's stronger than a lot of the economies that we compete with," he said. "The real challenge is getting other economies to get back in the growth pattern where they're doing better." Lew added that the strong dollar would be a topic of conversation at this week's two-day meeting of G-20 finance ministers and central bank governors, starting Monday in Istanbul, Turkey. One of the ways Lew suggested for boosting the economies in Europe would be to resolve the Greek debt standoff with a "practical, pragmatic path forward." Resolving the Greek crisis may prove difficult after leftist Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras laid out plans on Sunday to dismantle his country's "cruel" austerity program, ruling out any extension of its international bailout and setting himself on a collision course with his European partners. "Greece has made a lot of sacrifices and changes in its own economy over these last few years. There's a stronger foundation than there was, and they need to build on that strong foundation to come up with mutually agreeable terms going forward," Lew said. Meanwhile, getting Russia to back off in Ukraine would also bring a more stabilized environment to Europe, he said. "The sanctions are working in the sense that they've had a tremendous impact on the Russian economy. The Russian economy is not good. Some of it is oil price coming down. Some of it is the sanctions have really weakened the core of Russia's economy," Lew said. Russian President Vladimir Putin needs to work with the international community if he wants the sanctions to be rolled back, Lew said, adding the U.S. is prepared to ratchet the punitive measures up or down. "Our preference would be to ratchet them down because that would be the best thing for the economy in Europe and the best thing for stability," he said, "but that would require Russia living by its commitments and pulling back and honoring the sovereignty of Ukraine." In a glimmer of hope, the leaders of Russia, Ukraine, Germany, and France have agreed to meet in Belarus on Wednesday to try to broker a peace deal. Meanwhile, President Barack Obama is set to meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel Monday, trying for a public display of unity despite a potential split over arming Ukrainian fighters to wage a more effective battle against Russian-backed separatists. Wire services contributed to this report.
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Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott survives a vote within his own party called to discuss his possible removal as leader. CNN's Anna Coren reports.
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From May, Star Wars fans in London will be able to meet their favorite characters at a special exhibition at Madame Tussauds.
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A team of women dressed as fish and half-a-dozen Harry Potter lookalikes were among those whose efforts ended in glorious failure at Japan's national hole-digging championships, organisers said on Monday. A group of burly diggers from Saitama, north of Tokyo, took home the first prize of 100,000 yen ($840) and a golden shovel after burrowing down a staggering 3.48 metres (11 ft 5 ins) in the allotted time of 30 minutes in Narita on Sunday. The wooden spoon went to the "Red Lantern" B-team, whose official recorded depth was shallower than a worm's hole at just one centimetre (half an inch). "That was probably because some teams were more interested in art than digging," tournament official Ai Okazaki told AFP. "And other teams had kids with them who were just playing in the dirt, which could also have had an influence." The 15th edition of Japan's bizarre shovel-a-thon, which is open to fun diggers as well as ultra-serious competitors with clipboards and blueprints, attracted a record number of 305 teams. Organisers now face the daunting task of filling in all the holes. "It takes about a week for our staff to gradually refill the holes," said Okazaki, who revealed that the hole-digging championships were held at a Narita campsite, close to Tokyo International Airport, as a means to drum up business during the winter. "It began as a way to attract people to the campsite during the off-season when it was not being used. It is cold of course, but the rain held off yesterday and when you're digging and moving, you work up a good sweat," Okazaki added. Winning is not all that matters: The six young women from northern Japan who went to work with trowels and buckets while sporting fish-shaped headgear and called themselves "Team Salmon" swam away with the best costume prize. But there was no magic for a group of six dressed as boy wizard Harry Potter, who returned to Yokohama with mud-spattered capes and wands and little else to show for their efforts. But there was elation for a team from Hokkaido who sacrificed depth and a chance at victory by sculpting a giant hand creeping from their hole as if in some spooky homage to the horror movie "Ring", winning them the "humour prize."
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A battle between Hillary Clinton and Sen. Elizabeth Warren could easily divide entertainers, creating a showdown that might split Hollywood and force A-list stars to choose sides. The lines are already being drawn in the fight for La La Land's love, with the former secretary of State not yet officially in the 2016 Democratic presidential race and the Massachusetts Democrat professing a lack of interest. "They draw on different parts of the artistic community," Darrell West, author of the book "Celebrity Politics," tells ITK. "Warren, being more liberal, does very well among progressive artists, various Hollywood stars who worry the Democratic Party has become too centrist." Entertainers including Susan Sarandon, Olivia Wilde, Edward Norton and Mark Ruffalo have all signed on to support Warren. Celebs in the 65-year-old lawmaker's camp, West says, welcome her "populist rhetoric." After banding together to form a group called "Artists for Warren," more than 90 performers penned an open letter last week urging the freshman senator to make a White House bid. "Senator Warren, we're ready to show you that you have the support needed to enter this presidential race," the message stated, which was signed by celebrities including "Fahrenheit 9/11" director Michael Moore, "Big Love's" Chloe Sevigny, Julia Stiles and Natasha Lyonne, among others. "There are a lot of people in grassroots organizations pushing for Senator Warren to run in 2016. This same sentiment exists in the Hollywood community," Kathryn Cramer Brownell, an assistant professor of history at Purdue University said. In a video posted on Vanity Fair's website, "Firecatcher" and "The Avengers" star Ruffalo lauded Warren, saying, "She's someone that gets the progressive values that I believe we all share." He added, "We don't know that she's going to run, so we're sort of taking a leap of faith. But that's the only way to really implement the changes that need to be changed in the world today." Clinton, however, generally appeals to a different type of Hollywood heavyweight, says West, the Brookings Institution's vice president and director of governance studies. "I think with Hillary Clinton, she attracts celebrities who are more pragmatic and are interested in winning, regardless of what the political message is," he added. Some of Hollywood's biggest A-listers have said they'd buy a ticket to see Clinton storm the 2016 campaign box office. Music chart topper Katy Perry, George Clooney, big-time Democratic donor Barbra Streisand, "Happy" singer Pharrell Williams, Eva Longoria, Ashley Judd, and Elton John have all expressed support for the former first lady. Longoria, a 2012 Obama campaign co-chairwoman, said as far back as 2013 that she would "absolutely" campaign for Clinton in the next race for the White House. "Lord of the Rings" actress Liv Tyler rooted Clinton on during a 2014 fashion shoot, donning a "Hillary for President" t-shirt in a series of glam images. Brownell, the author of the recently released "Showbiz Politics: Hollywood in American Politics," says it'll be "fascinating" to see how Clinton uses her celeb cache. "I think Hillary Clinton is really a political celebrity herself," she said. "I think that Hollywood celebrities will be key in fundraising for her, using entertainment events to help raise a lot of money." "The Clintons have been around for 20 years so they've had plenty of opportunities to cultivate artists and actors. So they're basically getting the pragmatic problem-solvers," West says. Although Clinton, 67, is a veteran of the political arena, Brownell says Warren who has repeatedly denied she'll be throwing her hat in the presidential ring in 2016 may actually come out on top in terms of the number of Hollywood-types showing her the love. Having "prominent people to urge her to run created a groundswell of enthusiasm and support" for the former lawyer and professor, says Brownell. "I think celebrities would play a more prominent place in her campaign to generate excitement surrounding the potential of her candidacy." And while there's a danger of appearing "too Hollywood," West says if Warren or Clinton were to run, they would likely embrace the entertainers who are publicly cheering them on. "They provide credibility especially early in a campaign. It's a way to demonstrate that your campaign is able to attract famous people," says West. "It's the age of celebrity in which we live, so having star power is part of contemporary politics."
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The Japanese designer responsible for both the classic soy sauce bottle and the train connecting Tokyo to its major international airport has died, his company said Monday. Kenji Ekuan, who was 85, was the brains behind the sauce dispenser first used by Kikkoman in Japan in 1961. The upside-down funnel shape with a red cap was subsequently exported around the globe and became visual shorthand for soy sauce as the craze for Japanese food swept abroad. Ekuan, who was also a Buddhist monk, was credited with numerous corporate logos during Japan's industrial boom era, as well as creating the look of Yamaha's VMAX motorcycles and the Narita Express train that ferries passengers to and from Tokyo's main international gateway. A former president of the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design, and a recipient of the council's Colin King Grand Prix, Ekuan was also made officier de L'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by France and awarded the Order of the Rising Sun by Japan. The company he founded, GK Design Group, said he died on Sunday after suffering from sinus problems. hih-str/hg/sm Kikkoman
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Much of the debate about Hillary Rodham Clinton's potential appeal to female voters may be focusing on the wrong group of women. Probably the most frequently-asked question about Clinton's possible coalition as a Democratic nominee in 2016 is whether she can win back the working-class white women who have moved away from her party since 1996. On that issue, the evidence is ambivalent from months of early polling that pits Clinton against potential Republican nominees. But polls over the past year almost invariably have found Clinton improving--often substantially--over President Obama's lackluster 2012 performance among white-collar white women. Those college-educated white women have been the fastest-growing part of the white electorate in recent years. If Clinton as a nominee could cement the gains she's shown among those women in most national and state polls over the past year, she would present Republicans with a formidable demographic challenge, even without improving among any other white voters. Her greatest potential strength, in other words, may be hiding in plain sight: her potential connection to the white-collar white women who most resemble her. All polls of the 2016 race at this point are recording only distant impressions long before most voters have seriously focused on their choices. The actual campaign, and events yet to occur, will inevitably scramble the equation. Yet, especially with a candidate as familiar as Clinton, these early soundings can be viewed as a kind of rebuttable presumption: they sketch the coalition that may naturally gravitate to her unless opponents present them with a case not to. The contours of a potential Clinton coalition were sketched in the three Quinnipiac University polls released last week in the key swing states of Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Florida. Obama won all of them in 2012, and any Democrat who wins at least two of the three would be in a commanding position to assemble an Electoral College majority in 2016. The Quinnipiac results reinforced other early surveys in showing the potential for Clinton to improve on Obama's 2012 performance among white-collar white women--and perhaps also notch some gains with their blue-collar counterparts. Despite all the focus on the gender gap, Obama won in 2012 while capturing only 42 percent of all white women, according to exit polls. That was the weakest performance for any Democratic nominee since Walter Mondale in 1984, leaving plenty of room for Clinton to grow if she wins the Democratic nomination. The most consistent note in the new Quinnipiac surveys was Clinton's strength among college-educated white women. Those women--most of them liberal on cultural issues and many more open than most other whites to an activist role for government--have provided Democratic presidential candidates the most reliable support in the white community since Bill Clinton's first election. The Democratic presidential nominee carried them in 1992, 1996, 2000, and 2008, and essentially split them in 2004. But in 2012, Obama lost ground with them, falling back to 46 percent nationally, the weakest performance among them for any Democratic nominee since Michael Dukakis in 1988. According to detailed results provided by Quinnipiac to Next America, the new surveys show Clinton notably improving on Obama's performance among those well-educated white women in each of these three key states. The Quinnipiac Polls were conducted via landline and cell phone in each state from January 22 through February 1. In Florida, Obama won 43 percent of college-educated white women in 2008 and 42 percent in 2012. The new surveys found Clinton drawing 50 percent of them against former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, 53 percent against New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, and 55 percent against Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul. In Ohio, Obama carried a 52 percent majority of those women in 2008, but slipped back to 47 percent in 2012, while Mitt Romney won 51 percent. Compared to Obama's four-point Ohio deficit among the college white women, the Quinnipiac polls show them providing Clinton an edge of seven points over Bush, 17 over Christie, and 22 over Paul. (The Ohio poll produced a much larger undecided share among upscale women than the other two surveys.) And in Pennsylvania, where Obama won 55 percent of those women in 2008 but tumbled to just 44 percent in 2012, Clinton displayed the most strength. The Quinnipiac Polls showed her at 56 percent among them against Christie, 58 percent against Bush, and 62 percent against Paul. By contrast, the Quinnipiac Polls show considerably less strength for Clinton among non-college white women. Those so-called waitress moms have given most of their votes to Republicans in each election since Bill Clinton carried a plurality of them in 1996. Nationally, Obama carried just 39 percent of them in 2012. In Florida, Obama won only 36 percent of the "waitress moms" in 2008 and 40 percent in 2012. The Quinnipiac polls place Clinton squarely in that range, at 36 percent among them against Bush, 41 percent against Paul, and 43 percent against Christie. But because large numbers of these women remain undecided in the survey, Clinton leads Christie with them, and only trails Paul narrowly while still facing a double-digit deficit against Bush. In Ohio, Obama won 44 percent of these women in 2008 and 45 percent in 2012. That wasn't an overwhelming performance, but it was enough above his national showing to help him carry the state. The Quinnipiac surveys show Clinton settling exactly in that range, drawing 44 percent against Christie, and 45 percent against both Bush and Paul. Again, though, because of a large undecided contingent, Clinton leads against all three with those women. The surveys showed Clinton making the clearest gains among blue-collar women in Pennsylvania. Obama posted nearly identical showings there with these women--47 percent in 2008 and 46 percent in 2012. Quinnipiac found Clinton attracting 49 percent of them against both Christie and Bush, and 53 percent against Paul. While Obama lost these women by seven points in 2012 and four in 2008, Clinton leads with them against all three Republicans. The results were similar in polls from NBC News and Marist College last summer in Iowa and New Hampshire. Matched again against Christie, Paul and Bush, those surveys showed her attracting just under half of non-college white women in both states. But against all three men, she drew 52-54 percent of college white women in Iowa, and exactly 64 percent of them in New Hampshire. National Quinnipiac surveys last year testing Clinton against all three men also put her at 50 percent or more among college-plus white women, and generally at 40-45 percent among non-college white women. Veteran Democratic pollster Geoff Garin, a senior strategist for Clinton during her 2008 primary campaign, notes that she ran very well among working-class white women during that contest against Obama. "The question is whether she can reconnect to non-college educated white women the same way she was doing at the end of her 2008 campaign," Garin says. "If she can, that has the potential to change the arithmetic. But I think that answer is yet to be determined." By contrast, he said, there's more evidence in early polling that college white-women "are with her. We see that very clearly." With other groups of voters, the new Florida, Ohio, and Pennsylvania Quinnipiac polls show Clinton largely tracking Obama's 2012 performance. The polls give her cavernous leads among African-Americans--though with a large undecided bloc, her support doesn't yet quite match Obama's 2012 performances in Ohio and Florida. (It's already close in Pennsylvania.) Her showings in the three states among white men without a college education are consistently weak, but not noticeably worse than Obama's numbers with them when he won each of these three states twice. In Ohio, for instance, Obama won 44 percent of blue-collar white men in 2008 and 39 percent in 2012. The Quinnipiac polls put Clinton at 39 percent of them against Christie, 40 percent against Paul, and 42 percent against Bush, (Again, because a substantial portion remains undecided, Clinton's deficits in the polls among these men in all three states are much smaller than Obama's in 2012.) Her performance among college-educated white men in the surveys also generally follows close to Obama's share in 2012. In Ohio, for instance, Obama tumbled from 47 percent with those men in 2008 to 33 percent in 2012; Clinton draws 34 percent of them against Christie, 35 percent against Bush, and 37 percent against Paul. The same caveat applies to these results: because of large undecided populations, her deficits among these men are much smaller than Obama's in 2012. Still, these polls present results that are largely consistent across the states--and also consonant with those other national and state polls measuring Clinton's early appeal. Almost everything could change once the campaign is actually joined. But for now, surveys like these Quinnipiac polls generally show some modest opportunities for Clinton to improve among working-class white women and little change relative to Obama's meager 2012 standing among both blue-collar and white-collar men. With minority voters, she remains in a very strong position, though Republicans argue it's unproven that African-Americans will turn out for her at the rates they did for Obama. The big opening signaled by these polls is her opportunity to recover from Obama's 2012 trough among college-educated white women. That's an especially ominous prospect for Republicans because those upscale women have steadily increased their share of the electorate since the 1980s. If those trends continue, in 2016 they could cast more of the national vote than either college or non-college white men, or the waitress moms. Clinton's biggest boost over Obama might come from nothing more complex than consolidating her most natural supporters.
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President Barack Obama's $4 trillion budget blue print for fiscal 2016 has garnered a lot of attention for its proposals for raising caps to bolster spending for defense and domestic programs largely geared to the middle class. However, tucked away in the massive budget document is a series of proposals for salvaging a program critically important to the middle class the Social Security Disability Insurance trust fund that experts warn is fast running out of money. Social Security trustees and other financial experts have been warning for years that lawmakers and the administration must act to prop up the hemorrhaging trust fund, as trustee Charles Blahous noted recently in The Fiscal Times . SSDI supplements the income of physically disabled workers and automatically enrolls them in Medicare after two years. The plan is funded by federal payroll taxes. With more and more Americans turning to the program--and increasing evidence of billions dollars in fraud --the latest trustees' report projects that the fund's reserves will be depleted in late 2016. By law, Social Security can only pay benefits if there is a positive balance in the appropriate funds. Actually, there are two funds: one for old age and survivors' benefits (OASI) and the other for disability benefits (SSDI). Absent those reserves, Blahous said, the only funds the government can use to cover disability claims is the incoming tax revenue. Unfortunately, there would only be enough to cover 81 percent of scheduled disability benefits. Congress is fast running out of time to address the brewing financial crisis. Legislation will be required during this session of Congress or, at the very latest, in a rush of activity early next year, to prevent large sudden benefit cuts. The House of Representatives recently passed a procedural rule to prepare for the coming legislative debate. If Congress fails to act, however, more than 10 million beneficiaries essentially will face a nearly 20 percent reduction to the scheduled benefits that they rely upon for financial wellbeing. According to the Bipartisan Policy Center , here is a summary of the president's recommendations Shore up the SSDI Trust Fund . Currently, employers and their workers each pay a total of 6.2 percent of their wages to the Social Security system: 0.9 percent is allocated to SSDI and 5.3 percent to OASI. Under Obama's approach, neither the overall tax rate nor the solvency of the combined trust funds would be affected. Instead, it would reallocate a few tenths of a percentage point of payroll tax revenue from the OASI fund to the SSDI fund, so that both trust funds would be sustained until 2033. Test early intervention strategies to keep people in the workplace. This proposal would experiment with early intervention approaches to help people with a potentially work-limiting disability to remain in the workforce. Those methods would include providing supportive services to those with mental impairments giving employers incentives to retain workers with disabilities, and incentivizing states to better coordinate the services that they provide. Related: New Evidence That Disability Fraud Costs Billions Hire More Administrative Law Judges. There is a huge backlog of more than one million workers waiting to appeal adverse rulings as they seek SSDI coverage. The president's budget proposes funding to reduce the backlog by increasing the number of administrative law judges and streamlining the appeal process. Provide a Mandatory Funding Stream for Continuing Disability Reviews Obama believes that the government can save the SSDI program $32 billion over the coming decade by bolstering a program that reviews cases every three to seven years to determine whether a beneficiary's medical condition has improved. Stop "Double Dipping" into Government Coffers Obama proposes to offset an individual's entitled SSDI benefit in any month that they receive state or federal unemployment insurance benefits, a proposal also featured in last year's budget. For example, if someone was entitled to $1,000 a month from SSDI and already received $400 from unemployment insurance in a particular month, their SSDI benefit would be reduced to $600 for that month. Top Reads from The Fiscal Times How Wall Street Is Fighting to Rip Off Your Retirement Money 106 Radical Ways to Slash and Burn the Federal Budget How a Discredited Report Turned Parents Into Anti-Vaxxers
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HONG KONG Global stock markets were weighed down Monday by weak Chinese trade data and the new Greek prime minister's vow to renegotiate an international bailout that imposed harsh austerity. KEEPING SCORE: European shares were lower in early trading. France's CAC-40 lost 1.3 percent to 4,631.57 and Germany's DAX fell 1.6 percent to 10,670.11. Britain's FTSE 100 was down 0.7 percent to 6,803.43. U.S. stocks were poised to open lower, with Dow futures down 0.5 percent to 17,691.00. Broader S&P 500 futures shed 0.6 percent to 2,041.20. CHINA TRADE: Investors were reacting to Chinese trade data released Sunday that showed imports fell nearly 20 percent over a year earlier in January. Chinese economic data is usually volatile at the beginning of the year because of Lunar New Year holidays, which falls in January or February each year. But the particularly sharp fall added to worries that the world's second biggest economy is still weakening after growth in 2014 hit a 24-year low. Exports were also weak, dropping 3.2 percent from a year earlier. The data sent most global indexes lower except in China itself, where investors gambled that more stimulus was in store. ANALYST VIEW: The China "data point to a challenging environment for export growth in 2015, and increased our conviction that both monetary and fiscal policies must ease more aggressively to support growth in the coming months," HSBC economists Julia Wang and Jing Li wrote in a research report. GREEK FEARS: European markets were gloomy were after the new prime minister of Greece outlined his government's policy statement to lawmakers on Sunday, declaring an end to austerity. Alexis Tsipras's demands for a "bridge agreement" giving Greece and its creditors time to negotiate a new debt deal raised fears that it would lead to the Mediterranean country leaving the euro. ASIA'S DAY: Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 0.6 percent to close at 24,521.00 and South Korea's Kospi slipped 0.4 percent to 1,947.00. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.1 percent to 5,814.90. Benchmarks in Taiwan, Singapore and New Zealand also closed lower. However, the Shanghai Composite Index in mainland China rose 0.6 percent to 3,095.12 on stimulus bets. Japan's Nikkei 225 added 0.4 percent to 17,711.93. ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude was up 24 cents to $51.93 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose $1.21 to close at $51.69 a barrel on Friday. Brent crude, a benchmark for oil sold internationally, lost 28 cents to $57.52. CURRENCIES: The dollar slipped to 118.63 yen from 119.14 yen in late trading Friday. The euro rose to $1.3344 from $1.1315.
