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20,702 | bbc--2019-01-10--NBA James Harden takes basketball to the face from Giannis Antetokounmpo | 2019-01-10T00:00:00 | bbc | NBA: James Harden takes basketball to the face from Giannis Antetokounmpo | Houston Rockets star James Harden is on the receiving end of a very wayward pass from Milwaukee's Giannis Antetokounmpo in the Bucks' 116-109 win on Wednesday. Harden was not seriously hurt and continued in the game, scoring 42 of the Rockets' points. Available to UK users only. | null | https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/av/basketball/46825249 | 2019-01-10 11:24:08+00:00 | 1,547,137,448 | 1,567,553,097 | sport | competition discipline |
23,054 | bbc--2019-02-17--Basketball Africa League Professional competition to launch in 2020 | 2019-02-17T00:00:00 | bbc | Basketball Africa League: Professional competition to launch in 2020 | The National Basketball Association and the International Basketball Federation are to launch a professional league in Africa in January 2020. The Basketball Africa League (BAL) will feature 12 teams from at least six African countries. Fiba Africa's executive director, Alphonse Bile, said the league will help players compete in the "best possible environment". Charlotte Hornets' Bismack Biyombo is one of 13 African players in the NBA. Bile said: "The implementation of this league is vital to our young up-and-coming players in Africa as it gives them something to take aim at." Fiba secretary general Andreas Zagklis added: "It's a huge joy to see our partnership with the NBA enter unchartered territory as we work together for the first time to maximise the potential of professional basketball in Africa." Former US president Barack Obama has backed the plans, while NBA legend Michael Jordan, who is now the Charlotte Hornets chairman, was at the launch event in North Carolina. The NBA and Fiba will conduct qualification tournaments to identify which teams from several African countries, including Angola, Egypt, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa and Tunisia, can compete in the league. No more than two teams from the same country will be eligible to play in the league. The NBA has seen 80 current and former players from Africa or with family links to the continent compete, including Hall of Famers Hakeem Olajuwon from Nigeria and Dikembe Mutombo from the Democratic Republic of Congo. | null | https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/basketball/47272427 | 2019-02-17 15:47:20+00:00 | 1,550,436,440 | 1,567,548,233 | sport | competition discipline |
25,084 | bbc--2019-04-01--Watch Basketball-shooting robot beats professionals at three-pointers | 2019-04-01T00:00:00 | bbc | Watch: Basketball-shooting robot beats professionals at three-pointers | Watch as a 6ft 10in robot, called Cue 3, beats two professional players in a three-point shooting contest in Tokyo. Japan's men's basketball team will compete at the Olympic Games for the first time in 44 years at Tokyo 2020. | null | https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/av/basketball/47776712 | 2019-04-01 14:10:18+00:00 | 1,554,142,218 | 1,567,544,470 | sport | competition discipline |
30,792 | bbc--2019-09-11--USA stunned by France in Basketball World Cup | 2019-09-11T00:00:00 | bbc | USA stunned by France in Basketball World Cup | Holders the United States suffered a shock 89-79 loss to France in the quarter-finals of the Basketball World Cup in China on Wednesday. The US had won the past two World Cups and not lost in 58 international games, a run stretching back to 2006. France were 51-41 ahead in the third quarter before the United States moved into a 72-65 lead, but the French fought back to take the victory. France will play Argentina in the semi-finals on Friday, with Spain taking on either Australia or the Czech Republic in the other match. This will be the first time the United States have failed to win a medal at the World Cup since 2002, when they finished sixth. As well as winning the past two World Cups, they have also won the past three Olympic titles. | null | https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/basketball/49666329 | 2019-09-11 13:53:50+00:00 | 1,568,224,430 | 1,569,330,416 | sport | competition discipline |
20,478 | bbc--2019-01-07--The toughest job in world football | 2019-01-07T00:00:00 | bbc | The toughest job in world football? | Reaching the Asian Cup finals for the first time would be no small achievement for Yemen at the best of times. But doing so as war and famine push the poorest country on the Arabian peninsula into the abyss has made it a minor miracle. This is no ordinary tale of footballing success against the odds. Yemen's story includes players kidnapped by extremists. Some can be found fighting in the mountains. Others are dead. As Yemen prepare to get their campaign under way in the United Arab Emirates - they are outsiders in a group featuring Iran, Iraq and Vietnam - the tournament offers a small degree of respite for a nation ravaged by war and famine. When they kick off against Iran in Abu Dhabi on 7 January they'll be serious underdogs. Their opponents are ranked 29th in the world by Fifa; Yemen sit 135th. But as Syria and Iraq have illustrated in recent years, turmoil can raise a team's game. Football has ground to a halt in Yemen. The league is suspended and the infrastructure has all but collapsed. Stadiums are turned to rubble, clubs disintegrating. It is all a direct consequence of war. The 2015 escalation of the conflict between the internationally-recognised Hadi government and Houthi rebels has engulfed Yemen in unspeakable torment. Tens of thousands have been killed in the fighting; hunger and disease compound the tragedy. The numbers are so large as to lose all meaning. Estimates suggest 85,000 children under five have died of starvation; 14 million people are at risk of famine. The country has been sliced in two by this proxy war. The UK and US have been criticised for their support of the Saudi-led coalition that backs President Hadi, and for supplying the bombs that rain down mercilessly. Iran backs the Houthi, who control the mountainous north-west, including the capital Sanaa. Al Qaeda and other local factions only cloud the picture further. Yet despite shattered families and homes, Yemenis also press on with their lives. According to sports journalist Bashir Senan, they have little inclination to pick through the geopolitical stew in which their country is simmering, but they are looking forward to that first meeting with Iran in Group D of the Asian Cup. The players are also keen to focus on football, but that's not easy. Some have managed to find clubs outside Yemen, many in Qatar, but for those still based at home, international games have been their only competitive matches for the past four years. Even when the few clubs still functioning manage to arrange local tournaments the war is always lurking. Chilling video shows rockets lighting up the sky at one such match as spectators perch on grubby plastic chairs by the side of the pitch. For new coach Jan Kocian, the challenges of preparing his team for a major international tournament are stark - and varied. Those still lucky enough to be attached to functioning clubs earn pocket money at best, forcing them to drive taxis or work in supermarkets to make ends meet. Others have joined the fighting; several international players have died in the conflict. "I have to think about doing something else to earn money," Ammad Amr Talal told a camera crew recently on the side of the dusty patch of waste ground on which Al-Tilal, one of Yemen's biggest clubs, now train. "Maybe I'll join the army." One member of Kocian's team says that despite a full-time job he still struggles to earn enough to live. Despite that, he says he had to fund his own journey to join the national squad's Asian Cup preparations in Saudi Arabia. Complaints against Yemen's Football Association are rife, although players are wary of making waves. The FA walks a fine line between the country's warring factions and is struggling to organise the Asian Cup campaign. The training camps should have been up and running before November, say critics, but the finances and logistics are daunting. A coalition-enforced air embargo means there are tales of risky trips to cross the few land borders still open and voyages in ships transporting cattle for slaughter. One player was kidnapped by extremist groups as he returned home from a game during the qualification campaign. "I had been left to a 48-hour road trip through some of the most dangerous territory in the country," he claims, preferring to remain anonymous. Politics continued to play havoc with Yemen's preparations as the Asian Cup approached. In early December, Saudi Arabia reportedly blocked the team from travelling to Qatar for a training camp and several friendlies, sending them instead on a hastily-arranged jaunt to Malaysia. Yemen does not have a glorious footballing history. Fans have spent decades honing a philosophical approach - avoiding a drubbing has often been cause to celebrate. They have never won an Arabian Gulf Cup match despite having played 27 times in the regional tournament, but triumphed twice and drew four times during the qualification campaign for the 2019 Asian Cup. Just a few hundred Yemeni fans were in the stands in Qatar to cheer the team's "home" appearances, but enthusiasm back home among a population desperate for good news rose alongside the points tally. The excitement peaked in March, when Abdulwasea Al Matari scored the two goals that beat Nepal and sealed a berth in the finals. However, Abraham Mebratu, the Ethiopian coach who steered Yemen through the campaign, was gone within three months, complaining about a lack of financing and keen to take up an opportunity to lead his home nation. In addition to the victory over Nepal, Yemen's underemployed team played just three friendlies in 2018. "I've played three top-level matches in 2018," says Fouad Al Omeisi. The 29-year-old midfielder is lucky - his club, Al Ahli Sanaa in the capital, still has its head above water. However, the "transportation allowance" he is paid is not even enough to fund regular gym visits. One team-mate struggles to fit training around a 10-hour shift driving a bus. He earns $6 (£4.70) a day. "The emotional and psychological stress caused by the war" only makes the effort to stay fit and sharp harder, Al Omeisi adds. Slovakian manager Kocian knows a thing or two about how political upheaval can impact on football. He won the last of his 26 international caps just months before Czechoslovakia dissolved. However, 1993's Velvet Divorce bears no comparison to the horrors stalking this Yemen team. Kocian arrived in Saudi Arabia in November to start preparing the squad selected by the FA to take its bow on the world stage. Tall, lean and enthusiastic, he brushes aside suggestions he may have taken on the toughest coaching job in the world. "The political situation makes for some unusual conditions for training a national team," he admits. "For one thing, I won't enter the country; that's in my contract. But it's an honour to lead this team." Favouring a technical, passing style, Kocian could prove a perfect fit for Yemen's young squad. The former centre-back never played for Slovakia, but during a stint in 2006-08 managing his home nation he did blood a 20-year-old Marek Hamsik, Slovakia's talisman ever since. Kocian says his players are keen and focused, and avoid talking about the problems at home, just as the break-up of Czechoslovakia "was never a topic among footballers". But that does not mean the devastation is not on their minds. Offering Yemenis a glimpse of hope, an escape from the horrors in which they are trapped, pushes the team to raise its game, according to veteran goalkeeper Mohammed Ayash. "This tournament is a way to give people a little joy and relief," adds sports journalist Omar Al Masri. "It's a big deal. People are trying to survive and find food for their families, but during the tournament they'll be filling the cafes to watch." Those players still based in Yemen also hope the Asian Cup could offer a literal escape. "Their dream is to get a professional contract abroad," says Kocian. No one is going to tour a war zone to scout for talent, so the players will have no shortage of motivation when they take on Asia's biggest teams. "Yemen won't be pushovers but they will rely on the counter attack against the likes of Iran," says Al Masri. "But they're there to prove themselves, and if they can beat Vietnam then all the better!" Kocian adds: "We know we're the outsiders in the group, but in football a small country can dream of big victories, and we're all aware that qualification for the Qatar World Cup begins in March." Given the challenges, just taking the field on 7 January will be a startling achievement. | null | https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/46721547 | 2019-01-07 06:39:25+00:00 | 1,546,861,165 | 1,567,553,600 | sport | competition discipline |
20,652 | bbc--2019-01-09--When calling for a medical cart goes wrong for footballer in Brazilian youth cup | 2019-01-09T00:00:00 | bbc | When calling for a medical cart goes wrong for footballer in Brazilian youth cup | A medical cart runs over an injured player's foot during a match between Trindade and Flamengo in the Brazilian Under-20 Copa Sao Paulo. Trindade's Bernardo was on the ground struggling with back pain when the injury cart was called on, but the vehicle drove over his foot by mistake. Available to UK users only. There is no commentary in English. | null | https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/av/football/46812284 | 2019-01-09 19:17:49+00:00 | 1,547,079,469 | 1,567,553,270 | sport | competition discipline |
20,739 | bbc--2019-01-11--51-year-old footballer gets new deal | 2019-01-11T00:00:00 | bbc | 51-year-old footballer gets new deal | He may have started his career way back in 1986 but there's no sign of Kazuyoshi Miura slowing down yet - the 51-year-old has signed a new contract with Japanese side Yokohama FC. The striker, who won the last of his 89 Japan caps some 19 years ago, will now play in the Japanese second division until at least the age of 52 - an age he reaches next month. "I will not waste it for one minute, one second," he said. "I think that I want to go face to face with football and go to daily training with maximum power." Miura was born in the same month as Italy legend Roberto Baggio, who retired in 2004, and broke Stanley Matthews' record as the oldest professional to score a goal in 2017. He failed to score in nine appearances in the 2018 season, which saw Yokohama lose in the play-offs. Find all the latest football transfers on our dedicated page. | null | https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/46839490 | 2019-01-11 16:16:00+00:00 | 1,547,241,360 | 1,567,552,925 | sport | competition discipline |
25,974 | bbc--2019-04-18--BBC Womens Footballer of the Year 2019 Lindsey Horan profile | 2019-04-18T00:00:00 | bbc | BBC Women's Footballer of the Year 2019: Lindsey Horan profile | We are profiling each of the five nominees for the BBC Women's Footballer of the Year 2019 award. You can vote for your winner on the BBC Sport website until Thursday, 2 May at 09:00 BST (08:00 GMT). The result will be revealed on Wednesday, 22 May on BBC World Service. Qualifying for the World Cup was probably the most important thing. Last season was hard because we [Thorns] lost the Championship final but I won the MVP award and I was very proud of myself. Any underdog story in a sporting event, or any sentimental movie. I cried three times at A Star is Born and cried at least four times during Crazy Rich Asians...so pretty much any film! Who is your ideal dinner guest? I have always wanted to meet Pep Guardiola. Not with my family because I don't know what they'll ask. Just me and him, talking football. On being nominated for the BBC Women's Footballer of the Year... I'm truly honoured. When I look back at the last few years I've really looked at every detail of my game and how I can improve. All of it came together when my confidence and mentality did. I've had the best season of my career and I feel so grateful to my team, the staff and everyone who's helped contribute to this. Finish this sentence: football for me is... Everything. It's my life and my love and it's the first thing I fell in love with. | null | https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/47908109 | 2019-04-18 04:59:25+00:00 | 1,555,577,965 | 1,567,542,554 | sport | competition discipline |
25,975 | bbc--2019-04-18--BBC Womens Footballer of the Year 2019 Pernille Harder profile | 2019-04-18T00:00:00 | bbc | BBC Women's Footballer of the Year 2019: Pernille Harder profile | We are profiling each of the five nominees for the BBC Women's Footballer of the Year 2019 award. You can vote for your winner on the BBC Sport website until Thursday, 2 May at 09:00 BST (08:00 GMT). The result will be revealed on Wednesday, 22 May on BBC World Service. The titles I won with Wolfsburg, the Championship and the cup. Being named Uefa's best player in Europe - that was really big for me; it's something I dreamed of. Then playing in my first Champions League final, even though we lost. I scored and that was a highlight for me. Golf, tennis, handball. When there's a ball, I like it. Who would be your ideal dinner party guests? I would invite the ones I love the most and have the most fun with: my friends and family and girlfriend. I don't see them so much. Usain Bolt could come and Lionel Messi too... but not sure I'd have fun as I would be shy. On being nominated for the BBC Women's Footballer of the Year... Individual awards like this are a big thing. The team titles are the biggest and if you don't win them you'll never win individual awards, but it's good to be recognised. Finish this sentence: football for me is... | null | https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/47908103 | 2019-04-18 04:58:51+00:00 | 1,555,577,931 | 1,567,542,553 | sport | competition discipline |
32,786 | bbc--2019-11-16--Women's football: Spain's top players to strike this weekend | 2019-11-16T00:00:00 | bbc | Women's football: Spain's top players to strike this weekend | Women footballers in Spain's top division will strike this weekend in a dispute over pay. Almost 200 players from 16 clubs voted to strike in October after more than a year of failed negotiations. They are demanding a professional agreement that regulates minimum working conditions, rights to minimum wages and measures for maternity. UDG Tenerife did not to travel for their game at Espanyol on Saturday and will not field a team. The squad were set to fly to Barcelona on Friday, but after their flight was delayed by technical problems they decided to not to make the trip. In a statement on their website, the club said they "respect the position of the players to support the strike", adding that they hope an agreement can be reached "for the sake of women's football and generations to come". There are eight matches in the top league which could be affected, two on Saturday and six on Sunday. Teams must be able to field seven players in order for games to go ahead. A video featuring top players, including Athletic Bibao goalkeeper Ainhoa Tirapu and fellow Spain international Silvia Meseguer of Atletico Madrid, was promoted on social media by the Association of Spanish Footballers, which is the players' union. On the video, they say they are fighting for former players, current players and "for those who will one day be in our place". The action was supported by 93% of players employed by 16 clubs at a meeting in Madrid on 22 October. Clubs are proposing a minimum wage of 16,000 euros (£13,700), but unions representing the players are asking for at least 20,000 euros (£17,000). | null | https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/50444589 | Sat, 16 Nov 2019 10:55:34 GMT | 1,573,919,734 | 1,573,906,037 | sport | competition discipline |
689,120 | theguardianuk--2019-02-08--Chief medical officer to become first female Trinity College master | 2019-02-08T00:00:00 | theguardianuk | Chief medical officer to become first female Trinity College master | Prof Dame Sally Davies is to leave her post as England’s chief medical officer to become the first female master of one of Cambridge University’s most prestigious colleges, it has been announced. Davies, who has held the position of chief medical officer for nine years, has been appointed by the Queen as master of Trinity College, Cambridge University, the Department of Health and Social Care said. It is the first time the job has gone to a woman. Davies was also the first female chief medical officer for England. She will quit that role at the end of September and take up her new position in October. Davies previously worked for 30 years in the NHS as a consultant haematologist. She was also the director general of research and development for the NHS and helped to create Genomics England. She said: “I want to pay tribute to the outstanding clinicians, scientists and public servants who have supported me in this role – men and women who are working tirelessly to improve the health of the nation. “It has been an honour to be the first female chief medical officer. I have enjoyed it from the start and I will continue to do so right up until I finish. I am delighted to be appointed as the master of Trinity College following a distinguished list of predecessors and as the first woman.” She added: “I can assure everyone that I will continue contributing to the global fight against [antimicrobial resistance] from my new role.” The health secretary, Matt Hancock, said Davies had been a dedicated public servant and a driving force in health. “She has led the fight against antibiotic resistance and public health risks, and has pioneered world-leading action across a whole range of areas,” he said. “She’s been not just England’s chief medical officer but led thinking around the world. Sally has been an inspiration to us all and I’m sure has a huge amount still to contribute in the future.” Trinity, which was founded by Henry VIII, is one of Cambridge’s wealthiest colleges. | Press Association | https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/feb/08/england-chief-medical-officer-dame-sally-hughes-cambridge | 2019-02-08 13:13:14+00:00 | 1,549,649,594 | 1,567,549,224 | health | medical profession |
760,741 | theindependent--2019-05-28--NHS doctors like me are working for free just to stay afloat The government is exploiting our profe | 2019-05-28T00:00:00 | theindependent | NHS doctors like me are working for free just to stay afloat. The government is exploiting our professionalism | "Headline it for me." As a GP, this is a stock phrase I use if you come in to my surgery and say you have four problems to discuss. At least you have given me a heads up that there are four problems, but now I want a list of one-word titles so I can judge what I can manage in the time. Literally everyone expresses amazement when I reveal appointments are scheduled to last 10 minutes only. Apparently, this is a very well-kept NHS secret. I can talk to you about anything you like for 10 minutes: hair loss, mood problems, toe nails…. If you walk in with a limp, or a red eye then I know early on what we are going to be talking about. Sometimes I am kept in breathless suspense: "I’ve had this problem for more than two weeks, and I’m really worried about it as it’s so painful, my mum said I should definitely come and talk to you about it…" So what is it? What are we talking about? It could be anywhere in the body until the roulette ball falls. Of course I see the lip curling annoyance when I say, after nine minutes spent discussing something else, that the heartburn, tiredness or aching knee you're also experiencing are "a whole other problem. I would be rushing you if I tried to do it today, and I wouldn’t be able to do it properly." It’s a drag for the patient to have to come back another day, book another appointment, wait again in the waiting room and I experience the time pressure the other way around when I see my own GP. I always pick the oldest GPs; I am not looking for a good bedside manner, I want their experience. But even I was a bit surprised at my own doctor’s brusque opening gambit. As I stepped into the room, he introduced himself, and as I walked across the room he checked my name. By the time I was seated he had already asked, "How can I help today?" I laughed at the time, but now I do the same thing and save 30 seconds which is, after all, 5 per cent of our allocated consultation time. I strain to keep to time. Every extra five minutes spent on one person’s appointment accumulates. You, my last patient, end up waiting 30 minutes or more. As a doctor, I can cope with a life of 10 minute appointments because I do not work full time. I can manage my work with this level of intensity, and have room for the work I miss out on to slop over into the afternoon (for which, of course, I am not paid). I have also taught myself to touch type, which gives me an edge over other doctors. All of GP training is geared to the 10 min appointment, but new registrars have to be weaned down to this level of case work slowly. They start at 30 minutes per patient and really enjoy the work. They are then cut down to 20 minutes, and then 15. Usually they spend quite a while at 15 minutes getting used to the work before they are finally ratcheted down to 10 min and their morning’s patients are built up to 15 or 18 and then they realise why everyone else has been looking less relaxed than them. I am now so used to working this way that it surprises me to even question the idea. That there could be a world of 15 min consultations seems strange, luxurious and totally out of the question. Yet if the UK really cares about its health care staff and genuinely respects them it should not be depending on the charity of its workers for the system to run properly. And it's not just GPs like me who are expected to work like this. The ratio of doctors to patients in this country is low (2.8 per 1000 patients, compared to a European average of 3.0), but of more concern is the ratio of nurses to patients. Of all the groups in the country why is the NHS relying on the charity and goodwill of nurses in order to run? They are being expected to work in circumstances where they cannot do their work safely and properly and then expected to work overtime as well. To put a nurse to work in a ward which is not properly staffed is nauseating. The minimal number of nurses left to work on a ward of 24 elderly patients with a 99 per cent bed occupancy rate should be at least six. Four nurses for a ward of this size (as has recently been reported by Unison) is simply not enough. Those nurses wishing to care for patients with kindness and dignity are forced to work in a place where this is physically not possible. They must complete ordinary care such as washing, toileting, feeding, then they must address medical issues such as dressings, temperatures, medication and only then might they find the time to notice – or, worse, to not notice – that one patient's condition has deteriorated. The government and the public complacently call healthcare workers heroes and yet continues to expect them to work in these circumstances. I am not a hero. I have been carefully trained for the job I carry out and I have accrued experience in doing so. And I try to be kind, always. But I am well aware that the government uses that interest, and my professionalism, to pay for eight hours of my work and receive 12. Every extra five or 10 – or even 20 – minutes spent with a patient is our personal, charitable gift to you and to the government. The majority of nurses, meanwhile, work an additional six hours each unpaid every week. They never get that time back. I am prepared to continue my 10 minute appointment schedule in general practice. I’ve done it for 15 years and I’ll probably do it for my remaining 20. Like an old timer in a prison cell, I can’t imagine life any other way. It's not right, but I’m used to it. The idea of the government paying for 50 per cent more consultation time is never going to happen. Yet there’s something materially different from me having a long day seeing extra patients, to patients daily stuck in their own urine in a hospital bed and no one having the time to care for them. I want to spell this out: the government is running the NHS on the good will, free time and charity of its healthcare workers and its morally wrong to keep on asking for that. No one minds a one-off push when times are tough; what we mind is that casual assumption that unpaid work is essential to patient safety. Nurses are essential to healthcare and do the hardest job of us all. Why are they being used like this? Are we going to continue to slap people on the back and call them heroes or should we fork out the cash and up the staffing levels for the healthcare workers that all of us need? | Berenice Langdon | https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/nhs-gp-contracts-doctors-nurses-health-government-matt-hancock-a8933246.html | 2019-05-28 12:27:00+00:00 | 1,559,060,820 | 1,567,539,971 | health | medical profession |
500,483 | sottnet--2019-04-18--Opioid sting US federal prosecutors charging medical professionals for health care fraud and pushin | 2019-04-18T00:00:00 | sottnet | Opioid sting: US federal prosecutors charging medical professionals for health care fraud and pushing opioids | Updated at 11:25 a.m. ETFederal prosecutors are charging 60 doctors, pharmacists, medical professionals and others in connection with alleged opioid pushing and health care fraud, the Justice Department said Wednesday.The charges came less than four months after the Justice Department dispatched experienced fraud prosecutors across hard-hit regions in Appalachia.The cases involve more than 350,000 prescriptions for controlled substances and more than 32 million pills - the equivalent of a dose of opioids for "every man, woman and child," across Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama and West Virginia, said Assistant Attorney General Brian Benczkowski.Those charged include 31 doctors, seven pharmacists, eight nurse practitioners and seven other licensed medical professionals, the Justice Department said The idea for the department's Appalachian Regional Prescription Opioid Strike Force was formed last autumn to assist areas suffering from high numbers of opioid overdoses and deaths.Justice Department leaders ultimately approved sending 14 health care fraud prosecutors to several different federal districts to help build cases. They started in January, sifting through data analysis to find the biggest outliers.Then, the prosecutors used traditional law enforcement methods, including search warrants, confidential informants and surveillance, officials say.It's not yet clear how many of the defendants ensnared in this round of prosecutions may fight the charges in court.In some examples, authorities pointed to "inordinately large quantities, 100 prescriptions per day," or other suspicious facts - such as prescriptions with no evidence of a patient having been physically examined.In another episode, one doctor had a pharmacy operating outside his own waiting room."This is extreme outlier behavior," Benczkowski said. "We're targeting the worst of the worst doctors in these districts."Authorities said they are working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Department of Health and Human Services and local public health officials so that patients who arrive at the doors of medical offices that have been shuttered will receive information and other options for medical treatment."In my view, if we can save one life, this will have been worth it," Benczkowski said. "We're not going to just come out and try to arrest our way out of the problem."The CDC has reported that 130 Americans die every day of an opioid-related overdose, and federal law enforcement officials have been tasked with trying to stanch the flow of some of those drugs."The opioid epidemic is the deadliest drug crisis in American history, and Appalachia has suffered the consequences more than perhaps any other region," Attorney General William Barr said. "But the Department of Justice is doing its part to help end this crisis."The efforts will continue, officials say - the strike force is expected to expand into a new area, the Western District of Virginia, starting this week. | null | https://www.sott.net/article/411411-Opioid-sting-US-federal-prosecutors-charging-medical-professionals-for-health-care-fraud-and-pushing-opioids | 2019-04-18 22:01:40+00:00 | 1,555,639,300 | 1,567,542,629 | health | medical profession |
535,642 | sputnik--2019-06-17--Doctors Strike Indian Health Ministry says Govt Mulling Law for Medical Professional Protection | 2019-06-17T00:00:00 | sputnik | Doctors’ Strike: Indian Health Ministry says Gov’t Mulling Law for Medical Professional Protection | Following almost a week-long doctors' agitation, which erupted in the Indian state of West Bengal and gradually spread across India over inadequate safety measures in medical institutions, India's Health Minister Dr Harshvardhan Singh on Monday said the government is mulling a proposal to introduce a law for doctors' protection. The agitation has gone viral on social media. "The government is mulling over introducing a law to protect doctors. We are asking the state governments to make specific laws to protect the doctors", said the Indian health minister. "These legislations can't be done overnight, they will take some time. We are studying the existing situation, looking at past records, incidents etc. What we have to do is ensure that such incidents never happen in this country again", he said. Dr Singh's statement came even as a delegation of junior doctors in Kolkata in India's West Bengal state were closeted in a meeting with the state's Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, making a representation to her that they would be happy to resume their duties and training, provided their security and safety is held paramount and assured. As of now, Chief Minister Banerjee has agreed to create grievance redressal cells in hospitals, appoint a nodal police officer to look after the security of the hospital and its staff, appoint public relations teams to deal with the families of admitted patients, prevent the filing of false cases against doctors and other medical staff, that no more than two relatives be allowed inside an emergency environment, as well as set up reinforced gates at all emergency departments. She has also agreed that bail will not be granted to the attackers of junior doctors Paribaha Mukhopadhyay and Yash Tekwani, who were thrashed and injured at the NRS Medical College last week following the death of an aged patient. Satisfied with the chief minister's assurances, the junior doctors are expected to suspend their strike later this evening. So far, five people have been arrested in connection with the beating up of the doctors. Doctors had earlier demanded that their meeting with the chief minister take place before the media; however, the state government ruled it out, but assured that the proceedings of the meeting would be recorded. | null | https://sputniknews.com/asia/201906171075913391-India-Docters-Strike-Medical-West-Bengal/ | 2019-06-17 13:46:00+00:00 | 1,560,793,560 | 1,567,539,040 | health | medical profession |
784,706 | theirishtimes--2019-02-20--Health professionals will have to declare overseas convictions | 2019-02-20T00:00:00 | theirishtimes | Health professionals will have to declare overseas convictions | Doctors and other healthcare professionals will have to declare any convictions or criminal sanctions they have before being allowed to register in the State, under new legislation published today. Disciplinary inquiries in other jurisdictions can be used as admissible evidence in Irish fitness-to-practise proceedings, under the new proposals. However, fitness-to-practise committees will also be given the power to order that some or all of the information at a hearing not be published. All disciplinary sanctions imposed on doctors, nurses, midwives, pharmacists and other regulated health professionals will be published to ensure the public has access to this information, under the Regulated Professions (Health and Social Care) (Amendment) Bill 2019. Practitioners will have the right to appeal to the High Court even minor sanctions of advice, admonishment or censure against them. Currently there is no right of appeal for these sanctions. The Bill addresses issues relating to professional qualifications that are likely to arise after Brexit. Presuming the UK leaves the EU in March, the professional qualifications directive, which provides for the mutual recognition of qualifications, will apply to it as a third country rather than as a full member state. As a third country it will no longer report restrictions on practice on health professionals as happens now under an alert system of the directive. Irish authorities are concerned about the potential information vacuum this could create, given the volume of movement of health workers between Ireland and the UK. To ensure Irish regulators are aware of any restriction applying to a particular health worker, the Bill provides for practitioners to declare any such issue when registering here. Restriction or prohibitions on practice are also being included as a ground for complaint under fitness to practise. Welcoming the publication of the Bill, Minister for Health Simon Harris said it was an important piece of legislation both for the public and for health professionals. “It will offer patients reassurance knowing they have information about all sanctions imposed on health professionals they are seeing, while also giving health professionals the right to appeal minor sanctions.” The Bill, which has been approved by Cabinet, also includes amendments designed to speed up disciplinary processes for doctors, nurses and midwives, and reduced delays in establishing interview panels for consultant posts, which is having a knock-on effect on recruitment. | null | https://www.irishtimes.com/news/health/health-professionals-will-have-to-declare-overseas-convictions-1.3799441 | 2019-02-20 00:44:01+00:00 | 1,550,641,441 | 1,567,547,911 | health | medical profession |
282,464 | latimes--2019-07-16--California doesnt have enough doctors To recruit them the state is paying off medical school debt | 2019-07-16T00:00:00 | latimes | California doesn't have enough doctors. To recruit them, the state is paying off medical school debt | Bryan Ruiz’s hands were still shaking an hour after he learned the $300,000 in medical school loans he took out to become a dentist were being wiped away by California taxpayers. A year out of medical school, Ruiz thought it would take decades to pay off the debt, particularly since he had accepted a less lucrative position at a community health clinic that primarily serves low-income Medi-Cal patients. “This really is life-changing,” he said. Ruiz was among the first physicians and dentists told this month that their medical school debt was being paid off by the state. In exchange, doctors must pledge that at least 30% of their caseloads will be devoted to Medi-Cal patients for five years. “He’s committed his life to this kind of service, and that’s what our loan repayment program is about,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said of Ruiz at a news conference last week touting healthcare investments in the newly enacted California budget. “If you support providing quality care to Medi-Cal patients, we are going to support your journey by providing a little bit of relief on these loans.” Federal, state and local governments have increasingly turned to loan forgiveness programs as the competition for doctors has become more aggressive nationwide. Two-thirds of physicians finishing their training said they’d been contacted more than 50 times by job recruiters, according to a 2019 survey by physician staffing firm Merritt Hawkins. California will spend $340 million paying off doctors’ debts using Proposition 56 tobacco tax revenue. This month, the state offered its first awards — 40 dentists received $10.5 million in debt relief while 247 physicians received $58.6 million. California’s program is aimed at increasing the number of doctors who see Medi-Cal patients in a state experiencing a shortage of healthcare providers. The number of physicians who accept Medi-Cal patients — and the low reimbursement rate that comes with them — hasn’t kept pace with the rapid expansion of the state’s healthcare program for the poor, which covers 1 in 3 residents in the state. “The loan repaying program is huge,” said Sandra R. Hernández, a physician and president of the California Health Care Foundation. “You have a lot of young physicians who graduate from medical school with tremendous debt. We think this is a good long-term win for getting physicians to serve in under-served areas.” As California’s doctor shortage has grown, the state’s residents are growing older, with an aging baby boomer population increasing the need for healthcare workers. And one-third of the state’s doctors and nurse practitioners are baby boomers who are reaching retirement age, further depleting the workforce. Those trends led healthcare, education and business leaders to form the California Future Health Workforce Commission in 2017 to study the state’s impending healthcare crisis, with the task force ultimately proposing a $3-billion plan over the next 10 years to address it. Newsom included $300 million in new money to address the provider shortage in the budget he signed last month for the fiscal year that began July 1. Much of that money was allocated to training and recruitment programs recommended by the commission, including an additional $120 million for loan forgiveness incentives that’s meant to ensure physicians and dentists take on Medi-Cal patients. But some costly and politically fraught recommendations by the commission will not be tackled this year, which could slow the state’s efforts to fix gaps in healthcare access. Among the commission’s recommendations was legislation to allow nurse practitioners, who undergo more training than registered nurses, to care for patients on their own without a physician’s supervision. Commission member Assemblyman Jim Wood (D-Healdsburg) authored the bill that would have allowed nurse practitioners more autonomy. But it stalled in May amid pushback from the California Medical Assn., the lobbying arm of doctors in the state. Wood said he would revive the bill next year. The commission’s report said the state would have seen an immediate, substantial increase of nurse practitioners working in rural areas in 2020 had the bill moved forward and, over time, would have saved hundreds of millions of dollars by treating conditions that otherwise result in trips to the emergency room. “California is facing a perfect storm — elderly who will need care and a lack of healthcare providers,” said Karen Bradley, president of the California Assn. for Nurse Practitioners. “This bill would have allowed nurse practitioners to be part of the solution.” Many more doctors will need to be trained in California if the state wants to meet the healthcare needs of residents, said Janet Coffman, a professor at Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies at UC San Francisco. More than 60% of California’s students who attended medical school in 2017 left the state for their schooling, according to the commission’s report. The national average of medical school students per 100,000 people is 30.3; California has 18.4 students per 100,000. That’s the third-lowest rate among the 45 states that have at least one medical school. Despite this, California has made relatively few investments in increasing enrollment at medical schools in the state. The only new public medical school to open in California in the last four decades is at UC Riverside. “And it’s relatively small,” Coffman said. “We’ve expanded class sizes in other medical schools some but not much.” State Sen. Richard Roth (D-Riverside) introduced a bill this year to give UC Riverside $80 million to construct a new facility for its medical school, allowing the campus to double its enrollment from 250 students to 500 students. But the money was not included in the recently signed budget, and the bill was amended to exclude the funds. Instead, the budget promises only a future bond to pay for the construction. Lawmakers have approved spending some $115 million for residency training positions, which the health commission says have historically been underfunded. Included in that is $33 million for California’s Song-Brown Program, which funds residency programs that increase diversity among students studying to be doctors or that serve high-needs areas of the state. The budget made the funding for that program permanent for future years, a key priority for the commission. “A significant down payment has been made with this budget,” said David Carlisle, president of Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science in Los Angeles and a member of the healthcare commission. “It represents a significant realization and response to the challenges that exist. We have to continue to work on this topic, because there is more work to be done.” Follow @MelodyGutierrez on Twitter and sign up for our Essential Politics newsletter. | Melody Gutierrez | https://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-ca-california-doctor-shortage-medical-debt-20190716-story.html | 2019-07-16 12:00:07+00:00 | 1,563,292,807 | 1,567,536,498 | health | medical profession |
