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The first hotel from the luxury fitness brand has plenty of opportunities to work out, but the company says it really wants you to sleep. 10 Photos View Slide Show › At the first hotel from Equinox, the luxury fitness brand, you might expect to find encouragement to exercise in every room. You’d be wrong. Equinox wants you to sleep. “A lot of hotels are trying to go into wellness-fitness, but we’re the only fitness company going into hotels at this scale,” Christopher Norton, chief executive of Equinox Hotels, said. “They’re putting treadmills in rooms, pull-up bars in bathrooms, but we believe that fitness happens in the club and the room is for regeneration.” The hotel, in the Hudson Yards development on Manhattan’s Far West Side opens July 15. Hudson Yards’ developer, the Related Companies, owns Equinox and other fitness brands, including SoulCycle and Pure Yoga. The company’s tenure in hospitality has been brief — it only announced that it would start offering retreats, day trips and longer journeys to places including Morocco, the Hudson Valley, Italy and Costa Rica 9 months ago. But talk of a hotel began in 2007 when the company’s leadership noticed that club members were booking hotels based on their proximity to an Equinox location when they were traveling. Hudson Yards presented the city with a grand opportunity to remake Manhattan’s West Side. But what has arrived? A review of the most ambitious private development in New York in a century. “We saw a growing trend of people who wanted to maintain their routine while traveling and it was difficult,” said Harvey Spevak, executive chairman and managing partner for Equinox. “They wanted to be in a place where they had immediate access to an Equinox club.” After surveying members and learning that “an overwhelming 95 percent” said that they would stay in a hotel owned by the brand, Mr. Spevak got to work on figuring out how to bring the hotel to life. Mr. Norton left his job as the chief operating officer of the Four Seasons hotel brand to finesse the details and experience at the Equinox hotel. He previously ran the Four Seasons Hotel George V in Paris and the Four Seasons Bali at Sayan. The new hotel spans floors 24 to 38 of a 92-story building designed by David Childs of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. The floors above the hotel will house condominiums and the floors below will be home to Equinox’s corporate headquarters. There are 212 rooms and suites that like the company’s clubs come with luxury amenities, including a minibar called a roombar with some 70 healthy food options, magnesium-based sleep supplements, face masks, a brain-fog-fighting elixir, condoms and massage oil. There is a proprietary shade system that blacks out all natural light and there are special air conditioning units designed to be silent. Guests can also meet with certified behavioral sleep coaches. You can, of course, work out at the hotel: There is a 60,000-square-foot fitness club with a saltwater lap pool and two plunge pools. Guests will also be able to participate in Vessel Run, a cardio class with Equinox instructors that involves walking and running to the top of the Vessel, the large public artwork made up of interlocking staircases at the center of Hudson Yards. Next to the club is a 25,000-square-foot spa with access to cryotherapy chambers and an infrared sauna. There will be a nurse to administer restorative IV drips on demand to help guests who have overindulged rehydrate and re-energize in the spa or in their rooms. Broken Coconut, a bar and restaurant inside the club, will offer both healthy and alcoholic drinks. The club will provide Kiehl’s products as it has in other locations. The club, Equinox’s 100th location, is open to both hotel guests and Equinox Hudson Yards members. There’s also a 15,000-square-foot sun deck. Rooms start at $700 a night and go up to about $8,000. The hotel could be part of a growing trend rather than a one-off brand entering the hospitality space. The furniture store West Elm is opening its first hotel next year and competing furniture brand RH, formerly known as Restoration Hardware, is opening RH Guesthouse in New York later this year. In June, Taco Bell announced that it was opening a pop-up hotel in Palm Springs, Calif., for four nights starting on Aug. 8, taking over an existing hotel and transforming it into a “taco-inspired destination,” according to the company’s website. Equinox Hotels have been confirmed for cities including Los Angeles; Santa Clara, Calif.; Seattle, Chicago and Houston. A starter kit for escaping into the world. 52 PLACES AND MUCH, MUCH MORE Follow our 52 Places traveler, Sebastian Modak, on Instagram as he travels the world, and discover more Travel coverage by following us on Twitter and Facebook. And sign up for our Travel Dispatch newsletter: Each week you’ll receive tips on traveling smarter, stories on hot destinations and access to photos from all over the world.

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Other

Oct 25 (Reuters) - Dxp Enterprises Inc * DXP Enterprises announces pricing of public offering of common stock * Says public offering of 2.16 million common shares priced at $19.70 per share Source text for Eikon: Further company coverage:

Investment

Stock Market

Corey Lewandowski, Donald Trump’s campaign manager, attempted to quell speculation of dysfunction within the presumptive Republican nominee’s operation Sunday after the recent firing of one top aide. Lewandowski defended Trump’s “small, efficient team” on "Fox News Sunday" and said he and Paul Manafort were able to work together to secure unbound delegates. “Paul and I have a fantastic relationship. We work together closely every day,” Lewandowski said. It's "very, very important to know that there is no sunlight between Paul and I.” Trump fired national political director Rick Wiley last week for butting heads with Lewandowski and other top officials, POLITICO reported. Wiley was hired by Manafort, who was brought in as a top Republican operative to help shore up the campaign. The episode highlights a potential clash between the new staff and old as the real estate mogul prepares to make his case for the White House in a general election. Manafort said on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday that the campaign was “cohesive and working together.” He pivoted to defend Trump’s strategy of criticizing potential Democratic rival Hillary Clinton’s personal and political history, claiming that “the whole family is up for discussion.”

Politics

Society

(Repeats to add pix to slug) * Deal latest in consolidation wave in packaging * Offer of 782 pence per share in cash * Deal to be financed through equity, debt * Shares rise 5.5 pct but still below offer price By Sangameswaran S and Arathy S Nair Jan 23 (Reuters) - Apollo Global Management is to buy packaging products maker RPC Group for 3.3 billion pounds ($4.28 billion) in cash after months of negotiations, marking the latest M&A deal for an industry in the midst of a consolidation phase. The acquisition highlights how the sector’s reliable cashflow, driven by demand from online shopping, is proving attractive to private equity firms, as well as a spate of takeovers by bigger packaging players. RPC, Europe’s biggest plastic packaging maker, makes a range of products including packaging for beverages, coffee capsules and healthcare products. Apollo’s offer of 782 pence per share represents a premium of 15.6 percent to RPC’s closing price on Sept. 7, the last trading day before the offer period began. RPC’s shares rose on Wednesday as much as 5.5 percent to 774 pence. Nicholas Hyett, analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said the final offer price was some way behind what analysts had suggested was possible. Hyett said it was not impossible for a rival bidder to emerge but plastic packaging was far from popular at the moment and with the global economy looking rocky, it might be asking a bit much to expect a rival to pay around 4 billion pounds to keep RPC out of private equity hands. He also said that with board backing and minimal regulatory concerns, he expected the deal to go through. The RPC deal is not Apollo’s first foray into the plastics and packaging industry. The private equity firm previously owned Berry Plastics, now called Berry Global, a U.S.-based plastics manufacturer and marketer. Other M&A deals in packaging last year included Australia’s Amcor Ltd agreement to buy U.S. firm Bemis Co for $5.25 billion, while DS Smith Plc spent about $2.2 billion to acquire Spanish rival Europac. The plastics industry is facing tighter regulation in Europe and elsewhere due to environmental concerns. RPC, which operates in 33 countries and employs about 25,000 people, said in September it was in talks on a possible sale to Apollo and another private equity firm Bain Capital. The deadlines on the deal for Apollo and Bain were repeatedly extended and Bain Capital ended talks in December. RPC had said last July that shareholder pressure was preventing it from pursuing some growth opportunities. RPC had been investing heavily to take advantage of China demand as well as produce more recyclable plastics, prompting fears that higher spending would hit cash flow. Apollo’s affiliate will finance the deal through a combination of equity and debt provided by a number of banks. RPC was advised by Rothschild & Co, Credit Suisse and Evercore. Barclays and Citi acted as lead financial advisers for Apollo. $1 = 0.7717 pounds Reporting by Sangameswaran S and Arathy S Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva and Jane Merriman

Technology

Computers

FRANKFURT, June 30 (Reuters) - Germany’s DVB Bank warned its 2017 pretax return on equity would likely fall short of its expected range of minus 3 percent to plus 3 percent due to high risk costs in its shipping and offshore financing portfolios. It said on Friday it was also likely to miss its forecasts for cost-income ratio and Economic Value Added. Germany was one of the world’s main centres of global ship financing before the 2008 financial crisis, and the five German banks with the closest links to the shipping industry still have around 80 billion euros ($91.4 billion) on loan to the sector. $1 = 0.8755 euros Reporting by Niamh Melvin and Maria Sheahan; Editing by Victoria Bryan

Finance

Banking

March 28 (Reuters) - Rhino Resource Partners Lp * Rhino resource partners lp announces 1-for-10 reverse unit split Source text for Eikon: Further company coverage: (Bengaluru Newsroom: +1-646-223-8780)

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Telecommunications

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Vice President Mike Pence plans to head to Miami on Friday, home to the country’s largest community of Venezuelan exiles, to rally support for the opposition ahead of Venezuelan protests against President Nicolas Maduro, a White House official said. Pence, who has helped lead White House efforts to recognize self-declared president Juan Guaido as Venezuela’s rightful leader, will be joined by Florida senators Marco Rubio and Rick Scott, Representative Mario Diaz-Balart, and Governor Ron DeSantis, all fellow Republicans. The White House has said Maduro lost legitimacy after an election last year condemned as rigged by the United States and many other governments around the world. Mass protests are planned in Venezuela at the weekend to keep up the pressure on Maduro. Guaido, the newly-named leader of the country’s National Assembly, declared himself interim president last week after twice speaking by phone with Pence. The White House later imposed stiff sanctions aimed at curbing Maduro’s grip on Venezuelan oil revenues. Pence will meet with Venezuelans who fled the country due to political persecution, the White House official said, and he will later give formal remarks. “He will rally support for the Venezuelan people and reiterate the steadfast support from the United States in their fight for freedom,” the official said. More than 3 million people have fled oil-rich Venezuela in recent years as its economy has imploded, and food and medicine have become scare. Maduro says that he is a victim of a U.S.-led “economic war” aimed at ousting him from power. Guaido’s U.S. representative Carlos Vecchio, who has been meeting with White House officials to discuss taking control of Venezuelan assets from the Maduro government, is also expected to attend the Miami event, the White House said. Reporting by Roberta Rampton, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien

Politics

Government

Testing headphones is a fun job for a music lover. Even if they suck, you get paid to listen to music. Yet sometimes, a set comes along that makes you want to listen because it’s suddenly more fun. The Bowers & Wilkins P7 Wireless are those headphones for me.Bowers & Wilkins is a half-century-old British audio company that rose to prominence during the hifi-obsessed 70s. As my coworker Mario Aguilar told me when I was first reviewing the B&W P5 headphones: “People love their shit.” And it’s easy to understand why at face value. The $400 P7 Wireless headphones, like the P5s before them, are wrapped in supple black leather and twisted chrome connects the earpieces to a clean but comfortable headband. I prefer the look of other headphones a little bit more, but the P7's are undeniably slick.The shiny chrome frame is wrapped in soft leather, and the ear cups come with comfy memory foam.The audio quality is honestly jaw-dropping. That’s a hyperbolic thing to say, but let me offer some context. The best headphones I’ve ever tried were not wireless. Previously, my favorite headphones were not necessarily the best-sounding. Yet, somehow the P7's are both now the best and my favorite.The sheer range and detail that the B&W drivers pumped out left me looking for my favorite old songs so that I could hear them in a new way. A dumb example is the gritty, trebly texture of Diplo’s “Florida,” something I’d never heard before I tried the P7's. (I say dumb because Diplo is a dick.) Let me offer an even dumber example. “Doin’ It Right” by Daft Punk and Panda Bear has deep, buttery bass line that I’d only felt that time I reviewed a subwoofer you wear like a backpack. It’s my favorite part of the song, and the P7's deliver with wonderful clarity. Thanks to magnets, the ear cups pop off easily and allow you to connect a cord or reboot the headset.Of course, the real test of any headphones (or speaker) is the ability to deliver a full range of sound with terrific accuracy, all at the same time. “Shady Grove” by Kentucky Thunder and Ricky Skaggs demands as much with the soft shuffle of cloggers in the background and bold banjo drowning out a fast gut bass. I heard the whole detail through the P7's. Ditto for “Take Five” by the Dave Brubeck quartet and “3005” by Childish Gambino.It sounds simplistic to say: these are very nice headphones. But the P7's are not perfect. Once you wrest yourself from the luxury of B&W’s excellent audio engineering, some familiar headphone complaints crop up.The 40mm drivers are practically inside your ears and pump out hifi-quality sound with impressive clarity.The connectivity quirks of the B&W headphones bug me. For example, it was infuriating when the headphones would disconnect from my device after five idle minutes. Connecting and reconnecting is easy enough, but I don’t want to do it multiple times a day. However, once connected, the P7's are dependable and usually interference-free. I can’t say the same about premium wireless headphones that cost $100 or $150 more than the P7's. My previous favorites, the Sennheiser Momentum, for example, cost $500 and don’t sound as good.I did have to reboot the P7's a couple times in the span of a couple weeks. This was a 10-second project: the magnetic ear pads pop off and you stick a paperclip into a hole. Why I had to do this remains a mystery, but everything worked fine again after the reboot. I’d also add that the impressive 17-hour battery life meant that they died only once when I was away from a charger.The subtle controls take some getting used to, but I learned to love them more than the complicated switches on other headphones.Somehow, the extent to which the $400 P7s don’t feel like ultra fancy, feature-rich headphones is what made them such a thrill. (They also sound amazing, but we’ve been over that.) The controls are intuitive. The microphone works well. There are nice little audio queues that tell you when you’re connected or low on battery—which is much nicer than the robot voices other brands use. The P7s lack touch-sensitive ear-cups that let give you basic controls with the swipe of a finger as well as noise-cancelling. I didn’t really miss these features. I also wouldn’t pay another $100 for them.But boy, do I love listening to music with these B&W sound boxes. It really does feel like you’re strapping mini hifi speakers to your head, and they just pump big sound into your ears. That’s the number one job of any pair of headphones. The P7s do that job admirably.And they look awesome!READMEThe brilliant sound quality will melt your face.The flashy chrome and supple leather hardware feels great on your head.Simple controls make it easy to control volume, etc. Solid battery life means you don’t have to worry about them dying all the time.Connectivity can be annoying since the Bluetooth disconnects after five idle minutes.But seriously, the Bowers & Wilkins are very nice for the $400 price tag.

Technology

Consumer Electronics

Cardi B’s debut album Invasion of Privacy hasn’t even been on the market for a full 48 hours and already it’s certified gold — and bringing out plenty of haters. And I’m not talking about the kind who might not recognize the sheer artistry (or relatability) behind hits like “Be Careful” and “Ring.” To each their own on that note. Instead, I’m referring to the people who are quick to write off Cardi B’s success simply to promote and pump up other female rappers, including Nicki Minaj. Fortunately, Cardi B quickly shut down the suggestion that the two have beef and that there’s only room for one female rapper at the top of the charts, and I couldn’t agree with the latter more. In an interview with Ebro Darden on Beats 1 on Apple Music, the Bronx-bred rapper discussed her new album, relationship with Migos rapper Offset, and why she’s “annoyed” with the Nicki Minaj rumors. “I just feel like it’s really internet made-up. I really feel like fans, fans, and people they really want to see that happen because it’s really entertaining,” she said. “To see people beefing is really entertaining.” Cardi goes on to admit that she herself found it entertaining to watch Minaj and Remy Ma exchange disses last year, but she made it very clear that she “doesn’t have time for that.” She also took the opportunity to praise Minaj, calling her an “amazing artist,” and referenced times when she’s actually made videos singing along to her songs. "[Fans] want me to say something bad. [Fans] want to annoy me to the fact that I say something bad. I'm not falling for that," she said. Instead, Cardi advocated for more people talking through problems like adults instead of “sneak dissing” each other. “If you ain't fucking my man, or if you not taking my money from me, or if you not stopping my money then I don't really give a fuck about you.” The fact that this was even a topic of discussion is ridiculous. Instead of allowing Cardi to celebrate a successful transition from her former job as a stripper to reality TV star and topping the charts, she’s forced to defend her relationships with other women. Likewise, fans can’t even celebrate the album and all the new Instagram captions we’ve been blessed with because of it, without funneling through “Cardi B is trash” comments and ranking memes of female artists on Twitter. Did I miss the memo that says one woman’s light shining makes the others around her dimmer? Is it not possible to like more than one female rapper at a time? Of course not, and yes it is possible, which is why the pitting of Cardi B against every other female rapper and vice versa has to stop. Yes, there was a time when there was only one female emcee topping the charts that fans could root for. But now there’s plenty of them, and we should be celebrating that fact instead of harping on who’s the best. With so many young women seeking representation in entertainment and the world today, they deserve to have more than one example of success to look up to. While Cardi B’s version may not always be what some consider “classy,” she’s real, works extremely hard, and has built a career from the ground up. And who can hate on that? Cardi B’s wins shouldn’t make anyone — rapper or otherwise — feel threatened or like they need to tear her down. If anything her hustle, realness, and commitment to making sure that “bad bitches” win should inspire others to live their most authentic lives. Instead our attention and “hate” should be focused on the record labels and execs who refuse to sign more female rappers to their labels and/or promote their body of work. For example, Cardi B isn’t the only female emcee signed to Atlantic Records, but she’s the only one mainstream media is being exposed to right now. And the discriminatory selectivity isn’t just reserved for major labels either. Imprints led by male rappers themselves also have a history of ignoring female talent. In fact, a breakdown done by Pitchfork uncovered that between 15 popular music imprints only four females rappers were signed. Music execs not adding more women to their rosters further perpetuates the stereotype that only one emcee can shine at a time, and fans are, unfortunately, taking the bait. Everyone needs to take a page out of Cardi B’s book and rise above the beef. Read These Stories Next: Cardi B's Debut Album Is Full Of Lyrical Gems An Evolution Of The Female Rapper ‘Get Money’ Look Cardi B Breaks Down Why Being A Feminist Is Actually Simple: "I Feel Equal To A Man"

Music

Hip-Hop

Jan 9 (Reuters) - Neo Telemedia Ltd - * Guangdong Bluesea Mobile Development Co made a successful bid for the acquisition of the land use rights of a parcel of land at rmb 35.4 million Source text for Eikon: Further company coverage:

Technology

Telecommunications

March 24 (Reuters) - Big River Gold Ltd: * KEEPING STAFF NUMBERS LOW, REDUCING COSTS & MAINTAINING LOW OVERHEADS WHILE ESSENTIAL ENGINEERING WORKS CONTINUE Source text for Eikon: Further company coverage:

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Telecommunications

Health insurance plans may not under a 2008 law impose more restrictions on coverage of stays at licensed mental treatment facilities than stays as skilled nursing facilities, a federal appeals court ruled on Wednesday. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said an insurance plan covering Catholic Health Initiatives’ employees and their dependants could not deny coverage to a woman, identified only as Nicole B., whose mental-health treatment included a nearly year-long stay at a Island View, Washington facility. To read the full story on Westlaw Practitioner Insights, click here: bit.ly/2Lrr1IM

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Other

LONDON — At the height of a sweltering summer, Saga Vanecek went paddling in a southern Swedish lake. And in the shallow waters, reduced by a long heat wave, she came across something astonishing. She thought it was a stick, she told the news website The Local, and she was going to skim it over the water. But when she fished it out, it was a sword — about 33 inches long, black-brown with age and rust. According to a Facebook post by her father, Andy Vanecek, she “lifted it high above her head, and shouted, as if she was Pippi Longstocking,” a Swedish storybook heroine, “ ‘DADDY! I FOUND A SWORD!’ ” With her family, Saga, 8, who is Swedish-American, took the sword to the local Jonkoping county museum, which confirmed that it dated to the 5th or 6th century, before the time of the Vikings. It was exceptionally well-preserved and included a cover made from leather and wood, the museum said in a statement posted this week. The find was made on July 15, according to Mr. Vanecek’s Facebook post, but the museum asked Saga and her family to keep the discovery secret, so that archaeologists could search the Vidostern lake where she uncovered the sword before treasure-hunters made off with any other historical artifacts that might be hidden there. Divers and metal detectors were used in the search. “After the sword was found we have made two surveys, we found a fibula from the period 300-400 A.D.,” said Anders Kraft, archaeologist with the County Administrative Board in Jonkoping in an email. “It’s still unclear if the sword is from the same period, we need more scientific analyzes to find out.” Her family is relieved that they no longer have to hide the news. “I think maybe I found it harder to keep secret than she did,” Mr. Vanecek said. “It’s cool that it will be in a museum and it might even say ‘Saga’s sword’ and it might be there for thousands of years.” Visitors in search of the sword will have to wait for about a year before seeing it on display, while specialists complete conservation work on the object, the museum told The Local.

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Other

We interrupt your regularly scheduled awards season programming for a sports-related PSA: Super Bowl Sunday (a.k.a the “the Oscars of football”) is upon us. We’re placing our bets, studying up on how supermodels support their favorite team, prepping for the metric ton of guacamole we plan to eat – and also gearing up for the big game with some team-themed manicures from pros Debbie Leavitt, Madeline Poole and Cassie Banel, of Nailing Hollywood. Whether you’re rooting for the Atlanta Falcons, for the New England Patriots, or simply for Lady Gaga to light up the night with a powerhouse halftime performance, the trio has a “fan”-icure to help you put your pride on full display. For the Falcons fan… Atlanta fans have plenty to cheer about — and we’re not just talking about MVP candidate quarterback Matt Ryan’s impressive stats. Inspired by the team’s rendering of their famous mascot, Freddie Falcon, Sally Hansen Global Color Ambassador Madeline Poole set out to create an easy DIY manicure that recalls its linear design. First, paint your pinky, ring, pointer and thumb nail with the brand’s metallic shade Gilty Party, then your middle finger with its white shade Let’s Snow. Next, use a striping brush to paint red and black lines from the lower right side of each nail up towards the opposite free edge. For the Patriots fan… Quarterback Tom Brady is looking to put another ring on it (the G.O.A.T already has four Super Bowl rings from previous seasons) and while you might not be able to gift him a “protection necklace” for good luck like his supermodel wife did, you can cheer him on with a manicure bearing the teams colors: red, white and blue. To create this look, manicurist Debbie Leavitt says to start with a thin base coat. Then take a bright red nail polish (Jenna Hipp “Line of Fire”) and sweep a thin layer diagonally from the lower left side of each nail up towards opposite free edge. “Make sure to clean off excess product on the brush to prevent running,” she advises. Next, dip a dotting tool (“Use a bobby pin if you’re in a pinch,” she says) into  a vibrant blue nail polish (Nars “Night Out”) and create the pattern going from the right side of each nail up towards free edge. “To prevent smudging, let the design dry fully before applying a top coat,” Leavitt suggests. For the Gaga fan… If your M.O. is pure entertainment — and by that we mean whatever Gaga has up her stylish sleeves plus a Super Bowl commercial or two — then this style is for you. “The look is like a pure party on your nails — and that’s what halftime’s all about,” says manicurist Cassie Banel. Simply swipe on two layers of JinSoon “Kookie White” nail polish, then let it dry completely. Then place a French Manicure Tip Guide about halfway down the nail, then dab on a metallic shade using a makeup sponge. Then simply peel off the guide sticker and seal the look with a top coat. — with Jillian Ruffo

Sports

Football

(Reuters) - Pernilla Lindberg waited her whole life for the day she can step onto the first tee and hear the starter introduce her to the crowd as a “major champion”. Despite winning the first women’s major of the year at the ANA Inspiration two weeks ago, the Swede is still waiting. “They didn’t announce it that way this morning and I was kind of waiting for it,” Lindberg said after the first round of the Lotte Championship in Hawaii on Wednesday. “I actually tend to like when they just say ‘From Sweden, Pernilla Lindberg,’ because they get to the point. Today I was like, ‘Is it coming or not coming?’” Lindberg secured her first professional victory by defeating seven-times major champion Park In-bee in a playoff at the eighth extra hole in Rancho Mirage, California. The 31-year-old, who shot a two-under-par 70 on Wednesday to trail first round leader Shanshang Feng by three strokes, said life away from the course has been a blur since her victory. “Probably been my least productive practice days leading up to a tournament ever,” she said. “Everyone wants to come up and say hi and congratulate me. I say, How often does this happen? Of course I want to do it. I want to enjoy it and embrace it. “I was on the putting green for probably two hours yesterday and actually got 30 minutes of work in.” Her victory at the ANA Inspiration counted for nothing when she got back on the course, she added. “Basically it’s been hectic, but once you’re out there the golf ball doesn’t know if you’re a major champion or not,” said the Swede, who arrived in Hawaii late on Sunday. Lindberg’s parents Jan and Gunilla, who had been in California to see her nail-biting win over Park and taken the traditional plunge into Poppy’s Pond with her to celebrate the victory, had also traveled to Hawaii, she said. “They actually spent last week in Maui, so I think they needed some time to recover after all the nerves I put them through,” she added. Writing by Peter Rutherford in Seoul; Editing by Sudipto Ganguly

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Other

TOKYO, Oct 7 (Reuters) - Japanese shares slipped on Monday, pressured by concerns Sino-U.S. trade talks may face new hurdles this week although moderate U.S. jobs growth in September offered some support. The benchmark Nikkei average dropped 0.3% to 21,346.63 by the midday break, while the broader Topix eased 0.2% to 1,569.98. U.S.-China trade talks are scheduled to resume Thursday and Friday, when Chinese Vice Premier Liu He meets U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin in Washington. Hours before the Tokyo market open, Bloomberg reported that Chinese officials were signalling they were increasingly reluctant to agree to a broad trade deal pursued by U.S. President Donald Trump. Apple-related Japanese electronic parts makers continued to be sought boosted by expectations of strong demand for the iPhone. The Nikkei business daily reported that Apple Inc had told suppliers to increase their production of its latest iPhone 11 range by up to 10%, citing sources. Murata Manufacturing climbed 1.7% to become the second-most traded stock on the main board by turnover, while TDK Corp gained 0.8% and Taiyo Yuden advanced 0.7%. Wall Street stocks surged on Friday after moderate U.S. jobs growth in September offered some relief from a spate of dismal economic data that week, with technology stocks led by Apple lifting the benchmark indexes. Rubber products and mining were among the worst performers in the Tokyo bourse’s 33 sector subindexes, down 1.6% and 1.4%, respectively. (Reporting by Tomo Uetake Editing by Jacqueline Wong)

Finance

Investment

Mark Zuckerberg, Sheryl Sandberg and other top Facebook leaders should get ready for increased scrutiny after a damning new investigation shed light on how they stalled, stumbled and plotted through a series of crises over the last two years, including Russian meddling, data sharing and hate speech. The question now: Who does Facebook fire in the aftermath of these revelations? Meanwhile, the difficult past year has taken a toll on employee morale: An internal survey shows that only 52 percent of Facebook staff are optimistic about its future, down from 84 percent of employees last year. It might already be time for a new survey. [Sheera Frenkel, Nicholas Confessore, Cecilia Kang, Matthew Rosenberg and Jack Nicas / The New York Times] [Want to get the Recode Daily in your inbox? Subscribe here.] Amazon’s next challenge will be finding all those workers to fill its dual-city HQ2. The campus in the Northern Virginia suburb of Crystal City alone will eventually bring 25,000 jobs —that’s as big as the nearby Pentagon, where about 26,000 people work. Positions at the new campus will include executives and managers, software development engineers, lawyers, accountants and administrators, making an average salary of at least $150,000 a year. The D.C.-area unemployment rate is 3.3 percent, well below the national average — but that likely masks the even lower availability of the types of professionals Amazon will be looking for. Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at how Amazon made its choice, plus some thoughts on the aftermath of the nationwide search, which some saw as a stunt. And here’s a funny review of that Alexa-enabled microwave we’ve all been waiting for. [Lydia DePillis / CNN Business] LinkedIn expects to bring in roughly $2 billion from its media business — mostly via ad revenue — by the end of this fiscal year; that’s roughly half of owner Microsoft’s $4.16 billion in ad revenue. The business and employment network — which generates more than two million posts, videos and articles a day — has been hesitant to reveal specific revenue numbers around its media efforts since it was acquired by Microsoft in 2016, but is doing so now to highlight the growth of its ad business. [Sara Fischer / Axios] Uber reported slowing growth in its third quarter, with revenue rising 38 percent from the year-earlier period to $2.95 billion, compared with a 51 percent revenue increase year-over-year in the second quarter. And the ride-hail company lost $1.07 billion, more than in the second quarter, as it invested in other business areas such as electric scooters, bicycles and freight shipments. As an incentive for riders not to check Lyft or a local competitor, Uber launched a new loyalty program called Uber Rewards in nine U.S. cities. The perks? Rewards like $5 credits, upgrades to nicer cars, access to premium support and flexible cancellations. [Kate Conger / The New York Times] China’s technology-manufacturing dominance threatens U.S. national security, including the security of 5G wireless infrastructure, according to a report by the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, a panel of security and economic experts convened by U.S. Congress. China’s status as the world’s largest manufacturer of internet-connected devices creates “numerous points of vulnerability” when it comes to issues such as cybersecurity and intelligence collection. The commission cited Chinese telecommunications giants Huawei and ZTE in particular. [Kate O’Keefe / The Wall Street Journal] Who does Facebook fire after a bombshell New York Times investigation? Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg are depicted as misjudging Facebook’s problems at nearly every turn, and perhaps even actively ignoring them. [Kurt Wagner] Watch Marc Benioff try to explain what he’s going to do with Time magazine. “I’m the inspiring visionary!” [Kurt Wagner] Netflix will launch a cheaper subscription with ads, predicts The Trade Desk CEO Jeff Green. Why? It needs to compete with the free-by-default YouTube, he said on the latest episode of Recode Media. [Peter Kafka] Marc Benioff says he had rabbis and imams supporting the Prop C homelessness tax — but not tech CEOs. Business leaders are conditioned with a “Pavlovian” response against tax hikes, said the Salesforce CEO. [Shirin Ghaffary] Why nonprofits should think more like tech companies. “Social Startup Success” author Kathleen Kelly Janus explains on the latest episode of Recode Decode. [Kara Swisher] San Francisco’s wax museum trades Lady Gaga for a touchable, insultable yak-haired Trump. The new hotness. This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

Technology

Social Media

Aaron Carter ended up in the hospital, apparently for exhaustion, following a concert -- the cherry on top of an awful night, which he says included some major body shaming. The singer performed at the HOT 107.9 concert in Syracuse Thursday night and afterward said he was headed to the ER for a checkup ... something about staying strong following a string of shows. He also revealed he had a run-in with a fan who said he looks like he has cancer. Aaron says the fan was talking to someone else, and didn't realize he was listening, but added ... he needed to eat 5 cheeseburgers because it looks like he's dying. Aaron took it hard, saying ... "They literally won't stop bullying me" and "I'm sorry I'm not fat enough."