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LONDON A trove of leaked documents shows that HSBC's Swiss private bank turned a blind eye to illegal activities of arms dealers and blood diamond traders while helping rich people evade taxes, according to a report based on the documents that was published Monday. The data relate to accounts worth $100 billion held by more than 100,000 people and legal entities around the world. WHAT HAPPENED A former HSBC employee-turned-whistleblower, Herve Falciani, gave the data to French tax authorities in 2008. France shared it with other governments and launched investigations. The French newspaper Le Monde obtained a version of the data and shared the material with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, which analyzed the material together with The Guardian and the BBC in Britain. WHAT THE FILES SHOW The leaked documents mainly cover the years 2005 to 2007. HSBC, which is based in London but has operations globally, served those close to the regimes of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, former Tunisian leader Ben Ali and Syria's Bashar Assad. The consortium said clients include former and current politicians from Britain, Russia, Ukraine, Kenya, India, Mexico, Lebanon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zimbabwe, and Algeria. Switzerland had the greatest number of clients of the data examined, followed by France, the United Kingdom, Brazil and Italy. In terms of ranking by value, Switzerland was first with $31.2 billion, followed by the United Kingdom with $21.7 billion; Venezuela with $14.8 billion; the U.S. with $13.4 billion; and France with $12.5 billion. WHY IT MATTERS Though some of the details of such operations were disclosed previously, when HSBC was fined in 2012 by the U.S. for allowing criminals to use its branches for money laundering, Monday's information suggests HSBC took an active role in assisting the wealthy in hiding their money from authorities. "The bank repeatedly reassured clients that it would not disclose details of accounts to national authorities, even if evidence suggested that the accounts were undeclared to tax authorities in the client's home country," the consortium said. "Bank employees also discussed with clients a range of measures that would ultimately allow clients to avoid paying taxes in their home countries." Crawford Spence, a professor of accounting at the University of Warwick, said this case was different than other recent tax scandals. "HSBC has been complicit in clear tax evasion and law breaking rather than legitimate tax avoidance," he said. POTENTIAL FALLOUT The disclosures could see governments step up their efforts to prosecute tax evaders and the bank itself. Governments are looking to crack down on tax evasion to bolster their coffers depleted by the financial crisis and amid criticism that the rich aren't paying their fair share. In Britain, the report sparked criticism of tax authorities. The national tax agency clawed back 135 million pounds ($236 million) from some of the 3,600 Britons identified as using the Geneva branch of HSBC, but only one person has been prosecuted. France, by contrast, launched 103 legal actions. "You are left wondering, as you see the enormity of what has been going on, what it actually takes to bring a tax cheat to court," Margaret Hodge, chair of Parliament's Public Accounts Committee, told the BBC. Hodge said the former chairman of HSBC, Stephen Green, must face questions about whether he was "asleep at the wheel, or he did know and he was therefore involved in dodgy tax practices." In Belgium, an investigating judge is considering arrest warrants against some former and current officials of the HSBC bank if cooperation in an investigation on the Swiss operations does not improve. WHAT HSBC SAYS HSBC stressed that the documents were from eight years ago and said it has since implemented initiatives designed to prevent its banking services from being used to evade taxes or launder money. Franco Morra, CEO of HSBC's Swiss subsidiary, said the new management had shut down accounts from clients who "did not meet our high standards." "These disclosures about historical business practices are a reminder that the old business model of Swiss private banking is no longer acceptable," he said in a statement. Frank Jordans in Berlin and Greg Keller in Paris contributed to this story.
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Apple debuted its latest iPad ad during the 57th Grammy Awards last night. In it, we find Sweden's Elliphant collaborating with LA's The Gaslamp Killer in an All or Nothing remix from English producer Riton. The 60-second spot documenting the creation process feels almost Beats-like in its frenetic buildup, and certainly runs counter to Apple's iconic silhouette ads. Apple sold 21.4 million iPads last quarter , down from the 26 million it sold in the same quarter a year ago. Billboard says that Apple co-produced the commercial with longtime advertising partners TBWA. It was shot entirely with an iPad Air 2 by Parisian filmmaker So Me and cost an estimated $2 million dollars to air during "Music's biggest night." Apple device sales | Create infographics
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Hastings Fredrickson, a former Afghanistan war veteran who was identified as the ringleader of the so-called Jedi Council sex ring, was sentenced to 15 months in prison on Monday. However, Fredrickson, who had pleaded guilty in August, may not have to spend all his time behind bars, media reports said. Fredrickson, a former Australian Defence Force contractor, had pleaded guilty to distributing emails in July 2012 with details of his sexual encounters and photos and videos of his encounter with a woman to 12 other officers of the group. The emails were reportedly captioned with "degrading" and "humiliating" phrases, Judge Paul Lakatos, said in Sydney on Monday, according to ABC News. "Women are entitled to engage in sexual relations without fear my conduct in the bedroom is shared," Lakatos said, according to Sydney Morning Herald, reading from the victim's statement. "Women are not objects for you to play around with ... we are the bearers of your children, we deserve your respect." In August, Fredrickson had pleaded guilty to three counts of using a carriage service to cause offence after his lawyer said he had sent only three of the six emails, ABC News reported . The other three counts for the same charge were later dropped. The scandal had also led to many people getting fired, arrested and charged in November 2013. Lakatos said Fredrickson's actions were calculated and doubted whether the latter was genuinely remorseful. Fredrickson currently remains on bail and has another hearing scheduled for next month, which will decide whether he can serve his sentence through the way of an intensive correction order, Sky News reported . If granted, he may serve part of his term in the community and not fully in prison.
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Kelly Osbourne wore a back brace and needed to use the toilet at the Grammy Awards which left people speculating she could be pregnant. The 'Fashion Police' host took to her Twitter account to clarify she was certainly not sporting a baby bump under her Christian Siriano gown on the red carpet last night (08.02.15) but may have been looking slightly bloated because she really needed to use the facilities. The 30-year-old star - who teamed the monochrome, spotted gown with a koi carp-shaped clutch - wrote: "NO IM NOT PREGNANT YOU F**KERS! I have a back brace on AND I REALLY NEED TO TAKE A S**T! #SuckIt (sic)". Several Twitter users had taken to the social networking site earlier in the evening to predict she was expecting after seeing the dress she was wearing at the Los Angeles Staples Center. ILanGyul wrote: "I hope @KellyOsbourne is pregnant. If not!?, sorry That dress is a no no. #GRAMMYs (sic)" stephanieterps tweeted: "Is kelly osbourne pregnant or just hefty? That dress looks horrible on her (sic)" Chae_FBaebee wrote: "Kelly Osbourne looks pregnant" The TV personality had previously shared a "sneak peak" of her gown on her Instagram account, as well as a behind-the-scenes shot of her being attended to by two make-up artists. The purple-haired star wrote: "#SneakPeekOfMyDress @csiriano #Grammys #ERedCarpet #LRC" "In hair & make up almost ready to hit the #ERedCarpet #Grammys #LRC who's gonna be watching? (sic)"
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A police operation was under way Monday in a housing estate in the French city of Marseille where residents said "Kalashnikov shots" were fired "in the air", sources close to the case said, adding there were no victims. According to an AFP photographer on site, special forces entered the La Castellane estate, which is known for being a drug trafficking hotspot. The outbreak of violence in the notorious estate, where a 25-year-old was shot dead last month in a settling of scores, comes as Prime Minister Manuel Valls is due to visit the southern port city later Monday on a trip focused on security issues. It was not immediately clear what sparked the shots, but Marseille has for years had a reputation as a hotbed of crime that has prompted some politicians to call for the army to be sent in to police the city's toughest neighbourhoods. Police say many murders in the city are linked to turf wars between multiple rival gangs battling for control of the drugs trade in the city's poorest neighbourhoods. The violence, they say, is aggravated by the easy availability of high-calibre weapons, with Kalashnikov automatic rifles being the murder instrument of choice. In 2013, Valls, who was then interior minister, had said that entire neighbourhoods were "abandoned to the dealers." Ironically, he was due to visit the city again Monday afternoon to salute the "excellent" results of measures taken over more than two years to fight crime. According to the source close to the case, who wished to remain anonymous, residents in the La Castellane estate alerted police earlier on Monday that the shots were fired by "five to ten people." Children who were in a creche in the estate were moved to a neighbouring school, according to the source. Scuffles broke out between parents who wanted to fetch their kids and security forces, the AFP photographer added.
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Microsoft has been heavily focused on low-end Windows Phone hardware over the past two years to grow market share, but its upcoming Windows 10 update won't be finely tuned for these devices with low specifications. Microsoft's Joe Belfiore revealed on Twitter yesterday that the software maker is working on Windows 10 for phones with 512MB of RAM, but that "features may vary." It's not clear what features won't be available, but we're hoping this isn't a situation like the Windows Phone 7 to Windows Phone 8 upgrade, where some devices were left with a Windows Phone 7.8 update that only contained some minor Windows Phone 8 features. That's not something Microsoft will want to repeat, so it's likely that the company will be pushing hard to make sure Windows 10 runs on Windows Phone 8 devices with 512MB of RAM. Microsoft previously claimed all Lumia Windows Phone 8 devices will be upgraded to Windows 10, and Belfiore notes that the company is merely working on it right now and that it's an "ambition" to get Windows 10 on low specification devices. Hey all: we ARE working on Win10 for 512MB, including 520. Our ambition is to make #Win10 available for these devices but features may vary joebelfiore (@joebelfiore) February 8, 2015 Microsoft's most popular Windows Phone device is the Lumia 520 with 512MB of RAM, shortly followed by the Lumia 630, Lumia 625, and Lumia 530 all with 512MB of RAM. It appears that the majority of popular Windows Phone devices won't get all the new Windows 10 features once they're available. Microsoft is planning to preview those features very soon, but not to all devices. Belfiore notes there will be a " subset of phones " that will be compatible with the Windows 10 preview, and The Verge understands that will focus on devices like the Lumia 730 and Lumia 830 that shipped recently. Microsoft is close to releasing its Windows 10 preview for phones, and it's likely it will be made available this week, providing testing goes well internally.
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Samsung smart televisions' voice recognition feature may be eavesdropping on you. HLN's Jennifer Westhoven has the details.
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In the latest sign that the seven-month selloff in crude-oil prices may be nearing a bottom, an energy watchdog said that a recovery seems "inevitable" and the glut that has driven down prices by more than 50% since June could start to ease as soon as the second half. A wave of spending cuts by oil producers and a sharp decline in the number of rigs drilling for crude in the U.S. likely will slow the nation's oil-output growth, spurring a rebound in prices, the International Energy Agency said in a report released Tuesday U.K. time. The benchmark U.S. oil price rose 2.3% to $52.86 a barrel on Monday and is up 19% from a nearly six-year low hit last month. The IEA, which coordinates energy policy among industrialized countries, is adding its voice to the chorus of experts who say that the global glut is abating. The IEA said its report, which presents a view of the oil markets five years out, aims to shed light on how a recovery will proceed, adding that a "price rebound…seems inevitable." Stabilization in oil prices would spell relief across financial markets, which have been rocked by concerns that oil's plunge signaled softness in global growth. The plunge has pummeled share prices of oil producers and currencies of oil-dependent economies. If sustained, rising oil prices would curb the boon U.S. consumers have reaped from lower gasoline prices. A spike in crude prices could also create headwinds for a global economy already struggling with fragile growth in some corners. The average price of regular gasoline at the pump was $2.18 a gallon on Monday, according to motor club AAA. While that is up from the nearly six-year low of $2.03 a gallon reached on Jan. 26, it is below the $3.28 seen this time last year. "You do have evidence that future production will be curtailed," said Keith Hembre, chief economist and portfolio manager at Nuveen Asset Management LLC in Minneapolis who oversees $800 million across four funds. Oil companies like Royal Dutch Shell PLC, Chevron Corp., BP PLC and Norway's Statoil ASA have slashed their investment programs by billions of dollars, moves that analysts say eventually will damp production growth. The forecast slowdown in U.S. oil output appears to be coming at the benefit of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, analysts said. In a separate report, released Monday, OPEC said demand for the group's oil would rise in 2015, reversing an earlier estimate that predicted a decline. The conclusions drawn from the IEA and the OPEC reports indicate that OPEC's strategy to protect market share by keeping the spigots open is showing early signs of success. Led by Saudi Arabia, OPEC in November surprised markets when it maintained its production levels, a move that some observers said was aimed at weakening U.S. shale-oil producers. The earnings of big oil companies have been battered by the decline in oil prices, but many investors expect these firms to persevere through the slump. The speed and size of the decline, though, have raised questions about how smaller, independent oil producers will survive in an environment of low oil prices. Oil from newly tapped U.S. shale fields is more expensive to produce than crude in much of the rest of the world, so output is harder to sustain when prices are low. An OPEC official from the Persian Gulf said the cartel's report reflects views held by Saudi Arabia's oil ministry. "There are strong indications that U.S. shale producers are taking a hit, and by the second half of this year a lot of marginal barrels will disappear from the market and demand will rise for OPEC members," he said. OPEC's new forecast doesn't necessarily mean oil prices will bounce back to their previous levels. Its own production remains nearly one million barrels a day above the amount markets need. The IEA concurs, saying that any rebound in oil prices will be capped. In its analysis, the coming price increases will likely be tempered by a rebound in U.S. oil output. From 2017, the organization expects U.S. shale-oil output to surge again, stimulated by a recovery in prices. It forecasts supply will rise to about 5.2 million barrels a day in 2020, compared with 3.6 million barrels a day in 2014. "The price correction will cause the North American supply 'party' to mark a pause; it will not bring it to an end," the IEA said. Although U.S. shale output will remain a major source of new oil supply at the end of the decade, demand for OPEC's oil will also increase as other sources of non-OPEC supply take longer to recover from lower prices. The IEA forecasts demand for OPEC's oil will start rising in 2016 and reach 32.1 million barrels a day by 2020, 2.7 million barrels a day above demand in 2014. OPEC also sees American motorists as an ally. The cartel increased its forecast for North American oil consumption by 15,000 barrels a day, a shift that translates into an increase of 20,000 barrels a day in forecast demand growth world-wide. "Gasoline, in particular, remains a key driver behind the growth in U.S. oil demand, largely a result of lower oil prices," OPEC said. Overall, oil consumption is expected to increase by 1.17 million barrels a day to 92.32 million barrels a day. Corrections & Amplifications An earlier version of this article said OPEC increased its forecast for North American consumption by 150,000 barrels a day. It increased its forecast by 15,000 barrels a day. Write to Benoît Faucon at [email protected]
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DW: Dr. Montmerle, how does the "Name ExoWorlds Contest," in which 20 systems of exoplanets and their stars will receive names, work? Thierry Montmerle: In phase one we posted 305 exoplanet systems, each with up to five exoplanets, on our site, along with some data about them. We can't expect all of them to be named. But now in phase two, this is where amateur organizations get involved. They can get registered and make a list with their favorite exoplanet systems and from these, we pick the 20 most popular. This is the phase that we are in right now, which goes till February 15. These 20 systems are the ones open for the naming contest. Phase three is the name proposal process, the one that will last the longest, until May. The groups will have to fill out forms where they put their chosen names for the stars and planets in the systems and also their justification: why is this a coherent set of names, why is this interesting and original. The final phase is where all citizens come in. The suggestions will be posted on the web. Everybody who registers on a citizen science site called Zooniverse can download the proposals and then vote for their favorite names. Final results will be announced at the IAU [International Astronomical Union] General Assembly in Honolulu in August. How did you come up with the idea to have clubs and groups suggest names for exoplanetary systems? We had a debate and decided the public should be lured into exoplanet naming. At the time there was this question of who should name the exoplanets and how. We had experience with individuals proposing names, we had opened our door to that. A significant number of people were proposing owns. We asked associations, because we think that having people talk together has educational value. They then propose things that are really the product of brainstorming in a group. The starting point of our thinking was amateur astronomer associations or clubs, because they are in a way our customers, and they were a great help with the International Year of Astronomy in 2009. But there are other kinds of people who might have an interest in the sky, too, who are not strictly astronomical: people interested in the history of astronomy, philosophical or even religious interests. We wanted them to be involved as well. What kind of names do you expect? Are there certain rules about what names aren't allowed? We're not expecting any particular answers. We will see what comes in. We have a preference, or it may also be a bias, to promote cultural names, names that represent a section of the world population. But to be clear, none of the exoplanets in our sample now are considered habitable. There are some rules. You cannot give full names of living people, or of dead people who were involved in acts of war… There's a whole list that's used for naming objects in the solar system as well. It's been around for decades. If the names of artists or something artistic like that wins, in the end we would have to worry about copyright. This can be a very touchy issue. If any names are subject to this, because they are for instance characters of novels, then probably the IAU would have to negotiate with the copyright holder. I'm sure there will be planets named after Star Wars. If that's a winner, then we would go to George Lucas and say "George, people who are big fans are proposing names [from your films] for exoplanets, please let us use them for free." I'm sure he would be delighted. Why are you having this public contest at all - what was the motivation of the IAU to get people involved? We want the public to share our passion for new worlds. I would even say it's a passion for life. Thierry Montmerle is and astronomer and has been general secretary of the International Astronomical Union (IAU) since 2012. His three-year-term comes to an end this August at the IAU General Assembly in Honolulu, Hawaii. Author: Interview: Carla Bleiker Editor: Zulfikar Abbany
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A few years ago, if you told your friends that you were drinking charcoal, going to 7 a.m. raves and drinking bone broth, they probably would have looked at you like you were crazy. There's no doubt that these activities still seem a little strange, but they're also considered healthy (at least by some people). So what's the deal? We can't guarantee that trends like (gulp) snail facials are here to stay, but for the moment, they're in. Here's a closer look at what's cool in the wellness world right now. Coffee with butter in it What it is: After going from overweight to wellness-obsessed, entrepreneur Dave Asprey invented Bulletproof Coffee in 2009. The official Bulletproof Coffee recipe includes low-mold coffee beans, 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter and 1-2 tablespoons of MCT oil. Asprey started selling Bulletproof-branded coffee beans online in 2012, and Los Angeles is getting its first Bulletproof Coffee shop this year. Why people are doing it: All-day energy. Integrative doctor Frank Lipman, who works with Gwyneth Paltrow, told the New York Times that at a whopping 450 calories, Bulletproof Coffee is ideal for "mind clarity and a bit of pep." Does it work? Dr. Donald Hensrud, medical director of the Mayo Clinic Healthy Living Program, is skeptical. "Bulletproof coffee is a dual threat," he told The Huffington Post. "It not only provides large amounts of calories and saturated fat with minimal nutrients, but if consumed as recommended -- in place of breakfast -- it will prevent the intake of beneficial nutrients in a healthy breakfast." Cricket flour What it is: Exactly what it sounds like: crickets pulverized into a flour-like powder. Cricket flour is used to make nutritious (and supposedly delicious) protein bars, desserts and more. Why people are doing it: Crickets are full of iron, B12, protein and have nearly as much calcium as a glass of milk. So if you'd rather eat bugs than dairy... why not? Does it work? Hensrud is a bit more optimistic about this one. Although he thinks opting for basic protein sources like salmon and chicken is the way to go, cricket flour can be a good option. "Potential advantages are that it has a higher content of protein than other animal sources and is more environmentally friendly by being more sustainable," he said. "The stigma is something people need to overcome. Knowing that it is a processed and purified product and not just ground crickets can help. In terms of sustainability, it has potential to help developing populations around the world increase their protein intake from a ready source." Facials that are... unique What it is: People are getting snail facials. Yes, they're letting snails slither all over their faces for 45 minutes while the snails' 14,000 tiny teeth produce a small scratching sensation all over the face. Why people are doing it: Snail mucus contains nutrients and antioxidants that "contribute to a youthful visage," according to The Guardian. Does it work? Well, dermatologists aren't too crazy about them. "I'd be surprised if this has any lasting effect on skin health," dermatology professor at Vanderbilt University Medical Center Dr. William Stebbins said, according to ABC, noting that they might make the skin look better temporarily. They can also get pretty pricey. Sober morning parties What it is: Also known as "sober raves," people have started showing up at parties at 7 a.m. They've swapped heels for spandex and alcohol and drugs for coffee and wheatgrass drinks. Why people are doing it: It's energizing. People get to party, make new friends, dance to great music and get their cardio in without the nasty consequences of a hangover or staying out too late. "Generally, raves have like a semi-dark edge to them, and this one is just all happiness," sober raver Rachel Abbott told CBS. Does it work? Why not? It's a great way to get exercise and an ideal party habit for professionals who work long hours and always have to be "on." According to Annie Fabricant, a co-organizer of Morning Gloreyville in Brooklyn, the only issue is predicting how big the crowd will be. "When people are sober they need a bit more room," she said, according to The Wall Street Journal. "It has to be as far from the dark, sticky nightclub as possible." Coconut oil everything What it is: People have started putting coconut oil in their coffee, and it doesn't end there. It's the most commonly oil used in Oil Pulling -- or swishing oil around in your mouth for 20 minutes for a reportedly healthier mouth -- and it can be used as makeup remover. It's also great for cooking, and it's making its way into smoothie recipes. Why people are doing it: It's full of good stuff: Good cholesterol, antimicrobials and antioxidants, to name a few. Does it work? The general consensus from experts is that more research needs to be done before they can confirm it as the superfood people think it is. "Most of the research so far has consisted of short-term studies to examine its effect on cholesterol levels. We don't really know how coconut oil affects heart disease," Dr. Walter C. Willett, chair of the Department of Nutrition at the Harvard School for Public Health, wrote in a newsletter. "And I don't think coconut oil is as healthful as vegetable oils like olive oil and soybean oil, which are mainly unsaturated fat and therefore both lower LDL and increase HDL." Crossfit vacations What it is: While the idea of jumping on boxes and lifting massive amount of weight may terrify you, some people go on vacation just to do Crossfit. Crossfit travel providers include FitLife Cruise, WOD Tours, Anywhere Fit, WODcation, Destino Retreats and more. The trips are not above encouraging participants to a blast -- margarita nights are a thing! -- but the main focus is fitness. Why people are doing it: People really love Crossfit. Plus, who doesn't like the idea of coming back from vacation a little fitter and healthier? Does it work? Like sober morning parties, you don't have much to lose if Crossfit is your thing. But as with all things Crossfit, be careful. Physical therapists have seen a lot of injuries. "Anecdotally, I haven't seen people come into our clinic regularly who claim to have been injured by a personal trainer, but we do see many people in our clinic who claim to have been injured doing CrossFit," Eric Robertson, a physical therapist at Regis University in Denver and founder of the blog PTThinkTank, told The Washington Post. Bone broth What it is: Bone broth is made by boiling poultry, beef or fish bones until they break down. Making bone broth can take anywhere from four to 48 hours, but some restaurants have started selling it for those in need of a quick fix. Why people are doing it: Its benefits are thought to include shinier hair, improved digestion and reduced joint pain and inflammation. Does it work? Some experts doubt its benefits exceed that of regular broth. "It's not a miracle cure like some outlets talk about, but still a good-for-you food," Dawn Jackson Blatner, a registered dietician and author of The Flexitarian Diet , told HuffPost. "It is hydrating, contains veggie and herb anti-inflammatories and the bones provide collagen, a protein which may help with our own bone, joint and skin health." Charcoal What it is: People are now drinking and taking capsules of activated charcoal, which is a little different from the stuff you throw on your barbecue. (It's negatively charged carbon that's treated with oxygen.) Why people are doing it: Many think it's great for detoxifying, whether you drank too much, ate too much or just need a general boost. Charcoal has started popping up at trendy juice shops, and New York's Juice Generation just debuted three juices with charcoal in them. "You're feeding your body two pounds of greens and activating a detox, so it's dual purpose," founder Eric Helm told Harper's Bazaar. Does it work? Hensrud really isn't enthusiastic about this one. "It has been promoted as a cure for a hangover. This will not be effective, however, because someone with a hangover will likely already have absorbed alcohol in their system, and even if they haven't alcohol is one of the substances that activated charcoal doesn't absorb well," he told HuffPost. "It is also marketed to decrease intestinal gas but is probably not effective ... there is a little evidence it may lower cholesterol slightly -- but there are more effective and much easier ways!" Plus, the body detoxes itself naturally. You don't need charcoal, juice or anything else to do it for you. Rewilding What it is: Founded by 36-year-old Daniel Vitalis, Rewilding is all about getting back in touch with our "caveman" sides. It's about hunting and gathering, spending time in the sun and drinking water from natural streams. Why people are doing it: To revamp the lifestyle many of us have grown accustomed to: too much time spent in front of screens, under artificial lights and eating processed food. "Hunching over a laptop all day and eating supermarket food flown in from God-knows-where never struck me as an ideal recipe for well-being," writer Eliza Krigman, who spent a month "Rewilding herself," wrote in the January issue of Marie Claire. Does it work? The biggest changes will probably happen if you relocate to the wilderness, as some Rewilders have done. Krigman's Rewilding was a bit more mild, and although she said her lifestyle didn't translate to a "completely radiant rejuvenated self," she did notice some changes. "After a week, I felt significantly less bloated than I usually do," she said. "My sinuses felt clearer. My husband caught a cold and couldn't kick it; I never got it!"