284,834 | latimes--2019-12-02--More than 400 UCLA medical school students get a free education thanks to major donation | 2019-12-02T00:00:00 | latimes | More than 400 UCLA medical school students get a free education thanks to major donation | Medical school had put Allen Rodriguez in debt before he was even accepted. The testing, applications and interviews alone cost Rodriguez thousands that he’s still paying off on his credit cards. So it was a relief — and a deciding factor — when his 2014 UCLA medical school acceptance came with more good news: a full scholarship, funded by a $100-million gift from billionaire David Geffen. The UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine announced Monday that the DreamWorks co-founder, who gave the school $100 million in 2012, has donated an additional $46 million to continue to fund merit-based scholarships so medical students do not have to take on weighty loads of debt. His UCLA donations total nearly half a billion dollars in the last two decades, much of it to the medical school. The scholarships cover tuition and expenses, and students are told of the award when accepted to the medical school. The school expects that the $146 million will fund 414 scholarships — 20% to 30% of each class for a decade, ending with the class of 2026. For Rodriguez, the scholarship meant he could focus his time in medical school on finding “what’s going to make me happy, not necessarily what’s going to make me money,” though he realizes he will earn more than his parents ever did regardless of specialty. The 32-year-old doctor, who graduated last year, is in his second year of residency at Scripps Mercy San Diego, in a family medicine program that offers training for doctors in both English and Spanish. Last year, 75% of U.S. medical school graduates had accrued debt that averaged almost $200,000, according to an Assn. of American Medical Colleges survey of graduates from 150 medical schools. For California residents, tuition and fees alone at UCLA’s four-year program cost upward of $42,000 annually. Free from the financial burden of his education, Rodriguez said, he helped raise money to fund scholarships for undocumented medical students at UCLA and advocated for statewide policy changes that would make undocumented medical students eligible for loan forgiveness. He still has some debt, though — about $20,000 from his undergraduate years at UC Berkeley, plus about $10,000 in credit card debt and loans accumulated mostly from applying to medical school and residency programs. “It takes so much money and time to apply that many people are priced out of it,” Rodriguez said. Medical students do tend to have higher-income parents who are more likely to have college degrees, according to surveys from the Assn. of American Medical Colleges. Rodriguez’s parents did not attend college. Now retired, his mother owned a sign company and his father worked his way up from a warehouse job to middle management at Raytheon Co. They had some savings to help fund college, but Rodriguez and his three siblings were largely on their own. He believes diverse life experiences like his help create a workforce that can better understand and treat patient needs. “The Geffen Scholars program is life-altering for our students and their future patients,” Dr. Kelsey Martin, dean of the Geffen School of Medicine, said in a news release. “Mr. Geffen’s generosity has remarkable ripple effects.” Although many recipients like Rodriguez do need the financial aid, Geffen’s gift could be more socially beneficial if scholarships were based on need rather than merit or if they encouraged recipients to treat underserved communities for a period of time, said Phil Buchanan, president of the nonprofit Center for Effective Philanthropy and author of the book “Giving Done Right: Effective Philanthropy and Making Every Dollar Count,” which offers advice on donating. “The competitive pressures among institutions of higher education have led them to emphasize merit aid, because they’re trying to win in a competition against each other rather than thinking about what is best” for society from an equity and opportunity standpoint, Buchanan said. Geffen declined to comment on the donation via a university spokesman. The medical school bears his name after a $200-million gift in 2002, and in addition to this scholarship he donated $100 million in 2015 to start a private school meant in part to serve the children of UCLA faculty members. UCLA is not the only school to seek out large donations for its medical students. Last year New York University’s School of Medicine announced that it was raising $600 million from private donors to cover tuition for all students. Most medical school students who gain acceptance have one to three schools to choose from, said Geoffrey Young, senior director of student affairs and programs for AAMC. As a former admissions committee member at three schools, including the Medical College of Georgia, he said, “If we could use scholarship money to entice someone to come to that school, I would. That’s a free market.” Geffen was clear that he wanted to use merit-based scholarships to attract the best potential doctors to the school, said UCLA Health Sciences Vice Chancellor Dr. John Mazziotta. Other students do have access to need-based scholarships, and Mazziotta said his ultimate goal is to start an endowment that would fund UCLA medical school for all students “forever” — an endeavor that would take upward of $1 billion, he said. Rodriguez said he would still have pursued medical school without the scholarship — but probably not at UCLA. He might have found a program in a city with a lower cost of living, or would have chosen a M.D.-PhD program, which takes double the time to complete but offers more funding for students. And although family medicine is among the less lucrative specialties, Rodriguez feels he has made the right choice. “I just want to go where the need is high and where my work will make a difference,” he said, “where if I wasn’t there, it wouldn’t be as good.” | Sonali Kohli | https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2019-12-02/david-geffen-donates-46-million-for-ucla-medical-student-scholarships | Mon, 2 Dec 2019 09:00:56 -0500 | 1,575,295,256 | 1,575,311,514 | health | medical profession |
702,646 | theguardianuk--2019-06-19--Women outperform men after Japan medical school stops rigging exam scores | 2019-06-19T00:00:00 | theguardianuk | Women outperform men after Japan medical school stops rigging exam scores | Women have outperformed their male counterparts in entrance examinations for a medical school in Japan that last year admitted rigging admission procedures to give men an unfair advantage. Juntendo University in Tokyo said that of the 1,679 women who took its medical school entrance exam earlier this year, 139, or 8.28%, had passed. The pass rate among 2,202 male candidates was 7.72%. It was the first time in seven years that the pass rate among women was higher than among men, the Asahi Shimbun reported. The university attributed the exam results to its decision to “abolish the unfair treatment of female applicants” after last year’s revelations. Juntendo was one of several medical schools that were found to have manipulated exam results to give first-time male applicants an advantage over women and others who had previously failed the exam. The dean of the medical school, Hiroyuki Daida, initially attempted to justify the practice, saying women matured faster than men and had better communication skills. “In some ways, this was a measure designed to help male applicants,” he told reporters. The sexist admissions policy drew widespread criticism after the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper revealed in August last year that Tokyo medical college had rigged exam scores for more than a decade to favour male candidates, citing concerns that women who went on to become doctors would leave the profession to have children. Last month, the medical school said female applicants had performed slightly better than men this year after gender-based anomalies in the admissions procedure were removed. The pass rate among women at Tokyo medical school was 20.4%, 0.4 percentage points higher than among male candidates, the university said, according to the Japan Times. The success rate the previous year, when the discriminatory marking practice was still in place, was just 2.9 % for women and 9% for men. In 2016, women accounted for just 21.1% of all doctors in Japan, the lowest level among nations belonging to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Among G7 countries, Britain had the highest proportion, at 47.2%, followed by Germany, France and Canada. The medical school scandal reinforced claims of institutional sexism in the Japanese workplace and education, frustrating efforts by the prime minister, Shinzo Abe, to create a society “in which women can shine”. While women’s representation in the workplace is rising, Japan compares poorly with other countries in promoting women to senior positions. Many female employees face discrimination when trying to return to work after giving birth. | Justin McCurry in Tokyo | https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jun/19/women-outperform-men-after-japan-medical-school-stops-rigging-exam-scores | 2019-06-19 04:16:01+00:00 | 1,560,932,161 | 1,567,538,757 | health | medical profession |
337,521 | naturalnews--2019-11-10--MEDICAL TYRANNY: Nurses now forced to perform abortions against their wishes, thanks to another corr | 2019-11-10T00:00:00 | naturalnews | MEDICAL TYRANNY: Nurses now forced to perform abortions against their wishes, thanks to another corrupt federal judge | (Natural News) United States District Judge Paul Engelmayer from the Southern District of New York has shot down a rule put into effect by the Trump administration that would have exempted health care workers from having to perform or assist in abortions against their will. Citing it as “unconstitutional,” Judge Engelmayer decided that rule, which was to be implemented by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), cannot be enforced because it “attaches retroactive and ambiguous conditions” to the “receipt of federal funds” as given to state and local municipalities. Some 23 states and local communities sued the Trump administration for trying to exempt some workers from “having to provide, participate in, pay for, provide coverage of, or refer for, services such as abortion, sterilization, or assisted suicide” because they feel that it’s “impermissibly coercive” towards state and local governments, which would have to enforce it in order to receive federal funds. While admitting that the “Conscience Provisions” of federal law “recognize and protect undeniably important rights,” Judge Engelmayer said his decision was made mostly on technical grounds. The Trump rule, he decided, was “shot through with glaring legal defects.” Even so, HHS will now be “at liberty to consider and promulgate rules governing these [Conscience Provisions],” which have already been enshrined at the federal level to protect health care workers against having to perform or participate in procedures that violate their beliefs and consciences. Though the Trump administration has yet to respond to the ruling, it is expected to appeal the decision in accordance with Trump’s personal promise to uphold religious liberty in America and make it one of his top priorities. As you may have seen, Trump recently appointed Roger Severino as Director of the HHS Office for Civil Rights. Trump has also appointed Vice President Mike Pence to a top position within this same division, while also lifting a conscience-violating mandate that was enacted by former President Barack Obama. If you don’t agree with leftists, they’ll attack you until you’re destroyed Trump has further created a new office within the White House that is to be tasked with protecting religious freedom throughout America, as well as with monitoring any potential threats that might arise – and man, are they arisin’! Just the other day, as one example, The Daily Beast put out a piece (which we won’t link to) declaring its position that “religious freedom” is just code for “poisonous, anti-LGBTQ bigotry.” This fake news outlet contends that any opposition of opinion to the LGBTQ agenda represents “hate.” The Daily Beast, like many other fake news media outlets, is upset that along with this attempted conscience ruling for health care works, the Trump administration is also trying to implement conscience clauses for taxpayer-funded foster care and adoption groups who prefer not to hand children over to LGBTQs. There are also accusations being flung around that accuse the Trump administration of engaging in “cruel and unlawful” behavior simply by trying to protect Christian practitioners, as one example, against having to murder unborn human life. We heard the same types of nonsense during the “gay cake” saga in Colorado, where LGBTQs tried to force a Christian cake baker to make pastries for homosexual weddings. It was a case that ultimately led to a major victory for religious freedom, but not without a vicious fight. “This has to be the first time any strings attached to federal money were ruled unconstitutional,” pointed out one LifeSiteNews commenter about the ruling against Trump’s HHS. “Since states are not required to take the money, they can avoid the strings by not taking it. I doubt this ruling will survive.” For more related news on the extremism and bigotry of the medical establishment, read MedicalExtremism.com. | Ethan Huff | http://www.naturalnews.com/2019-11-10-nurses-now-forced-to-perform-abortions-against-their-wishes.html | Sun, 10 Nov 2019 10:37:28 +0000 | 1,573,400,248 | 1,573,431,218 | health | medical profession |
787,824 | theirishtimes--2019-06-29--Medical staffing crisis threatens patients and services HSE report claims | 2019-06-29T00:00:00 | theirishtimes | Medical staffing ‘crisis’ threatens patients and services, HSE report claims | The safety of patients in Irish hospitals is being compromised as a result of a “crisis” in medical staffing arising from a reliance on “transient” foreign doctors, according to a new report. Hospitals are likely to struggle to maintain existing services if the current situation continues and may have to “consolidate” or “discontinue” services, the draft Health Service Executive report warns. Many hospitals would not be able to operate without foreign doctors, yet they are denied training and opportunities to develop their career. Believing that they being unfairly treated, many quit. The cost of employing temporary and locum agency doctors will escalate to “unsustainable” levels, it says. Unless hospitals are urgently put on a stable workforce platform, key risks will continue to exist, including: - doctors of “unknown professional standard” continuing to work in hospitals; - “inadequate” clinical oversight and assessment of many junior doctors, resulting in complaints to the Medical Council; and - no career planning for junior doctors not in training schemes. The report reveals Ireland’s massive and growing reliance on “non-training-scheme doctors” (NTSDs), which includes any doctor not enrolled in a specialist training scheme (to become a consultant). The number of NTSDs tripled between 2014 and 2018, from about 900 to 2,724. This service-grade category of doctor comprises 50 per cent of all junior doctors, but up to 70 per cent in smaller hospitals. Three out of every four of these doctors have qualified overseas. More trained in Pakistan than in Ireland, for example. However, 78 per cent of NTSDs leave Ireland within three years, creating a “turnover effect” whereby a significant proportion of Ireland’s hospital doctors are temporary and perpetually less experienced in their role and in the Irish system. Warning of a “potential cessation” of services, the report says it is likely hospitals, especially regional ones, will find it difficult to find staff as they are currently configured. It says the “crisis” requires urgent action through the “consolidation” of services and the reconfiguration of the medical workforce, and by increasing trainee places for doctors and increasing consultant numbers. Services in some hospitals could be “repurposed” as part of a consolidation designed to reduce dependency on non-training scheme doctors. The report was drawn up by a working group led by clinical lead Prof Des Carney of the Mater hospital and Prof Frank Murray, director of the HSE National Doctors Training and Planning service. Doctors do not have to be on a training scheme to work in Irish hospitals, but those that are not tend to move around a lot, working short-term contracts of six to 12 months or through a locum agency. There is “less rigour” to the process of hiring such non-scheme doctors than in filling a consultant post or creating a training post, the report points out. Most NTSDs experience “significant barriers” to entering training schemes because they trained in countries whose internships are not recognised by Ireland, leading to their “career stagnation” and frustration. There are 71 non-training scheme doctors out of 83 junior doctors at South Tipperary General Hospital, and 94 out of 109 at Cavan General Hospital – 86 per cent in both cases. Because of the lack of career progression, many foreign doctors quit Ireland as early as possible because they feel unfairly treated. They are then replaced by other overseas-qualified “and most likely less experienced” doctors who are new to the system. This results in “much turnaround and instability”, with “potentially negative patient safety effects”. Most of these doctors are qualified and capable and without them, many hospital departments “would not continue to function”. However, a potential lack of employer due diligence has also led to some “troubling incidents”. Although NTSDs are required to enrol on a professional competency scheme, only half of them do. The weekly cost of employing an agency doctor is estimated in the report at €3,315, compared to €1,973 for a registrar. | null | https://www.irishtimes.com/news/health/medical-staffing-crisis-threatens-patients-and-services-hse-report-claims-1.3940800 | 2019-06-29 02:00:00+00:00 | 1,561,788,000 | 1,567,537,597 | health | medical profession |
22,984 | bbc--2019-02-15--Sergio Ramos Real Madrid defender had no choice over controversial yellow card | 2019-02-15T00:00:00 | bbc | Sergio Ramos: Real Madrid defender 'had no choice' over controversial yellow card | Real Madrid defender Sergio Ramos says he is "surprised" about the reaction to his yellow card against Ajax and the suggestion he earned it on purpose. Ramos fouled Kasper Dolberg in the 89th minute with Real leading 2-1, meaning he is suspended for their Champions League last-16 second-leg meeting. Uefa is investigating comments he made suggesting he was booked deliberately. Asked if he knew the foul was likely to lead to a yellow card and a ban, Ramos said: "Yes, but I had no choice." A suspension at this stage greatly reduces the risk of missing a match later in the competition, with all bookings wiped following the quarter-final stage. However, a player who purposely obtains a booking can be banned for two games. Uefa began its investigation after Ramos told reporters he would "be lying if I said I didn't force [the booking]" during Wednesday's game. But on Friday he clarified: "I'm very surprised about all this. I was referring to forcing the foul, a foul that was inevitable. Not to forcing the booking. "It was a very dangerous counter-attack in the 88th minute, with an open match and the tie as well. "That's why I said that I would lie if I said I did not know that I was carrying a penalty, just as I knew that I had no other choice than to make a mistake. And that's what I meant when I said that in football you have to make complicated decisions." Ramos added that, had he wanted to pick up a yellow card on purpose, he could have done so in a group game against Roma because "we were already classified as first" and the last game against CSKA "was inconsequential". Los Blancos secured a first-leg advantage against Ajax through Marco Asensio's goal two minutes before the controversial booking. "In a game there are many tensions, many sensations and many pulsations," Ramos tweeted. "You have to make decisions in seconds. The best of today is the result. The worst, not being able to be with my team-mates for a game." Ramos' team-mate Dani Carvajal received a two-game ban from Uefa when he was judged to have been booked on purpose in the final minute of a 6-0 win over Apoel Nicosia in last season's tournament. Ramos and former Real midfielder Xabi Alonso were both booked late on in a 3-0 quarter-final first-leg victory over Galatasaray in 2013. Both players were also criticised in 2010, when they were booked and sent off in the final five minutes of a group game with Ajax, meaning they missed the next fixture, with Real already assured of progress to the knockout stage. | null | https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/47259541 | 2019-02-15 17:33:02+00:00 | 1,550,269,982 | 1,567,548,415 | sport | disciplinary action in sport |
170,763 | eveningstandard--2019-04-07--Arsenal defender Sokratis to serve two-match ban after yellow card against Everton | 2019-04-07T00:00:00 | eveningstandard | Arsenal defender Sokratis to serve two-match ban after yellow card against Everton | Arsenal defender Sokratis Papastathopoulos will miss the club's next pair of Premier League matches against Crystal Palace and Watford. Having already collected nine yellow cards in domestic action so far this term, the Greek centre-back was walking a disciplinary tightrope heading into Sunday's meeting with Everton at Goodison Park. Sokratis lasted just 25 minutes on Merseyside before picking up his 10th caution of the 2018-19 campaign - his first in English football - after hauling down striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin to thwart an attack from the hosts. 10 yellow cards in a given top-flight season automatically incurs a two-match suspension, with the 30-year-old now set to sit out the trip to Watford's Vicarage Road on April 15 - a fixture sandwiched between a two-legged Europa League quarter-final tie against Napoli, which Sokratis will still be available for. He will also be absent for the visit of London rivals Crystal Palace to the Emirates Stadium on April 21. Former Borussia Dortmund stopper Sokratis previously missed Arsenal's 3-2 defeat to Southampton at St Mary's in December after accumulating five yellows in the opening four months of the season. | George Flood | https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/arsenal/arsenal-defender-sokratis-papastathopoulos-serve-twomatch-ban-after-yellow-card-against-everton-a4111381.html | 2019-04-07 13:30:00+00:00 | 1,554,658,200 | 1,567,543,668 | sport | disciplinary action in sport |
931,046 | thesun--2019-01-24--Sarri booked by ref Atkinson for protesting yellow card for Chelsea star Jorginho | 2019-01-24T00:00:00 | thesun | Sarri booked by ref Atkinson for protesting yellow card for Chelsea star Jorginho | MAURIZIO SARRI was shown a yellow card by Martin Atkinson for his furious protest on Thursday night. The [Chelsea](https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/football/team/1196660/chelsea/) manager was far from happy with Jorginho being shown a yellow card and couldn't hide his frustrations. ![ Maurizio Sarri was booked for protesting too hard]() Sky Sports Maurizio Sarri was booked for protesting too hard ![ Referee Martin Atkinson brandished his yellow card to the Chelsea manager]() News Group Newspapers Ltd Referee Martin Atkinson brandished his yellow card to the Chelsea manager Unfortunately for the Blues boss, ref Atkinson was just yards away and handed him the same punishment as the Italian midfielder. Managers can be booked in the Carabao Cup and lower leagues as it is an EFL rule. Sarri has cut a frustrated figure of late, hitting out at his team for recent performances and a lack of desire. But his mood might have been helped after his team [beat Tottenham on penalties to book a spot in the Carabao Cup final](https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/football/8274525/chelsea-2-tottenham-1 -carabao-cup-semi-final-penalty-shootout/) against Man City. N'Golo Kante and Eden Hazard put the Blues on course for Wembley with their first-half strikes. But [Fernando Llorente's header early in the second half brought Spurs leve](https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/football/8245383/chelsea-tottenham-live- stream-score-tv-channel-carabao-cup/)l again and forced a penalty shoot-out. David Luiz hit the winning penalty to seal Chelsea's spot in the final where they'll take on Manchester City on February 24. ![ Jorginho was booked for his foul on Danny Rose, which led to the protests]() Reuters Jorginho was booked for his foul on Danny Rose, which led to the protests ![ Maurizio Sarri was his usual animated self in his dugout]() Reuters Maurizio Sarri was his usual animated self in his dugout | supal | https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/football/8274592/maurizio-sarri-martin-atkinson-chelsea-jorginho-yellow-card/ | 2019-01-24 21:12:14+00:00 | 1,548,382,334 | 1,567,551,046 | sport | disciplinary action in sport |
941,343 | thesun--2019-02-26--Sergio Ramos charged by Uefa with receiving a yellow card on purpose against Ajax | 2019-02-26T00:00:00 | thesun | Sergio Ramos charged by Uefa with ‘receiving a yellow card on purpose’ against Ajax | REAL MADRID skipper Sergio Ramos is set to be hit by an extra match Champions League ban for deliberately getting himself booked. Spain ace [Ramos made a needless foul on Ajax striker Kasper Dolberg](https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/8423144/sergio-ramos-deliberate-foul- booked-champions-league-real-madrid-ajax/) in the last few minutes of his side’s 2-1 last 16 first leg win in Amsterdam. ![ Sergio Ramos has been charged by Uefa for deliberately receiving a yellow card on purpose]() Getty - Contributor Sergio Ramos has been charged by Uefa for deliberately receiving a yellow card on purpose It meant a ban for the second leg in the Bernabeu but would have cleared Ramos to play in the quarter-final first leg. In the mixed zone after the match, Ramos boasted: “The truth is that, seeing the result, it’s something I had in mind. “It’s not that I am underestimating the opponent but sometimes in football you have to make decisions and that’s what I decided.” Within minutes, [Ramos](https://www.thesun.co.uk/who/sergio-ramos/) seemed to realise he had admitted to a breach of Uefa regulations which state that players deliberately picking up cards to serve bans in “dead” matches will serve a two-match suspension. ![ Ramos, 32, fouled Kasper Dolberg in the 89th minute in Amsterdam on February 13]() Getty - Contributor Ramos, 32, fouled Kasper Dolberg in the 89th minute in Amsterdam on February 13 ![ Spanish centre-back Ramos has chipped in with 11 goals in 37 games this season]() Reuters Spanish centre-back Ramos has chipped in with 11 goals in 37 games this season On social media, Ramos claimed: “I did not force the card.” But the back-tracking came too late [with Uefa launching an investigation less than 24 hours after the game.](https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/football/8430568 /real-madrid-sergio-ramos-uefa-ban-ajax/) And Uefa have confirmed Ramos had been charged with “receiving a yellow card on purpose” with the case heard by the control and disciplinary body in Nyon on Thursday. Ramos has featured 37 times for Los Blancos this season - chipping in with a staggering 11 goals in all competitions. Sergio Ramos trolled for ‘sliding back to Madrid’ after Semedo’s insane skill for Barcelona during El Clasico | Jake Lambourne | https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/football/8517167/sergio-ramos-charged-by-uefa-yellow-card-ajax/ | 2019-02-26 19:29:58+00:00 | 1,551,227,398 | 1,567,547,267 | sport | disciplinary action in sport |
975,832 | thesun--2019-08-04--Man City manager Pep Guardiola becomes first Premier League boss to be shown yellow card this season | 2019-08-04T00:00:00 | thesun | Man City manager Pep Guardiola becomes first Premier League boss to be shown yellow card this season after furious outburst | PEP GUARDIOLA became the first Premier League manager to be booked this season during the first-half of Sunday's Community Shield. The Manchester City coach proved his passion to win [the season opener](https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/football/9636155/liverpool-vs-man-city- live-free-live-stream-tv-channel-kick-off-time-team-news-community-shield/) but went too far with an outburst in the face of fourth official Stuart Atwell. Sadly for the perennial record-breaker, he missed out on being English football's first booked boss of the season with Wigan Athletic's Paul Cook taking that honour the day before. Indeed, the rule has been in place in the Football League for a season, and has been deemed a significant enough success to roll out in the top-flight. During which time, Maurizio Sarri managed to [earn himself a yellow during Chelsea's League Cup game against Tottenham](https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/football/8274592/maurizio-sarri- martin-atkinson-chelsea-jorginho-yellow-card/). After four yellow cards, a manager will be banned from the touchline for one match. Guardiola was particularly irked about a challenge by Joe Gomez on David Silva. The pair went in hard on a waist-high ball and the City midfielder came off second best, clutching his ankle while play was waved on. Evidently, Guardiola felt Gomez went in with his studs and motioned as such while lambasting Atwell. ![]() 1 However referee Martin Atkinson felt his remonstrations went too far and dished out the yellow card. Sunday's game at Wembley certainly gave City a physically challenging start to the season, [Leroy Sane coming off injured after just 11 minutes following a tangle with Trent Alexander- Arnold](https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/football/9651747/leroy-sane-injured- man-city-liverpool-transfer-bayern/). Before the rule change, the official would have only been able to issue a verbal warning before sending him to the stands if necessary. | Marc Mayo | https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/football/9652019/first-premier-league-manager-yellow-card-pep-man-city/ | 2019-08-04 15:16:29+00:00 | 1,564,946,189 | 1,567,534,892 | sport | disciplinary action in sport |
34,343 | bbc--2019-12-23--Tottenham appeal against Son Heung-min's red card in defeat by Chelsea | 2019-12-23T00:00:00 | bbc | Tottenham appeal against Son Heung-min's red card in defeat by Chelsea | Tottenham have appealed against the red card shown to Son Heung-min in the loss to Chelsea on Sunday, manager Jose Mourinho has confirmed. The South Korean was sent off in the second half of the 2-0 defeat after VAR ruled he had kicked out at Chelsea defender Antonio Rudiger. Spurs are waiting to find out if Son will be available for the Boxing Day game with Brighton. "I hope Son is not punished five times," Mourinho said. "One time was the foul that Rudiger did on him. The second is to be sent off. The third would be not to play against Brighton. The fourth not to play against Norwich and the fifth not to play against Southampton. "So I hope to be punished twice is enough, he doesn't deserve for the third the fourth or the fifth." It is the second time Son has been sent off this season after he was dismissed in the 1-1 draw with Everton on 3 November. Son was dismissed in that game for a tackle that led to Everton midfielder Andre Gomes suffering a serious ankle injury but it was overturned by the Football Association. However, Mourinho thinks it should be Rudiger's reaction to Son's challenge that is coming under scrutiny, and not Son's action. "I hope the Premier League is still the Premier League and will always be the Premier League and I think the focus should be on Antonio Rudiger and not on Son," Mourinho said. "I'm not speaking about the racism incident, this is another thing. I am speaking about that incident, the red card. "In the Premier League I love there is no space also for what Rudiger did. Stand up and play man. This is the Premier League." | null | https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/50897486 | Mon, 23 Dec 2019 22:40:21 GMT | 1,577,158,821 | 1,577,146,106 | sport | disciplinary action in sport |
369,017 | newyorkpost--2019-01-20--Greg Hardy disqualified for brutal illegal knee in UFC debut | 2019-01-20T00:00:00 | newyorkpost | Greg Hardy disqualified for brutal, illegal knee in UFC debut | In the co-main event Saturday night at Barclays Center, former NFL defensive lineman Greg Hardy was disqualified for throwing an illegal knee in the second round of his heavyweight fight with Allen Crowder. Hardy, who had reached the second round for the first time in his short MMA career, was grappling on the canvas with Crowder when he began to get on his feet. Crowder still had a knee down when Hardy launched his right knee into Crowder’s temple in an illegal maneuver. Crowder couldn’t continue and Hardy was disqualified in his UFC debut. Hardy (3-1) began his MMA career after his football career ended prematurely due his arrest and prosecution on domestic abuse charges. The heavyweight matchup was part of a main card that featured six fights after a lengthy prelim lead-up that began four hours earlier. Light heavyweight Glover Teixeira started things by submitting Karl Roberson in the first round. Then Paige VanZant submitted Rachael Ostovich in the second round of their women’s flyweight bout. Ostovich was fighting two months after being the victim of a serious domestic abuse attack that led to her husband’s arrest. Veteran Joseph Benavidez of Las Cruces, N.M., earned a unanimous decision in a flyweight rematch over Dustin Ortiz, while Gregor Gillespie of Long Island improved to 13-0 with an impressive stoppage of Yancy Medeiros on punches in the second round of their lightweight match. The preliminary bouts shown on ESPN were highlighted by Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone’s second-round stoppage of the mouthy Alexander Hernandez. Other winners include Joanne Calderwood, Alonzo Menifield and Cory Sandhagen. Meanwhile in Las Vegas, Staten Island boxer Marcus Browne captured the WBA light heavyweight title with a unanimous decision over Badou Jack. Browne, a 2012 Olympian, out-boxed and bloodied Jack throughout the bout to earn his first world title. | George Willis | https://nypost.com/2019/01/20/greg-hardy-disqualified-for-brutal-illegal-knee-in-ufc-debut/ | 2019-01-20 15:52:05+00:00 | 1,548,017,525 | 1,567,551,667 | sport | disciplinary action in sport |
311,277 | mercurynews--2019-03-12--Why students are banned from Los Gatos vs Palo Alto sports contests | 2019-03-12T00:00:00 | mercurynews | Why students are banned from Los Gatos vs. Palo Alto sports contests | When Palo Alto and Los Gatos high schools meet in sports this spring, there will be a noticeable absence in the stands: Students. Unruly behavior at football and basketball games between the Santa Clara County rivals prompted administrators to take the unusual measure of banning students from athletic contests between the schools. The ban will continue through the remainder of the school year, Los Gatos principal Kristina Grasty and Palo Alto principal Adam Paulson wrote in a joint statement. The only exception is if a family member is participating in the athletic contest, the statement noted. “For the last few years or so there have been tensions with both the Los Gatos fan base and Palo Alto fan base,” Palo Alto athletic director Therren Wilburn said Monday. “So collaboratively we’ve tried to have measures in place prior to games, administrators from both sides sending out positive reinforcement to the student bodies and the fan bases. “But it just hasn’t been working.” The tipping point might have occurred during a boys basketball game at Los Gatos in early February. While a Palo Alto player was at the free-throw line, an object was tossed from the stands, prompting Los Gatos athletic director Ken Perrotti to warn students over the public-address system that Los Gatos would have to forfeit if the students didn’t clean up their act. After the game, there was an issue between the students in the parking lot, Perrotti said Monday. “There has been a bunch of ongoing issues between student bodies,” Perrotti added. “It has really been building over the last couple of years. Student safety was coming into question. We were trying to be as proactive as possible. It is not every single kid. It is the action of a few. Both student bodies are responsible for what has transpired.” In their joint statement, the principals laid out plans to get the conduct under control. In addition to no students at athletic contests this spring, the schools will hold a “Positive Sportsmanship Summit” on April 29 at a neutral site — Fremont High in Sunnyvale — that will include roughly 20 student-athlete leaders, the athletic directors, Santa Clara Valley Athletic League commissioner Brad Metheany and Central Coast Section commissioner Duane Morgan. The goal is to “work toward an alliance between our schools to promote and ensure positive sportsmanship and respectful behavior at all future contests between our schools,” according to the statement. “In conversations I’ve had with individual students, they all have a different perspective about why they enjoy the Los Gatos rivalry, so I think getting 10 different opinions about the rivalry, it will actually get a genuine answer from the students and you’ll get some honest feedback,” Wilburn said. “And I think that it may be candid, blunt and raw, but I think that’s what both sides need to hear in order to repair this relationship we have with Los Gatos.” Morgan said it is unfortunate that the situation has escalated to this level. “The message is the same one we give all the time,” Morgan added. “You’re not just representing yourself. You’re not just representing your team. You’re representing your family. You’re representing your community. You’re representing your school. You need to embrace that. Anything you do and say is a reflection of all those entities. “It’s pretty basic, you need to adhere to what good sportsmanship is. This section embraces that and the leadership embraces that. We’re not going to come off that stance.” Morgan said he has the authority to discipline the schools but doesn’t plan to do so. “It’s not going to be, if you don’t do this, we’re going to penalize you,” he said. “I’m not that kind of person. But they’re going to get the message loud and clear that this is the expectation in this section, that you will condone to sportsmanship. This is educationally based athletics.” According to the principals’ statement, there will be repercussions for “egregious and/or unsafe social media postings from our students that incite or aggravate tensions between our schools prior to athletic contests. Students who commit such acts may forfeit the right to attend any and all future contests.” Coaches, athletic directors and administrators from the schools will stay in touch as they prepare for athletic contests starting in the 2019-20 school year, the statement added. Zoe Baghaie, a Palo Alto junior, told the student [publication, the Paly Voice](https://palyvoice.com/147598/news/district-bans-students-from-paly- gatos-games/), that the conduct is an issue. “It’s a lot of fun going to the games and supporting Paly athletics, but the sportsmanship has gotten really out of hand, and really takes away from the actual game,” Baghaie said. The decision comes a month after a boys basketball game between rivals Monterey and Alisal was canceled in the interest of studend-athlete and fan safety. “They called me about it and I said, ‘Yeah, this is a wise decision,'” Morgan said. * * * **HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS? WE’VE GOT YOU COVERED** For just 12 cents a day for a year, you can have access to all the digital content at mercurynews.com and eastbaytimes.com. You just need to sign up at one of these two links: [Mercury News](https://checkout.mercurynews.com/basic1?g2i_source=Internet&g2i_medium=newsletter&g2i_campaign=preps1&utm_source=Email&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=preps1) or [East Bay Times](https://checkout.eastbaytimes.com/basic1?g2i_source=Internet&g2i_medium=newsletter&g2i_campaign=preps1&utm_source=Email&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=preps1). | Darren Sabedra, Phil Jensen, Vytas Mazeika | https://www.mercurynews.com/2019/03/11/why-students-banned-from-los-gatos-vs-palo-alto-sports-contests/ | 2019-03-12 01:55:54+00:00 | 1,552,370,154 | 1,567,546,568 | sport | disciplinary action in sport |