Entertainment

Television

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The DoubleLine Total Return Bond Fund posted a net outflow of $3.5 billion in December, its biggest one-month withdrawal ever, data from research firm Morningstar showed on Tuesday. The fund, which launched in April 2010 and is DoubleLine’s flagship, attracted a net $3.05 billion in new cash for all of 2016, the Morningstar data showed. The fund’s December outflow, which reduced its assets to $55.7 billion, marks its second-straight net cash withdrawal after it bled $1.4 billion in November. Overall, the DoubleLine open-end mutual funds collectively posted a net outflow of $3 billion in December and a total net inflow of $7.9 billion in 2016, the Morningstar data showed. The DoubleLine Total Return Bond Fund invests primarily in mortgage-backed securities and is run by DoubleLine Chief Executive Jeffrey Gundlach and the firm’s president, Philip Barach. Gundlach is known on Wall Street as the ‘Bond King.’ The latest monthly outflow exceeded the DoubleLine Total Return Bond Fund’s largest and second-largest net withdrawals for a month, of $2.12 billion and $2.07 billion, that were posted respectively during the “taper-tantrum” months of September and December 2013 according to Morningstar data. In May 2013, after a mere suggestion of an imminent reduction or “taper” of bond purchases by then-Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, yields skyrocketed in a span of four months. “We have seen, as have other intermediate-term bond managers, net outflows in the DoubleLine Total Return Bond Fund in the final months of the year as investors have responded to rising rates and also, maybe, doing some tax-related selling,” said DoubleLine analyst Loren Fleckenstein. “It wouldn’t surprise me if we saw further net outflows from intermediate-term bond funds, including ours, in the months ahead.” The fund delivered a roughly 2.2 percent return in 2016 to lag 78 percent of peers, according to Morningstar data. The fund’s five-year annualized return, of 4 percent, has beaten 94 percent of peers, Morningstar data show. While investors pulled cash from the firm’s flagship fund, the DoubleLine Shiller Enhanced CAPE fund and DoubleLine Flexible Income Fund were two of the firm’s funds that attracted new money in December - $266 million and $113 million, respectively. The inflows brought the DoubleLine Shiller Enhanced CAPE fund and the DoubleLine Flexible Income Fund’s assets to $2 billion and $475 million, respectively. Los Angeles-based DoubleLine managed over $100 billion in assets as of June 1, 2016, according to the firm’s website. Reporting by Sam Forgione; Editing by Bernard Orr

Finance

Investing

JERUSALEM, May 6 (Reuters) - A strengthening shekel has become a concern for the Bank of Israel and could help to delay further interest rate increases, a voting member of the central bank’s monetary policy committee said on Monday. Andrew Abir, head of market operations at the Bank of Israel, said the exchange rate was another challenge that would affect future monetary policy in addition to weakening global growth and trade that have helped to lower expectations for tightening in the United States and Europe. “The depreciation of the shekel in 2018 has been partly reversed, and if the appreciation continues, as the monetary committee has emphasised, it may delay the increase of inflation toward the midpoint of the target range,” he told a conference. The shekel has appreciated some 4 percent so far this year versus the dollar after an 8 percent depreciation in 2018. Against a basket of currencies of Israel’s main trading partners, the shekel stands near a six-month high. After a surprise rate increase in November, policymakers have held the benchmark lending rate at 0.25 percent at the subsequent three meetings. The central bank has said future hikes would be gradual and cautious and depended on inflation moving near the midpoint of the target - or around 2 percent. The rate stood at 1.4 percent in March. The next decision is May 20 but an increase is not widely expected until later in 2019. The bank’s own economists project a quarter-point increase towards the end of the third quarter. (Reporting by Steven Scheer; Editing by Alison Williams)

Finance

Economics

Economist Thomas Sowell once quipped, “The first lesson of economics is scarcity” and “the first lesson of politics is to disregard the first lesson of economics.” With California’s recent flirtation with statewide rent control, it seems Golden State lawmakers are treating Sowell’s warning as a game plan. The results will be predictable: less affordable housing for all.   With the exception of lawmakers and a small crew of activists, almost everyone knows that rent control has never worked. All economists know it. And it seems most Californians know it, given that the state’s voters thoroughly trounced an initiative last November that would have repealed a 1995 law that limits local jurisdictions’ ability to impose rent control. Yet the rent control myth persists. Oregon lawmakers have manifested their faith with a new statewide rent control regime, and California lawmakers are now toying with the idea. California’s rent control bill, AB 1482, would impose a 5 percent cap on rent increases beyond the percentage of regional inflation. That’s stricter than Oregon’s recent law, which imposed a 7 percent cap, although last month California lawmakers offered a twig-sized olive branch by exempting newer rentals. Unfortunately, however they may tinker with the specifics, the bill won’t overcome its most fundamental flaw: ignoring the aforementioned first lesson of economics. When politicians shove down prices, a shortage results. A lower price means more people want the good while fewer people produce it. So, rent control means more demand for housing and less housing supply. Landlords will either bow out of the market, always max out on the rent increases available to them, or ratchet up the rent immediately when a new lease begins. Meanwhile, inflated prices will spill out into the uncontrolled market, worsening the crunch. Rent control will cause apartment investment trusts to underperform, and investment dollars that may have gone toward new construction, in anticipation of solid returns, will go elsewhere. As various states have flirted with rent control in recent months, investors already have begun to flinch. This is an ominous sign, since multi-family housing is an essential tool in easing a housing crisis. California’s bill not only will cause a housing shortage, it also will degrade the quality of the existing housing stock. Rent control leaves landlords with little incentive to upgrade and improve their property. Plus, landlords operate at a narrow margin. Rent controls choke that margin even more, leading landlords to forego maintenance and improvements. The legacy of rent control is a crumbling housing stock, both figuratively and literally. The bill’s recent amendment to exempt newer housing would do little to alleviate the problem. That amendment is likely designed to maintain incentives to build affordable housing. But the rent control measure will make new housing even pricier, whether or not it’s in the grip of rent control. After all, when you squeeze prices, they’ll inflate in the uncontrolled market. And who does rent control help, anyway? It helps people who can fight their way into a price-controlled unit and stay put. In most cases, those people are not the poorest among us, who are often left to struggle in the uncontrolled market while the beneficiaries of the rent control regime slide along in comfortable, affordable housing that’s not subject to market prices. There are some sad ironies behind California’s wrongheaded rent control push. Some months ago, California Gov. Gavin NewsomGavin Christopher NewsomCalifornia signs into law tighter standards for police use of lethal force Water bottle tax penalizes California's rural poor California leads states in lawsuit over Trump public charge rule MORE took an encouraging step toward the right affordable housing solution: encourage new construction. Newsom urged local communities to remove barriers to more housing construction, threatening to strip local jurisdictions of transportation funding if they didn’t comply with a state housing quota. However, late last month Newsom indicated that he’d sign a rent control bill if it reached his desk. He can’t have it both ways — his signature on a rent control bill will offset any good his construction initiative might do. The other irony is California’s steady refusal to listen to the advice of its own experts. In 2015, the Legislative Analyst’s Office released a study about why California has become so unlivable. Their diagnosis was simple: overregulation of real estate. Their prescription was obvious enough: build more housing. But they were speaking the language of the first lesson of economics — and we know what the first lesson of politics says about that. Ethan Blevins is an attorney with Pacific Legal Foundation, which litigates nationwide to achieve court victories enforcing the Constitution’s guarantee of individual liberty. Follow him on Twitter @ethanwb. View the discussion thread. The Hill 1625 K Street, NW Suite 900 Washington DC 20006 | 202-628-8500 tel | 202-628-8503 fax The contents of this site are ©2019 Capitol Hill Publishing Corp., a subsidiary of News Communications, Inc.

Other

Other

President Trump took aim at Republican Sen. Bob Corker Sunday morning via Twitter, saying he lacked the "guts" to seek re-election after begging for an endorsement. This came a few days after Corker said he wouldn't support Trump's tax plan if it increased the deficit and said Secretaries Mattis and Tillerson, along with John Kelly, are helping to keep the U.S. from "chaos." Corker then fired back: "It's a shame the White House has become an adult day care center. Someone obviously missed their shift this morning." Corker was indeed in the running for secretary of state, and introduced Trump at a rally in March, speaking glowingly of him at that time. But he's been increasingly frustrated with Trump, particularly over a number of foreign policy moves and statements. Why it matters: Corker is retiring — but not until January 2019. Until that time he's free to vote however he sees fit, and challenge Trump whenever he feels it necessary. Go Deeper: A Corker ally on his thinking.

Politics

US

In the summer of 2017, Michael Parsons found the urban rat haven of his dreams: A Waste Management transfer station—aka a literal trash heap, aka rat paradise—in Brooklyn, New York. For nearly two years, the behavioral ecologist and visiting scholar at Fordham University had been searching for a place to observe the city-dwelling rodents in their natural habitat. Trouble was, he needed to not only capture the critters and tag them, but then to set them free. Rats are wildly, wildly successful animals, a success that comes at great expense to human health and commerce. They spread disease, gnaw through infrastructure, and demolish foodstores, a cumulative devastation that costs tens of billions of dollars a year. But to stop them, researchers first have to study them. "As the saying goes: Know thy enemy," Parsons says. "And the only way to know a rat is to catch it and release it, so you can observe it." One of the camera traps inside the dust-covered waste processing facility

Other

Other

Feb 24 (Reuters) - Bonasudden Holding publ AB : * Sept. 2014 - Dec. 2015 rental income 22.9 million Swedish crowns ($2.70 million) * Sept. 2014 - Dec. 2015 pre-tax loss 8.4 million crowns * Proposes 2015 dividend of 7.5 crowns per share to be paid quarterly in four installments Source text: bit.ly/1T63X3L Further company coverage: ($1 = 8.4820 Swedish crowns) (Gdynia Newsroom)

Technology

Software

(Reuters) - Sirius XM Holdings Inc (SIRI.O) said on Friday it will invest $480 million in Pandora Media Inc P.N, giving the satellite radio company better exposure to internet music streaming while providing financial footing to Pandora. While Sirius XM has a strong presence in the auto market, where its channels are offered in most new cars in the United States, it has trailed Pandora and other music providers in mobile and streaming content. The relationship could give Sirius expertise in expanding its listening base outside of the car. “We believe there are future opportunities to accelerate Pandora’s growth and further increase stockholder value,” Sirius XM Chief Executive Officer Jim Meyer said in a statement. While the companies did not provide details about how they would work together, Barclays analyst Kannan Venkateshwar said Sirius XM could bundle Pandora services to its customers, similar to how Amazon (AMZN.O) sells HBO and Showtime subscriptions. Pandora CEO Tim Westergren said the investment “infuses resources to help Pandora continue to grow and innovate.” Pandora’s shares have lost more than 30 percent over the past 12 months, and the company has never turned a profit on an annual basis. As of Friday, Pandora’s market capitalization of approximately $2 billion was dwarfed by Sirius XM’s $25 billion. Sirius XM, controlled by media mogul John Malone’s Liberty Media Corp (FWONA.O) will receive three board seats and appoint the chairman. Sirius is prevented from buying additional Pandora stock for 18 months and will not buy more than 31.5 percent of Pandora after that period. The deal ends a strategic review by Pandora and should ease pressure from activist investor Corvex Management LP that goes back more than year. The deal is a “new opportunity” for Pandora that raises its value, Corvex CEO Keith Meister told CNBC on Friday. The investment also ends an earlier agreement for KKR & Co (KKR.N) to make an equity investment. KKR will get a $22.5 million termination fee. Reuters first reported on Thursday that Sirius XM was looking to invest in Pandora after their merger negotiations fell apart, citing sources. While Sirius XM agreed to a standstill agreement for 18 months, it probably does not rule out an outright acquisition of Pandora later, analysts said. Sirius XM’s owner Liberty Media, controls a media empire that includes big stakes in sports teams, cable and internet companies. It took full control of Sirius XM in 2013, five years after it first bought a stake. Liberty owns more than 60 percent of Sirius. The latest investment by Sirius is convertible into Pandora common stock at $10.50 per share, a 23.8 percent premium to its Wednesday close. Pandora also said on Friday it will sell its ticketing firm Ticketfly to Eventbrite for $200 million, less than half of the $450 million it paid last year. Shares of Pandora were up 1.1 percent at $8.51 in afternoon trading, while Sirius was off 3.4 percent at $5.22 per share. Sirius XM was advised by Allen & Co and Bank of America, while Pandora was advised by Centerview Partners and Morgan Stanley. Reporting by Liana B. Baker in San Francisco and Aishwarya Venugopal in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta and Jeffrey Benkoe

Technology

Music

South by Southwest Interactive has finally arrived. But while you can plan for the sessions, keynotes and parties, there's one element to the conference attendees may still wondering how to prepare for: their smartphones. Each year, it seems, SXSW serves as the launchpad for one app to go super viral — if only briefly so. Twitter, Foursquare and Meerkat were all breakout apps the festival in years past, but what's in store for SXSW 2016? While it's too soon to know what this year's red-hot app will be, we've compiled a few of the apps we think could be strong contenders. Take a look at our list below for a closer look at the apps we think have the best shot. Think of the recently launched Anchor as an audio-based social network. Users upload and share short audio clips, and others can listen, share and respond — think Twitter and Facebook interactions but with voices instead of text. The result is a stream of incredibly diverse conversations that you can easily listen and contribute to. Paul Davison, the creator of Shorts, knows a thing or two about going viral at SXSW. In 2012 he launched Highlight, which went crazy viral in Austin before fading into app oblivion. Like Highlight, Shorts is also about sharing (or oversharing, depending who you ask) with friends and people nearby. Each time you open the app, Shorts challenges you to share the photos from your camera roll. You can follow friends or look for people nearby to get a peek into their day through their photos. Backed by JJ Abrams and Moviefone cofounder Andrew Jarecki, KnowMe allows you to create short video clips using your voice and photos and videos from your camera roll. The app has a Vine-like interface that makes it easy to browse other users’ videos and share your own creations with the app’s community. Both Abrams and Jarecki will be on-hand at SXSW as the two are teaming up in a session Monday where they are expected to talk about robots, murderers and — you guessed it — KnowMe. Tribe, which began gaining traction almost immediately after it launched at the end of 2015, puts a slightly different spin on video messaging. The app has a simple one-screen interface that makes it easy to quickly share short audio or video messages with just one tap. Tribe even has a slightly gameified "points" system, which awards you points based on your activity within the app. Cola Messenger aims to make messaging simpler with its "cola bubbles" — interactive elements that let you take an action directly from a text message. You can share availability to schedule a meeting, take a poll, create a to-do list or share your exact location from within the bubbles. Better yet, the friends you share with don't need to have the app installed in order to interact with the bubbles. Though far from an up-and-comer, 2016 is shaping up to be the year Snapchat becomes truly mainstream and we expect this year's conference will see more snaps and stories than any year before. In addition to the inevitable steady stream of selfies that will pass through the app, there are entire panels devoted to burgeoning world of Snapchat marketing and celebrity. Meanwhile, those following along at home should keep an eye out for stories from the ground in Austin. (Pro-tip: Be sure to turn on travel mode so Snapchat won't eat your data while you're out and about.)

Arts and Entertainment

Museums

MOSCOW/KIEV (Reuters) - Russia and Ukraine swapped dozens of prisoners on Saturday in a carefully-negotiated rapprochement that brought Western praise and could thaw a freeze in relations since Moscow’s annexation of the Crimea region in 2014. While the exchange of 35 prisoners on each side could help rebuild confidence between Moscow and Kiev and allow them to start talking seriously over other issues including a conflict in east Ukraine, full normalization is a long way off. Following lengthy talks, a Russian aircraft carrying freed prisoners from Kiev landed in Moscow while a Ukrainian plane with its released prisoners touched down in Kiev. The freed Ukrainians included 24 sailors detained by Russia during a clash in waters off Crimea last year. Ukrainian filmmaker Oleg Sentsov, jailed in Russia, was also present. Among those handed to Moscow was Volodymyr Tsemakh, suspected of involvement in downing a Malaysia Airlines flight over rebel-held east Ukraine in 2014 that killed all 298 aboard. The airliner was on a flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, and the Dutch government issued a statement saying it “seriously regrets that under pressure from the Russian Federation, Mr Tsemakh was included in this prisoner swap.” The statement said Dutch prosecutors did, however, get a chance to question Tsemakh before his release. Ukraine’s security service has identified him as a former commander of Russian-backed forces in eastern Ukraine. Hugging and shaking hands with the freed Ukrainians, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told reporters the swap was part of his deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Now all steps must be taken “to finish this horrible war,” he added, referring to the east where Russian-backed separatists control a swathe of Ukrainian territory in a conflict that has killed more than 13,000 people in five years. Zelenskiy has pledged to end the regular, low-level clashes that persist despite a ceasefire signed in 2015. Putin and Zelenskiy made a positive assessment of the swap when discussing it by phone on Saturday and agreed on further contacts, the Kremlin said in a statement. “The humanitarian aspect of this action, which is of great importance for the normalization and improvement of bilateral relations has been emphasized,” it added. Zelenskiy’s administration said that during the phone call they also agreed to discuss soon the date of the next Normandy format meeting - talks on eastern Ukraine between Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany. Putin noted the need to continue the preparatory work so the next Normandy meeting contributes to the implementation of existing agreements at the highest level, the Kremlin added. Though Ukraine’s demands for the return of Crimea have fallen on deaf ears in Russia, Saturday’s exchange was still seen as a win for Zelenskiy, a former comedian who swept to power this year promising to repatriate compatriots in Russia. The U.S. Embassy in Kiev congratulated him. President Donald Trump lauded both nations, tweeting that the move was “perhaps a first giant step to peace.” France, which has been pushing for a summit to resolve Russian-Ukrainian differences, said the swap showed improved trust and will on both sides to resume dialogue. “Populations can now hope for an end to the five-year conflict, which continues to make dozens of victims each month,” Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said in a statement. The conflict in Ukraine will be at the heart of the agenda of the Franco-Russian Cooperation Council on Security Issues, which Le Drian said he would attend in Moscow on Monday together with Defence Minister Florence Parly. One of the 35 freed Russians brought a black-and-white cat with him on the flight back to Moscow, released Russian journalist Kirill Vyshinsky told RIA news agency. “It is a year and three months old, it is called Mashka,” he said. Reporting by Natalia Zinets, Polina Devitt, Anton Zverev, Gennady Novik, Matthias Williams; Additional reported by Bart H. Meijer and Dominique Vidalon; Writing by Polina Ivanova, Andrew Osborn and Polina Devitt; Editing by Mark Heinrich, Alistair Bell, Andrew Cawthorne and Chris Reese

Politics

International Relations

Tech Tip Q. The Siri voice assistant seems to come on randomly when I type on my Mac. What activates it? A. Siri, Apple’s virtual software assistant now built into its Mac operating system, can be activated with a keyboard shortcut. If you are typing along and press the space bar and command keys at the same time for a second or two, Siri pops up to ask if you need help. If you suspect keystrokes are causing Siri to appear, you can change or turn off the keyboard shortcut. To do so, click the System Preferences icon in the Mac’s desktop dock; you can also get there by going to the Apple menu and choosing System Preferences. When the box opens, click the Siri icon in the bottom row. In the Siri preferences box, click the menu next to Keyboard Shortcut. Here, you can choose a different key combination — either holding down the space bar and Option key or holding down the space bar and Function (Fn) key; you can also create your own custom keyboard shortcut. If you would rather not summon Siri by keyboard at all, choose Off from the menu. The Siri preferences box has a few other controls for the software. You can choose the language you want to use to talk to Siri — more than 20 languages with different regional variations are available. In many languages, you can select a male or female voice for the assistant. If want to keep Siri off the keyboard but within easy reach, you have the option to show the Siri icon in the Mac’s top menu bar.

Other

Other

Bob Iger stepped down from his role as Disney CEO on Tuesday and longtime Disney exec Bob Chapek took his place.Iger led the company through major acquisitions and record-breaking box office success, but he leaves the role at an uncertain time for Disney's future.The Wuhan coronavirus has already impacted Disney's business, concerns are being raised about Disney Plus, and the Fox merger has yet to pay off at the box office.Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. On Tuesday, Bob Iger abruptly stepped down from his role as Disney CEO. The former chairman of Disney parks, experiences, and products, Bob Chapek, was named his successor.Iger will remain with Disney as executive chairman through 2021, when his contract expires, and focus on its creative endeavors during his remaining time, the company said."In thinking about what I want to accomplish before I leave the company at the end of '21, getting everything right creatively would be my No. 1 goal," Iger told The New York Times. "I could not do that if I were running the company on a day-to-day basis."Iger has downplayed the hasty nature of the announcement. He said during an investor call on Tuesday that it was "not accelerated for any particular reason" and that Chapek was identified "quite some time ago" as his likely successor. But that hasn't convinced everyone. Investment firm Barclays called the announcement "abrupt and sudden" in a note on Tuesday. "Given that Iger will remain with the company until his contract ends, it is not clear why the company felt the urgency to undertake the transition immediately," the note said. "Incrementally, the company did not name a successor to Chapek, which also seems to imply that the timing of the transition wasn't planned."Iger led the company through major acquisitions and to unprecedented box-office success in his 15 years as CEO, and he undoubtedly leaves his role on a high note. But he also leaves the role at an uncertain time and the decision raises major questions about Disney's future.Here they are:1. How will the Wuhan coronavirus impact Disney's business?Perhaps the biggest question hanging over Disney's Tuesday announcement was whether the Wuhan coronavirus, which has killed more than 2,000 people, had any impact on the decision, and how the virus could impact Disney's business going forward.Research firm Rosenblatt mentioned the coronavirus in a note on Wednesday, saying that Iger now has time to focus on laying "the framework for the next decade of Disney content" while Chapek takes control of the day-to-day business. "The coronavirus is increasingly spreading outside of China which, if continues, would likely demand greater allocation of time from the CEO of Disney," the note said. "This could have ultimately taken away from Bob Iger's focus on content creation, a specialty of his. Leaving Bob Chapek, a Disney veteran with 27 years with the company to run the day-to-day business while Bob Iger is still in the building seems like a good reallocation of resources to us." Still, the coronavirus has already affected Disney. The Shanghai Disneyland resort (which Chapek was instrumental in opening) is closed because of concerns over the virus. In its earnings call earlier this month, Disney estimated that the park's quarterly operating income could drop by $135 million if it remains closed for two months. Disney's global box office during the coronavirus outbreak is another topic of concern, notably its big-budget, live-action "Mulan" remake. China's nearly 70,000 theaters are closed in response to the coronavirus and the country, which is the second biggest theatrical market in the world behind the US, was expected to be a major force in the movie's international box-office haul.It's unknown when China's theaters will reopen. "Mulan" has a global release date of March 27, but it's likely that the movie's China release will be postponed — a potentially damaging scenario considering its $200 million production budget. "The longer this tragic situation continues, the greater the impact will be on all of the studios, their movies, and indeed all of the arts in China," Paul Dergarabedian, the Comscore senior media analyst, told Business Insider. "Of course, there will still be a natural hesitation to avoid public spaces even when the situation is contained, so release dates for the 2020 overall movie slate in China could change dramatically." 2. Is Disney Plus in trouble?An essential part of Iger's legacy will be the launch of Disney's streaming service, Disney Plus, which debuted in November. Disney announced earlier this month that the service had 28.6 million subscribers. Its live-action "Star Wars" TV series, "The Mandalorian," was immensely popular with audiences and the show's breakout star, Baby Yoda, is an internet sensation. But concerns are starting to be raised about the service's future.Bernstein analyst Todd Juenger wrote in a recent report that Disney Plus had probably already reached its peak net adds and "there will probably never be another year where Disney Plus adds as many subscribers as it did in the first year, or frankly in its first quarter."Many analysts believed that Kevin Mayer, Disney's head of direct-to-consumer and international, would succeed Iger. And the fact that he didn't land the job could signal incoming challenges for Disney Plus."The company has made a massive bet on streaming with its ~$70 billion Fox acquisition and the launch of Disney Plus," Barclays said in its note, adding that there was some expectation among investors that Mayer was a CEO candidate. How audiences respond to Disney Plus' upcoming projects could be a major sign for the service's future. Though it has a deep back catalog of Disney content, Disney Plus is not releasing the volume of new TV shows and movies that Netflix is, placing greater weight on each new release.Marvel Cinematic Universe TV shows, "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier" and "WandaVision," debut later this year (the latter was moved up from 2021). "The Mandalorian" season two also premieres this fall.3. What's going on with the 'Star Wars' franchise?While Disney has a collection of some of the most popular entertainment franchises in the world, from Marvel to Pixar, it hasn't quite figured out what to do with "Star Wars."Yes, each movie in the new trilogy of the Disney era grossed over $1 billion. But they also each saw a decline from the last one at the box office and the latest, "The Rise of Skywalker," was the worst reviewed "Star Wars" movie in 20 years. And after "Solo: A Star Wars Story" disappointed (it made less than $400 million globally) Iger expressed regret about Disney's annual "Star Wars" release strategy."I made the timing decision, and as I look back, I think the mistake that I made — I take the blame — was a little too much, too fast," Iger told The Hollywood Reporter in 2018. "You can expect some slowdown, but that doesn't mean we're not going to make films." He's reiterated that sentiment more recently, telling Bloomberg in November that there didn't seem to be much demand for "Star Wars" standalone movies. Disney's "Star Wars" movies have faced production woes, from Ron Howard coming on "Solo" as director late into production, to significant script rewrites and reshoots on "Rogue One." There is a "Star Wars" movie on Disney's release schedule for 2022 that is expected to start a new trilogy, but its writers and producers (David Benioff and D.B. Weiss), exited the project in October. Disney has not announced any updates.Other "Star Wars" projects have been announced, such as from "The Last Jedi" director Rian Johnson and Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige, but with few details or updates.Disney also hasn't figured out how to sell "Star Wars" in the crucial Chinese market. "The Rise of Skywalker" flopped in the region and, to put it in perspective, each movie before that made less money combined in China than what "Avengers: Endgame" made there in a week.With all that in mind, Disney seems to be betting big on Disney Plus when it comes to "Star Wars." "The Mandalorian" is a hit and more live-action series are in development, including a "Rogue One" prequel and an Obi-Wan Kenobi series. Fortunately, "The Mandalorian" suggested that the franchise can make the transition to live-action television with new characters and stories that satisfied fans new and old.  4. How long will it take for the 20th Century movies to pay off?Disney closed its acquisition of Fox's film studio (which it recently renamed 20th Century Studios) and many of its television assets last year in a deal worth a whopping $71.3 billion. Disney acquired James Cameron's "Avatar" sequels and other major movie assets in the deal — but it has yet to pay off at cinemas.Most of the 20th Century movies that Disney inherited have been box-office flops. During its Q3 earnings report last year, Disney blamed a $173 million quarterly operating loss largely on the X-Men movie "Dark Phoenix," which was made for $200 million and barely crossed that at the global box office. Here are some other 20th Century movies that have underperformed since the Disney acquisition:"The Art of Racing in the Rain" made $33 million worldwide off of a $20 million production budget.Brad Pitt's sci-fi drama "Ad Astra" earned $132 million and was produced for $87.5 million."The Call of the Wild," starring Harrison Ford, performed better than expected over the weekend with $24 million, but that's still disappointing considering its hefty $135 million budget. "It will probably take a solid year, maybe two years, before we can have an impact on the films in production," Iger said during a Q3 earnings call last year. "We're all confident we're going to turn around the results of Fox live action." Of course, 20th Century's slate had little impact on Disney's box-office dominance in 2019. The company grossed $3.76 billion domestically and $11.12 billion globally in 2019, both box-office records, and released six movies that earned more than $1 billion at the box office — including "Avengers: Endgame," the biggest movie of all time.But without an "Avengers," "Star Wars," or highly anticipated Pixar sequel on the release schedule this year, 2020 won't reach those heights and the box office will be more evenly distributed between studios — another potential reason that Iger saw now as the right time to step down as CEO and fully dive into the company's creative aspirations.If you have a tip about Disney, contact the author at [email protected] or DM him on Twitter @TravClark2. window._taboola = window._taboola || []; window._taboola = window._taboola || [];