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Diseases that are making a comeback What's old is new again: Diseases making comebacks The measles outbreak creeping across more than 14 states is alarming health authorities and inflaming criticism of parents who fail to, or choose not to, vaccinate their children. But several diseases that might have been well known to your grandparents or even older ancestors who saw things like the 17th century anti-plague suit shown here are still around with us today. And a few of them seem to be making startling comebacks. For example, CNBC reported in September that a spike in cases of gout and rickets surprised researchers health authorities in the United Kingdom, who blame poverty for the resurgence of those two conditions, which had been nearly eradicated. Only months earlier, an outbreak of whooping cough, or pertussis, infected California schoolchildren and added more fuel to the vaccination debate . Many people will know these diseases only from the pages of history or the literature of bygone eras, but many of these debilitating, and often fatal, illnesses are still infecting and killing people around the world. Almost all of these diseases are preventable with thorough factors such as vaccines and proper nutrition, and many are treatable or curable if caught in time. By CNBC's Robert Ferris, February 4, 2015 Measles Measles is a dangerous and potentially deadly disease that begins with flulike symptoms and morphs into a rash that covers much of the body. Most severe cases occur in children already sick or malnourished, but an outbreak that began in December at Disneyland is affecting American children who were not vaccinated against the disease. Measles is so infectious that doctors, such as the Centers for Disease Control's Jane Seward, have said it is particularly effective at identifying the populations of the country that are unvaccinated. Most measles-related deaths result from complications associated with the disease, and they are rare in the United States. Measles killed 2.6 million people every year before vaccinations became widely available in 1980, according to the World Health Organization . Since then, numbers have plummeted; vaccinations led to a 78 percent drop in cases from 2000 to 2010. The common vaccine immunizes patients against measles, mumps and rubella, which share characteristics. But measles remains one of the leading causes of death among young children. In 2012, there were 122,000 measles deaths around the world. That translates to 14 deaths every hour, according to the WHO. A record spike of 640 cases in the United States in 2014 was partially attributed to an outbreak in Amish communities in Ohio; many Amish individuals are unvaccinated. And in the UK, measles infection rates have risen, according to the British National Institute of Health, and there was a significant outbreak of the disease between 2012 and 2013 in Wales. Yellow fever Named after the jaundice that often afflicts those who suffer from it, yellow fever fears first gripped Americans in 1648, when quarantines were issued in Boston in response to outbreaks in Cuba and Mexico, according to the College of Physicians of Philadelphia . The disease did not hit the American colonies until 1699. Outbreaks would afflict and occasionally decimate populations throughout the United States into the 20th century; one of the most catastrophic outbreaks killed 5,000 people in Philadelphia in 1793. The U.S. Army linked the disease to mosquitoes in 1900, and scientist Max Theller developed a vaccine for the disease in 1936, for which he later won the Nobel Prize. The vaccine all but eradicated the disease in developed countries, but parts of the rest of the world still battle outbreaks. Roughly 900 million people spread across 44 countries are at risk of contracting the infection, according to the WHO . An estimated 200,000 people contract the disease every year, and 30,000 die from it. Ninety percent of those cases are in Africa, according to the WHO . Two doctors from the Baylor College of Medicine in Texas wrote a blog post in 2013, highlighting the presence of the disease-carrying mosquito in southern American cities and warning that the disease could take root again, especially in poor communities. It is tough to diagnose, and there is no specific treatment for the disease itself, only for its symptoms. However, the vaccine is cheap and effective; 99 percent of patients are immune for life roughly 30 days after receiving it. Gout Gout is a form of arthritis brought on by the accumulation of uric acid in the joints, often in the toes, feet and legs. The condition has sometimes been called the "rich man's disease" because it was somewhat erroneously associated with the gluttony and excessive alcohol use that only the rich once could manage, according to The American College of Rheumatology . But in the U.K., health authorities are blaming a resurgence of the disease on poverty and stagnant wages. Things don't look much better for Americans. Research showed that gout cases more than doubled from the 1960s to the 1990s, and they have swelled even further since then, according to the American College of Rheumatology . Another study showed that gout went from afflicting 45 per 100,000 individuals in 1977-78, to around 63 per 100,000 in 1995-96. Men are more than three times as likely to get the disease, according to the study . Rickets Like gout, rickets also is coming back to haunt the people of Britain, thanks to a "toxic combination" of poor wage growth and higher food prices, say U.K. health officials. Rickets is a condition that results from the inadequate consumption of calcium and Vitamin D in the diet. It can lead to weak and deformed bones, if untreated. Treatment usually involves changes in diet and supplements with missing nutrients. The Scottish government is considering a plan to hand out free vitamins to pregnant women to guard against the disease in newborn babies, according to The Scotsman . While rickets is still rare in the United States, it has increased dramatically, say experts. Studies of some small communities have revealed dramatic spikes in the number of cases, suggesting an overall rise across the country. Scarlet fever Scarlet fever is related to the common streptococcus bacteria, which usually manifests as strep throat. It was a serious health problem before researchers identified the best way to treat it (antibiotics). Its most noticeable symptom is a large red rash that appears on the body, along with the eponymous fever. The disease is easily treatable with antibiotics. In 2014, British health authorities reported that scarlet fever cases had risen to their highest levels in 20 years in the U.K., according to an article in The Independent , and high levels remain, according to British government reports. There was also an outbreak in Hong Kong in 2011, which affected more than 900 people. This week, a single child in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, was receiving treatment for the disease, according to WPXI News . Polio Polio (full name poliomyelitis) was once common in the United States. Even Franklin Delano Roosevelt was a sufferer. The disease is caused by a virus, and can result in paralysis in a matter of hours, although only one in every 200 patients will be paralyzed. Overall, numbers are declining dramatically. The WHO recently certified 11 Southeast Asian countries free of the disease, which means 80 percent of countries of the world are polio free, according to CDC Director Tom Frieden. But polio could just as easily explode again if pressure on it abates. "As long as a single child remains infected, children in all countries are at risk of contracting polio," according to the WHO. "Failure to eradicate polio from these last remaining strongholds could result in as many as 200,000 new cases every year, within 10 years, all over the world." U.S. Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell on Wednesday cited his own childhood bout with polio as the reason he supports vaccinations, according to USA Today . Leprosy Leprosy dates at least back to ancient Egypt, India and China. The earliest mention of the disease was in 600 BCE. But scientists did not discover treatments until the 1940s, and the full cocktail of drugs that halts and kills the virus was not available until the 1960s, and the WHO did not begin recommending the mix until 1981. But leprosy still infects scores of people. According to official reports received from 115 countries, there were 189,018 cases of leprosy in 2012. The number of new cases reported globally in 2012 rose slightly from 226,626 in 2011 to 232,857 in 2012. Ninety-five percent of new cases come from 16 countries, including Angola, Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Madagascar, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nepal, Nigeria, Philippines, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Sudan and the United Republic of Tanzania. Plague The plague was the so-called "Black Death" of Europe in the Middle Ages. The illness is thought to have originated in China and entered Europe through the Port of Caffa on the edge of the Black Sea. By its end, it decimated a roughly two-thirds of Europe's population, according to the Centers for Disease Control . Today, plague is rare, but it still exists and can still kill. There are three varieties. Bubonic plague is the kind carried by fleas and tends to infect the mouth. Septicemic plague infects the bloodstream, and pneumonic plague infects the lungs. Any variety of the disease can morph into another form. The WHO reports 1,000 to 3,000 cases of plague worldwide every year, including a few in the western United States. Those usually come from flea bites. The sickness is not fatal if treated with antibiotics within a week of infection. The CDC warns that pneumonic plague could be used as a bioweapon because it could be synthesized in a laboratory and released through aerosol bombs in densely populated areas. In fact, the terrorist group ISIS may have tried to devise plans to weaponize the bubonic form of the disease, according to various media reports . Whooping cough Whooping cough, also known as pertussis, is also making a frightening comeback. It is highly contagious, and symptoms include fits of coughing so violent that they can lead people to break their own ribs, according to one account . It can be fatal in infants and young children. Despite the fact that a vaccine has been widely available, infection rates have been rising since the 1980s and reached a 50-year high in 2012, according to the CDC . Numbers dropped in most U.S. states in 2013, only to rise again in 2014; as of August of last year, there were 17,325 cases, according to CDC data. As with many diseases, those numeric increases may be due more to improved detection and diagnosis rather than an actual rise in the number of people infected. Pertussis is a cyclical disease, and the number of cases peaks every three to five years, according to the CDC. But over the last several decades, the peaks seem to have gotten higher and the overall number of cases has risen. The number of pertussis cases in California rose so high in 2014 that it had been officially considered an "epidemic," according to state health officials. One study published in the Journal of Pediatrics attributes the rise in cases partly to parents who refuse to vaccinate their children. Data suggest the number of California parents opting not to vaccinate their kids has more than doubled, according to the Los Angeles Times. California families can register for exemptions from state immunization requirements if they feel vaccinations violate their personal beliefs. Worldwide, almost 200,000 children die every year from the disease, most of them in developing countries where vaccination is uncommon or unavailable, according to the WHO.
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health
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The entry-level luxury car is a strange beast. These cars are supposed to draw new people into a brand and, as the theory goes, create lifelong customers. That's the traditional model, but it appears that there's nothing traditional about new luxury car buyers. In fact, lots of people have guessed wrong about who buys these entry luxury vehicles and what they are looking for in such a car. To make the waters murkier, mainstream brands have created extremely luxurious competitors such as the Ford Focus Titanium. These can easily out-price -- and outperform -- vehicles such as the Audi A3 or Mercedes CLA . When Acura rolled out the ILX a few years ago, the entry-level luxury vehicle was created on the Honda Civic platform, which was underwhelming in performance and luxury. It was not a very good starting point for a brand that was struggling with its identity, and the car was in desperate need of rhinoplasty to fix a nose that only a mother could love. It may have taken a few years, but Acura engineers and designers have struck just the right chord with the made-over ILX. It's modest but luxurious. It's fun to drive and fuel-efficient. It's the real deal and rolling into dealerships today. Typical refreshes include a couple of new bobbles and replaced front and rear fascias. Acura went way beyond that for this particular car. Its new fascias force the eye lower and give the car a much wider stance. That helps it look more planted and confident. The new grille, which is still not the best out there, is considerably softened and certainly tolerable. The new Jewel Eye LED headlights are simply fantastic -- and standard on the ILX. (Acura also added LED bars below the lights to work as daytime running lights.) The same goes with the ILX's backside, which is cleaner, lower-looking, and sharper overall. The problem with the previous ILX was that too much of the body looked like a gussied-up Civic, the platform on which the ILX is built. That look has been pleasantly remedied. Add the optional A-Spec package, which adds foglamps, some ground effects, and a rear deck spoiler, and all of the Civic is shaken out of the exterior. There are nice creases across the body, and the bigger 18-inch wheels add to the car's powerful look. But a more powerful look was never going to help the previous model if it still used that anemic 150-horsepower, 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine attached to a five-speed automatic transmission. Acura lost the 2.0-liter engine and dropped in a 2.4-liter, direct injection, 16-valve four-cylinder engine that creates 201 horsepower and 180 lb-ft of torque. It also introduces the first dual-clutch eight-speed automatic transmission with a torque converter and paddle shifters that seem to always know the right gear at the right time. It launches with aggressive power, and once first gear winds out, it quickly shifts and maintains that torque until you let off the gas. There's a touch of torque steer to pull you to the right under heavy acceleration off the line, but that quickly disappears and leaves you with a compact rocket on the road. The electric power steering is taut and very linear, snapping back to center with ease. Driving around Napa, California's, winding mountain roads, the ILX kept its line through every corner and never let up. It's smooth but feels quick and allowed me a chance to make my driving partner just a little bit carsick after a few twisty corners. Acura also improved the car's braking, allowing it to remain smooth and quick. For those who want the car to do the driving for you, the ILX offers adaptive cruise control and lane-keep assist. I'm not particularly fond of the lane-keep assist system, because it seems to work even when I didn't want it to, pulling me back to the center of the lane during faster driving, but I should have merely turned it off then. On the highway, it does a nice job of smoothly adjusting the car back to the middle of the lane. Acura added a number of quieting technologies in the car, including active noise cancelation and additional deadening materials. This was quite noticeable. The car is remarkably quiet, especially considering it's built on the Civic platform, which is not the quietest compact around. A quiet ride remains one of the hallmarks of luxury, and the ILX allows for easy conversations at any speed. The interior improvements are just as noticeable as the exterior ones. There are steps up in the quality of materials, the soft dash, and nicely done stitching throughout the cabin. (The A-Spec model includes aluminum floor pedals and special seat inserts.) There are all of the regular luxury items, such as a moonroof, a clean instrument cluster, and comfortable heated seats. When you sit down in this car, you notice that it's nicely done. The center stack remains a bit confusing, though it's certainly improved over the outgoing model. There are two LCD screens, one at the top of the dash and one in the middle of the center stack. The second one really acts as the stereo head unit -- and Acura offers an optional 10-speaker ELS stereo system that is extremely well-tuned. But the head unit has large graphics, remains confusing to use, and can be entirely duplicated on the bigger 7-inch LCD screen, which offers a sharper picture. In other words, it's redundant for the sake of being redundant. That means it's pointless. But that's a quibble, when in fact the ILX is a solid package and should seriously go onto people's consideration lists. It starts at a modest $28,820, and a nicely loaded model barely goes over $31,000, which is considerably less than some of its competition. As difficult as that entry-level luxury vehicle may be to define, the ILX feels like it has hit the definition right on the bumper, and it might just create a few lifelong Acura owners.
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autos
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Carl Sagan nailed it. "Even today, the most jaded city dweller can be unexpectedly moved upon encountering a clear night sky studded with thousands of twinkling stars," he wrote in his book Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space " in 1994. "When it happens to me after all these years it still takes my breath away." The magic that dazzled Sagan can be enjoyed by anyone with just a modicum of planning, expense and effort. Alan Scott is a software engineer from Albuquerque, New Mexico, and amateur astronomer with a highly informative Web page (user.xmission.com/alanne/Astronomy.html). He says he always had an interest in science, but it wasn't until about 15 years ago that he started stargazing. "I thought, 'Why compete with NASA and its millions of dollars?' But I found there's a tremendous amount of enjoyment in seeing things with my own eyes." Like Sagan and Scott, you can, too. Here's how. Getting started: Buying a $39 telescope and pointing it skyward will likely end in disappointment. A budding astronomer needs to know where to look, and when. Start by buying a star map (available at skymaps.com, which is also a good source for books and guides for beginners). With the map, find the planets and start looking at the moon. A red flashlight? You need to read your charts, maybe take some notes. A red-light flashlight or a regular flashlight with red cellophane over the light is important. "In an urban environment, as you go outside your eyes become night-adapted if it's dark," Scott explains. "If you then have any light (as from a standard flashlight) you lose that night adaption. It takes up to a half-hour to get your eyes night-adapted, and you lose that in a second." A red-light flashlight gives you enough light to work without losing that night adaption. If you want an upgrade over the red cellophane idea, he suggests Orion Telescopes and Binoculars at telescope.com. Finding guidance: Scott suggests astronomy clubs. "I've never been in a hobby that has so few egos and so many people who want to help, who enjoy teaching, enjoy sharing, enjoy each other's company," he says. "Especially if you're in an urban environment over a rural one, you likely have a club nearby. Go to meetings, talk to people, have them show you the ropes." If there's a planetarium in the area, all the better. Go online to find clubs, starting with Sky & Telescope's website (skyandtelescope.com). Do I need a telescope? Not yet. Scott says beginners should choose binoculars first. He says binoculars are about halfway between unaided observation and a telescope and you probably have a pair around the house already. They're also lightweight and portable and, if you need to buy a pair, relatively cheap. "A pair of binoculars does two things," Scott says. "It does magnify, but probably more important it makes things brighter. That brightness is what you're primarily looking for. As a general rule, stars and objects don't need magnification. ... Mainly these things are not bright enough, and you need to brighten them up." He says that, in general, a pair of binoculars will make objects about 10 times larger but 100 times brighter. But what can I see? Plenty, once you get to know your sky map. Start with the constellation Orion, the hunter, a main attraction in the winter sky. Find the three stars that form his belt. Below them and slightly to the right is the star Rigel, Orion's foot. The bright star up and to the left is Betelgeuse (pronounced "beetle juice"), marking his shoulder. The bright spot just below the belt is not a star, but the Orion nebula, which forms his scabbard. Another constellation to look for is the Big Dipper. The last star in the handle of the Big Dipper points (on an arc) to Arcturus, the fourth brightest star in the night sky. And if you project a line connecting the two stars that mark the upper lip and lower bowl of the Big Dipper, it intersects Polaris, the North Star, sitting at the end of the Little Dipper's handle. Don't forget our solar system. "A good pair of binoculars, if someone's holding really steady sit in a chair or put your elbows on the roof of a car the moon is a fabulous object with binoculars," Scott says. "And you can actually see the moons going around Jupiter if you look carefully. A pair of binoculars is almost the same magnification, almost the same diameter of lens, as Galileo's telescope. You're basically using Galileo's telescope for $100. But you're looking with both eyes and you have a better field of view. So you're doing more than Galileo did. Isn't that crazy?" When you do buy a telescope: You want something that's large, cheap, useful and easy to move. Scott recommends an Orion 8-inch Dobsonian, which is around $400. (According to telescopes.com, Dobsonian telescopes have a large aperture and low magnification, ideal for observing faint objects in a wide field of view. "You'll be able to see the rings of Saturn, the bands of Jupiter, four moons of Jupiter, the red spot on Jupiter. It will bring the moon alive." He estimates that the scope itself is only 50 percent of your cost. Eyepieces are 25 percent, as are miscellaneous other items. Scott says that although all telescopes come with eyepieces, it's smart to buy better ones "probably the cheapest way to improve any telescope." Because the moon is so resistant to light pollution, there's a lot to see: mountains, valleys, shadows and craters. An 8-inch telescope, even in a city, will also let you look at the planets. Venus and Jupiter are up now, Scott says, and with that 8-inch "you can see the shadows of the moons of Jupiter move across the surface." Sky & Telescope offers an excellent primer on buying that first telescope (skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-equipment/telescope-buying-guide). What's that "miscellaneous" 25 percent? A comfortable chair, warm clothes, a table (or the tailgate of a pickup), an eyepiece case. Maybe a Thermos. Dealing with dim nights: Several reasons for that. The moon, for one. It's very bright and can add to light pollution, the biggest fly in an astronomer's ointment. Scott says there are three things you want in a sky: transparency, or how clear the skies are; steady air ("If you look up and the stars are twinkling, astronomers hate that. It means the air is moving through the atmosphere."); no light pollution. The first two can be controlled by moving to a higher elevation. Light pollution can't be controlled, and astronomers don't go out when the moon is up. How does viewing rate in your area? Scott says to find the four stars in the bowl of the Little Dipper. If you can see all four, you've got a good sky. None, it's a bad sky. The more stars, the better. Beating light pollution: One option is to get in the car and drive. Where? "Talk to somebody in the club. People know where to go. They'll have their secret spots. You want someplace that's safe. When I was in a Phoenix club we'd go south. But we stopped going there when two astronomers got murdered." Another suggestion is to consult a light pollution map. You could do this every night! No, you can't. Scott says that when you figure in worknights, nights when the moon is up, nights when there are family obligations, bad weather nights ... well, there are only about nine Saturday nights a year that lend themselves to optimal viewing.
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Argentine forensic experts have voiced serious doubts about a Mexican government probe into the abduction and suspected massacre last year of 43 trainee teachers, who officials have declared dead. The students' disappearance on the night of September 26 in the southwestern city of Iguala has triggered massive protests in Mexico. Officials say they were abducted by corrupt police officers, who handed them over to a local drug gang. In a document published on the website of Mexican human rights group Tlachinollan, the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team (EAAF), which has been working to identify remains, detailed numerous problems with the government's handling of the case as well as the conclusions it has already drawn. Late last month, Attorney General Jesus Murillo said there was no doubt that the students were murdered and their remains incinerated and dumped into a river in the nearby town of Cocula. So far, the remains of just one of the group has been positively identified. The EAAF, however, said in the document that it cannot confirm the chain of custody of that student's remains and criticized the government for failing to secure the garbage dump near the river where the charred remains were found. The document also faults the attorney general's office for faulty genetic analysis of samples from family members that would be needed to identify the remains. It notes that human remains found at the dump include teeth fastened to a dental prosthesis. However the team's interviews with family members from all 43 students indicated that none of them had such an implant. EAAF says the discovery strongly suggests that remains belonging to other victims are at the same site. "Right now, the EAAF does not have scientific evidence that establishes that the human remains in the Cocula dump correspond to the students," the document said. Phone calls and emails to EAAF seeking comment were not immediately returned. "The investigation into the (missing students) cannot be wrapped up since a large amount of evidence has still not been processed," the documented concluded, noting that about 80 percent of the land at the dump still must be analyzed, which would take months. A spokesman for the attorney general's office said on Sunday he had no comment on the EAAF's findings. (Editing by Simon Gardner and Eric Walsh)
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MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) -- Mike Conley had 21 points and six assists, Marc Gasol finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds and the Memphis Grizzlies beat the Atlanta Hawks 94-88 on Sunday. BOX SCORE: GRIZZLIES 94, HAWKS 88 The game was tied at 86 after Mike Scott's 3-pointer with 3:24 left before Memphis scored the next eight points to put away the game. Zach Randolph had 11 points and 15 rebounds, while Kosta Koufos finished with 10 points and seven rebounds as Memphis outrebounded the Hawks 55-37. Jeff Teague led the Hawks with 22 points, shooting 9 of 13, while Kent Bazemore added 14 points. Dennis Schroder and Scott finished with 11 apiece off the Atlanta bench and DeMarre Carroll scored 10. The Hawks converted 12 of 30 from 3-point range, with Scott and Schroder combining to go 5 for 7.