360,272 | newsweek--2019-01-16--Basketball Referee Banned After Allegedly Commenting on 10-Year-Old Girls Hair | 2019-01-16T00:00:00 | newsweek | Basketball Referee Banned After Allegedly Commenting on 10-Year-Old Girl's Hair | A basketball referee has been banned from officiating games in a Virginia town following comments she made about a girl’s hairstyle during a game. Erica Gurrier told WAVY-TV 10 that she coaches her daughter’s basketball game in Chesapeake, Virginia. Gurrier told the news station that a referee approached her and thought he had a question about the length of a timeout. Instead, he comments on one of the player’s hair, which happened to be her daughter. "He asked to speak to me and then he mentioned that one of the players, when she goes to the next level, she is going to have to do something about her hair," she told the news station. Gurrier’s 10-year-old daughter was wearing braids with a blue weave woven in, which the referee said was against the rules, WAVY-TV 10 reported. Gurrier said there isn’t a rule about hair weaves. Doug Pensinger/Getty Images "The Chesapeake official came and they had my daughter come over and he pointed to, I guess the point where her natural hair meets the hair that was braided in and said he didn't know what that was, and I said that's her natural hair," she told WAVY-TV 10. "Just to getting to the bottom of what are you talking about? There is no such rule, so why are you bringing this up in front of this girl that her only love is just to play basketball?" she said. The referee was contracted through the Hampton Roads Basketball Officials Association, WAVY-TV 10 reported. The association’s commissioner, Rick Ennis, told the news station that the incident is under investigation and the referee will no longer work games in Chesapeake, Virginia. Newsweek has reached out to the association for comment on the incident but did not hear back in time for publication. Executive Director of the Virginia High School League told WAVY-TV that hair a referee can stop a player from playing in the game if their hair is a safety concern, but he did not approve of how the situation was handled. "If there were concerns about that young lady's hair, that's a conversation you have with a coach and with a player, and in this case as young as this player was, you have the conversation with the parent before the game starts, but not during the game. Somewhere private. That's not something you do on the floor, during the game, before the game or after the game." In December, a school district announced that a referee who forced a black high school wrestler to cut off his dreadlocks before competing in a wrestling match no longer worked with the district. Referee Alan Maloney forced Andrew Johnson, a high school student competing for Buena Regional High School in New Jersey, to cut off his dreadlocks. The video of the incident went viral on social media. | null | https://www.newsweek.com/basketball-referee-banned-girls-hair-1294123?utm_source=Public&utm_medium=Feed&utm_campaign=Distribution | 2019-01-16 20:45:19+00:00 | 1,547,689,519 | 1,567,552,148 | sport | disciplinary action in sport |
539,943 | sputnik--2019-08-04--Basketball Player Handed Two-Year Ban for Faking Drug Test That Revealed Hes Pregnant - Reports | 2019-08-04T00:00:00 | sputnik | Basketball Player Handed Two-Year Ban for Faking Drug Test That Revealed He's Pregnant - Reports | DJ Cooper was handed a two-year suspension from the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) after a failed drug test revealed something that he might not have been expecting, Eurohoops.net reported. It wasn't performance enhancing drugs, rather a condition that's quite uncommon for a male player: the results reportedly showed that Cooper was pregnant. The former Ohio star, who played for AS Monaco in France, left the team last year and sought to join the Bosnian national team as a naturalised player, therefore he had to take a regular drug test. The urine sample that Cooper provided reportedly revealed the presence of human chorionic gonadotropin, or hCG, which is a hormone produced by the placenta during pregnancy. The report suggests that the urine belonged to his girlfriend, who apparently was not aware she was expecting at the time. As a result, FIBA decided to suspend the player for two years for fraud, but he'll be eligible to return to the basketball court on 20 June 2020. | null | https://sputniknews.com/sport/201908041076460179-basketball-player-handed-two-year-ban-for-faking-drug-test-that-revealed-hes-pregnant/ | 2019-08-04 14:55:45+00:00 | 1,564,944,945 | 1,567,534,904 | sport | disciplinary action in sport |
185,738 | eveningstandard--2019-10-02--The Progress 1000 Londonaposs most influential people 2019 Technology Engineering | 2019-10-02T00:00:00 | eveningstandard | The Progress 1000: London's most influential people 2019 – Technology: Engineering | Bridger’s latest projects include overseeing teams constructing a high-voltage tunnel 70ft below the streets of London that provides high-security power to the American embassy at Nine Elms. Bridger also loves sharing her civil engineering expertise with the next generation of tunnellers in schools around the capital. Chief executive, React Robotics Last year, the start-up’s robo-canine called DogBot (inspired by the Star Wars AT-AT, All Terrain Armored Transport walkers), took its first self-taught steps after five years’ work. Now the team is working on making the robot’s movements more natural and agile so it can help with “mundane and maddening” human jobs. Founder of Unmanned Life The Shoreditch start-up has developed “life-saving” software that enables AI-powered swarms of up to 250 quadcopter drones to work together and fly in autonomous formations that adapt to their surroundings. Operating over a 5G network, the UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) can beam back accurate data from burning buildings by using multiple specialist cameras, such as one with heat sensors, another equipped with sonar to check for structural damage and others to check for survivors. Truly amazing. Co-founder, Oxbotica The self-driving car start-up this year announced a deal with Addison Lee to launch a driverless taxi service in London by 2021, with the companies planning to plot 250,000 miles of British roads to help robo-cabs avoid obstacles. Co-founders, Starship Technologies Starship were the first tech startup to trial delivery “ground drones” on the streets of London. The tub-like robots have a large compartment to hold takeaways or two shopping bags. Its aim is to “do to local deliveries what Skype did to telecommunications”. PhD student, Queen Mary University of London, School of Engineering and Materials Science This scientist invented a child-sized robotic hand for youngsters who have lost a limb. The pneumatic “soft prosthetic” hand, made from silicon, can grip objects more effectively than hard plastic models. Inventor, Gravity Industries As a real-life Iron Man and former Canary Wharf oil trader, Browning was last spotted in London hovering over the Thames with jets strapped to his arms to promote future plans for a rocket racing event. An ex-Royal Marine reservist, he follows a gruelling fitness regime to boost the strength in his arms and shoulders. CEO and founder, Pavegen Powering future cities one step at a time, this technology uses spring-loaded, rubberised smart paving slabs to generate energy every time someone takes a step on one. Pavegen’s latest project in the City saw 150,000 steps creating enough power to run an electric car for half a mile. Clever. Managing director, Plexal Roughan was elevated from chief operating officer to run this innovation hub, which uses the old press and broadcasting centres in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. The tech hub is designed as an “ecosystem and community where large and small companies collide”, allowing them to benefit from each other’s creativity. Co-founder and chief product officer, Humanising Autonomy This summer they sealed a £4 million funding round amid huge interest in their “intent prediction” technology, which includes developing software that teaches driverless cars to avoid hitting pedestrians by calculating what humans will do as they cross a road. Chief data officer, TfL Sager Weinstein began working for TfL in 2002 and her responsibilities have included the introduction of the Oyster card. Her areas of interest include how transport networks influence the functioning of cities and she is also TfL’s in-house expert on data development. Co-founder, Stanley Robotics Forget the scramble for an airport parking space — Gatwick airport announced it will trial a fleet of valet-parking robots to ease the stress of getting away and squeeze one third more vehicles into the same size car park. Trials began in August with battery-powered robots which slide a forklift-style ramp under the chassis and uses military-grade GPS to ferry it to a secure bay... all without needing the keys. And because there is no need for the driver’s door to open, they can be parked more tightly together. Founder and CEO of Car Throttle The enterprising UCL graduate has grown Car Throttle into the web’s largest community of motoring enthusiasts, with 250 million monthly visitors. He founded the site in 2009 after realising there was nothing similar for millennial petrol-heads. Chief creative director and co-founder, Cute Circuit Cute Circuit is a pioneer in fashion and wearable tech, fusing smart fabrics with “magical interactive capabilities”. Their programmable, LED-encrusted clothes have been worn by the likes of Katy Perry and the company has recently collaborated with Chanel and Converse. Research director/Professor of Affective and Behavioural Computing, Samsung/Imperial An expert on machine analysis of human non-verbal behaviour, Professor Pantic’s work includes leading research development at Imperial of a two-door tall robot called Zeno that mimics facial expressions to help children with autism learn how to convey emotion. The Progress 1000, in partnership with the global bank Citi, is the Evening Standard’s celebration of the people changing London’s future for the better. #Progress1000 | MARK BLUNDEN | https://www.standard.co.uk/news/the1000/the-progress-1000-londons-most-influential-people-2019-technology-engineering-a4248211.html | 2019-10-02 18:05:54+00:00 | 1,570,053,954 | 1,570,221,763 | science and technology | technology and engineering |
385,322 | npr--2019-05-02--Hacking Darwin Explores Genetic Engineering And What It Means To Be Human | 2019-05-02T00:00:00 | npr | 'Hacking Darwin' Explores Genetic Engineering — And What It Means To Be Human | 'Hacking Darwin' Explores Genetic Engineering — And What It Means To Be Human We all know that the world is changing. Fast. But do we know where it is going? Not exactly. That being the case, how can we control where it is going? And who is the "we" in control? In Hacking Darwin: Genetic Engineering and the Future of Humanity, the technology futurist, geopolitical expert, past White House fellow, and, like this author, dedicated endurance athlete Jamie Metzl paints a picture that is at once wondrous and terrifying. His focus, as the book title indicates, is the impact of genetic engineering in the very definition of what it means to be human. The prospects border on what would, a few years back, be considered a mix of impossible and, to many, immoral. Metzl writes with great clarity and a sense of urgency that we should all take to heart. His case, based on an extrapolation of current research, is firmly grounded on what is indeed possible within the next decade or so. This is no wild sci-fi extrapolation but is already beginning to happen, given advances in genomics and gene-editing techniques. Like Metzl, I believe the conversation of where this is taking us — and how such advances should be regulated — is essential. The central question of this fast-paced account of where modern genetics is taking us is simple: How far should we go in changing our genetic identity? Assuming, in tandem with current research, that we will be able to manipulate the human genome at a level of detail that will allow for the cure of many horrible diseases: Should we also rethink our own design? If so, where do we draw the line between the acceptable and the morally repulsive? For billions of years, life on Earth evolved through the process of Darwinian evolution via natural selection: Small errors during reproduction propagate from parents to offspring, occasionally offering some a survival advantage to find food or fight enemies. Had reproduction been perfect, the only living creatures on Earth would be single-celled organisms, our 3.5 billion-year-old ancestors. We are, quite literally, the product of reproductive mistakes and planetary cataclysms. We — and all other living creatures — are the mutants who made it in a planet that threw many curved balls our way. Still, despite life's remarkable resiliency, up to this point the evolution of life on Earth has been a passive process. Genes mutated in random ways, without anyone at the helm. This is now changing. As Metzl correctly writes, we needed dramatic flair: "From this point onward, our mutation will not be random. It will be self-designed. From this point onward, our selection will not be natural. It will be self-directed." We are on the verge of taking control over evolution and reinventing our species. And, as a by-product, reinventing any other species as well. Now what? The waters of genetic meddling are murky, and Metzl expertly reviews where we've been in the past as a guideline for where this is all headed. Eugenics is a tragic example. To control breeding with the goal of improving the human population sounds a lot like what we do with prize bulls and race horses. However, with humans it gets much worse, as different cultural and political ideological agendas will have very different views of what "improvement" means. Horrible crimes against humanity were committed in the name of different considerations of "improvement." In the first half of the 20th century, tens of thousands of patients in mental institutions and criminals in the U.S. were sterilized without their acquiescence. In 1925, Hitler wrote in Mein Kampf, "The stronger must dominate and not mate with the weaker." Within four years after taking power in 1933, the Nazis sterilized an estimated 400,000 Germans. And, as we all know, the worse was still to come. It may seem unnecessarily alarmist to compare eugenics with genetic enhancement. However, the focus being the improvement of the human race, the difference is mainly between the coercive nature of the old eugenics against the presumed choice involved in genetic modification. The complication is that, in a cut-throat world, parents would want to give their kids the best competitive advantage they can. If this advantage is available through direct gene editing, wouldn't you want to give it to your child? Who would not want their kids to have a healthier life, higher IQ, longevity, and freedom from different genetic diseases? Science's most noble purpose is to improve the human condition. To a large extent, this means to alleviate suffering. If we have arrived at a point in our evolutionary history where we are able to design an improved future for our offspring, why not do it? There are, of course, clear reasons to pursue gene editing. If we can cure a genetic disease, be it a single-gene or a more complex many-gene one, we have the moral duty to do so. But gene technology will not be restricted to illnesses. Enticements from market forces and the good will of parents and family will want to make the most of it for their children. But what of those who cannot afford the treatment? We live in a world of profound economic disparity, where very few detain the most resources. The obvious extrapolation we can make from where we are now to a future with genetic modification is that the same very few that detain the most resources will be the first ones to use the new technology. The short-term consequences would be devastating, a split in humanity between those who are genetically enhanced and those who can't be: superhumans coexisting with humans. The unfairness of this vision shakes the moral core of society. It is not enough to trust that we will collectively reach high moral ground and share equitably the fruits of the new technology among all. A quick look at the world today is enough to realize that this is simply utopic. How much could we trust governments across the globe to reach a fair set of regulatory guidelines? We can already see huge differences in the current state of legislation related to GMO foods and the use of stem-cell therapies, for example. And what political leader would opt not to enhance their population, given the obvious competitive benefits in the market place and, very importantly, militarily? Metzl brings this complex questioning alive, and urges us to "apply our best values to influence how the genetic revolution will play out." I hope his call to arms is not hopelessly naïve. Given our past and present history of global conflict, such profound change at a global scale can only happen if we see ourselves first and foremost as a single species, striving to improve ourselves as a whole. Perhaps, the convincing argument, which Metzl didn't propose, will come from understanding that we win by numbers and not by tribal isolation. This may be the language that both governments and market forces will have to embrace to avoid massive social unrest. Our survival may depend on it. Marcelo Gleiser is a professor of Physics and Astronomy at Dartmouth College and author of The Island of Knowledge: The Limits of Science and the Search for Meaning. He is the winner of the 2019 Templeton Prize. | Marcelo Gleiser | https://www.npr.org/2019/05/02/718250111/hacking-darwin-explores-genetic-engineering-and-what-it-means-to-be-human?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=news | 2019-05-02 15:45:00+00:00 | 1,556,826,300 | 1,567,541,432 | science and technology | technology and engineering |
788,960 | theirishtimes--2019-08-29--Research Lives Engineering the wobble out of spacecraft | 2019-08-29T00:00:00 | theirishtimes | Research Lives: Engineering the wobble out of spacecraft | David, you are on a mission to stop rockets wobbling. Why do rockets wobble? When a rocket takes off from Earth you want it to travel as smoothly as possible, both for any people inside it and to protect any sensitive scientific instrumentation aboard. But on take-off, the engines of the rocket really give the rocket a good shake and since they are increasingly built with lighter materials, these materials can flex and bend. Add to that the liquid fuel sloshing around and there is the potential for a lot of moving and shaking. What are you doing about it? I work on control systems for the next generation of rockets for the European Space Agency. These systems use sensors to track how the rocket is moving and use that information to adjust the orientation of the engines. We do the maths to figure out how to compensate for the disturbances caused by moving quickly through the atmosphere and by the fuel sloshing around. The result should be that the rocket travels with less vibration. You are also working on Ireland’s first satellite, what does that involve? I am the engineering manager of EIRSAT-1, a project to build a small satellite. It’s about the volume of a two-litre milk carton, but it packs a lot on to it, including a detector to pick up gamma-ray bursts that tell us about when large objects in space collide or explode. It is very much a student-led project, and my role is to keep the engineering side of things running smoothly and to advise on the control systems to orientate the satellite in space. When did you decide to be an engineer? Pretty close to filling out my CAO form. Before that I had thought about architecture and philosophy and psychology. I liked physics and maths in school so for college I reckoned engineering might be a good bet, and it was – I liked it at university. I had not been the kind of kid who took things apart, but when I started studying engineering I began to move from the “black box” of not knowing what is inside gadgets to opening things to understand or fix or change them. I find that rewarding. So rewarding that you co-founded Dublin Maker? Maybe! That started about eight years ago. I had been running workshops where people could learn to solder and make robots and things like that. Prof Tomás Ward called me up, with the idea of starting a maker festival so we did that. Now we have a team of volunteers who run Dublin Maker every summer and we get about 10,000 people visiting and learning more about how to make things and repurpose items. It’s all very sociable, and we like to connect people who can work together. You have also done lots of talks and even comedy about engineering in Bright Club. Why do you do that? I think it’s important as a researcher to tell people about what you do. Not only does it help others to understand more about research, you can also get a new perspective on your work and how it might apply. It’s a great exercise to try to explain your work without using the day-to-day language or formats that you use among your colleagues. It helps you think more about what you do and why you do it. Finally, how do you take a break? I play soccer for Booterstown United. Also it might not sound like a break, but I really enjoy making things. It’s still engineering, but there are fewer deadlines. | null | https://www.irishtimes.com/news/science/research-lives-engineering-the-wobble-out-of-spacecraft-1.3994208 | 2019-08-29 00:00:00+00:00 | 1,567,051,200 | 1,567,543,584 | science and technology | technology and engineering |
532 | 21stcenturywire--2019-08-20--Indian Spacecraft Carrying Lunar Rover Enters Moons Orbit | 2019-08-20T00:00:00 | 21stcenturywire | Indian Spacecraft Carrying Lunar Rover Enters Moon’s Orbit | India is now set to join a very exclusive international club, hoping to become the fourth country to successfully land in the Moon, behind the US, Russia (USSR), and China. Addressing the world’s media, K Sivan, Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said the new mission had achieved a milestone. “Chandrayaan-2 mission crossed a major milestone today, the precise lunar orbit insertion maneuver was carried out at 9 am for about 30 minutes and Chandrayaan 2 was precisely inserted in the defined orbit.” ISRO officials are confident that on September 7, at 1:55 am, their Vikram lander will touch down on the Moon’s surface. Sivan also noted that the next major event will take place on September 2nd, after the lander is separated from the orbiter. Then, on September 3rd, we will run a series of tests to ensure that the systems of the lander are running smoothly in preparation for the landing manuever. India has successfully placed its rover-carrying spacecraft Chandrayaan-2 into lunar orbit, clearing one of the final hurdles for the Vikram lander’s historic touchdown on the unexplored southern pole of the Moon. Because of the great risks associated with the feat, the highly sophisticated maneuvering required some great engineering skills and precise calculations from the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) scientists. The team had to slow down the spacecraft just to the right velocity to complete the intricate work of this segment of the mission. Approaching lunar orbit too fast would cause the spacecraft to bounce into deep space while placing it in position at slow speeds would result in a crash landing because the ship would be unable to battle the moon’s gravitational forces, SRO explained. | 21wire | https://21stcenturywire.com/2019/08/20/indian-spacecraft-carrying-lunar-rover-enters-moons-orbit/ | 2019-08-20 10:49:25+00:00 | 1,566,312,565 | 1,567,533,926 | science and technology | technology and engineering |
495,119 | sottnet--2019-01-17--Russias Academy of Sciences begins work on countering hazards from outer space | 2019-01-17T00:00:00 | sottnet | Russia's Academy of Sciences begins work on countering 'hazards' from outer space | According to the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), researchers have so far detected aroundThe presidium of the Russian Academy of Sciences agreed upon developing a national program to research the issues and methods of countering hazards from space, such as asteroids, comets and space debris, Scientific Director of the Academy's Astronomy Institute, Boris Shustov, told Sputnik on Thursday."At present, foreign countries, primarily the United States, have advanced in their development of systems for detection of space hazards. At the recent meeting of the RAS presidium, the academics voted to support the draft statement to begin the work on preparing the modern variant of the national program and a wider range of issues, including the whole range of space threats," Shustov said.The researcher recalled that in 2010, the academics already suggested that a federal program on countering threats from asteroids, comets and space debris be initiated but it was rejected by Roscosmos.At the RAS presidium session on space hazards on Tuesday, the head of the strategy planning and special programs directorate of Roscosmos, Yuri Makarov, suggested that a national plan on countering such risks should be developed.According to Shustov, Russia's contribution to detecting dangerous asteroids and comets is 0.1 percent while the United States is the most active country in this area.In 2017, European Space Agency (ESA) reported that a potential space intruder, measuring 15-30 meters (49-98 feet) flew past the Earth at a distance of 44,000 kilometers (27,340 miles).According to the agency, an asteroid of this size entering the atmosphere would have a similar effect to the Chelyabinsk event when a 10-ton meteor exploded in Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia, causing serious damages in the region in 2013.On 30 June 1908, Eastern Siberia was hit by an explosion, generally attributed to the air burst of a comet or a meteorite. According to different scientific estimations, about 850 square miles (2,200 square kilometers) of local forest was flattened. | null | https://www.sott.net/article/405141-Russias-Academy-of-Sciences-begins-work-on-countering-hazards-from-outer-space | 2019-01-17 13:08:54+00:00 | 1,547,748,534 | 1,567,552,129 | science and technology | technology and engineering |
552,748 | sputnik--2019-12-12--In the Name of Science: Elon Musk’s SpaceX Sending Batch of Cannabis and Coffee to Space | 2019-12-12T00:00:00 | sputnik | In the Name of Science: Elon Musk’s SpaceX Sending Batch of Cannabis and Coffee to Space | SpaceX, Elon Musk's spacecraft manufacturing company, has reportedly teamed up with a Colorado research lab to send hemp, a variety of marijuana, and coffee plants to the International Space Station in March to test what happens to the plants in a zero-gravity environment, reported Vice.com. Front Range Biosciences, an agricultural biotech company that breeds genetically consistent hemp and coffee varieties, partnered with the University of Colorado and a tech startup called Space Cells for the project. The SpaceX CRS-20 cargo flight, set for March 2020, will deliver over 480 plant cell cultures to the space station. There they will be contained in a special incubator with a regulated temperature for around 30 days, as astronauts and a crew on the ground will monitor what happens to them. A month later, the cells will be transported back to Earth, with Front Range Biosciences examining the samples to see how microgravity and space radiation exposure may have altered the plants' genes. Dr. Jonathan Vaught, Co-Founder and CEO of Front Range Biosciences, said: Vaught lauded the chance to further explore the science behind the theory that plants in space experience mutations, saying: A statement from Reggie Gaudino, VP of research and development at Front Range, said: Louis Stodieck, director of BioServe Space Technologies at the University of Colorado, Boulder, added: While the project aims to eventually produce interstellar pot or coffee, the company believes the results could be used successfully here on Earth to design resilient crops that can survive in climate change stricken areas. Last year, Front Range partnered with Frinj Coffee to produce coffee plants that can grow in Southern California – a challenging task outside of equatorial countries like Colombia. Hemp is useful for food, textiles and sucking up heavy metals in the ground. It also contains high amounts of CBD, a cannabis-derived molecule that seems to have numerous medicinal properties. Hemp is a versatile plant that could have many applications in space. On Earth, plants are known to adapt to extreme environments, and space experiments begun in 1960 have demonstrated that plants are able to grow and reproduce in microgravity. Since then, a number of experiments have been successfully performed in a spacecraft, expanding scientific knowledge about the long term effects of the space environment on plant growth. Hopefully, on this occasion, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk won’t get into trouble with NASA, as was the case last year. In 2018 Musk came under fire from the NASA Administrator after he was seen smoking marijuana during a podcast. The show is filmed in California, where marijuana is legal. During a meeting at NASA's headquarters in Washington, DC, Jim Bridenstein said: Bridenstein said he had spoken with the Tesla founder several times as the space agency continues probes into workplace culture at SpaceX and Boeing, the two companies that have multimillion-dollar contracts with the space agency to fly its astronauts. | null | https://sputniknews.com/science/201912121077550061-in-the-name-of-science-elon-musks-spacex-sending-batch-of-cannabis-and-coffee-to-space/ | Thu, 12 Dec 2019 11:19:40 +0300 | 1,576,167,580 | 1,576,154,978 | science and technology | technology and engineering |
201,736 | fortune--2019-02-05--Googles Life-Science Sibling Verily Is Reportedly Developing Smart Shoes to Track Your Weight Heal | 2019-02-05T00:00:00 | fortune | Google’s Life-Science Sibling Verily Is Reportedly Developing Smart Shoes to Track Your Weight, Health | Google’s parent Alphabet has a number of lower-profile “moonshots” that are tinkering with new innovations. One of them—Verily, which is working on life-sciences applications—is reportedly working on a pair of “smart shoes” that can track your weight and health. According to CNBC, Verily is “looking for partners to co-develop shoes with sensors embedded to monitor the wearer’s movement and weight, as well as to measure falls.” The site quoted sources who had seen a prototype of the data-tracking shoes, which were produced to attract partners who could help on the project. While CNBC said it couldn’t determine whether the project was still active, health-tracking sensors and apps have been an active area for tech giants. Apple’s Health app has used Apple Watches and iPhones to monitor nutrition, sleep habits, and exercise activity. Apple recently launched an app with Aetna designed to reward people for healthy behaviors. It’s also working to include patient medical records into its Health app. Verily has been working on a number of life-sciences projects, including a miniaturized glucose monitor, a smart contact lens to correct vision and surgical robots. The unit is also using machine learning to detect heart-disease risk through scans of patients’ eyes, control the populations of disease-bearing mosquitos, and studying 10,000 patients to see how they went from healthy to ill. Alphabet did not immediately respond to Fortune’s request for comment. Separately, Alphabet’s stock fell 3.4% in after-hours trading Monday after reporting earnings for the fourth quarter of 2018. Alphabet beat Wall Street’s estimates for revenue and earnings, but investors focused their concern on a decline in advertising prices and shrinking profit margins at the company. | Kevin Kelleher | http://fortune.com/2019/02/04/google-verily-smart-shoes-track-weight-health/ | 2019-02-05 00:30:31+00:00 | 1,549,344,631 | 1,567,549,561 | science and technology | technology and engineering |
16,519 | aljazeera--2019-10-12--Chilean astrophysicists on alien life, Mars and space exploration | 2019-10-12T00:00:00 | aljazeera | Chilean astrophysicists on alien life, Mars and space exploration | How will the world's 2 largest telescopes, under construction in Chile, change the way we look at the universe? In the coming years, Chile is expected to host 70 percent of global astronomical infrastructure. In the Atacama Desert, the world's two largest telescopes - the ELT and the Giant Magellan - are under construction. When complete, they will provide direct views of planets in other solar systems. This will be an astronomical first. Celestial objects have been observed and studied since the beginning of time. The planets and stars have helped human beings understand the cosmos, the way it functions, and its impact on our lives. Since Galileo Galilei became the first astronomer to use a telescope for his observations in the 17th century, humanity has devised newer and better ways to study the universe. But what will these new facilities help us to discover? How will they change the way we look at our universe? And will they help answer the one question many are curious about: Is there extraterrestrial life? "Life is there, potentially, in the whole universe. And when it arrives in a place where you know it's comfortable and can be developed, it does," says Chilean astrophysicist Dr Maria Teresa Ruiz. "Although we have no evidence, I would find it very, extremely strange that we would be the only ones in the universe. There are so many, so many stars, so many planets around them. I'm sure there could be life in many of them." Ruiz is known for discovering the brown dwarf star system named Kelu-1, a sub star located in constellation Hydra, approximately 61 light-years away from earth. She is a pioneer, the first woman to have received a doctorate from Princeton University, and the first woman to receive Chile's national prize for exact sciences. She says the advanced telescopes will help study the atmospheres of distant planets, to search for traces of oxygen or other indicators of life. "When you see the universe through these big eyes, you are going to see something nobody else has seen before ... Often the case is what you see, the unknown, is the most interesting thing; something you cannot predict. It's like opening a window to the unknown," she says. Dr Jose Maza Sancho also believes in the possibility of extraterrestrial life, even if not necessarily always intelligent life. "There are eight million forms of life on earth. Most of them are bacteria, but bacteria is a form of life," he says. "My suspicion is that at the very least there are 100 billion places in the universe with life." However, he adds: "But from one galaxy to the next, [for example] a big galaxy like the Andromeda galaxy, the distance is more than two million light-years. If you say 'hello, are you there?' in two million years your message will reach Andromeda. And if they say 'yes, we're here, what do you want?' another two million years for the message to return." Sancho is a bold exponent of a number of extraordinary theories, including humanity landing on Mars and developing into a multi-planetary society as soon as possible. "The next challenge, the next intellectual challenge, is to go to Mars," he says, "because it is possible". "When we went to the moon, all technology got an improvement, enormously. Our life - you or mine, and everybody's life - changed forever because of the dream to go to the moon. The only way to survive in Mars is to have another technology. And if we develop the technology for a few of us to live on Mars, that technology is going to change our life on earth forever." "It's a big challenge, but if we are able to develop the atmosphere in Mars, we will be able to clean our atmosphere. If we develop big machines like that to survive in Mars, those machines applied massively on earth, we could be taking out of the atmosphere as much carbon dioxide as we are putting in." This week two of Chile's top astronomers, Dr Maria Teresa Ruiz and Dr Jose Maza Sancho, talk to Al Jazeera. | null | https://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/talktojazeera/2019/10/chilean-astrophysicists-alien-life-mars-space-exploration-191010112515686.html | Sat, 12 Oct 2019 11:55:58 GMT | 1,570,895,758 | 1,570,883,972 | science and technology | technology and engineering |
519,868 | sputnik--2019-01-02--Russian Physicists Come Closer to Plasma Engine for Superfast Space Travel | 2019-01-02T00:00:00 | sputnik | Russian Physicists Come Closer to Plasma Engine for Superfast Space Travel | Physicists from the Budker Institute of Nuclear Physics of the Siberian branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Novosibirsk are preparing another round of experiments aimed at successfully harnessing the power of thermonuclear plasma for use in a rocket engine, institute deputy director Alexander Ivanov has told journalists. The experiments, which will begin later this month, will follow up on earlier successful tests which confirmed the feasibility of confining plasma in an experimental setup using parameters suitable for a rocket engine, Ivanov said. sPHENIX Project: How Scientists Study “Soup” That Gave Rise to Universe In late 2018, the institute began operation of a unique installation, known as the SMOLA, the Russian acronym for "Spiral-based Magnetic Open Trap", with the setup serving as the first step forward toward the creation of a fusion reactor. The "plasma trap" allowed scientists to work on confining plasma in a linear magnetic system, which, it is hoped, can eventually help lead to the creation of prototype plasma engine suitable for space travel. "The first experiments showed that the effect exists. The space engine works, and the means to reducing plasma losses as well. Presently, standard equipment is installed. We are preparing to start experiments on it in January 2019 which should fully demonstrate its capabilities," Ivanov said. According to the physicist, the current setup serves as a technology demonstrator, with scientists achieving a temperature of 100,000 degrees to form the plasma, and reaching a sufficient density to provide them with data suitable for further work on the creation of a plasma-based rocket engine. In October, Energomash, a Russian power engineering company involved in the production of rocket engines, announced plans to build a high-powered electrode-less plasma rocket engine. Russia's Kurchatov Institute and the Chemical Automatics Design Bureau first reported that they were working on a plasma-based engine for space travel in 2016. Interstellar for Real: Meet the Nuclear-Powered Spaceships of the Future Other countries, including the United States, are engaged in similar developments. In 2015, NASA awarded private plasma rocket technology firm Ad Astra a contract on the creation of the "Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket" (VASIMR), with the proposed engines operating by heating pressurised gas to extremely high temperatures using radio waves and keeping the resulting plasma under control using magnetic fields. Plasma-based rocket engines are one of several proposed options for human exploration of other planets in our solar system, and beyond it. | null | https://sputniknews.com/science/201901021071168646-russian-plasma-engine-experimentation/ | 2019-01-02 15:16:00+00:00 | 1,546,460,160 | 1,567,554,267 | science and technology | technology and engineering |
553,295 | sputnik--2019-12-16--Physicists Explain the Evolution of Sub-Spaces | 2019-12-16T00:00:00 | sputnik | Physicists Explain the Evolution of Sub-Spaces | According to experts, today, the most common base for theoretical research in physics is the idea that, apart from the well-known three spatial and temporal dimensions, there are some extra ones. It is assumed that the size of the extra dimensions is so small that they can’t be detected with modern equipment. Scientists at NRNU MEPhI, together with their colleagues from Kazan Federal University, have studied why the Universe has grown to gigantic size, while the sub-spaces remained microscopic. The study was based on the Big Bang theory, which resulted in the creation of our world as well as the Universe growing. According to Rubin, the scientists will study the role of extra dimensions in the observed physical phenomena and in the early Universe, as well as study whether the size and shape of extra dimensions are the same in different areas of space. Successive restoration of this shape is a difficult task, which will take more than a dozen years to resolve. The scientists emphasised that, like all basic research, the study is an attempt to obtain new knowledge that will be used in the future to preserve civilization in the Universe, which is gradually cooling after the Big Bang. The study results were published in European Physical Journal C. | null | https://sputniknews.com/science/201912161077588279-physicists-explain-the-evolution-of-sub-spaces/ | Mon, 16 Dec 2019 14:17:37 +0300 | 1,576,523,857 | 1,576,499,996 | science and technology | technology and engineering |