Business

Management

UNITED NATIONS, Sept 17 (Reuters) - The United Nations Security Council unanimously agreed on Tuesday to extend a U.N. political mission in Afghanistan after last-minute talks overcame a Chinese threat to veto if there was no reference to Beijing’s global Belt and Road infrastructure project. The final language - drafted by Germany and Indonesia - adopted by the 15-member council does not mention the project. The resolutions mandating the mission in 2016, 2017 and 2018 all included a reference welcoming and urging efforts like China’s Belt and Road initiative to facilitate trade and transit, but in March the United States and some other council members said they could no longer accept that language. The council agreed then to a six month rollover of the mandate of the U.N. mission, known as UNAMA, and that expires on Tuesday. A planned vote on Monday was delayed to Tuesday to allow for further negotiations as diplomats said China had signaled it was prepared to veto the text. To pass, a resolution needs nine votes in favor and no vetoes by the United States, China, France, Russia and Britain. The U.N. mission, which was established in 2002, is helping Afghanistan prepare for Sept. 28 elections and is pushing for peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban. Talks between the United States and the Taliban militants on a U.S. troop withdrawal fell apart earlier this month. There are 14,000 U.S. forces and thousands of other NATO troops in the country, 18 years after a U.S.-led coalition invaded following the Sept. 11, 2001, al Qaeda attacks on the U.S. (Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by David Gregorio)

Military

Defense

Robert Beatty's story starts with noise. Long before he was designing record covers for A-list psych rock acts like Tame Impala and the Flaming Lips, even before he was making art for his friends' records, the Kentucky-based artist and designer was taking apart toys and making tape collages from the safety of his childhood bedroom. Wringing whatever prickly sounds he could from the electronics at his disposal—and spending his high school years digging into the weirder corners of the Warp catalog—he developed a taste for the absurd. Somewhere along the way Beatty met Trevor Tremaine, a like-minded weirdo in his hometown of Nicholasville. The two longtime friends moved to Lexington after high school, where they had a show on the University of Kentucky's radio station. Through the station they met everybody in the college town that inhabited the same outer realms that they did. They started playing noise shows, usually under different names with different people, with little prior planning. One of the names that stuck was Hair Police, which Beatty and Tremaine eventually turned into a bone-chilling combo with Mike Connelly (later of Wolf Eyes). From Beatty's perspective, they "got about as much notoriety as a band playing the kind of music we were playing can get," meaning that they developed a reputation as one of the most curdled acts of the mid-00s noise scene, and—most notably—that they spent a tour opening up for Sonic Youth. From the inception of Hair Police in 2001, Beatty channelled his childhood interests in drawing and graphic design into art for records—both for Hair Police and for his own solo project Three Legged Race—and show posters. A few years went by and friends took notice of his surreal and enlisted him for album covers of their own. After he made literally world-shattering cover for Burning Star Core, he became the go-to artist for a certain segment of the underground, turning in colorful airbrushed absurdist art for the likes of Oneohtrix Point Never, Peaking Lights, and Wooden Wand and a host of others. In the past year, he's handled those aforementioned covers for Tame Impala and the Flaming Lips, as well as launching his first art book, Floodgate Companion. It's now been a little over three years since Hair Police last released a record, but the hand-sculpted surreality of that era of his work still pulses through everything he works on, including a strange new collaboration with Giphy that launches today. The self-proclaimed "best way to search, share, and discover GIFs on the Internet" recently reached out to Beatty to enlist him to create a handful of pieces, which he took as an occasion to pump some absurdity into the service. He turned in eight otherworldly animations that were bounced from their digital origins to gritty VHS tape and back again. You can check out all of those pieces below, along with a recent conversation with Beatty himself about his roots in the Midwest noise scene and the proper pronunciation of .gif. THUMP: So before we get into it, is it pronounced"jiff" or "giff"?Robert Beatty: I think I say it differently dependent on the context. If it's on its own I say "jiff," but if I say "animated" I say "gif." I know there is a definitive answer because the guy that created it said so. But I can't remember which it is. [Ed. note: Despite what he may believe, Beatty proceeded to say "giff" for the remainder of our conversation] Over time you've been known for both your visual and sound art; what's your background in both? I've always made art since I was a kid. I've always drawn and made things. I got into music really heavily as a teenager. I started experimenting with sound more than anything, making tape collages, opening up electronics and taking them apart and seeing what sounds I could get out of toys. It's something that a lot of people do, but I didn't know that or that circuit-bending existed. I was just experimenting. I got into playing noise music through that. That's the reason I'm here doing anything at all, because Hair Police started releasing a decent amount of records and touring. That became a gateway to doing art. So you didn't ever pursue art formally?I've always hoped that I'd be able to do art for a living but I didn't know if it was going to work out or not because I wasn't setting up the traditional infrastructure for that to happen. I didn't go to art school and I wasn't pursuing it in a way that would traditionally yield results. I didn't come from a family with a lot of money. Neither of my parents went to college. That was kind of it. I got out of high school and I worked at a gas station as a janitor for years and years. By the time I'd done that, Hair Police was touring several months out of the year. I just went from there, you know. I don't know that I would have benefitted from art school anyway. I suppose I'll never know. Did you start out doing album covers for friends mostly?A lot of the early stuff was stuff I was doing for projects I was directly involved with. One of the first things I did for someone else was for a band we played with sometimes, Burning Star Core. It was a record called Challenger. Then I did one of the early Oneohtrix Point Never covers, for Russian Mind. That was just through knowing Dan [Lopatin] through touring. But Hair Police started putting out records in 2001 and I didn't start doing records for other people until like 2006 or 2007. So there was a good deal of time where I was only doing stuff for my own music. So yeah, it's cool that my friends who I was doing artwork for got popular. It exploded shortly after that. Was there a moment that you realized you could start doing this for real?I definitely think doing R Plus 7, the Oneohtrix Point Never record. That being on Warp was a huge thing. When I was growing up I listened to Aphex Twin and Squarepusher and Autechre. All of that stuff was my favorite music when I was in high school, sitting in the cafeteria with headphones on at a table by myself. Doing a cover for a record that was coming out on Warp, that was a big moment for me in general, doing something that was linked to what influenced me. Tell me about these new animations you've made. I know you've done video work before but this seems to be a unique set of constraints. How did you make something so inherently digital work for your processes?This was a cool challenge. I do a decent amount of video work for my own stuff and I've done several music videos as well. But making music videos is kind of frustrating, you end up putting all this work into something people are going to watch once, maybe. The loop aspect of [the gifs] is nice. You can focus on one thing that you want to have happen and that's what people will see. All of these gifs that I made for this were taken from video. I was making animation in the computer and then processing that through analog video and then re-digitizing it and cutting it into loops. I'm running it through a few analog video mixers that I have so I'm actually running it out of the computer and recording it to VHS. The way I work is very hands-on. I'd rather be turning a knob than clicking a mouse. Did you give any thought to what makes a satisfying gif?Most of the gifs I made are focused on faces. If you're doing something that's really strange and psychedelic and people are going to see for a couple of seconds, having a face that they can pick out from the mess maybe makes it a bit more engaging. It's a cool project to take on, it almost seems optimistic about doing this kind of work in the internet era.It's kinda cool because it only exists in this really proprietary format. It's weird because it maybe seems like things are coming back around to physical stuff. I was really surprised at the response to the book I just did. In an era where for most people any visual media they're taking in is from a screen, how receptive people were to that book and how many people went out a store and picked it up. It was refreshing for sure. But a book's not like a record. You can't properly digitize a book without losing the experience. With a record you can more or less get the same thing listening on YouTube or Spotify. And see a thumbnail of the artwork.Maybe it's because I've grown to be doing what I'm doing in the era where the thumbnail is so important, but most of the artwork I'm doing is pretty direct and pretty simple so I think it works in that format anyway. Challenger, which was done before iTunes was a super prominent thing, that image would still be recognizable at any size. The Tame Impala cover too is a good example. You could see that at 16x16 pixels on a screen and you know what it is. There's a good chance that's influenced the way that I work, but that may just be why I've done so many record covers. It works.

Other

Other

New documents released online and published by a Dutch news website reveal that, like ExxonMobil Corp., Shell Oil also knew the truth about global warming at least 30 years ago, but continued to dig up and sell more oil and gas anyway.  Although the company is now investing more heavily in renewable energy compared to other oil majors, such as Exxon, it continues to sell fossil fuels worldwide, which, when burned to create energy, are the main cause of global warming and its related hazards, such as extreme weather events and sea level rise. The documents, posted online at the Climate Files website and the Climate Investigations Center, show that Shell researchers were remarkably prescient about how global warming would play out, and the eventual legal ramifications for oil companies given the warnings.  Remarkably, one of the Shell reports – published in 1998 – gamed out a scenario in which, in the year 2010, "...Violent storms causes extensive damage to the eastern coast of the U.S."  The report was off by just two years. This scenario essentially projected Superstorm Sandy, which occurred in 2012 and devastated the New Jersey shore while also putting lower Manhattan under water. That storm helped prompt a new wave of climate activism in the U.S. that has continued to build. The Shell petroleum refinery on Bukom Island off Singapore. Describing the ramifications of such extreme weather events, the report states: "Although it is not clear whether the storms are caused by climate change, people are not willing to take further chances," the report states. "The insurance industry refuses to accept liability, setting off a fierce debate over who is liable: the insurance industry, or the government. After all, two successive IPCC reports since 1995 have reinforced the human connection to climate change." The 1998 report envisioned class action lawsuits filed after these storms against the government and fossil fuel companies, because these entities ignored what scientists "(including their own) have been saying for years: that something must be done." Right now, in fact, the fossil fuel industry is facing a rising tide of lawsuits stemming from their role in contributing to climate change. These include a novel lawsuit brought by a group of young Americans against the federal government for failing to act on climate change, which is set to go to trial in the coming months. The cities of San Francisco and Oakland, among others, are seeking financial compensation from major oil companies like Chevron for damage from sea level rise. And Exxon is under investigation from the attorneys general of Massachusetts and New York for misleading their shareholders and the public about climate change. Many of these cases are known by the hashtag #ExxonKnew, based on documents showing what Exxon executives were told about climate science. It's likely that these newly revealed Shell documents will show up in some of these court cases, because they show that Shell was aware of the risks of climate change but didn't change its business practices accordingly.  Activists have seized on the Shell documents as evidence that the oil industry writ large is guilty of studying climate science and then continuing to contribute to the problem, while in some cases misleading the public about the science during the process.  Julia Olson, center, executive director of Our Children’s Trust, which is aiding a climate lawsuit against the federal government. “Had they merely been candid with the world, we could have gotten to work then, and while global warming would not yet be ‘solved,’ we’d be well on the way. Instead they appear to have chosen the path of hedging, minimizing, and diverting—and given the stakes, this was both tragic and immoral. Shell knew. And now we do too,” said Bill McKibben, a co-founder of the environmental group 350.org.  Another newly-revealed Shell climate document that's likely to play a role in ongoing court cases dates back to 1986, in which company researchers went so far as to quantify the company's own contribution to global emissions of greenhouse gases. Shell researchers  calculated it as 4 percent of the world total emissions of carbon dioxide, the main long-lived greenhouse gas, at the time.  That same report showed that the company had been producing climate change reports via a working group since at least 1981. The 1986 document included clear warnings about what Shell, and the world at large, would face from continued burning of fossil fuels. The report indicates that Shell was on board with what mainstream climate scientists have concluded, but members of the Trump administration disagree with — that fossil fuel burning is causing climate change.  "Although CO2 is emitted to the atmosphere through several natural processes… the main cause of increasing CO2 concentrations is considered to be fossil fuel burning," the report found.  It repeatedly notes that public opinion could turn against fossil fuel companies for contributing to global warming: "The changes in climate being considered here, are at an unaccustomed distance in time for future planning, even beyond the lifetime of most of the present decision makers but not beyond intimate (family) association," the report said. "The changes may be the greatest in recorded history. They could alter the environment in such a way that habitability would become more suitable in the one area and less suitable in the other area. Adaptation, migration and replacement could be called for. All of these actions will be costly and uncertain, but could be made acceptable." The report details many of the climate change impacts we're dealing with today, including sea level rise, ocean acidification, and extreme weather events.  A flooded street in Hoboken, New Jersey on October 30,2012. Interestingly, the 1986 report advised Shell to take action on climate change early, since by the time clearly recognizable effects would be occurring, it will be "too late" to prevent damage.  “With very long time scales involved, it would be tempting for society to wait until then to begin doing anything," the report found. "The potential implications for the world are, however, so large, that policy options need to be considered much earlier. And the energy industry needs to consider how it should play its part.” Richard Wiles, executive director of the Center for Climate Integrity, said the documents put Shell — which has been investing more aggressively in renewables compared to Exxon — in the same category as the Texas-based oil and gas giant, when it comes to studying climate change and then ignoring its own findings.  "Shell, like Exxon, understood 30 years ago that failing to act on climate change could cause irreversible damage to our planet. And like Exxon, Shell chose not to act," Wiles said in a statement.  "The documents eerily predict the extreme weather disasters and court battles over liability that we are seeing today." Shell for its part says that it is in favor of efforts to rein in carbon emissions, including through the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.  “The Shell Group’s position on climate change has been a matter of public record for decades," the company said in a statement.  "We strongly support the Paris Agreement and the need for society to transition to a lower carbon future, while also extending the economic and social benefits of energy to everyone. Successfully navigating this dual challenge requires sound government policy and cultural change to drive low-carbon choices for businesses and consumers. It requires cooperation between all segments of society.” This story was updated to include a statement from Shell. This story was updated to clarify the defendants in the youth climate case.

Science

Climate Change

WASHINGTON, May 21 (Reuters) - U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer will meet with officials from the European Union and Japan in Paris on Thursday regarding joint efforts to address the non market-oriented policies and practices of other countries, his office said. The meeting, which is expected to focus largely on Chinese subsidies, will take place on the sidelines of the ministerial meeting of the 36-member Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in Paris on Wednesday and Thursday. Lighthizer will also hold several bilateral meetings with key trading partners, and attend an informal ministerial meeting of the World Trade Organization, his office said in a statement. (Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)

History

Asia

In this Sunday, June 24, 2018 photo, Ammal Farahat, who has signed up to be a driver for Careem, a regional ride-hailing service that is a competitor to Uber, poses for a photograph next to her car on a street in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.Photo: Nariman El-Mofty (AP)Finalizing a long-rumored deal, Uber announced on Tuesday that it would acquire its Dubai-based competitor Careem in a deal worth $3.1 billion. The acquisition arrives ahead of Uber’s initial public offering expected as soon as next month.Uber said the acquisition would run it a cool $1.4 billion in cash, with another $1.7 billion promised in convertible notes. Uber said in an announcement that it expected the deal to officially close in the first quarter of 2020, subject to regulatory approvals in various markets. While a subsidiary of Uber, Careem will continue to function as an independent brand in its sizeable Middle East markets, which include Egypt, Jordan, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.The Financial Times, which reported the deal Sunday ahead of its official announcement this week, noted that the acquisition marks a significant historic milestone for the Middle Eastern tech industry. And with Careem positioned as the reigning king of ride-hailing in the region, CNN Business notes the acquisition marks the largest tech deal in the Middle East’s history.“The mobility and broader internet opportunity in the region is massive and untapped, and has the potential to leapfrog our region into the digital future,” Careem CEO and co-founder Mudassir Sheikha said in a statement. “This is a milestone moment for us and the region, and will serve as a catalyst for the region’s technology ecosystem by increasing the availability of resources for budding entrepreneurs from local and global investors.”Careem and Uber will both continue to operate in the region. In an email to Uber staff on Tuesday, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said the decision to allow Careem to function as an independent subsidiary “has the advantage of letting us build new products and try new ideas across not one, but two, strong brands, with strong operators within each.”While rumors of the deal have been floating around since last summer, the multi-billion dollar deal acquisition arrives as Uber is gearing up for its IPO. And amid Uber’s slowing revenue growth, Reuters noted that the acquisition will signal to possible investors that Uber is willing to fork over the cash to continue expanding.[Reuters]

Technology

Transportation

Having given you the low down on microhouse, italo disco, electroclash, filter house and dub techno, this time round we're turning our attention to slightly chillier climes. Welcome to the world of cosmic disco. When you think about disco, what comes to mind? Is it the pomp and circumstance of Studio 54? The robust glitz and glamour of the the eternally-in-our-hearts-and-minds Paradise Garage? A bunch of rednecks smashing up Bee Gees record with hammers while monster trucks breathe fire and stampede over stacks of Salsoul compilations? Maybe it's a slightly haunting memory of one of the 1978 Disco Dancing Championship contestants leering at you in a dream. Whatever it is that brings the synapses together—stacked heels, Alcazar, "Wiggle That Wotsit"—the chances are it probably isn't a load of beardy blokes from Scandinavia. But that, strangely, is where we find ourselves today, because today we're exploring the nether regions of the disco milky way: this is cosmic disco, and cosmic disco's not exactly "Yes Sir, I Can Boogie." Stemming from the afro-cosmic sound pioneered by Daniele Baldelli back in the 80s, by the mid-00s clubs the world round were swept away by elasticated, elongated, massively arpeggiated ten minute bongo, bass, and bleep workouts by blokes from Bergen. If traditional disco is a hot and sweaty affair, all silk shirts and unbridled sexuality, it's cosmic cousin was, due in part to it's popularity in Europe's most northern reaches, a chillier affair. But after all, it is pretty cold in space, so it all sort of makes sense. In a nutshell, imagine disco slowed down a bit, and then whack a load of icy synth patterns over the top. That's it. That's pretty much the basis for an entire genre, but what a genre it was! The scene's heaviest hitters were a pair of Norwegians: Hans-Peter Lindstrom and Prins Thomas. Their work, both in solo pursuits and as a duo, is still what comes to most people's minds as soon as you utter the phrase "cosmic disco." Albums like Reinterpretations and singles like "Turkish Delight" are still fantastic statements of a moment in time when it seemed like the future of clubbing was going to be big spangly disco records that nearly sunk under the weight of their own Moog Little Phatty arpeggiators. But, you know, you're reading THUMP so you probably don't need me to tell you much more about Prins Thomas and Lindstrom in 2016. The scene wasn't confined solely to Scandinavia, though, and compilations like London based Lo Recording's Milky Disco series were essential releases that took a more globally minded approach to the nooks and crannies of cosmic disco. In recent years things have slowed down a tad, and you're less likely to walk into a record shop and see a rack of Full Pupp releases and Mungolian Jet Set edits than you once were, but that doesn't mean you won't still find yourself desperate to hear "Mighty Girl" before embarking on a six hour Claremont mix binge. If you want to splash out on just the one physical cosmic disco artefact, we've got your back. Ok, so the beardo-weirdo purists out there, in their yellow anoraks and their expensive trainers and their nice sweaters from those menswear shops that sell really high end versions of really basic staples, and their snake-oil tuned stereos and their crippling marijuana habits might object to this, but well, let them drift into a cloud of irrelevance: the best cosmic disco mix ever is Prins Thomas' Cosmo Galactic Prism. Why's it the best cosmic disco mix ever? Because we don't know of any other cosmic disco mixes that feature Boards of Canada, Joe Meek, and Todd Terje. Cosmo Galactic Prism is an ambling, shaggy run through detour after detour, stuffing more good music into two hours than most DJs do in a lifetime. It sounds like emerging from the woods on a misty morning, traversing an alien landscape at lunchtime, and ending the day in the best club you've ever been to. Oh, and it features "Saphire" by Zombi which is arguably one of the best things mankind's ever done. Isn't that fantastic? Go and buy the mix now. Right now. Then come back and listen to the following records. Here, for the really lazy of you out there, are the ten best cosmic disco singles of all time. This is cosmic disco that literally sounds out of this world, as if it couldn't possibly have actually been crafted by a mere mortal. It must have beamed down from somewhere in the far reaches of a universe where everyone smokes really good weed and has a massive collection of private press new age records and the self-titled La Dusseldorf album. Imagine if lava lamps weren't the corniest thing in the world. Try and imagine that. Try and pretend for just a second, just one second, that the next time you go round a mate's house the pair of you will earnestly lie back on a beanbag and watch the lava lamp in full flow. Got it? Right, now imagine this playing on a loop. Isn't that nice? There was a good few years when Todd Terje could do no wrong. Remember "Eurodans" and "Kul I Pul" and every edit he ever did? Then the lads got hold of "Inspector Norse" and Terje became the kind of artist you might see at a festival which bigs up the food popups over the musical acts playing. Still, we'll always have the memories: if you've never not felt like you might overdose on endorphins while this is playing you've never lived. The thing about synaesthesia is that it sounds like total bullshit when you hear other people talk about it ("U2 taste like falafel! David Dickenson's skin sounds like a hot water bottle full of piss being used as a baseball! The colour pink feels like stinging nettles!") but all of us, really, think we've got it. When I hear this song the world becomes a perfect blue. De-icer blue. The best blue. For a minute or two back then it really did feel like Sally Shapiro was going to be a star. I remember going out and buying a hugely overpriced import copy of Disco Romance and being utterly convinced that her slightly saccahrine take on sadlad italo was going to fire her up the charts and we'd see "Anorak Christmas" on TOTP. That never happened, and no one's spoken about Sally Shapiro since 2012, but this is still a perfect little tearjerking cosmic classic. Yeah, we know, "Coma Cat" got played so much that Tensnake doesn't really mean anything to anyone anymore, but this absurdly exciting slice of house-inflected cosmic-romanticism is a sadly forgotten masterpiece that deserves endless rewinds. It sort of sounds like Haribo Tangfastic's taste. Sorry, I forgot about semi-invented synesthesia being a dullard's hobby. Don't give me any "but this isn't remotely like a disco record in any way and even though cosmic disco is more of a mindset than a set of aesthetic criteria that have to be adhered to, this is a bit of a strange record, are you sure you want to include it" BULLSHIT. This is the real deal right here. Listen right to the end for a 10/10 shock ending, too. This one's so monumentally incredible that we'd include it on a list of The Ten Best Doom Metal/Ambient Folk/Another Unexpected Genre Records Ever Made without a second thought. You know how we think that cola served in paper cups, or photos of abandoned shopping malls are the GOAT? We're wrong. It's this song. Well, after that Aeroplane track I think we all need to chill out a little. Have a breather. Pour ourselves a cup of tea and an orange juice and get a chocolate digestive or nine out of the cupboard and sit back with some downtempo British cosmic disco courtesy of Quiet Village. That's what we'll do. We couldn't leave this one out, could we? Josh is on Twitter

Music

Pop

RIVIERA BEACH, Fla. (Reuters) - Hundreds of weary Bahamians, some carrying small bags of belongings and children on their hips, disembarked a cruise ship in south Florida on Saturday after fleeing the catastrophic devastation left by Hurricane Dorian. The evacuees arrived at the Port of Palm Beach after an all-night voyage on the Grand Celebration, a cruise ship operated by Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line, which offered free passage to the U.S. to a limited number of Bahamians. “I feel lost between a rock and a weary line but I guess I will make it through,” said Thomas Stubbs soon after he got off the ship. The 42-year-old owner of an air conditioning and refrigeration business in Freeport said he will gather building supplies and return to that city in the next few days to help repair the homes of about 50 family and friends. “I have a lot, a lot, a lot of stuff lost but I will be back,” he said. Stubbs was one of about 1,100 evacuees who made the 72- nautical-mile (133 km) journey from Freeport. Thousands had tried to get on board. Lanell Andrews, 30, arrived with her one-year-old twins who rode in a double stroller. “We had to do what we had to do. You had to leave,” said Andrews, who will drop off her children with relatives and return to help rebuild her water-damaged home with her husband who remained in Freeport. “One step at a time,” she said. “We are just trying what we can do and hope for the best.” Hurricane Dorian, the most powerful hurricane on record to hit the Bahamas, parked itself over part of the archipelago for almost two days earlier this week, pummeling it with Category 5 winds, with some gusts topping 200 miles per hour (320 kph). Bahamas leaders believe hundreds and perhaps thousands are missing in the nation of about 400,000 people. The official death toll, which stood at 43 on Friday, was expected to rise sharply. Sophia Morley, a 47-year-old guidance counselor employed by the ministry of education, arrived with her 15-year-old daughter and 74-year-old mother who is blind in one eye and suffers from dementia. Morley wanted to leave her loved ones with friends or relatives in the area until her Bahamas home again has electricity and water. She was not sure where they will stay. “I have more questions than answers,” Morley said. “We like certainty. But I believe it is going to be alright.” Officials checked the evacuees’ passports and visa documents before they were allowed to board the cruise ship in Freeport. At the Port of Palm Beach, they were greeted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, who again checked their documents. They were also met at the port, located about 75 miles (120 km) north of Miami, by friends, relatives, paramedics and volunteers. A row of blue buses stood ready to transport evacuees. Esperanta Oscar, a pregnant 24-year-old woman, said she has no clue what she will do in Florida. “I don’t know yet,” said Oscar, a cashier from Great Abaco, standing with her 6-year-old daughter, her 13-year-old sister and her niece. Writing by Brendan O'Brien in Chicago; Editing by Scott Malone and Chris Reese

Other

Other

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The most powerful member of the U.S. House of Representatives said on Tuesday that President Donald Trump’s planned tariffs on steel and aluminum imports are too broad and open the country to possible retaliation, adding that he encouraged the White House to more narrowly focus its approach. “There is clearly abuse occurring,” said Speaker Paul Ryan at a press briefing by Republican lawmakers. “Clearly there is over-capacity, dumping and trans-shipping of steel and aluminum by some countries, particularly China. But I think the smarter way to go is to make it more surgical and more targeted.” Reporting by Lisa Lambert, Richard Cowan and Susan Cornwell; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama

Politics

International Relations

Nov 16 (Reuters) - JARIR MARKETING CO * BOARD APPOINTS MANAGING DIRECTOR ABDULLAH BIN ABDULRHMAN AL-AGIL AS DEPUTY CHAIRMAN Source text for Eikon: Further company coverage:

Business

Appointments

(Reuters) - Two more cases of norovirus were confirmed in people who visited a Buffalo Wild Wings Inc restaurant in Kansas, but the source of the illness could not be identified, a spokeswoman for the state health department’s county office said. Now, a total of three people out of the 10 people who were tested are confirmed to have contracted norovirus, the Johnson County Department of Health and Environment spokeswoman said. There have been no other reports of illness related to the Buffalo Wild Wings’ restaurant in Overland Park in suburban Kansas City, Johnson County spokeswoman Barbara Mitchell told Reuters in an email. “We have taken additional steps to conduct deep cleaning for norovirus at all Kansas City area restaurants,” Buffalo Wild Wings, known for its chicken wings, said on Friday. News of the illness and subsequent investigation broke days before the Super Bowl, one of the biggest nights for the restaurant chains. The company sold more than 11 million traditional and boneless wings during the Super Bowl last year. Norovirus is the most common cause of food-borne disease outbreaks in the United States and infections usually occurs in places such as hospitals, cruise ships and universities, where people eat and live in close quarters. Last year, two norovirus outbreaks were reported at the Massachusetts and California outlets of popular burrito chain operator Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. About 19 million to 21 million norovirus cases, with 570 to 800 related deaths, are reported in the United States each year, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Buffalo Wild Wings’ shares were marginally higher at $143.85 in midday trading on Friday. Up to Thursday’ close, the stock had fallen about 10 percent this year. Reporting by Subrat Patnaik in Bengaluru; Editing by Kirti Pandey and Savio D'Souza

Food

Safety

On Beauty Johanna Fateman is most famous as a musician — she was the founder, with Kathleen Hanna, of the germinal feminist dance-punk band Le Tigre — but she has always worn multiple hats. A mother, business owner and art critic, Fateman recently picked up the title of New Yorker columnist when the magazine invited her to write regularly for its “Goings On About Town” section. “The majority of my time and mental energy is definitely spent in writing,” Fateman says. “Of course, Le Tigre will always be something people want to talk about.” Her regular byline is not the only job that demands her sustained attention. Fateman also runs the business end of Seagull, a unisex salon in the West Village, while her partner Shaun Surething manages the styling. The salon is a neighborhood landmark from the 1970s that predates them both; it was New York’s first unisex barber shop. They took it over in 2006, which gave Fateman the freedom to pursue music and writing. “It’s a tough reality. Obviously, devoting yourself to something as demanding as a true art or writing practice is more than a full-time job,” Fateman says. “But I am kind of a romantic. I think that if you are an artist or a writer and you need your voice to be heard, it’s not really a choice, so you have to figure out how to survive around that. There is such a destructive opposition in our culture that you are either creative or good at business. Who is that really serving? It’s serving trust-fund art.” The salon takes its name from Richard Bach’s “Jonathan Livingston Seagull,” a novella detailing a bird’s journey toward self-fulfillment. In his moment of enlightenment, the sea gull realizes: “You have the freedom to be yourself, your true self, here and now, and nothing can stand in your way.” It’s a fitting mantra for the salon. The good vibes radiate from the staff, who are friendly and attentive with customers — and tend to make each other laugh, too. The atmosphere keeps regulars, including Brooke Shields and Tavi Gevinson, coming back. “I always see Shaun, and he is a consummate artist. I can always count on him for a very stimulating 45-minute conversation from a queer/feminist/magical perspective; and I so appreciate having his council as I confront the problems of self-presentation and aging,” says the artist Carol Bove, who just opened her first solo show with David Zwirner. She’s been going to Seagull for several years and has seen multiple stylists there. “They have all satisfied my chief requirements with my short haircut, which are that the transitions look considered and that my cowlicks are subdued.”’ Bove is not the only one in it for the banter. “It’s like I’m hanging out with my best girlfriends, who happen to do really great hair,” says the comedian Bridget Everett. “I think what Johanna and Shaun have created is really special. It feels like family. The family you create — not the one you were born into.” Seagull feels decidedly cozy. Elephant Pink, the Benjamin Moore color that coats the walls, helped create a sense of consistency when the salon moved from its storefront spot on West 10th to its current second-story location on West 4th. Funky, sharp black built-ins designed by the architect Ben Warwas, Fateman’s childhood friend, break up the blush, along with paintings by artists like Sam McKinniss and Kathe Burkhardt. (“I’ve been noticing that the feminist-art-to-kitsch-ceramic ratio is shifting toward the feminist art as the years go by,” Bove notes.) In her art, music and writing, Fateman has let her postpunk feminism lead. In publications like Artforum, she champions pioneers including Judith Bernstein and Marilyn Minter, while also supporting new talent like Bunny Rogers and Diamond Stingily. Before the election, Fateman and her Le Tigre bandmates drew the ire of pro-Trump and third-party internet trolls by reuniting and releasing a single titled “I’m With Her.” On Friday morning, three days after the election, the entire salon felt slightly deflated, yet still the show went on. Beyond styling, this is the service that Fateman and her team ultimately provide: a safe space for personal nourishment and growth. “I think Seagull sort of takes the word ‘salon’ to a new level,” the writer Eileen Myles, also a regular, says. “It’s a laughable word in relationship to hair cutting and so on, but somehow the salon’s vibe is cultural. It’s not Gertrude Stein-y, but you’re in the art world while getting your haircut. I’ve known about Jo since before her Le Tigre days; she’s someone who understands feminist culture. She’s a player.”