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Despite reading Kirsten Acuna's scathing review of "Jupiter Ascending" and other dire press ( 22% on Rotten Tomatoes ), I decided to see the movie this weekend. After all, I take pride in appreciating science fiction that many don't like, such as " Lucy ," " John Carter ," " In Time ," and " Repo Men ." And I didn't just see the movie: I shelled out $22.50 on Fandango for Regal's premium RPX 3D screening in Times Square so I could see the $175-million Warner Bros. feature at its best. Oh what a horrible mistake I made. Written and directed by The Wachowskis, "Jupiter" is so bad it made me want never to go out to the movies again. The plot is ridiculous, but it's the inept and tedious script that seals the deal. See it's only ten minutes into the movie that we meet the ancient human aristocrat siblings from another planet who have been harvesting rejuvenating lifeblood from other alien life and who plan to do the same to planet Earth, which they actually seeded with humans after having first wiped out the dinosaurs. After that ham-fisted exposition, it's no surprise when earthling cleaning lady Jupiter Jones (Mila Kunis), who is introduced with an equally ham-fisted voiceover about her parents, encounters aliens and wolf-human hybrid Caine Wise (Channing Tatum) and gets swept up in an adventure. She doesn't seem surprised either and as a Kunis fan I'm going to do her the credit of blaming the script and not her acting. Compare that to exposition in " The Matrix ," which is the one good movie I've seen by The Wachowskis. That movie grabs you from the first scene, as protagonist Neo (Keanu Reeves) receives a mysterious message and is sent running for his life, and there's a dramatic buildup before he takes the plunge and learns the shocking truth about the world (that humans are being harvested by, in that case, machines). "Jupiter" treats a comparable plot with the drama of a Wikipedia page. The Wachowski's latest doesn't get any better from there. Jones, after learning she is the genetic second coming of one of those ancient aristocrats, suffers through boring and repetitive encounters with all of her new family members, as they pretend to be her friends and she almost falls for it. We are also treated to a cornfield showdown that feels like a knockoff of " Looper "; space rogue hijinks that feel like a knockoff of " Guardians of the Galaxy "; a Steampunk bureaucracy that feels like a knockoff of " Snowpiercer " or " Doctor Who "; and a wedding that feels like a knockoff of " The Princess Bride ." Meanwhile, Wise is not developed at all, and the only significance of his wolf splicing seems to be pointed ears and stoicism. This humorless character is a waste of Tatum's comedic talent and charm, and it makes for a painfully awkward romance with Jones. Wise: "I have more in common with dogs than I do with you." Jones: "I love dogs." Dumb movies can be fun, but this one is just boring, and it drags out for 127 minutes. The only redeeming qualities of the movie are good special effects, production design, and to a certain extent action sequences. There is great part early on when Wise, equipped with awesome gravity boots that let him surf on anything, a energy shield, and a directed-energy gun, embarrasses a group of space mercenaries and follows it up by winning an aerial fight in Chicago against a bunch of aliens with cool spaceships. But the action sequences go on too long, and at a certain point watching so much CGI becomes as interesting as watching " Halo ." This was most apparent in the climactic aerial battle between Wise and a winged lizard person in the middle of an exploding base on Jupiter: Strip away the CGI and you're left with Tatum's face spinning in a circle for five minutes. While this movie might fare better among non-native English speakers , it seems likely to be a flop, which was expected last summer when Warner Bros. abruptly pushed the movie back 10 months only weeks before it was due in theaters and it's off to a bad start on opening weekend . I could go on but will instead direct readers to Acuna's lengthy discussion of how much this movie stinks . NOW WATCH: What Happened When A Bunch Of Young Boys Were Told To Hit A Girl
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When you run one of the world's most successful hedge funds, you can probably afford some pretty amazing stuff. So it makes sense that Steve Cohen, with an estimated net worth of $10.3 billion , has a long list of incredible personal purchases. Cohen started SAC Capital in 1992, and became a Wall Street legend after his firm saw returns of 70% for two consecutive years. Cohen is known for his love of art, having spent lavish amounts on famous artwork by Pablo Picasso, Jasper Johns, Damien Hirst, Andy Warhol, Jeff Koons and more. He also enjoys buying up real estate, and owns several properties, each worth millions of dollars.
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On February 15, 2000, the football world lost Derrick Thomas. What do you remember most about him?
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Bengals LB Rey Maualuga battled hamstring injuries all season and is now a free agent this offseason. Should Marvin Lewis and the Bengals let him walk?
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Dean Smith coached some of the best players in college basketball history. If you had to pick his top four small forwards, who would you pick?
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TORONTO (AP) -- San Antonio's worst shooting performance of the season kept Spurs coach Gregg Popovich waiting for his 1,000th career win. BOX SCORE: RAPTORS 87, SPURS 82 James Johnson scored a season-high 20 points in his return to the starting lineup, DeMar DeRozan had 18 and the Toronto Raptors beat San Antonio 87-82 Sunday night. The Spurs shot 31 for 93 (.333), surpassing their previous low of .344 in a 98-81 defeat at Houston on Nov. 6. "Poor execution and a bad night," said Manu Ginobili, who went 3 for 13. "A bad combination." Amir Johnson added 15 points, Kyle Lowry 12 and Jonas Valanciunas had a season-high 16 rebounds as Toronto improved to 8-2 at home against Western Conference opponents. The Raptors snapped a seven-game losing streak against the Spurs and won for the first time in five home meetings. "To hold a team like that to their season low is admirable," Raptors coach Dwane Casey said. "It shows how we have to play at grind it out." Toronto, which rallied from a 20-point deficit to beat the Clippers on Friday, has won two straight after losses to Milwaukee and Brooklyn. "We set the bar high and we've got to keep going to that standard," James Johnson said. Tim Duncan and Marco Belinelli each scored 12 points, Kawhi Leonard had 11 and Tony Parker 10 for the Spurs, who had won nine of 11 coming in but couldn't get Popovich his milestone win. "We're not trying to win for one person or another, we're trying to better our team and end strong (before the All-Star break)," a frustrated Duncan said. Parker's 3 tied it at 75-all at 5:02, and Duncan made a pair of free throws at 3:40 to give San Antonio its first lead of the fourth quarter. Lowry tied it again with a fadeaway jumper but Belinelli's 3 at 2:20 restored San Antonio's advantage. James Johnson scored a layup, Parker answered with a hook shot but Amir Johnson's dunk at 1:33 cut it to 82-81. After the Spurs turned it over on a shot-clock violation, James Johnson hit a 3 with 49 seconds left, putting Toronto up 84-82. Manu Ginobili and Belinelli both missed 3s and James Johnson was fouled as he grabbed the rebound on Lowry's miss at the other end, making one of two with 4 seconds remaining. After a Toronto foul, Duncan turned the ball over on the resulting inbounds pass, giving the Raptors possession with 4 seconds left. DeRozan was fouled and sealed the win with a pair at the line. Ginobili said he and Leonard "got clogged at the top of the key" while trying to get open for Duncan's pass. "Just a bad read on my part," Duncan said of the costly turnover. "It's my responsibility to make sure that they're open and the ball goes where it needs to go. I just read it wrong." San Antonio missed 12 of its first 15 field-goal attempts in the first but Ginobili hit a buzzer-beating 3 to keep the Spurs close, with Toronto leading 28-25 after one. Toronto called two timeouts in the first 6 minutes of the second as San Antonio started the quarter with a 15-5 run to take a 40-33 lead. The Raptors scored the final eight points of the half, pulling to 46-45. James Johnson opened the second half with a slam dunk to give Toronto the lead, San Antonio answered with a 9-0 run but the Raptors reclaimed the lead with a 10-0 spurt led by four points each from Johnson and Valanciunas. The Spurs went scoreless for almost 6 minutes before Boris Diaw stopped the drought with a free throw. "They were good," Ginobili said. "I guess we helped them. We were not sharp." Valanciunas had six points and eight rebounds in the third to help Toronto take a 64-58 lead into the fourth. ------ LOST LEGEND Popovich had fond words for legendary college coach Dean Smith, who died Sunday at the age of 83. Smith was a former assistant coach at the Air Force Academy, where Popovich later captained the team. "He was a wonderful man," Popovich said. "He was very important to me at the beginning of my career, he was really gracious to me. He was an iconic figure in the game but he was a wonderful human being to a lot of people." --- TIP-INS Spurs: San Antonio's starters shot a combined 7 for 29 in the first half. ... The Spurs made four of their first six shots in the third, then missed 16 of their final 17. ... This was the first of nine straight road games for the Spurs, who won't play at home again until March 4 because of the annual San Antonio Rodeo. Raptors: James Johnson started in place of Greivis Vasquez, his eighth start of the season and his first since Jan. 12. ... Valanciunas had four blocks, one shy of his career-high. UP NEXT Clippers: At Indiana on Monday night. Raptors: Host Washington on Wednesday night.
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Kevin Durant on OKC's 131-108 win over the Clippers, including Mitch McGary's breakout performance.
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We all know athletes are known for showing up in music videos. The crew tells us which athletes had the best music video cameos.
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Barry Bonds will be at spring training with the Giants for the second consecutive year. Bonds is in talks to join the Giants in an "instructional role." Do you think it is a bad idea to bring Bonds into the Giants organization?
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About 1,000 flights have been canceled in New England ahead of another major winter storm that could bring up to 2 feet of snow in some areas in the northeastern United States. The snowstorm is the third to hit the region in less than three weeks. The National Weather Service (NWS) reported that Boston's Logan Airport received 7.4 inches of snow on Sunday, and over 400 flights were canceled at Boston area airports, while authorities warned drivers to stay off roads on Monday. A snow emergency has been reportedly declared in Boston and authorities announced that all public schools in the city will be closed on Monday and Tuesday. Central Massachusetts received over 9 inches of snow on Sunday, and NWS forecast up to 24 inches on Monday. "We're in this pattern now," Bill Simpson, a NWS meteorologist in Boston, said, according to Reuters . "The cold air comes flying down here from Canada and interacts with moisture from the ocean. When those ingredients get together you get enough energy for a snow event." The NWS reportedly also issued winter storm warnings for central New York, the western Catskills and New England through early Tuesday, predicting a "long duration snow event" in surrounding areas. Upstate New York is expected to receive between 9 and 18 inches of snow, authorities reportedly said. Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker reportedly said that state offices would be closed Monday. The Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency also said that traveling would be difficult from Sunday night through Tuesday morning. Meanwhile, the country's west coast was dealing with heavy rainfall, and the NWS predicted more rains for Northern California and points further north along the coast, with winds of 20 to 30 mph and gusts of 45 mph forecast for the San Francisco Bay area and Monterey. "Flooding and mudslides are a possibility for Northern California, and for parts of Oregon and Washington as well," Dan Pydynowski, a senior meteorologist, told USA Today .
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Sam Smith enjoyed every single moment of the 2015 GRAMMY Awards and it helped that he won four, including Best New Artist, Record of the Year, and Song of the Year.
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Ted Ligety earned the Bronze in the Mens Alpine Combined at the FIS Alpine World Championships. It was his sixth career medal.
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Dakota Johnson pretends to be George Clooney when she makes reservations at restaurants. The 'Fifty Shades of Grey' star has confessed that because she's still relatively unknown she finds it difficult to get a table at some of Los Angeles' best restaurants and therefore pretends to be making a reservation for the Hollywood legend instead. She laughed: "And then I show up and the restaurant is like, 'What name is [your booking] under? And I go, [looks at the floor and mumbles] 'Clooney'. I've never even met him. But he eats a lot of meals: George Clooney is the hungriest man in Hollywood!" The 25-year-old star admits she's nervous about being thrust into the spotlight when her new film comes out next week but insists she's not impressed by Hollywood as her parents Melanie Griffith and Don Johnson are both actors. Claiming her parents can't give her advice, she added to the Sunday Telegraph newspaper: "It's all so different now. When Mom and Dad were at the height of their careers and things were super-crazy and they couldn't leave their houses, there wasn't social media. It was all about autographs. Now everyone's the press. I feel fame is perforated: it can be glorious but it can completely destroy a human too."
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MINEOLA, N.Y. The long-simmering fight over noise from planes and helicopters landing on Long Island's Hamptons is reaching a crescendo this winter: Town officials are considering new laws to strictly limit flights, while aviation advocates are headed to court in order to keep flying. "The noise makes my blood pressure jump; I can't sleep," says Teresa McCaskie, a year-round Mattituck resident and longtime critic of the racket created by approximately 25,000 annual takeoffs and landings at nearby East Hampton Town Airport. The majority of flights almost 20,000 happen between May and September. "There's no ignoring it, no letting it go," she said. "And it's not just one or two; it's the constant pounding of the sound. You can't think clearly, you can't function. It's impossible." After receiving 24,591complaints about airport-related noise in 2014, almost quadruple the 6,776 a year earlier, town officials are preparing new local laws to severely limit access to the facility. Complaints about airport noise have been growing over the past decade. The town's proposed changes include a year-round 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. curfew, and limits on so-called "noisy" aircraft as defined by FAA sound standards. Most drastically, town officials want to prohibit all helicopter operations from noon Thursday to noon Monday during the summer. A public hearing is set for early March, and town supervisor Larry Cantwell expects a final vote before Memorial Day. "The reaction is somewhat predictable," Cantwell said in a telephone interview last week. "The aviation industry, the folks that own helicopter companies, are not pleased. But generally the reaction from those impacted by the noise seems to be supportive." He said town officials remain open to negotiations with aircraft operators to modify the proposals, as long as it results in fewer noise complaints. "We're trying to limit the impact on aircraft operations and still get the best result possible," he said. A coalition of aviation industry leaders and others, which last month filed legal action to limit the town's ability to regulate the airport, reacted derisively to the changes. "The town has proposed an unprecedented and drastic set of restrictions that would block access to a federally funded airport, discriminate against helicopters and other operators and will likely fail for a variety of reasons," said Loren Riegelhaupt, spokesman for the Friends of East Hampton Airport Coalition, " If enacted, the town board's recommendations would essentially shut down the airport during the summer." The coalition last month filed two legal complaints seeking to block the town's efforts at cutting traffic to the airport. One filed in federal court argues the Federal Aviation Administration has an obligation to block the town's proposals and the other claims the FAA has not resolved pending safety issues at the airport. An FAA spokesman has declined to comment on the complaints. The town has stopped receiving FAA grant funding in recent years, and Cantwell claims that gives local officials final word on airport operations. Despite the lack of FAA funding, all airports are required to comply with all federal safety regulations. Cantwell said he and other town representatives plan to meet with FAA officials in Washington later this month to discuss the situation. "We are troubled that the town board would consider proposals that are so draconian and unlawful," said Kurt Carlson, CEO of Heliflite, a helicopter company based at Newark Liberty Airport that offers flights to East Hampton throughout the summer.
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Rihanna, Sir Paul McCartney and Kanye West, Sam Smith and Mary J. Blige, Ed Sheeran John Mayer, Herbie Hancock and Questlove, and Jessie J and Sir Tom Jones were among the groups of performers at last night's Grammy Awards. The annual musical awards ceremony showcased a number of collaborations, with the 'Diamonds' hitmaker's performance with the Beatles Legend and the rapper on their track 'FourFiveSeconds' prompting a singalong at Los Angeles' Staples Centre, with all the audience on their feet throughout the song. Sam and Mary's rendition of his Grammy-winning single 'Stay With Me' was widely regarded as one of the stand-out performances of the night, with their stripped-back vocals complemented by an orchestra. Ed was joined by a trio of guests on his track 'Thinking Out Loud' and the British singer later joined ELO, who had already performed 'Evil Woman', on vocals for their classic track 'Mr. Blue Sky'.Jessie and Tom - who previously worked together on UK TV show 'The Voice' - teamed up on 'You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin', a tribute to songwriters Barry Mann & Cyntheia Weil, who received the Trustees Award, while US 'The Voice coaches Adam Levine and Gwen Stefani also teamed up, singing Maroon 5 track 'My Heart Is Open'. Elsewhere, Usher was joined on stage by Stevie Wonder, who played harmonica as the 'OMG' hitmaker sang the legendary star's track 'If It's Magic', and the evening's double Grammy winner, Beck, was backed by Chris Martin on guitar as he performed 'Heart is a Drum'. Katy Perry gave an emotional performance of 'By the Grace of God' following a video message from President Obama and a speech from a domestic violence survivor to raise awareness of ItsOnUs.org. Sia's performance was introduced by actor Shia LaBeouf reading out a love letter, and she was joined on stage by 'Bridesmaids' star Kristen Wiig, who danced impressively to 'Chandelier'.Other solo performers at the ceremony included Beyonce, Madonna, Ariana Grande and Miranda Lambert.AC/DC opened the show with 'Rock or Bust' and 'Highway To Hell' and the close of the evening was marked by John Legend and Common singing 'Glory', which is taken from the movie 'Selma'.
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Ever come back to your car to find that someone dinged it while you were away? You might have a better chance at catching the culprit in the future. Germany's Hella is developing a smart body panel that uses a grid of foil-like pressure-sensitive electronic sensors (plus special algorithms) to detect when someone dents or scratches your vehicle. It can even tie into onboard cameras and GPS to both record where the car was and get some video evidence, so you can show that someone else's botched parking job wrecked your ride. Of course, this might also work against you. Insurers could use dent alerts to hike your rates on the fly, and rental agencies could penalize you for damage before you've even returned to the lot. However you feel about the technology's potential, you'll have to wait a while. Hella is attracting interest from BMW and other manufacturers, but it doesn't expect its intelligent panels to reach shipping cars until 2018. It might be worth the wait, though. If enough cars start using these panels, less-than-considerate drivers might drive more cautiously -- they'd have a harder time getting away with scrapes and other minor fender benders.
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I see the backed-up hunger for the forthcoming Fifty Shades Of Grey , with all its palely transgressive, kiss-the-lash sexual provocations, and I ask myself, did the clock just stop? Have we moved one inch into the sexual future since 1975? Is this still all it takes a virginal naif willing to submit, a power magnate keen to dominate more than just his supine boardroom and stunted workforce, and a fancy set of bedroom restraints to whip America up into a tumescent frenzy of anticipation? I say 1975 advisedly because that seems like the year when Hollywood topped out on what it was prepared to show sexually in the wake of the 1968 MPAA ratings reforms. Even now, even with the NC-17 rating, Hollywood is hard-pressed to match what was sexually acceptable in mid-70s international cinema. In movies like The Damned, The Night Porter and Salon Kitty, it was the Nazis who were the big pervy freaks cross-dressing, engaging in polymorphous perversity at the drop of a spiked helmet, and offering severed heads in pretty boxes as fond love tokens. Now it's the lions of Silicon Valley and other slavery-friendly carnivores of the One Per Cent whose libidos only come alive at the prospect of antiseptic steel-and-glass, power-game non-sex, with no touching and no eye-contact. It's always businessmen, isn't it, always these buccaneering capitalist overdogs? Christian Grey, whose big chopper really is just a helicopter, Mickey Rourke's arbitrageur in 9 ½ Weeks, Richard Gere's corporate raider in Pretty Woman, Patrick Bateman… Does that make their womenfolk metaphors for America, ready to bend themselves into any position to seek Wall Street's perfidious and fleeting favour? Sexual melodramas are in a double bind today the Golden Age of Hollywood is dead, but the Golden Age of Masturbation is in full flood. You can find more transgressive and troublingly icky sex on the internet before breakfast than will pass before the MPAA ratings board in the next century (they're even getting to "fifth base" on The Mindy Project, meaning nowadays the most offensive thing about the butter sequence in Last Tango In Paris is the saturated fats). And it's free for all, so how does Hollywood compete? Well, it doesn't; instead, it gives us status porn: limos, helipads, penthouse sex-eyries, gazillion thread-count percale sheets. But never the wet spot in the bed, never the broken condom. In an age of sexual oversupply, I sometimes think fondly of "when they kept their clothes on". Dorothy Malone removing her spectacles in The Big Sleep, Marilyn's diaphanous dress in Some Like it Hot, Cyd Charisse whipping off her floor-length green greatcoat to reveal that provocative red dress in The Band Wagon. For now I'll count less as much, much more.
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Rick Strom looks back at the loss of basketball great, Dean Smith, Kevin Love's big night, and much more from the hardwood and the ice.
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TOKYO Nissan raised its earnings forecast for the fiscal year after reporting a nearly 21 percent jump in quarterly profit as a cheap yen amplified strong overseas sales. The Japanese automaker said Monday that sales were strong in the U.S. and Europe and the cheap yen boosted overseas revenue, offsetting a decline in its home market. Nissan Motor Co., allied with Renault SA of France, reported a better-than-expected 101.8 billion yen ($856 million) net profit for October-December. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had expected about 83 billion yen ($697 million) in quarterly profit. Quarterly sales surged about 17 percent to 2.94 trillion yen ($24.7 billion), which was also better than forecasts. Yokohama-based Nissan, which makes the Leaf electric car, the Altima sedan and Infiniti luxury models, expects a 420 billion yen ($3.5 billion) profit for the fiscal year through March, marking an 8 percent rise year-on-year. Previously, it had projected a 405 billion yen ($3.4 billion) profit. The automaker raised its annual sales forecast to 11.15 trillion yen ($93.7 billion) from 10.8 trillion yen ($908 billion). The weakening yen has lifted results at Japanese exporters such as Nissan. Nissan said the dollar averaged 114 yen in the October-December quarter compared with 100 yen in the same quarter a year earlier. Nissan Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn is calling it a "normalizing yen-dollar exchange rate," as he has repeatedly said the yen had been too strong. "We anticipate good full-year results as our product offensive and positive momentum in North American and Western Europe offsets volatility in other markets," he said. Nissan has also linked its brand power to electric cars. Although sales numbers are still few, at just 158,000 Leaf electric cars, cumulative around the world, the effort highlights Nissan's prestige in zero-emissions. The automaker's other strength is its alliance with Renault. Nissan is expecting to sell some 5 million cars and trucks globally this fiscal year. When combined with Renault global sales are estimated at 8.5 million vehicles, making the alliance a giant on the heels of Japanese rival Toyota Motor Corp., German automaker Volkswagen AG and General Motors Co. of the U.S. Toyota, the world's top selling automaker, earlier raised its annual forecast after reporting third quarter profit jumped 14 percent, thanks to the weak yen. Honda Motor Co., hit hard by a recall scandal involving Takata Corp. air bags, lowered its annual earnings forecast after quarterly profit slipped 15 percent due to recall expenses, despite the positive effect of the weak yen. ___ Follow Yuri Kageyama: https://twitter.com/yurikageyama
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finance
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Family of U.S. aid worker Kayla Mueller awaits confirmation on her fate, says a family spokesman. Rough Cut (no reporter narration)
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Russia and Egypt may replace the U.S. dollar with their national currencies for settlement of accounts in bilateral trade, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an interview with Egyptian media ahead of his visit to the country on Monday. Putin told Egypt's Al-Ahram daily newspaper that the issue of excluding the dollar in bilateral trade between Moscow and Cairo is "being actively discussed," especially because the tourist season in Egypt is about to begin. According to the Russian leader, the use of national currencies -- ruble and Egyptian pound -- in settlement of accounts will help create more favorable conditions for Russian citizens who annually spend their holidays in Egypt. "This measure will open up new prospects for trade and investment cooperation between our countries, reduce its dependence on the current trends in the world markets," Putin told Al-Ahram, according to Kremlin . "I should note that we already use national currencies for trade with a number of the CIS States, and China. This practice proves its worth; we are ready to adopt it in our relations with Egypt as well. This issue is being discussed in substance by relevant agencies of both countries." According to Putin, the volume of bilateral trade between Moscow and Cairo in 2014 amounted to more than $4.5 billion, an increase of nearly 50 percent compared to the previous year. Russia provides about 40 percent of grain consumed in Egypt, while Cairo exports large amounts of fruit and vegetables to Moscow, he added. "We see promising prospects in the field of high technology, particularly in the areas of nuclear energy, outer space use and sharing of the Russian GLONASS satellite navigation system," Putin said. Russia has also been pushing for a switch to national currencies in mutual payments with others countries, including China, India, Thailand and Turkey, RIA Novosti reported . In September last year, Russia and China reportedly vowed to settle more bilateral trade in ruble and yuan, and improve cooperation between banks. In October, the two countries signed a three-year currency-swap line of 150 billion yuan ($24 billion), allowing Russia to borrow the yuan and lend the ruble, Bloomberg reported .