231,431 | globalresearch--2019-10-15--The National Basketball Association (NBA): A Multi-Billion Dollar Colossus | 2019-10-15T00:00:00 | globalresearch | The National Basketball Association (NBA): A Multi-Billion Dollar Colossus | Founded in 1946 as a fledgling enterprise, today’s NBA is big business. Winning is all about big bucks for management and players, along with growing valuation of NBA franchises, on average worth nearly $2 billion. The most highly valued are NY Knicks and LA Lakers worth $4 billion and $3.7 billion respectively, nine franchises worth over $2 billion.” All franchises combined are threefold more valuable than five years ago — their last season’s revenue around $8 billion, yet half of what NFL teams earn. Television is the NBA’s most significant revenue generator, $24 billion alone from ESPN and TNT, more from local contracts, followed by merchandising, ticket sales, sponsorships, concessions, and other revenue sources. The NBA was the first professional league to earn a significant amount of its revenues from merchandising, marquee players cashing in big on their own prominence. In the past decade, average franchise valuations tripled. Post-WW II, major league baseball was most popular. Today its popularity is third after pro football and basketball. NBA popularity is global. Decades earlier, nearly all players were American. Today around one-fourth are nationals of 37 other countries. According to Forbes, NBA revenues generated outside the US are growing at double-digit rates annually. The league doesn’t disclose amounts by countries. It did indicate $150 million came from China in 2012, likely much more last season. The Wall Street Journal reported that the “Houston Rockets were China’s team” — before general manager Daryl Morey’s unacceptable tweet (now deleted), expressing support for months of violent Hong Kong protests saying: “Fight for freedom. Stand with Hong Kong.” Perhaps Morey doesn’t know that US dirty hands all over what’s going on in the city, violence and disruption targeting Beijing, aiming to weaken and destabilize the country — how the US operates against all nations it doesn’t control. Morey’s offense was compounded by NBA commissioner Adam Silver’s defense of his free expression right. An NBA statement said the following: “We recognize that the views expressed by Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey have deeply offended many of our friends and fans in China, which is regrettable.” “(T)he values of the league support individuals…sharing their views on matters important to them.” “We have great respect for the history and culture of China and hope that sports and the NBA can be used as a unifying force to bridge cultural divides and bring people together.” Morey’s damage control remarks haven’t softened outrage in China so far, tweeting: “I did not intend my tweet to cause any offense to Rockets fans and friends of mine in China. I was merely voicing one thought, based on one interpretation, of one complicated event. I have had a lot of opportunity since that tweet to hear and consider other perspectives.” “I have always appreciated the significant support our Chinese fans and sponsors have provided and I would hope that those who are upset will know that offending or misunderstanding them was not my intention. My tweets are my own and in no way represent the Rockets or the NBA.” China accounts for around 10% of league revenues, its market potential estimated to reach 20% by 2030, why the NBA and team owners are greatly concerned about the fallout from Morey’s offensive tweet. A second Adam Silver statement fueled more backlash, saying: “The NBA will not put itself in a position of regulating what players, employees and team owners say or will not say. We simply could not operate that way.” “I do know there are consequences from freedom of speech. We will have to live with those consequences. For those who question our motivation, this is about far more than growing our business.” China is justifiably furious over remarks by Morey and Silver. A statement by its Houston consulate expressed “strong dissatisfaction,” adding: Beijing cancelled broadcasts of NBA pre-season games. Sponsors began cutting ties with the Rockets, what could affect other teams, perhaps the entire league. Li-Ling Sportswear suspended ties to the NBA. The Chinese Basketball Association canceled planned exhibition games with NBA G League affiliates of both the Rockets and Dallas Mavericks. Regular season Houston Rockets games won’t be televised in China — last season reaching an audience exceeding 600 million viewers for all NBA games. As of Friday, 11 NBA Chinese partners suspended ties to the league. CTrip, China’s largest online travel website “dropped all NBA-related tickets and travel products” from its platform, a statement said. Mengniu Dairy, Dicos fast foods, Changhong Electric, Master Kong beverages, eHi Car (rental) Services, appliance maker Meiling, financial services firm Xiaoying Technology, Luckin Coffee, and other Chinese firms suspended ties to the NBA. Chinese social media users called for boycotting league events. Media access for visiting NBA teams playing exhibition games was cancelled. On October 7, Bloomberg News headlined: NBA China Woes Threaten Billions of Dollars, Decades’ Work,” saying: Efforts since the 1980s to build league ties to China are “in jeopardy,” saying NBA games “drew 800 million total viewers in China last year.” League games are big business, China the NBA’s second most important market after the US. Trump’s war on China by other means over major unresolved structural issues, including scores of its enterprises blacklisted, complicates things further. Morey’s tweet landed the Houston rockets “in China’s doghouse,” said the WSJ. The fallout impacted the entire league. Yahoo Sports said several teams are planning “for a scenario in which the cap for the 2020-21 season could drop between 10 and 15 percent due to the current situation between the NBA and China.” An open letter by hardline congressional members called on NBA officials to suspend ties to China until “government-controlled broadcasters and government-controlled commercial sponsors end their boycott of the NBA activities and the selective treatment of the Houston Rockets.” For now, it’s unclear how or when what’s going on will be resolved. Note to readers: please click the share buttons below. Forward this article to your email lists. Crosspost on your blog site, internet forums. etc. Award-winning author Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at [email protected]. He is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG) His new book as editor and contributor is titled “Flashpoint in Ukraine: US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III.” | Stephen Lendman | https://www.globalresearch.ca/nba-inc-multi-billion-dollar-colossus/5691884 | Tue, 15 Oct 2019 19:24:49 +0000 | 1,571,181,889 | 1,571,177,371 | sport | sport organisation |
531,270 | sputnik--2019-04-15--FIFA Bans Ex-Head of Brazilian Football Federation for Life Over Bribery | 2019-04-15T00:00:00 | sputnik | FIFA Bans Ex-Head of Brazilian Football Federation for Life Over Bribery | "The adjudicatory chamber of the independent Ethics Committee has found Mr Jose Maria Marin, the former president of the Brazilian Football Association (CBF) and former member of several FIFA committees, guilty of bribery in violation of the FIFA Code of Ethics," FIFA's press release, published on the official website of the body, said. FIFA's probe into Marin's illegal activities was related to the awarding of media and marketing contracts to companies during football competitions, including those organized by the CBF itself, between 2010 and 2015. "The adjudicatory chamber banned him [Marin] for life from all football-related activities (administrative, sports or any other) at both national and international level. In addition, a fine in the amount of CHF 1 million [almost $1 million] has been imposed on Mr Marin." The ban comes into force on Monday and the former CBF chief has already been notified about the chamber's decision, the press release added. In 2017, 85-year-old Marin was found guilty of racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering charges by a US court and was later sentenced to four years in prison. | null | https://sputniknews.com/sport/201904151074153328-fifa-corruption-ban/ | 2019-04-15 14:52:00+00:00 | 1,555,354,320 | 1,567,542,979 | sport | sport organisation |
11,707 | aljazeera--2019-04-06--Its time to hold the Israeli Football Association to account | 2019-04-06T00:00:00 | aljazeera | It's time to hold the Israeli Football Association to account | Ten years ago, I was a professional football player and a member of the Palestinian national football team at the peak of my career. But on July 22, 2009, Israeli soldiers arrested me while crossing from Gaza to the West Bank to play a match. Israel not only robbed me of my career and my passion, but also my freedom. The Israeli authorities accused me of being a "terrorist" - a claim which remained completely unsubstantiated and unproven right up to the day I was released - three years later. During the final stages of my wrongful imprisonment, I spent three months on hunger strike. Throughout my ordeal, I received many messages of support from athletes across the world who called for my immediate release. When you are stripped of your rights, unlawfully imprisoned and banned from seeing your family and friends, global solidarity like the kind that I received during those dark days is incredibly important. But the need for solidarity with Palestinian football players and the Palestinian people as a whole, did not end when I walked out of Israeli prison. In fact, that solidarity is needed now more than ever. I was not the first and will not be the last Palestinian football player who has been the subject of Israeli repression. Just over a year ago on March 30, 2018, the career of promising young Palestinian football player Muhammad Khalil Obeid was destroyed in a flash when he was shot in both knees by Israeli snipers while he was peacefully protesting as part of the Great March of Return. And in January this year, a number of Palestinian football players were injured when Israeli forces fired tear gas into the stadium they were playing in - for absolutely no reason. When you live under military occupation, the oppressive regime infects every aspect of your life - from sport to education, from your culture to your home. Endless restrictions on freedom of movement, access to resources and fundamental civil liberties make engaging in sport a constant struggle for Palestinians - these violations of rights are totally incompatible with the principle of sport being accessible to all. Today marks the UN International Day of Sport for Development and Peace. It is a great opportunity to reflect on how sport can be used as a vehicle for positive change in the world around us and how Israel instead of doing so, is using sport to perpetuate its crimes against the Palestinian people. The Israeli Football Association (IFA) includes football clubs based in illegal Israeli settlements, training and playing matches on stolen Palestinian land. Israeli settlements are illegal land grabs that form an integral part of Israel's occupation infrastructure pushing indigenous Palestinian families off of their land, robbing Palestinians of natural resources and denying them their right of movement. Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories are considered war crimes under international law. In this sense, the IFA is clearly in breach of FIFA rules which prohibit a member association holding competitions on the territory of another without permission. A comprehensive report by Human Rights Watch said that by allowing the IFA to hold matches on stolen Palestinian land, FIFA is enabling business activity that supports the illegal settlements more broadly and, in doing so, is in violation of its own human rights commitments. Over the past few years there have been growing calls for FIFA to take action and suspend IFA's membership until Israel complies with international law, but this demand has consistently been ignored. Meanwhile, IFA has refused to take measures to end its complicity in war crimes, despite being repeatedly condemned by UN advisers, dozens of elected officials, public figures and civil society and human rights groups. It is, therefore, imperative that all individuals and organisations who believe in freedom, justice and equality hold the IFA to account for its actions, and refuse to work with its representatives until it ends its complicity in crimes against the Palestinian people. In particular, IFA's main sponsor, German sportswear manufacturer Puma, needs to take action. Just last summer, Adidas announced it was ending its sponsorship of IFA following a sustained campaign by activists and athletes across the world. Over 200 Palestinian sports clubs have already called on Puma to end its support for Israel's military occupation by terminating its sponsorship deal with the IFA and we must continue to lobby the Germany company until it decides to fully abide by its stated commitment to human rights. As someone who has experienced first-hand the devastating impact Israel's regime has on access to sport, I urge all organisations who work with Puma to call for an end to its sponsorship of the IFA and, if it does not answer these calls, to cease all partnerships with Puma until it does. I also urge all those who believe in freedom, justice and equality for all to join the growing global campaign to get Puma to stand on the right side of the history by ending its complicity in human rights violations against the Palestinians. Though Israel robbed me of my career and my freedom, they will not rob me or any other Palestinian, of our determination to attain the rights and freedoms that we are owed. The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera's editorial stance. | null | https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/time-hold-israeli-football-association-account-190405141804855.html | 2019-04-06 09:12:52+00:00 | 1,554,556,372 | 1,567,543,790 | sport | sport organisation |
24,872 | bbc--2019-03-29--Football Association Mark Bullingham named new chief executive | 2019-03-29T00:00:00 | bbc | Football Association: Mark Bullingham named new chief executive | Mark Bullingham, the Football Association's chief commercial and football development officer, has been named its new chief executive. He will replace Martin Glenn who is stepping down at the end of the season. Bullingham joined the organisation in August 2016 and has been credited with a 25% rise in annual revenue. FA chairman Greg Clarke said Bullingham was "undoubtedly the best person" to lead the organisation into an "exciting new era". No date has yet been set for Bullingham to take up the position, but he said was "delighted" by his appointment on Friday. "I'm hugely passionate about the role The FA plays in improving the English game and our positive contribution to society," he added. "Getting kids across the country active and learning life skills such as teamwork and communication is incredibly rewarding. "I'm confident in the talent and determination of the workforce here and the direction we are heading together." Bullingham, who is a qualified coach and has managed an under-9 girls' and an under-11 boys' team for the last four years, is said to have been key to brokering new sponsorship and broadcast deals for the FA and Wembley. But, he admits his "to-do list is long" in the new role. "From transforming the quality of amateur pitches, to doubling the women's and girls' game across the country, to hosting major international tournaments, to building digital tools to help volunteers across all areas of the grassroots game. "We know that as a team, we can deliver huge progress." | null | https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/47753815 | 2019-03-29 16:39:01+00:00 | 1,553,891,941 | 1,567,544,768 | sport | sport organisation |
387,276 | npr--2019-10-09--FIFA Disciplines Hong Kong Football Association After Chinese National Anthem Protest | 2019-10-09T00:00:00 | npr | FIFA Disciplines Hong Kong Football Association After Chinese National Anthem Protest | FIFA fined the Hong Kong Football Association Wednesday after fans protested the Chinese national anthem at a World Cup qualifying game against Iran. The Hong Kong and China national teams are separate, but FIFA plays the Chinese anthem because Hong Kong is considered an administrative region of China. Disciplinary records said that Hong Kong supporters breached article 16 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code by disturbing a national anthem and using objects to "transmit a message that is not appropriate for a sports events." The Hong Kong Football Association has been ordered to pay 15,000 Swiss francs ($15,000 U.S.) and was given a warning. Hong Kong football officials can appeal the decision. A video taken during the September game shows supporters facing backward and booing as China's national anthem plays. During halftime, Hong Kong fans surrounded the stadium, locked arms and sang "Glory to Hong Kong," a song widely adopted as the protest anthem. Though Hong Kong lost to Iran 2-0, protesters were happy to use the game to increase awareness to their cause. "The emotion here is good, though we lost," Hong Kong supporter Leo Fan told the AP. "We will fight till the end." The Hong Kong Football Association have yet to comment on their sanction. During the 2018 World Cup qualifiers, Hong Kong was disciplined three times. All three incidents involved the booing of the Chinese national anthem. Hong Kong was fined twice, totalling about $15,000. FIFA isn't the only sporting federation to involve itself in the Hong Kong liberation movement. Earlier this week, the Houston Rockets' general manager Daryl Morey tweeted support for Hong Kong protesters. The Chinese Basketball Association then announced it will suspend cooperation with the Rockets. The league's commissioner clarified Tuesday that the NBA supports free speech, after the Rockets' owner and an NBA spokesman denounced Morey's statement. Paolo Zialcita is an intern on NPR's News Desk. | Paolo Zialcita | https://www.npr.org/2019/10/09/768679277/fifa-disciplines-hong-kong-football-association-after-chinese-national-anthem-pr?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=news | Wed, 09 Oct 2019 16:47:05 -0400 | 1,570,654,025 | 1,570,661,072 | sport | sport organisation |
773,076 | theindependent--2019-10-09--Hong Kong Football Association fined by Fifa for booing China national anthem before World Cup quali | 2019-10-09T00:00:00 | theindependent | Hong Kong Football Association fined by Fifa for booing China national anthem before World Cup qualifier | Fifa have fined Hong Kong’s Football Association (HKFA) £12,332 (15,000 Swiss francs) after their fans disrespected the Chinese national anthem before last month’s World Cup qualifier against Iran. Hong Kong fans booed and turned their backs while the anthem was played on September 10. The game took place during the ongoing pro-democracy protests against China’s rule of Hong Kong, which was under British rule until 1997. Hong Kong lost the match 2-0 and next plays at home on November 14 against Bahrain. Also, FIFA fined Indonesia £36,996 (45,000 Swiss francs) for fan disorder in a home qualifier against neighbouring Malaysia. The game was suspended for several minutes late in the second half because of clashes between fans. Malaysia won 3-2 with a goal in the seventh minute of stoppage time. Fifa warned Malaysia for its fans’ lack of discipline and throwing objects. | Jack Rathborn | https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/international/hong-kong-china-fifa-boo-national-anthem-iran-world-cup-qualifier-a9148856.html | Wed, 09 Oct 2019 10:12:00 GMT | 1,570,630,320 | 1,570,626,202 | sport | sport organisation |
1,016,379 | thetelegraph--2019-09-27--Association of Football Agents considers suing Fifa over proposed limits on agents fees and loan de | 2019-09-27T00:00:00 | thetelegraph | Association of Football Agents considers suing Fifa over proposed limits on agents' fees and loan deals | The Association of Football Agents is considering suing Fifa in response to tough new curbs on the "Wild West" transfer industry. A limit on agents fees to 10 percent per transfer and a new cap on international loan deals are close to being launched under recommendations from the world governing body's Football Stakeholders Committee. However, in a letter seen by the Daily Telegraph, the agent Mel Stein issued a rallying cry to other Premier League intermediaries, telling his colleagues to expect an "expensive fight" with Fifa. The association also sent a letter to Fifa complaining at a lack of consultation over the reforms. "It is blatantly untruthful to say that there has been consultation with us," the letter says. "Your organisation acknowledged at our meeting that the consultation process had not even begun as far as we were concerned. We cannot accept any regulations that provide for capping of our fees or restrict our freedom to act for any party in a transaction. "Those regulations would be unlawful and anti-competitive as you are well aware. Before we issue proceedings (which we will have no alternative but to do if you continue down this path) we would invite you to enter into a full consultation process." | Tom Morgan | https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2019/09/27/association-football-agents-considers-suing-fifa-proposed-limits/ | 2019-09-27 15:48:23+00:00 | 1,569,613,703 | 1,570,222,089 | sport | sport organisation |
519,769 | sputnik--2019-01-01--Russian Olympic Committee Has Served Its Sanction IOC President | 2019-01-01T00:00:00 | sputnik | Russian Olympic Committee ‘Has Served Its Sanction’ – IOC President | "In PyeongChang, we sanctioned the systematic manipulation of the anti-doping system in Russia during the Olympic Winter Games Sochi 2014. The IOC sanctioned those entities involved, proportional to their levels of responsibility … With its suspension from the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018, the Russian Olympic Committee has served its sanction," Bach said, as quoted in a statement. The Russian anti-doping system is being reformed amid the scandal over the alleged state-run doping program in the country, which resulted in a number of sanctions against Russian officials and athletes. Russian officials have refuted the allegations of the state-run doping program, while admitting that Russian sports had some issues with doping abuse. WADA Has Got No Access to Data of Moscow Anti-Doping Lab by Deadline Earlier in the day, WADA stated that Russia had not provided the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) with data of the Moscow anti-doping laboratory by December 31, which was set as a deadline. "The 31 December 2018 deadline – by which time the Russian authorities had to provide access to the data – has elapsed without the data having been retrieved. The deadline was one of two conditions stipulated in WADA’s 20 September Executive Committee (ExCo) decision regarding the Russian Anti-Doping Agency’s (RUSADA’s) compliance with the World Anti-Doping Code (Code)," the statement said. "On 14-15 January 2019, the CRC will meet and review all available elements. The CRC will provide a recommendation to the WADA Executive Committee based on the applicable rules, namely the International Standard for Code Compliance by Signatories (ISCCS), which entered into force on 1 April 2018, and the Code; and as soon as practicable thereafter, the CRC’s recommendation will be considered by the ExCo," the statement added. This comes after, on December 21, a WADA mission, led by independent expert Jose Antonio Pascual, finished its visit to Moscow. The mission was tasked with retrieving raw data from the information management system of the Moscow laboratory, but has not managed to complete the task in time. On September 20, the great majority of the WADA Executive Committee voted to reinstate RUSADA as an organization that complies with the World Anti-Doping Code, with the head of WADA specifying that the country had met 29 out of 31 criteria included in the roadmap for reinstatement. The deadline for the two remaining criteria was therefore rescheduled for December 31. | null | https://sputniknews.com/world/201901011071150313-wada-moscow-doping/ | 2019-01-01 18:16:00+00:00 | 1,546,384,560 | 1,567,554,305 | sport | sport organisation |
564,137 | tass--2019-04-11--Russian Olympic chief IOC to participate in 40th anniversary of Moscow Olympics | 2019-04-11T00:00:00 | tass | Russian Olympic chief: IOC to participate in 40th anniversary of Moscow Olympics | MOSCOW, April 11. /TASS/. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) plans to participate in the festivities in Russia next year dedicated to the 40th anniversary of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, Stanislav Pozdnyakov, the president of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC), told TASS on Thursday. "The International Olympic Committee will definitely participate in this event as it has been always taking part in celebrations of the most successful Olympic Games, which certainly include the Olympics in Moscow," Pozdnyakov said in an interview with TASS. "We have numerous ideas of how to celebrate this event, adding up that the dates of the Olympic Games in Moscow coincide with the All-Russia Olympic Day," Pozdnyakov said. "We are setting up at the moment a work group to deal with this task." On March 27, Russian President Vladimir Putin voiced his support to the idea of by Honorary President of the Russian Olympic Committee Vitaly Smirnov to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the 1980 Summer Olympic Games in Moscow. At a session of the Council on the Physical Culture and Sport Development, Smirnov mentioned the success of the Moscow Olympics and suggested to demonstrate to the world’s sports community modern Russia’s achievements in the development of sports. The Russian president said at that time that "It is a good idea." He instructed the Russian Sports Ministry and Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin to back up the idea of Vitaly Smirnov. The 1980 Summer Olympics was held in the Russian capital of Moscow between July 19 and August 3. The summer Olympics in 1980, hosted by then-Soviet Union, were marred by a boycott on behalf of a number of foreign countries, including the United States, in protest of Soviet military presence in Afghanistan. Addressing the first ever World Olympians Forum (WOF), hosted by Moscow in 2015, IOC President Thomas Bach said the boycott could have been avoided if the IOC and the world leaders "could have listened to the Olympians at that time and the boycott could have never happened.". In other media | null | http://tass.com/sport/1053320 | 2019-04-11 15:49:31+00:00 | 1,555,012,171 | 1,567,543,163 | sport | sport organisation |
913,693 | theseattletimes--2019-06-25--IOC president cautions against profit-driven sports events | 2019-06-25T00:00:00 | theseattletimes | IOC president cautions against profit-driven sports events | LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — IOC President Thomas Bach wants local governments to resist promoting independently run sports events that he believes go against the Olympic ideal. The organizers of profit-driven sporting ventures are “cherry picking” events without sharing the International Olympic Committee’s duty to use profits to help athletes around the world, Bach told Olympic leaders on Tuesday at their annual meeting. Citing a global zeitgeist that encouraged “narrow self-interest,” Bach criticized “a purely market-based approach to sport that ignores the values we stand for.” “This is why are calling on public authorities to take this distinction into consideration whenever they take decisions that affect sport,” the IOC president said. In swimming, three elite athletes filed an anti-trust case against governing body FINA and others risked bans by supporting a privately owned league which had a launch event planned in Turin, Italy. FINA then withdrew the ban threat, increased prize money and launched its own new top-tier competition series. Basketball governing body FIBA has also been in a long-running dispute with the club-controlled EuroLeague competition. “Sport without values is just entertainment,” Bach said. “Yes, Olympic sport must be entertaining, but it must not be just entertainment.” He did acknowledge that some businesses “deserve a profit” for presenting sports in innovative ways that engaged young people. “What is not fair at all, is that more and more public authorities are ignoring the differences between these purely commercial companies and us, as values-based organizations,” Bach said. Bach has consistently defended the authority of Olympic bodies and a business model that uses games revenues to fund them rather than pay prize money directly to athletes. The IOC has resisted relaxing rules that limits Olympic athletes from promoting personal sponsors during a games period, despite German athletes winning a federal agency ruling. Bach has argued that exclusive rights for top-tier Olympic sponsors, who paid more than $1 billion in the 2013-16 cycle, maximized revenue for the IOC to re-invest in sports. He cited “legitimate athlete representatives” — those elected from within Olympic bodies — as the only recognized path for negotiation, and pledged more benefits for competitors. “We did not always do our best to make the solidarity model transparent and understandable enough to the athletes and the wider public,” he said. The IOC has allocated more than $500 million that its Solidarity Commission will distribute from 2017-20 to athletes and Olympic teams. Later in the meeting, the IOC reported a $165 million profit in 2018 on income of $2.2 billion in the Pyeongchang Winter Games year. The revenue included of $1.436 billion from broadcasting rights and $550 million from marketing income. IOC finance commission chairman Ser Miang Ng reported spending that including $1.153 billion to games organizers, national Olympics committees and sports governing bodies. There was $178 million in IOC operating costs and $133 million spent on “promoting the Olympic Movement.” Overall project spending was $187 million on the Olympic House headquarters in Lausanne. | GRAHAM DUNBAR | https://www.seattletimes.com/sports/olympics/ioc-president-cautions-against-profit-driven-sports-events/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=Referral&utm_campaign=RSS_all | 2019-06-25 10:29:56+00:00 | 1,561,472,996 | 1,567,538,250 | sport | sport organisation |
144,075 | drudgereport--2019-02-20--New football league rescued by 250 million bailout | 2019-02-20T00:00:00 | drudgereport | New football league rescued by $250 million bailout... | 6:22 PM ET * Emily KaplanESPN [Carolina Hurricanes](http://www.espn.com/nhl/team/_/name/car/carolina- hurricanes) owner Tom Dundon made a $250 million investment in the upstart Alliance of American Football and will become the league's new chairman. The Athletic reported that the league was in danger of not making payroll on Friday, before Dundon's investment. AAF co-founder Charlie Ebersol dismissed reports that the league was getting a financial bailout from Dundon. "This has been an extraordinary undertaking for us," said Ebersol, who less than a year ago partnered with Pro Football Hall of Fame executive Bill Polian to create the AAF. "It's a giant challenge and opportunity, and as a startup you are constantly looking for some peace of mind. When we got out of the first week of games, we saw there was so much interest from investors, and if we had one person who could take care of us for a very long time, that would be great." The eight-team AAF, billed as a developmental league, kicked off the weekend following the Super Bowl. The 10-game regular season will culminate in an April 27 championship game. CBS broadcast the two opening games, and the league said more than 6 million people watched the AAF in its inaugural weekend. # Editor's Picks * [](/nfl/story/_/id/25989477/los-angeles-chargers-gm-sees-potential-aaf-developmental-league-nfl) Chargers GM Tom Telesco believes the AAF could potentially be a developmental league for the NFL. Said Telesco: "It has the potential to be a nice complement to the NFL." * [](/espn/story/_/id/25999702/alliance-american-football-tried-wooing-qb-colin-kaepernick) Alliance of American Football co-founder Bill Polian told The Athletic that the league spoke with quarterbacks Colin Kaepernick and Tim Tebow about joining the league, but both declined. 1 Related Dundon said once he saw the league in action, it made his potential involvement in it an easier choice. "I had seen the deal when they were conceptualizing the league," he said on the ESPN On Ice podcast. "It wasn't something that I would do, because there were so many questions about the quality of football and all the things that come up when you try to start something new. Once it went on TV, looked great, got good ratings, I talked to people that were supportive of it. "At the same time, through mutual acquaintances, I understood they had a need for someone like me to step in. It all came together on Wednesday and Thursday of last week. I wish it was more thought out than that, but it was that simple." Ebersol said in a statement, "Tom, Bill Polian, and I will work with our great team at the Alliance to expand our football operations and technology business. Tom is a self-made American success story who brings a wealth of knowledge in the sports, entertainment and finance worlds and proven leadership to our organization." Ebersol is largely the one who raised the financial capital to get the league started -- a vision he began three years ago, eventually bringing Polian and others on board. The AAF gave players three-year, $250,000 non-guaranteed contracts with unspecified bonuses related to incentives. The league premiered on Feb. 9 on CBS, and 2.1 million people watched, according to ratings reports. Ratings, as expected, dipped when the league broadcast on cable channels to approximately 640,000 for the Week 1 Sunday night game on NFL Network. Ratings for Week 2 games, which appeared on TNT, NFL Network and CBS Sports Network, have not yet been released. Some believe the NFL may one day buy the AAF, but Dundon said that wasn't on his mind when he made the investment. "For whatever reason, people love American football," he told ESPN. "They watch it. There are enough good players ... about 1 percent of college players make it to the NFL. Now, with our league, maybe 2 percent of players get to play. It's viable just to be a support or development area for players whose ultimate goal is to get to the NFL. "This league only exists because of the NFL's success. If the NFL had wanted to do it, they had the wherewithal to do it. I don't think about them as someone to buy a league. I think about them this as, 'Let's just create a league because it was a compelling thing to do.'" The Hurricanes issued a statement from general manager Don Waddell reiterating Dundon's commitment to the NHL franchise. "Tom is excited about the direction of the Carolina Hurricanes and remains fully committed to this franchise's current and future success in Raleigh," Waddell said. Dundon, 47, is the former CEO of the Dallas-based lending firm Santander Consumer USA. He is the co-founder of Trinity Forest Golf Club in Dallas, home of the PGA Tour's AT&T Byron Nelson; the majority owner of Employer Direct Healthcare, a healthcare services company; and a primary investor in Topgolf. The Hurricanes have not made the playoffs since 2009 -- the longest active drought in the NHL -- and Dundon has pledged to inject a new energy into the franchise, which has manifested this season with elaborate postgame celebrations after home wins. The Hurricanes have struggled with attendance and have been long subject to relocation rumors after moving from Hartford, Connecticut, in 1997. However, when Dundon took over as majority owner, he agreed to not apply for relocation for seven years, which is a standard part of NHL purchase agreements. In an email, NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said Dundon did not need permission from the NHL to make this investment in another sports entity. When asked whether the league was concerned that the Hurricanes would be adversely affected by an ownership pumping an investment of this size into another sports venture, Daly said: "No." _ESPN's Greg Wyshynski contributed to this report._ | null | http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DrudgeReportFeed/~3/lqBmO2wQiak/hurricanes-owner-tom-dundon-invests-250m-aaf | 2019-02-20 00:37:38+00:00 | 1,550,641,058 | 1,567,547,939 | sport | sport industry |
574,596 | tass--2019-12-04--Russian Sports Ministry to allocate $421.75 mln for football infrastructure | 2019-12-04T00:00:00 | tass | Russian Sports Ministry to allocate $421.75 mln for football infrastructure | MOSCOW, December 4. /TASS/. The Russian Ministry of Sports will allocate 27 bln rubles ($421.75 mln) for the development of football infrastructure, Minister of Sports Pavel Kolobkov said on Wednesday. According to the Minister, the federal project "includes several levels — creating infrastructure for popular sports, developing football and hockey. By 2024, 27 billion rubles ($421.75 mln) will be spent on establishing football arenas, fields with lighting and heating. The funds will also be used to train coaches and hold competitions." This federal project includes creating conditions for physical education for all categories of the population, increasing accessibility of sports facilities to the population and improving the qualification of sports workers. The national project "Demography," designed for 2019-2024, includes five federal projects. The total budget for the next six years will amount to 3.1 trillion rubles ($48.42 bln). | null | https://tass.com/sport/1095515 | Wed, 04 Dec 2019 14:46:18 +0300 | 1,575,488,778 | 1,575,462,120 | sport | sport industry |
608,471 | thedailycaller--2019-12-22--REPORT: ABC/ESPN Wins SEC Football Game Of The Week For $350 Million Annually | 2019-12-22T00:00:00 | thedailycaller | REPORT: ABC/ESPN Wins SEC Football Game Of The Week For $350 Million Annually | ABC/ESPN has reportedly won the rights to the SEC football game of the week. It was previously reported the game was going to leave CBS, and it’ll now air on ABC/ESPN for the price of $350 million a year, according to Clay Travis. (RELATED: David Hookstead Is The True King In The North When It Comes To College Football) Travis also reported ABC will try to buy out the remaining years on the deal from CBS. This is a huge win for ABC and ESPN. This is the definition of a power move. The SEC game of the week generally draws monster ratings. ESPN already has a large chunk of the sports world. Now, they’re getting the biggest game in the SEC every single week. It’s impossible to overstate how big of a deal that is. As I already said in a previous article, it’ll be interesting to see if CBS tries to stay in the college football game or if it just dips out. With ESPN and Fox controlling so much of the ground, I find it hard to believe there’s much left for CBS. | David Hookstead | https://dailycaller.com/2019/12/22/report-abc-espn-sec-game-of-the-week-clay-travis-350-million/ | Sun, 22 Dec 2019 19:08:42 +0000 | 1,577,059,722 | 1,577,059,757 | sport | sport industry |
660,389 | thedenverpost--2019-02-19--Alliance of American Football league gets 250 million from Carolina Hurricanes owner | 2019-02-19T00:00:00 | thedenverpost | Alliance of American Football league gets $250 million from Carolina Hurricanes owner | [Carolina Hurricanes](https://stats.denverpost.com/hockey/nhl/team/5) owner Tom Dundon is investing $250 million in the Alliance of American Football. Dundon also will serve as chairman of the fledgling eight-team league that began play on Feb. 9. His involvement came together in a matter of days last week, according to Dundon and Alliance co-founder Charlie Ebersol, though Dundon had been monitoring the AAF’s development and debut. Ebersol dismissed reports Tuesday that the Alliance was getting a financial bailout from Dundon. “This has been an extraordinary undertaking for us,” said Ebersol, who less than a year ago partnered with Pro Football Hall of Fame executive Bill Polian to create the Alliance. “It’s a giant challenge and opportunity, and as a startup you are constantly looking for some peace of mind. When we got out of the first week of games, we saw there was so much interest from investors, and if we had one person who could take care of us for a very long time, that would be great.” Dundon said the AAF won’t be seeking more investors at this time. “We won’t bring in anybody for capital. We’re not going to take people’s money,” he said. “We have to decide who are the partners we want to be in business with. The Alliance already has great relationships with partners such as MGM (Resorts). There won’t be any money-raising. It will be growing the business. “It’s so early into this. We’re all in the entertainment business, so we’re just making sure to continue to do what they have done, which is put out a quality product people want to watch and consume, and hopefully we have the capital in place to take advantage of new opportunities. Things are a lot easier when you have got the capital and connections to execute.” Dundon also is the co-founder of Trinity Forest Golf Club in Dallas, home of the PGA Tour’s AT&T Byron Nelson tournament; the majority owner of Employer Direct Healthcare, a health care services company; and a primary investor in Topgolf, a sports entertainment company. The Alliance has teams in Atlanta; Phoenix; San Diego; San Antonio; Memphis, Tennessee; Birmingham, Alabama; Orlando, Florida; and Salt Lake City. It will play a 10-week schedule before its playoffs, finishing on the final weekend of April. Early response on TV — it has deals with CBS, Turner and NFL Network — and digitally was positive, Ebersol said. He also said adding Dundon gives the league extra credibility. “We think there will be other opportunities,” Ebersol said, “but the fact we took one of the biggest worries of any startup off the table with a partner who has proven he knows how to build businesses — and not build to sell but build to build — is huge.” | Eben Novy-Williams | https://www.denverpost.com/2019/02/19/alliance-of-american-football-investment/ | 2019-02-19 17:26:43+00:00 | 1,550,615,203 | 1,567,547,963 | sport | sport industry |
694,334 | theguardianuk--2019-03-22--Football transfer rumours Joao Felix to Manchester City for 120m | 2019-03-22T00:00:00 | theguardianuk | Football transfer rumours: João Félix to Manchester City for €120m? | **Manchester City** are in pole position to sign Benfica’s 19-year-old midfield prodigy **João Félix** – but he’ll come at a cost. According to the Sun, they can expect to pay the player’s €120m release clause in full if they beat Manchester United, **Real Madrid** and **Juventus** to the young whippet’s signature. Txiki Begiristain, City’s director of football, “is believed to have held initial talks over a deal with the Portuguese club’s hierarchy,” they report, and is trying to convince them to accept a lower up- front sum “by adding performance-based bonuses to their offer”. The Evening Standard says Felix is not the only Benfica teenager City want to sign, with the English club competing with United (again) and **Barcelona** for 16-year-old **Ronaldo Camara** , “one of the most sought-after prospects in world football”. Other than the midfield, they report of Pep Guardiola that “ **a top quality left back** is now among his priorities”, alongside “ **another centre back** ”, while the Spaniard “is also considering **adding to his attack** ”. So, to summarise, he doesn’t need a new goalkeeper. It’s no surprise that **Manchester United** can’t afford Félix, since they are ready to pay £65m for the Mill’s old friend **Harry Maguire**. “Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has urged United to sign Maguire so he can build his defence around the 26-year-old,” says the Express. “It has emerged Maguire is open to a switch to United and has let it be known a deal can be done.” **Ander Herrera** , meanwhile, could be off to **Paris St-Germain** on a free. “Everyone wants **Dybala** ,” declares _Tuttosport_ , who believe that “the impact of Real Madrid’s summer revolution will be felt throughout Europe” and could end with Juventus’s Argentinian starlet leaving Turin. “So many clubs like him – besides Inter he has admirers in Spain and England – but first he has to wait for Real’s first move and hope that he joins the domino run of attackers,” they write. Tuttosport predicts that one of **Neymar** and **Kylian Mbappé** will leave Paris St-Germain this summer, bound for the Bernabéu; PSG will then replace whoever departs with **Antoine Griezmann** , forcing **Atlético Madrid** to move for Paulo Dybala (unless someone else has first), whose place at Juve might by then have been taken by Federico Chiesa. As for what Fiorentina might do then, frankly your guess is as good as ours. Real, as frequently publicised, also want **Eden Hazard** , but according to Sky should a move for Chelsea’s Frenchman falter they will target instead West Ham’s **Felipe Anderson** “in a deal likely to be worth around £65m”, or almost exactly double the fee the Hammers paid for him last summer. The choice facing **Chelsea** as they select a new manager to replace the underwhelming Maurizio Sarri has come down to logic v sentiment, with the two camps represented by **Nuno Espirito Santo** and **Frank Lampard**. “There is a growing feeling the Italian is not a natural fit for the club,” deduces the Sun of Sarri. “Nuno has been gaining growing support within the Blues board … but Lamps would be the fans’ choice.” According to Bild **Liverpool** are, like every club in the Bundesliga with deep enough pockets, interested in **Callum Hudson-Odoi**. But don’t get too excited: the Liverpool Echo says the club’s summer plans are relatively modest and that they certainly “won’t be shelling out anywhere near the eye-watering amounts of the past two transfer windows”. Meanwhile in news of former Liverpool players, the Spanish newspaper Sport says that **Philippe Coutinho** could be sold by Barcelona this summer for €100m. Meanwhile across town, **Everton** “could pounce” for **Salomón Rondón** if Newcastle fail to snap up their on-loan striker this summer, says the Star. In a story that features the word “could” a lot and makes only the slightest pretence of insider knowledge – “Starsport understands Everton are interested too” – they announce that “Everton boss Marco Silva is short of options in attack and Rondón could fit the bill”. | Simon Burnton | https://www.theguardian.com/football/2019/mar/22/football-transfer-rumours-joao-felix-to-manchester-city-for-120m | 2019-03-22 09:01:41+00:00 | 1,553,259,701 | 1,567,545,259 | sport | sport industry |