Art

Visual Art

The White House is stepping up its efforts to renew the assault weapons ban, while trying to boost separate gun control measures that the Senate plans to vote on next week. On Monday, White House senior adviser Valerie Jarrett will host a mass conference call for the general public “about the need to renew the assault weapons ban and the different gun safety measures the Senate is set to vote on in the coming week.” Vice President Joe Biden announced the call in a response to a petition on the White House’s “We the People” platform on Friday. The request for a ban on the AR-15 assault-style rifle was posted on Sunday, in the immediate aftermath of the Orlando shooting in which were 49 people were killed, and already had nearly 200,000 signatures by Friday. “The president and I agree with you,” Biden wrote. “Assault weapons and high-capacity magazines should be banned from civilian ownership.” The Obama administration has pledged to respond to any petition that accumulates 100,000 signatures in a month. This was "one of fastest we’ve ever had to cross the threshold," said a White House official. Obama has long supported the ban, but he has been increasingly vocal about it in recent days, condemning the easy access to “weapons of war” like the Sig Sauer MCX that Omar Mateen used to kill many people at close range. But until Friday’s announcement, it was unclear whether his administration would do anything more substantial to mobilize for a ban. Hillary Clinton has also stepped up her calls for an assault weapons ban on the trail. However, on the Hill, Democrats have focused on getting votes for measures with broader support, including barring people on terror watch lists from buying guns and expanding background checks. The Senate is set to vote on variations of those measures on Monday — though barring major changes, none appear likely to pass. The AR-15 has become the most popular rifle in the country since the original assault weapons ban expired in 2004. In the wake of the Newtown shooting, as gun control groups have become more politically sophisticated, they’ve increasingly focused on measures like background checks to stress that their goal is to take guns out of the hands of dangerous people, not law-abiding Americans. They also not that must gun violence is committed with handguns. But the role of assault weapons in high-profile mass shootings gives the issue emotional weight. In his response, Biden noted that they were used in in Aurora, Colorado, to kill 12 people; in Roseburg, Oregon, to kill 10 and in Newtown, Connecticut, to kill 26. “A single person killed that many people in just a few minutes. Not in a war zone. Here in America — in a classroom,” Biden wrote. CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that Biden will be on a call about the assault weapons ban on Monday.

Politics

Firearms

Nov 6 (Reuters) - Apple Inc on Wednesday published four new papers outlining technical details of how some of the privacy features in its most recent operating systems work. The white papers are similar to a security guide that Apple publishes for the iOS operating system that powers iPhones. They cover Apple's photo app, its Safari web browser, the location-based services on its mobile devices and a new service for signing into third-party apps introduced this year that competes with similar services from Facebook Inc and Alphabet Inc's Google. Apple does not make public the code for its operating systems or software, so privacy and security researchers use the descriptions it publishes to understand how those systems work. In the papers, Apple outlines how its new sign-in system tries to prevent the creation of fake accounts in apps, a problem for nearly all app developers that has taken on new importance with the advent of bots on social networks. The company uses machine-learning technology that analyzes whether the device user engages in "ordinary, everyday behavior such as moving from place to place, sending messages, receiving emails, or taking photos," Apple said. That yields a numerical score that Apple combines with data from its servers to produce an assessment sent to the developer of whether the account creator is a real user. Apple also outlined steps it has taken to cut off app developers that circumvent its rules. For example, even when users have turned off location-based services that use an iPhone's GPS chips, app developers can scan for nearby Wi-Fi networks and Bluetooth devices to approximate the user's location. Developers now must ask permission for Bluetooth access, for example, and explain why it is needed, Apple's guides said. The company has sought to market its technical approach to privacy as being significantly different to those of its rivals. It has both implicitly and explicitly criticized competitors Google and Facebook, both of which rely on data gathered from users to fuel advertising businesses. Leaders at both rivals have said that they take steps to protect user data while using it to help keep their services free or low-cost for billions of people. Google Chief Executive Sundar Pichai said in a New York Times op-ed that "privacy cannot be a luxury good offered only to people who can afford to buy premium products." (Reporting by Stephen Nellis in San Francisco; Editing by Bernadette Baum)

Technology

Mobile Apps

A surprise vote from Britain in favor of leaving the EU sent global markets into disarray on Friday. The was down 2.3 percent, bond yields tumbled and gold surged. The CBOE Volatility Index spiked as high as 26 following the result, and according to one analyst, rampant volatility will continue. "[The surge in the VIX] will push stocks down and U.S. bonds up," Erin Gibbs of S&P Global told CNBC's "Trading Nation " producers on Friday. "VIX first, followed by bonds," she added. The British referendum on European Union membership, also known as the Brexit, created risk in both the bond market and the VIX in the weeks leading up to the vote. Polls closed at 5 p.m. Eastern Time on Thursday and news outlets called the results in favor of Brexit leave around midnight Friday morning. Gibbs said although U.S. stocks were highly valued around the globe, concerns about larger global destabilization as a result of Britain voting to leave the E.U. could push investors out of equities. Larry McDonald of ACG Analytics said the Brexit risk created strong sell signals from bonds. "A Brexit risk created a blowoff top in bonds that started to form over the past week—a classic blowoff top where you see real panic buying, where you've seen close to 10 trillion dollars in bonds globally," McDonald said on CNBC's "Trading Nation" on Thursday. McDonald said now is the time to avoid crowded trades, like long bonds and long volatility. Now, traders should look at short bonds and avoid buying volatility. "The fact that there's a Brexit, everyone got caught on the wrong side," he added. Gibbs said she was surprised that the U.S. 10-year bond was trading lower Friday morning. "I would have expected that to hold up better. But given we are heading into a more risk-off environment, I would expect U.S. bonds to outpace equities, for the time being," Gibbs said.

Financial Markets

Equities

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico is worried about a possible escalation of violence and bloodshed in Venezuela, the foreign ministry said on Tuesday, after opposition leader Juan Guaido urged the army to join him to oust President Nicolas Maduro. Reporting by Delphine Schrank; Editing by Frank Jack Daniel

Politics

Government

A Massachusetts woman was charged with attempted murder on Thursday after police allegedly found the woman and her daughter inside a vehicle with the tailpipe stuffed with clothing, according to court documents. The night before, the Worcester Police Department issued an AMBER Alert for a 3-year-old girl reportedly in the custody of her mother Leeann Rickheit, who earlier had allegedly expressed suicidal thoughts, according to a police report. Police discovered her vehicle parked behind a nearby pond, which friends said was a place she frequented. “As officers approached the vehicle from the rear, clothing was observed stuffed into the rear tailpipe,” a criminal complaint states. “The vehicle was running and the windows were fogged up.” • Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Click here to get breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases in the True Crime Newsletter. Rickheit, 38, and her daughter were sleeping or unconscious, according to the report, and officials broke the passenger window to rescue them. The pair was taken to the hospital and treated for carbon monoxide exposure. On the way to the hospital, Rickheit allegedly told officials she wanted to kill herself because “no one cares about me,” according to the report. She allegedly added that she “didn’t trust anyone else with her kid.” Rickheit pleaded not guilty to one count of attempted murder, reckless endangerment of a child and assault and batter on a child. Her bond was set $500,000. She requested a public defender. Her child was taken into custody by the Department of Children and Families, according to local reports. Rickheit is expected to appear in court on Sept. 18.

Crime

Murder

Donald Trump's transition into office will be unique because he has few strings attached when it comes to government, George H.W. Bush transition co-chair Craig Fuller told CNBC on Monday. Fuller said Trump should have a certain freedom in picking his Cabinet and working with Democrats because he is not a partisan Republican and lacks a voting record. "I haven't seen a president-elect that really has more freedom," Fuller said on "Squawk Box. " Trump's transition team announced Sunday that it would name Reince Priebus, the chairman of the Republican National Committee, as the president-elect's chief of staff. The team also named Breitbart News' Steve Bannon as Trump's chief strategist. Bannon was CEO of Trump's presidential campaign. Fuller said one of the most important things for Trump to focus on are the top 100 jobs he fills during transition. "There has to be a balance. Really, there need to be people who are new, fresh, bringing new ideas, but you also have to have people who understand how the mechanisms of Washington work," Fuller said. And while Fuller acknowledged that the transition is a daunting task, he was pleased with Trump's choices so far. "I think Reince Priebus is a good choice because he does know Washington, he does know the players here, but he's also … been out all over the country so he understands the pulse of the country as well," Fuller said. As for Bannon, Fuller said his role would be to help push Trump's political agenda through Congress by addressing the way the president communicates and shapes public opinion. "There's … an old saying in Washington that sometimes 'to see the light you have to feel a little heat,'" and Bannon would surely bring the heat to a Trump administration, Fuller said.

Politics

Society

A look at design world events, products and people. This article is part of our latest special report on Design, which is about getting personal with customization. Many regard kudzu as a monster — an invasive vine that envelops trees and everything else in its path, smothering native species as it spreads. But students at the University of Tennessee’s College of Architecture and Design, in Knoxville, recently found uses for the plant and other invasives. In a class led by two architectural designers, Katie MacDonald and Kyle Schumann, the students experimented with turning invasives, which can be harvested during remediation efforts, into building materials. Three students steam-bent the branches of burning bush into curved shapes and then lashed them together with kudzu fibers to create an arched structure. Two others gathered dropped branches of Bradford pear trees and, using the 3-D scanning capability of a smart-phone app, obtained their precise dimensions so they could create custom steel connecting joints, enabling the branches to be assembled into an airy form. For Ms. MacDonald and Mr. Schumann, the husband-and-wife co-founders of the design studio After Architecture, the class explorations were part of their ongoing research into using technology to transform biological matter into building materials that minimize environmental costs. Milling a tree trunk into standardized lumber uses energy and wastes much of the tree. At the same time, producing molds to create custom forms can be prohibitively expensive. Instead, Mr. Schumann said in a phone interview, the idea is “to make a customized form informed by the irregularity of the available materials.” JANE MARGOLIES The theatrical reimagining of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s British decorative arts and design wing was all about thinking creatively, said Wolf Burchard, the collection’s associate curator. The interior design firm Roman and Williams, which won a competition for the project, transformed the 10 rooms that make up the Annie Laurie Aitken and Josephine Mercy Heathcote Galleries from neutral white containers to stage sets for 700 objects dating from 1500 to 1900, almost a third of which are new acquisitions. Color (brown aubergine, cloud lavender, straw) and architectural details (arches of different periods divide the centuries) create fresh ways of seeing. Visitors can mount a 17th-century staircase acquired from Cassiobury House, a now-lost Tudor manor, to gaze at the spread of riches from a balcony. And defying convention, three grand 18th-century rooms have not been roped off but may be contemplated from newly designed benches. Referring not just to the glass-and-steel towers holding a dazzling array of 17th-century teapots, Robin Standefer, Roman and Williams’s co-founder, said, “We wanted to let the objects breathe.” The galleries opened on March 2 at 1000 Fifth Avenue; 212-535-7710, metmuseum.org. ARLENE HIRST The architect and designer Eileen Gray frustrated researchers by burning her diaries and letters, but enough archival material has survived to inform 21st-century exhibitions, films and books. “Eileen Gray,” her first major American show since 1980, is on view at the Bard Graduate Center Gallery in Manhattan (with a catalog from Yale University Press). It has been organized with the Centre Pompidou in Paris, which held a Gray retrospective in 2013. Nina Stritzler-Levine, the Bard gallery’s director, said the team had dug into Gray’s versatility in many mediums and her underappreciated architectural output. Gray, a scion of Irish aristocracy, spent most of her life in France, where she died in 1976, age 98. She is best remembered for innovative furniture; her 1910s chair with dragon arms sold for about $28 million in 2009 at one of Yves Saint Laurent’s estate auctions at Christie’s in Paris. E 1027, a modernist vacation house in southern France that she shared with the Romanian-born architect and editor Jean Badovici, has been restored as a museum. She worked on dozens of other architectural commissions as far away as Senegal, Morocco and Mexico, mostly unbuilt, including apartment towers, galleries, theaters, park pavilions and the occasional hotel room and ocean-liner stateroom. Bard is displaying lacquered panels that depict figures in fantastical garb, fringed wool rugs in rectilinear and bull’s-eye patterns, metal-and-wood side tables with pivoting drawers, a rocket-shaped floor lamp and architectural drawings and models for an elliptical house and a humpbacked tent. Recently rediscovered film footage in the galleries shows Gray in 1973, reflecting on her works. Given her decades of experimenting and globe trotting, Ms. Stritzler-Levine said, “She had to have been fearless.” Through July 12, 18 West 86th Street, 212-501-3023; bgc.bard.edu/gallery EVE M. KAHN Wood furniture traditionally comes in any color you like, as long as it is brown. Tired of the muddy sameness of it all, but unwilling to cover wood grain with paint, designers and companies like Ot/tra, Indo- and O&G Studio are experimenting with dying the material eye-catching hues. Ot/tra, the furniture offshoot of the Brooklyn-based architecture firm Zimmerman Workshop, has produced its organically shaped Rocking Chair in transparent lime green and its Modular Shelf in multiple shades for an ombré effect. The firm’s embrace of color began with blackened ash wood. “We had one client who really loved hints of color, and we thought to add purple to the black dye,” said Sofia Zimmerman, who runs the company with her husband, Adam. Thrilled with the results, they explored different dye recipes to generate 86 colors for their products, from flaming red to cool teal. Indo-, a design firm founded by Urvi Sharma and Manan Narang that is based in Providence, R.I., and New Delhi, India, makes dip-dyed tables with stripes of increasingly saturated color, and credenzas that look like Ikat textiles. “We use fabric dyes on the wood to get a huge range,” Ms. Sharma said. “We can now achieve almost any hue.” TIM McKEOUGH

Other

Other

Actor Alec Baldwin says he is considering turning his infamous impersonation of President TrumpDonald John TrumpTrump pushes back on recent polling data, says internal numbers are 'strongest we've had so far' Illinois state lawmaker apologizes for photos depicting mock assassination of Trump Scaramucci assembling team of former Cabinet members to speak out against Trump MORE into a Broadway show, which he would base on his parodied book about the commander in chief. “We may take the book and make it into a one-man show on Broadway," Baldwin said in a Monday interview on "The Howard Stern Show." Baldwin has appeared repeatedly as Trump on NBC's "Saturday Night Live." His "SNL" imitation of the president garnered the veteran actor an Emmy Award earlier this year. Baldwin and Kurt Andersen co-wrote "You Can't Spell America Without Me," a book that takes on the fictional perspective of Trump. In it, they parody the Republican president's "really tremendous inside story" about his first year in office. The longtime actor says he would recruit "SNL" producer and writer Lorne Michaels to put on his stage show. Baldwin said his solo Broadway show would take on a similar approach to actor Will Ferrell's Tony Award-winning show, "You’re Welcome, America. A Final Night with George W. Bush." Ferrell based his show on his "SNL" appearances when he impersonated former President George W. Bush. Baldwin, a Tony Award-winning stage veteran, has starred in a number of Broadway shows. View the discussion thread. The Hill 1625 K Street, NW Suite 900 Washington DC 20006 | 202-628-8500 tel | 202-628-8503 fax The contents of this site are ©2019 Capitol Hill Publishing Corp., a subsidiary of News Communications, Inc.

Television

Comedy

LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Theresa May said she hoped Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg understood why people were concerned about alleged leaks of personal data, but it was up to him to decide whether to face a committee in Britain’s parliament. “Mr Zuckerberg will decide for himself whether he wants to come before the committee, but what I hope, is that Facebook will recognize why this is so significant for people and why it is that people are so concerned about it, and ensure that the committee is able to get the answers that they want” May told lawmakers. British lawmakers said earlier on Tuesday they still wanted to question Zuckerberg after the company said it would send another executive to appear before them. Reporting by Andrew MacAskill; Writing by William Schomberg

Technology

Social Media

PARIS (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron said on Wednesday the EU could only agree to extend the Brexit negotiations if Britain gave a clear reason for requesting a delay, striking a firmer tone than Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel. Britain is due to exit the EU on March 29 but its parliament has still to approve the terms of the divorce. On Tuesday Prime Minister Theresa May signalled that Brexit could be delayed till June if parliament rejects an amended deal next month. “If the British need more time, we would support an extension request if it was justified by new choices from the British,” Macron told a joint news briefing with Merkel. “But we would in no way accept an extension without a clear view on the objective pursued,” he added. “As our negotiator Michel Barnier said, we don’t need more time, we need decisions.” Merkel said she was “totally on the same line” as Macron but appeared more willing to show flexibility. “If Britain needs some more time, we won’t refuse but we are striving for an orderly solution,” she said. Extending the withdrawal period would need the approval of all 27 remaining EU members. French officials have said Paris would only agree to delay Brexit if that came with a credible solution, for example if Britain called an election, held a second referendum, or presented a new plan that was acceptable to all sides but needed more time to be finalised. Reporting by Michel Rose in Paris and Michelle Martin in Berlin; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta and Gareth Jones

Politics

Brexit

A 1950 Supreme Court decision makes it impossible for service members to recover damages from the government for negligence or misconduct they suffer while serving. Mr. Vladeck is a professor at the University of Texas School of Law. The Supreme Court justices Clarence Thomas and Ruth Bader Ginsburg don’t agree on much. On Monday, however, they both dissented from their colleagues’ decision to deny review of Daniel v. United States, in which Walter Daniel, whose wife, Rebekah Daniel, died four hours after giving birth to their daughter, had brought a suit for medical malpractice and wrongful death. He claimed that his wife’s death resulted from the negligence of the medical staff. In any other context, this case would hardly attract the Supreme Court’s attention. But Mr. Daniel’s wife was a lieutenant in the United States Navy and was treated at a military hospital, and so his suit on her behalf was foreclosed by the Supreme Court’s 1950 decision in Feres v. United States. That unanimous decision bars any and all lawsuits brought by service members against the federal government for injuries that “arise out of or are in the course of activity incident to” their military service. For the second time in six years, Justice Thomas wrote separately on Monday to urge his colleagues to revisit Feres. But the real audience for Justice Thomas’s concern shouldn’t be his colleagues; it should be Congress, which has tolerated this harsh and unfair rule for far too long. Lawmakers should demonstrate what it means to actually support the troops, rather than just revere them, by relegating Feres to the dustbin. For almost as long as it has been on the books, the Feres decision has been controversial. The case reached the Supreme Court in 1950, four years after Congress broadly expanded the tort liability of the federal government in the Federal Tort Claims Act and shortly after the United States had entered the Korean War. Although Congress had expressly disallowed claims from anyone arising out of the military’s “combatant activities,” the Supreme Court in Feres went further. It held that Congress could not have intended that service members could bring ordinary tort suits for any other claims arising out of their military service, even though nothing in the law directly supported that result. As Justice Antonin Scalia put it in 1987, “Feres was wrongly decided and heartily deserves the ‘widespread, almost universal criticism’ it has received.” Not only did the court in 1950 read into the tort claims act an exception with no textual support; subsequent decisions broadly construed Feres’s scope so that it is virtually impossible for service members to recover damages from the government for almost any negligence or other misconduct they suffer while serving. In the process, Feres treats service members more harshly than any other Americans, even in contexts that are entirely analogous to civilian life — like medical malpractice claims at stateside hospitals. It would be one thing if Congress had expressly required such an unjust and unfair result. But nearly every contemporary court and commentator agrees that it did not — and that the result of the decision, in Justice Scalia’s words, has been “unfairness and irrationality.” In his dissent on Monday, Justice Thomas agreed that Feres is deeply problematic and that skepticism about the decision may help to explain decisions in which the court has allowed service members and veterans to sue private parties for injuries that might more properly be attributed to the federal government. The court did so in a maritime case just two months ago. Why has the court held firm on a decision so widely criticized? In that same 1987 case in which Justice Scalia dissented with three other justices, the court identified three justifications. First, injuries to service members related to their military service should not be left to the vagaries of 50 different state laws but should instead be subject to a uniform federal rule. Second, Congress had already provided at least some kind of remedy to injured service members through “generous statutory disability and death benefits.” And third, tort suits arising out of military service “would involve the judiciary in sensitive military affairs at the expense of military discipline and effectiveness.” Reasonable minds can disagree about the relative strengths of these policy arguments; Justice Scalia’s central point in dissenting from that analysis was that Congress had already weighed the pluses and minuses of such policy considerations when it enacted the tort claims act — and it wasn’t for the courts to second-guess its answer. “The problem now, as then,” he explained, “is that Congress not only failed to provide such an exemption, but quite plainly excluded it.” Perhaps that will change. Last month, a bipartisan group of eight House members introduced legislation that would overrule Feres in part, authorizing tort claims against the federal government that, as in the Daniel case, relate to “medical, dental, or related health care functions” provided by federal employees at federal medical facilities. That’s a good start, but it doesn’t go nearly far enough. Respecting our troops does not just mean saying the right things; it means ensuring that those who volunteer to defend our country don’t surrender the ordinary protections of our laws when they do so. And yet, there are too many ways in which our current laws do treat service members like second-class citizens, often for no other reason than historical inertia. Because the Feres decision was an interpretation of the tort claims act, Congress can overturn it in its entirety by passing another law. Doing so won’t fully close the legal gaps between the men and women in uniform and the rest of us, but it would be a salutary — and long overdue — first step. Stephen I. Vladeck (@steve_vladeck) is a professor at the University of Texas School of Law. The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips. And here’s our email: [email protected]. Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook, Twitter (@NYTopinion) and Instagram.

Law

Legal

(Reuters) - Elliott Management unveiled it has a 4 percent stake in Marathon Petroleum Corp (MPC.N) on Monday, urging the company in a letter to launch a strategic review and consider spinning off its three main businesses. Marathon responded by saying it disagreed with the letter to its board and was moving ahead with its own plan, a reply that signaled rising tension between the refiner and the activist investor. Marathon has hired boutique investment bank Evercore Partners to advise on its engagement with Elliott, people familiar with the matter said. Marathon and Evercore did not immediately return calls seeking comment on the defense plan. The deadline for Marathon shareholders to nominate directors is Dec. 15, meaning Elliott could seek board seats if talks between the two sides fail to improve. Elliott, which joins fellow activist Jana Partners as a Marathon shareholder, also said the company needs to speed up its so-called “drop down” plan related to its master limited partnership, MPLX Inc. (MPLX.N). Findlay, Ohio-based Marathon last month said it would seek to place some of its assets into MPLX, a move Jana said it supports. Elliott, however, said the company should proceed with the drop down immediately and better communicate what is being put into MPLX. “We believe the recent strategic announcement exacerbated the uncertainty surrounding MPLX,” Quentin Koffey, a portfolio manager at Elliott, said in the letter. Marathon should consider spinning off just Speedway, its retail chain of gasoline and convenience stores, or all three of its retail, refining and pipeline businesses. Marathon shares were up 5 percent at $45.70 on Monday while MPLX’s stock was up 3 percent to $33.98. “We agree with Elliott Management that there is upside to our valuation, which we are addressing with the value-creating actions we announced last month, but we disagree with their letter and presentation,” Marathon CEO Gary Heminger said on Monday. Elliott’s stake makes it Marathon’s fourth largest shareholder. Cowen & Co said in a research note that a retail spin-off was less likely than speeding up the drop down plan. Jana’s managing partner, Barry Rosenstein, said in October he supported the shift of assets to MPLX and the possible changes to Marathon’s financial reporting that would result. Jana, which raised its stake in the company to 0.8 percent last quarter, has been a Marathon investor dating back to 2012, when it pushed the company to spin-off MPLX. Additional reporting by Arathy S Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by David Gregorio and Alan Crosby

Business

Management

Chevron reported quarterly profits that topped Wall Street's expectations, as the company's fossil fuel production hit an all-time high and executives forecast solid output gains for 2019. Shares of the company were up about 3 percent at roughly $118 a share on Friday. Chevron's production of oil and natural gas increased 12 percent to 3.1 million barrels per day of oil equivalent in the quarter, bolstered by new liquefied natural gas output from its Wheatstone project in Australia and surging supplies from its wells in the Permian Basin, the top U.S. shale field. For the full year, Chevron reported record production at 2.93 million barrels per day of oil equivalent. The company expects production to rise by another 4-7 percent this year, based on its forecast for $60 Brent crude oil prices. "We expect positive production trends to continue in the fist quarter and throughout 2019," Chevron CEO Mike Wirth said during a conference call on Friday. Last month, the company announced plans to spend $20 billion on development and exploration for 2019. The budget is focused on short-cycle projects, most of which are projected to generate cash within two years. Chevron's profit for the final quarter of 2018 jumped nearly 20 percent, to $3.73 billion, or $1.95 per share. Analysts had been expecting earnings of $1.87 per share, according to Refinitiv. The earnings beat was largely attributable to lower charges in the quarter due to tax impacts. Chevron faced just $419 million in charges last quarter, compared with $3.46 billion a year ago. The San Ramon, California-based oil major generated $42.35 billion in revenue, compared with the $46.13 billion forecast by Wall Street. Chevron's lower expenses offset a drop in earnings in its main business lines from a year ago. Profits in Chevron's upstream business producing oil and natural gas fell nearly 38 percent from the year ago period to $3.29 billion, also due to U.S. tax impacts. Earnings fell by a third to $859 million in Chevron's downstream unit, which focuses on refining and selling fuels like gasoline. Profits from international refining operations rose seven-fold to $603 million due to better margins and currency factors. That offset tax impacts that dragged on U.S. downstream earnings. Chevron has seen tighter profit margins in its downstream business, which focuses on refining and selling fuels like gasoline and diesel. On Wednesday, Chevron announced it would buy Pasadena Refining System from Brazil's Petrobras for $350 million. The deal will give Chevron control of a Pasadena, Texas, refinery, its first processing facility in the Houston area and a means of processing its growing Permian output. Chevron raised its quarterly dividend on Wednesday to $1.19 per share from $1.12 in the prior quarter. On Friday, it announced that the company's board of directors has authorized a $25 billion share repurchase program. Chevron Chief Financial Office Pat Yarrington told analysts on Friday the increase in the dividend reflects the company's confidence that it can continue to grow cash flow. Chevron's cash flow from operations increased 50 percent to $30.6 billion last year.