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Towards the end of last month, Microsoft released a trailer for a new device it has in the works HoloLens . Declaring "the era of holographic computing is here", the video is, and I don't say this lightly, extraordinary. If early reports from testers are to be believed, it creates a realistic-feeling augmented reality. You put it on a visor you wear over your face and see the world around you as it really is, plus a bunch of things that aren't really there: maybe a "television screen" where there's a blank wall in your living room, maybe a pile of bricks from Minecraft piled on your bedroom floor, maybe your friend who lives in Australia, sitting on your sofa. In the same month that Google announced that it was cancelling Google Glass because no one really wants constant notifications about text messages in the corner of their eye, Microsoft, of all unlikely suspects, has announced the product that everyone hoped Google Glass would be. You wear it, you look through it, and it re-skins reality the way you want it. This is the future. Can you feel it pressing on the nape of your neck, pushing you forward? Microsoft HoloLens trailer. Gaming is an early driver of augmented reality technology there's a reason Minecraft , acquired by Microsoft last year for $2.5bn , is front-and-centre in that first HoloLens video. When people think about reasons they might want to enter a virtual world, they tend to think of gaming. Microsoft spokespeople have already talked about the "mind-blowing" possibilities for HoloLens in gaming. The previous front-runner in "most exciting virtual reality equipment available", Oculus Rift (acquired last summer by Facebook for $2bn the smart money knows this stuff is going to be big business), is specifically designed as a gaming product. You put it on your face and suddenly the gaming world in which you've been running around slaying dragons or shooting marines isn't just on a screen in front of you, it's all around you. It's easy to understand why that would be fun. What's less discussed, however, is what the development of augmented rather than virtual reality will mean for the gaming space, and for our lives in the future. To get our terms straight, virtual reality means you step into the gaming world and all you see is that computer-generated digital reality. Augmented reality is like HoloLens: you can still see the real world, still walk around in it and navigate it successfully, but some of the things you can see aren't really there. What does this mean for gaming? It means games can be everywhere. The Microsoft HoloLens. Photograph: Rex Imagine this: you're waiting for a bus, with your HoloLens on. I mean it's 10 to 15 years from now, the HoloLens comes in contact-lens form. You're signed up to play a new spy game. You're playing it right now. An attractive person of the gender you prefer comes up to you at the bus stop and passes you the secret documents. Of the other passengers on the bus some of them are real, but one of them's an enemy agent. Don't worry, the game knows which is which and will stop you misidentifying a stranger as a target. And anyway the poisoned umbrella ferrule you have to aim for someone's exposed calf is virtual too. You can't actually hurt anyone, or yourself. It's just that you no longer have to experience reality ever, unless you really want to. You can always be playing. If that sounds a bit troubling, I can't say you're wrong. And I can highly recommend a movie that was released last year: The Congress . Based on the works of visionary Stanislaw Lem and created by Waltz With Bashir director Ari Folman, The Congress is an at times incoherent but often brilliant evocation of, essentially, life after shared consensual reality is gone. That is, a reality we all agree on, one on which there is consensus. In the film, everyone "skins" reality to be whatever pleases them the best. You can know what you're seeing, but not what anyone else is seeing. The Congress trailer. In a way, it's going to be amazing. Don't like the British winter? Why not experience Caribbean sun in the sky whenever you look up? Want to walk to the shops next to your best friend who lives in New York? Sure, can do. Want to hang out with AI-driven virtual people from your favourite game? They'll always be there for you. Does that sound ridiculous? Consider that we've already lost shared consensual audio reality and we didn't even notice it going. In any city centre, it seems more than half of people are wearing headphones now; we don't share the soundtrack of the streets anymore. So yes, in a way it'll be wonderful. And of course it will also be terrible: every new development is a gain and a loss. Enjoy consensual shared reality while you can; my guess is it won't be here for long.
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As Bayern Munich steam towards an inevitable 25th German league title, Pep Guardiola wants a return to "tiki-taka" football in the Bavarian giants' assault on the much-coveted Champions League title. "We're not perfect, I know that. We have to improve," said Bayern's perfectionist Spanish coach after Saturday's routine 2-0 league win at bottom side VfB Stuttgart. Under Guardiola, Barcelona dominated Spanish football by winning 14 titles from 2008 until 2012, with their fast-paced passing, dubbed "tiki-taka", to keep the ball away from the opposition. Bayern are used to enjoying around 70 percent possession under Guardiola, are eight points clear in the Bundesliga and on course for a third straight league title. But after three below-par domestic performances so far in 2015 by Bayern's own lofty standards, the Spaniard will use this week for some fine-tuning before their European assault recommences. The 2013 Champions League winners travel to Lviv on February 17 to face Shakhtar Donetsk, due to the political situation in Ukraine, in their last 16 first leg clash. Hamburg are Bayern's next domestic opponent in Munich on Saturday in their final warm-up, but Guardiola wants to show the north Germans no love on Valentine's day. "We have to find our game, that is our goal for the next few games," said Guardiola. "The key is less running and more play, make the pass as quickly as possible." An Arjen Robben first-half goal and a wonderful free kick from defender David Alaba gave Bayern three more league points in Stuttgart, but Guardiola wants more. "The win was important for the psyche, but also for (our place in) the table," said Guardiola. "The result was important for our preparations against Hamburg and Donetsk, but we have to improve to reach our level." There has been a nervous energy to Guardiola since Bayern were thrashed 4-1 at second-placed Wolfsburg on their return from the winter break at the end of January. Guardiola sailed close to the wind in the 1-1 draw at home to Schalke last Tuesday by storming out of his technical area to remonstrate with assistant referee Markus Hacker after a Robert Lewandowski goal was disallowed. - Great expectations - He later hugged the fourth official when Arjen Robben gave Bayern the lead but escaped any sanction from referee Bastian Dankert. Guardiola regularly bemoans the expectations from Bayern's board and fans alike for his side to win every match by a significant scoreline and a convincing performance. Having wrapped up last season's Bundesliga title in April with a record seven matches to spare in his first season, Guardiola is now under pressure to deliver another Champions League crown. Especially with this year's final to be held in Berlin on June 6. Bayern are still smarting from losing the last final on German soil when they were beaten by Chelsea in 2012 at their own Allianz Arena. Having been well-beaten by Real Madrid in last season's semi-finals, Guardiola is eager to win a third Champions League title, having lifted the trophy twice as Barcelona coach. But he insists his side are far from the finished article. "We need a bit more time, (January's) winter break wasn't so good for us - you can't play for eleven months at this level and always win, win, win," he insisted. It's Guardiola's desire for constant improvement which has pushed Bayern to new heights -- according to France legend Zinedine Zidane. "FC Bayern were always good, but the club is now one of the top sides in the world," the 42-year-old, who now coaches Real's reserves, told German daily Bild on Sunday. "That's down to Pep, he has given the club an extra kick and has brought his own touch to their game, which makes the difference. "They always played fast, attacking football, but under Guardiola they have added a bit extra."
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When a South Korean woman invested in a robot vacuum cleaner, the idea was to leave her trustworthy gadget to do its work while she took a break from household chores. Instead, the 52-year-old resident of Changwon city ended up being the victim of what many believe is a peek into a dystopian future in which supposedly benign robots turn against their human masters. The woman, whose name is being withheld, was taking a nap on the floor at home when the vacuum cleaner locked on to her hair and sucked it up, apparently mistaking it for dust. The agony of having her hair entangled in the bowels of the contraption roused the woman from her slumber. Unable to free herself, she called the fire department with a "desperate rescue plea" and was separated from the robot's clutches by paramedics, according to the South Korean newspaper the Kyunghyang Shinmun. She escaped serious injury, although it is not known whether she has retained the autonomous cleaner's services. Robot vacuum cleaners have grown in popularity in recent years, with US firm iRobot's circular Roomba selling well over 10 million units in the 12 years since its debut in 2002. Panasonic recently unveiled Rulo, a triangular rival to Roomba that the Japanese firm says is more adept at sucking up dust from corners. The wheeled gadgets are equipped with sensors that enable them to steer clear of obstacles, avoid tumbling down stairs, and detect dust and other debris on the floor. They can also be programmed to seek out a recharging dock. Korean Biz Wire pointed out, however, that people from cultures in which it's commonplace to sit or nap on the floor - such as Japan and South Korea may be more vulnerable to vacuum robot rage.
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When a series of big U.S. companies last year moved to reincorporate abroad in inversion deals, some Republican lawmakers and tax policy critics blamed the high U.S. corporate tax rate. Lowering it, they said, would keep companies from fleeing the country. But a Reuters analysis of the taxes being paid by the six largest companies known to be doing inversions in late 2014 and early 2015 showed that, even before the deals, all were paying below the statutory U.S. federal corporate rate of 35 percent. Most were well below it. The average effective tax rate for the six companies was 20.3 percent for 2011-2013, Reuters found, using an estimation method reviewed by tax experts that was based on public data for U.S. profits and U.S. taxes. The Reuters analysis suggests that the surge in inversion transactions may not have had much to do with the statutory corporate income tax. Moreover, it shows Washington's current debate over business tax reform may be too focused on the statutory rate, neglecting effective rates and the incentives that companies have to shift profits abroad. The six companies analyzed were Medtronic Inc, Applied Materials Inc, Steris Corp, Mylan Inc, C&J Energy Services Inc and Burger King, which has been renamed Restaurant Brands International Inc. All six have recently completed or are in the midst of completing inversion-type deals, despite a Treasury Department crackdown in September that slowed inversion deal-making. Inversions have been around for three decades, but they became more common in recent years. Guided by tax lawyers and accountants, companies have done more than 50 such deals since the 1980s; about half of them just since 2008. The deals typically involve a U.S. company buying a smaller foreign rival, then taking on its nationality for tax purposes, while many core operations remain in the United States. The six companies studied have themselves disclosed 2011-2013 effective tax rates averaging 27.8 percent, or 7.5 percentage points higher than the Reuters calculation. The discrepancy with the Reuters figure is likely because the companies' figures include not just U.S. federal taxes, but all taxes, including state, local and foreign. In a project for Reuters, the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), a tax policy think tank in Washington, looked at the six companies' data somewhat differently, stripping out certain accounting adjustments, and found an average effective tax rate of 22.2 percent over the period. Tax inversion deals are mainly driven by efforts to shift profits out of the U.S. and to access overseas earnings at little or no cost in U.S. tax, tax specialists said. "The issue is much broader than the U.S. corporate tax rate being high," said Steve Rosenthal, a senior fellow at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, a centrist think tank. To be sure, some other tax experts and activists say the statutory rate is the key, not only to inversions, but to broad U.S. business competitiveness around the world. "You fix the rates, you fix it all," said Grover Norquist, a Republican activist and president of Americans for Tax Reform, which advocates for lower taxes and smaller government. (For related graphic on statutory corporate tax rates around the world, see: http://link.reuters.com/qak93w) NO DIRECT CONNECTION A close look at of some of the six deals suggests no direct connection with the 35-percent U.S statutory rate. For instance, Pittsburgh-based pharmaceuticals company Mylan is buying the non-U.S. generic drug business of Chicago's Abbott Laboratories to create a combined company incorporated in the Netherlands and managed from Pennsylvania. The Netherlands' statutory rate is 25 percent. However, Mylan's global effective tax rates, as disclosed in the company's annual reports to investors, were 16.2 percent in 2013, 20.0 percent in 2012 and 17.7 percent in 2011. ITEP pegged Mylan's U.S.-specific effective tax rate at 20.5 percent on average for those same years, and the Reuters analysis found it to be 19.7 percent. When Mylan announced the Abbott deal in July 2014, it said it expected it to bring many advantages and "to lower Mylan's tax rate to approximately 20-21 percent in the first full year, and to the high teens thereafter." A spokeswoman for Mylan declined to comment and referred questions to past statements. In another deal, Steris Corp, based near Cleveland, is buying out the UK's Synergy Health Plc, with the combined company to be managed from Ohio, but incorporated in Britain where the statutory corporate tax rate is 21 percent. Reuters found a 2011-2013 U.S.-specific average tax rate for Steris of 17.2 percent; ITEP's calculation came to 16.6 percent. The company has disclosed global effective tax rates averaging 32.1 percent for the same period. A Steris spokesman said the company expects its effective tax rate beginning in 2016 to be about 25 percent. "This transaction is not being driven by tax rates," he said. HIGHEST RATE The U.S. statutory rate is high. Tack on an average of state and local corporate rates and it's 39.1 percent. No major country has a higher combined rate. The next highest are Japan at 37 percent and France at 34.4 percent. But the U.S. tax code is uniquely complex. Big companies use elaborate strategies to exploit loopholes to cut their tax costs, which they say shareholders expect them to do. The gap between the statutory rate and what companies really pay is hard to measure because their tax returns are, of course, confidential. Financial report data can furnish estimates of effective rates, but there is no standard way to do this. Even when measuring marginal effective tax rates, seen by tax experts as the best test of business investment decisions, it's hard to know the true U.S. tax burdens of large corporations. Most lawmakers agree inversions are a problem because they erode the U.S. corporate tax base. Corporations today only provide about 10 percent of U.S. government revenues, down from 30 percent in the 1950s. In his 2016 budget last week, Democratic President Barack Obama proposed steps to curb inversions and what his administration sees as the incentives for doing them. The Republican-controlled Congress, however, is unlikely to agree with his proposed reforms, which may be dead-on-arrival. One of Obama's goals is tightening a rule that makes business interest tax-deductible and helps companies shift profits out of the United States via interest payments on loans from foreign affiliates. This is known as earnings stripping. Another is ending the "deferral" rule that says companies don't have to pay income tax on active overseas profits, as long as those profits don't enter the United States. Companies have about $2.1 trillion in profits abroad. Some came from foreign ventures; some from earnings stripping, tax experts said. The third target is abusive "transfer pricing." This involves shifting profits out of the United States to lower-tax countries via cross-border, non-market-based payments among the worldwide affiliates of multinationals. Cutting the 35-percent statutory rate would not change any of these rules. And no politically realistic U.S. rate cut would be likely to level the playing field with, say, Ireland, which has a 12.5 percent statutory rate and is a popular destination for U.S. companies doing inversions, let alone tax havens such as Bermuda, which charges no corporate income tax at all. "Until we address earnings stripping and the transfer of intangible rights abroad, we're always going to have this incentive for foreign companies to combine with U.S. companies and strip the U.S. corporate tax base," said Rosenthal. (Reporting by Kevin Drawbaugh; Editing by Amy Stevens and Martin Howell)
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More than 1,000 correction officers ditched work during a recent snowstorm, forcing the department to lockdown hundreds of inmates in their cells for hours, the Daily News has learned. About 33% of the city's so-called Boldest who were on the schedule during the Jan. 27 snowstorm called out sick or were otherwise absent both during and after the transit shutdown according to internal documents. Cops, firefighters and sanitation workers averaged about 2% absenteeism the same day, according to a city source. The Correction Department force of about 3,000 officers scheduled that day was stretched dangerously thin, department insiders said. All told, more than 800 jail officers called in sick and at least 200 were AWOL, according to department sources. The high number of no-shows forced officers who showed up to work double shifts. "They wouldn't let them leave because they had no one else," a department source said. The staffing problem has plagued the department for years during major storms. More than one-quarter of the city's jail officers were AWOL during Hurricane Sandy and in a snowstorm in February 2010. The department now offers vans from Queens Plaza to help transport officers who rely on public transportation. That's done little to help. Veteran jail bosses point out that officers are rarely punished for calling in sick or being a no-show. Correction Commissioner Joseph Ponte has vowed to reform the department, including cutting back on the use of solitary confinement. But many of the inmates were forced to stay locked in their cells during the storm and Ponte has taken no action against any of the officers, according to the city source. "This matter is under review," said department spokesman Robin Campbell, referring to the AWOL officers. The department has power to punish officers who repeatedly call out sick or go missing. Jail officers who were stuck working during the storm are furious. "Unless there's any consequences to these continued actions, nothing is going to happen," fumed one supervisor. "It just keeps happening." [email protected]
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"Y'all knew what it mean when 'Ye walked on that stage," Kanye West told E! in a post-Grammy interview, referencing his decision to follow Beck onto the stage after Beck won the Grammy for Album of the Year. It meant, of course, that West was unhappy that Beck had won instead of Beyoncé. In the post-show interview, he explained that he thinks Beck should have given Beyoncé the award. "When you keep on diminishing art, and disrespecting art, and smacking people in the face after they deliver monumental feats of music, you're disrespectful to inspiration," he said.
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1 Sam Smith is the new Adele With Adele herself off the scene, the field was clear for another Brit to steam in and sell soul music back to America. Enter Sam Smith, who even seemed to be nicking her acceptance speech when he scooped the record of the year prize for his unrequited love-themed Stay With Me he thanked "the man who broke my heart, because now I've got four Grammys". Then again, since it was his fourth acceptance speech of the night, inspiration was probably running low. 2 Madonna is still showing her bum With a new album to push, there was no way that understatement was going to be Madonna's watchword for the evening, but her red carpet attire along drew gasps. Half matador, half courtesan, with a lace veil, over-the-knee boots and boobs basically out, her Givenchy creation was gobsmacking … and then she got her bum ou t. After all that, stakes were high for her minotaur-assisted performance of Living for Love, but Madonna pulled it off. 3 Kanye West has mellowed On a fairly predictable night, the nearest we got to an upset was when Beck won album of the year for Morning Phase, beating Beyoncé's self-titled "visual album". Kanye West rushed the stage when after Beck had scaled the podium to Jay Z's visible horror but unlike his gatecrashing of Taylor Swift all those years ago, this time he let Beck give his speech. It was quite a Kanye-heavy night he showed as much cleavage as Rihanna when the pair performed FourFiveSeconds with Paul McCartney, and played Only One lit by a single spotlight, dressed in a raspberry velour tracksuit. 4 Prince steals the show just by turning up Prince's face is my everything. pic.twitter.com/eAc8VmQ3iJ E. Alex Jung (@e_alexjung) February 9, 2015 Having thrilled the room at the Golden Globes, Prince turned up clad in head-to-toe tangerine to give out the best album gong. "Like books and black lives, albums still matter," noted the legendary funketeer, in one of several subtle but pointed statements about race scattered throughout the evening. Another was Pharrell's performance of Happy, which amidst an extravagant staging which nodded to The Grand Budapest Hotel and boasted concert piano by Lang Lang, contained a moment of choreography which nodded to the "hands up, don't shoot" gesture from the Ferguson protests. 5 The Grammys are trying to tackle domestic violence Six years after Rihanna was beaten up by Chris Brown on the eve of the Grammys, President Obama make a speech on video as part of the It's On Us campaign against rape and domestic violence. Activist and domestic violence survivor Brooke Axtell made a short speech including the words: "Authentic love does not devalue a human being. Authentic love does not silence, or shame or abuse. Your voice will save you ... Let it set you free to know who you really are." Brown was in the audience this year, as he was nominated for an award. 6 Annie Lennox can still chew up the scenery Though the Grammys was at its most torpid when it hit a seam of slow numbers, Annie Lennox managed to turn up the heat during her duet on Hozier's Take Me to Church. Appearing in a sparkly black jacket and fixing the audience with a gimlet-eyed stare, she seized control and turned it into an impressively intense cover of Screaming Jay Hawkins's I Put a Spell on You. "That would have had him rolling in his grave," said an admirer on Twitter. "Not because it was bad, but because he did that anyway." 7 Taylor Swift is everyone's best friend First she was friends with Lorde, then she was friends with Ed Sheeran, and now she's chumming up to Sam Smith, although given that he took home four awards to her zero (OK, 1989 came out too late to be eligible) she could be reconsidering those warm feelings. Her joking, humblebragging mention that she failed to win best new artist in 2008 was also quite cute, until we remembered who did win that year Amy Winehouse. 8 Sia and Kristen Wiig is a marriage made in heaven Kristen Wiig and Maddie perform with Sia. Photograph: Frank Micelotta/REX/Frank Micelotta/REX While the Australian pop powerhouse failed to pick up any awards, her performance with the star of Bridesmaids and 12-year-old mini-me dancer Maddie Ziegler was one of the best of the night. Sia performed facing the wall, allowing Wiig and Ziegler to provide the visual stimulation with an electifying and hilarious dance performance. 9 Jessie J either has the world's best agent, or photographs of the upper echelons of the US music scene in compromising positions How else can you account for that fact that she was able to perform and duetting with her Tom Jones at that? The pair proceeded to massacre the Righteous Brothers' You've Lost That Loving Feeling, though John Legend politely pretended (one can only assume) to like it. 10 Beyoncé still rules the Grammys in 2015 She might not have been one of the night's big winners, but there was only one person who was going to be entrusted with the night's climactic moment. She sang Take My Hand Precious Lord with such emotion that she seemed to be making her self cry although the spiritual elements were slightly undermined by the fact that she appeared to be wearing a cross between a nun's habit and a negligee.
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Cara Delevingne wants to interview the Queen of England. The 22-year-old model, who tried her hand at being a journalist when she interviewed Kim Kardashian West for the latest issue of LOVE magazine, has revealed she would love to have a one on one with Her Royal Highness. Speaking about who she'd most like to interview, Cara - who was previously rumoured to have dated the Queen's grandson Prince Harry - said: "Stephen Fry. When you interview someone, you want it to be published because you want it to be out there. But in a way, I'd like to interview him and it not be [published]. Because knowing it's going to be is always in the back of your mind when you're answering questions. I just want to get as close to the truth of possible." Oh, and the Queen. I'd love to interview the Queen. She would be the best." The blonde-beauty also defended the Kardashians - with whom she's grown to be close pals - insisting people's ideas of celebrities would change if they could get to know them. She explained to the Sunday Times newspaper: "Everyone has a particular idea of them [the Kardashians], often negative. Yet they don't even know them. I wanted to crack that. I wanted to do a completely honest interview." With every single famous person, you have preconceived ideas. Usually, if you don't like them, it's just because you don't know them."