563,164 | tass--2019-03-22--FIBA chief Andreas Zagklis Over 227 mln reinvested in 2019 Basketball World Cup | 2019-03-22T00:00:00 | tass | FIBA chief Andreas Zagklis: Over $22.7 mln reinvested in 2019 Basketball World Cup | China is going to host the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup between August 31 and September 15 following a five-year break. FIBA has come up with a number of innovations for this tournament as it decided to avoid holding the championship during the same year as the 2018 FIFA World Cup, introducing a two-year period for qualifying matches and last weekend it staged a draw ceremony in China’s Shenzhen, where tickets were sold out well in advance. In an interview with TASS correspondent Andrey Kartashov, FIBA Secretary General Andreas Zagklis speaks about the preparations for the Basketball World Cup, the tournament’s financial details, as well as about the current state of affairs regarding the National Basketball League (NBA) and the EuroLeague. **— What does FIBA expect from the upcoming tournament? How much do the preparations cost including FIBA’s share? How much did China allocate to the organization of the tournament and what proceeds does FIBA expect to get in return?** Our top priority is to deliver top quality basketball, that can be enjoyed by fans all over the world and help grow the popularity of our sport. As for the numbers, FIBA has reinvested more than 20 million euro into growing the World Cup. After the 265 million euro economic impact from Spain 2014, we are very confident that this edition will clearly reach unprecedented levels, because of the improved exposure through qualifiers, the number of teams (32 instead of 24) and the number of games (92 instead of 74 games), the venues’ bigger capacity and therefore a larger market. **— The World Cup Draw ceremony was held last weekend. What was interesting and special about this ceremony?** This is the first ever Draw in the history of our sport that has turned into a real event and certainly one of the best attended Draws in sports history ever. It was a ticketed event and sold out – 8,000 people were present in the Shenzhen venue, together with a number of basketball dignitaries and of course Kobe Bryant and Jason Derulo who provided the star power. The Draw was broadcast live around the globe through conventional TV, YouTube and Facebook. **— What is your expectation of the basketball fans’ turnout at the upcoming World Cup?** We have high hopes that this tournament will surpass all expectations. It is hard to estimate right now as the ticket sales have only recently opened and the sample is rather small. There are four different categories of tickets, so something for every fan and every possible need. We are working with our partners in China we are certain that the venues will not only be full but will also offer a unique experience to local and foreign visitors. **— What can be said about security measures at the tournament? Will there be particularly heightened security measures in force in host cities?** The highest level of security is ensured for the World Cup. Let’s not forget that, by definition, China is a country that pays extra attention to security for all events in its territory while they also have the added experience from the Olympics in 2008. FIBA has added all its know-how and event experience to the mix and we are guaranteed a top-level approach. **— What can you say about the inaugural series of the qualifying tournament ahead of this World Cup?** We have placed the World Cup at the top of our competition structure. In terms of size the Qualifiers were the biggest event we have ever put in place in almost 90 years of our history; we took care of a centralized TV production of all games, working hand in hand with the 80 national federations that participated in the Qualifiers and our five regional offices. And, of course, we have in front of us a World Cup where every game counts because of the Olympics. All this will provide a great opportunity to our federations to grow. In the 16 months between November 2017 and February 2018 the Qualifiers project has been a big success for basketball. It brought national team basketball back to the fans, during the season; there have been countries where the fans have not watched their team play a competitive game at home in over a decade or even more. This was detrimental to the development of basketball in the country. So many of the games were sold-outs. The teams had the chance to identify new talent and help create a deeper roster – especially in view of the upcoming World Cup for those who qualified. Any way we look at it the overall conclusion is positive. **— In the future, will we see national teams playing in the qualifiers with an optimal roster? When are the clubs going to easily send their players to join the national teams?** The optimal squad is perhaps a question for the coaches. With regard to the availability of all players for each qualifying window, this is something that all stakeholders should work on to help achieve the best possible result. **— With whom does FIBA have a better relationship at the moment: with the Euroleague or with the NBA?** FIBA is the governing body of basketball in the world; our mission is to develop and grow the sport, which effectively means that we are obliged to maintain a working relationship with all stakeholders of the game. Both NBA and EuroLeague, as leagues, are two of those stakeholders, meaning they are part of the structure. That said, it is true that FIBA has an excellent working relationship with the NBA, with who we run several projects around the globe and have recently partnered in the creation of the Basketball Africa League which is set to launch in 2020. **— How does FIBA look at the prospect of top clubs’ leave from the national championships and playing in EuroLeague only?** In team sport competitions, especially in Europe, the clubs that participate in continental club competitions they do so on merit, meaning achieve their participation through their position in their national leagues. A closed league, depriving some national leagues of some of their top teams, could have immediate damaging effects for those national leagues, especially financially (e.g. less money coming in from TV rights) and long lasting effects for development of basketball in that particular country. **— What is FIBA’s evaluation of the Champions League and its development?** We are very pleased and so are our partners in the Basketball Champions League – the 11 national leagues and ULEB that are 50 percent shareholders. In less than three years, the Basketball Champions League has made huge steps towards establishing itself as the clear destination for clubs that achieve qualification through their national league success. This year we were happy to welcome two of Europe’s top clubs – Bamberg and Hapoel Jerusalem – a further proof that the project is appealing because it is fair. The numbers are also there to support our claims. The digital growth of the league is unparalleled in the basketball world, in terms of how quickly and effectively it was achieved. **— Is it possible that a situation similar to the one in the NHL could happen with the NBA prohibiting its players from playing at the Olympics?** We do not foresee such scenario. The participation of professional basketball players in the Olympics, including those from the NBA is something that was agreed 30 years ago, to make sure that the game’s top talent gets a chance to showcase their skills in the Games. And that included the talent from every country, not just the US. As mentioned, we have an excellent working relationship with the NBA. The NBA is an organization that runs a top-notch league but also has a global view of what is beneficial to the game – and getting the chance to expose the game’s top talent in the Olympics scene is definitely one of those benefits. **— Speaking about the development of basketball on a global scale – it seems that the NBA is getting brighter, and basketball in all other parts of the world is getting dimmer and duller. Does FIBA consider this as a problem? What steps could be taken to change this situation?** Our partnership with the NBA is currently experiencing a great era; it’s a partnership that has expanded from the making-players-available-at-tournaments one to a fully institutional partnership with the Deputy Commissioner of the NBA sitting at the FIBA Central Board and the Executive Committee. In other words, the NBA are part of the decision making process in World Basketball. I think you are looking only at the league itself but, as mentioned, the NBA goes beyond those 30 franchises and what they do outside their own league can only be seen as an added value to our sport. Their philosophy of helping grow the community of the sport around the world is paramount to the FIBA development strategy. I need only mention the Basketball Without Borders which is a joint initiative between NBA and FIBA and which been conducted annually since 2001 with 56 camps in 35 cities across 28 countries on six continents. Focused on elite talent, BWB has reached more than 3,300 participants from 129 countries and territories. And more than 250 different current and former NBA/WNBA players have joined the project during those 18 years. | null | http://tass.com/sport/1049953 | 2019-03-22 07:36:25+00:00 | 1,553,254,585 | 1,567,545,200 | sport | sport industry |
601,156 | thedailycaller--2019-03-30--REPORT Nebraska Hires Basketball Coach Fred Hoiberg For 25 Million | 2019-03-30T00:00:00 | thedailycaller | REPORT: Nebraska Hires Basketball Coach Fred Hoiberg For $25 Million | Nebraska has found its new basketball coach in Fred Hoiberg. According to Adrian Wojnarowski, the former Iowa State and Chicago Bulls coach was hired by Nebraska Saturday for $25 million over seven years. The Cornhuskers fired Tim Miles as the head coach a few days ago. (RELATED: Tim Miles Says He’s Going Home To Drink A Coors Light After Nebraska Fires Him) This is a home run hire for the Cornhuskers. That’s even putting it lightly. Hoiberg wasn’t super successful in the NBA, but he was dominant at the college level. Now that he has time in the pros under his coaching belt, it’ll make recruiting that much easier for him. He’ll be able to pitch players on knowing exactly what they need to cut it at the next level. For a school that has really only seemed to ever care about football, I can’t even begin to describe how big this is for Nebraska and their fanbase. Hoiberg has been one of the best college coaches in the country the past decade, and he’s at Nebraska! He didn’t end up at a traditional powerhouse. He ended up at Nebraska! It’s almost too crazy to believe, and they paid a pretty penny to get him. What a wild world we’re living in when Fred Hoiberg gets snatched up by a middle of the road at best Big Ten team. Big things might on the horizon in Lincoln. | David Hookstead | https://dailycaller.com/2019/03/30/nebraska-fred-hoiberg-contract-25-million/ | 2019-03-30 19:29:59+00:00 | 1,553,988,599 | 1,567,544,712 | sport | sport industry |
562,212 | tass--2019-02-27--FIFA to allocate over 60 million for 2018 World Cup heritage program in Russia | 2019-02-27T00:00:00 | tass | FIFA to allocate over $60 million for 2018 World Cup heritage program in Russia | MOSCOW, February 27. /TASS/. The world’s governing football body, FIFA, is set to allocate at least $60 million for the 2018 World Cup heritage program in Russia, Arkady Dvorkovich, the chairman of the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) Russia-2018, said on Wednesday. The Monitoring Council of the Russia-2018 LOC gathered for its last session in Moscow on Wednesday. "FIFA is set to allocate at least $60 million for the heritage program," Dvorkovich told journalists after the session. "The sum will be channeled for the support of the development of youth and women football and the [2018 World Cup] infrastructure maintenance." "The heritage program is under discussions with the Russian Sports Ministry, the RFU [Russian Football Union] and FIFA," Dvorkovich said. FIFA Secretary General Fatma Samoura, who attended the session in Moscow as well, said the world’s football body was set to establish a 2018 World Cup heritage fund. Speaking to journalists she said that Russia organized an outstanding World Cup and the next step is to evaluate to exact scale of the tournament in Russia. Last summer Russia hosted its first-ever FIFA World Cup, which kicked off in Moscow with a remarkable opening show at Luzhniki Stadium on the evening of June 14 and ended with a spectacular final match, played also at the Luzhniki Stadium, where France confidently defeated Croatia 4-2 to win the much-coveted World Cup Trophy. Russia selected 11 host cities as the venues for the matches of the 2018 World Cup and they were Moscow, St. Petersburg, Sochi, Kazan, Saransk, Kaliningrad, Volgograd, Rostov-on-Don, Nizhny Novgorod, Yekaterinburg and Samara. FIFA President Infantino said after the world championship that Russia staged "the best World Cup ever." According to the Russian Federal Agency for Tourism, some 2.9 million foreign visitors arrived in Russia last summer for the FIFA World Cup. In late December, FIFA announced in its statement that the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia set a new record of audience in the history of world football championships as over half of the world’s population watched matches on TV at home, out of home or on digital platforms. | null | http://tass.com/sport/1046685 | 2019-02-27 13:44:16+00:00 | 1,551,293,056 | 1,567,547,113 | sport | sport industry |
562,253 | tass--2019-02-27--Russia spent some 106 billion to organize 2018 FIFA World Cup | 2019-02-27T00:00:00 | tass | Russia spent some $10.6 billion to organize 2018 FIFA World Cup | MOSCOW, February 27. /TASS/. Russia spent about 700 billion rubles ($10.6 billion) to organize the 2018 FIFA World Cup, Arkady Dvorkovich, the chairman of the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) Russia-2018, said on Wednesday. The Monitoring Council of the Russia-2018 LOC gathered for its last session in Moscow on Wednesday. "A sum of about 700 billion rubles was spent on the organization of the world championship," Dvorkovich told journalists after the session. "The larger part of this sum was allocated from the federal budget." Last summer Russia hosted its first-ever FIFA World Cup, which kicked off in Moscow with a remarkable opening show at Luzhniki Stadium on the evening of June 14 and ended with a spectacular final match, played also at the Luzhniki Stadium, where France confidently defeated Croatia 4-2 to win the much-coveted World Cup Trophy. Russia selected 11 host cities as the venues for the matches of the 2018 World Cup and they were Moscow, St. Petersburg, Sochi, Kazan, Saransk, Kaliningrad, Volgograd, Rostov-on-Don, Nizhny Novgorod, Yekaterinburg and Samara. FIFA President Infantino said after the world championship that Russia staged "the best World Cup ever." According to the Russian Federal Agency for Tourism, some 2.9 million foreign visitors arrived in Russia last summer for the FIFA World Cup. In late December, FIFA announced in its statement that the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia set a new record of audience in the history of world football championships as over half of the world’s population watched matches on TV at home, out of home or on digital platforms. In other media | null | http://tass.com/sport/1046648 | 2019-02-27 11:15:39+00:00 | 1,551,284,139 | 1,567,547,113 | sport | sport industry |
570,333 | tass--2019-09-05--FIFA chief Infantino ready to invest 5 mln in childrens sports in Vladivostok | 2019-09-05T00:00:00 | tass | FIFA chief Infantino ready to invest $5 mln in children’s sports in Vladivostok | VLADIVOSTOK, September 5. /TASS/. FIFA President Gianni Infantino is ready to invest some $5 million in the development of children’s sports and the construction of sports facilities for children in the Russian Far Eastern city of Vladivostok, Primorsky Region Governor Oleg Kozhemyako told TASS on Thursday. FIFA President Infantino, Russian Presidential Aide Igor Levitin and Alexander Dyukov, the president of the Russian Football Union (RFU) paid a visit on Thursday to children’s sports school in Vladivostok, which currently hosts the 2019 Eastern Economic Forum (EEF). After paying a visit to the sports school, they walked to the Dynamo stadium, which is a home stadium to local football club Luch from the Football National League (FNL). Infantino stated in particular that the stadium needs to be refurbished since the place "is very special." "You could make here a football-only stadium," Infantino said. "I completely agree [with Infantino’s proposal]," Kozhemyako said. "We talked to Igor Levitin, who oversees sports issues in the administration, telling him that it would be a good idea to make a 15,000-seat capacity stadium with children’s sports school and other facilities." "According to my information, Infantino is ready to invest about $5 million in children’s sports, the construction of sites for children’s sports and the arena," the governor said. "This is why his [Infantino’s] arrival [to the EEF] is a significant event." Dynamo stadium in Vladivostok was built in 1957 and currently boasts a 10,000-seat capacity. The stadium is mostly used for hosting matches of local football club Luch. FIFA President Gianni Infantino also met with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday and told him in particular about his plans to open a football school with the Far Eastern Federal University in Vladivostok. The Eastern Economic Forum, established in 2015, is held annually in Vladivostok. It serves as a platform for debating key issues concerning the world economy, regional integration, and the development of new industrial and technological sectors, as well as global challenges facing Russia and other nations. Events at the EEF traditionally take place in the form of panel sessions, roundtables, televised debates, business breakfasts, and business dialogues devoted to Russia’s relationships with various countries. In 2018, 220 agreements, contracts, memorandums and protocols worth over 3 trillion rubles ($45 bln) were signed at last year’s EEF, which was attended by over 6,000 delegates from 60 states. This year’s forum is taking place on September 4-6. TASS news agency is the event’s general information partner, the official photo hosting agency and moderator of the presentation zone focusing on the Russian Far East’s innovation opportunities. | null | https://tass.com/sport/1076737 | 2019-09-05 13:29:46+00:00 | 1,567,704,586 | 1,569,331,216 | sport | sport industry |
5,274 | activistpost--2019-08-12--NYC Has Lost 4000 Jobs in the Restaurant Sector Alone Since Arrival of 15 Minimum Wage | 2019-08-12T00:00:00 | activistpost | NYC Has Lost 4,000 Jobs in the Restaurant Sector Alone Since Arrival of $15 Minimum Wage | New York City businesses have been struggling with higher labor costs brought about by the new $15 an hour city minimum wage that went into effect at the end of last year for “large employers” of 11 employees or more. That’s the third minimum wage increase in three years, and is an increase of more than 36 percent over the last two years from the $11 an hour minimum wage at the end of 2016, and a whopping increase of 107 percent since 2013 when the minimum wage in New York State (and NYC) were determined by the federal minimum of $7.25 an hour. The current state minimum wage outside of NYC is $11.10 an hour, so employers in the city are faced with paying a large 35 percent wage premium compared to their counterparts outside of the metro area for low-skilled workers. And it’s having a devastating effect on the city’s small businesses and restaurants. Here are some of the recent news reports on the fallout from New York City’s $15 an hour minimum wage: 1. New York City Businesses Struggle to Keep Up After Minimum Wage Increase 2. New York City’s $15 Minimum Wage Is Now Officially a Disaster 3. Not A Surprise: New York City $15 Minimum Wage Leads to Layoffs, Fewer Hours, And Slow Growth 5. New Yorkers Discover Something Bad About Minimum Wage Hike 7. Art Laffer: Raising the minimum wage is the best way to hurt the poor The chart above shows graphically the New York City “restaurant recession” that has resulted from the recent minimum wage increases. According to BLS data, the restaurant job losses in the city this year are even steeper and longer-lasting than the job losses during the Great Recession and are the most severe loss of food service jobs since the 2001 recession and the devastating effects the 9/11 terrorist attacks had that year on tourism and restaurant traffic. Compared to the first half of last year when there was an average of about 318,000 restaurant jobs in the city, there were only slightly more than 314,000 restaurant employees during the same period this year, representing a loss of nearly 4,000 food jobs over the last year at a rate of 11 jobs lost on average every day. We hear a lot of concern from politicians like Sen. Sanders and AOC about the importance of “living wages” for low skilled workers, but they show no concern about the “living profitability” of small business owners and restaurateurs in places New York City who struggle to remain profitable paying artificially high government-imposed wages and are forced to lay off workers and many close down. | Activist Post | https://www.activistpost.com/2019/08/nyc-has-lost-4000-jobs-in-the-restaurant-sector-alone-since-arrival-of-15-minimum-wage.html | 2019-08-12 16:50:22+00:00 | 1,565,643,022 | 1,567,534,320 | labour | employment legislation |
59,913 | birminghammail--2019-04-04--Minimum wage rise for THOUSANDS of Birmingham workers - how youre affected | 2019-04-04T00:00:00 | birminghammail | Minimum wage rise for THOUSANDS of Birmingham workers - how you're affected | Almost 35,000 Brummies will see a pay raise thanks to this week’s minimum wage hike. Estimates from the Low Pay Commission (LPC) suggest that 34,900 Birmingham based workers currently receive the minimum rate of pay. That’s equivalent to 8.2 per cent of all employees over the age of 16 in our city. That number includes people on the National Minimum Wage, and the National Living Wage. The National Living Wage is the minimum wage for workers aged 25 and over that was introduced by George Osborne in April 2016. The figures come from the LPC's 2018 Report, which made the wage-rise recommendations which came into place on Monday. Workers on the National Living Wage will notice a pay rise from £7.83 to £8.21 an hour when they receive their pay slips this month. If you work a 37.5 hour week (7.5 hours a day), that will equate to an extra £57 a month, or £741 a year. Those age 21-24 who earn the National Minimum Wage will see their pay rise from £7.38 to £7.70. That works out as an extra £48 a month, or £624 a year. If you are aged 18-20, a wage rise from £5.90 to £6.15 will equate to an extra £37.50 a month, or £487.50 a year. Under 18s also saw a pay rise of 15p, from £4.20 to £4.35, and the minimum pay for apprentices rose 20p, from £3.70 to £3.90. LPC Chair Bryan Sanderson said on Monday: “We are pleased that millions of workers across the country will see an above-inflation pay rise as a result of today’s minimum wage increases, which follow the recommendations the LPC made in the autumn. “Today is particularly significant as it also marks 20 years of the National Minimum Wage. “Over the last 20 years the National Minimum Wage and more recently the National Living Wage have achieved their goal of raising pay without significant negative effects on employment.” Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond, said: “This government is dedicated to increasing the wages of the lowest paid which is why we introduced the National Living Wage and have continued to increase the National Minimum Wage rates – all of which will rise again today and benefit millions of workers.” | Michael Goodier, James Rodger | https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/minimum-wage-rise-thousands-birmingham-16077876 | 2019-04-04 13:39:50+00:00 | 1,554,399,590 | 1,567,543,981 | labour | employment legislation |
80,847 | cbsnews--2019-01-02--New laws for 2019 include rules for California pet stores higher minimum wages | 2019-01-02T00:00:00 | cbsnews | New laws for 2019 include rules for California pet stores, higher minimum wages | # New state laws kick in for 2019 | null | http://www.cbsnews.com/video/new-laws-for-2019-include-rules-for-california-pet-stores-higher-minimum-wages/ | 2019-01-02 00:48:01+00:00 | 1,546,408,081 | 1,567,554,225 | labour | employment legislation |
95,698 | chicagotribune--2019-11-26--Chicago City Council raises minimum wage to $15 by 2021, but restaurant servers still will get lower | 2019-11-26T00:00:00 | chicagotribune | Chicago City Council raises minimum wage to $15 by 2021, but restaurant servers still will get lower tipped wage | “I’m just really disappointed that the city of Chicago doesn’t understand that all tipped workers are not tipped the same,” said Honni Harris, 46, who worked as a server in Chicago restaurants and clubs for 24 years and now is an activist with the Restaurant Opportunities Center, which advocates for scrapping the tipped wage. “There are workers who can bring home $600 in a weekend, but what about those workers who are working at the pancake house, or at Denny’s? They can’t pay their rent.” | Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz | http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-chicago-minimum-wage-approved-20191126-esp6g6do6nhzjfl7i7yphbfmrm-story.html | Tue, 26 Nov 2019 14:39:33 PST | 1,574,797,173 | 1,574,812,937 | labour | employment legislation |
98,051 | cnbc--2019-01-02--15 minimum wage in NYC and other ambitious local laws lead a push for new national standards | 2019-01-02T00:00:00 | cnbc | $15 minimum wage in NYC and other ambitious local laws lead a push for new national standards | In New York City, the minimum wage increased to $15 for all businesses with more than 10 employees. By the end of this year, the change will be implemented citywide, raising the wages for 1.5 million workers, according to the New York City comptroller's office. New York City's wage increase illustrates how far the "Fight for $15" movement has come into the mainstream. Once thought of as a pipe dream initiated by fast food workers in 2012, three states and even more municipalities have now pledged to increase their minimum wage to $15 an hour. The movement has also garnered national support from key lawmakers such as Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and presumptive House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. "I remember just a few years ago, people said this was impossible," New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a video posted to Twitter on Monday. "Today, it's a reality because of you: the people who stood up." Opponents of a wage hike say a $15 minimum wage can pressure small businesses to raise prices or cut staff to offset new cost pressures. In a statement released in 2016 when the minimum wage increase was scheduled, the NYC Hospitality Alliance warned of "potential unintended consequences of this action, such as employee lay-offs and business closures." "This legislation creates great uncertainty for many businesses and is an example of aggressive government action making it more difficult than it already is for many of our city's small businesses to succeed," the statement read. Forty other cities and states also raised the minimum wage in the new year, according to data from the National Employment Law Project. In October, Amazon boosted its minimum wage to $15 an hour, benefiting more than 250,000 employees, earning praise from Sanders. | null | https://www.cnbc.com/2019/01/02/15-minimum-wage-in-nyc-other-local-laws-lead-push-for-new-standards.html | 2019-01-02 20:52:00+00:00 | 1,546,480,320 | 1,567,554,259 | labour | employment legislation |
114,418 | cnsnews--2019-08-13--Minimum Wage Laws Are Not Causing Lower-Wage Workers Wages to Rise Faster | 2019-08-13T00:00:00 | cnsnews | Minimum Wage Laws Are Not Causing Lower-Wage Workers Wages to Rise Faster | Before lawmakers left for August recess, the Democrat-controlled House voted to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour. Such a move would backfire in a major way if passed into law. It would hurt lower-skilled individuals the most, including teenagers, immigrants, and those without a high school degree. And women, who hold more low-wage jobs than men, would be hurt the most, accounting for more than 60 percent of the resulting lay-offs. The push for new wage mandates comes at a puzzling time: We are in the midst of a record economic expansion in which workers in lower-wage jobs are seeing their wages grow faster than many high-wage workers. This is no mere blip on the screen. It’s an ongoing trend, as the July jobs report shows. Average wage growth has been above 3 percent for the last 11 straight months. Meanwhile, the lowest 10th percentile of wage earners (people making about $12 an hour) have benefited from more than twice that gain in wages—a 6.6 percent wage increase over just the last year. That’s equivalent to a roughly $1,500 raise for someone earning less than $25,000 a year. Some are now claiming that minimum wage increases at the state level are responsible. One short study, which was repeated in the pages of The Washington Post, shows that states with minimum wage hikes since 2013 have seen faster wage growth for low-wage workers. Not so fast. There are some serious problems with this study. For one, many states that increased their minimum wage also instituted pro-growth reforms during the same time. New York, for example, improved its business climate in 2014 by cutting its corporate tax to its lowest rate since the 1960s. Missouri; Arizona; Washington, D.C.; Minnesota; and Maine are all among the states that cut taxes during this time period while also raising their minimum wage. There is now ample evidence that pro-growth policies, like business tax cuts, fuel wage growth and new hiring. Research on the minimum wage tells the opposite story: one of job loss and wage stagnation. The economic fact is that when the government forces businesses to pay an employee a mandated hourly wage, businesses are left with few options: Cut hours, lay off workers, or reduce benefits—or some combination of these. Most often, businesses are forced to cut jobs, which is why the Congressional Budget Office found that raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour could lead to over 3.7 million workers losing their jobs. A 2011 study from The Heritage Foundation painted an even bleaker picture, finding that this policy would force 7 million Americans out of work. Economists have documented the significant negative impact of Seattle’s decision to raise the minimum wage to $13 an hour. That decision resulted in a drop in employment across the city. Workers who retained their jobs ended up working fewer hours, resulting in a net income loss. If history is any guide, minimum wage increases lead to slower rather than faster wage growth. A 2015 study found that workers in states with small increases in the minimum wage from 2005-2008 ended up with lower wages than they would have had if the state never increased its minimum wage. The minimum wage hike achieved the exact opposite of its goal. This happens, in part, because minimum wages shrink the number of jobs available, meaning there are equally qualified workers competing for fewer jobs. Workers who are lucky enough to retain their job see slower wage growth than they would have otherwise because the job market is full of people who can easily replace them. Minimum wages also have been shown to incentivize low-income youth to drop out of school, which lowers their future earnings. And, they cut off employment opportunities entirely for workers who cannot yet produce the minimum wage. At $15 per hour, workers must be able to produce upward of $35,000 per year. That’s a high bar for anyone just starting out and especially high for teenagers trying to get their first job, perhaps to save for college. A study on the long-run effects of minimum wages found that the longer individuals were exposed to higher minimum wages at young ages, the less they worked and earned by their late 20s. The study also noted that “the adverse longer-run effects are stronger for blacks.” It may be true that some minimum wage hikes raise wages for a few lucky workers, but it comes at the expense of layoffs and shorter hours for others. Workers have much more to gain from sustainable wage increases, and so do employers and customers, since both groups want better performance from workers. Our economy is currently booming, and a key feature of that is the strong job market. There are now over a million more jobs available than people looking for work. Employers are offering wage increases, bonuses, new training opportunities, and better benefits to retain and upskill their best employees. Employers are competing for labor. That puts workers in the driver’s seat, allowing them to demand higher wages and better benefits. Moreover, productivity is a major leverage point for workers. When workers are more productive, they bring more value to the company and can therefore demand higher wages. The current economic environment has benefited from two things: the 2017 tax cuts and ongoing deregulation. These policies are making American workers more productive. The 2017 tax cuts significantly lowered the cost of new investment by cutting the corporate tax rate and allowing companies to write off the full cost of many new investments from their taxes. Now, companies have a greater incentive to re-invest their profits into the tools and research workers need to be more productive employees. And, as workers become more valuable through increased productivity, they are empowered to demand higher wages. But these tax cuts need to be made permanent to ensure workers continue to experience benefits they currently enjoy. The United States’ record-long economic expansion has helped lower-income workers the most, and the whole gamut of pro-growth policies have helped prolong the current expansion. These gains are impressive despite the economic uncertainty exacted by President Donald Trump’s tariff policy and our ever-expanding federal debt, which must be addressed. Congress should not tempt the resilience of the American economy by mandating a higher federal minimum wage. Lower-wage workers are feeling a boon like no other in recent memory. The last thing we should do is bring it to a premature end. Adam Michel focuses on tax policy and the federal budget as a policy analyst in the Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies at The Heritage Foundation. Travis Nix is a member of the Young Leaders Program at The Heritage Foundation. : This piece was originally published by The Daily Signal. | Adam Michel | https://www.cnsnews.com/commentary/adam-michel/minimum-wage-laws-are-not-causing-lower-wage-workers-wages-rise-faster | 2019-08-13 20:25:36+00:00 | 1,565,742,336 | 1,567,534,261 | labour | employment legislation |
220,069 | freedombunker--2019-03-10--15 Minimum Wage Laws Are Wiping Out Jobs in New York and Illinois | 2019-03-10T00:00:00 | freedombunker | $15 Minimum Wage Laws Are Wiping Out Jobs in New York and Illinois | Big minimum wage hikes wipe out a lot of jobs. Illinois recently enacted a $15 minimum wage, a large increase in the minimum wage that will be phased in over several years. And businesses are already announcing plans to close up, move out of the state, or curb their expansion in the state. The Daily Gazette and Sauk Valley Media provide the example of Hopper’s Poppers: After a little more than 2 years downtown, Hopper’s Poppers – the business, and the building it’s in – are being put up for sale, the owner said. Ryan Hopper also closed his Sycamore shop this week, citing Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s approval of a statewide $15 minimum wage increase. Three months ago, he and his wife Stephanie were considering adding a third location in Roscoe, which would have brought him closer to his five-location goal. But he said the the minimum wage hike and Illinois’s notoriously high property taxes solidified the decision for his family to continue their business ventures outside Illinois. Jobs are being lost in New York, too. New York City experienced its worst decline in restaurant jobs since 9/11 after a $15 minimum wage there was enacted. The city saw its sharpest fall in restaurant employment in nearly 20 years. Its 40% increase in the minimum wage was phased in over a two-year period, but substantial job losses are already evident. As Jon Miltimore of the Foundation for Economic Education notes: Restaurants tend to operate on famously low profit margins, typically 2 to 6 percent. So a 40 percent mandatory wage increase over a two-year period is not trivial. In response to the minimum wage hikes, New York City restaurants did what businesses tend to do when labor costs rise: they increased prices and reduced labor staff and hours. For example, Lalito’s, a popular restaurant on Bayard Street, recently raised its menu prices 10-15 percent, Eater New York reports. A New York City Hospitality Alliance survey also showed that three out of four full-service restaurants said they planned to reduce employee hours. Nearly half of those surveyed said they planned to eliminate some job positions in 2019. As Miltimore notes, several other states have passed or are in the process of enacting a $15 pay floor. New Jersey recently enacted a $15 minimum wage—the increase will be phased in over several years—joining California, Massachusetts, and New York. The Maryland House of Delegates passed a $15 pay floor on February 27. The District of Columbia and some cities, such as Minneapolis and Seattle and Minneapolis, also have $15 minimum wage laws. The abstract idea of a “living wage” is so powerful that politicians and even voters are willing to sacrifice real people in the pursuit of it. Politicians have admitted that these radical increases in the minimum wage make no economic sense, even if they make for a moralistic political soundbite. In signing California’s $15 minimum wage into law, California’s Jerry Brown said that “Economically, minimum wages may not make sense. But morally, socially, and politically they make every sense.” By advocating minimum wage hikes, people get to signal their own political virtue—at the expense of other people’s jobs. Voters often feel the same way. The Los Angeles Times reported that “Californians strongly back the state’s minimum wage increase to $15,” even “though they believe the wage hike will hurt their pocketbooks and the state’s economy,” and “high percentages of those surveyed expected negative consequences, including layoffs and business relocations to states with lower minimum wages. Almost 90% of respondents believed that prices for consumers would rise because of the wage hike.” By advocating minimum wage hikes, people get to signal their own political virtue—at the expense of other people’s jobs. Seventy-two percent of economists say that a $15 minimum wage is a bad idea, and an even higher percentage say it will increase the unemployment rate. An economist at Moody’s estimated that up to 160,000 jobs will be lost in California’s manufacturing sector alone from the increase to $15. Raising its own minimum wage costs a state critical tax revenue and constitutes unilateral disarmament in its competition with other states. Job losses and business failures from minimum wage hikes reduce state revenue. Meanwhile, much of the benefit of the wage hike to low-income workers who manage to keep jobs at the increased minimum wage is lost due to increased federal taxes and reduced federal earned-income tax credits and food stamps, as a writer noted in the Wall Street Journal in 2016: The tax implications of going from a $10 to a $15-an-hour minimum wage” are fiscally “very significant. For a family of four with both spouses making the minimum wage, their federal tax will increase from $4,106 to $7,219, payroll tax will increase from $2,579 to $3,869, their earned-income tax credit (EITC) will be reduced from $596 to zero … and the $2,400 food-stamp credit will be lost. Of the $20,800 increase in income in going from $10 to $15 an hour, $7,778 will be diverted to the government, which doesn’t include loss of other income-dependent government welfare programs and added costs due to the resulting inflation. Over one-third of the wage increase will flow to the [federal] government. The net result is that an economically struggling town with lots of low-wage workers tends to have less disposable income, higher prices, and less consumer purchasing power (meaning fewer retail jobs) after a minimum wage hike than before. This article is reprinted with permission from Liberty Unyielding. | Sean McBride | http://freedombunker.com/2019/03/10/15-minimum-wage-laws-are-wiping-out-jobs-in-new-york-and-illinois/ | 2019-03-10 17:00:29+00:00 | 1,552,251,629 | 1,567,546,779 | labour | employment legislation |