Energy

Oil

March 30 (Reuters) - O’Key Group SA says: * It made a net loss of 138 million roubles ($2.5 million) in 2016 after a 1.9 billion rouble net profit in 2015 * EBITDA totalled 9.25 billion roubles, down 8.5 percent year on year * 2016 EBITDA margin was 5.3 pct vs. 6.2 pct in 2015 * 2016 revenue rose 8 pct to 175.5 billion roubles * “EBITDA declined by 8.5 percent due to continuing roll-out of discounters, although the group considers this to have now peaked and anticipates a significant improvement in EBITDA in this and future years,” Heigo Kera, O’Key board chairman, said. Source text for Eikon: Further company coverage: ($1 = 56.0976 roubles) (Reporting by Moscow Newsroom)

Technology

Software

May 9 (Reuters) - Trinidad Drilling Ltd * Reports first quarter results; improving industry conditions drive increased activity * Q1 revenue $132.7 mln versus $107.6 mln * Q1 loss per share C$0.05 * Q1 earnings per share view c$-0.05 — Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S Source text for Eikon: Further company coverage:

Technology

Telecommunications

LEDE: Cable and satellite TV operators, as well as radio stations, will likely soon have to begin publishing online records about the groups buying political and other ads. A Federal Communications Commission vote Thursday is expected to bring those industries in line with broadcast TV, which already has to make the online disclosures. The order is a small victory for transparency advocates ahead of the presidential primary season. Advocates, though, have unsuccessfully pressed the FCC to take greater steps to identify the true sponsors of political ads. The commission will also vote on whether to release the 2016 Broadband Progress Report. It said that around 34 million Americans still lack access to fixed broadband. As it has before, the chairman's draft of the report includes a finding that "advanced telecommunications capability" isn't being deployed to Americans in a "reasonable and timely fashion." That gives the commission more authority to facilitate deployment. There are likely to be some flashpoints when the item comes up. Critics haven't gotten over the commission's decision, last year, to boost benchmark speeds for fixed broadband to 25 Mbps for downloads and 3 Mbps for uploads. There's also been some displeasure over the decision to say that "advanced telecommunications capability" requires both wired and wireless broadband. Commissioners will also weigh a notice of proposed rulemaking related to the emergency alerts system. SLEEP IN: The meeting, originally planned for 10:30 a.m., is now scheduled for 1:00 p.m. SPLIT ON CABLE BOXES: The FCC's announcement that it would move on a proposal to update rules for cable boxes unsurprisingly drew praise from Democrats, discontent from the cable industry and skepticism from Hill Republicans. "I commend Chairman Wheeler for his proposal to help ensure that consumers are not captive to bloated rental fees forever," said Sen. Ed MarkeyEdward (Ed) John MarkeyJoseph Kennedy mulling primary challenge to Markey in Massachusetts Overnight Energy: Trump sparks new fight over endangered species protections | States sue over repeal of Obama power plant rules | Interior changes rules for ethics watchdogs To cash in on innovation, remove market barriers for advanced energy technologies MORE (D-Mass.) in a statement. "Consumer choice should fuel the video box market, not cable company control." Cable trade group NCTA decried the FCC's action, calling it a "technology mandate that would replace app innovation with government regulation." Additional pushback came from the brand new Future of TV coalition, which is made up in part of industry groups. "The future of pay-TV should not be inhibited by unnecessary government involvement," said Rep. Bob Latta (R-Ohio). "Instead, the marketplace should be advanced and shaped by consumer demands and competition. The FCC's proposal will inevitably lead to higher costs and less choices for the American people." Senate Commerce Committee John ThuneJohn Randolph ThuneSchumer blasts 'red flag' gun legislation as 'ineffective cop out' Lawmakers jump-start talks on privacy bill Trump border fight throws curveball into shutdown prospects MORE (R-S.D.) said he hadn't been able to examine the item yet at length. HISTORY OF THE 25 MBPS BENCHMARK: Public Knowledge's Harold Feld wrote a detailed history of the FCC's broadband speed benchmark, pointing out that it was a Republican-led FCC, under former Chairman Kevin Martin, that first started dividing broadband speed measurements into tiers in order to measure the "migration of customers and service to higher speed tiers." Feld traced that to the FCC's current broadband speed benchmark of 25/3 Mbps. Republicans and telecom companies have recently criticized the FCC's current broadband benchmark as too high and inconsistent. AUCTION NO MATCH FOR SNOWZILLA: Starting Wednesday, wireless providers can apply to participate in the "forward" portion of the broadcast spectrum incentive auction. Applications opened one day late "due to severe weather in the Washington, DC area." The filing deadline has been delayed a day as well, until February 10. IOWA FACEBOOK CHATTER: Donald TrumpDonald John TrumpPossible GOP challenger says Trump doesn't doesn't deserve reelection, but would vote for him over Democrat O'Rourke: Trump driving global, U.S. economy into recession Manchin: Trump has 'golden opportunity' on gun reforms MORE is the most mentioned GOP presidential candidate on Facebook in Iowa, according to data from Echelon Insights. A total of 57 percent of mentions were about Trump, 29 percent were about Ted CruzRafael (Ted) Edward CruzTrump moves forward with F-16 sale to Taiwan opposed by China The Hill's Campaign Report: Battle for Senate begins to take shape O'Rourke says he will not 'in any scenario' run for Senate MORE and 8 percent mentioned Marco RubioMarco Antonio RubioTrump moves forward with F-16 sale to Taiwan opposed by China The Hill's Morning Report — Trump and the new Israel-'squad' controversy Trump crosses new line with Omar, Tlaib, Israel move MORE. On the Democratic side, 50 percent of candidate posts were about Bernie SandersBernie SandersJoe Biden faces an uncertain path Bernie Sanders vows to go to 'war with white nationalism and racism' as president Biden: 'There's an awful lot of really good Republicans out there' MORE, while 48 percent were about Hillary ClintonHillary Diane Rodham ClintonLewandowski on potential NH Senate run: If I run, 'I'm going to win' Fighter pilot vs. astronaut match-up in Arizona could determine control of Senate Progressive Democrats' turnout plans simply don't add up MORE. The two most shared posts were a Daily Show segment mocking Trump's Liberty University speech and a Trump campaign video about how to caucus in Iowa. The analysis was based on 60,100 posts and shares in the state in the past week.   ON TAP: At 10 a.m., the Senate Judiciary Committee plans to markup the Judicial Redress Act. At 1 p.m., the FCC will hold its January open meeting.   IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Fox News's ratings Thursday night will be closely watched as it hosts the first GOP presidential debate of the cycle without front-runner Donald Trump, though the network says none of its advertisers have tried to back out. The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on Wednesday moved toward setting new rules that agency officials say will make it easier for consumers to use a variety of devices to view video through pay-TV services. A group of top U.S. officials and business leaders visited Cuba last week to urge the government there to more rapidly build out its Internet infrastructure and make it more widely available. Ride-hailing service Lyft is set to pay more than $12 million to settle a case brought by drivers in California who say that they were inappropriately classified by the company as independent contractors rather than employees. Foreign cyber spies could be stealing "crucial" national security information because of a little-discussed software flaw, Rep. Will Hurd (R-Texas) said in a Wall Street Journal op-ed.     Please send tips and comments to David McCabe, [email protected] and Mario Trujillo, [email protected] Follow us on Twitter: @HilliconValley, @dmccabe, @_mariotrujillo View the discussion thread. The Hill 1625 K Street, NW Suite 900 Washington DC 20006 | 202-628-8500 tel | 202-628-8503 fax The contents of this site are ©2019 Capitol Hill Publishing Corp., a subsidiary of News Communications, Inc.

Technology

Internet

(Reuters) - A portion of Marathon Petroleum Corp’s 363,000 barrel-per-day Carson refinery in California has been shut following a fire, the company said on Wednesday. The fire, which began on Tuesday, has been contained and is under control, Marathon said in a statement, noting that no injuries were reported.The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department tweeted earlier on Wednesday that the refinery perimeter has been secured and that it did not anticipate the need to evacuate area residents. “An explosion preceded fire in a cooling tower at the Marathon Refinery,” the department tweeted. “Marathon personnel (are) keeping flames in check via fixed ground monitors while they work to depressurize the system. Los Angeles County Fire Department is assisting.” In a filing with the state pollution regulator, the refinery reported an “electrical/mechanical malfunction.” Reporting by Asha Sistla, Nakul Iyer and Shreyansi Singh in Bengaluru; additional reporting by Anjishnu Mondal; editing by Jason Neely, Louise Heavens and Richard Chang

Environment

Fire

HOUSTON, June 28 (Reuters) - Firefighters in Pascagoula, Mississippi were battling a blaze at a giant BP Plc natural gas processing plant early on Tuesday morning, the Pascagoula Police Deparment said. The fire was under control, the police department said. The plant that processes 1.5 billion cubic feet per day in natural gas gathered from offshore platforms in the Gulf of Mexico. A BP spokesman was not immediately available to discuss operations at the Pascagoula plant, which a company website described as among the 10 largest such facilities in the United States. The Pascagoula plant handles half of BP’s natural gas production from the Gulf. Several social media messages from Pascagoula residents said the blaze had erupted at Chevron Corp’s 330,000 bpd refinery in Pascagoula. The police department said the fire was not at the Chevron refinery. (Reporting by Erwin Seba in Houston and Apeksha Nair and Eileen Soreng in Bengaluru; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)

Industry

Energy

Sept 2 (Reuters) - Jiangsu General Science Technology Co Ltd * Says it sets IPO price at 4.92 yuan ($0.7366) per share, aiming to raise 860.6 million yuan Source text in Chinese: bit.ly/2bNSC4Z ($1 = 6.6791 Chinese yuan renminbi) (Reporting by Hong Kong newsroom)

Technology

Internet

President TrumpDonald John TrumpFacebook releases audit on conservative bias claims Harry Reid: 'Decriminalizing border crossings is not something that should be at the top of the list' Recessions happen when presidents overlook key problems MORE on Thursday endorsed Sen. John CornynJohn CornynThe Hill's Morning Report - Trump on defense over economic jitters Democrats keen to take on Cornyn despite formidable challenges The Hill's Campaign Report: Battle for Senate begins to take shape MORE (R-Texas) ahead of his reelection bid next year as former Rep. Beto O'RourkeBeto O'RourkeCastro qualifies for next Democratic primary debates 2020 Democrats react to NYPD firing of officer in Garner case: 'Finally' Eight Democratic presidential hopefuls to appear in CNN climate town hall MORE (D-Texas) says he's considering entering the race. "Senator John Cornyn has done an outstanding job for the people of Texas," Trump tweeted, giving the three-term senator his "complete and total endorsement." As he has in Twitter endorsements for other candidates, Trump praised Cornyn's positions on "Crime, the Border, the Second Amendment" and the military and veterans.  Senator John Cornyn has done an outstanding job for the people of Texas. He is strong on Crime, the Border, the Second Amendment and loves our Military and Vets. John has my complete and total endorsement. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! Cornyn announced in 2017 he would run for another term. Trump's endorsement comes roughly 20 months ahead of the 2020 election, but just days after O'Rourke said he is considering a Senate bid to challenge Cornyn. O'Rourke, who generated national buzz in his unsuccessful effort to unseat Sen. Ted CruzRafael (Ted) Edward CruzGOP strategist predicts Biden will win nomination, cites fundraising strength 3 real problems Republicans need to address to win in 2020 The Hill's Morning Report - Trump on defense over economic jitters MORE (R-Texas) in November, is considered as a possible 2020 presidential candidate, but said he's keeping his options open. "I'm trying to figure out how I can best serve this country — where I can do the greatest good for the United States of America. So, yeah, I'm thinking through that and it, you know, may involve running for the presidency. It may involve something else," O'Rourke said after being asked if he's considering challenging Cornyn. Trump visited El Paso, Texas, earlier this month for his first campaign rally of 2019 amid a push for funding for a wall along the southern border. O'Rourke held a rival event at the same time, reviving speculation over whether he would enter an increasingly crowded field of candidates seeking the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020. View the discussion thread. The Hill 1625 K Street, NW Suite 900 Washington DC 20006 | 202-628-8500 tel | 202-628-8503 fax The contents of this site are ©2019 Capitol Hill Publishing Corp., a subsidiary of News Communications, Inc.

Politics

US

New York (CNN Business)Starbucks is launching a line of creamers to reach more customers at home. The product is the latest to emerge from a 2018 partnership between Starbucks and Nestlé. Together, the two companies have launched new Starbucks products, like coffee beans and Nespresso pods, designed to appeal to consumers who want to make specialty coffees themselves. The new creamers come in caramel macchiato, white chocolate mocha and cinnamon dolce latte — flavors inspired by Starbucks' more indulgent drinks. They will be priced at about $5 for a 28 fluid-ounce container and start appearing in US grocery stores next month. For Starbucks (SBUX), the alliance with Nestlé (NSRGY) helps establish a global market for coffee at home and continue to drive sales of those types of products in the United States. The coffee chain, which opened its 30,000th location this year, is using several tactics to entice customers, like modernizing stores, expanding delivery and tweaking its loyalty program. Coffee creamer is its first non-coffee item in the dairy aisle. For Nestlé, it's a way to get Starbucks customers to buy products, like creamer and coffee pods, the company already makes. Creamer in particular is an appealing category for both Starbucks and Nestlé. Sales of coffee creamers have been growing steadily in recent years, said Daniel Jhung, president of the beverage division at Nestlé USA. He added that the growth is driven by Millennial coffee drinkers who want to be their own baristas at home. Premium coffee creamers, like the new Starbucks line, are growing the most quickly, Jhung added. Nestlé, which already makes Coffee-Mate and Natural Bliss coffee creamers, is betting that the Starbucks line will convince even more people to buy creamer, rather than encourage people to switch from one brand to the other. For Starbucks, creamer is a "natural progression" within the partnership, said Duncan Moir, president of global channel development at Starbucks. He added that the new platforms should help customers "replicate" their experiences at Starbucks cafes in their own homes. So far, the coffee alliance appears to be a success. Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson said the partnership "exceeded our expectations" in the second quarter during a call with analysts discussing second-quarter results, adding that the partnership has helped Starbucks grow its global reach. Starbucks remains focused on growing sales in its two biggest markets, the United States and China. The company's "'growth at scale' agenda is working," Johnson said. In the second quarter, Starbucks reported that sales at locations open at least a year ticked up 3% compared to the same time in 2018.

Food and Drink

Beverages

The 75th Annual Golden Globe Awards certainly had their moments, some of which were rare connections between two unlikely people – like Kelly Clarkson and Steve Carell. It's been 13 years since Carell starred in The 40-Year-Old Virgin and screamed out Clarkson's name during the infamous waxing scene. Astoundingly, the two celebs never met before Sunday night. During the show, viewers were shocked to learn that Carell and Clarkson were seated side-by-side for at least part of the show, seemingly chatting and having a great time. I would pay so much money to listen to this conversation between Kelly Clarkson and Steve Carell pic.twitter.com/LUh0gxV2NW — Spencer Althouse (@SpencerAlthouse) January 8, 2018 “AHHHHHH KELLY CLARKSON!!!!”@SteveCarell #kellyclarkson in my head they were discussing that scene ☺️ pic.twitter.com/YphlCrIzx7 — Bad and Bootsie (@badandbootsie) January 8, 2018 Carell tweeted out a photo to acknowledge this crucial moment for his fan base. Look how far we've all come! Finally.@kelly_clarkson pic.twitter.com/JeMHwBr7e4 — Steve Carell (@SteveCarell) January 8, 2018 Clarkson, who is well aware of the scene, has also anticipated meeting Carell, intending to ask him if the scene was a compliment or not.  We're going to go ahead and say that it must be.

Entertainment

Television

Subscribe: iTunes | Google Play Music | How to Listen The venture capitalist Roger McNamee has a long history with Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook. Among other things, he suggested that Zuckerberg hire Sheryl Sandberg to be his chief operating officer. “For the past two years,” McNamee says on this week’s podcast, “I have converted from being an investor in technology to being a critic of companies that I was part of helping to build and which I love dearly, but which sadly are now unintentionally causing great harm.” McNamee addresses his concerns and what he thinks can be done about them in a discussion about his new book, “Zucked: Waking Up to the Facebook Catastrophe.” Charles Finch also visits us this week, to talk about the season’s best thrillers, including Jane Harper’s “The Lost Man,” which Finch calls “a roar back to form” by a “gifted, laconic” writer. Also on this week’s episode, Lovia Gyarkye, Tina Jordan and John Williams talk about what people are reading. Pamela Paul is the host. Here are the books discussed in this week’s “What We’re Reading”: “The Water Cure” by Sophie Mackintosh “A Brief History of Seven Killings” by Marlon James “Hold Still” by Sally Mann “Notes on a Nervous Planet” by Matt Haig We would love to hear your thoughts about this episode, and about the Book Review’s podcast in general. You can send them to [email protected].

Business

Leadership

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department on Friday afternoon filed notice that it would be appealing the preliminary injunction halting enforcement of the travel ban in President Trump's second executive order on the topic. The appeal of the preliminary injunction, issued by US District Judge Theodore Chuang in Maryland, goes to the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. The executive order is aimed at temporarily stopping the refugee program and travel from six majority-Muslim nations and was issued on March 6 after the first attempt faced significant pushback from federal courts. The injunction by Chuang was the second, and more limited, order issued that halted enforcement of parts of the president's travel ban nationwide. The first, a temporary restraining order issued by US District Judge Derrick Watson in Hawaii, covers all of sections 2 and 6 of the new executive order — the travel and refugee bans. Chuang's order, on the other hand, only covers section 2(c) — the specific section halting travel from the six countries for 90 days. Later Friday, meanwhile, US District Judge James Robart — who enjoined the first executive order — put the requests for a TRO in two cases before him on hold for now, given that the relief they seek is already covered by Watson's TRO. On Thursday, White House press secretary Sean Spicer had said the administration would be appealing Chuang's injunction, so Friday's move had been expected. The decision to appeal the injunction in Maryland — while, per Spicer, only at this time planning to seek "clarification" on the TRO out of Hawaii — is a result of the types of orders issued by the courts earlier this week — but it also appears to be a strategic move by the administration. A TRO is a limited order that a judge issues until a decision can be made on the request for a preliminary injunction, which in turn remains in place until a court rules on the merits of a case — generally a request that would include a permanent injunction. TROs can be issued without even including both parties to the lawsuit in a hearing (although that was not the case in Hawaii), and they also are not generally appealable. Preliminary injunctions, on the other hand, can be appealed. So, in one sense, it makes procedural sense that the Justice Department would appeal Chuang's preliminary injunction but not Watson's TRO. The fact that Watson's TRO covers all of sections 2 and 6 of the new EO, however, means that winning a stay of — or even an appeal of — Chuang's injunction would not enable the Trump administration to enforce the new executive order. Additionally, in the challenges to the first executive order, the Justice Department successfully argued that a TRO issued from a judge in Washington there was sufficiently similar to a preliminary injunction that the appeals court considered the appeal. The administration appears, for now at least, not to be moving to take similar action against the Hawaii-based court's TRO. The reason likely is a strategic move. Appeals from Hawaii would go to the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which issued a strong rebuke of the first executive order and has been the topic of significant criticism from Trump. The appeal out of Maryland, on the other hand, goes to the Fourth Circuit — which also contains a majority of judges nominated by Democratic presidents, but has not yet considered either executive order and therefore could be seen as a better possibility for getting a decision upholding the new executive order. At that point, the administration still wouldn't be able to enforce the new executive order — but it would change the public dynamics and could set up a legal conflict with the Ninth Circuit as the Hawaii case proceeds to a preliminary injunction and appeal, which then could make it more likely that the Supreme Court would take up and resolve this issue. More importantly, under that scenario, the timeline could be such that a ninth justice — the confirmation hearing for Trump's Supreme Court nominee, Judge Neil Gorsuch, is scheduled for next week — would be on the bench by time the case reaches it. Of course, if the Fourth Circuit rules against the new executive order on appeal, the Trump administration would be back in the same position it was after the Ninth Circuit's decision this past month: Is it worth it to keep fighting — especially when a decision from the Supreme Court, if it took the case, could limit future action as well? One of the legal teams opposing the ban — the ACLU — was quick to respond to the news. "President Trump’s Muslim ban has fared miserably in the courts, and for good reason — it violates fundamental provisions of our Constitution. We look forward to defending this careful and well-reasoned decision in the appeals court," Omar Jadwat, director of the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project and lawyer to the plaintiffs in the Maryland case, said in a statement. As of now, the Justice Department's opening brief in the appeal is due April 26. It is likely, however, that further action from the parties — in the form of a request for a stay of Chuang's injunction pending appeal and/or a request for an expedited briefing schedule for the appeal — would be coming before that time. This was updated to include information about orders from US District Judge James Robart.

Politics

Immigration

(Adds details on strategic options being explored) June 20 (Reuters) - Australia’s OrotonGroup Ltd, a maker of luxury handbags, said on Tuesday it has received expressions of interest that could involve a sale of the company and plans to begin a formal process to explore its options. The interest comes after it hired investment bank Moelis & Co in May to run a strategic review. “Following that announcement, numerous parties have expressed interest in exploring certain strategic options which may involve a sale, refinancing of debt facilities or recapitalisation,” it said in a statement. It added that it may invite additional parties to participate in the process. The company, which also has a joint venture with U.S. clothing brand Gap in Australia, has been hammered by fierce competition from international rivals like Coach, and said “market conditions remain very competitive and challenging, and difficult to forecast.” Oroton’s shares rose 4.4 percent on Tuesday after the announcement, giving the company a market value of A$45 million. It also said it has received up to A$3 million in credit support from J. Will Vicars, one of its major shareholders and former director and is in talks with long time lender, Westpac Banking Corp, over the terms of a A$35 million facility that expires in April 2018. Oroton, which began in 1938 as an international fashion textile importer, left its earnings guidance unchanged. It has forecast full-year earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation at A$2 million to A$3 million ($1.5 million- $2.3 million). ($1 = 1.3180 Australian dollars) (Reporting by Christina Martin in Bengaluru; Editing by Sonali Paul and Edwina Gibbs)

Technology

Computers

Jerome Powell finally got the markets on his side. The S&P 500 fell after each of his first seven FOMC meetings as chairman (by far the longest on record), but the market jolted higher on Wednesday. One big quote: "The big pivot in FOMC communication was not just the introduction of the word ‘patient,’ but also the removal of forward guidance explicitly signaling that the next change [will be a rate increase]," said Ian Lyngen, head of U.S. rates strategy at BMO Capital Markets. "This is all the more remarkable given that back in December, 15 FOMC members anticipated one or more hikes to be prudent in 2019. There certainly has been a change of heart in DC." Bank of America-Merrill Lynch called it the "Dove Show." Between the lines: Whether Wednesday was, in fact, a good day depended on who you asked and what they buy. Dollar bulls got punched in the mouth, with the dollar index falling to its lowest in three weeks. Bond traders saw opportunity, as the Treasury yield curve steepened with investors buying shorter-dated bonds. Fed fund futures show the market is pricing in no more rate hikes this year and almost the same likelihood of a rate cut as a rate hike by December. Stock traders were giddy. The Dow jumped more than 400 points (Dow 25K!!!) and the Nasdaq gained 2.17%. What's next? Scott Minerd, global chief investment officer at Guggenheim Partners, said the Fed’s pause will allow excesses to continue to build and increase the risks of financial instability. But that's a good thing if you like to party. "The Fed refilled the punch bowl and the party goes on," Minerd told Reuters. "Buy risk assets." Go deeper: Jerome Powell's attempts to please everyone have backfired

Finance

Economics

SAN FRANCISCO — Steve Poizner, the wealthy Silicon Valley tech entrepreneur and 2010 Republican gubernatorial candidate, has announced he’ll seek statewide office as an independent in 2018 — marking a high-profile defection from the state Republican Party as President Donald Trump’s approval ratings sink in California. Poizner told Politico on Monday that as California confronts the impacts of devastating fires, mudslides and growing cybersecurity threats, he’s decided to seek the office of insurance commissioner for a second time — but this time, without a party label. “California’s insurance commissioner needs to be fiercely independent of the insurance industry, which is why being free of partisan politics is especially important,’’ said Poizner, who held the office from 2007 to 2011. He said his experience in three arenas — the public sector with expertise in tech, as well the private and the nonprofit sectors — distinguishes him from two other major party candidates seeking the office. Democratic state Sen. Ricardo Lara, and Peter Kuo, an East Bay Republican who has unsuccessfully run for Assembly and state Senate, have already entered the race. Poizner is a multimillionaire tech executive who made his first fortune when his company, SnapTrack, which pioneered the GPS technology in cellphones, was sold to Qualcomm for $1 billion in stock. In 2016, Poizner rejected Trump’s presidential candidacy and endorsed Ohio Gov. John Kasich, serving as his state campaign chair in California. Several weeks ago, he re-registered from Republican to “decline to state” — a growing category that now defines 1 in 5 registered voters in the state, as both major parties continue to lose ground in voting rolls. He said he has discussed the move with Kasich, who has been “very supportive” of his decision. Still, Poizner refused to bash Trump — and denied he is trying to become a flag-bearer for a new political brand. “I don’t want to necessarily lead some new third party movement,’’ he said. “People are just sick and tired with a lot of partisan bickering and stalemates. … I just know that there is this mood out there where people are hungry for problem solvers.” He said he would use his tech experience — and his experience with post-9/11 cybersecurity issues while serving on a White House team — to prioritize cybersecurity and cyber-fraud issues in California, which he said are costing consumers and businesses billions of dollars. Poizer also said that under-insurance — an issue thousands of homeowners are confronting after recent fires — and health insurance issues would be another focus of his campaign. Poizner’s move makes political sense in a state where the Republican Party has withered and there is deep voter dissatisfaction with Trump, whose approval ratings are down to 30 percent in California, according to a Public Policy Institute of California poll released this month. His pitch may also resonate with voters fed up with the major political parties — and with the bitter partisan infighting that dominates national politics, as evidenced by two federal government shutdowns in the past month. “Give Poizer credit for thinking ahead,” said Hoover Institution fellow Bill Whalen, a former adviser to Republican Gov. Pete Wilson. “The public has soured on both parties, and in California, both Democrats’ and Republicans’ registration is declining. Poizner could tap into that.” Whalen noted that it’s not the first time a leading California Republican has tried a run for office as an independent. Dan Schnur, a former spokesman for Wilson and a strategist in Sen. John McCain’s presidential run, made an unsuccessful run for secretary of state in 2014, also pitching independence and the need for nonpartisan leadership. The key difference, Whalen said, may be the timing and Poizner’s wealth. “There is a very big sweet spot for a well-funded candidate to exploit in California,’’ he said. “He can say he is not beholden to either party.” But the challenge for him will be to draw attention to a down-ballot contest that usually gets little attention, he said. Poizner’s move to independent status comes as California GOP registration lags Democrats’ by 15 percent — and the party’s turnout could be historically low in 2018, some political observers suggest. In the governor’s race, the three Republican candidates — businessman John Cox, Assemblyman Travis Allen and former Rep. Doug Ose — are barely breaking into double digits in polls, raising the prospect of a general election contest that may not have a Republican candidate. Under the rules of the state’s “top two” primary system — under which the top two vote-getters, regardless of party, make it to the general election — the November contest could be between two Democrats, a development that could depress GOP turnout. In the high-profile U.S. Senate race, another contest that drives turnout, the main contest is also between two major Democratic candidates — incumbent Sen. Dianne Feinstein and state Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de León. In that race, as in many statewide contests, a leading Republican isn’t expected to jump in before the filing deadline in early March. Poizner started work as a White House fellow serving the National Security Council on Sept. 4, 2001 — one week before the 9/11 terrorist attacks. In the Office of Transnational Threats, he specialized in security issues, including cybersecurity, and is credited with helping to build a new Homeland Security plan after 9/11. After making his first fortune in the SnapTrack sale, Poizner then founded an educational nonprofit and co-founded the California Charter Schools Association in 2003. Poizner made an unsuccessful run for state Assembly in 2004. He jumped into statewide politics two years later to run for state insurance commissioner, defeating Democrat Cruz Bustamante by 12 percentage points — becoming the only Republican other than Arnold Schwarzenegger to be elected to statewide office since 1996. After one term, he made a run for governor in 2010 — losing the GOP nomination to billionaire Meg Whitman, who spent $140 million of her own money on an unsuccessful attempt to beat Democrat Jerry Brown. As a GOP gubernatorial candidate at a time when state unemployment was upward of 12 percent, the moderate Poizner surprised many when he tacked to the right on immigration — jabbing at Whitman as a pro-amnesty candidate — and appeared at his own rallies with signs declaring “No Amnesty: Stop Illegal Immigration.” Now, he said he has had “eight years to think about it,’’ and says that “my point of view now is it’s time to be pragmatic about it, to reach a compromise on it once and for all.’’ “I still believe in the importance of beefing up border security” and on being tough on criminals who have committed felonies and should be deported, he said. “[But] it’s time for Republicans and Democrats to put together a solution to get everyone who is here, and who is not documented, on a path to become documented."