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U.S. stocks recovered last week amid hopes that the fall in oil prices might finally be over. The market has been closely tied to oil since 2015 began, so more-stable oil prices would help ease investor concerns. Money managers warned, however, that plenty of other hurdles lurk that could trip up already high-priced stocks in weeks to come, including concerns about corporate earnings and interest rates. As if that weren't enough, nothing guarantees that oil prices will keep rising, adding another element of uncertainty. In recent years, Federal Reserve cash injections into financial markets have helped cushion the blows from these normal market forces, but the Fed is removing that protection. The Fed ended its bond-buying program last year and is preparing to push interest rates higher this year, so stocks could stay jumpy, said Seth Masters, chief investment officer at Bernstein Private Wealth Management, which oversees $76 billion in New York. "We expect volatility to continue to be a bit higher going forward," Mr. Masters said. This kind of market uncertainty and volatility were "more normal before the Fed suppressed risks in recent years." Over the long run, big stock indexes finish up or down more than 1% on one-third of all trading days. Last year, it happened on just 14%, and on fewer than 10% in 2013. Recent market swings are a sign that things are getting back to normal. The big immediate issue is oil. Lower crude prices are good for consumers and energy-reliant companies like airlines. But a 59% drop since June rattled investors worried about earnings for drillers and oil-services companies and the prospects for economic growth outside the U.S. Oil-price moves have arguably been the biggest influence on stock indexes in 2015. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 have both moved in the same direction as oil on 64% of trading days this year, compared with 46% in the previous two months. Stocks also were closely linked to oil at the start of last year, another time when global-growth fears were paramount. Oil moved the same way as the Dow and the S&P 500 index 69% of the time in January and the first five trading days of February 2014, compared with 46% in the two months before that. Whether stocks now can shake off oil worries and keep rising depends a lot on whether oil prices truly have stabilized. Oil futures now have rebounded 16% since Jan. 28. The oil news helped push the Dow up 3.84% last week to 17824.29, leaving it just 1.3% from a record. The S&P is 1.7% from its record. As the week ended, money managers were turning their attention to the suddenly upbeat economic news. On Friday, the U.S. Labor Department reported strong January job creation, rising wages and more job-seekers re-entering the workforce. That should help consumer spending and consumer-related stocks. The Dow didn't rise on that news; it slipped 0.3% Friday. That was partly because the strong job-creation rekindled fears of a Fed rate increase, and also because major indexes were nearing records. Short-term traders often take profits when stocks approach a record. One person who expects a strong U.S. economy and stabilizing oil prices is William Hackney, senior partner at Atlanta Capital Management LLC, which oversees $18 billion. He figures oil could return to at least $65 a barrel by year-end. That is roughly the break-even price for many U.S. shale producers. When they stop making money they cut output, which pushes prices back up. Oil futures finished Friday at $51.69 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. What worries Mr. Hackney is another of the issues that preoccupy money managers these days: corporate earnings. Analysts expect profit growth of just 3.4% at S&P 500 companies this year, down from 7.5% last year, according to FactSet. That is partly because of trouble at energy-related companies and partly because of soft global growth and the strong dollar. "You have an improving U.S. economy but you have all these problems in the rest of the world," Mr. Hackney said. "I don't think we are going to see as good a year as we had last year," when the S&P 500 rose 14% including dividends. "I'd be pleased if we were up 4% or 5% this year," including dividends, he said. David Rosenberg's solution is to look for European companies that do a lot of business with the U.S. Unlike the Fed, the European Central Bank is planning to inject more money into the continent's financial markets. That, together with the soft euro, should help European growth, exports and stock prices. "The global economy is not falling apart," said Mr. Rosenberg, chief economist and strategist at Gluskin Sheff + Associates Inc., which oversees about $6.5 billion in Toronto. "I want to buy companies and markets that are relatively undervalued and that tap into U.S. domestic demand, which you can find in Europe with a currency tailwind." U.S. stock prices are high. The S&P 500 traded Friday at 20 times its companies' net profits for the past 12 months, up from 17 one year ago and well above its historical average of 15.5, according to Birinyi Associates. Mr. Masters of Bernstein Private Wealth still has a normal U.S. stock allocation because he thinks U.S. companies, overall, can generate high profit margins. But with the Fed about to raise interest rates, he has reduced his investment in bonds and shifted that money abroad. He has hedged some of the currency risk because a falling euro would hurt the portfolio's value in dollars. Mr. Masters forecasts that U.S. stocks can rise 6% to 7% this year, including dividends, but he warns that such predictions can never be precise. Historically, he said, U.S. and foreign stock returns fluctuate widely. Forecasts can be off by 16 to 17 percentage points up or down, based simply on hard-to-predict short-term events like oil's sudden price swing. So if forecasts predict a 7% stock gain, in two-thirds of years the actual result could be anywhere from a 24% gain to a 10% decline, he said. "If you get the number right it is mostly luck," he said.
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Europe is set to launch an experimental "space plane", a car-sized, wingless vessel whose 100-minute unmanned mission will inform the design of reusable spacecraft of the future. The European Space Agency's two-tonne, 5m-long Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle (IXV) is scheduled to be blasted into space on a Vega rocket from a space pad in Kourou, French Guiana, at 13:00 GMT on Wednesday. It will separate from the launcher about 18 minutes later, some 320km above Earth, and then climb to a height of about 450km before starting its descent at several times the speed of sound, recording valuable data along the way. A parachute will deploy to slow the descent, and balloons will keep the craft afloat after splashdown in the Pacific Ocean, where it will be recovered by a ship for analysis. Re-entry is a major challenge for the aerospace industry - as illustrated when Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated in Earth's atmosphere in February 2003, killing all seven crew. Friction with the Earth's atmosphere slows the returning craft, but also heats the outside to scorching temperatures. If the re-entry angle is too steep the craft will burn up, too shallow and it may bounce off the atmosphere or pierce through but completely miss its landing target. "We are able to go [to space], we are able to stay in orbit, what we want to learn today is to close the loop, to return from orbit, and this is one of the most complex disciplines in space activity," IXV programme manager Giorgio Tumino told the AFP news agency. Since NASA retired its Space Shuttle, Russia's Soyuz is the only spacecraft that can ferry astronauts to and from the orbiting International Space Station. Private company Space X's Dragon is the only re-entry cargo craft. Boeing and SpaceX are developing reusable astronaut carriers for NASA, which is also working on the Orion craft it hopes will take humans to Mars. All are based on the capsule design. "Today we have our astronauts flying in Russian capsules, if one day we want them with the capability to fly back with European technology, this is fundamental," Tumino said of the IXV mission.
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A full week without a killing in the city has the police department in seventh heaven. As of Sunday night, police had not been notified of a homicide in the city for seven straight days, cops said. The last homicide occurred at 11:16 p.m., Sunday, Feb. 1, when five people were shot by two gunmen near the intersection of W. 136th St. and Broadway in Harlem. That shooting left Shadale Graham, 28, of Harlem, dead on the street with a bullet wound to his head. Two men and two women in their 20s were also wounded. The gunmen remained at large a week later. In February 2014, the city went an impressive 10 days without a life being taken, topping a seven-day break from killing in October 2013, which had been preceded by a nine-day stretch in January of that year. In the last three years, the city has also banked at least three separate 24-hour periods where no one was shot, slashed or stabbed in the five boroughs. Police said the most recent stretch did not take into account assaults that could be reclassified as homicides if the victim dies. As of Feb. 1, the most recent data available, murders were up 18% citywide as compared with the same period last year.
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The Padres top off their offseason overhaul by adding an ace. The San Diego Padres have reached an agreement with free agent right-hander James Shields , according to SB Nation's Chris Cotillo . The deal is reported to be for four years in the $72-76 million range, with a fifth year club option also included. The contract is pending a physical. Sources: #Padres in agreement with James Shields on four-year deal. Includes club option for fifth season. Chris Cotillo (@ChrisCotillo) February 9, 2015 The Padres had been the leading suitors for Shields for a number of days now, with Bleacher Report's Scott Miller first noting that talks between Shields and the Padres were "gaining momentum." Shields' market was slow to form, as he was the last of the offseason's big three starting pitchers to latch on with a new club, with Jon Lester joining the Cubs in December and Max Scherzer landing with the Nationals last month . A number of other teams were reported to be in the race for Shields, with the two most prominent clubs being the Cubs and Marlins . The addition of Shields caps off an impressive offseason overhaul for a Padres team that went 77-85 in 2014 and hasn't reached the postseason since 2006. Over the course of the winter, the Padres added Wil Myers , Derek Norris , Brandon Morrow , Matt Kemp , Will Middlebrooks , and Justin Upton , among numerous others. Half of the Padres' eight starting position players were not in the organization before December, and now Shields will join Morrow in revamping San Diego's rotation. Shields will immediately usurp Andrew Cashner atop the Padres' rotation, and should join with Cashner, Ian Kennedy , Tyson Ross , and Morrow to form a potentially outstanding crop of starting pitchers. The 33-year-old Shields has been among the best, and most steady, pitchers in baseball over the past four years. Since the start of 2011, he has averaged a 3.17 ERA, 124 ERA+, 3.49 FIP, 8.0 K/9, 2.3 BB/9, and 4.1 WAR in 233 innings pitched. He has been the true definition of a workhorse, topping 200 innings in each of the past eight years, included at least 227.0 in the last four. Interestingly enough, Shields will now become teammates with the very same player he was famously traded for (Wil Myers) prior to the 2013 season. After arriving in Kansas City following a seven-year stint with the Rays , Shields was everything the Royals could have hoped for, as he helped guide them to within one game of the franchise's first World Series title since 1985.
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CARSON, Calif. -- For one player, Sunday's U.S. national team victory against Panama was a coming out party. For another, it was a triumphant return to his best. Gyasi Zardes played like a seasoned veteran against Panama, rather than someone making his first national team start. At the same time Michael Bradley reminded everybody that when he's on his game, he can be the best player the U.S. has. The opponent may have been a shorthanded Panama side, but for U.S. fans that hadn't seen their team win a match in five months, watching Zardes terrorize Panama's defense and Bradley dominate the midfield was a sight for sore eyes. Bradley played like the Bradley of old, as in the Bradley before a World Cup spent playing out of position, and second half of 2014 spent playing with a nagging foot injury. He squeezed the life out of Panama's midfield, and provided effective passes from deep that helped spark several attacks. His set pieces were sharp, and none sharper than his jaw-dropping Olimpico. Zardes picked up where he left off two months ago, when he starred in the LA Galaxy's MLS Cup win at StubHub Center. He delivered a beautiful assist on Clint Dempsey's goal, and continued to pressure Panama's defense throughout a strong 90-minute performance. "He's an exciting, exciting player for us," Bradley said of Zardes. "There's no two ways about that. Everything he showed in MLS, he showed here with us. I think he's a great kid. He comes everyday with the right attitude, willing to learn, willing to listen and he continued to get better and better as the month wore on, which is also a sign of a player." "I thought he showed some tools that he has, not only with his speed, but also to hold the ball, to combine," Klinsmann said of Zardes. "The assist to Clint was just perfect, perfect timing. It shows that he has something special." Zardes has been the clear-cut breakout star of the recent U.S. training camp, impressing coaches and teammates alike with his willingness to take instruction and put in extra work. "I've just been trying to learn as much as I can from the coaches, but not only the coaches, but players here," Zardes said. "The players are phenomenal here and they've been playing the game of soccer with the highest clubs at the highest levels for ages, so all the feedback they've been giving me I've been taking it in and just kind of developing and growing as a player." After a breakout 2014 with the Galaxy, Zardes now looks like a legitimate attacking option for Klinsmann, and someone who could push players like Aron Johannsson for a higher place in the pecking order. He has certainly earned more looks from the national team, which could come as soon as March, when the U.S. plays Switzerland and Denmark. Bradley, for one, agrees with that sentiment, though he is careful to caution against the long-standing trend among fans and media of over-hyping promising national team newcomers. "I think we have to be careful because we don't want to put too much pressure on him and we don't want to rush him along too quickly," Bradley said. "But there's no doubt that he's shown, going forward, that he's a guy that has to be here." As much as Zardes may have surprised some people with his national team emergence, Bradley's virtuoso performance on Saturday was the kind of display he has put in several times during his 94 national team appearances. It had been some time since Bradley had truly controlled a game like he did on Sunday. After a fall marred by a foot injury that eventually required surgery, Bradley chose not to elaborate on just how much he was hampered by the injury. His comments after the Panama match did shed some light into the fact he finished the 2014 MLS season playing injured. "As professionals, we're never 100 percent," Bradley said. "You learn to compete, you learn to play with pain, you learn to deal with things. You learn to, as a professional, and as a competitor, make sure that no matter what, every time you step on the field, mentally, you're 100 percent." Bradley has emerged in 2015 recharged and looking more like the dominating player he was during World Cup qualifying in 2013. "I feel good, for sure," Bradley said. "It's still very early in preseason, and obviously the only way to get sharper and stronger is to play, to train, to play and allow those good days to add up. "That's where I am. I'm in the midst of trying to do that, but that's always been my mentality. To just continue to work and let my play and let my commitment on the field do the talking." Sunday's win not only boosted Zardes' stock and provided a reminder of Bradley's elite quality, it also helped snap a five-match winless streak for a U.S. team that badly needed a positive result. When the team reconvenes in March for a pair of road friendlies in Europe, there won't be the stigma of a lengthy winless streak. "Maybe this isn't the most important game that we'll play this year, but for us, the mentality was to step on the field and improve and really lay down the marker with a good performance and a good win," Bradley said of Sunday's victory. "While it wasn't perfect, I think we were able to do a lot of good things and it sets the ground work for an important year for us."
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When it comes to financial stability, black Americans are often in much more precarious financial situations than white Americans. Their unemployment rate is higher, and so is the level of poverty within the black community. In 2013, the poverty rate among white Americans was 9.6 percent, among black Americans it was 27.2 percent. And the gap between the wealth of white families and black families has widened to its highest levels since 1989, according to a 2014 study by Pew Research Center. The facts of this rift aren't new, or all that surprising. But perhaps what's most unsettling about the current economic climate in black America is that when black families attain middle-class status, the likelihood that their children will remain there, or do better, isn't high. "Even black Americans who make it to the middle class are likely to see their kids fall down the ladder," writes Richard Reeves, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. In a recent blog post Reeves says that seven out of 10 black children who are born to families with income that falls in the middle quintile of the income spectrum will find themselves with income that's one to two quintiles below their parents' during their own adulthood. A 2014 study from the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, which looked at factors like parental income, education, and family structure, shows a similar pattern: Many black Americans not only fail to move up, but show an increased likelihood of backsliding. According to the study, "In recent decades, blacks have experienced substantially less upward intergenerational mobility and substantially more downward intergenerational mobility than whites." The greater probability of slipping back applies to blacks across income groups. According to the Fed study, about 60 percent of black children whose parents had income that fell into the top 50 percent of the distribution saw their own income fall into the bottom half during adulthood. This type of downward slide was common for only 36 percent of white children. But the gap in mobility was also significant for lower-class families as well. "For most of the bottom half of the income distribution, the racial differences in upward mobility are consistently between 20 and 30 percent," writes senior economist Bhashkar Mazumder, the study's author. "If future generations of white and black Americans experience the same rates of intergenerational mobility as these cohorts, we should expect to see that blacks on average would not make any relative progress." The explanations for this phenomenon are varied, but largely hinge on many of the criticisms that already exist in regard to socioeconomics and race in the U.S. Economists cite lower educational attainment, higher rates of single-parent households, and geographic segregation as potential explanations for these trends. The latter determines not only what neighborhoods people live in, but often what types of schools children attend, which could play a role in hindering their educational and professional attainment later on. According to Reeves, "In terms of opportunity, there are still two Americas, divided by race." Still, most economists lack a clear, definitive explanation for why, after reaching the middle class, many black American families quickly lose that status as their children fall behind.
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The music industry's biggest night turned into a globally watched stage for activism Sunday, with stars at the Grammys speaking out against police brutality and domestic abuse. Two of the biggest names at the annual awards night, Pharrell Williams and Beyonce, incorporated subtle protests in separate performances as their back-up dancers raised their arms in the "Hands Up, Don't Shoot" pose. The protest comes amid the growing "Black Lives Matter" movement in the United States in response to a string of high-profile killings by police of African Americans. Williams -- whose "Happy" become a global hit with its straightforward theme of joy -- took the song in a more political direction with dark classical strings and a piano interlude by Lang Lang. While Williams dressed as a hotel servant in the style of the irony-rich film "The Grand Budapest Hotel", his dancers put on black hoodies -- a likely reference to Trayvon Martin, the unarmed black teenager who was wearing a hooded sweatshirt when he was shot in February 2012 by a neighborhood watchman in Florida. Williams and his dancers raised their arms in the "Hands Up, Don't Shoot" tribute -- which has been used at rallies across America, and mirrored by university and professional athletes in protest at police mistreatment of minorities. Later in the show, Beyonce took a similar tack, with her dancers also putting their hands up in the dramatic pose. She later gave the stage to the rapper Common, who directly spoke of the tensions with police in Ferguson, Missouri in the song "Glory", which is featured in the Oscar-nominated civil rights film "Selma". "Hand to the Heavens / No man, no weapon," he sings on the song performed with John Legend, who accompanied on piano. "That's why Rosa sat on the bus / That's why we walk through Ferguson with our hands up." And during the evening, Prince, presenting the Album of the Year award, offered a pointed comment: "Like books and black lives, albums still matter." Despite the Grammy focus on racial inequality, no African American artist won in the four top categories. - Fighting domestic violence - In a more planned effort, the Recording Academy worked with US President Barack Obama and superstar Katy Perry to turn the Grammys into a platform to stop sexual assault and domestic violence. "Right now, nearly one in five women in America has been a victim of rape or attempted rape. And more than one in four women has experienced some form of domestic violence," Obama said in a video message broadcast at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Domestic violence survivor-turned-activist Brooke Axtell took to the stage and told her harrowing story. "After a year of passionate romance with a handsome, charismatic man, I was stunned when he began to abuse me," Axtell said. "I believed he was lashing out because he was in pain and needed help. I believed my compassion could restore him and our relationship. My empathy was used against me. "I was terrified of him and ashamed I was in this position," Axtell said. Perry -- usually known for her cheery, elaborate performances including during halftime of last week's Super Bowl -- then proceeded to sing one of her more unadorned songs, her ballad "By the Grace of God", which tells of a troubled relationship. Attention to domestic violence has been growing in the United States in part due to abuse cases involving prominent athletes. The night's performers included the R&B singer Rihanna, who notoriously suffered abuse by partner and fellow musician Chris Brown. Asked about Brown, Axtell later told reporters that it was critical to have male allies and to work with people who have committed abuse in the past. She voiced hope that the use of music to highlight the issue would "reach people in a way that moves past the mind and to the heart and soul." "I am hopeful that it will inspire people to take action," she said. Neil Portnow, president of the Recording Academy that runs the Grammys, said that the night's activism theme was not surprising, considering the nature of the music in competition this year. "We're at a time when musicians are thinking about the world, our society, and you see that in the songs," he said.
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An Indian "woman" who discovered she had mostly male chromosomes has given birth to healthy twins after intensive treatment in what doctors said Monday was the "rarest of rare cases". The 32-year-old had an intersex condition in which she had the physical appearance of a woman but had more than 95 percent XY chromosomes, fertility specialist Sunil Jindal told AFP. The woman underwent more than 12 months of hormonal and other medical treatment to develop her "infantile uterus" to allow her to eventually carry and give birth on Friday to a boy and girl. "This is akin to a male delivering twins," said Jindal by phone from Meerut city, some 70 kilometres (43 miles) northeast of New Delhi. "She did not undergo puberty and never menstruated. When we investigated further we found that she had a very small vagina and an infantile uterus." Jindal said his team of doctors discovered during their research that there had only ever been five reported cases of such pregnancies in the world. "It's nothing short of a medical miracle. We are really happy that we could pull it off." He said the woman was startled to learn she had the condition, but was determined to undergo the treatment to get pregnant. "Even she did not know she had this condition and was flabbergasted when we told her about it. But the husband was very supportive and told her 'no matter what you continue to be my wife'," he said. Her husband's sperm was used to fertilise a donor egg which was then implanted in the woman's now developed uterus. The babies were born through caesarean section, weighing 2.25 kilos (4.9 pounds) and 2.50 kilos (5.5 pounds) each.
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Ukraine's crisis has been caused by the West, Russian President Vladimir Putin says, as he works on Franco-German proposals to end fighting between the government and pro-Russia rebels. Western countries had broken pledges not to expand Nato and forced countries to choose between them and Russia, Mr Putin told an Egyptian newspaper. The comments come amid new hopes of a peace deal this Wednesday. Russia denies accusations of sending troops and supplying the rebels. The fighting in eastern Ukraine has claimed more than 5,300 lives and driven 1.5 million people from their homes. At least nine Ukrainian soldiers have been killed in the past 24 hours, officials say. Fighting is said to be intense around the town of Debaltseve, near the rebel-held city of Donetsk. Ukraine's war: The human cost 5,358 people killed and 12,235 wounded in eastern Ukraine Fatalities include 298 people on board flight MH17 shot down on 17 July 224 civilians killed in three-week period leading up to 1 February 5.2 million people estimated to be living in conflict areas 921,640 internally displaced people within Ukraine, including 136,216 children 600,000 fled to neighbouring countries of whom more than 400,000 have gone to Russia Source: Figures from UN High Commissioner for Human Rights 3 February, and UN report, 21 January Why has violence flared in eastern Ukraine? German Chancellor Angela Merkel is due to brief US President Barack Obama in Washington later on Monday on the peace plan Germany and France have tried to reach with Ukraine and Russia. The Washington talks come as the US considers sending weapons to the Ukrainian government. There is pressure in Washington on President Obama to adopt a tougher stance, the BBC's Rajini Vaidyanathan reports from the US capital. Some officials, as well as senior Republicans such as Senator John McCain, argue that some form of military support is necessary, our correspondent adds. But Mrs Merkel told a security conference at the weekend that she could not "imagine any situation in which improved equipment for the Ukrainian army leads to President Putin being so impressed that he believes he will lose militarily". US Secretary of State John Kerry has denied any rift with EU leaders, saying, "I keep hearing people trying to create one. We are united, we are working closely together." Mrs Merkel and French President Francois Hollande have been leading efforts to revive the Minsk peace plan, which collapsed amid fighting over the winter. The detailed proposals have not been released but the plan is thought to include a demilitarised zone of 50-70km (31-44 miles) around the current front line. 'Artificial choice' At the start of a visit to Egypt, President Putin renewed his attack on Western countries for their "hollow" promises not to expand Nato to include former Soviet countries, and therefore ignoring Russian interests. There had been attempts, Mr Putin told Egypt's al-Ahram newspaper, "to tear states which had been parts of the former USSR [Soviet Union] off Russia and to prompt them to make an artificial choice 'between Russia and Europe'. "We repeatedly warned the US and its Western allies about harmful consequences of their interference in Ukrainian domestic affairs but they did not listen to our opinion," the Russian leader said. He went on to accuse them of supporting a "coup d'etat in Kiev" - a reference to the ousting of former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych last year. He lost power amid protests over his decision to scrap a deal that would have seen Ukraine establish closer ties with the European Union. Since then, Russia has annexed Ukraine's Crimea Peninsula and rebels in the east have sought to establish full control over the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk. What was the Minsk agreement? A ceasefire signed by Ukraine and pro-Russian separatist rebels on 5 September 2014 in Minsk, Belarus They agreed to 12 points including pulling back heavy guns by at least 15km (9 miles), releasing prisoners, allowing access to international observers, and setting up a buffer zone on the Russia-Ukraine border. Foreign mercenaries were to withdraw and Donetsk and Luhansk would get wider self-rule But military clashes never entirely stopped. Each side accused the other of violating the deal and violence later flared the length of the ceasefire line Rebels also held their own local elections in November 2014, in defiance of Kiev. The government responded by saying it would scrap partial autonomy for Donetsk and Luhansk.