283,526 | latimes--2019-09-12--Labor won big with bill to rewrite California employment law but its flawed | 2019-09-12T00:00:00 | latimes | Labor won big with bill to rewrite California employment law — but it's flawed | Independent trucker Robert Schott was driving his big rig down the I-10 near Pomona when I reached him on his cell to talk about the “gig” bill. He hated the measure. We chatted shortly before the state Senate passed the bill Tuesday night after an emotional debate. Then the Assembly on Wednesday sent it to Gov. Gavin Newsom, who already had endorsed the measure. It’s organized labor’s biggest legislative victory in years. The bill will reclassify an estimated 1 million California workers as company employees rather than independent contractors, enshrining in law a state Supreme Court ruling. As employees, they’ll be eligible for new benefits, pay guarantees — and union membership. “First off, I’ll have to sell my truck,” Schott said above the engine roar. “Or the bank will wind up taking it. I can’t afford to make the payments if I’m an employee. I wouldn’t be running my own business and making as much money.” Schott, 55, a freight hauler from Rancho Cucamonga, also echoed the universal complaint of the bill’s opponents: He’ll lose flexibility. “I’d have to work by the company’s schedule under its terms,” he said. “As an owner-operator, I choose my own schedule. I’m a single father and take my girl to school every morning and see her at night. I don’t think people making this law understand how it’s going to impact us. “They’re grouping too many people in one category. They’re grouping us in with Uber drivers and I don’t think that’s right.” I called some ride-share drivers. Some liked the bill, others didn’t. Konstantine Anthony, 38, of Burbank, drives for Uber now and used to for Lyft. He says both keep lowering their pay scales without consulting drivers. “Driving in L.A., it’s hectic,” he said. “You should get hazard pay….” “Once AB 5 is on the books, it gives drivers the ability to unionize. That opens the door to benefits, time off, spending time with the kids.” But Jack Kinney, 60, an L.A. driver for Lyft, sees just the opposite. “My wife was diagnosed with breast cancer,” he said. “By having complete freedom of schedule, I was able to get her to every doctor appointment and procedure. Her English isn’t that good and I was able to translate. If I had to be on a company schedule, I’d lose a lot of freedom.” Maybe — maybe not. His union might negotiate time off for family illness. For months, most of the public’s attention concerning the bill has focused on Uber and Lyft drivers. But lately, people have awakened to the realization that it also affects independent truckers, healthcare providers, adult entertainers, psych therapists and many other workers. Lobbyists have packed the Capitol seeking exemptions. And dozens of them have been granted, including for doctors, lawyers, insurance brokers, some freelance writers and commercial fishermen. Newspaper carriers won a last-minute exemption for one year. But among truckers, only those who tow disabled vehicles or haul building construction material obtained exemptions. “Why didn’t we get an exemption?” asked Kevin Saiki of San Diego, a cardiopulmonary perfusionist — someone who operates life support equipment, he explained, “in a last-ditch effort to save life.” “How do you qualify for an exemption?” Answer: pressure and persistence. Better also hire a lobbyist. And, of course, it helps to be a political supporter. “In California,” Saiki continued, “there are only 350 of us. We’re a specialized field. We’re on call. We respond to emergencies. We work with other groups. As employees, that wouldn’t be possible.” Saiki, who is legislative chair of the California Perfusion Society, asked: “How can you make blanket legislation like this? Either they’re not educated or are ignoring reality to try to give labor unions more power.” There was a lot of such talk by Republicans during the two-hour Senate debate. Sen. Jeff Stone (R-Temecula) charged the bill was “a Christmas tree for organized labor that might as well have an office right here in the state Capitol.” He ended with a characterization of “labor bosses in smoked-filled rooms.” Smoking hasn’t been allowed in the Capitol for years, but labor essentially has dozens of offices there. Democrats hold supermajorities in both houses. And for most, unions are their strongest, most reliable supporters. Moreover, Newsom is much more predictably liberal than his centrist predecessor, Jerry Brown. The bill, AB 5, was authored by a former labor organizer, Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez (D-San Diego). Its Senate floor jockey, Sen. Maria Elena Durazo (D-Los Angeles), once led the L.A. County Federation of Labor. Both reacted heatedly to repeated GOP assaults on the bill. “I’ve had enough,” Gonzalez said, asserting that what many California workers have is “not flexibility, it’s feudalism.” Durazo said: “We can either choose to become complicit in the exploitation of hard-working Californians or we can choose to rebuild the working and middle class.” But Senate Republican leader Shannon Grove of Bakersfield accused Democrats of “picking favorites” and “choosing winners and losers.” In the Senate, the bill passed 29-11. All Democrats voted “yes” and all Republicans said “no.” In the Assembly, the measure passed 56-15. One Democrat voted “no” — Assemblyman Adam Gray of Merced. One Republican was a “yes” — Tyler Diep of Westminster. There are lots of gray hues in this landmark legislation that don’t reflect the black-and-white partisan voting. Many Democrats admitted there are flaws and promised to try to correct them next year. Right! We’ve heard that before. As a rule, flawed bills shouldn’t be passed in the first place. | George Skelton | https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2019-09-11/skelton-ab5-independent-contractors-california-employment-law | 2019-09-12 07:01:17+00:00 | 1,568,286,077 | 1,569,330,341 | labour | employment legislation |
797,443 | themanchestereveningnews--2019-03-20--The five employment law changes happening next month that you need to know about | 2019-03-20T00:00:00 | themanchestereveningnews | The five employment law changes happening next month that you need to know about | If you're a business owner or an employee then there are some changes coming into force next month that are worth being aware of. Some of the changes coming into play will effect the National Minimal Wage which is going up. There will also be changes coming to the National Living Wage as well as pay slips. To get a better idea of exactly what is changing and the impacts it will have, Peninsula Operations Director and HR expert Alan Price provides guidance on what they are and how to deal with them. National minimum wage (NMW) rates are scheduled to increase for all pay reference periods which start on or after 1 April 2019, meaning all minimum wage workers will be due a boost in pay. Those aged 25 and over will be entitled to a minimum of £8.21 per hour, whilst those who qualify for the different NMW age bandings will also benefit from increases. It will be important for employers to review and amend their pay practices ahead of time to ensure NMW staff continue to receive the correct rate for their age. The qualifying criteria for statutory sick pay (SSP) will change from 6 April 2019, as well as the amount of money staff will be entitled to earn each week. This means individuals will need to earn at least £118 per week in order to qualify for weekly payments of £94.25 . Similarly, the rate of pay for maternity, paternity, adoption and shared parental pay will increase to £148.68 per week from the 7 April 2019, which may mean employers have to amend their policies accordingly. Employers will have to rethink their pay slip process from 6 April 2019 as both ‘employees’ and ‘workers’ will be entitled to receive itemised pay statements from this day onwards. Pay slips will also need to include the total number of hours worked, where this influences pay, meaning payroll and HR departments will need to work in unison to ensure relevant staff receive their payslips in accordance with these new requirements. Employers’ approach to pensions will need adjusting in 2019 as the minimum auto-enrolment contributions will increase from 6 April 2019. Employers and workers will need to contribute 3pc and 5pc of an employee’s pre-tax salary respectively each month and payroll departments will need to be on the ball to avoid reprisals from the pensions regulator. The amount of money employees could be due for a successful tribunal claim will also increase from 6 April 2019. From this date, successful claims for unfair dismissal could result in a maximum compensation payout of £102,194 which means employers will need to be extra careful in making sure their procedures are fair and appropriate when taking disciplinary action. As April draws ever closer employers will need to be wary of these impending changes and it would be wise to dedicate time over the coming weeks to proactively prepare their business for these new requirements. | Matthew Cooper | https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/uk-news/five-employment-law-changes-happening-15998515 | 2019-03-20 10:23:52+00:00 | 1,553,091,832 | 1,567,545,529 | labour | employment legislation |
91,956 | charlotteobserver--2019-12-30--New NC law means school workers must be trained to spot signs of sex trafficking | 2019-12-30T00:00:00 | charlotteobserver | New NC law means school workers must be trained to spot signs of sex trafficking | All North Carolina school districts must pick by Wednesday an employee training program for reporting and preventing child sexual abuse and sex trafficking. The new training requirements are part of an overhaul of the state’s sexual assault laws that include making it a Class 1 misdemeanor for anyone age 18 or over to fail to notify the authorities when he or she suspects or knows that a child is being physically or sexually abused, the News & Observer previously reported. Other changes include extending the statute of limitations for civil suits against perpetrators of child abuse and includes a number of other safety protections for children, Carolina Public Press previously reported. “Justice will not be denied just because it’s delayed,” Gov. Roy Cooper said at a ceremony in November where he signed the new legislation. “Finally, in North Carolina, people are required to speak up for sexually abused children.” The need for the training is high. The former chairwoman of the state Human Trafficking Commission said North Carolina is thought to have one of the top rates of human trafficking in the nation, the News & Observer previously reported. In November, a Durham jury convicted a man of attempted human trafficking of a 16-year-old minor and first-degree kidnapping. But human trafficking charges in North Carolina are rare and convictions rarer still, the News & Observer previously reported. Across the state, there have been only nine human trafficking convictions, including five involving children, in North Carolina courts since 2013, according to the N.C. Sentencing and Policy Advisory Commission. Senate Bill 199 was unanimously approved by state lawmakers in October. It includes a short timetable for school districts to pick a new employee training program by Jan. 1. Tharrington Smith, a Raleigh law firm that represents several school districts, including Wake County, encouraged school boards to pass a resolution in December authorizing their superintendent to select a training program. The law requires all public schools, including charter schools, to train school employees who work directly with students. The training program is supposed to include: ▪ Best practices from the field of prevention. ▪ The warning signs of sexual abuse and sex trafficking. ▪ How to intervene when sexual abuse or sex trafficking is suspected or disclosed. On Dec. 17, the Wake County school board authorized Superintendent Cathy Moore to select a program. The school system is closed for winter break so it was not immediately clear what program Moore might have picked since the board vote. School board member Monika Johnson-Hostler applauded district staff for taking the time to pick the “right curriculum” for the district. Johnson-Hostler is executive director of the N.C. Coalition Against Sexual Assault and a member of the state’s Human Trafficking Commission. “I appreciate you all not taking something off the shelf and going with it to make this quick,” Johnson-Hostler said at the board meeting. “But you and your staff are dedicated to diligently ensuring that we’re using best practices and that you are also having the conversation with the staff to ensure that we have their full buy-in for the curriculum that will be used for Wake County Public Schools.” Some students will fall under the law Wake school board member Jim Martin also said he supported the new law. But Martin asked whether Wake should also be training its older students because the law says adults must report to law enforcement their suspicions of sexual and physical abuse of children. “All 18-year-olds become mandatory reporters,” Martin said. “That means most of our seniors, some of our juniors. So a lot of our students will also fall under the law.” Paul Koh, Wake’s assistant superintendent for student support services, told Martin that staff will determine what to do with students after reviewing the district’s current training program. Wake already provides some students, such as those in grades 7-9, education about human trafficking. | <p><span class="ng_byline_name">By T. Keung Hui</span></p> <p><span class="ng_byline_email"><a href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a></span></p> | https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/education/article238829023.html#storylink=rss | Mon, 30 Dec 2019 15:34:33 EST | 1,577,738,073 | 1,577,755,636 | labour | employment legislation |
339,938 | newsbiscuit--2019-12-24--Uncertainty in UK Labour market post-Brexit hits Christmas dinner trimmings | 2019-12-24T00:00:00 | newsbiscuit | Uncertainty in UK Labour market post-Brexit hits Christmas dinner trimmings | The recent uncertainty regarding EU workers in Britain and their rights in a post-Brexit work landscape has lead to dwindling numbers of foreign casual workers. This now looks set to have hit our festive boards tomorrow with many meat producers saying labour shortages have affected many of our favourite dinner trimmings. But no tasty treat is likely to be hit harder than the nation’s much-loved pigs in blankets. Alistair McKinley who runs a food production plant said: ‘It’s a manual operation, almost impossible to mechanise and quite frankly British people think it’s way below them to do the work. They’d rather leave production to seasonal labour yet at the same time vote for Brexit and embrace the idea that all foreigners should be “sent back to where they came from.” One such moron, Barry Pillock, a Leave voter and who just wants to “get Brexit done” commented: ‘Well I think we should crash out of the EU and start trading on WTO terms. Just so long as I still have my pigs in blankets and a plucked and prepared oven-ready turkey for the big day I couldn’t care.’ However when the reason for the shortages was was explained to him Mr Pillock said: ‘Well can’t we just get foreigners in to do this kind of low-paid menial work like what we have always done? And by the way, mate, what exactly does WTO terms mean?’ | newsbiscuit editorial team | http://www.newsbiscuit.com/2019/12/24/uncertainty-in-uk-labour-market-post-brexit-hits-christmas-dinner-trimmings/ | Tue, 24 Dec 2019 19:02:10 +0000 | 1,577,232,130 | 1,577,232,803 | labour | labour market |
785,129 | theirishtimes--2019-03-12--Matching skills with labour market demand | 2019-03-12T00:00:00 | theirishtimes | Matching skills with labour market demand | Undertaking a postgraduate programme is one way in which today’s graduates are future-proofing for a constantly evolving jobs market. Undergraduates expecting to secure employment upon finighing their primary degree might be surprised to discover that they may lack the core skills which employers look for when recruiting. For many, the option of undertaking a postgraduate programme, which will add to and complement their existing skills, is one they need to consider. Such a programme will add a set of cross-sectoral skills to complement their CV and enhance their employability. There is increasing confluence between sectors such as information and communications technology (ICT), business and engineering, which were once considered to be unique in their own right. ICT now permeates almost all sectors of the economy, and similarly, strong business skills are relevant across many sectors. Accounting firms today don’t only hire accountants - they are also on the lookout for marketing, IT and engineering graduates. Arts and journalism graduates who can bring communications and social media skills are sought after by firms who need to expand their social media and online presence. Data analytics is now the fastest-growing skill in demand and demand is set to continue in the years ahead. The combination of data and marketing skills is perhaps the most highly sought-after combination. Evolving IT security threats and the corresponding need for greater data protection is feeding demand for IT security roles with increased demand for dedicated cyber-security functions. Ever-increasing investment in web-based services has created a major skills shortage for software developers with Java, NET, Python, Ruby on Rails and Scala, in particular. The intersection between finance and technology has undergone a huge shift which is changing the face of the financial services landscape. With dozens of Irish start-ups operating in this area, the expectation is for significant growth in this area in the coming years. The opportunities for hybrid professionals - graduates with skills spanning financial services and technology - will continue to increase as the finance and technology sector sees increasing collaboration between government, education and industry sectors. There are abundant opportunities for graduates with large financial institutions and smaller global tech companies operating in the financial sphere as traditional companies work towards adapting to the rise of finance and technology. There are increasing overlaps in the skill sets required across different sectors and job roles. In addition to sector-specific skills, cross-sectoral employability skills are increasingly being sought by employers. These include people skills, critical/analytical thinking skills, management skills and creativity, design and innovation, entrepreneurialism, team working, communications and business acumen, with ICT skills and foreign languages, and cultural awareness, which is vitally important in developing our markets outside of the British Isles in a post Brexit environment. Languages in demand include German, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, the Nordic languages and a growing need for Mandarin. Every year dozens of companies, across a wide range of sectors, recruit graduates and postgraduates. The larger companies typically have graduate training programmes in place. They recruit graduates who can demonstrate strong academic ability, but who may have limited or even no experience of the world of work. A graduate training programme is a way of bridging this gap by easing new entrants into the world of work and equipping them with the necessary skills required by the organisation. Graduate training programmes tend to be up to two years long. Some will offer opportunities in different areas of the business before settling on a specific career area within the company. Such programmes are an excellent opportunity to learn on the job, gain experience and earn some money at the same time. Graduate training programmes are a significant stepping stone to a permanent job. Some examples of cross-sector graduate recruitment campaigns include CRH, Intel, Analog Devices, Deloitte, Bank of Ireland, ESB and Accenture. European Movement (EM) Ireland has a long-running internship programme of three to four months, where final-year students or recent graduates undertake a placement for between three and six months in their offices in Dublin city centre. Check out CareersPortal.ie for details of other graduate recruitment programmes. There may be a gap between the skills employers are looking for and the skills you are leaving college with. It is possible to bridge this gap. Springboard is an initiative for higher education that offers free, part-time courses at certificate, degree and master’s level, leading to qualifications that are in demand among employers. Most courses are one-year or less. In a rapidly shifting economic environment, Springboard courses have provided more than 35,000 people with a new skillset, specifically tailored to the needs of today’s market. All the courses aim to reskill people in areas where job opportunities in skilled employment are growing - ICT; high-level manufacturing; medical devices; biopharma; international financial services; skills to trade internationally; entrepreneurship and business start-up; and niche skills in the construction industry. The current Springboard+ programme offers a choice of more than 245 free, part-time and intensive conversion courses in higher education from certificate to degree to post-graduate level at certificate, degree and postgraduate level. Most are part-time, but there are also some full-time courses including ICT conversion courses. There are 8,088 free places available throughout the country. Springboard qualifications are available in cross-enterprise skills such as innovation, enterprise/entrepreneurship, digital marketing and project management. To find out more about Springboard+ or to apply for one of its courses visit springboardcourses.ie. | null | https://www.irishtimes.com/news/education/matching-skills-with-labour-market-demand-1.3813830 | 2019-03-12 00:01:42+00:00 | 1,552,363,302 | 1,567,546,606 | labour | labour market |
1,029,677 | thetorontostar--2019-10-15--UK labour market weakening amid Brexit uncertainty | 2019-10-15T00:00:00 | thetorontostar | UK labour market weakening amid Brexit uncertainty | LONDON - Brexit uncertainty appears to be finally affecting Britain’s labour market, which has been relatively resilient over the past three years in spite of a slowdown in economic growth. The Office for National Statistics said Tuesday that the number of people in work dropped by 56,000 in the three months to August from the previous three-month period, to 32.69 million. That’s the biggest decline since the spring of 2015. The number of people unemployed rose by 22,000 during the period 1.31 million, lifting the jobless rate to 3.9% from 3.8%. Job vacancies were also at their lowest level for nearly two years. In another sign of weakness, earnings growth including bonuses slowed to 3.8% in the three months to August from the year before, from the 3.9% rate recorded in July. “The Brexit-related slump in corporate confidence finally has taken its toll on the labour market,” said Samuel Tombs, chief U.K. economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics. Since Britain voted to leave the EU in June 2016, the labour market has been strong as firms have opted to cut investment rather than staff. However, a decline in confidence in the past few months as the country grapples with Brexit seems to be taking its toll. Some of the uncertainty could be lifted in coming days if Prime Minister Boris Johnson secures a Brexit withdrawal agreement with the EU. Should any deal be backed by lawmakers, Britain could be on track to finally leave the EU by the scheduled Brexit data at the end of this month, if not slightly later. Though the long-term trading relationship with the EU would still need to be negotiated, a near-term Brexit deal would mean Britain avoids a chaotic exit that most economists think would cause big economic difficulties. Others in Parliament are hoping they can use the Brexit standoff to push through another referendum on Britain’s membership in the hope that the country votes to remain in the bloc and ensuring frictionless trade with the EU. Get more of the Star in your inbox Never miss the latest news from the Star. Sign up for our newsletters to get today's top stories, your favourite columnists and lots more in your inbox Sign Up Now | Pan Pylas - The Associated Press | https://www.thestar.com/news/world/europe/2019/10/15/uk-labour-market-weakening-amid-brexit-uncertainty.html | Tue, 15 Oct 2019 06:24:55 EDT | 1,571,135,095 | 1,571,141,003 | labour | labour market |
9,434 | aljazeera--2019-02-06--What use is a degree if I sell eggs The job crisis under Modi | 2019-02-06T00:00:00 | aljazeera | 'What use is a degree if I sell eggs?': The job crisis under Modi | New Delhi, India - A grim-faced young man rustles up a quick egg snack on a pushcart at a quiet residential corner in a suburb of the Indian capital, New Delhi, as he meticulously enquires about his patrons' tastes. Sagar Kumar, a 21-year-old undergraduate in commerce at an open university in Noida, a city adjacent to the national capital in Uttar Pradesh - the country's most populous state in the Hindi-speaking heartland - is angry. He has been working as a roadside food vendor for a year to pay for the school fees of his younger siblings and the kidney dialysis of an ailing father. He is impatient for a government job. "I study at night, the rest of the time I tend to this food cart and earn 500 rupees [$7] a day. What use is a commerce graduate degree to sell eggs by the roadside?" Sagar said. In New Delhi's Tughlakabad slums, around the remnants of a medieval era fort, 24-year-old Seema is a part-time cook, but hopes to get a job as an office secretary. "My typing speed is very good and I can add numbers. My family came to Delhi from Badayun [in Uttar Pradesh] where I wanted to get a clerical job at a government office. But I have had no luck yet. There are also safety concerns to consider when looking for a job as a woman here," she said. India's fast-paced economic growth has failed to generate employment opportunities for over 12 million Indians who enter the job market every year. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who swept to power in 2014 on the promise to create 10 million jobs annually, has been accused of creating the worst unemployment crisis in decades. A leaked report about India's joblessness last week revealed that unemployment rate rose to its highest level in at least 45 years. For the first time, half of India's working-age population (15 years and above), is not contributing to any economic activity, data analysis by the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) shows. Officials at Niti Aayog, the premier government policy think-tank, said the report was not final and that sufficient jobs were being created. Former Finance Minister Arun Jaitley dismissed the survey findings, saying it was "disinformation". "If the economy is growing at 12 percent nominal growth for the last five years, it would be an economic absurdity to say that such a large economic growth, the highest in the world, doesn't lead to the creation of jobs," Jaitley told Indian news agency ANI. "If no job creation takes place then there is social unrest. This has been a peace period where no major social agitation has been witnessed in the last five years," Jaitley, now a minister without portfolio, claimed. But warnings about a brewing jobs crisis are not new. In December, the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) said labour participation rate, a measure of adults who are willing to work, has fallen to 42 percent. In March 2018, data from the CMIE, a portal that tracks economic activity, said 31 million Indians were looking for jobs. A report released last month by the All India Manufacturers' Organisation said 3.5 million jobs had been lost since 2016, when Modi banned about 85 percent of currency notes. Government jobs in India are the most sought after. India's railway network recently received 19 million applications for 63,000 jobs as cleaners and track maintainers. Sagar, son of a migrant family from Madhepura in Bihar state, says he applied for several government jobs, including at the railways which does not mandate a college degree. Old enough to vote for the first time, he says "whoever forms the next government must help us". "We need jobs. If you can't do that, then help us earn. I tried to get a loan for entrepreneurs, but that is a nightmare as well. So there is nowhere to turn. Neither jobs are available nor is it easy to get bank loans to fund a small business," he added. Sagar is among the 133 million young adults who will cast their ballots when the world's biggest democracy holds a general election due in less than 100 days. The election comes as India struggles through a period of what economists call "jobless growth". "The jobs crisis is really bad. The medium and small scale industries and agriculture are major employers in our country. These sectors have suffered due to policy-induced shocks like a badly-implemented national services tax GST and a note ban in 2016 that broke the backs of small businesses and the informal sector," economist Prasenjit Bose told Al Jazeera. "Even the organised sector has not grown under this government. Although public sector investments have happened, that has not translated into jobs," he said. "The fact is that the economic growth data is being grossly overestimated. There can be no other explanation for this discrepancy between an over 7 percent GDP growth and a 45-year-high unemployment rate." Job growth has slowed just as the biggest youth bulge the world has ever seen nears its peak in a country where more than half of its 1.3 billion people are under 25. In cases like Sagar and Seema, a precarious labour market, socioeconomic factors and a lack of public services have made matters worse. Since the lack of access to income is the main driver of poverty, experts warn this will also fuel an increase in inequality. With faster but uneven economic growth in recent decades, boundaries between villages and small towns have blurred. Meanwhile, migration, mobile phones and television have ensured people are more keenly aware of how the lives of others are improving faster than their own. In states like Maharashtra, Gujarat, Haryana and Rajasthan, upper caste land-owning farming communities have held large protests in recent years, demanding quotas in government jobs. Under pressure to placate the unemployed youth, the government passed a law last month offering quotas to the upper castes in public sector jobs and higher education places. The population is rising beyond the economy's capacity to create jobs and there is insufficient job creation in the private sector, say experts. Investment in the Indian economy is stagnating at lower levels than 2011-12 and the unorganised sector is declining, said Professor Arun Kumar, author of "Demonetisation and the Black Economy". "The government needs to address the agricultural crisis. The unorganised sector needs a boost, you need to give them credit and support. The unorganised sector, when revived, will create demand for its own self," Kumar told Al Jazeera. In the midst of the squabbling over jobs data, economist Kumar says it is necessary to point out the distinction between unemployment and underemployment. "In India, we don't have social security. So if somebody loses work, they can't say we won't work. Everybody does some work here, so you see graduates pushing a cart, etc. India is characterised more by underemployment than unemployment. The problem is our unorganised sector employs 93 percent of those seeking work. It is this 93 percent that is losing jobs because this sector is in crisis," Kumar said. This is why India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) looks nervous as it seeks re-election. In a television interview last year, Prime Minister Modi had said that selling 'pakodas' (deep-fried finger food) is also a form of employment since the 'pakoda' seller would earn 200 rupees ($2.8) a day. The remark created a huge controversy, with the opposition accusing Modi of being insensitive to people's demands for jobs. Ahead of polls, it has ratcheted up pressure on Modi over his unkept promises on jobs. The main opposition Congress party has promised to introduce a minimum income guarantee for the poor if it wins the elections, due by May. India's fractured political landscape, with its dozens of regional parties and caste alliances, poses a serious challenge to Modi's re-election bid. In spite of people like Sagar and Seema's economic aspirations, regional and caste politics will play a big part in how people vote. And it will be an uphill task for the next government, irrespective of its ideological affiliation, to create all the jobs needed. | null | https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/02/studied-uni-sell-eggs-india-job-crisis-modi-190205171055108.html | 2019-02-06 08:26:26+00:00 | 1,549,459,586 | 1,567,549,465 | labour | labour market |
22,169 | bbc--2019-02-01--US economy adds 304000 jobs in January | 2019-02-01T00:00:00 | bbc | US economy adds 304,000 jobs in January | The US economy added a stronger-than-expected 304,000 jobs in January, official figures have shown. The figure was far in excess of economists' forecasts of 165,000. However, December's jobs growth figure was revised to 222,000, down from an initial estimate of 312,000. Last month saw jobs being added in leisure and hospitality, construction, health care, transportation and warehousing, according to the US Department of Labor. The widespread gains marked the 100th month in a row of hiring. They were a reminder of the economy's continued strength, despite rising concerns about factors such as slowing global growth, trade tensions, and recent dips in consumer confidence. "This is a solid report, particularly given how worried people were," said Gus Faucher, chief economist at PNC Bank. The unemployment rate in January ticked up from 3.9% to 4% - a gain the Labor Department said was due to the partial shutdown of the federal government. The shutdown was also likely to have contributed to a surge in part-time workers last month, the Labor Department said. Overall, however, job creation in the US remains healthy - and well above the roughly 100,000 additions per month need to keep pace with growth in the working-age population. US employers added an average of 223,000 jobs per month in 2018. Separate surveys have also found more job openings than unemployed. "A lot of businesses feel like they do need to find workers and they have felt that way for months," Mr Faucher said. "We have consumers spending, we have businesses investing, so the demand is there." The Federal Reserve this week pledged to be "patient" about further rate rises, noting that inflation pressures remain muted. But the tight labour market has started to translate into higher wages. The average hourly pay for private sector workers was $27.56 last month, up 3.2% year-on-year. That was slightly slower than December's 3.3% rise. But it still marked one of the strongest year-on-year increases for any month since the financial crisis. Analysts said January's gains do not put immediate pressure on the bank to raise rates. But several economists said the bank is likely to increase rates later in 2019, if trends continue. "This is a strong report, showing that labour demand continues to rise rapidly, and that wage gains continue to grind higher," said Ian Shepherdson, chief economist of Pantheon Macroeconomics. "If wage gains rise over the next year as much they have over the past year ... the idea that the Fed won't hike further will turn to dust." | null | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-47092341 | 2019-02-01 15:24:27+00:00 | 1,549,052,667 | 1,567,549,963 | labour | labour market |
117,193 | conservativehome--2019-01-24--Jobs miracle jobs mystery | 2019-01-24T00:00:00 | conservativehome | Jobs miracle, jobs mystery | As David Freeman of the ONS summarised the figures: “The number of people working grew again, with the share of the population in work now the highest on record. “Meanwhile, the share of the workforce looking for work and unable to find it remains at its lowest for over 40 years, helped by a record number of job vacancies. “Wage growth continues to outpace inflation, which fell back slightly in the latest month.” In other words, the workforce are employed at record levels, their opportunities to find jobs are at record levels, and that combination of employers chasing employees is driving wages up in real terms. The jobs miracle is continuing to change people’s lives for the better. And yet, it doesn’t seem to be having the same effect on the Government’s electoral prospects. I wondered a year and a half ago if the good news from the labour market was simply losing its electoral appeal. Since then, some of the possible factors I mulled – most crucially the lack of wage growth – have improved, but there is still no sign of rising economic indicators lifting the Government on their tide. So what is going on? It’s certainly the case that this Government talks far less about its economic record than its predecessor did – partially due to its different character, partially due to the all-consuming battle over Brexit. The economic ministers – Philip Hammond and Greg Clark – whom you might expect to take up the loudhailer on economic good news are often busy talking up economic risks as part of their campaign against No Deal, which is unlikely to help. Meanwhile, the dark days of the recession, which loomed so large in the Coalition’s time, disappear ever further into the distance. In the years since, people have come to feel that this type of job market is the basic standard to expect, not a combination of records all at once. At the same time, myths – like the persistent belief that the majority of new jobs are zero-hours – have caught hold very deeply. It’s not unreasonable to look beyond the quantity of jobs and demand that quality should improve, too, but we are in a peculiar cultural position where people routinely talk as if the former doesn’t matter. Finally, there’s a third possible answer, which is rather more grim from the Government’s point of view. What if there is a political bounce from the boom in employment, the strong supply of job vacancies. and a real terms rise in wages? What if that positive effect on millions of people’s lives has already given a boost to Conservative ratings and poll numbers? After all, if it is peculiar that it has not materialised, perhaps the answer is simply that it is hidden from view. That would mean that the current opinion polls are the product of the jobs miracle – and rather than push the Prime Minister into a commanding lead, so dented is her reputation that even this important good news has only been sufficient to keep her neck and neck with Corbyn. Now that is a cautionary thought for anyone pondering a General Election. | Mark Wallace | https://www.conservativehome.com/thetorydiary/2019/01/jobs-miracle-jobs-mystery.html | 2019-01-24 07:00:21+00:00 | 1,548,331,221 | 1,567,551,024 | labour | labour market |
196,432 | foreignpolicy--2019-05-29--Nationalism Wont Solve Indias Job Crisis | 2019-05-29T00:00:00 | foreignpolicy | Nationalism Won’t Solve India’s Job Crisis | India’s national elections are finally over. After six weeks and 600 million ballots, the ending offered a surprising twist, an absolutely crushing victory in the lower house of parliament for the governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its standard-bearer, Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The lingering question now is what India’s charismatic and controversial leader will make of his stunning mandate. In 2014, as a fresh face on the New Delhi scene, Modi campaigned heavily on hope and promises of achhe din (coming good times). A mixed record on economic reform and development, however, led the BJP to turn, this time around, to unapologetic Hindu nationalism and national security. But nationalist fever can only carry India so far in the teeth of an increasingly stretched economy—especially when it comes to providing the jobs that Indians desperately require. Modi needs to create jobs at a rate of a year—the number of Indians joining the workforce annually. Half the country’s population is under 27 . Young Indians face an especially daunting array of obstacles: steadily rising unemployment, a decline in rural jobs, and worsening inequality. Urban men between the ages of 20 and 24 make up 13.5 percent of the working-age population but an astounding 60 percent of the unemployed. With nationalist sentiments and neighborhood antagonisms growing, Modi declaring himself a chowkidar (security guard) resonated with many voters. But, at the same time, they can identify with the altogether different virtues highlighted by the same man, who in 2014 proudly proclaimed himself the humble, lower-caste son of a chaiwallah (tea salesman) and made vikas (development) a centerpiece of his campaign. That’s a vision that can also appeal to almost all Indians. An inclusive development agenda might help heal the wounds of a bruising campaign. Slow growth and job creation, on the other hand, will sharpen divisions. In Modi’s first term in office, his government pursued a number of smart economic reforms. The National Democratic Alliance (NDA)—a coalition of the BJP and other right-leaning parties—deserves credit for beginning to root out corruption, demanding better governance, improving government services delivery, and strengthening business conditions. The latter, together with steps to relax foreign investment requirements, such as in construction, coal, and rail, has made a real difference. But too often, the incremental and tentative nature of reforms belied the prime minister’s brand as a bold and decisive leader. And some sweeping measures in his first term went badly wrong. Demonetization in 2016 is widely seen as a disaster. Establishing a single indirect tax out of a byzantine system of duties levied at state borders was an , and in need of further simplification. And despite massive urbanization, a startling number of Indian jobs are still tied to small-plot agriculture, and too few are in the dynamic services sectors. Most significantly, Modi’s signature policy initiative, Make in India, is not on track to deliver the originally promised 100 million new manufacturing jobs by 2022 . Not coincidentally, household consumption appears to be declining, investment is drying up, and exports have long been flat. Mainstream voices, including Modi’s own chief economic advisor, generally agree India needs structural changes, not just tinkering with foreign direct investment rules. The government’s think tank has recently laid out a detailed blueprint for such economic reforms. Yet as the pace of change ground to a halt over the last year and a half and the country geared up for elections, a number of world-class minds ended their government service. In their place, similarly experienced and independent voices need to lead the new agenda. Implementing such measures demands political boldness. It’s hard to imagine any Indian leader enjoying a stronger hand than Modi right now. Opposition from India’s powerful states, which regulate a wide variety of commercial activities, has often stymied reform. But not only has the BJP comfortably extended its majority in the Lok Sabha, but the party is also in 16 of 29 states, up from seven when it rose to power in 2014. Arguably the greatest constraint on India’s manufacturing economy has been complex rules that restrict the transfer of land, make it difficult to hire and transition workers, and create disincentives for businesses to grow to over 100 employees . Reworking them will be politically difficult and introduce short-term pain, but there may never be a better time to set in motion . Labor-intensive manufacturing, construction, and services are inhibited by laws that effectively bar the door on new entrants and those leaving agriculture. Alongside additional public and private investments in health, education, and skills development (including job-producing vocational and apprenticeship programs), labor reforms offer tremendous, untapped employment generation potential for India. The so-called license raj of red tape and gratuitous officialdom has continued to recede under Modi, but rumors of its demise are exaggerated. After early attempts at auctioning off Air India produced no suitors, the behemoth airline remains in the red and under state control. India’s banking crisis has partially subsided, but nonperforming loans in the sclerotic, primarily state-run banking system remain a drag on private investment. If managed by an honest and transparent government, the revenues from the sale of state-owned enterprises can help underwrite the and strategic investments in education (including job-creating vocational and apprenticeship programs), infrastructure, and urban housing. The economic multiplier effects would be felt by all Indians. Trade liberalization has become the third rail of Indian politics—arguably even more so than labor laws. Zealously guarding local industries and import substitution industrialization really never went out of fashion. In the final year of Modi’s administration, the NDA moved backward on trade to pacify elements of its base. India’s subdued export performance is thus unsurprising. Often sheltered from global competition by tariffs and non-trade barriers like local content requirements, and insulated at home by cumbersome workforce rules, India has a worker productivity problem. That blunts its advantages such as lower wages. Outside of capital-intensive sectors such as automobiles, India has generally not benefited much from export-led manufacturing. To become a global manufacturing hub, India’s leaders must overcome significant political challenges. India’s upper house of parliament blocked the NDA’s initial attempt at land reform. But the BJP has been steadily accumulating seats and may enjoy a majority in the Rajya Sabha by 2020. Modi will also need to manage influential swadeshi (self-reliance) elements within his base who often see the next British East India Company lurking around every corner in any international project. Finally, the opposition Indian National Congress party will probably pick itself up off the mat and may be tempted to lean on agrarian populism (which the BJP recently indulged in as well), if past serves as prologue. Should Modi be derailed by politics as usual, his own doubts about a reduced role for government, or his centralizing tendencies, the risks of economic failure could be dire. India’s ambitious young dreamers are passionate about progress and desperately want to feel empowered. A pervasive lack of opportunity could lead some of them toward an exclusionary religious nationalism and the scapegoating of minorities in India. The democracy’s own history shows what has transpired when mob rule broke out in 1984, 1992 to 1993, and 2002. How Modi interprets his mandate will be critical. India’s most gifted politician in a generation is often said to have his finger on the public pulse. Behind the loose talk of dropping bombs and the nationalist bombast, it remains entirely plausible that Indians decided that Modi, warts and all, offers the best shot at economic opportunity and a better life. Yet it’s also possible that voters flocked to the promise of security—and will overlook again Modi’s economic shortcomings, if he projects the kind of strength they want while marginalizing the groups they dislike. Based on these elections, don’t count on a cowed opposition to stand up against Hindu majoritarianism. Which version of Modi will now govern: the chaiwallah or the chowkidar? A brave, new India’s future hinges on his answer. | Atman Trivedi | https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/05/29/nationalism-wont-solve-indias-job-crisis/ | 2019-05-29 17:20:01+00:00 | 1,559,164,801 | 1,567,539,902 | labour | labour market |