Politics

US

  Noel Crane who? Tuesday was a Felicity-filled day for Felicity Porter (err Keri Russell) and Ben Covington (a.k.a. Scott Speedman) as they reunited for both Russell’s Hollywood Walk of Fame star ceremony in Los Angeles and a joint appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live. The longtime pals went down memory lane as they talked about their on-screen romance on the coming-of-age WB drama, which ran from 1998 to 2002. When talking to host Jimmy Kimmel about Felicity’s infamous hair cut, that Russell got in real life after season one, the actress, 41, made a quip about how Speedman was a “disaster of a boyfriend.” “A young 20s boyfriend is called a disaster of a boyfriend,” Russell said of Speedman, who was 23 when he landed the gig. The Animal Kingdom actor added: “Not much has changed.” As for an official Felicity reunion anytime soon, both stars were less optimistic of it actually happening. “Some people are on some high-class shows,” Speedman joked about Russell’s FX show, The Americans, and Scott Foley‘s show, Scandal. “I’ll do it in a heartbeat. I’ll be on Lifetime in no time,” he added. At the Walk of Fame reception, the pair were joined by Felicity co-creators Matt Reeves and J.J. Abrams, both of whom spoke at the ceremony. FROM PEN: EW’s Top Ten Rom-Com Movie Moments Back in October 2015, Entertainment Weekly staged a Felicity reunion between Russell and Speedman for the first time since the cult-favorite drama wrapped over 15 years ago. Also joining them was Foley, who played earnest and bookish RA Noel. Tuesday was also a big night for Russell’s character on her hit FX show, The Americans. The season five finale marked the end of its penultimate installment opposite onscreen love and real-life partner Matthew Rhys. Jimmy Kimmel Live! airs weekdays at 11:35 a.m. ET on ABC.

Entertainment

Television

April 28 (Reuters) - PHH Corp: * PHH Corp - CEO Glen A. Messina's 2016 total compensation $7.8 million versus $3.6 million in 2015 Source text:(bit.ly/2punsdg) Further company coverage:

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Other

President TrumpDonald John TrumpTrump pushes back on recent polling data, says internal numbers are 'strongest we've had so far' Illinois state lawmaker apologizes for photos depicting mock assassination of Trump Scaramucci assembling team of former Cabinet members to speak out against Trump MORE's legal team is standing by its prediction that a central part of the probe into Russia's election meddling will conclude quickly. Trump lawyer Jay Sekulow reasserted in an interview Monday with The Wall Street Journal that the parts of special counsel Robert Mueller's probe involving Trump would end soon, though he did not mention specific dates. "I know we, collectively, the lawyers, are looking forward to an expeditious wrapping up of this matter," Sekulow told the Journal. A spokesman for Mueller's team declined to comment for the newspaper's report. Experts have said it is unlikely that the special counsel's probe will wrap up anytime soon, given the scope of the investigation that has reached into the upper echelons of the White House. Mueller's team has brought charges against four individuals in the Russia probe, most recently Trump's former national security adviser Michael Flynn, who pleaded guilty on Dec. 1 to lying to the FBI. Flynn made a deal to cooperate with federal investigators examining allegations of collusion between Trump campaign associates and Russia during the 2016 election. Trump's lawyer weighed in on the probe Monday as the president celebrated Christmas at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Fla. Over the weekend, Trump ratcheted up his feud with FBI leadership, swiping at FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe and former FBI Director James ComeyJames Brien Comey3 real problems Republicans need to address to win in 2020 Barr predicts progressive prosecutors will lead to 'more crime, more victims' James Comey shows our criminal justice system works as intended MORE. In one tweet, Trump appeared to weigh in on a Washington Post report that said McCabe planned to retire in the coming months after receiving his full pension benefits. "FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe is racing the clock to retire with full benefits. 90 days to go?!!!" Trump tweeted. View the discussion thread. The Hill 1625 K Street, NW Suite 900 Washington DC 20006 | 202-628-8500 tel | 202-628-8503 fax The contents of this site are ©2019 Capitol Hill Publishing Corp., a subsidiary of News Communications, Inc.

Politics

Law

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt’s annual urban consumer price inflation rose to 3.6% in November from 3.1% in October, the official statistics agency CAPMAS said on Tuesday. Egypt is emerging from a three-year IMF-backed economic reform program after its annual inflation rate increased to 33% in 2017. The government has hiked domestic fuel prices several times, most recently in July, as part of the terms of the $12 billion agreement. Urban inflation decreased 0.3% month-on-month. The slight rise year-on-year was “because of unfavorable base year impacts,” said Yara Elkahky, an economist at Naeem Brokerage. “But it is good news and aligned with our estimate.” Annual urban consumer price inflation had fallen for six consecutive months, between May and October. The central bank has made three consecutive cuts to interest rates since August, slashing them by a cumulative 350 basis points. Radwa El-Swaify, head of research at Pharos Securities Brokerage, also said the figures were largely in line with expectations. She expects base year effects will push inflation higher in December, to 6.5-7% year-on-year. Reporting by Yousef Sabal; Editing by Andrew Heavens and Ed Osmond

Real Estate

Housing

Fact: Thai people using Thai spices, Thai ingredients and Thai know-how best cook Thai food. It's much the same thing with Muay Thai kickboxing. Take Mr. Chinawut Sirisompan aka Master Woody, the venerable subject of this rambling tale. He can cook up a storm in the ring, and the kitchen, because he happens to be Thai, and proud of it. Right now, Woody's the big boss of the number 1 fight factory in Bangkok. Luktupfah Muay Thai camp was just voted best boxing gym in Bangkok... So I guess that makes it the best damn gym in the whole darned world, right? But long before his family run gym in Bangkok got voted crème de la crème, Woody had another camp, one in a gloomy, rain drenched English city called Manchester, a kickboxing gym above a Thai restaurant. Back in the 1980s and 1990s, when Woody wasn't cooking up Pad Thai for customers in the "Siam Orchid," he was holding Thai Pads for would-be kickboxers upstairs in the "Muay Thai Center of Excellence." A kickboxing gym above a Thai restaurant, what a KO combo! Some people might not even want to leave the building. Me included. A wee blip in time before the gym above the restaurant, Woody was a budding professional nak muay (kickboxer) in Bangkok, Thailand. Woody and his best buddy, Master Toddy, were fresh from prominent roles as high kicking Oriental bad guys in the 1974 James Bond film, The Man with the Golden Gun. At that time in Thailand, fighters fought because they were super broke and needed the money. Woody and Toddy didn't have that issue. They came from solid bourgeois families that were not too keen about them boxing to say the least. But the James Bond film had opened a big door to the west where Martial Arts were booming. The two lads knew Muay Thai and Tae Kwon Do, spoke perfect English, and so getting a visa from the hoity-toity Consular Section of the British Embassy on Wireless Road was no problem at all. After a 12-hour flight from Bangkok, the fearless duo fetched up in London, England's capital city. No sooner had they sat down and enjoyed their first cup of tea came a lucrative job offer from an old Thai pal up North, in Oldham, a rough, tough, working-class suburb of Manchester. The gig was simple enough. They were going to work as doormen at a popular nightspot called Baileys. What could possibly go wrong? Plenty. The violence of the English on a night out greatly surprises foreigners who come to live and work in England. Woody and Toddy were no exception. And working the door of the rowdy nightspot, the magnificent two soon made a name for themselves dusting up soccer hooligans and have-a-go types. The new Thais of Baileys soon got wise to the war cry of the Manchester thugs: "Go get the chinks!" Unfortunately, ten times out of ten, "the chinks" won and the lime juicers ended up knocked out in a back alley, covered in dog shit. The timing of their arrival was both a curse and a blessing. This was England in the 1970s. The United Kingdom was "the sick man of Europe," the economy was shot, unemployment was high, the government unpopular. All the young dudes were Kung Fu Fighting and Karate chopping on the soccer terraces in the daytime, and having a pint and a fight in the pubs and clubs at night. It was all a bit Clockwork Orange and licensed nightclub doormen, like Woody and Toddy, were on the front line of this mindless yet peculiarly English form of violence. Beating on these drunken clubbers' wasn't exactly glorious, paid-up, prizefighting like back home in Thailand either. But the two foreigners had to make an honest living and this was just an occupational hazard. A nightly one, as Woody remembers. "The club had a 'red light system' – a red light bulb in the corner of each room. If the red light went on, we had to run up and down the stairs looking for the trouble in platform heels." Love sometimes blossoms when you are far from home. Woody met his future wife at Baileys. She was a regular clubber, liked Woody, but, being English, was a bit unsure about the Thai tough guy. She soon got the message when he saw her sexily dancing under the club's glitter ball with an amorous bloke. Woody, in platform heels, went over and head kicked the would-be suitor. Woody still chuckles with half embarrassment at this memory from youth. "I KO'd the poor guy out!" Sometimes the fellas that you beat up on come back. They don't return for payback. They come back to learn. Many of the bag punchers and mirror athletes that Woody and Toddy KO'd with Muay Thai combos ended up becoming competitive club fighters at their gym (at that point in time a run down, derelict mill). This pattern was one of the strange, cultural differences between Thailand and England that Woody came to love. "If you are a doorman in Thailand," says Woody, "and beat the shit out of someone, there will be someone who wants to get you back. Me and Toddy would mess these drunkards up. The next day, we'd be in town and see guys that we had beaten up the night before. Instead of them wanting to stab or shoot us like Thailand, they would say hello and show utmost respect. We kind of understood it at the time. But, even now, it's a hard concept to grasp." At Woody's first proper gym in Oldham, "Rama Camp," he gave most of these aimless, insecure men an outlet, a discipline, a direction, something bigger and better than being a mere "street fighter." Woody and Toddy were making dragons out of snakes, and spreading the name of the street lethal and ring deadly art of Muay Thai far and wide. And in London, where I was growing up in the late 1980s and early 1990s, other than my club, there was not too much quality Muay Thai to be had for an angry young man of the world. Manchester up north was the place and Toddy's was my go-to gym. But what did I know about Master Woody the other Thai in Manchester? Not that much it must be said. But somebody I knew did. Back then, there was a fella called Vincent Jauncey who ran a Muay Thai gym in London with strong connections to Woody's camp. A crazy assed kid from my old school, "Mad" Max Adams, the first nak muay that I ever met, used to train and fight out of Jauncey's stable, and knew Woody very well indeed. Max was impressive. In the ring and on the street, he was the punisher. And Max could do flash, show off shit, like jump up and boot the high ceiling of his expensive Notting Hill bedroom (much to the chagrin of his long-suffering parents upstairs). Big assed right round kick aside, old Max had a mean teep (lead leg front kick) which, in the ring and down the pub, always got him out of the quicksand. That, he once bragged in a post-training session of spliffs, beers and ultraviolent computer games, was one of the appetizers that "Woody was mad about... serving up dudes with a teep to deliver a big round kick or an overhand right." Hmm, wasn't that like the same kind of food that I was eating over at Toddy's gym-without-a-restaurant in Manchester? Give or take the odd spice and proportion of ingredients, yes. But unbeknownst to Max, me, and a lot of other amateur nak muay in London circa 1991-2, there was a big problem with Triads in Manchester's Chinatown. They were going around trashing restaurants and businesses. One day, Woody bumped into them on a shopping trip at his local Chinese supermarket. They were shaking down the owner in front of customers. Woody, keen to set a wrong right, and get served, went up and forcibly ejected them from the premises. "I used to go to that supermarket all the time and the owner didn't even know me," Woody recalls. "After that incident, I went on to become best mates with the guy." This knightly deed, however, put Woody on the radar of the Triads, who turned up at the restaurant one night demanding protection money. Undeterred by wild threats and vague promises of physical violence, Woody laughed it off and said, "Not a chance." Being Thai, he took the offensive and began distributing leaflets round the other businesses in Chinatown to raise awareness about the intimidation. It was, however, a two-pronged strategy. Woody rustled up fighters from his gym, and cooks from the restaurant, to go looking for the Triads who were shaking down the hood. And, much like the limey hooligans of Baileys, the Triads ended up knocked out in a back alley, soaked in dog's piss. Legend has it that Woody took out one of them with an explosive round kick to the head, and the hapless Triad soldier ended up getting his jaw reconstructed in the local hospital at four in the morning. That was then and this is now. No longer introducing English soccer hooligans (or Chinese Triads) to Muay Thai, these days the sprightly and youthful 62-year-old is a roving ambassador of the sporting Martial Art with an alphabet soup of honors. Woody's the chairman of the Kru Muay Thai Association, the promoter of MBK Fight Night and the president of the World Muay Boran Federation (WMBF). He recently set up the World Muay Thai Organization (WMO) with Iranian fight promoter Sasan Ghosairi, and tours the world giving seminars and preaching the gospel of Muay Thai. Now that he's the gaffer of the number 1 gym in Bangkok, and, quite possibly, the world, the once overlooked master of Muay Thai is in much demand. Hallelujah! So, if you want to eat authentic Muay Thai, it's best served, with or without platform heels, by the likes of Master Woody, the three star Michelin rated chef of hard knocks at Luktupfah gym in Bangkok. It's only a plane ride away.

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Other

Yung Berg has had so many legal problems lately, he could get an honorary law degree ... the latest of which is an arrest for treating the legal system as a joke. Here's what we know. Berg was in Miami in October for the BET awards, when cops were called to the hotel where he was staying after a woman claimed he unwantedly wrapped his arms around her. There was some sort of altercation in the hallway where one of Berg's friends allegedly put hands on her. We're told when cops arrived at the 'Love & Hip Hop' star's hotel room, they found 2 blunts on him which probably would not have resulted in an arrest. But here's the problem ... cops ran his record and found he blew off a court date for another pot bust 9 years ago, so they hauled him off to jail. Berg was released. He was also arrested a few years ago in NYC for allegedly grabbing his girlfriend by the neck, throwing her to the floor, dragging her by her hair and hitting her in the face.

People

Celebrities

The Shortlist IF THEY COME FOR US Poems By Fatimah Asghar 106 pp. One World. Paper, $16. Asghar lost her parents young; with family roots in Pakistan and in divided Kashmir, she grew up in the United States, a queer Muslim teenager and an orphan in the confusing, unfair months and years after 9/11. From that experience she has made a book that deserves broad attention. “If They Come for Us” encompasses clear, compact free verse, ghazals (a kind of couplet with South Asian roots), a crown of sonnets and poems that imitate Mad Libs, glossaries, floor plans and crosswords, all set against the kinds of frustration and injustice, existential and political, that Asghar has seen or known. “All the world’s earth is my momma’s grave,” she declares. “There’s a border on my back.” Bits of Urdu (“ghareeb,” “khaala,” “khalu”), along with facts of South Asian history, signal Asghar’s multiple belongings and her bicultural strivings, both to stand out and to belong: “hand-sewn kupre each Eid, velvet scrunchies to match,” “boy-girl / feet pounding the ground.” Some pages seem designed to inspire teenagers (by no means a weakness); others, like Asghar’s wonderfully mordant “Microaggression Bingo,” suggest the inventions of Terrance Hayes. A standout sequence links the oil and blood of the wars in Iraq to family ties (“blood”), to menstruation and bad skin, as international conflict and American prejudice inform what would otherwise just come off as teenage angst: “All the people I could be are dangerous. / The blood clotting, oil in my veins.” EACH TREE COULD HOLD A NOOSE OR A HOUSE By Nina Puro 127 pp. New Issues. Paper, $16. The personal is political for Puro, too: The anguish and drama in this capacious first volume arise both without and within. It’s a tumultuous, unguarded collection of free verse in many contours, modes and sizes, some nearly baroque in their deep-delving obscurity, some plainly confessional, devoted to troubles shared by many women and girls: “If I had gone to prom or college instead of hospitals, if I’d had family or mentors, would I have become a queer poet?” Eating disorders and exurban isolation add to the pain in the voices that Puro shapes, in which “love is a transactional convolution. Breath is cheap.” These poems tend to end up dramatic, breathtaking, alive with an almost self-immolating energy inseparable from youth, “hordes of kids riding bareback / off cliffs with satin ribbons in their hair & the horses’ manes.” Puro also demonstrates a sense of invention through long titles: “How to Arrest Time by Crushing Rust to Powder”; “elegy with five-finger discount on smallpox blanket.” Some poems organize themselves around extended sentences and new metaphors for heartbreak or outrage, exploring the rough country located halfway between Dylan Thomas and Tori Amos. Others exhaust themselves in page-long lists or pinch themselves into tiny lines. For all of the book’s attention to the hot, colorful self, Puro (now a social worker in Brooklyn) understands the social and structural elements — rigid gender roles, geographic isolation, economic wrongs — that brought these troubled figures to this pass: “The dead girls miss us, but not much. … They miss neon afghans. They do not miss the police.” [Wielding words, not weapons: Here’s how protest poetry has surged since the 2016 presidential election.] FLYOVER COUNTRY Poems By Austin Smith 113 pp. Princeton University. Paper, $17.95. The quiet rural boys and men of Smith’s poems want neither colorful escape nor radical transformation, though their hard lives speak to our social system too: They have “lived far from everywhere / And any toy, no matter how small, could still / Fill the empty hours.” They want to make do, get by, as disillusioned adults, and they find it harder than it should be, in part because farm life has always been hard, in part because much of America does not see, or does not want to see, them. A “flock of decoys” provides false reassurance to ducks; “Hired hands of my grandfather’s time,” now ghosts, “come floating / Through the doorframes of meth / Houses on the verge of exploding.” Smith does not often (or not for an entire poem’s length) adopt pre-modern meters or forms, but his careful sonic patterns suggest an immersion in them, as when the men (perhaps veterans) in “Wounded Men Seldom Come Home to Die” become “fireflies in a Mason jar, / Holes punched in the tin lid so they can breathe.” Weldon Kees, Donald Justice and, behind them, Robert Frost constitute the tradition in which Smith works, and in his hands it is political, even topical, not so much in the few poems that address headlines (“Drone”) as everywhere else, in allegories, character sketches, vignettes: a “Cat Moving Kittens” “made a decision / Any mother might make / Upon guessing the intentions / Of the state: to go and to / Go now, taking everything / You love between your teeth.” JAZZERCISE IS A LANGUAGE Poems By Gabriel Ojeda-Sague 122 pp. The Operating System. Paper, $18. Jazzercise — the dance-inspired exercise regime popular in the 1980s — may seem a thin hook for an entire book of ambitious verse and prose poems about bodies and sex and “gender-discordant” identity, melancholy and capitalism and mortality. But Ojeda-Sague definitely, and defiantly, makes it work. In raggedly bisected verse, in squares of prose, and in cascading columns of type, this magnificently bizarre project presents the internal monologue of a queer Latinx exercise-tape viewer, making promises to himself, critiquing other (largely white) viewers, mixing humor with provocation and both with non sequiturs: “You’re loving this, right: swing those arms: are / you smiling: when you’re smiling I know you’re / breathing: I can tell you that a century of protests / is to come.” Ojeda-Sague acts out and attempts the impossible: “I hate a lake I eat a stop / sign as told I could be a receipt.” His short phrases pivot dizzyingly between things you might say while working out to music, and things no one would quite say: “we were born in a fishbowl: / we grew up eating Cheerios: we loved our / husbands.” Yet Ojeda-Sague does not mock the Jazzercisers. Instead, as if mimicking workout instructors, Ojeda-Sague gives himself directions, showing what it would take to change a society built on patriarchy and white privilege, and what it would take to change his mind. “Let all your friends / know the same secret,” he advises, “then change / that aspect of yourself / without telling them. … this will strengthen / your squat / and open your breath.” [See the Book Review’s selection of 100 Notable Books and 10 Best Books of 2018.]

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Other

(CNN)Graduations are emotional. Especially when it's your little sister. A Connecticut mom captured the moment her 8-year-old son Derek congratulated her 5-year-old daughter Charlee after her Pre-K graduation and the image is making the rounds on social media. Aundrea and Matthew Smith posted the photo on Instagram saying their son walked up to their daughter to give her a hug ... but that wasn't all. He had some words of encouragement to add. "I'm just so proud of you," he said. That's when Charlee started crying and quick to follow were mom and dad. When dad asked her why she was crying she said, "I'm just so happy." We are so blessed." Aundrea Smith said the two siblings have a great relationship. "They definitely have their moments when they get on each other's nerves," she said. "But he (Derek) works really hard to be a good big brother ... always looking out for her." The post is filled with comments and tags from others after the post asked for people to "tag someone who is a blessing in your life." Aundrea Smith said after seeing how much attention the post has received she's happy that her family could bring joy to others. "We were not expecting this," she said. "It's a blessing."

Parenting

Pregnancy

(CNN)One of the most memorable voices from serial sex abuser Larry Nassar's January sentencing was that of Michigan Circuit Court Judge Rosemarie Aquilina. Nassar's team of public defenders say Aquilina was biased in rendering her decision and have asked for a new sentencing hearing with a different judge. Last week, the state court of appeals agreed to hear Nassar's motion to be resentenced. When Aquilina sentenced Nassar to 40 to 175 years in prison, she ripped into the former USA Gymnastics doctor, who had pleaded guilty to seven counts of criminal sexual conduct. The judge imagined aloud what she'd like to do to Nassar if not for the Eighth Amendment to the US Constitution. "Our Constitution does not allow for cruel and unusual punishment," she said. "If it did, I have to say, I might allow what he did to all of these beautiful souls -- these young women in their childhood -- I would allow someone or many people to do to him what he did to others." In her remarks, she responded to a letter he wrote to her accusing her of running a media circus. She told Nassar, once a renowned doctor for USA Gymnastics and Michigan State University, that there was no truth in his letter and he was being delusional. In a statement issued Monday, the State Appellate Defender Office wrote, "It is in the most difficult cases that we must be especially vigilant to ensure that the rule of law prevails." In their September filing, Nassar's attorneys wrote that the judge used the sentencing hearing to advance an agenda and that she had her mind made up about a sentence before the hearing began. AG supports judge The Michigan Attorney General's office defended the judge, saying the conduct and language cited by Nassar's attorneys all came after the former doctor admitted his guilt. "Once his guilt had been determined, the court's role shifted from exclusively being an impartial arbiter to an entity carrying the voice of the community," the filing said. At the time of Nassar's sentencing, Aquilina said she wouldn't talk to the media until after the appeals process. But in November, she told NBC's "Today" show that she considered his side fairly and impartially. She said listening to nearly 160 people give impact statements was "so transformational for me." She also spoke to the Detroit News in April, and to other media since. Aquilina declined to comment through her spokesperson Jennifer Davis. Experts found her approach different The judge's courtroom approach was striking and uncommon, legal experts said in January, particularly during impact statements, which are designed to give victims their day in court. Victim Amanda Cormier told the court she lost her passion for music after Nassar abused her. Aquilina listened to her and then offered some advice to Cormier -- and to her unborn baby. "It seems to me, after this, you can finish writing. You found your voice," Aquilina said. "It's a strong, effective, brave voice, and you have a child coming. Maybe what you need to do is start and finish a lullaby." Getting personal with the victims of the case was very unusual, one expert said at the time. "It's not really an opportunity for a judge to give a comforting statement, psychiatric counsel, (or) trauma advice," said Stacy Schneider, a criminal defense attorney and legal commentator. "That wasn't the purpose of it." Stu Slotnick, a defense attorney and former prosecutor, said it was unusual for a judge to express an strong opinons before a sentence is announced. Judges showing empathy for victims is "totally appropriate," according to Jennifer Long, the chief executive officer at Aequitas, an organization that offers resources to prosecutors in cases of sexual and domestic violence. "I don't think that's any way in contradiction to the rules of the judge. It demonstrates that the judge is understanding of the victim's suffering," she said then. Nassar, 55, is in federal prison, convicted of child pornography charges. He is not eligible for release until 2069. If he is still alive at that time, he would then begin to serve the state sentence, which carries a minimum of 40 years. CNN's Eric Levenson, Evan Simko-Bednarski, Elizabeth Joseph, Ellie Kaufman and Lauren del Valle contributed to this report.

Law

Crime

BEIJING (Reuters) - China will provide further support for banks’ perpetual bond issuance, including examining ways to broaden the investor base for such bonds, to help boost lending in the economy, a vice central bank governor said on Tuesday. “Perps” - bonds with no maturity date - are seen as a major step toward recapitalisation of banks, whose lending capacity to the real economy is largely limited by their capital adequacy. Perpetual bonds could potentially convert the debt into equity as more banks actively prepare to sell such bonds, Pan Gongsheng, vice governor of the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), told reporters at a briefing in Beijing. Last month, Bank of China Ltd, the country’s fourth-largest lender issued the first-ever perpetual bonds by a Chinese bank, with yields at the low end of market expectations and a bid-to-cover ratio of more than 2. Insurance companies, securities firms and offshore institutions subscribed for the bank’s perpetual bonds. “Other banks are actively preparing for issuing perpetual bonds to replenish capital,” Pan said. “The central bank will work with relevant government departments to further improve the policy framework on perpetual bonds and support banks’ efforts to replenish capital via multiple channels to enhance their ability to support high quality growth of the real economy,” he said. Pan said China could allow qualified long-term investors, such as mutual funds, as well as high net-worth individual investors to invest in such bonds. He added the government does not have any quantitative target on the issuance of perpetual bonds. China’s 261 trillion yuan ($38.5 trillion) banking sector, especially smaller regional lenders, is facing pressing needs to replenish relatively thin capital to cushion against rising bad loans in a cyclical economic slowdown and heed government calls to ramp up credit expansion. In the past months, policymakers have rolled out a series of policies supporting the issuance of perps, including allowing primary dealers to temporarily swap these bonds for central bank bills to increase the liquidity of perps and make them more attractive to investors and potentially cheaper for banks to issue. The central bank will soon begin conducting those central bank bills swap (CBS) and charge fees based on market rate, said Sun Guofeng, head of the PBOC’s monetary policy department, adding that the scheme will not expand without limit. Pan also said the bill swap scheme is not “China-style quantitative easing” and has neutral impact on market liquidity. Chinese banks’ capital adequacy showed slight improvement last year but with many listed banks now trading below their book values in a weak stock market, lenders, especially smaller one with weaker asset quality, find it challenging to sell additional shares and are increasingly looking to the onshore bond market to take advantage of current low yields. Chinese banks’ capital adequacy ratio was 14.02 percent at the end of 2018, up 0.55 percentage points from a year earlier, while their tier-1 capital adequacy ratio rose 0.24 percentage points on-year to 11.58 percent at end-2018, Cong Lin, head of law and regulation department at the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, said at the briefing. Reporting By Kevin Yao; Writing By Shu Zhang; Editing by Jacqueline Wong

Finance

Banking

TOKYO, June 25 (Reuters) - Japanese government bond prices rose on Tuesday as growing military tensions between the United States and Iran boosted demand for safe-haven investments. Iran said on Tuesday that a U.S. decision to impose sanctions on the country's supreme leader and other top officials permanently closed the path to diplomacy after Tehran's downing of an unmanned American drone. Benchmark 10-year JGB futures rose 0.12 point to 153.94, close to a record high of 154.13. The 10-year JGB yield fell 1.5 basis points to minus 0.170%. The 20-year JGB yield also declined by 1.5 basis points, to 0.200%. Earlier on Tuesday, Japan's finance ministry auctioned 20-year government debt at a lowest price of 103.55 yen, which was in line with bond dealers' expectations. The 30-year JGB yield fell by 2.5 basis points to 0.320%. (Reporting by Tokyo Markets Team; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)

Finance

Economics

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A federal magistrate judge blocked the U.S. Justice Department from sharing with a German law firm 25 million pages of records disclosed by Volkswagen AG in the government’s diesel emissions investigation. The order, issued late on Friday by U.S. Magistrate Judge Jacqueline Corley in California, is a win for the world’s largest automaker, which faces 1,600 securities suits in Germany in connection with its diesel emissions scandal. The company turned over the documents as part of prosecutors’ probe of its installing software to hide excess emissions. The suits collectively seek nearly 8.6 billion euros ($10.3 billion) from Volkswagen, according to a court filing. The Justice Department sued VW in Germany in September 2016 over losses in federal government employees’ retirement accounts and retained German law firm GSK Stockmann to represent the U.S. government. It seeks to recover 30.8 million euros ($37 million), as well as interest and legal fees. Lawyers for Volkswagen objected to the Justice Department’s planned transfer of the documents and said if it were successful, all 1,600 plaintiffs would have access to them. VW noted some Volkswagen submissions in Germany became public in the German press days after they were filed. “It is likely that at least some of these documents would also be leaked to the press,” VW lawyer Thomas Liebscher wrote in an affidavit. Judge Corley said that a protective order between Volkswagen and the government bars the sharing of the documents with the Justice Department’s German law firm. Corley said GSK Stockmann cannot use the documents obtained by the department “to end-run around German discovery rules.” The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Volkswagen has agreed to spend as much as $25 billion in the United States to resolve claims from owners and regulators over polluting diesel vehicles and has offered to buy back about 500,000 vehicles. The German automaker in September 2015 admitted using sophisticated secret software in its cars to cheat exhaust emissions tests and in March pleaded guilty in a U.S. court to three felonies in connection with the scandal. In June, U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer allowed some claims to proceed by investors who sued Volkswagen in a California court over its diesel emissions scandal. Breyer ruled that Volkswagen and then-Chief Executive Officer Martin Winterkorn intentionally or recklessly understated VW’s financial liabilities since May 2014. But he dismissed claims for financial statements issued before then.