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South Korea's former spy chief was jailed for three years Monday after an appeals court ruled that he had intentionally sought to influence the result of the 2012 presidential election. Won Sei-Hoon, 64, had been convicted in September last year of illegally engaging in political acts as head of the National Intelligence Service (NIS). The charges related to an online smear campaign by NIS agents against the opposition party candidate whom the current president, Park Geun-Hye, defeated in the 2012 poll by a narrow margin. A district court gave Won a two-and-a-half year suspended sentence, ruling that while there was clear evidence of wrongdoing, there was not enough proof that he had directly sought to influence the outcome of the ballot. The Seoul High Court, however, dismissed the lower court's distinction and deemed the crime serious enough to warrant a custodial sentence. "It is fair to say Won had the intention to intervene in the election," Judge Kim Sang-Hwan was quoted as saying by the Yonhap news agency. Before he was taken from the court, Won insisted he had only ever worked "for the safety of my country and its people". The spy agency, which has changed titles over the years, had a particularly notorious reputation in the decades of authoritarian rule before South Korea embraced democracy in the 1980s. The modern-day NIS has been tainted by a series of scandals, most recently the forging of documents to build a false spying case against a former Seoul city official who had escaped to South Korea from the North in 2004. Won's successor, Nam Jae-Joon, publicly apologised over the forgery case in April last year and vowed a "bone-crushing" overhaul of the embattled agency. A month later Nam was gone, to be replaced by the current NIS director Lee Byung-Kee who has promised to distance the agency from domestic politics.
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U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Mark Lippert leaves the hospital after suffering injuries from a knife attack in Seoul.
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Sharks forward Tommy Wingels scored in the eighth round of the shootout against the Penguins on Monday, and Antti Niemi saved an Steve Downie effort to clinch a 2-1 home victory for San Jose.
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Kentucky is set to be a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Michael Beller joins the crew to tell us if Duke and Virginia have also done enough to get a top seed.
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Kyle Korver and DeMarre Carroll each scored 20 points to pace a balanced attack as Atlanta ripped Sacramento 130-105 for the Hawks' 50th victory of this NBA season. Korver on Monday sank six of a team-record 20 3-pointers on 36 attempts that the Hawks made on their way to a 13th consecutive triumph in meetings with the Kings. Jeff Teague and Al Horford each added 18 points for Atlanta, with Teague also passing out a game-high 13 assists as the Hawks finished with a team total of 42 assists, the most by any club in an NBA game this season. Paul Millsap added 13 points and Dennis Schroeder added 12 off the bench for the Hawks. At 50-13 and with 30 wins in 34 home starts, the Hawks stretched the Eastern Conference's best record to 11 games ahead of second-place Cleveland. Atlanta led 76-54 at half-time and stretched the lead at times in the second half on the way to a fifth consecutive home triumph in the team's final appearance before home supporters ahead of a six-game road trip. Rudy Gay led Sacramento with 23 points while deMarcus Cousins grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds for the Kings, who fell to 21-41.
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French sports stars, including an Olympic champion swimmer and one of the world's best sailors, were among 10 killed in a helicopter crash while filming a reality TV show in Argentina. Champion sailor Florence Arthaud, Olympic gold medallist swimmer Camille Muffat, Olympic boxer Alexis Vastine and seven others died when two helicopters filming the survival series "Dropped" smashed into each other in the rugged mountains of La Rioja province, local officials said. "Apparently, the two helicopters collided as they were filming. There are no survivors," provincial spokesman Horacio Alarcon told AFP. He said the weather conditions were good and the cause of the crash, which happened late afternoon local time on Monday, was unknown. Local media showed the wreckage of the two helicopters in flames on the dry scrubland in the northwestern Argentinian province. Eight French passengers and their two Argentine pilots died in the crash, a police source said. 'Immense sadness' Arthaud, 57, was considered one of the best sailors in the world, a woman who conquered what had been a strictly male-dominated sport. Her titles included the 1990 Route du Rhum, the most prestigious race to cross the Atlantic solo. Muffat, 25, was one of the top swimmers in French history, winning three medals at the London Olympics in 2012, including gold in the 400-metre freestyle. She shocked the sporting world in June 2014 by announcing her sudden retirement at the age of 24, exhausted by the long hours of training in the pool. Vastine, 28, won a bronze medal at the Beijing games in 2008 in the light welterweight category. President Francois Hollande led the tributes, saying the "brutal death of our compatriots is an immense sadness." "The whole of France is in mourning this morning," said Prime Minister Manuel Valls. The reality TV show, called "Dropped", involved eight sports stars being dropped into inhospitable environments for an adventure- and survival-themed show. Fellow contestant, former France and Arsenal football star Sylvain Wiltord, said on Twitter he was "sad" and "horrified." The other stars participating in the show -- none of them hurt in the accident -- were swimmer Alain Bernard, cyclist Jeannie Longo, snowboarder Anne-Flore Marxer and figure skater Philippe Candeloro. "We've got people who are way beyond average for their record of achievements, that's clear," said the show's presenter, Louis Bodin, in a recent interview with French radio station RTL. "And we can tell that on the ground, on all kinds of terrain, that they've got the ability to adapt ... Of course, the logistics, the conditions are sometimes a little complicated," he added of the show that was to air on French television channel TF1. The provincial government said a cast and crew of around 80 people, mostly French nationals, had descended on the area in recent days to film the series. Shooting began in late February in Ushuaia, at the southern tip of South America in the glacial terrain of Patagonia. It then moved to La Rioja, whose scenic mountain landscapes are popular with tourists. Film crews from the series had already shot preliminary footage in Villa Castelli in late September, said local news site DataRioja. 'Extreme' landscape The crash happened around 5:00 pm (2000 GMT) near the town of Villa Castelli, about 1,100 kilometres (700 miles) north of the capital Buenos Aires, said provincial security secretary Cesar Angulo. The provincial government said the crash happened in the Quebrada del Yeso gorge. One of the helicopters was provided by the provincial government and the other by the police force in the neighbouring province of Santiago del Estero. Police and firefighters were still working to recover the victims' bodies when night fell, using floodlights to illuminate the area, a police source told AFP. "It's been four hours since the collision and (the wreckage) is still on fire. There's smoke rising from the helicopters," said a police source at the scene.
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South Korean activists vowed Tuesday to sneak copies of Hollywood satire "The Interview" across the border by propaganda balloon later this month, in defiance of North Korea's repeated threats. Up to 10,000 copies of the film -- a comedy about a fictional CIA plot to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un -- and 500,000 political leaflets are scheduled for a balloon-launch around March 26. An earlier plan by activists and the US-based Human Rights Foundation to send 100,000 copies of the film in January was postponed until after last month's Lunar New Year. However they went ahead with plans to send 100,000 anti-Pyongyang leaflets. The upcoming launch will mark the five-year anniversary of the sinking of a South Korean warship in 2010, with the loss of 46 sailors. The South pinned the blame on the North and effectively froze all inter-Korean trade and investment ties. No details have been given about the content of the leaflets, though propaganda sent in the past has denounced North Korea's ruling family. Seoul insists the activists have a democratic right to send the leaflets, but has appealed for restraint to avoid overly provoking the North. "We will set the exact date and location for our operation in consideration of weather conditions, but it will not be publicised," said Park Sang-Hak, a former defector who has led a series of balloon launches. The North has already warned that Park will "pay for his crimes in blood" if copies of the film make it across the border. On March 2, the North's state-run website Uriminzokkiri warned that Pyongyang would respond to any balloon launches with "not just a few shots of gunfire but cannons or missiles". "Nobody can stop it. I will keep sending leaflets into North Korea at the risk of my life," Park said, adding he has always prepared to face down the North's threats. Pyongyang, which refers to Park as "human scum", has long condemned the balloon launches and in recent months has stepped up its demands for Seoul to ban them. In October last year North Korean border guards attempted to shoot down some balloons, triggering a brief exchange of heavy machine-gun fire between the two sides. Local residents living near the launch sites have complained that the activists are putting their lives at risk by making them potential targets for North Korean retaliation.
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Bayern Munich have a "duty" to reach the Champions League's quarter-finals when they host Shakhtar Donetsk on Wednesday with everything to play for, according to goalkeeper Manuel Neuer. Donetsk held Bayern to a goalless draw in their last 16, first leg, in Ukraine last month and the visitors will be chasing an early goal to put Pep Guardiola's Bavarian giants under pressure. But Neuer says the 2013 Champions League winners have a duty to reach the last eight as they bid to win a sixth European title. "The game simply has to be won, nothing else comes into question for us," said the 28-year-old Neuer. "We like a situation like this. It's our duty to progress. To bow out would be fatal, but we are thinking positively." The hosts will be without suspended defensive midfielder Xabi Alonso, who was sent off in the first leg after a second yellow card. With Alonso suspended, Austria left-back David Alaba is set to move into Bayern's defensive midfield alongside Bastian Schweinsteiger with Brazil's Rafina and Juan Bernat used as wing backs. Bayern's injured captain Philipp Lahm returned to team training on Monday after fracturing his ankle last November and echoed Neuer's sentiments. "We are deserved favourites when we play against many opponents and our own performance dictates whether or not we can be counted among the top teams," Lahm told German magazine Kicker. Pep Guardiola's side are on course to win a third straight Bundesliga title after Saturday's 3-1 win at Hanover 96 left them 11 points clear in the league. Shakhtar travel to Munich on the back of a 2-2 draw against Metalist Kharkiv in the Ukraine Premier League on Saturday and their coach Mircea Lucescu said a similar performance would see them "doomed" at the Allianz Arena. Donetsk captain Dario Srna and forward Luiz Adriano were on target, but Shakhtar conceded an injury-time equaliser when Vladimir Priemov netted for Kharkiv. "We dominated the play, but made too many own mistakes especially in midfield and in defence and paid the price for it," said Lucescu. "In Munich we must put in a fine show, otherwise we're doomed. - Conflict zone - Lucescu has a difficult task keeping his players' spirits up as they have been forced to relocate to play in Kiev with Donetsk affected by the conflict between government forces and pro-Russia rebels. "We're doing our best to keep our players' spirits up during this period of time, but it is not an easy task," said the Romanian. "It is very difficult to play a championship in these conditions. "I would rather focus on what happens on the pitch: training sessions, recoveries, away matches, style of play. "That way, I try to help our players get away from their worries and those of their families who are still living in conflict zones." But the 69-year-old acknowledges that his side face an uphill task. "I'm perfectly aware we are facing an extremely difficult second leg in Munich, Bayern cannot afford to leave the competition so early," he said. "The final will be played in Berlin, so they will do their best to be there." Three of his full-backs, Sergei Kryvtsov, Yaroslav Rakitskiy and Ivan Ordets, missed the Metalist game with minor injuries, while Brazilian Alex Teixeira dropped out with food poisoning and is also doubtful for the Munich match.
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An AirAsia X flight made an emergency landing in Australia on Tuesday after the aircraft developed a problem with its map navigation display, regulators said. The flight, listed on tracking websites as an Airbus A330, left Sydney en route to Kuala Lumpur but turned back and landed in the southern Australian city of Melbourne. "They had some kind of problem with their map navigation display system in the cockpit," a spokesman for the Civil Aviation Safety Authority told AFP. The long-haul, low-cost Malaysian airline confirmed the diversion but was unable to immediately say how many people were on board the flight. "There was a technical difficulty," an airline spokesman said. "The plane has now been rectified and has now been cleared for take-off." Air Services Australia, which oversees the country's air traffic control, said it understood that Flight XAX223 diverted to Melbourne rather than return to Sydney because the weather was better. The Malaysian group suffered its first fatal incident in late December, when AirAsia Flight QZ8501 crashed in stormy weather with 162 people on board off Indonesia. That followed two Malaysia Airlines incidents last year which left more than 500 people dead, raising concerns among some travellers about the safety of the country's carriers.
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South Korean activists vowed Tuesday to sneak copies of Hollywood satire "The Interview" across the border by propaganda balloon later this month, in defiance of North Korea's repeated threats. Up to 10,000 copies of the film -- a comedy about a fictional CIA plot to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un -- and 500,000 political leaflets are scheduled for a balloon-launch around March 26. An earlier plan by activists and the US-based Human Rights Foundation to send 100,000 copies of the film in January was postponed until after last month's Lunar New Year. However they went ahead with plans to send 100,000 anti-Pyongyang leaflets. The upcoming launch will mark the five-year anniversary of the sinking of a South Korean warship in 2010, with the loss of 46 sailors. The South pinned the blame on the North and effectively froze all inter-Korean trade and investment ties. No details have been given about the content of the leaflets, though propaganda sent in the past has denounced North Korea's ruling family. Seoul insists the activists have a democratic right to send the leaflets, but has appealed for restraint to avoid overly provoking the North. "We will set the exact date and location for our operation in consideration of weather conditions, but it will not be publicised," said Park Sang-Hak, a former defector who has led a series of balloon launches. The North has already warned that Park will "pay for his crimes in blood" if copies of the film make it across the border. On March 2, the North's state-run website Uriminzokkiri warned that Pyongyang would respond to any balloon launches with "not just a few shots of gunfire but cannons or missiles". "Nobody can stop it. I will keep sending leaflets into North Korea at the risk of my life," Park said, adding he has always prepared to face down the North's threats. Pyongyang, which refers to Park as "human scum", has long condemned the balloon launches and in recent months has stepped up its demands for Seoul to ban them. In October last year North Korean border guards attempted to shoot down some balloons, triggering a brief exchange of heavy machine-gun fire between the two sides. Local residents living near the launch sites have complained that the activists are putting their lives at risk by making them potential targets for North Korean retaliation.
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NORMAN, Okla. (AP) The University of Oklahoma's president expelled two students Tuesday after he said they were identified as leaders of a racist chant captured on video during a fraternity event. University President David Boren said in a statement the two students were dismissed for creating a "hostile learning environment for others." Their names were not released. The video posted online shows several people on a bus participating in a chant that included a racial slur, referenced lynching and indicated black students would never be admitted to OU's chapter of Sigma Alpha Epsilon. Boren acted swiftly after the video surfaced late Sunday, severing ties with the fraternity and ordering its house shuttered Monday and announcing the expulsions Tuesday. "I hope that students involved in this incident will learn from this experience and realize that it is wrong to use words to hurt, threaten, and exclude other people," he said. Boren said the university is working to identify other students involved in the chant, who may also face discipline. Windows at the fraternity were boarded up and moving vans were parked outside Tuesday. Members have until midnight to remove their belongings. The Greek letters have already been removed from the side of the sprawling, sand-colored brick house on a street lined with fraternity and sorority houses just west of the center of campus. Markeshia Lyon, a junior from Oklahoma City and one of about 1,400 black students who attend the university's Norman campus, said the mostly segregated Greek culture at OU is partly to blame for creating an environment where racism can thrive. "That's something that's passed down, and that's something that needs to change," Lyon said. She also said the video has sparked intense interest in addressing racial tensions on campus. The university, located in the southern Oklahoma City suburb of Norman, has about 27,000 students, about 5 percent of whom are black. On Monday, a top high school football recruit withdrew his commitment to attend the university after seeing the video. North Mesquite High School football star Jean Delance, a top offensive lineman prospect, told KTVT television and KRLD-AM in Dallas-Fort Worth that he spoke Sunday night with coach Bob Stoops, but wasn't told about the incident. "I'm very disappointed in the coaches not letting me know," Delance told KRLD. "But that was just heart-breaking right there." The Oklahoma football team decided to protest rather than practice Monday. At the team's indoor practice facility, coach Bob Stoops led the way as players, joined by athletic director Joe Castiglione, walked arm-in-arm, wearing black. Boren attended a pre-dawn rally organized by students Monday morning and lambasted the fraternity members involved as "disgraceful" and called their behavior "reprehensible." "This is not who we are," Boren said at a midday news conference. "I'd be glad if they left. I might even pay the bus fare for them." National leaders of Sigma Alpha Epsilon said an investigation confirmed members took part in the chant and announced they would close the local chapter. The national group said it was "embarrassed" by the "unacceptable and racist" behavior. The fraternity also said in a statement late Monday that the chant was not a part of fraternity tradition. Boren said members of the fraternity were "not totally forthcoming." It's unclear who recorded the video, when it was recorded and who initially posted it online. Boren suggested it was likely taken by another student who didn't agree with what was being chanted. OU Unheard, a black student group on campus, posted a link to the video after someone anonymously called it to the group's attention Sunday afternoon, communications director Alexis Hall said Monday. "We immediately needed to share that with the OU student body," said Hall, a junior. "For students to say they're going to lynch an entire group of people. ... It's disgusting." The video appears to have been taken on a charter bus, with at least one of the chanting young men wearing a tuxedo. Telephone and email messages left Monday with several members of the fraternity seeking comment on the video were not returned. Other members declined to comment. Associated Press writer Allen Reed contributed to this report from Little Rock, Arkansas.
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The Los Angeles Angels had a bit of a bee problem during a spring training home game in Tempe on Sunday. Bees invaded Tempe Diablo Stadium from home plate all the way to right field, forcing two delays in the game and likely scaring the crap out of most fans in attendance.
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LEXINGTON, Ky. These Kentucky Wildcats have the chance to reach heights no team in the program's history has ever achieved become undefeated national champions. Losing seems unthinkable. On the other hand, a loss in this week's Southeastern Conference tournament might not be the worst thing in the world for the top-ranked Wildcats. Kentucky coach John Calipari seems unfazed by the prospect of a conference tournament loss as long as it's the last one his team suffers in pursuit of national championship No. 9. "This week has no bearing on where we're going to be seeded," Calipari said during Monday's SEC coaches teleconference, "and the most important thing for us is to be the best and the last team standing. "Now, if that includes one loss or no losses. ... You know what? I'd rather have none, but one's OK, too." Kentucky (31-0, 18-0 SEC) has recently shown its resiliency after a conference tournament loss. The program's last national title in 2012 followed a loss in the conference championship game to Vanderbilt; losing to Florida in last year's SEC final ended up spurring the Wildcats' run to the NCAA final. Kentucky likely will be No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament regardless of what happens in the SEC tournament that begins Wednesday in Nashville, Tennessee. The Wildcats open on Friday afternoon against the Florida-Alabama winner at Bridgestone Arena, which might seem like a home game with Big Blue Nation expected to pack the place. "We're not really worried about the SEC tournament," junior post player Willie Cauley-Stein said. "It's more like we're playing for the fans there. They're going to travel everywhere anyway, but especially there." But the attention, scrutiny and pressure figure to increase substantially as the nation watches to see if Kentucky has the fortitude to win three tournament games in three days. Murray State had the nation's second-longest winning streak at 25 games until Belmont knocked off the Racers Saturday night in the Ohio Valley Conference tournament championship. "It's hard to keep winning and winning and winning ...," Belmont coach Rick Byrd said. "It wears on you. It's tough to do. And you hear the talk, 'Is it better to lose one like Kentucky this year? Is it better to lose one before the tournament or not?' It's difficult." Byrd said he told his Belmont players that Murray State was the one with the most to lose. The Wildcats can appreciate that, and expect to face motivated opponents that will be getting a second or third crack at them. But freshman forward Trey Lyles said the Wildcats are not fretting about possibly losing a game. "I don't think it would have an effect," Trey Lyles said. "Everybody going into March is 0-0, undefeated in March. We've just got to go out there and just play hard." Former Kentucky coach Joe B. Hall would like to see the Wildcats run the table, but believes a loss could help a squad that has had its way this season. "This team hasn't had that hurt that you get when you go home at night and get a bowl of antacids and a big spoon and start eating. It's something that you have to experience," said Hall, who led Kentucky to the 1978 NCAA title and two other Final Fours. "I wouldn't be surprised to see them lose a game in the SEC tournament because I think in the back of their minds they're thinking more about being in the Final Four," Hall added. "That's a big danger they face in the (SEC) tournament against these teams that they've already beaten." Former Kentucky forward Kenny Walker understands that philosophy of losing as a wakeup call and character builder. That doesn't mean he buys into it. "It doesn't make sense to me here because we're out to win everything," he said. "Plus, any competitive athlete, whether it's playing before 24,000 in Rupp Arena or H.O.R.S.E. in the backyard, you play to win. Anytime you lose, you give teams a blueprint on how to beat you. I want Kentucky to have that edge." Walker sees a group dialed in on winning every game and focused its goal of a championship. Still, Big Blue Nation might be willing to look past a loss if the Wildcats are hoisting the national championship trophy a month from now. "For us, the perfect season doesn't matter," freshman forward Karl-Anthony Towns said. "A national championship is what matters to us." ___ AP Sports Writer Teresa M. Walker in Nashville, Tennessee, and Freelance Writer Keith Taylor contributed to this report. ___ Follow Gary B. Graves on Twitter: www.twitter.com/GaryBGraves
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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - Police told by a fisherman about an overturned car in an icy Utah river were stunned to discover an 18-month-old girl dangling in a car seat inside, unconscious but alive. They found the baby in the back and a woman dead in the front seat after she flipped over the car. A firefighter jumped into the river and cut the car-seat straps, freeing the baby who was wearing only a flannel onesie and no hat or gloves. Officers then formed a line in the river and handed the cold child from one person to the next until she was on the shoreline and in emergency workers' arms. Two days later, Lily Groesbeck was recovering at a hospital, though authorities still don't know exactly how she survived hanging upside-down for nearly 14 hours in frigid temperatures with no food or water. "It's heartbreaking. Was she crying most the night?" Spanish Fork Police Officer Tyler Beddoes said. "It's a miracle. ... She was needed for sure elsewhere." Beddoes, one of the officers involved in the rescue, recounted the ordeal Monday. Police believe the crash occurred late Friday when the child's mother, 25-year-old Lynn Groesbeck, struck a concrete barrier on a bridge and careened into the river in Spanish Fork, about 50 miles south of Salt Lake City. Groesbeck had visited her parents in nearby Salem and was about halfway back to her home in Springville when she crashed, Spanish Fork police Lt. Matt Johnson said. Investigators don't know the cause, he said. There were no skid marks, and the midsize car had no signs of mechanical failure. Police don't suspect drugs or alcohol but were awaiting toxicology results. Groesbeck might have been tired or distracted, Johnson said, adding that authorities weren't ruling anything out. Even though the bridge gets plenty of traffic, no one saw the wreck because the concrete barrier obstructed the view below, Johnson said. If a fisherman hadn't chosen that river Saturday morning, it could have been several more hours before the car was found, he said. The overturned car was perched on the bank and rocks. As the girl dangled inside, icy water rushed just below her head through the broken windows. Temperatures were near-freezing. "She must have been just out of the water enough to be getting oxygen," Beddoes said. When the four officers got to the vehicle, they didn't know how long it had been there or who was inside. After freeing the girl, responders rushed her to an ambulance and performed CPR, Beddoes said. Lily Groesbeck was in stable condition and improving Monday, according to hospital officials. Beddoes said the girl was opening her eyes and doing well. The girl's mother was enrolled at Provo College with a goal of becoming a medical assistant, her sister Jill Sanderson told the Deseret News. Beddoes said the family thanked him and the other officers for helping save Lily. "Knowing that she was trapped in there 14 hours, the cold water running through the car, just blows me away," Beddoes said.