925,027 | thesun--2019-01-10--Robots will steal HALF of all jobs in the world within 15 years creating unemployment crisis for mil | 2019-01-10T00:00:00 | thesun | Robots will steal HALF of all jobs in the world within 15 years creating unemployment crisis for millions, AI expert warns | ROBOTS will steal half of all current jobs in the world within 15 years, a leading artificial intelligence expert warns. Workers in many fields face a crisis "akin to that faced by farmers during the industrial revolution", says former Google and Microsoft exec Kai-Fu Lee. Truckers, salesmen, office clerks, warehouse staff, fast food workers and couriers all risk becoming redundant in the AI age. Only those jobs focused on person-to-person contact such as nurses and teachers will be safe as computers can't match human empathy, he says. Lee, bestselling author of AI Superpowers: China, Silicon Valley, And The New World Order, says it's important to "warn people there is displacement coming, and to tell them how they can start retraining." He told DailyMail.com in the US: "People aren't really fully aware of the effect AI will have on their jobs." Most at risk are telemarketers and telesales people, he said, pointing by example to Google's controversial AI bot that can fool humans. He said: "You've probably already received robo-calls, but future calls will be more natural. "AI can use customer profiles, past purchases, and emotional recognition to find ways to appeal to them - even using a soothing female voice or a persuasive male voice." The same goes for customer support staff and call centre operators, he says. Education will have to change radically to encourage a new way of thinking, making people "more individualistic, and more empathetic". Lee said: "Human to human interaction is safe, providing comfort and satisfaction is safe." The expert, a former chairman of Google China, says AI cannot be creative or conceptual, do complex strategic planning, or perform tasks that require precise hand-eye coordination. So authors, artists, strategic managers and doctors will still find work, along with marriage counsellors and social workers. We will also need plenty of AI researchers and computer scientists to teach the new army of robots what to do. Other experts have previously warned of an AI apocalpyse as robots take over the world and treat humans as guinea pigs. Leading military powers are also developing robot soldiers that could eventually go into battle - making autonomous decisions on who to kill. The US and Russia recently blocked a UN move to ban such AI weapons. We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? Email us at [email protected] or call 0207 782 4368 . You can WhatsApp us on 07810 791 502. We pay for videos too. Click here to upload yours. | fallen | https://www.thesun.co.uk/tech/8164784/robots-steal-half-all-jobs-world-15-years-expert/ | 2019-01-10 15:44:21+00:00 | 1,547,153,061 | 1,567,553,110 | labour | labour market |
73,621 | breitbart--2019-09-26--Sen David Perdue OKs Silicon Valley Takeover of College Graduate Job Market | 2019-09-26T00:00:00 | breitbart | Sen. David Perdue OKs Silicon Valley Takeover of College Graduate Job Market | Perdue’s decision to end his opposition to the bill clears the way for Lee to rush his bill through the Senate on Thursday. If no other senators object, Lee’s bill will move through the Senate, putting it much closer to becoming law. The bill allows investors and their companies to reward many more Indian graduates who agree to take the college graduate jobs needed by young American graduates. The reward is the grant of 120,000 invaluable green cards — up from roughly 20,000 today — to the Indian outsourcing workers and their families. That’s a huge boost for the investors in the U.S.-India Outsourcing Economy, who now import Indian graduates to spike stock prices by chopping white-collar payroll costs. So Perdue’s retreat is also a huge economic hit to the roughly 800,000 Americans who are graduating in 2019 with degrees in health care, science, engineering, accounting, business, software, math, or architecture. The bill could also disrupt the immigration system for many other foreign migrants, including younger “dreamer” illegals and university scientists, as well as the next wave of foreign students, scientists, and professionals who are seeking to move into the United States. The House has already passed its version of the bill, H.R. 1044. Perdue’s retreat was reported by Immigration Voice, a lobbying group of foreign workers who were imported by investors to take the middle-class jobs sought by U.S. graduates. The McClatchy News Service reported Perdue’s switch: The Indian visa workers are now urging their members to call Sen. Dick Durbin’s (D-IL) office out of fear he might block Lee’s giveaway: Durbin’s potential opposition was spotlighted by a September 7 report in the Wall Street Journal: Perdue’s office did not respond to Breitbart News. On September 19, Perdue explained his hold on Lee’s bill: I want to comment my good friend from the great state of Utah, SM Lee, for his work on putting this bill together and pulling the people together to support this bill. I support this bill. Madam President. We have some language that needs to be clarified, and I still have some concerns about the impact this legislation would have on some specific industries, you know in my state but in the country. I want to work with Senator only in addressing these concerns and come to a resolution on this very quickly. I commit to working with him and his team to make sure that we get to a resolution because we want the exact same thing. And this is totally consistent with President [Donald] Trump is trying to do in as long term work to fix our broken immigration system in with that. Activists say no GOP senators are ready to step forward to protect American graduates from the huge inflow of underpaid Indian graduates. Even populist senators such as Sens. Josh Hawley (R-MO) and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) have avoided criticizing the investors’ stealthy no-hearing, no-debates rush to pass the bill. Their passive stance comes amid a huge but stealthy push led by the technology companies and investors, such as Jeff Bezos, owner of Amazon and the Washington Post. The backers include Mark Zuckerberg, who met with Lee on September 19, on the same day that Perdue blocked his bill. Business groups have told senators that the bill is a minor change to immigration law and is intended to rectify what they describe as anti-Indian “country caps” discrimination. Those business groups already employ roughly 1.5 million foreign white-collar workers in the United States, including at least 800,000 Indians graduates. Opponents and supporters of the green card giveaway are using Facebook and Twitter to urge their supporters to call senators to block or support the bill. Only one GOP senator is needed to stop Lee’s bill, which is expected to be brought to the Senate floor on Thursday for a no-debate, no-media, fast-track “Unanimous Consent” approval process. Few Democrats — if any — oppose Lee’s S.386 bill, which is strongly backed by the pro-Democrat Silicon Valley investors. Nearly all Democrats voted for the House version of the bill. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials have said they oppose the Indian outsourcing bill — but White House officials have not said if the bill will be opposed by President Donald Trump — even though Trump needs to boost his sagging support among white-collar suburban voters. White-collar Americans have formed a series of groups to defend their careers against the investors’ visa workers. They include the American Workers Coalition, ProUSworkers, and Doctorswithoutjobs.com. These groups say that the expanded number of green cards will flood the labor markets for engineers and software experts. The bill will also allow U.S. investors to annually recruit hundreds of thousands of Indian graduates to compete for American college jobs and green cards. The Indians can get work permits via the uncapped Optional Practical Training (OPT), B1, L-1, H4EAD, and H-1B visa worker programs. U.S. workers also say they are routinely discriminated against and excluded by the U.S.-based Indian managers and Indian recruiters who run the U.S.-India Outsourcing Economy. Lou Dobbs, on Fox News, has repeatedly denounced the giveaway: Populist groups — such as Americans for Legal Immigration PAC — also oppose the Silicon Valley takeover. Additionally, would-be immigrants are opposing the Lee bill because it will push the investors’ current army of at least 300,000 Indian tech workers — plus more to come — up to the head of the line for 120,000 green cards each year. For example, the Multinational Coalition includes many Chinese graduate students who will have to work as low-wage student lab technicians for many years in their late 20s if they hope to get green cards. These pro-migration opponents of Lee’s bill also include Support All of Us and many other pro-migration groups who are keeping their opposition quiet. This shift towards Indian outsourcing will also cut off the flow of employer-sponsored migrants into Florida’s Spanish-speaking economy, say immigration lawyers in Florida. But Perdue’s shift is being cheered by the India visa workers who take the graduate jobs needed by Americans. For example, “Ramesh S,” who is working in North Carolina, applauded Perdue’s switch: Most of the Indian workers are being imported to run the U.S. side of the U.S.-India Outsourcing Economy, which is used by investors to transfer Americans’ salaries into their Wall Street stock values. For example, Walmart is boosting its stock value by outsourcing 569 finance and accounting jobs in North Carolina to cheaper H-1B workers from India. If the company saves $10,000 per employee, Walmart will save $5.7 million per year. On Wall Street, Walmart’s price to earnings rate is 25 to one, so the $5.7 million in payroll savings will boost its stockholders’ value by $142 million. Walmart picked an American company, Genpact, to supply the Indian workers. The company is a spin-off of General Electric, and it prospers by providing Indian H-1B workers to many companies in the United States. For example, the company asked for 271 H-1Bs in 2018, 410 H-1Bs in 2017, and 307 H-1Bs in 2016. Genpact’s H-1Bs work on the U.S. side of the vast and growing U.S.-India Outsourcing Economy, now worth roughly $78 billion per year. Part of the H-1Bs’ job is to funnel additional work back into India. For example, Genpact may only need to use 100 H-1Bs in North Carolina to help steer the work of the 569 fired American finance experts back to large teams of low-wage Indian graduates in India. Genpact’s $3.3 billion in revenue is enough to generate $7.5 billion in stock value for its investors, which include Bain Capital, Blackrock, and Charles Schwab Investment Management. Employers reward the low-wage Indian workers by giving them green cards, which allow them to become U.S. citizens — and to then import their immediate and extended families from India to the United States. The investors are mostly based on the coasts, so their wealth is helping to spike income and real estate values in New York and California — while the reduced investment and payroll in heartland states reduce their business income, real estate values, skilled workforces, and political power. The cheap-labor economic strategy also pushes Americans away from high-tech careers, and it sidelines millions of marginalized Americans, including many who are now struggling with drug addictions. The labor policy also moves business investment and wealth from the Heartland to the coastal cities, explodes rents and housing costs, undermines suburbia, shrivels real estate values in the Midwest, and rewards investors for creating low-tech, labor-intensive workplaces. But Trump’s “Hire American” policy is boosting wages by capping immigration within a growing economy. The Census Bureau said September 10 that men who work full-time and year-round got an average earnings increase of 3.4 percent in 2018, pushing their median salaries up to $55,291. Women gained 3.3 percent in wages, bringing their median salaries to $45,097 for full-time, year-round work. | Neil Munro | http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/breitbart/~3/SbqKkF1Niv8/ | 2019-09-26 00:00:34+00:00 | 1,569,470,434 | 1,570,222,132 | labour | labour market |
78,749 | businessinsider--2019-09-10--Signs of a slowing job market are piling up left and right | 2019-09-10T00:00:00 | businessinsider | Signs of a slowing job market are piling up left and right | Signs of moderation have piled up in the labor market in recent weeks, stirring concerns about one of the brightest spots in an economy expected to slow. The Labor Department on Tuesday said the number of job openings fell by 31,000 in July to a seasonally adjusted 7.2 million, the latest sign of weakening labor demand. The results showed openings remained plentiful, but they came just days after the department reported weaker-than-expected figures for August employment. "Last week's jobs report sparked a debate over whether the slowdown in hiring is due to an economy hitting full employment, but today's JOLTS report indicates that this is actually a labor market that is losing momentum," said Nick Bunker, an economist at Indeed Hiring Lab. The US added 130,000 nonfarm payrolls in August, a slowdown from a month earlier and compared with forecasts for a print of 160,000. Economists said the real increase was closer to 105,000 last month, however, without taking into account a wave of temporary workers hired for the 2020 census. Earlier Tuesday, the National Federation of Independent Business said small firms reported fewer open positions that they could not fill in August as outlooks for the economy dimmed. "The good news — relatively — is that capex plans rose a point, though the trend remains weak and continues to signal a clear downshift in business investment through the end of this year and into early 2020," said Ian Shepherdson, the chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics. Trade tensions between the Trump administration and other major economies have escalated in recent months. US businesses have warned over the past year that the effects of tariffs would ripple into the labor market, as they raise costs and uncertainty. Read more: A majority of Americans think a recession will strike in the next year — and they're blaming Trump's trade war | Gina Heeb | https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/trump-jobs-labor-market-slowing-down-data-suggest-2019-9-1028514498 | 2019-09-10 20:46:06+00:00 | 1,568,162,766 | 1,569,330,619 | labour | labour market |
277,496 | jerusalempost--2019-11-21--Pope Francis meeting Thai king, Buddhist patriarch in visit | 2019-11-21T00:00:00 | jerusalempost | Pope Francis meeting Thai king, Buddhist patriarch in visit | By subscribing I accept the terms of use | By REUTERS | https://www.jpost.com/Breaking-News/Pope-Francis-meeting-Thai-king-Buddhist-patriarch-in-visit-608535 | Thu, 21 Nov 2019 03:36:07 GMT | 1,574,325,367 | 1,574,341,004 | religion and belief | interreligious dialogue |
571,628 | tass--2019-10-02--Lavrov calls for continuing dialogue between Russian patriarch and pope | 2019-10-02T00:00:00 | tass | Lavrov calls for continuing dialogue between Russian patriarch and pope | SOCHI, October 2. /TASS/. The continuation of the dialogue between Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia and Pope Francis would help secure religion against political games, particularly in conflict regions, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told the 16th annual session of the Valdai International Discussion Club on Wednesday. "The dialogue that was initiated by His Holiness Patriarch [Kirill] and Pope [Francis] could be continued in order to secure religion against political games, especially the games in the regions where conflicts are raging and crises have erupted," he pointed out. Lavrov pointed to the need to use other mechanisms to protect religious groups. "The UN has an inter-civilization dialogue. That’s a very interesting forum, which has not been used very often so far. There is UNESCO’s interreligious dialogue. On our initiative, that work began there, it can likewise be used more intensively," he went on to say. "I hope that, together with the Russian Orthodox Church and other confessions and in cooperation with the relevant foreign partners, we will be able to shield religious feelings from any politicization in a more active manner," Russia’s top diplomat added. The first ever meeting between the head of the Roman Catholic Church and the primate of the Russian Orthodox Church took place in Cuba on February 12, 2016. Negotiations between Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill were held at Havana airport. The clerics signed a joint declaration on global policy issues, relations between the churches and values in today's society following the meeting. | null | https://tass.com/politics/1081031 | 2019-10-02 13:31:50+00:00 | 1,570,037,510 | 1,570,221,764 | religion and belief | interreligious dialogue |
443,677 | rawstory--2019-11-21--Pope Francis begins Asia tour with visit to Buddhist temple | 2019-11-21T00:00:00 | rawstory | Pope Francis begins Asia tour with visit to Buddhist temple | Pope Francis will visit one of Thailand’s famed gilded temples Thursday to meet the supreme Buddhist patriarch, on the first full day of his Asian tour aimed at promoting religious harmony. The 82-year-old pontiff is on his first visit to Buddhist majority Thailand, where he will spend four days before setting off to Japan. His packed schedule a day after touching down in Bangkok includes a meeting with the king and the prime minister before leading an evening mass expected to draw tens of thousands of people from across Thailand, where just over 0.5 percent of the population is Catholic. He also has an appointment with the Buddhist Supreme Patriarch at the glittering gold Ratchabophit temple in Thailand’s historic old quarter, built 150 years ago by Thailand’s former king mixing traditional and gothic styles. It is a highly symbolic visit for the head of the world’s 1.3 billion Catholics, who carries a message of peace, religious tolerance and nuclear disarmament on his sweep through Asia. “Pope Francis always respects other religions, always treats his counterparts with respect… that’s why he would like to pay respect to the leader” of the Buddhist faith in Thailand, said Chainarong Monthienvichienchai, who helped with some of the visit planning. Before arriving, Francis praised the Southeast Asian country as a “multi-ethnic nation”, and hoped his trip would strengthen the Catholic community’s bonds of friendship with “many Buddhist brothers and sisters”. Earlier Thursday the Pope was met by Thailand’s Prime Minister Prayut Cha-O-Cha at government house for a red carpet welcome with dozens of top officials. He was accompanied by his cousin Sister Ana Rosa, who has lived in Thailand for decades and will be accompanying the pontiff as a translator. In a speech to civil society, officials and diplomats, he said the visit with the patriarch was “a sign of the importance and urgency of promoting friendship and interreligious dialogue”. The Pope’s trip to Thailand is the first papal trip to the country since pope John Paul II visited in 1984. It coincides with the 350th anniversary of the first Catholic missionaries who established the “Mission de Siam” in the late 17th century. Pope Francis arrived Wednesday in the Thai capital where he was greeted by cheering worshippers who lined the streets hoping for a glimpse of the Catholic leader in his motorcade. He heads to Japan on Saturday, where he will visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki, two cities devastated when the US dropped atomic bombs at the end of World War II in 1945. The pope, who years ago had hoped to be a missionary in Japan, has made strong calls for the ban of the “immoral” use of nuclear weapons. Since Francis’ election six years ago, he has made two trips to Asia, visiting the Philippines and Sri Lanka in 2014, followed by Myanmar and Bangladesh in 2017. | Agence France-Presse | https://www.rawstory.com/2019/11/pope-francis-begins-asia-tour-with-visit-to-buddhist-temple/ | Thu, 21 Nov 2019 04:58:46 +0000 | 1,574,330,326 | 1,574,338,624 | religion and belief | interreligious dialogue |
599,166 | thedailycaller--2019-02-10--Pope Francis To Visit Moroccan Imam Training Institute To Promote Moderate Islam | 2019-02-10T00:00:00 | thedailycaller | Pope Francis To Visit Moroccan Imam Training Institute To Promote Moderate Islam | Pope Francis will visit a Moroccan training center for imams at the end of March to promote moderate Islam and efforts to combat Islamic extremism. The pontiff will visit Morocco from March 30 to 31 in the wake of his visit to the United Arab Emirates where he signed a declaration of fraternity with Sheikh Ahmed el-Tayeb, the grand imam of Egypt’s Al-Azhar, calling for peace and dialogue between Muslims and Christians. Francis’ visit to Morocco will be a continuation of his campaign to promote moderate Islam and an end to violence in the name of religion, according to Crux Now. (RELATED: Francis Conducts First Ever Papal Mass On Arabian Peninsula In UAE) While the imam training center, named for King Mohammed VI, is one of the tools that the Moroccan government began employing to reduce rates of radicalization in 2004, Moroccans still feature prominently among the ranks of Islamic terrorist organizations like ISIS. The school teaches approximately 700 students a year from Europe, North Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa. Francis will also meet with the king of Morocco during his visit and conduct a Mass for Catholic faithful in Morocco. The country allows for both citizens and visitors to practice whatever faith they adhere to, but strictly forbids “enticing a Muslim to convert to another religion,” according to the U.S. State Department. Morocco’s laws state explicitly that it is a Muslim country. The country is predominantly Sunni, Christians and Shia Muslims often choose to attend religious services held in someone’s home rather than at one of the state sanctioned churches or mosques, for fear that state authorities will harass them at the state sanctioned sights or accuse them of violating Morocco’s religious laws. Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact [email protected]. | Joshua Gill | https://dailycaller.com/2019/02/10/pope-francis-visit-moroccan-moderate-imam/ | 2019-02-10 20:50:04+00:00 | 1,549,849,804 | 1,567,549,050 | religion and belief | interreligious dialogue |
571,518 | tass--2019-09-29--Putin praises Russian Jewish organizations role in maintaining interreligious dialogue | 2019-09-29T00:00:00 | tass | Putin praises Russian Jewish organizations’ role in maintaining interreligious dialogue | MOSCOW, September 29. /TASS/. President Vladimir Putin congratulated Russian Jews on Rosh Hashanah holiday, which symbolizes the beginning of the year in the Jewish calendar, praising the role of Jewish organizations in maintaining interethnic and interreligious dialogue in Russia. "It is important that Jewish organizations in Russia have great respect for precious spiritual, historical and cultural heritage of their ancestors and acquaint young people to paternal traditions and customs. Their active participation in public life, in implementing important social and charity initiatives, in maintaining constructive interethnic and interreligious dialogue in our country deserves the most sincere recognition," the president said in a telegram published on the Kremlin website. Putin also noted that Rosh Hashanah symbolizes people’s strive towards spiritual purification and self-improvement. Rosh Hashanah is one of the most important Jewish holidays. It is celebrated during the first two days of Tishrei, which is the seventh month of the ecclesiastical year (in late September-early October). It is believed that the God created the world and the first man, Adam, during this month. | null | https://tass.com/society/1080397 | 2019-09-29 08:26:21+00:00 | 1,569,759,981 | 1,570,221,950 | religion and belief | interreligious dialogue |
9,254 | aljazeera--2019-02-03--Pope Francis seeks dialogue on first trip to UAE | 2019-02-03T00:00:00 | aljazeera | Pope Francis seeks dialogue on first trip to UAE | Pope Francis started a three-day visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the first for a leader of the Roman Catholic Church in the Arabian Peninsula. Francis was greeted by Abu Dhabi's powerful crown prince, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, on his arrival late on Sunday. The pontiff will attend the Global Conference on Human Fraternity at the behest of the UAE's leadership, which has proclaimed 2019 the "Year of Tolerance", a move scorned by human rights activists. Along with Saudi Arabia, the UAE is heavily involved in the war in Yemen - dubbed the world's worst humanitarian crisis - and has a problematic human rights record. The UAE has also imposed an air, land, and sea blockade on Qatar, which has severely affected relations among Gulf countries over the past two years. Whether Pope Francis will address these issues is not clear, but expectations run high that the pope may do so in private talks with the UAE's leadership. The international gathering of religious scholars is aimed at promoting tolerance and peace between the two faiths, said the Muslim Council of Elders organising the event. Pope Francis is also expected to meet with the Grand Imam Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayyib, Head of Al Azhar, one of the highest religious authorities in the Muslim world. On Tuesday, the pope will deliver a mass to about 135,000 worshippers who were able to get a free ticket to attend the celebration at the Zayed Sports City Stadium in Abu Dhabi. "I thank the friend and dear brother the Grand Imam Sheikh al-Tayyib and those who have organised this meeting for the will and courage to affirm that faith in God unites and does not divide us," said Pope Francis in a video message to the Emirati people. "I thank God for this opportunity to write, in your land, a new page in the history of the interreligious dialogue, to confirm that we are brothers despite being different," the pope added. Dialogue with Islam is one of the main features of Francis' pontificate, following in the path of some of his predecessors. Pope Paul VI made the first pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 1964, and Pope Jean Paul II was the first pope to set foot in a mosque in 2001. In his six years as pontiff, Francis has conducted 25 trips abroad, out of which 13 were to Muslim countries. From Turkey to Palestine, Egypt to Jordan, Bangladesh to the Central African Republic, the pope has prayed in local mosques with their imams, invoking tolerance and peace between worshippers of the two faiths. "This is a historic visit. The first time for a pope in Arabia is a milestone in the history of relations between Islam and Christianity," said Orazio La Rocca, a Vatican expert and author, who has covered the Holy See for over 30 years. The message the pope carries to Abu Dhabi is summed up in his video message, he said. "In Francis' greeting to Sheikh al-Tayyib lies the essence of his manifesto: Christians and Muslims are brothers in their faith, and faith never divides. This has been the leitmotiv of his pontificate since its inception in March 2013," said La Rocca. The 83-year-old pontiff, born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, an Argentinian of Italian descent, is considered by many to be a progressive, whose forgiving remarks towards unmarried and divorced couples and homosexuals have infuriated the most conservative branches of the Catholic Church. In his speeches on global poverty and social injustice, migrations and climate change the pope has tackled some of the most pressing issues of our time. While his supporters say the pope is just bringing to life the message of the New Testament, his critics have gone to the extent of accusing him of blasphemy. The dialogue with Islam is a bone of contention with his detractors, who have attacked his staunch rejection of any association between religion and terrorism. "The ultraconservative factions, especially across the Atlantic, are sponsored by lobbies within the Church who abhor not only dialogue with Islam but even with other Christian confessions," said La Rocca. According to Father Bernardo Cervellera, director of Asia News, Gulf countries like the UAE, Qatar and Oman where Christians from around the world have come to live and work, show that coexistence between Islam and Christianity in a modern Muslim society is possible. "The UAE and other Gulf countries set a positive model that can be an example also to neighbouring countries like Saudi Arabia, for instance, where to this day Christians are not allowed to practise their faith," said Cervellera. Asked whether Muslims and Christians can have a fruitful dialogue nowadays and counter extreme thinking on both sides, Sheikh Ali al-Qaradaghi, secretary-general of the International Union of Muslim Scholars told Al Jazeera that dialogue is a necessity. "The visit of Pope Francis is a positive thing if it leads to a constructive exchange between the two faiths and some tangible outcomes," said al-Qaradaghi. "Our region is marked by deep internal divisions and conflicts from Syria to Yemen, and I hope the visit of the pope may lead to some positive result also in this regard." 2019 has been dubbed the Year of Tolerance, to mark the legacy of the late president and founding father of the UAE, Sheikh Zayed Al Nahyan. But today, the country is involved in one of the worst conflicts of our time in neighbouring Yemen, where 18 million people are on the brink of famine. At least one million Christian live in the UAE today where, for over three decades, the late Bishop Bernardo Gremoli has led to the inauguration of some 13 churches across the country, in addition to churches in Qatar, Oman and Bahrain. Christians in Gulf countries amount to approximately 4 million, but they are mainly economic migrants of different nationalities who stay in the region for a limited amount of time due to tight restrictions on residency. In the rest of the region, the numbers of communities of indigenous Christians, whose presence dates back centuries, are in decline. The visit of Francis to the Gulf comes at a time of upheaval for Christian communities in the Middle East. As a result of the protracted wars and ongoing instability, about 50 percent of all Christians have fled the region over the last five decades, with an acceleration over the past few years following persecutions by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS). According to statistics published by the Catholic Near East Welfare Association, Christians in 2017 in Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Palestine, Israel, Egypt and Jordan totalled 14.5 million out of a population of 258 million. A million Christian Chaldeans have fled Iraq and out of half a million Armenian Catholics, only 50,000 still remain in the Near East. Syrian Orthodox and Catholics have also thinned along with other minority communities such as Yazidis and Shia. | null | https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/pope-francis-seeks-dialogue-trip-uae-190203060859000.html | 2019-02-03 18:59:26+00:00 | 1,549,238,366 | 1,567,549,780 | religion and belief | interreligious dialogue |
215,004 | france24--2019-03-30--Pope Francis visits Morocco to boost dialogue | 2019-03-30T00:00:00 | france24 | Pope Francis visits Morocco to boost dialogue | Andreas Solaro, AFP | Pope Francis celebrates a penitential liturgy mass on the third Friday of Lent, March 29, 2019 at St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican. Pope Francis arrives in Morocco on Saturday for a visit which will see him meet Muslim leaders and migrants ahead of a mass with the country’s minority Catholic community. The spiritual leader of the world’s 1.3 billion Catholics was invited by King Mohammed VI as part of the “development of interreligious dialogue”, according to Moroccan authorities. Improving relations with other religions has been a priority for the Argentine pontiff, whose papacy has been marred by a wave of child sex abuse allegations against clergy. The Moroccan capital Rabat has stepped up security ahead of his arrival. Buildings have been repainted, streets decorated and lawns manicured ahead of the first papal visit to Morocco since John Paul II in 1985. Francis is due to be welcomed at the airport by the king and presented with dates and almond milk. Then the pontiff will step into his Popemobile and the monarch into a limousine. They will drive to a welcome ceremony at a mosque and a mausoleum, attended by 25,000 and beamed onto giant screens, before the king hosts Francis at the royal palace. The monarch is known as the “commander of the faithful” in Morocco, where 99 percent of the population is Muslim. Francis will also visit an institute where around 1,300 students are studying to become imams and preachers, teaching “moderate Islam” and backed by the king. “It’s a very significant event, the first time that a pope is welcomed to an institute for the training of imams,” said Vatican spokesman Alessandro Gisotti. During the visit, Francis is due to hear from two students - one African and one European - as well as a statement by Morocco’s Ministry of Islamic Affairs. A concert drawing inspiration from Islam, Christianity and Judaism is also on the agenda. Last month Francis visited the United Arab Emirates, where he met with Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb, the imam of Cairo’s Al-Azhar, Sunni Islam’s prestigious seat of learning. The two signed a document on “human fraternity for world peace”, which among other things called for “freedom of belief” and “full citizenship” rights for minorities. Francis will not hesitate to refer to the text, which from now on he will give to all heads of state, Gisotti said. In Morocco, where Islam is the state religion, authorities are keen to stress the country’s “religious tolerance” which allows Christians and Jews to worship freely. But Moroccans are automatically considered Muslim if they are not born into the Jewish community, apostasy is socially frowned upon, and proselytising is criminalised. Those who try to “rock the faith of a Muslim or to convert him to another religion” risk a prison term of up to three years. After years in the shadows, since 2017 the small number of converts have called openly for the right to live “without persecution” and “without discrimination”. Around 30,000 to 35,000 Catholics live in Morocco, many of them from sub-Saharan Africa. The pope is due to finish his Saturday schedule by meeting migrants at a centre run by Catholic humanitarian organisation Caritas. The charity runs day centres for migrants who are trying to reach Europe across the Mediterranean, as well as supporting their access to services. The number of people taking the sea route from Morocco to Spain has increased recently due to the closure of the border with Libya. In 2017, Caritas centres in Rabat, Casablanca and Tangier welcomed 7,551 new arrivals, according to the charity. Rabat claims to have a “humanistic” approach to migration and rejects allegations by rights groups of “brutal arrest campaigns” and “forced displacement” to the country’s southern border. Francis has throughout his papacy highlighted the plight of migrants and refugees, calling on Catholics as well as politicians to show solidarity with those in need. On Sunday, the pope will celebrate mass at a Rabat stadium with an estimated 10,000 people attending. | NEWS WIRES | https://www.france24.com/en/20190330-pope-francis-visits-morocco-boost-dialogue | 2019-03-30 06:13:46+00:00 | 1,553,940,826 | 1,567,544,710 | religion and belief | interreligious dialogue |