Technology

Automotive

Under the most recent rules, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii may have qualified for the next televised debate by snagging a delegate in American Samoa's primary.Later on Tuesday night, a DNC official said the delegate threshold "will go up" to qualify for future debates.Gabbard is the fifth major candidate remaining in the race despite not qualifying for the debate stage recently and failing to crack the top five in any of the first four states.Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. One surprise winner of Super Tuesday could end up being Rep. Tulsi Gabbard. While the rules for the next debate have not been released by the DNC, the most recent thresholds have allowed candidates to qualify if they performed well enough to earn a delegate in the primary so far.There are also polling thresholds — which Gabbard has failed to meet several times in a row — but her performance in the territory of American Samoa could put her in the game, however one DNC official said that the delegate threshold "will go up." Even the most dialed in debate observers did not know what to make of the development early Tuesday evening.—Zach Montellaro (@ZachMontellaro) March 4, 2020The delegate heard around politics Twitter was later met with a response from the DNC's communications director.  Xochitl Hinojosa, the DNC's communications director, indicated that the delegate threshould would go up to "reflect where we are in the race, as it always has."—Xochitl Hinojosa (@XochitlHinojosa) March 4, 2020 Despite a series of poor performances — including a seventh place finish in New Hampshire, where she rented a house for months ahead of the Feb. 11 voting day — Gabbard has vowed to stay in the race until the convention.    window._taboola = window._taboola || []; window._taboola = window._taboola || [];

Politics

Government

Investors should buy Facebook shares, said UBS, citing expectations of growth in advertising revenue and in newer developments such as Messenger, WhatsApp and Oculus. UBS analyst Eric Sheridan said recent fears over the sustainability of growth in ad revenue should be put to bed. "In our view, these fears place an undue emphasis on the role of advertising impression growth for core Facebook and ignore the key drivers of new ad products, better measurement/attribution tools & sustained levels of engagement across the Facebook ecosystem," Sheridan wrote in a note on Friday. Sheridan raised his price target on the social media giant to $165 from $155, representing an almost 18 percent upside from Thursday's close of $139.99. Facebook shares are up about 19 percent year to date. Facebook continued to grow its number of monthly active users, up to almost 1.9 billion in the fourth quarter of 2016.

Technology

Social Media

Welcome to Money Diaries, where we're tackling what might be the last taboo facing modern working women: money. We're asking millennials how they spend their hard-earned money during a seven-day period — and we're tracking every last dollar. Today: a financial analyst who makes $70,000 per year. This week, she spends some of her money on new Asics during the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale. Occupation: Financial AnalystIndustry: BankingAge: 23Location: Chicago, ILSalary: $70,000Paycheck Amount (Bi-weekly): ~$1,650 per paycheck, after taxes and deductions Monthly ExpensesHousing: $1,050/month in rent. I live with two roommates. Utilities: $15 for electricity (all other utilities are included in rent). We do not have air conditioning, which would inflate this bill otherwise. Student Loan: ~$225 per month, however, I try to pay about $500/month. All Other Monthly ExpensesGym Membership: $65 after a $20 discount from work Spotify: $9.99. I just realized I no longer receive student pricing.Cell Phone: $0. I'm still on my parents' plan.Transportation: $100 pre-tax for an unlimited passHealth Insurance: ~$170/month for HSA savings, dental, and medical, withdrawn pre-taxSavings: None currently in cash, but I do contribute ~$550/month across my 401(k), Roth 401(k), and Employee Stock Program. My company also matches 5%. Hair: ~$100/month. I get my hair colored and cut every six weeks.

Lifestyle

Money

My fellow Americans, Let’s not kid ourselves. Nobody thought things were going to be going this well. All the experts said that if Donald J. Trump got himself elected president, the stock market would crash, the economy would fail, the world would find itself on the brink of nuclear war.  Here’s my advice to you: Don’t listen to the experts.  We all know what the stock market is doing. I would be shocked if it didn’t hit 30,000 by the end of the summer.  The economy is stronger than ever, and not just here in the United States.  In fact, every major industrial power is witnessing economic growth.  And you know why? Because we here in America are leading the way.  We are getting government off the backs of business, we are cutting taxes on corporations, we are slashing regulations.  I just got back from Davos and you want to know something? All of those elitists were singing my praises. And you why?  Because what we are doing here is working.  A news story came out over the weekend that reported that millions of Americans believe that God put me here to help lead this country. You have any better explanations?  If not God, who? Vladimir Putin. Give me a break. I like Putin, but you really think he wants a stronger America?  And America is getting stronger. People respect the fact that I am pushing an America First Agenda. They understand the value of honesty.  Talking about honesty, the press is not being honest with you.  They say I am crazy.  They say I am delusional. They call me stupid and lazy. Well, I might be stupid, but what does that make them? I won as president and now if it weren’t for that stupid Russia investigation, we would be talking about how strong the economy has been since I have been in the White House. They call me a racist for saying that Haiti, El Salvador and Sudan are shitholes.  But what would you call those places?  And if they are just garden spots, why doesn’t anybody want to go back there? To be honest with you, I am getting sick and tired of being called a racist.  I am the least racist person you will ever meet. I love all people, of all races, all faiths and from all walks of life. And believe me, they love me too. And they will love me more when they see how easy it is for them to get a good paying job and take care of their family, which is what the Trump economy is all about. I have had a pretty good first year. It hasn’t been perfect, and I would do some things differently, but let’s not kid ourselves.  We have been very successful.  And with your help, we can be even more successful.  This year, here are some things I want to get done. I want to take care of our good friends, the “Dreamers.” They should be able to become citizens. But my Republican friends need something in return.  And what they need is the money to build that beautiful wall that I have been talking about. Yes, I know I said that Mexico is going to pay for it.  But we need a down payment and we need it now.  No Wall, No DACA. Take it or leave it. Talking about building things, it is time for America to start rebuilding things. You know, before I got into the television business, I was a builder. I built hotels and big buildings. I was good at it. And I will be good at rebuilding the roads and bridges to help make American great again. America will never be great unless it passes my infrastructure plan. And if Charles SchumerCharles (Chuck) Ellis SchumerLewandowski on potential NH Senate run: If I run, 'I'm going to win' Appropriators warn White House against clawing back foreign aid Colorado candidates vying to take on Gardner warn Hickenlooper they won't back down MORE (D-N.Y.) doesn’t support me in this effort, his subway-taking friends in New York will not be happy with him. No infrastructure plan, No Subway.  Take it or leave it. So Chuck, I say work with me on this and make America great. I have really enjoyed our time together. A wise man once said he would rather be lucky than good.  I am lucky. Good? Well, let’s just say I am lucky. Feehery is partner at EFB Advocacy and blogs at www.thefeeherytheory.com. He served as spokesman to former Speaker of the House Dennis HastertJohn (Dennis) Dennis HastertFeehery: Borders and walls Feehery: Trump inspires temporary House Democratic unity Feehery: The left's patriotism problem MORE (R-Ill.), as communications director to former Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Texas) when he was majority whip and as speechwriter to former Minority Leader Bob Michel (R-Ill.). View the discussion thread. The Hill 1625 K Street, NW Suite 900 Washington DC 20006 | 202-628-8500 tel | 202-628-8503 fax The contents of this site are ©2019 Capitol Hill Publishing Corp., a subsidiary of News Communications, Inc.

Other

Other

March 17 (Reuters) - Australian Securities & Investments Commission: * COMMENCED CIVIL PENALTY PROCEEDINGS AGAINST COLONIAL FIRST STATE INVESTMENTS LIMITED * ASIC’S CASE FOCUSES ON TEMPLATE LETTERS SENT TO MEMBERS, AS WELL AS, 46 TELEPHONE CALLS MADE IN ACCORDANCE WITH SCRIPTS * SAYS COMMENCED PROCEEDINGS FOR ALLEGED MISLEADING OR DECEPTIVE COMMUNICATIONS WITH MEMBERS OF FIRSTCHOICE FUND * ALSO ALLEGES THAT CFSIL FAILED TO PROVIDE A “GENERAL ADVICE WARNING” DURING TELEPHONE CALLS * AMOUNT OF ANY PENALTY WILL BE DETERMINED BY COURT; EACH PARTY WILL BE MAKING THEIR OWN SUBMISSIONS TO COURT ON PENALTY RANGE Source text - (bit.ly/33lL9q0) Further company coverage:

Technology

Computer Science

On songs like "Love Scars" and "Romeo and Juliet," Trippie is quickly positioning himself as the Frank Sinatra of the culture. At turns woozy, romantic, and plaintive, these breakout singles connect the dots between cutting edge rap's interest in blown-out, ambient production and its fixation on emo and alternative rock. The hook of "Romeo and Juliet," which goes "your love is my medicine," is straight-up pretty and instantly memorable, suggesting Trippie is poised to cross over to the mainstream at any moment. That's not to say that Trippie's tracks lack gusto: He connected with XXXTentacion for a remix of the track "Uh Oh, Thots!," which has taken the internet by storm, and most of his songs explode with energy thanks to production from the likes of Pi'erre Bourne, 12hunna, Dpbeats, and Goose the Guru. Trippie's May album A Love Letter to You is a sleeper standout at rap's melodic forefront. He and Goose the Guru recently stopped by the VICE LA offices for an episode of Noisey Radio on Beats 1. Below is an edited transcript of that conversation. Noisey: There's a lot of artists from Cleveland, but Canton is less well known. Are there artists coming out of there right now?Trippie Redd: Nah, the only known artist really out of Canton is Marilyn Manson. Besides me. Did you listen to Manson growing up? Yeah, I fuck with him. My mom actually went to church with this nigga. I've never personally seen him. When did you first start wanting to make music? I first started being involved in music around eight or nine? I used to listen to Lil Wayne, and my mom listened to a lot of different vibey shit. Like, Alicia Keys, and fuckin' Ja Rule, Tupac, Nas. A lot of shit. What was the first song you recorded? Around 14 I recorded my first song. It was called "Manu Ginobli." ( Laughs) It was like, "black diamonds and my gold Rollie, ball hard like Manu Ginobli, I ain't got time for no fake or phony, man, why y'all niggas so two faced, killin' niggas, it's too crazy." I was just freestyling. What grade were you going into? I don't even fucking know. I'm high. ( Laughs) And then what? You put it online? Yeah, I put it on Soundcloud. I was always popular in high school, so the shit got to about ten, 20K. Just like my first song I ever put out. What would you say was your first breakthrough song? It's funny 'cause it was a drill song. It's called "Angry Vibes." It was the first song that, for my city, it got to 100K. So everybody listened to it. Everyone would see me in the mall and be like, "Trippie Redd! That's Trippie Redd!" 'Cause I made a song that make people break their floors at parties and shit! People was tight. What was it like when you started performing that? I didn't even perform that song. Never? Nope. It would be played at popular parties. So I would always hear it come on, and everybody be turnt and everybody be looking at me and shit. (Laughs) After "Angry Vibes," were you like OK, I'm going to take this seriously, I'm going to make this my life? I was always like that. My brother was into making music, and he inspired me before he passed away, so I always was going to figure out something with music. No matter what it was, I was going to do it. Even if I didn't get this far, I was going to do something. I was going to be recording niggas or something. I just like music. Did you feel like you wanted to make your way out of Ohio at that time? That's always been the goal. So what came after that? I had some alternative rock shit, but I deleted that shit. It was, like, some guitar shit. And it had drums coming in. 'Cause I can really do that shit. (Laughs) My voice—I can sing for real. So I be doin' shit like that. Did you learn to sing in church? Nah, I learned from just listening to people that knew how to sing. So I would just try and sing their songs, and it came out right. I was on Drake, The Weeknd, Partynextdoor when I was growing up. I was listening to whatever my mom played in the car, so I hit high notes. I made my grandma cry one day, I hit a note. (Laughs) I swear to God, on everything I love! On my dad and brother, she started crying! I hit a note in the car. (Laughs) That's just so funny. When was "Love Scars" put together? How did that come about? "Love Scars" was put together in Columbus, Ohio. That's back before I even came here. There isn't really too much to say about "Love Scars," really. It was just the right day at the right time. And he started sampling this Super Metro song or whatever. And it ended up being two songs. It was "Long Way Home From Mars / Love Scars," and then I ended up cutting that off and making that its own song and making "Love Scars" its own song. But really I one-took the whole thing, like both songs. "Love Scars" is really like a one take in a dark room. It's just mixed emotions. How love scars. It's a lot of shit. Were you going through some shit with a girl? Nah. I just like the vibe. I like to catch people's vibes. Like, that's what it's for. I'm trying to help people through situations and shit. So were you surprised when it started to take off, or did you kind of know this was going to be the one for you? I kinda knew it was. Like, just hearing that shit I was like, "bro, what the fuck did I make." Like, I made some hard-ass shit. That shit was so hard to me. In one take though! Everybody was turnt in the studio. Like, what the fuck? This nigga's a crackhead. ( Laughs) How he make this shit? What are some of the reactions from fans you've gotten from it? Will they hit you up and be like, "this helped me," or anything? Yeah! Hell yeah. There's hella DMs. Unlimited DMs. I meet people that are like, "I'm shaking, that's my favorite song." ( Laughs) Goose The Guru: We've seen a lot. "Romeo and Juliet," we see girls masturbating to the song. They did that. Trippie Redd: Viral. They did that. Goose The Guru: Those comments, I've never seen them before! To see comments like that, it's just wild. What's some other crazy shit fans have done? Can you walk around right now? I mean, barely. People still be seeing me. When they see me, they see me, and, boy, they be on some other shit. ( Laughs). They want a photo right away, want a hug. They be shaking and shit, doing weird shit. I mean it's all cool, though. I love my fans. If they're weird, fuck it, they're weird. I'm weird too. We weird together. I'ma shake too! ( Laughs) Do you want to introduce Goose real quick, so we can talk more about the project? Goose is a ho. ( Laughs) Goose The Guru: Thank you. I appreciate it. When you're working with Trippie in the studio what are the vibes like? Very very fun and easy. Actually when he did "Romeo and Juliet," I wasn't there. At all. I just came back and I was just like, OK, yeah, this is it. That was that. I think where me and Trippie relate is that we both love music. Everything: Al Green, Limp Bizkit, Erykah Badu, Pink Floyd. It could go forever. I think that's where we meet. I love just good music. Even if it's not mine. Trippie's one artist where I can truly say he has good music, even if it's not on my beats. What's the story of making "Bust Down"? Top secret. I was at my brother's house, minding my own business, making my own beats, having a good ol' time. Guess who comes through the door? Trippie fucking Redd. He storms in, and he does what he does: "Goose, make me a beat. Make me a beat, bitch!" I'm like, "man, I don't want to right now. Let me work. Let me—" No! I made the beat. Five minutes later, he's like fucking kid at Disneyland. And that's how we made it. Is that it went down? "Make a beat, bitch"? Trippie Redd: Yeah. I always talk to him like that. Like Goose, you my bitch! Goose The Guru: Yeah, he's so rude to me! He treats me like shit! I'm chopped liver! Listen to Trippie Redd on Noisey Radio on Beats 1. Follow Noisey on Twitter.

Music

Hip-Hop

LIMA, Sept 15 (Reuters) - A first batch of athletes suspected of having been part of a Russian doping ring at the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics may soon be charged with doping-related offences, the head of the investigation said on Friday. Evidence gathered so far will be combined with results of tests to determine whether urine and blood sample bottles had been tampered with, to replace positive samples with clean samples, IOC member Denis Oswald said. “We worked to find this evidence...” Oswald said. “We feel we have found a number of elements to charge a certain number of athletes,” he told International Olympic Committee (IOC) members at the body’s annual session meeting in Lima. “In a few days we will have the results of the first batch of 50 bottles (determining whether or not they had been tampered with) and then we can proceed,” Oswald said. Swiss Oswald did not say how many athletes could be involved. Grigory Rodchenkov, the former head of Moscow’s discredited anti-doping laboratory, identified in a 2015 World Anti-Doping Agency report as an ‘aider and abettor of the doping activities’, revealed a scheme for covering up Russian competitors’ positive drug samples at the 2014 Winter Olympics. This triggered a number of investigations, including Oswald’s on behalf of the IOC, to determine whether Russia had manipulated their athletes’ samples at those Olympics three years ago. The Russian Olympic Committee did not respond to phone calls from Reuters. Despite repeated calls for cooperation with international bodies to help rid Russia of doping, Russian authorities have never acknowledged the state has had a role in the alleged offences. Russian athletes’ participation at next February’s Pyeongchang Games depends on the results of the Oswald report, which he said would be completed before the end of the year. Six skiers who have been banned from competing following a World Anti-Doping Agency-commissioned report will be the first to be dealt with by Oswald, with the skiing season set to start soon. The next batch of athletes will be Russians who are due to take part in Pyeongchang qualifiers, Oswald said. (Reporting by Karolos Grohmann; Additional reporting by Gabrielle Tetrault-Farber in Moscow; Editing by Toby Davis)

Sports

Olympics

Welcome to Fox News First. Not signed up yet?  Click here . Developing now, Tuesday, May 29, 2018 The U.S. reportedly held off on slapping new sanctions on North Korea as negotiations for a still-possible summit between President Trump and Kim Jong Un continue Gaza militants fire more than 25 mortar shells toward communities in southern Israel, the Israeli military says, in apparently the largest single barrage since the 2014 Israel-Hamas war A South Carolina news anchor and photographer were killed while reporting on Subtropical Storm Alberto in North Carolina It was bloody Memorial Day weekend in Chicago as at least eight people were killed and 30 were wounded in shootings across the city Starbucks will close more than 8,000 company-owned stores across the U.S. Tuesday afternoon for employees to undergo 'racial bias training' A Utah man released from a Venezuela jail after two years of captivity receives a warm welcome in his home state Monday night THE LEAD STORY - SANCTIONS AS A SUMMIT BARGAINING CHIP: The White House reportedly halted new sanctions against N  as representatives from the U.S. and North Korea met in Singapore Monday night  ... A top aide to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un arrived in Singapore Monday evening to meet with U.S. government officials , an indication that the fragile June 12 summit with President Donald Trump could proceed, Reuters reported. The Wall Street Journal reported the White House was poised to announce additional sanctions on North Korea as early as Tuesday but decided to hold off on doing so. Trump said Sunday that a U.S. delegation was in North Korea to plan for a potential meeting with Kim.  Trump called off the summit last week following increasingly harsh rhetoric from North Korea. The Treasury Department had come up with new sanctions to levy on almost three dozen targets, including Chinese and Russian entities, according to The Wall Street Journal. Harry J. Kazianis: Meeting with North Korea? That requires some cold-eyed realism TUNE IN : Watch Fox News' live coverage of President Trump's rally in Nashville, Tenn. Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET! MORTAR ATTACK:  More than 25 mortar shells were fired Tuesday from the Gaza Strip in the direction of communities in southern Israel , the Israeli military said ...  There were no reports of injuries, but the reported attack would be the largest fired in a single incident since 2014 Israel-Hamas war. Most mortars were intercepted by the Iron Dome defense system, the military said. One shell landed near a kindergarten shortly before it opened, according to media reports. Israel, Hamas trade fire on Gaza border ; Palestinian killed TRAGEDY ON THE JOB:  A South Carolina anchor and photographer died on Monday after a large tree fell on their SUV while they were covering Subtropical Storm Alberto .. . WYFF news anchor Mike McCormick and photojournalist Aaron Smeltzer were covering “rain impact” in Polk County, North Carolina, when a tree fell on their SUV, killing both of them, their home station said Monday night. “All of us at WYFF News 4 are grieving. We are a family and we thank you, our extended family, for your comfort as we mourn and as we seek to comfort the families of Mike and Aaron,” the station said. Alberto makes landfall in Florida panhandle 2018 Atlantic hurricane season to be 'near or above-normal,' NOAA says Maryland flash floods leave National Guard member missing , governor declares state of emergency BLOODY HOLIDAY WEEKEND IN CHI-TOWN:  At least eight people were killed and 30 others wounded in shootings across Chicago since midnight Friday during Memorial Day weekend, police told WLS .. .  Last year, over the entire weekend of the unofficial start of summer, seven people were killed and 45 others were hurt. To try and reduce the grim statistics, police had been trying to curb gun violence by employing 1,300 extra officers on patrol with help from state and federal partners. Trump defends Chicago police, tweets they 'have every right to legally protest' STARBUCKS CLOSED FOR BUSINESS, OPEN FOR RACE TRAINING: Starbucks will close more than 8,000 company-owned stores across the U.S. Tuesday to conduct “racial bias training” for its employees ...  The move by Starbucks comes following an outcry over the arrest of two black men at one of its stores in Philadelphia last month. The coffee chain&aposs leaders have since apologized and met with the two men and reached out to activists and experts in bias training to put together a curriculum for its 175,000 workers.  That has put a spotlight on the little-known world of "unconscious bias training," which is used by many corporations, police departments and other organizations to help address racism in the workplace. Starbucks' sensitivity training: The right move or too much ? Starbucks shares curriculum for 'racial bias training' ahead of May 29 session HOMECOMING FOR FREED AMERICAN PRISONER: J oshua Holt, who was “unjustly detained” in Venezuela for two years, arrived to a warm welcome in his home state of Utah Monday night after meeting with President Donald Trump in Washington D.C. ...  Holt and his wife Thamy were greeted at Salt Lake City International Airport by a crowd filled with family, friends, and politicians who joined the couple and their daughter in the singing of the national anthem. A second homecoming celebration will take place in Holt’s hometown of Riverton City, Utah, where streets were lined with green ribbons on light poles and trees. Green is Holt’s favorite color, the Salt Lake Tribune reported. AS SEEN ON FOX NEWS PAYING TRIBUTE TO AMERICA&aposS HEROES:  "Today our whole country thanks you, embraces you, and pledges to you: We will never forget our heroes."   – President Trump, honoring fallen heroes and their surviving family members in a Memorial Day speech Monday at Arlington National Cemetery, as seen on " America&aposs News Headquarters ."  WATCH WHY ILLEGALS SHOULD SUPPORT TRUMP&aposS BORDER WALL:  "They should be championing a wall. That is the next step for them to find their way to be here legally."   –  Wounded veteran and veterans advocate Johnny "Joey" Jones, on " Outnumbered ," saying illegal immigrants should be "championing" President Trump&aposs plan for a border wall with Mexico.  WATCH #PROUDAMERICAN World War II veteran posthumously honored  with Purple Heart. Flag&aposs cross-country journey raises funds  for children of fallen heroes. &aposGod, country and golf&apos:  Charity raises millions for families of fallen heroes . THE SWAMP Stormy Daniels&apos lawyer Michael Avenatti complicates Cohen probe . Virginia  Rep. Tom Garrett reportedly not seek re-election : &aposI&aposm an alcoholic.&apos Chelsea Clinton: Trump &aposdegrading  what it means to be an American.&apos ACROSS THE NATION Woman punched by cop on beach &aposrefused to comply&apos : New Jersey mayor says. Cop killer sues New York City  after being jumped in prison. Boy, 9, raises $6,000 for sick brother at lemonade stand. MINDING YOUR BUSINESS Nissan to cut North American output by 20 percent : Report. The Week Ahead : Investors will focus on jobs. How expensive will this hurricane season be ? Coca-Cola debuts first alcoholic drink . FOX NEWS OPINION Rep. Ken Calvert: California Democrats take hypocrisy to new heights in stance on sanctuary laws and National Guard. Corey Lewandowski: America First -- President Trump stands with American aluminum workers . Lauren DeBellis Appell: Harvard gives Hillary Clinton award for &apostransforming society&apos -- even when you lose you get a trophy . HOLLYWOOD SQUARED Michelle Wolf attacks Sarah Sanders’  &aposugly personality&apos on her Netflix show. Meghan Markle&aposs half-sister slams her for denying father a coat of arms: &aposIt&aposs a huge insult.&apos Paris Jackson leaves fashion show  after getting enraged over performing animals. DID YOU HEAR ABOUT THIS? Dino-killing asteroid impact warmed Earth&aposs climate  for 100,000 years. Seven delicious foods  you never thought to grill . Dinosaur dandruff found  in 125 million-year-old tiny beast. STAY TUNED On Fox News:  Fox & Friends , 6 a.m. ET: Meet the high school senior told to not wear an Army sash to her graduation. A closer look at why the mainstream media hate President Trump&aposs use of social media. Also, meet the Korean War veteran who&aposs fighting to keep the American flag flying over his hometown. President Trump&aposs rally in Nashville, Tenn., 8 p.m. ET: Tune in for Fox News&apos live coverage! On Fox Business: Mornings with Maria , 6 a.m. ET: Guests include: Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer; Mack McLarty, former White House chief of staff under President Clinton. Varney & Co . , 9 a.m. ET: Kirk Lippold, former Commanding Officer of the USS Cole; Art Laffer, former member of President Reagan&aposs Economic Policy Advisory Board; Steve Sweeney, New Jersey Senate president. Cavuto: Coast to Coast , Noon ET: Former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson. The Evening Edit , 5 p.m. ET: Brett Velicovich, drone expert and founder of the African Eye Project; Gordon Chang, author of "The Coming Collapse of China." On Fox News Radio: The Fox News Rundown podcast :  Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s team has been investigating American political consultant and longtime Trump confidant Roger Stone’s finances as part of the probe into Russian meddling in the 2016 election. Fox Radio Eben Brown speaks with Stone, who says he “has no intention of going quietly.” Two more school shootings take place less than four months after the mass shooting in Parkland, Fla. Andy Pollack lost his daughter in the February tragedy, and he joins the podcast to share his thoughts on how to prevent these killings. Plus, commentary by Brian Kilmeade. Want the Fox News Rundown sent straight to your mobile device? Subscribe through  Apple Podcasts ,  Google Play , and  Stitcher . The Brian Kilmeade Show , 9 a.m. ET: Sen. Bill Cassidy on rising health care costs; former Florida congressman Allen West on the latest on negotiations for a still-possible North Korea summit; New York Post columnist Michael Goodwin on why a Hillary Clinton presidency would have been more chaotic than Trump&aposs' Chris Stirewalt on the top political headlines of the day; Stu Holden makes World Cup predictions. #OnThisDay 2005:  Danica Patrick becomes the first female driver to take the lead in the storied Indianapolis 500. 1988:  President Ronald Reagan arrives in Moscow for the fourth summit meeting held in the past three years with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. 1953:  Edmund Hillary of New Zealand and Tenzing Norgay, a Sherpa of Nepal, become the first explorers to reach the summit of Mount Everest. Fox News First is compiled by Fox News&apos Bryan Robinson. Thank you for joining us! Enjoy your day! We&aposll see you in your inbox first thing Wednesday morning.