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Forty years after his death, a legal battle is playing out in Jerusalem over documents belonging to Oskar Schindler including personal copies of the lists of Jews he saved from the Holocaust. The case, which is expected to go to court next month, sheds unusual light on Schindler's personal life after he saved some 1,200 Jews from the Nazis during World War II, and the battles over his estate. It also raises questions about the ownership rights of documents that once belonged to important figures like Schindler -- whose personal papers have in the past turned up at auction. The case has been brought by Erika Rosenberg, an Argentinian woman, who is suing Jerusalem's Yad Vashem Holocaust museum over a suitcase containing thousands of Schindler's documents. Rosenberg claims ownership of the documents by virtue of being the heir of the German industrialist's late wife, Emilie. The suitcase and the documents have been held since 1999 by Yad Vashem, which insists they never belonged to Emilie Schindler but were passed on by Oskar Schindler to a third party before his death. During World War II, Schindler, an ethnic German from then-Czechoslovakia and a member of the Nazi party, persuaded German officers -- through bribes and other means -- to let him employ Jews at his factory, saving them from the death camps. His story captured public attention decades later with Steven Spielberg's 1993 Oscar-winning movie "Schindler's List". - Sales of Schindler papers - After the war, Schindler emigrated with his wife to Argentina, but in 1958 returned to Germany alone and died there in 1974. She remained his legal heir. The suitcase containing Schindler's personal documents and pictures -- as well as a number of copies of the original lists of Jews he saved -- eventually turned up in the home of a friend, the late Annemarie Staehr. In her lawsuit, Rosenberg describes Staehr as Schindler's "lover" and claims she took it from his home after he died. But Yad Vashem's legal team says their relationship was platonic and that Schindler had given her the suitcase and its contents as a gift. According to the plaintiff, the suitcase was found at Staehr's house after she died and her children handed it over to a German newspaper and the German national archives in 1997. When news of the discovery became public, Emilie Schindler took legal action in Germany to retrieve the suitcase and its contents. But when a judge turned up to search the premises of the newspaper in 1999, he was told that they had already been sent to Yad Vashem, court documents show. In 2001, Emilie Schindler returned to Germany where she died, childless. In the last decade of her life, Emilie Schindler became close to Rosenberg, her biographer, and designated her as heir to her estate. Yad Vashem claims that Rosenberg is a "serial suer" who is seeking to exploit Schindler's memory for her personal gain. Documents related to Schindler have financial as well as historic value. In 2013, the blueprints for an expansion of his wartime factory in Poland were sold for $63,426 and the same buyer paid $59,135 for a 1944 letter of introduction signed by Schindler. None of the original lists of Jews comprising the "Schindler lists" remain, but historians believe seven copies were made of them shortly after World War II. - 'Belong in the public domain' - Only one such copy is currently in private hands. Every so often unsuccessful efforts are made to sell that document, most recently in 2013 with a starting price of $3 million. Naor Yair Maman, who represents Rosenberg, told AFP his client had tried to retrieve the documents informally for years, before finally resorting to legal action against Yad Vashem. "I've no doubt that the issue of the ownership is very clear," he told AFP. "Even if you believe that from the historical-academic perspective, it would be preferable that the documents remain in Yad Vashem, you have no right, whatsoever, to claim title to someone else's property," he said. Rosenberg doesn't say in the suit what she wants to do with the documents. Yad Vashem is a national institution which is tasked with gathering, examining and researching materials pertaining to The Holocaust. It is venerated within Israel and a mandatory stop on the itinerary of visiting dignitaries. The museum says the disputed documents "belong in the public domain". Yad Vashem insists it is legally entitled to the documents and has not acted in an underhand manner, denying claims by Rosenberg's legal team that it had "grabbed" the suitcase. "Yad Vashem holds the documents lawfully and has acted the whole time openly and publicly," it said in a statement to AFP, in which it expressed opposition to "trading in Holocaust-era documents". "We will hold our debate with Rosenberg in court to ensure these documents do not reach private hands, of those who are not their legal owners and whose interests are unclear," it said. The Jerusalem court will hold a preliminary hearing on the case on April 15, after mediation between the sides failed.
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GADSDEN, Ala. (AP) An Alabama woman on trial for murder in her granddaughter's death called out the child's name time after time as the girl lay on the ground after collapsing, but didn't tell medics the girl had run for hours, according to evidence presented Tuesday. Joyce Hardin Garrard, 49, is heard repeatedly calling the name of 9-year-old Savannah Hardin in the more than 11-minute 911 recording played in an otherwise silent courtroom. The child's stepmother, Jessica Mae Hardin, told the 911 operator the girl had a seizure. Garrard talked in the background. "Savannah, open your eyes," Garrard is heard saying. "Savannah. Savannah," Garrard says. "How is she doing?" operator Lori Beth Beggs asks. "We can't get her to come to," Hardin responds. Garrard's lawyers haven't denied that the girl ran before her collapse, but the defense said the woman had no intention of harming her granddaughter. Testimony from a paramedic, a school counselor and an investigator who talked to Garrard showed the woman gave at least three different stories about what happened to the child. The woman said she and the girl had collided while racing toward a door; that the girl had a seizure in the living room; and that then child had fallen on stairs outdoors. The woman never said the child had collapsed after running an extended period, witnesses said. The recording showed Hardin, who is awaiting trial on a murder charge in the girl's death, never told Beggs the child had been running or that she had any previous medical problems. Beggs said the information could have been useful to her treatment. Savannah died in a hospital three days later. A firefighter who came to the scene said Garrard also never told emergency workers the child had been running. She "was telling us she had a seizure and she was trying to get her to respond," said Justin Hairrell of the Mountainboro Volunteer Fire Department. The 911 operator said Garrard is heard early in the recording asking for "a smoke" while the child was unconscious. The defense suggested the woman was actually asking for something to cover the child with, like a small a blanket. "Did she in fact say, 'Give me a throw?'" asked defense lawyer Richard Rhea. "No. 'Give me a smoke,'" said Beggs. Neighbor Jolie Jacobs testified that she saw Savannah running and heard Garrard "hollering at her, telling her she better move it," before medics arrived. "She was crying and begging to stop," Jacobs said. Savannah fell in apparent exhaustion, still crying, she said. "Joyce kept telling her to move it," Jacobs said. Jacobs said she regretted not trying to help the child. "I wish I had done something a lot sooner," Jacobs said as she blinked away tears.
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Qatar should be stripped of the 2022 World Cup in order to rectify the mistake of awarding them the world's biggest single sports event, outgoing FIFA Executive Committee member Theo Zwanziger said on Tuesday. Zwanziger, the former boss of Germany's football association (DFB), said that could happen, however, only if a report into how the World Cup was awarded offers details of specific wrongdoing. "The best solution would be not to play in Qatar and to rectify this wrong awarding," he told Bayern 2 radio station. "But that can only happen if the report provides sufficient clues that the awarding broke FIFA ethics rules," he sad. FIFA has been plagued by a wave of scandals and controversy, ranging from allegations of corruption in the 2018/2022 World Cup bidding processes to a row over $25,000 watches given as gifts to executive committee members at the World Cup in Brazil. Former U.S. attorney Michael Garcia who investigated the claims and drafted a report, resigned in December, saying he felt he was no longer making progress and that soccer's governing body "lacked leadership." His report has not been made public while a redacted version will be published at an undisclosed date. Garcia resigned after a disagreement with Hans-Joachim Eckert, head of the ethics committee's judgment chamber, over the handling of his report. "Qatar was not suitable to host such a World Cup for a number of reasons," Zwanziger, who steps down from FIFA in May, said, citing among other the scorching desert temperatures. FIFA is expected to move the tournament to winter. The energy-rich Gulf state has also been criticized over migrants' working conditions and protection of their human rights as they build the multi-million dollar football stadiums. "One has to tell candidates (for World Cups) that sports, football, the clubs and FIFA, they all represent values that we expect to be observed," said Zwanziger. (Reporting by Karolos Grohmann; editing by Amlan Chakraborty)
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Shortly after I got over the shock of seeing two pink lines, and washing my hands because it's really hard to not pee on oneself when taking a pregnancy test, I submerged myself in all the mom terminology I could. I knew nothing of being a parent and there was so much to learn . Attachment parenting? Baby wearing? Swaddle? Was I having a baby or going to a fashion show? Now that I've been a mom for almost three years, I've come up with some new terminology you may find useful, as well as debatable albeit accurate definitions of existing parenting phrases. 1. Co-Sleeping : The act of willingly giving up all rights to your bed, pillow, blankets, and personal safety. You will find yourself clinging to three inches of your king-sized mattress. You will wake up with bruised ribs and milk in your hair. Your child will greet the day well-rested and you will… well… not. And the crazy part is that some of us choose to do this. Why? Because when you push a baby out of your body, your sanity goes with it. 2. Dutch Baby Oven : Your newborn baby ripping an adult-sized, and adult-smelling, fart while you're nursing him or her with a cover on. The odorous air has nowhere to waft but up towards your still-sensitive smeller. 3. Pump & Dump : Spending thirty minutes to set up the pump and milk yourself like a cow, only to trip over a stupid baby blanket and spill that precious liquid gold everywhere. This is also known as one of the saddest moments in motherhood. 4. Naptime : An hour every day during which you are unable to get anything done around the house because every five minutes you're going into your kid's room to soothe and rock them if they're a newborn, or beg, plead with and bribe them to sleep if they're a toddler. 5. Me Time : A scarce twenty minutes a week you use on "self-care." Multitasking is the key here. Shave your legs while the bleach on your upper lip does its magic. Quickly cut your finger- and toenails during the time it takes for the shower to warm up. Have your Kindle read a new parenting book to you during the time it takes to run dry shampoo through your hair because that shower you wanted? That's kind of a joke. 6. Play Date : Allowing other people's children to destroy your home in the name of having physical contact and conversation with another adult who has some idea of what you're going through. 7. The Coffee Code: The code says, "When visiting another mom, one must always bring coffee preferably a special drink order the mom being visited has requested. If you are the mom being visited, you should always have coffee warming in the pot just in case the aforementioned visitor was unable to stop due to a crying baby or tantrum-throwing toddler. Fellow moms and coffee are sanity-spawning necessities and must never be overlooked." 8. Medicine : Sugar water disguised as a healing potion which doesn't actually make your kids better, but rather gets them so hyped up that they merely forget they're sick because they're too busy bouncing off the walls. 9. All You Can Eat Buffet : What was once merely a grocery store is now a banquet for your toddlers. You will ask for free samples, open bags and cans in the middle of an aisle, and freely distribute donuts from the bakery in the name of keeping your kids quiet during the time it takes to somehow spend $75 on preschooler junk food designed as healthy snacks. 10. Morning : Any time after 4:30 a.m. when your child wakes up for the day. I really wanted to add "sleep through the night," and as soon as that happens I'll let you know what it means. Until then, pass the coffee, please.
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Miley Cyrus teases a new song about forgiveness that is already leading to speculation as to who the pop star is singing about. Jen Markham (@jenmarkham) has the story.
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A bereaved Japanese parent still combs the beach looking for the bones of his young son, four years after the child was killed in the 2011 quake-tsunami disaster. Duration: 02:23
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Three teams took the uncertainty out of their tournament equation by punching their tickets on Monday. Northeastern, Wofford, and Manhattan are all heading to the big dance.
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At its "Spring Forward" event, Apple showed off how some of the most popular apps will look on its upcoming smartwatch. But there was one category that was conspicuously absent: games. Despite being the most popular (and top-grossing) category in the App Store, not a single game was shown during the event. We already know that there are games in the works for the Apple Watch, but when the device launches next month, don't expect it to be packed full of your favorite iPhone time-wasters. No fancy graphics or complicated controls The culprit is the Apple Watch's dependency on your smartphone. On its own, it can't do much: instead, it sends information back to your iPhone, which does most of the heavy lifting. That makes it great for requesting an Uber ride or sending a sticker in WeChat, but not so much for running the next Infinity Blade . "The actual device doesn't do much calculation at all," one developer told The Verge . WatchKit lets you build a simple interface and some limited interactions, but not much else you can't have fancy graphics or many complicated controls. One of the first games we know about is Letterpad , a word game from Tiny Tower studio Nimblebit that's also slated to hit iOS some time in early 2015. "Apple Watch support in Letterpad will allow people to chip away at a puzzle right from their wrist whenever they have a free moment, without ever having to touch their phone," says Nimblebit's Ian Marsh. "Players will also receive notifications on their watches when a friend has created a new puzzle and even get the chance to be the first to solve it right from their watch." Based on a video of the game, Letterpad 's Watch interface is incredibly simple, and the same is true of the few other games we know about, like the trivia game Elemental . Both games are also tied to iPhone counterparts. Likewise, the iPhone version of Tamagotchi-like Hatchi will receive an update so that you can check in on your virtual pet from your wrist. That's not to say that other kinds of games aren't coming to the Apple Watch it'll just take some time. When the iPhone launched in 2007 it didn't even have an App Store; flash forward to 2014 and some of the best games of the year were developed for iOS, while apps for the platform generated $15 billion in sales . Apple Watch games might not reach the same scale, but they're definitely coming. However, just as game developers had to create brand new ideas to conform with the touch-only interface of the iPhone, it's likely we'll see entirely new gaming concepts for the Watch much more than just word and trivia games. With its focus on fitness tracking, we could see more unique games like Zombies, Run , while its small screen and simple controls to could lead to games that last for seconds, instead of minutes. Or maybe it will just be a sweet controller for some cool new iPhone games. The real question is when these games will come out and what they'll look like, though it likely won't be long before we find out the Apple Watch launches on April 24th , and games are sure to follow.
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A Philippine court on Tuesday offered a plea bargain to a US marine accused of murdering a transgender Filipina, according to lawyers, in a case that has strained Philippine-US ties. This would give the detained marine, Lance Corporal Joseph Pemberton, a chance to avoid a murder trial that could land him in prison for 40 years if convicted, a state prosecutor and lawyers for the victim's family said. Pemberton, aged 19 at the time of the killing, had previously asked the court through his lawyers to downgrade the murder charge to homicide, which carries a maximum 20-year prison term. Lawyers for Pemberton could not be reached for comment on Tuesday's court proceeding, which was off limits to the press. Prosecutors and lawyers for the family of the victim, Jennifer Laude, as well as Pemberton's defence team, were summoned to a hearing in the northern port of Olongapo on Tuesday where the plea bargain process was laid out to them. The victim's family said they would not oppose the plea bargain as long as Pemberton served jail time. "From the beginning until now, that's what we want: to see him in jail for what he did to my child," the victim's mother Julita Laude told AFP. Prosecutors allege Pemberton met Laude in Olongapo shortly after the US marine took part in joint military exercises in the Philippines. Laude, a 26-year-old also known as Jeffrey, was found dead on October 12 last year in a cheap hotel in Olongapo's red light district shortly after checking in with Pemberton. Prosecutors have described an unprovoked and relentless attack against Laude, whose head was plunged into a toilet until she died. One option that the American could consider is to agree to pay damages and plead guilty to a lesser charge, Olongapo chief prosecutor Emilie Fe de los Santos told AFP. "They (Pemberton and the Philippine state prosecutors) have to agree on all points. After that, we'll inform the court. But today there was no offer (from Pemberton)," de los Santos said. If there is no agreement, the murder trial will proceed and the court will order prosecutors to start presenting their evidence and witnesses on March 23, the lawyers said. Legal observers say that theoretically, a plea bargain would help resolve the case within a one-year period set under a joint US-Philippine defence agreement for US servicemen accused of committing crimes in the Philippines. Pemberton is currently under US military guard at a Philippine military base in Manila, the US government having refused to hand over custody to Philippine authorities.
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She hasn't quite got her way yet, but Taylor Swift's crusade against against free music is getting a lot of traction. The biggest music star on the planet famously yanked her entire catalog from Spotify last year because of its free, ad-supported tier. "It's my opinion that music should not be free," Swift wrote in a widely discussed and occasionally ridiculed Wall Street Journal op-ed. Now, in what is surely music to her ears, it looks as though Apple's imminent streaming service will not include a free option . Apple is expected to make a huge push into streaming music in the coming months when it relaunches Beats, which it bought for $3 billion last year, under the iTunes brand. It would only need to convert a fraction of the 800 million credit card holders it has on file into subscribers to become, easily, the biggest player in streaming and set the tone for the rest of the industry. Apple's expected decision to forgo a free tier reflects a serious rethink among record labels about whether the freemium model is financially viable. "Ad-funded on-demand is not going to sustain the entire ecosystem of the creators as well as the investors," Lucian Grainge, the head of Universal Music Group, told Re/Code last month. A string of senior executives thought to be in favor of free, ad-supported streaming recently left the label. This could be a big problem for Spotify when the time comes time to renew its licensing deals with labels. "Put it this way, Spotify's free service will look very different a year from now,"one music industry source tells Quartz. According to Billboard , labels are pushing for listening caps to be imposed on free users. Spotify CEO Daniel Ek has repeatedly said the company's free service is a key stepping-stone for users who eventually become paying customers. Eighty percent of the company's 15 million paid subscribers previously used the free, ad-supported option, the company says. So removing or altering the option could affect its user growth, and even complicate potential plans for an IPO. The company did not respond to requests for comment. Other streaming services don't have a free option (like Rhapsody) or if they do (like Rdio) it is much more limited than Spotify's, so this problem is quite unique to the Swedish company. That said, there is a streaming service that allows you to listen and also watch lots of music for free on demand. It's much, much bigger than Spotify, and the music industry is not trying to get it taken down. It's called YouTube. Even Taylor Swift's music is still all over it: The difference is 1 billion people use YouTube each month. By contrast, Spotify had 60 million total users at last count. YouTube is also nowhere near as convenient as Spotify, although it has a paid service of its own in the works. In any case, the Google-owned site is too big to be affected by the war on free music, in the short term at least. Whether the same applies to Spotify is the big question.
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A report by FATF outlines the top five sources of Islamic State funding.
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ATLANTA Issuing a clarion call to Americans saddled by student debt, President Barack Obama urged student borrowers Tuesday to stand up for their rights, and announced a medley of modest steps to bring some order to a notoriously chaotic system. Obama unveiled his "student aid bill of rights" before a gymnasium packed with nearly 10,000 students at Georgia Tech, where he said the nation must mobilize to bring about deeper changes to student loans. Not only should every American be able to afford college, Obama said, they also should be able to afford the loan payments that kick in with a vengeance once they graduate. "We're trying to tackle this problem from every angle," Obama said. "We want to make this experience more affordable, because you're not just investing in yourselves, you're investing in your nation." In the Oval Office ahead of his brief visit to Atlanta, Obama signed a presidential memorandum with policy tweaks that don't require new legislation from Congress a plus as far as the White House is concerned. The memo targets third parties like Navient formerly Sallie Mae that contract with the government to collect on loans. Those companies will be required to better inform borrowers about repayment options and notify them when they are delinquent, the White House said. Obama also called for a single website where students can see all their federal loans in one place a major problem for students with multiple loans or debt that's been sold from lender to lender. He also called for a website where borrowers can file complaints. The presidential steps aim to crack down on a student loan system known for being complex and confusing to navigate. In recent years, lawsuits and critical government reports have cast a light on industry abuses and the difficulties facing borrowers. A Consumer Financial Protection Bureau study last year found borrowers were getting little help when they ran into trouble and had few affordable repayment options. And in May, Sallie Mae reached a $60 million settlement with the Justice Department to resolve allegations it charged military members excessive interest rates and improperly sought default judgments. When Vickie Kight of Houston couldn't afford to pay the interest accruing on her loans, she turned to her loan servicer for help and says she didn't get it. Her wages being garnished, Kight dropped out of Louisiana's Southern University, returning to school only years later once her finances were under control. "They were very aggressive with me," Kight said in an interview. Her student loan servicer eventually passed her loan onto a collection agency. "That's when it got really hectic. They weren't providing much information. They just said you owe this much to the bank." Obama also floated the possibility of proposing legal changes to how student loans are affected by bankruptcy. Currently, student loans cannot typically be discharged even in bankruptcy. His memo also requires servicers to apply early payments to loans with the highest interest rates, helping students pay off debt faster. Although Obama has long lamented the high cost of college, he's run into obstacles that have limited his efforts to improve the situation. Using his executive authority, Obama expanded a federal repayment plan to allow more low-income Americans to cap their payments. But when Obama this year proposed to eliminate the "529" college savings plan to make way for education tax benefits, opposition was so strong that he had to jettison the idea. And the president's $60 billion pitch this year for two years of free community college has gained little traction in the Republican-controlled Congress. The government estimates total U.S. student debt exceeds $1.1 trillion, with around 7 million Americans in default. Before returning to Washington, Obama was to headline a fundraiser for the Democratic National Committee, which is beginning to gear up for the 2016 presidential race. Roughly 25 donors paid up to $33,400 to attend. Associated Press writer Nedra Pickler in Washington contributed to this report. Reach Josh Lederman at http://twitter.com/joshledermanAP
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NEW YORK (AP) Ferrets won't get a legal foothold in New York City. The decision Tuesday by the city Board of Health to maintain the ban on ferrets as pets came after some members expressed concerns about them biting and potentially crawling through apartment walls and getting loose. "I'm greatly troubled by this. I have to say that, at this point, I'm not at all convinced that it wouldn't be a substantial health risk to allow ferret ownership in New York City," Dr. Lynn Richardson said. But others suggested it wasn't fair to single out ferrets for potential problems that other, legal animals also can cause. "I am sort of moved, a little bit, by the idea of equity," Dr. Joel Forman said. Ferrets are legal in the rest of New York state, but fur has flown over the issue for years in the city. Former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani once told an ardent ferret aficionado to get psychological help, saying the man's "excessive concern with little weasels is a sickness." The city has long defined ferrets as wild animals and generally prohibited them, but the ban became specific in 1999. The vote was 3-2 to lift the ban, but it needed six votes to pass. There were four abstentions; board members didn't have to give a reason for not voting. Related to weasels, ferrets are believed to have been domesticated about 2,000 years ago. They have gained popularity as pets in recent decades, spotlighted by such celebrity fans as Paris Hilton. The American Veterinary Medicine Association estimated in 2012 that some 334,000 households nationwide have ferrets, a minute fraction of those with dogs or cats. Many states have lifted ferret bans over the past 25 years. California and Hawaii still have them, as does Washington, D.C. Ferret fanciers say the ban reflects an unfair, outdated view of their inquisitive, playful companions. Owners say ferrets can make ideal apartment dwellers: They're small, quiet and litter-trainable and can be caged when no one's home. "They're a perfect pet," ferret owner Shanise Regis said at a Health Department hearing in January. Owners say concerns about biting and escape are overblown. The proposal to nix the ferret ban would have required the animals to be vaccinated for rabies, sterilized and restrained when outdoors. "We are responsible pet owners, and we are begging to be able to take our pets to the vet without fear" that the animals will be seen and ultimately confiscated, says ferret owner Veronica Nizama, who clutched a ferret toy as she watched Tuesday's vote." Or even just go outside and let them feel the sun or the grass between their paws." Four ferret bites have been reported in New York City from 2008 to 2014, Health Department staffers said. ___ Reach Jennifer Peltz on Twitter at http://twitter.com/jennpeltz.
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