290,413 | lifesitenews--2019-11-27--Pope praises document about God willing diversity of religions in ‘interreligious dialogue’ speech | 2019-11-27T00:00:00 | lifesitenews | Pope praises document about God willing diversity of religions in ‘interreligious dialogue’ speech | November 26, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) – Pope Francis has once again promoted the Abu Dhabi document “Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together” at a meeting organized in Rome by an Argentinian group under the auspices of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue.” Part of the document, which was signed in February by the Pope and a Grand Imam, states that a “pluralism and diversity” of religions is “willed by God.” On November 18, the Pope addressed the participants of the meeting during a private audience in the Vatican, in the presence of the Argentinian ambassador to the Holy See, Rogelio Pfirter, its promoter, in collaboration with the “Instituto de Diálogo Interreligioso” (Institute of Interreligious Dialogue, IDI) of Buenos Aires of which he was himself the initiator in 2002, as Cardinal-Archbishop Jorge Bergoglio. During a meeting on November 15, attended by Cardinal Miguel Ayuso and Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Father Guillermo Marcó of IDI made a “historic announcement” saying that in Argentina a council is being formed between the bishops’ conference, the Jewish center AMIA, the Islamic Center of the Argentinian Republic, the Argentinian Federation of Evangelical Churches, and the Institute of Interreligious Dialogue. Pope Francis especially congratulated the group for having focused on the Abu Dhabi document during its discussions, without expressing any reservations regarding its erroneous claim that “the pluralism and the diversity of religions, color, sex, race and language are willed by God in His wisdom.” Instead, he declared himself “pleased to note that this document, which is universal in nature, is also being disseminated in the Americas.” “I am convinced that the particularity and sensitivity of different countries and continents can truly contribute to a detailed reading of this document and to a greater and more effective understanding of the message it conveys,” he said. Among those present were Rabbi Daniel Goldman, Sheikh Omar Abboud and Father Guillermo Marcó, a Catholic priest, as well as the current Argentinian secretary for religious affairs and the president of the Islamic center of Buenos Aires. Pope Francis was therefore addressing representatives of Judaism, Protestantism, and Islam when he proclaimed: “Our religious traditions are a necessary source of inspiration to foster a culture of encounter. It is fundamental for there to be interreligious cooperation, based on the promotion of sincere and respectful dialogue that goes towards unity without confusion, maintaining identities.” While some forms of “interreligious dialogue” focus on temporal issues, with the aim of avoiding hostility or bloodshed among believers or promoting natural law together, Pope Francis calls for “unity that transcends the mere political pact.” He quoted a “very wise man, a very wise European politician” whom he said spoke to him about the Abu Dhabi declaration last February in these terms: “Let us think of the end of the Second World War, let us think of Yalta; in Yalta a balance was struck in order to break the impasse, a balance that was weak but possible. The cake was shared, and a period of peace was maintained, but these documents, this attitude that goes towards dialogue among the transcendent, creates fraternity, surpasses pacts, surpasses the political; it is political in that it is human, but it surpasses this, it transcends this, it makes it nobler.” The Yalta Pact divided the world that had emerged from the Second World War into two zones of influence under the winners of the global conflict: that of America on the one hand and that of Soviet Russia on the other. It left hundreds of millions of people in that country under the heel of communist power. The “peace” that was brokered abandoned large parts of Eastern Europe to Stalin’s “influence” and prepared communism’s total domination in East Germany, Poland, Hungary, Rumania, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, and the Baltic States… The invocation of Yalta as a model, albeit an imperfect one, is surprising if not insulting to the memory of the innumerable victims of communist tyranny after the Second World War. Pope Francis told the group that “the world observes us, believers, to see what our attitude is to the common home and to human rights” – the “common home” is the expression used by environmentalists who accuse humanity of being responsible for “global warming” and ecological catastrophes – and said collaboration among believers and non-believers is necessary to respond effectively to war, hunger, poverty, “the environmental crisis” and that of the family, and so on. “And, above all, the lack of hope.” Pope Francis’ speech showed he believes there is a new element at play since the signature of the Abu Dhabi document: “The intention of the document is to adopt: the culture of dialogue as a way; common collaboration as conduct; mutual knowledge as a method and criterion. From now on, it can be affirmed that religions are not a closed system that cannot be changed, but with their own identity. And this is the key: identity cannot be negotiated, because if you negotiate identity there is no dialogue, there is submission. With their own identity, they are in motion.” The operative words are: “From now on … ” The Pope said in substance that religions must be prepared to adapt to a situation where they maintain their “identity” while accepting to modify their attitudes in favor of world peace and prosperity. His later comments explain what can be understood from these words. “It is important to demonstrate that we believers are a factor of peace for human societies, and that we will thus respond to those who unjustly accuse religions of fomenting hatred and being the cause of violence,” he said. Innumerable documents emanating from the United Nations or from UNESCO do just that: they accuse national traditions and historic religions of being responsible for hate and conflict within humanity. The point of “interreligious dialogue” that rests on the false premise that true and false religions can find a common denominator to which all can subject their particular sets of beliefs, is here to put all religions and spiritualities on a similar plane. What is new – “from now on” – is the formal acknowledgment of the relativistic attitude that says all men can find God through their particular religion while at the same time cooperating with other religions for the really important things: fighting against “global warming,” for instance. The Pope went on to say “dialogue among religions” is “about changing historical attitudes.” “A scene from The Song of Roland comes to me as a symbol, when the Christians defeat the Muslims and put them all in line in front of the baptismal font, and one with a sword. And Muslims had to choose between baptism or the sword. That is what we Christians did. It was a mentality that today we cannot accept, nor understand, nor can it work anymore,” Pope Francis said. The Song of Roland is actually a medieval “chanson de geste” – or epic poem – with its legendary overtones and disregard for historical reality. The scene evoked by Pope Francis never took place: Charlemagne never conquered Zaragoza as the Song of Roland proclaims, nor were Roland and his knights killed by the Moors at Roncesvalles, but by Basque highlanders, as Bernard Antony, president of the French Christian defense league AGRIF recalled on his blog. “But in the Song, what wonderful freshness of soul, poetry, beauty, grandeur, expression of faith, honor and courage, what an exaltation of heroism and of marvelous chivalry! “All this was certainly added to the historical truth of the fierce conquest of Spain by the Muslim, Berber or Arab hordes of Tariq ibn Ziyad and Abdal Aziz ibn Musa; and then by the dynasty of the three Abd al Rahman, and later by the successive bloody dominations of the Almoravids and Almohads. “But no more than he has read or understood or remembers The Song of Roland Song, does Francis weigh, as his greatest predecessors did, what would have happened to Christianity if there had not been the long resistance and Reconquista by the Christians of Spain.” Antony deplored that instead of choosing a true example of Christian culpability, Pope Francis should have “ignorantly and stupidly attacked one of our cultural roots.” The cultural roots of France but also of England, since the first known written version of the epic Song of Roland is the Oxford Manuscript of 1170. Instead, in his concluding remarks to the Interreligious Dialogue group from Buenos Aires, Pope Francis said, “Beware of the fundamentalist groups: everyone has his own. In Argentina, too, there is a little fundamentalist corner. And let us try, with fraternity, to go forward. Fundamentalism is a scourge and all religions have some kind of fundamentalist first cousin there, which forms a group.” Are “fundamentalists” those who believe their own religion to be true, to the exclusion of all others? In the light of the Abu Dhabi document, it would seem so. The Instituto del Diálogo Interreligioso of Buenos Aires, a civil association, was founded by Cardinal Bergoglio in 2002 as the “crystallization of the interreligious experience that started when, as spokesman for the Archdiocese of Buenos Aires, he organized the first ever visit of a bonaerense Archbishop to the Islamic Center of the Argentinian Republic,” of which Omar Abboud was then the Cultural Secretary. A similar exchange took place with the Bet-El community where Goldman has been the chief rabbi for 25 years. Pope Francis has maintained links with the Institute since he was elected to the Chair of Peter. In March 2018, IDI participated in the “Dawn of Interspirituality Conference” in Costa Rica that included representatives of many religions. The event was organized by the Satyana Institute founded in 1996 to promote training programs in “ecopsychology” and “gender reconciliation” as well as “women’s spiritual mastery.” During that event, Father Thomas Keating, a Trappist monk and “pioneer” of interreligious dialogue from Massachusetts (see his obituary here), told the participants: “You are invited to take a step into the unknown, toward a possible future that can only be imagined, when the religions of the world truly meet each other.” IDI proudly speaks of its presence at that meeting, which was also attended by Fr, Marcó, one of its co-founders. It gave a conference in Moscow on November 11 at the State Pedagogic University. | null | https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/pope-praises-document-about-god-willing-diversity-of-religions-in-interreligious-dialogue-speech | 2019-11-27T01:28:00+00:00 | 1,574,836,080 | 1,574,856,143 | religion and belief | interreligious dialogue |
13,412 | aljazeera--2019-06-02--Pope apologises to Roma for Catholic churchs discrimination | 2019-06-02T00:00:00 | aljazeera | Pope apologises to Roma for Catholic church's discrimination | Pope Francis has apologised to the Roma ethnic minority for their history of discrimination in Europe and paid homage to Romanian Catholics persecuted during communist rule as he wrapped up his third and final day in Romania. Francis reached out to the minorities of Transylvania during a deeply symbolic visit to Romania about 20 years after St John Paul II made the first-ever papal trip to the majority Orthodox country. In his final stop on Sunday before heading back to the Vatican, Francis visited a community of Roma, also known as Gypsies, in a newly built Catholic church that was so small organisers asked the clergy to leave to make more room for Gypsy families to get in. There, Francis apologised for the "many experiences of discrimination, segregation and mistreatment experienced by your communities", a reference to the second-class status of the Roma minority in Romania and throughout Europe, where Roma are more likely to be poor, uneducated and at risk of harassment, according to European Union studies. Francis recently met with members of Roma communities in the diaspora at the Vatican and knows well the hardships they face. "History tells us that Christians too, including Catholics, are not strangers to such evil," Francis said, in an apparent reference to World War II-era deportation of Roma along with Romanian Jews that is commemorated by a Holocaust memorial in Bucharest. "I would like to ask your forgiveness for this," Francis said. "I ask forgiveness - in the name of the Church and of the Lord - and I ask forgiveness of you. For all those times in history when we have discriminated, mistreated or looked askance at you ... and were unable to acknowledge you, to value you and to defend you in your uniqueness." Francis has made it a point to use his trips and meetings with foreign leaders to ask forgiveness for past injustices, just as John Paul did. He apologised to indigenous peoples for the colonial-era conquest of the Americas while in Bolivia and during a Vatican meeting with the president of Rwanda, apologised for the failures of Catholics in the Rwandan genocide. | null | https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/06/pope-apologises-roma-catholic-church-discrimination-190602151639843.html | 2019-06-02 16:24:05+00:00 | 1,559,507,045 | 1,567,539,367 | religion and belief | interreligious dialogue |
140,670 | disrn--2019-12-22--Pope says Christians should never seek to convert unbelievers, anyone who proselytizes "is not a dis | 2019-12-22T00:00:00 | disrn | Pope says Christians should never seek to convert unbelievers, anyone who proselytizes "is not a disciple of Jesus" | In a dialogue with Catholic high school students in Rome this weekend, Pope Francis responded to a question about how to deal with atheists and people of other faiths by saying that Christians should never proselytize — and any who do are not truly Christians. The Pope's lengthy answer, reprinted in full at the bottom of this article, contained numerous notable remarks illustrating the Pope's views on evangelism, including: ? Last year, Pope Francis told a grieving boy that his late father was in heaven, despite the fact that he was an atheist, because he had his children baptized. Let's go to your first. When I taught what a look and what words I had towards believing children or of other religions. But in Argentina there is a social phenomenon, which is the migratory phenomenon. After the two great wars there were waves of migration from Europe, also from Asia Minor and the Italians. He thinks that 40% of Argentines have an Italian surname, almost the other 40 Spanish. Then Poles, Russians, all ... even Arabs, whom we called "Turks" because they came with the passport of the great Ottoman Empire. There is a mixture of blood, a strong mixed race in Argentina — I am the son of a migrant, and this has made a culture of coexistence. I went to public school and we always had companions from other religions. We were educated to coexist: "There is a Jew, Russian, ah — come, come! I am a friend of Russian!" They said Russian because the majority of the Jews came from Odessa, some from Poland but the majority from Odessa. Then there were some Arabs, Lebanese, Syrians — "Ah, Turkish! Come, come!" This was Muslim, this was Jewish. But we all played football together, we were all friends. This has taught me so much, that we are all the same, all children of God — and this purifies your gaze, it makes you human. In Argentina there is a small group of closed-minded Catholics who do not want Jews, do not want Muslims, but this group ... I have never liked it, is a group that is on the fringe, they have a cultural magazine but they do not have impact in society ... This is the secret: You must be consistent with your faith. It didn't occur to me and it doesn't have to be like saying to a boy or a girl: "You are Jewish, you are Muslim: come, be converted!" You be consistent with your faith and that consistency is what will make you mature. We are not in the times of the crusades. It is a bad thing but it made me suffer so much, a step of the "Chanson de Roland," when the Christians, the crusaders had conquered the Muslims and then a line of all the Muslims was queued and the priest was in front of it and a soldier. The priest in front of the baptismal font and everyone came — read that passage — he asked: "Either the baptism or the sword." This has happened in history! They also do it with us Christians in other parts, they are also doing it but what we did was shameful because it is a story of forced conversion, of not respecting the dignity of the person. This is why my experience was natural with people of other religions because my dad my dad's job was an accountant and he had so many Jewish business clients and they came home, it was normal and I didn't have this as a problem. But it must be normal. Nothing to leave them aside because they have another faith ... The first is all. In front of an unbeliever the last thing I have to do is try to convince him. Never. The last thing I have to do is speak. I have to live consistent with my faith. And it will be my testimony to awaken the curiosity of the other who says: "But why do you do this?" And yes, I can speak then. But listen: Never, never bring the gospel by proselytizing. If someone says they are a disciple of Jesus and comes to you with proselytism, they are not a disciple of Jesus. Proselytism is not done, the church does not grow by proselytism. Pope Benedict had said it, it grows by attraction, by testimony. Football teams proselytize, this can be done. Political parties, can be done there. But with faith there is no proselytism. And if someone says to me: "But why?" Read, read, read the Gospel, this is my faith. But without pressure. | Disrn | https://disrn.com/news/pope-says-christians-should-never-try-to-convert-unbelievers-anyone-who-proselytizes-is-not-a-disciple-of-jesus/ | Sun, 22 Dec 2019 13:53:38 -0500 | 1,577,040,818 | 1,577,061,819 | religion and belief | interreligious dialogue |
26,839 | bbc--2019-05-07--Social media effect tiny in teenagers large study finds | 2019-05-07T00:00:00 | bbc | Social media effect 'tiny' in teenagers, large study finds | The effects of social media use on teenage life satisfaction are limited and probably "tiny", a study of 12,000 UK adolescents suggests. Family, friends and school life all had a greater impact on wellbeing, says the University of Oxford research team. It claims its study is more in-depth and robust than previous ones. And it urged companies to release data on how people use social media in order to understand more about the impact of technology on young people's lives. The study, published in the journal PNAS, attempts to answer the question of whether teenagers who use social media more than average have lower life satisfaction, or whether adolescents with lower life satisfaction use more social media. Past research on the relationship between screens, technology and children's mental health has often been contradictory. Prof Andrew Przybylski and Amy Orben, from the Oxford Internet Institute at the University of Oxford, say it is often based on limited evidence which does not give the full picture. Their study concluded that most links between life satisfaction and social media use were "trivial", accounting for less than 1% of a teenager's wellbeing - and that the effect of social media was "not a one-way street". Prof Przybylski, director of research at the institute, said: "99.75% of a person's life satisfaction has nothing to do with their use of social media." The study, which took place between 2009 and 2017, asked thousands of 10 to 15-year-olds to say how long they spent using social media on a normal school day and also rate how satisfied they were with different aspects of life. They found more effects of time spent on social media in girls, but they were tiny and no larger than effects found in boys. Less than half of these effects were statistically significant, they said. "Parents shouldn't worry about time on social media - thinking about it that way is wrong," Prof Przybylski said. "We are fixated on time - but we need to retire this notion of screen time. "The results are not showing evidence for great concern." The researchers said it was now important to identify young people at greater risk from certain effects of social media, and find out other factors that were having an impact on their wellbeing. They plan to meet social media companies soon to discuss how they can work together to learn more about how people use apps - not just the time spent on them. Ms Orben, co-study author and psychology lecturer at University of Oxford, said the industry must release their usage data and support independent research. "Access is key to understanding the many roles that social media plays in the lives of young people" she said. Dr Max Davie, officer for health improvement at the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, backed the call for companies to collaborate with scientists and called the study "the first small step". However, he said there were other issues to explore, such as screen time's interference with other important activities like sleep, exercise and time with family or friends. "We recommend that families follow our guidance published earlier this year and continue to avoid screen use for one hour before bed, since there are other reasons beside mental health for children to need a good night's sleep." | null | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-48147378 | 2019-05-07 05:43:13+00:00 | 1,557,222,193 | 1,567,540,970 | society | mankind |
56,169 | birminghammail--2019-02-06--200 secret internet terms teenagers use - and parents need to know | 2019-02-06T00:00:00 | birminghammail | 200 secret internet terms teenagers use - and parents need to know | Police have revealed more than 200 terms teenagers have been using online to communicate - many of which will be unknown to parents. The huge list has been divided into three different categories - ranging from 'Fun' terms, to 'Warning flags', Nottinghamshire Live reports. Nottinghamshire Police released the 228 total terms that include acronyms, hastags and abbreviations which may be a "cause for concern". The police say it is hoped this list will allow parents and guardians to understand more of what is happening under their noses, particularly as rooming has become "easier" in the technological age. Police published the list on Safer Internet Day and advised parents that they are "aware of the risks of some of the main social networking sites". A lot of them will already be know to parents and kids alike, but there will be plenty more that you may never have heard or seen before. Read all three lists below: Safer Internet Day is co-ordinated in the UK by the UK Safer Internet Centre and hundreds of organisations get involved to promote the safe use of digital technology for children and young people. Children's charity the NSPCC emphasised the importance of keeping up-to-date with online content. An NSPCC spokesman said: “One of the best ways for parents to keep their children safe online and spot risks is to open up conversations about their online lives. “It is important for parents to keep up-to-date with the type of content, features and risks, as well as know the minimum age of the sites and games their children are using. "Particularly, when we know one in four young people have been contacted over social media by an adult they don't know, with a third of these children 13 and under. “One of the ways we, in partnership with O2, are helping parents keep updated with their children’s online lives is through our Net Aware site which reviews the 50 most popular apps, sites and games their children are using.” | Patrick Jack | https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/uk-news/200-secret-internet-terms-teenagers-15789063 | 2019-02-06 13:02:21+00:00 | 1,549,476,141 | 1,567,549,396 | society | mankind |
56,835 | birminghammail--2019-02-14--Violent video games are not linked to aggressive behaviour in teenagers study says | 2019-02-14T00:00:00 | birminghammail | Violent video games are not linked to aggressive behaviour in teenagers, study says | Playing violent video games does not cause teenagers to be aggressive, according to a new study. Researchers at the University of Oxford surveyed around 1,000 British 14 and 15-year-olds and their parents or guardians to test the view held by some that there is a link between the games and aggressive behaviour. They said the results, published in Royal Society Open Science, did not support claims of connection. The study was led by Professor Andrew Przybylski, director of research at the Oxford Internet Institute. He told Sky News: "What we found was that there are a lot of things that feed in to aggression. "There are some effects of gender and some people who are from different life backgrounds have higher or lower ratings, but video game play didn't really seem to matter here." For the study, the teenagers provided reports of their recent gaming experiences. The violent contents of the games were categorised using official EU and US ratings. Their parents or guardians then provided accounts of the teens' "aggressive behaviours" in the previous month. The researchers then assessed if recent violent game play was positively related to aggressive behaviour in the parents or guardians' accounts. Prof Przybylski said: "Violent games don't seem to drive aggressive behaviour in young people. "But really we should be looking at other things - maybe it is frustrations, maybe it is family or life circumstance - that we should be spending more time on." | birminghammail | https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/uk-news/violent-video-games-not-linked-15825933 | 2019-02-14 07:41:56+00:00 | 1,550,148,116 | 1,567,548,487 | society | mankind |
173,780 | eveningstandard--2019-05-02--Over half of teenagers say technology makes them feel less lonely research finds | 2019-05-02T00:00:00 | eveningstandard | Over half of teenagers say technology makes them feel less lonely, research finds | There’s a lot of anxiety around how young people, particularly teenagers, use the internet but new research by TalkTalk suggests some of these fears may be overblown. In a recent study, 2,000 young people aged 13-16 year olds and the parents of the same teenagers, were interviewed about their attitudes to technology and loneliness. The teens were mainly optimistic about technology and its uses. Over half (51 per cent) said that during times when they felt lonely, tech provided a solution to their loneliness such as enabled them to make new friends, receive support and advice, as well as read positive comments online. However, social media was citied as a cause for feeling lonely by 12 per cent of teens, who said they felt lonely because they didn’t have many friends on social media. When it comes to the parents, on the other hand, it demonstrated that there is an education gap between worrying about the internet, and knowing what to do about it. For instance, 70 per cent of parents worry about their teens using the internet, but 65 per cent said they did not limit the hours their teen spends using social media and tech, and 70 per cent reported they don’t use parent protection controls and software. Around 37 per cent said they feel ill-equipped or unsure about how to manage their teens online. It seems like when it comes to teens on the internet, the main issue is with the parents not understanding what they’re doing. Research by Oxford University academics found there was little evidence between screen time and mental health in teenagers. The study used a mixture of self-reporting techniques as well as time-use diaries. The research reflected another study earlier this year by the same academics that found technology use explains at most 40 per cent of adolescent wellbeing. We’re still learning about how things like social media impact our health and wellbeing, but at least in this instance, it demonstrates that the Generation Z’s digital savvy nature means they may have more of a hold on tech and its effects than their parents do. If you are a parent and worrying about your child's screentime use then security company Norton has put together a handy guide on how to manage it, such as setting limits on screen time, encouraging them to discuss their online activities, and talk about the risks of sharing private information on social media. Subscribe to Women Tech Charge, a new podcast from the Evening Standard. From fashion to finance, technology is revolutionising our lives. Meet the extraordinary women who are leading the charge. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. | Amelia Heathman | https://www.standard.co.uk/tech/parents-worry-generation-z-teens-internet-usage-talktalk-a4132301.html | 2019-05-02 09:53:17+00:00 | 1,556,805,197 | 1,567,541,374 | society | mankind |
192,610 | eveningstandard--2019-12-12--Teenagers optimistic about their power to influence climate change | 2019-12-12T00:00:00 | eveningstandard | Teenagers optimistic about their power to influence climate change | Young people in the United Kingdom are seriously worried about their future in a warming world - but remain optimistic about their ability to influence climate change, a survey has found. The findings from the British Science Association showed that 87 per cent of teenagers surveyed were worried about climate change, but 64 per cent believed their generation had the power to have a positive impact on the crisis. Meanwhile, two-thirds said they were trying to reduce their carbon footprint, by cycling, walking, using public transportation, trying to cut down on their energy use and eating less meat. The BSA-commissioned survey of 2,224 teenagers aged 16 to 18 comes amidst a growing youth movement campaigning for more to be done to tackle climate change. Swedish teenager Greta Thunberg, who has just been named as Time Magazine’s “Person of the Year”, has become the 16-year-old face of this movement. Thunberg, who more than 61 per cent of the teens in the BSA survey said had inspired them to act, was given credit for how she transformed “vague anxieties about the planet into a worldwide movement calling for global change”. Ever since she set up camp outside the Swedish Parliament with a sign “Skolstrejk för klimatet (School Strike for Climate)” the teen has sparked worldwide attention; challenging heads of states; meeting the Pope and inspiring millions to join in global climate change strikes. BSA’s head of education Maria Rossini said it was inspiring to see how driven youth were in tackling the issue of climate change. “It is inspiring to see the determination amongst young people at gatherings, like the recent climate strikes, or the swell of support for Greta Thunberg on social media, in challenging policymakers and tackling climate change head on.” The research found that many teenagers had lost faith in the politicians of today. More than half (54 per cent) believed politicians had “stolen their dreams and their childhood with their empty words”. The BSA research also found that nearly two-thirds (60 per cent) of teenagers were worried about their future; and more than one third (35 per cent) were concerned about starting a family as a result of the climate crisis. However, it found that 20 per cent of teenagers, who were worried about climate change, were inspired to take the matter into their own hands and work on solutions to address the challenges wrought by the crisis. Chief Executive of the British Science Association Katherine Mathieson, said these results sent a powerful message around how the future generation felt about the state of the world. | Corazon Miller | https://www.standard.co.uk/futurelondon/cleanair/teenagers-optimistic-about-their-power-to-influence-climate-change-a4311641.html | Thu, 12 Dec 2019 10:15:00 GMT | 1,576,163,700 | 1,576,154,008 | society | mankind |
653,676 | thedailyrecord--2019-11-14--Protect our Pensioners: Paisley Daily Express hand out campaign stickers to combat doorstep crooks | 2019-11-14T00:00:00 | thedailyrecord | Protect our Pensioners: Paisley Daily Express hand out campaign stickers to combat doorstep crooks | The Paisley Daily Express’ campaign to tackle bogus callers will help protect pensioners in their homes as we prepare to hand out hundreds of campaign stickers. Print & Copy It in the town’s High Street printed 400 labels which the local company provided free of charge. The bright and informative stickers are set to be given out to hundreds of pensioners living in the community. Each one gives tips for people who may be unsure of anyone at their door and urges them to call the police if they feel scared or threatened. The special stickers also include our Nominate a Neighbour scheme, which encourages OAPs to write details of someone they trust who they can contact if someone they don’t know comes to their door. Paisley Daily Express editor Gavin McInally said: “The Nominate a Neighbour scheme gives elderly people a bit more security if someone comes to their door they can give them a call and ask them to come and assist. “A lot of the time, just the idea of another person coming over to verify what someone at the door is saying is enough to scare them off. “These stickers are our next step in helping to protect the elderly people in Renfrewshire who are being targeted by crooks. “We want to get as many out there as possible across the local authority and help make people aware of what they should do if they feel unsafe. “We are grateful to William and his staff at Print & Copy It for helping us get our message out there.” Our campaign has already celebrated success, having made its way to Holyrood where it was given a special mention by MSP Neil Bibby in Scottish Parliament. We have highlighted a number of shocking cases across the area, including an 89-year-old man with dementia who was conned out of £30,000 by bogus workmen and a 68-year-old who lost a five-figure sum of cash in a cruel Bitcoin scam. Come of the country’s largest companies such as Scottish Water and Bank of Scotland have also thrown their weight behind the campaign. Both businesses already make valiant efforts to stop callous crooks using their company name as a front to carry out crime. The Protect Our Pensioners stickers have been praised by both elderly support charity Roar - Connections for Life and Police Scotland - who are backing the campaign. Nicola Hanssen, CEO of Roar - Connections for Life said: “Roar is delighted to support PDE’s Protect our Pensioners Campaign and we want to protect older people physically as well as financially.” Inspector Tracy Harkins, from Paisley’s community policing team, said: “These stickers will be a practical and visible reminder for older people against the dangers of bogus callers. “They will undoubtedly help to prevent crimes against some of the most vulnerable members of our society and I would encourage older people or their families to get one.” Meanwhile, bogus double-glazing salesmen are operating in Paisley, police have warned. A crew of dodgy workers offered householders in Alice Street windows on The Green Deal - a now defunct government funding scheme. Police say the conmen, who were dressed in dark clothing, appeared in the south end of the town between 2pm and 2.30pm on Monday. It’s understood the four men were driving a white van and a white Volkswagon Polo. One of the suspects was wearing an official looking lanyard. They offered work on The Green Deal, which was a government initiative launched in 2013 to encourage consumers to make energy-saving improvements to their home, such as loft insulation or double glazing. However, funding was pulled for the scheme in 2015. Inspector Tracy Harkins, from Paisley Police office, urged people to be aware of the bogus callers offering the deal and urged anyone who spots them to call the police. She told the Paisley Daily Express said: “These men approached homeowners in Paisley’s Alice Street offering to install windows financed by the Green Deal. “The Green Deal ended in 2015, so it appears this is a scam. “I would urge householders approached in this way to be very careful and not engage. “This group were travelling in a white van and potentially a white Volkswagon Polo. They were wearing black clothing and one of the men may have had a UNICEF lanyard around his neck. If you see this group, please let us know.” She added: “If anyone comes to your door and you feel in any way pressured or intimidated don’t hesitate to call the police on 999. “Never let anyone over your door if you are in any way unsure.” “If you are approached by a company offering to do work at your property, check customer reviews before committing to any work” Anyone with information should call police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously 0800 555 111. More of the latest news from the PAISLEY DAILY EXPRESS | [email protected] (Carla Talbot) | https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/local-news/protect-pensioners-paisley-daily-express-20878872 | Thu, 14 Nov 2019 09:49:28 +0000 | 1,573,742,968 | 1,573,734,406 | society | mankind |
285,783 | lewrockwell--2019-02-15--Mankind Has Lost the Art of Map Reading | 2019-02-15T00:00:00 | lewrockwell | Mankind Has Lost the Art of Map Reading | The inventor of GPS has lamented that people are unable to read maps because they are now ‘too dependent’ on using their smartphones or sat-nav devices. Bradford Parkinson, the pioneer inventor of the navigation system relied upon by billions of people, said that he ‘worries’ about what impact its failure could have. Professor Parkinson received the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering in London last night for his key role in developing the Global Positioning System or GPS, along with the rest of his team: Professor James Spilker, Jr, Hugo Fruehauf, and Richard Schwartz. They originally began working on the system in the 1970s as a military project but were unaware of the revolutionary impact it would have on wider society. GPS signal is made by a network of around 30 spacecraft in orbit that transmit positional information and precise timing to receivers around the globe. Amazon.com Gift Card i... Buy New $25.00 (as of 01:30 EST - Details) It helps cars, trucks, planes, ships and trains to navigate as well as providing a timing reference for the financial industry. Professor Parkinson said that many of the tasks it performs were not anticipated when it was created but that it is vulnerable to failure, the Times reports. ‘Like all good things, GPS is something on which we can become too dependent,’ he said. The rise in the market of GPS ‘jammers’, devices which are plugged into car cigarette lighters and can stop tracking systems, can interfere with other signals beyond the one they intend to block. According to experts, the devices are used for people who don’t want to be detected and can create a 500-metre bubble around a vehicle. | No Author | https://www.lewrockwell.com/2019/02/no_author/mankind-has-lost-the-art-of-map-reading-says-the-man-who-invented-gps/ | 2019-02-15 04:01:00+00:00 | 1,550,221,260 | 1,567,548,474 | society | mankind |
87,660 | channel4uk--2019-01-10--Brexit debate What young people really think | 2019-01-10T00:00:00 | channel4uk | Brexit debate: What young people really think | We hear from people aged 18 to 20, who could not vote in the EU referendum but are now of voting age, to discuss the future of the United Kingdom. | Jon Snow | https://www.channel4.com/news/brexit-debate-what-young-people-really-think | 2019-01-10 21:19:29+00:00 | 1,547,173,169 | 1,567,553,118 | society | mankind |
54,072 | birminghammail--2019-01-12--Should pregnant women be allowed to use parent and child parking bays | 2019-01-12T00:00:00 | birminghammail | Should pregnant women be allowed to use parent and child parking bays? | Parking when you're going shopping can be a nightmare at the best of times, without the added struggle of being pregnant. Maneuvering in and out of the car door can prove almost impossible when there's a bump in the way and that's without having young children to help out too. So should expectant mums be allowed to use parent and child parking bays to make life a little easier? These are what the rules are at supermarkets and what the law says. Unsurprisingly this has been a topic of debate on Mumsnet , this is what they thought. One mum said she used them when she was pregnant with her first child: "If I parked in a normal space, some idiot would always park so close to my car that I struggled to get back in." Another agreed: " I used them if necessary but only after a passenger one day couldn't believe the contortions I was going through to try to get out of the car at 37 weeks and that it hadn't dawned on me. Seems perfectly reasonable to me!" A third user said: "Of course you should feel free to use them. It would be a very harsh person who would think you shouldn't. And if any idiot comments you should simply say 'I'm practising...'" Another parent with a toddler said: "I reckon you probably need the space more than me." But not everyone was convinced: "If it's just extra space you need I don't think you should be using a P&C space which could be used by a parent with toddlers who we would all want to be kept out of the way of cars. "I would suggest you park further back in the car park and away from other vehicles to give yourself the space you need." One mum even suggested that pregnant women at 36 weeks shouldn't be out shopping: "Well really if you need a special space then surely at 36 weeks shouldn't be going around the shops, that is my logic. I don't use them unless i have my 2 year old with me. "Am 30 weeks. Will be either sending husband or ordering online at 36 weeks, i will need to be resting no doubt." He said: “It’s a very woolly area of law as pregnant women are with child, but not in the technical sense. Heavily pregnant women need extra space in the same way a parent with a small child would need extra room to load shopping and children into the car. “You’ll see designated priority spaces close to entrances on trains and buses - so public transport recognises this need - but there’s no law extending this to private car parks, meaning it’s at the land owner’s discretion. “Some areas of law such as personal injury cover ‘en ventre sa mere’ – meaning a child in a mother’s womb – but this currently doesn’t extend to contract law which governs car parking. “By entering a private car park, you’re effectively entering into a contract with the parking company, with the sign disclaimers creating the agreement. "Closely monitor this signage as some do state the child must be with you to warrant parking in the parent and child spaces, while some don’t. “Use caution and in the worst case if you’re slapped with a fine, you may be able to challenge it if the signage isn’t clear on whether or not the spaces can be used by pregnant women, but this is at the discretion of each car parking firm’s stance.” Well Ikea is a step ahead of many retailers by offering specific 'expectant mum' spaces. Unfortunately that's only in America and there currently aren't any plans to introduce them over here. A spokesman said it would be down to individual stores as to whether a pregnant woman could park in one of their parent and child bays. He said: "Our main aim is to make the shopping experience as smooth as possible for each customer and many stores offer extra assistance for those who need it." At Sainsbury's pregnant women can use the parent and child bays, but need to clear it with the individual store first. A spokeswoman said: "Use of the bays must be arranged with the store. They have to be aware so they can give the registration to the parking attendants monitoring the bays, in case it's not immediately clear that the customer is pregnant." Asda's policy is similar and pregnant customers would need to mention the fact they are using one of the bays to staff. • There are lots of great things to do with kids in Birmingham. To keep updated, like our Brummie Mummies Facebook page. You can also sign up to our weekly Brummie Mummies email newsletter . | Katie Brooks | https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/whats-on/family-kids-news/should-pregnant-women-allowed-use-15668445 | 2019-01-12 12:45:45+00:00 | 1,547,315,145 | 1,567,552,750 | society | mankind |
85,403 | cbsnews--2019-08-29--Young people and pregnant women warned not to use pot | 2019-08-29T00:00:00 | cbsnews | Young people and pregnant women warned not to use pot | The federal government issued new health advisories on the risks of marijuana use for youth and pregnant women, among other vulnerable groups. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar and Surgeon General Jerome Adams said at a briefing in Washington Thursday that the government is now looking to expand its work in research, education and prevention efforts surrounding the use of the drug. And Azar and Adams noted that President Trump donated $100,000 of his presidential paycheck to efforts on the digital side of the department's plan to combat the marijuana culture. The new advisory is intended to raise awareness about "the known and potential harms to developing brains, posed by the increasing availability of highly potent marijuana in multiple, concentrated forms." While marijuana use has surged in recent years as more states have moved to relax laws on recreational use, health experts warn that pregnant women in particular face increased risks because this demographic uses marijuana more than any other illicit drug, often to try to control nausea from morning sickness. "There is a false perception that marijuana is not as harmful as other drugs. I want to be very clear - no amount of marijuana use during pregnancy or adolescence is known to be safe," Surgeon General Adams warned. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's recently released 2018 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) data showed that marijuana continues to be the most widely used illicit drug and that further, frequent marijuana use among youth ages 12 to 17 and young adults, appears to be associated with risks for opioid use, heavy alcohol use and major depressive episodes. In 2017 alone, approximately 9.2 million youth aged 12 to 25 reported using marijuana in the past month, and 29% more young adults aged 18 to 25 started using the substance. Adams pointed to risks associated with brain development and marijuana use as more products with higher levels of THC, the compound found in marijuana, are becoming more accessible nationwide. The urgent warning by the federal government comes on the heels of steps recently taken to improve access to legal marijuana for medical and scientific government researchers. The Justice Department announced just this week that it would take action on long-delayed applications to expand the number of entities certified to grow marijuana plants. Support for more marijuana research has been growing. Earlier this year, a bipartisan group of lawmakers sent letters to the DEA urging the agency to resolve the outstanding applications. Currently, a majority of Americans support legalizing cannabis, but a recent CBS News poll found the issue may not have have much of an impact on voters in the upcoming 2020 election. According to the poll, 65 percent of Americans think marijuana should be legal, but 56 percent said the issue wouldn't sway them to vote for a candidate across party lines. | null | https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hhs-issues-new-health-advisory-on-marijuana-use-for-young-people-pregnant-women/ | 2019-08-29 17:36:06+00:00 | 1,567,114,566 | 1,567,543,576 | society | mankind |
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