Politics

International Relations

Nov 29 (Reuters) - Unitedhealth Group Inc * Unitedhealth CEO says will not comment on m&a * Unitedhealth CEO says we will adjust and evolve with the underlying healthcare landscape, we have an attitude of “whatever comes”: investor day * Unitedhealth CEO says “this is the coming of age of a diverse strong enterprise” : investor day Further company coverage:

Business

Management

Mother's Day is this Sunday — have you picked out a present yet? If you're panicking, you'd do worse than to make a donation in your mom's honor to a place that deserves it. But it can be intimidating to know how to pick the best charity, especially when there are thousands of worthy causes to choose from. Here are a few simple tips that can help. It's of course possible to research charity options yourself, but it's probably better to outsource that labor to a careful, methodologically rigorous charity recommender like GiveWell. GiveWell currently lists four top charities: GiveWell ranked those four charities in order of how much good additional donations would do, not necessarily how good the groups are overall; these are organizations that can put new funding to use, rather than sitting on it. GiveWell takes that factor seriously. In 2013, it revoked its recommendation of Against Malaria on the grounds that the charity had not spent enough of the money it already raised. Last year, GiveWell judged that Against Malaria once again has room for more funding, and put it on the recommendation list again. So you can expect Against Malaria, and the other three recommended charities, to spend anything you donate effectively and reasonably promptly. If forced to pick, GiveWell recommends donors give to Against Malaria. Personally, I give a little less than 60 percent of my donations to Against Malaria and the rest to GiveDirectly. GiveWell's recommendations rely heavily on both evaluations done by charitable organizations and existing research literature on the kind of intervention they're trying to conduct. For example, its recommendations of SCI and Deworm the World are based on research suggesting that providing children with deworming treatments improves educational, economic, and other outcomes. A randomized evaluation of GiveDirectly released last year found that recipients ate more and experienced less hunger, invested in expensive but worthwhile assets like iron roofs and farm animals, and reported higher psychological well-being. Research from the Poverty Action Lab at MIT suggests that giving away insecticidal bed nets for free — as the Against Malaria Foundation does — is vastly more effective than charging even small amounts for them. Against Malaria Foundation It's really hard to adequately express how much richer developed nations like the US are than developing ones like Kenya, Uganda, and other countries targeted by GiveWell's most effective charities. We still have extreme poverty, in the living-on-$2-a-day sense, but it's pretty rare and hard to target effectively. The poorest Americans also have access to health care and education systems that are far superior to those of developing countries. Giving to charities domestically is admirable, of course, but if you want to get the most bang for your buck in terms of saving lives, reducing illness, or improving overall well-being, you're going to want to give abroad. GiveWell actually looked into a number of US charities, like the Nurse-Family Partnership program for infants, the KIPP chain of charter schools, and the HOPE job-training program. It found that all were highly effective but were far more cost-intensive than the best foreign charities. KIPP and the Nurse-Family Partnership cost more than $10,000 per child served, while deworming programs like SCI's and Deworm the World's generally cost about 50 cents per child treated. If you want to give, give abroad. Alternatively, you could consider giving to non-humans. Animal charities, particularly those engaged in corporate pressure campaigns to better the treatment of farm animals, chickens in particular, can be effective in improving animal welfare. The charity evaluations in this area are much younger and probably less robust than GiveWell's, but Animal Charity Evaluators has named three animal groups that may be effective causes for donations. Another option is giving to groups like GiveWell, Innovations for Poverty Action, the Life You Can Save, Giving What We Can, and 80,000 Hours that evaluate development approaches/charities and encourage effective giving. Suppose that every dollar given to Giving What We Can — which encourages people to pledge to donate at least 10 percent of their income until retirement — results in $1.20 in donations to the Against Malaria Foundation. If that's the case, then you should give to Giving What We Can until the marginal effect on donations to AMF hits $1 or lower. "If they can turn a dollar of donations into substantially more than a dollar of increased donations to effective charities, isn't that the best use of my money?" asks Jeff Kaufman, a software developer who with his wife, Julia Wise, gives about half his income to effective charities and meta-charities. Stephen Davies/Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences If you only care about reducing early mortality and giving people more years to live, then you should give all your donations to the Against Malaria Foundation. Malaria is a frequently fatal disease, and cost-effective interventions to reduce malaria infection are a great way to save lives. But the rest of the charities GiveWell recommends don't mainly focus on reducing mortality. Quality of life matters, too. Parasitic infections hamper children's development and education, which can have negative consequences lasting decades. Having increased access to cash may not extend the life of a GiveDirectly recipient, but it does make life considerably more pleasant. You'll notice that all of the charities GiveWell recommends are reasonably small, and some big names are absent. That's not an accident. In general, charity effectiveness evaluators are skeptical of large relief organizations, for a number of reasons. Large organizations tend to be less transparent about where their money goes and also likelier to direct money to disaster relief efforts, which are usually less cost-effective, in general, than public health programs. "Overall, our impression is that your donation to these organizations is very hard to trace, but will likely supplement an agenda of extremely diverse programming, driven largely by governments and other very large funders," writes GiveWell cofounder Holden Karnofsky. GiveDirectly One of the main charities I support is GiveDirectly, which is the only non-public health charity to get GiveWell's top rating and, to my knowledge, the only charity devoted to unconditional cash transfers. That's partly because there's a large body of research on the benefits of cash transfers, GiveDirectly's preliminary evaluation was very promising, and GiveWell has found that cash rivals the best health programs as far as cost-effectiveness is concerned. But it's mostly because I don't trust myself to know what the world's poorest people need most. I've been profoundly lucky to never experience the kind of extreme poverty that billions of people worldwide have to endure. I have no idea what I would spend a cash transfer from GiveDirectly on if I were living on less than $2 a day in Uganda. Would I buy a bed net? Maybe! Or maybe I'd buy an iron roof. Or school tuition for loved ones. Or cattle. But you know who does have a good sense of the needs of poor people in Uganda? Poor people in Uganda. They have a very good idea of what they need. Do they sometimes misjudge their spending priorities? Certainly; so do we all. And bed nets and deworming treatments appear to be underpurchased relative to the actual need for them. But generally, you should only give something other than cash if you are confident you know the recipients' needs better than they do. With the exception of bed nets — which really do seem underprovided when they're just put up for sale rather than given away for free — I'm not confident of that. So I give cash. As the World Bank's Jishnu Das once put it, "'Does giving cash work well' is a well-defined question only if you are willing to say that 'well' is something that WE, the donors, want to define for families whom we have never met and whose living circumstances we have probably never spent a day, let alone a lifetime, in." If you're not willing to say that, then you should strongly consider giving cash.

Other

Other

The man who committed the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history when he opened fire from his Las Vegas high-rise hotel room had no clear motive, Las Vegas police said as they announced Friday that they had concluded their 10-month investigation. A 187-page report examining the Oct. 1 attack on a country music festival determined that the gunman, Stephen Paddock, acted alone. At a news conference, Sheriff Joseph Lombardo of Clark County said his team had extensive information about the perpetrator’s actions in the days before the shooting. But, he said, “we have not been able to definitively answer the ‘why.’” Fifty-eight people died in the attack, and the report said that 887 people sustained documented injuries. Mr. Paddock, 64, a high-stakes gambler, spent days carrying an arsenal of guns into the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino across the street from the festival, before randomly shooting concertgoers below. He then killed himself. Mr. Paddock left no suicide note, the investigation concluded. There was no evidence he belonged to any terrorist organizations or hate groups, and he had no criminal record. While his financial assets had diminished before the attack, he was indebted to no one and had paid all his gambling debts. The detailed report describes Mr. Paddock’s activities in the days leading up to the shooting. It also includes a minute-by-minute timeline of the event, along with interviews with his girlfriend, his mother, his siblings and his doctor, as well as staff at the hotel and emergency workers. Investigators followed 2,000 leads, watched 22,000 hours of video and examined 252,000 images. The report said that Mr. Paddock had been stockpiling weapons for about a year, and that he had researched other open air venues before settling on the country music concert. His internet searches included “biggest open air concert venues in USA” and “how crowded does Santa Monica Beach get,” among others. In September 2017, Mr. Paddock visited the Mandalay Bay with his girlfriend, Marilou Danley. Danley described Paddock’s behavior as “strange,” the report said. “She observed him looking out the windows which also overlooked the Las Vegas Village venue. She mentioned how he would move around the room looking at the venue from different angles and positions.” But on Friday, Sheriff Lombardo said that investigators found evidence of a man with a “troubled mind” but no indication that he would commit such a massacre. Nothing he had done previously had attracted the attention of law enforcement. In the report, Ms. Danley explained that she met Mr. Paddock while she was working as a high-limits casino host. At first, their relationship was romantic, but she said she noticed a decline in his affection that she believed to be linked to his health. He had bad headaches, she said, was sensitive to chemical smells and would not shake hands with people. He often wore cotton gloves. He was not religious, she said, and would often say things like, “Your God doesn’t love me.” In the months before the shooting, Mr. Paddock’s interest in guns intensified and packages began arriving almost daily. Ms. Danley occasionally accompanied him to the gun store or shooting range. But the report concludes that “Danley believed Paddock’s new found interest in guns was merely a hobby.” Mr. Paddock paid for Ms. Danley to see her family in the Philippines before the attack, wiring her a total of $150,000 during the trip, which was meant to pay for a house there. Ms. Danley told investigators she was worried Mr. Paddock was trying to set her up there before breaking up with her. They rarely spoke by phone during the trip, and Mr. Paddock became evasive every time Ms. Danley asked where he was. On Sept. 27, Mr. Paddock asked her over email if she wanted to stay longer. “She replied she was ready to come home,” according to the report. Several days later, she was on her way to dinner with her sister in Manila when someone called to say they should return home. When they walked into the house, Ms. Danley saw her driver’s license photo on television and learned she was a “person of interest.” On Friday, Sheriff Lombardo said that Ms. Danley is not under investigation. The report also summarizes interviews with several employees of the resort, including valets, bellmen, room service attendants and security officers. Each of the employees said there had been nothing remarkable about Mr. Paddock in the days leading up to the shooting. A waiter at a sushi restaurant who knew Mr. Paddock by name because of his frequent visits said that less than 48 hours before the attack, he had ordered two sushi rolls and a glass of water, sitting at a table alone while watching television. He did not use his phone or speak to anyone, tipping the waiter as he left. In the early hours after the attack, there were reports of multiple gunmen. Investigators later found no evidence that this was true. And Sheriff Lombardo made a point of dismissing conspiracy theories around the attack in his news conference. Mr. Paddock purchased all weapons and ammunition legally. “Paddock did not commit a crime until he fired the first round into the crowd,” the report states. Just one person is being charged in connection with the case. Douglas Haig, accused of selling armor-piercing rounds to the gunman, faces federal charges of conspiracy to illegally manufacture and sell the ammunition. A report into the shooting by the F.B.I.’s Behavioral Analysis Unit is on schedule to be released this year. The shooting does not meet the federal definition of a terrorist attack, said Sheriff Lombardo. But he repeated a statement he has made before: “I would personally call it a terrorist act.” The release of the report was meant to offer some closure to a city shaken by such an enormous tragedy. But at the news conference, Sheriff Lombardo said he knew the danger of another massacre lingered. “Absolutely, it could happen again,” he said. “By the grace of God it doesn’t.” video

Crime

Police

In a surprise meeting on Wednesday, President Donald Trump pushed to ban all non-tobacco-flavored e-cigarettes from the market. Trump discussed the proposal during a meeting at the White House after discussing the move with advisers like Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar and acting Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Norman Sharpless, Bloomberg reported. “Not only is it a problem overall, but really specifically with respect for children,” Trump told reporters. He continued, “We may very well have to do something very, very strong about it.” Secretary Azar said the FDA would soon issue regulatory guidance to remove flavored vaping products from the market. The secretary cited statistics showing five million children using e-cigarettes of some kind, a number he found “alarming.” In December, the US Surgeon General declared underage vaping “an epidemic,” laying the groundwork for future regulatory action. Last week, federal officials announced that over 450 people across the country had grown sick with deadly lung illnesses that have been linked to e-cigarette use. The number of sick people has increased dramatically over the past few weeks, and organizations like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have warned people to halt the use of e-cigarettes entirely. The White House’s move comes just one day after former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg called for a ban on flavored e-cigarettes in The New York Times, calling it “an urgent health crisis.” It’s been a long year for e-cigarette manufacturers like Juul with threats of regulation being thrown from all across the government. Last summer, lawmakers like Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) proposed similar regulations to what the president floated today. Durbin’s Stopping Appealing Flavors in E-Cigarettes for Kids Act, or the SAFE Kids Act, if approved, would require manufacturers to prove that their flavors do not tempt minors to use the devices. Juul did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Technology

Electronics

The Trump administration has asked for a 90-day delay on its decision to appeal a case brought by House Republicans against ObamaCare subsidies paid to insurers. The payments will continue during the appeals process, which avoids an immediate crisis with the ObamaCare insurance market but still leaves insurers uncertain about the future. According to an official court filing, the House and the administration are continuing to discuss a solution that would eliminate the need for the court to rule on the appeal, including potential legislation such as the American Healthcare Act. She added that Congress “could resolve any uncertainty about the payments” by approving the House GOP’s healthcare bill “and reforming Obamacare’s failed funding structure.” President Trump has previously threatened to use the payments to insurers as leverage to bring Democrats to the negotiating table for ObamaCare repeal talks. He's also tried to use the subsidies to get Democrats to support paying for a border wall, offering one dollar in the payments for every dollar spent on the wall. House and Senate Democrats were immediately critical of the decision to ask for a delay. In a statement, Senate Democratic leader Charles SchumerCharles (Chuck) Ellis SchumerLewandowski on potential NH Senate run: If I run, 'I'm going to win' Appropriators warn White House against clawing back foreign aid Colorado candidates vying to take on Gardner warn Hickenlooper they won't back down MORE (N.Y.) accused the administration of “kicking the can down the road” and called for the subsidies to be funded permanently.   “Clearly by today’s action and their decision to make the next payment, the White House realizes that eliminating cost sharing reduction payments would cause chaos in the markets, and they would get the blame,” Schumer said.  “The administration is continuing to sow uncertainty in the markets that will hurt millions of Americans.” House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) also criticized the administration for delaying, rather than solving, the lawsuit.  “At a critical period when insurers are deciding premiums for next year, Republicans are pouring uncertainty into the health insurance marketplaces,” Pelosi said. The insurance industry expressed relief at the delay, but insurers stressed they need certainty. Insurers need to decide by June whether they will continue to operate in the ObamaCare exchanges, and if the court grants the administration's request for a delay, companies will have finalized their 2018 premium requests before the end of the three-month window. “We need swift, immediate action and long-term certainty on this critical program,” Cathryn Donaldson, a spokeswoman for America's Health Insurance Plans, said in a statement. “It is the single most destabilizing factor in the individual market, and millions of Americans could soon feel the impact of fewer choices, higher costs, and reduced access to care.”   By forcing insurers to price for uncertainty, former Acting CMS Administrator Andy Slavitt on Twitter said the strategy from the Trump administration is to “go for broke” to “force Trumpcare.”   If the administration ended the lawsuit, the damage to the marketplace would be explicitly blamed on Republicans, Slavitt said. But Slavitt noted that by continuing to defer the lawsuit, the damage to the marketplace will be the same, but can be blamed on a failing ObamaCare rather than Republican actions.   View the discussion thread. The Hill 1625 K Street, NW Suite 900 Washington DC 20006 | 202-628-8500 tel | 202-628-8503 fax The contents of this site are ©2019 Capitol Hill Publishing Corp., a subsidiary of News Communications, Inc.

Politics

Policy

Jada Pinkett Smith and her mom Adrienne Banfield-Jones got real about addiction in the latest episode of their Facebook Watch series, Red Table Talk. The mother-daughter duo have an honest conversation about the struggles of overcoming addiction and how Banfield-Jones has been sober for 27 years. The 64-year-old admits on the show that she struggled with drug use for over 20 years. “It’s difficult to talk about something that is gonna go out to the world,” Banfield-Jones says through tears at the beginning of the emotional episode. “I couldn’t hide the unmanageability of my life, and the emotional damage and the spiritual damage I did to myself and to her. That was devastating. I abused drugs for over 20 years.” Pinkett Smith offers her side of the situation and how she realized her mother was struggling with heroin addiction when she was young. “I think I didn’t find out my mother was addicted to heroin until I was in my teens,” she admits. “I could tell when my mother was high. She couldn’t make it on time to pick me up from school. Or she’s nodding off, falling asleep in the middle of something. You just realize, oh, that’s not being tired, that is like, a drug problem.” She continues, “Alcoholism and drug addiction runs through my family, and I’ve had my own addictions that I’ve had to get over. It just made me realize that really great people just get caught up.” Banfield-Jones says she decided to get clean when the opportunity for a relationship with a man she was interested in opened up. “At that time, I didn’t think I was anything without a man. So I had this man come back in my life. It’s sad to say that I did it for a man,” she admits. Banfield-Jones says she eventually got to the point where she was doing it for herself, and leaned into religion. “I had to come to the understanding that there was a power,” she says. “That God had been looking out for us, you and me both, through all of that. And I just had to let go and surrender so I could receive what he was trying to give to me, through other people. “

Other

Other

Google Takeout is a service that allows Google Photos users to download their personal data for backups or to use with other apps.Google mixed up user data and sent some Takeout users' personal videos stored in Google Photos to other strangers using the service.The issue lasted for five days and affected up to 0.01% of users, but the exact number of people affected is unknown.Google instructed users affected by the issue to delete and re-download their data.Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.Google notified some Google Photo users Monday that Google accidentally sent their private videos to strangers, according to The Verge. The "technical issue" affected Google Takeout, a service that allows users to download their data for backup or to use with other apps. Users who requested backups between Nov. 21 and Nov. 25, 2019 potentially received an incomplete archive or videos that did not belong to them.—Jon Oberheide (@jonoberheide) February 4, 2020 Google's email to users did not specify the number of users or videos affected but said less than 0.01% of people on Google Photos who use Takeout were affected, according to 9to5Google. More than 1 billion people use Google Photos.No photos were affected in the mix-up according to The Verge.Google resolved the issue within five days and encouraged users to delete any exports from that time and to re-download their content. Get the latest Google stock price here. window._taboola = window._taboola || []; window._taboola = window._taboola || [];

Other

Other

SAN FRANCISCO — In the coming age of robotics, many of those autonomous machines will be internet-connected and mobile. What could possibly go wrong? Significant security flaws were found in an examination of six home and industrial robots, according to a report to be released Wednesday by IOActive, a computer security consulting firm with headquarters in Seattle. The report notes that only four of the six companies responded to the firm’s alert, and only two said they planned to make patches after being informed of the problems. The researchers, who described the categories of vulnerabilities they had discovered in the report but not the specific flaws, said their research was simply an early reconnaissance of the field. “It’s important to note that our testing was not even a deep, extensive security audit, as that would have taken a much larger investment of time and resources,” the authors wrote. “The goal for this work was to gain a high-level sense of how insecure today’s robots are, which we accomplished.” Despite the general nature of the report, industry specialists warn that if robot makers fail to take a security-first approach, it may haunt them. “The desire for online commerce brought strong cryptographic algorithms into our daily lives,“ said Joe Britt, the chief executive of Afero, a Los Altos, Calif.-based maker of secure communications systems for the world of so-called embedded computing. “As embedded systems for sensors and robotics flourish in the next wave of computing, failure to apply these proven safeguards is like leaving the locks off of our doors.” The research underscores the potential security challenges that await the world of mobile robots. Given the popularity of stationary home robotic systems like Amazon’s Echo and Google’s Home personal assistants as well as dozens of other internet-connected devices like doorbells, video cameras and even light bulbs, it appears that consumers are willing to trust that manufacturers are building adequate security into the products. It is common for manufacturers that do not have good security practices to not know how to deal with vulnerability reports. Most of them probably do not have a procedure in place to handle reports and neither to provide security fixes to customers. Robots are widely used in manufacturing. But they are largely systems like robot arms that do not have autonomous functions and cannot move around in the environment. There is a growing consensus that during the next decade, advances in artificial intelligence will make it possible for robots to move freely in unstructured environments. This will bring self-driving cars closer to reality and will also lead to a generation of machines that will operate autonomously in homes, offices and factories. The authors of the new report challenged the robotics industry, saying that not enough attention was being given to well-known security issues that have proved devastating for existing commercial computer networks. “We call it an internet-of-things with arms and legs and wheels,” said Cesar Cerrudo, chief technology officer of IOActive. “The surface of attack is huge. Each robot has multiple ways it can be compromised.” The researchers said that robot makers were rushing their products to market without giving adequate consideration to security. “Vendors like to add features that please the public,” said Lucas Apa, a senior security consultant at IOActive and one of the authors of the report. “They forget about important issues. Robots can have microphones and cameras; they can walk and they can grab objects. People don’t realize the consequences of something that can grab an object or can hear or see you.” The report identifies security flaws in a number of robots, including NAO and Pepper home robots made by SoftBank Robotics; and manufacturing robots from Universal Robots and Rethink Robotics, two makers of robot arms that are intended to collaborate with human workers in assembly line applications. It also identifies flaws in small humanoid robots made by UBTECH Robotics and Robotis, and in robotics software developed by Asratec Corp. The report identifies seven different kinds of security issues, ranging from weak cryptographic systems and vulnerable default configurations to what security experts call authentication issues. In some cases, they noted that it was possible to control some robot functions without authentication. “We found key robot services that didn’t require a username and password, allowing anyone to remotely access those services,” the report said. One of the robot manufacturers identified by the report disputed the findings. Two of the criticisms leveled by the researchers actually involved “features” added for research and education markets, according to Gil Haylon, a Rethink Robotics spokesman. He added that other vulnerabilities had been “phased out” in the latest software release for the company’s Baxter and Sawyer robots, which are intended for light assembly operations. Universal Robots said it was looking into the issue raised by the researchers. The other companies did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Robotics

Artificial Intelligence

LONDON, Nov 15 (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said a pre-election promise by the opposition Labour Party to nationalize telecoms provider BT's fixed line network to provide free full-fiber broadband for all is a "crackpot scheme." "What we won't be doing is some crackpot scheme that would involve many, many tens of billions of taxpayers' money nationalizing a British business," Johnson told BBC radio. (Reporting by Costas Pitas and Andy Bruce. Andrew MacAskill)

Politics

UK

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand may lose 2 billion baht ($64.6 million) in exports to China in the first quarter, as the impact of coronavirus on supply chains weighed, a Thai shipping association said on Tuesday. Exports of fresh fruits and vegetables will be the worst hit, Ghanyapad Tantipipatpong, group chairwoman of Thai National Shippers’ Council, told reporters. China was Thailand’s second-largest export market last year, purchasing goods worth $29.2 billion, or 11.8% of total Thai exports. The group has maintained its forecast for overall export growth of 0-1% this year, as the virus is expected to cut shipments by just 0.11%, Ghanyapad said, adding that it expects exports to China to accelerate due to pent-up demand. Thailand may also get more buyers who are seeking to replace Chinese products, she added. Exports, a key growth driver of Thai growth, dropped 2.65% in 2019 due to global trade tensions and a firmer baht THB=TH. The coronavirus outbreak has sickened thousands in China and killed more than 420; and the epidemic is expected to disrupt supply chains across many commodities and energy sectors. The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the flu-like virus a global emergency and experts say much is still unknown about the pathogen, including its mortality rate and transmission pathways. Reporting by Kitiphong Thaichareon and Satawasin Staporncharnchai; Writing by Orathai Srirng, Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips

Business

Marketing

New York Stock Exchange chief Tom Farley said Friday it could be a good year for initial public offerings despite the delay of what was supposed to be the first big IPO of 2016 . "The pipeline is very big. We had a couple dozen companies in the fourth quarter that were prepared to go public, and then just didn't," Farley told CNBC's "Squawk Box" at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. "And they include great, big IPOs: Univision, Albertsons, Soulcycle. There was lots of really great companies. They haven't just gone away, they're waiting for the IPO window to come back," he said. On Thursday, Elevate Credit announced it would delay its IPO, citing "the volatile market." "Although the response to the marketing of our planned IPO has been very favorable, we recognize that the current market volatility makes it very difficult to price our offering at present," CEO Ken Rees said in a release.

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Computers

Just last spring, my pharmacy suddenly switched up my birth control brand. After taking the same exact pill every day for five years, I was a little shook — but my doctor said it was alright to go ahead and take the contraception, so I did. For the months that followed, I was nauseous pretty much every morning after I popped the new pill. I assumed it was because I wasn't drinking enough water or because I was taking it on an empty stomach (I take it right when I wake up), but when the feeling persisted I started thinking there might be another explanation. So I asked Angela Jones, MD, Astroglide's resident OB/GYN the question that I couldn't shake: Could something in this oral contraceptive be making me feel sick? "Birth control pills can cause any number of symptoms," she told me, then listed a few common ones: irregular bleeding or spotting, breast tenderness, acne, mood fluctuations... and nausea. I knew it! More than once I thought I was going to heave up last night's dinner during my morning commute. And I'm not alone. Nausea is the most common side effect of the pill. Below, some reasons why birth control pills can make you feel sick, and what you can do about it. Why do I feel nauseous? Birth control pumps synthetic versions of the hormones estrogen and progestin into your body to prevent ovulation. Sometimes, the hormones themselves can cause discomfort and nausea. There's evidence, for instance, that estrogen can irritate the stomach lining. In fact, the higher the estrogen level in your pill, the more likely you might be to feel nauseous. Some birth control pills contain just synthetic progesterone (called progestin); other "combination pills" contain both progestin and estrogen. Different brands may have different levels of hormones or methods of delivery. That's why one brand of oral contraceptive may make you sick, while another may not. "Perhaps the current pill you're on isn’t the right one for you," Dr. Jones says, regarding my stomach-turning experience. "After all, one pill doesn't fit all." And she's right — every person's body has different needs and reactions, and it's important to listen to them. If you think you're on the wrong type of pill, have a talk with your doctor about your options. Certain medical conditions may be a factor. You may have one or more medical conditions that's could be a contraindication to being on the birth control pill (meaning: the combo of medical condition + oral contraceptive could cause harm). That includes a history of clotting disorders, hypertensive disorders, or migraine headaches with aura, says Dr. Jones. If you have any of these conditions, you definitely want to give your doctor a heads up — they might be the reason you're experiencing nausea-inducing side effects, and they can turn bad fast. What can I do about it? First, give it three months, says Dr. Jones. That's how long it takes your body to adjust to a new pill. Most symptoms go away after just a few days, according to the Center for Young Women's Health. If they persist, you might want to consider either a progesterone-only (often called the mini pill), a non-pill form of contraceptive (including hormonal IUDs, diaphragms, vaginal rings), or a non-hormonal option (such as a copper IUD or condoms). Progesterone-only pills are less likely to cause nausea, Medical News Today says. But these kind of pills are less effective at preventing pregnancy than the combination pill because they must be taken at the exact same time every day to work. Also worth trying: At-home nausea remedies like eating ginger, staying hydrated, and trying out peppermint aromatherapy. With a little effort and the help of your doctor, you'll be able to find the perfect solution that keeps you protected and your stomach settled.

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* All eyes on Jackson Hole meeting, Fed's Powell's speech * G7 meeting also awaited for finance officials' comments * Fed minutes show officials view July cut as mid-cycle adjustment * Euro little moved by Italian PM's resignation * Graphic: World FX rates in 2019 http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh (Adds new comments, Fed minutes, updates prices) NEW YORK, Aug 21 (Reuters) - The dollar advanced against the safe-haven yen and Swiss Franc on Wednesday, as risk appetite increased with global stocks and U.S. yields were mostly higher ahead of an annual Federal Reserve gathering later this week in Jackson Hole, Wyoming and a summit of major central banks this weekend. Currency investors are waiting for a statement from Fed Chairman Jerome Powell in Jackson Hole on Friday as well comments from global monetary authorities who will meet at a Group of Seven event this weekend about possible measures to lift slumping economies around the world. Powell's highly-anticipated speech comes after last week's inversion of the U.S. yield curve - widely regarded as a recession signal. The curve inversion has boosted expectations of another interest rate cut at its September policy meeting. The interest rate futures market has priced in 100 basis points of easing over the next year. The Fed minutes of the July meeting released on Wednesday showed that the policy-making body discussed a 50-basis point cut, but most viewed that as mid-cycle adjustment. The dollar briefly extended gains after the minutes. "It looks like a lot of the Fed officials viewed the July cut as a mid-cycle adjustment and not the start of a long-term monetary easing cycle," said Brendan McKenna, currency strategist, at Wells Fargo Securities in new York. "The 50-basis point cut was discussed, but it doesn't look like it was ever a rational possibility. This is definitely supportive of the dollar," he added. In afternoon trading, the dollar rose 0.3% against the yen to 106.56 yen, gaining in four of the last five sessions. Against the Swiss franc, the dollar climbed 0.4% to 0.9820 franc. The dollar has also been supported by talk of more spending. U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday his administration was considering potential tax cuts on wages as well as profits from asset sales. With the Fed minutes out of the way, the focus is squarely on Fed Chairman Powell and the Jackson Hole meeting. Collin Martin, fixed income strategist at Schwab Center for Financial Research in New York said it would be interesting to see whether Powell in his speech on Friday still characterizes July's easing as a mid-cycle adjustment or a signal for a series of interest rate cuts. "The biggest risk is still trade uncertainty," Martin said. "This should lead them down to a dovish route. Their views may have changed a day later after tariffs were announced." The euro, meanwhile, was down 0.1% at $1.1087, moving little since Italy's Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte resigned on Tuesday. Some investors believed the move made a snap general election less likely. ======================================================= Currency bid prices at 2:57 PM (1857 GMT) Description RIC Last U.S. Close Pct Change YTD Pct High Bid Low BidPrevious Change Session Euro/Dollar EUR= $1.1086 $1.1099 -0.12% -3.34%+1.1107 +1.1086Dollar/Yen JPY= 106.5600 106.2200 +0.32% -3.36%+106.6000 +106.2300Euro/Yen EURJPY= 118.15 117.90 +0.21% -6.39%+118.3200 +117.9200Dollar/Swiss CHF= 0.9820 0.9778 +0.43% +0.06%+0.9826 +0.9776Sterling/Dollar GBP= 1.2123 1.2168 -0.37% -4.97%+1.2175 +1.2114Dollar/Canadian CAD= 1.3292 1.3314 -0.17% -2.53%+1.3327 +1.3255Australian/Doll AUD= 0.6779 0.6776 +0.04% -3.82%+0.6799 +0.6774 ar Euro/Swiss EURCHF= 1.0890 1.0853 +0.34% -3.23%+1.0894 +1.0852Euro/Sterling EURGBP= 0.9144 0.9117 +0.30% +1.78%+0.9162 +0.9117NZ NZD= 0.6398 0.6414 -0.25% -4.75%+0.6422 +0.6397 Dollar/Dollar Dollar/Norway NOK= 8.9516 8.9814 -0.33% +3.62%+8.9988 +8.9354Euro/Norway EURNOK= 9.9261 9.9713 -0.45% +0.20%+9.9843 +9.9174Dollar/Sweden SEK= 9.6260 9.6864 -0.72% +7.39%+9.6941 +9.6100Euro/Sweden EURSEK= 10.6748 10.7523 -0.72% +4.00%+10.7568 +10.6667 (Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss; Additional reporting by Richard Leong; Editing by Nick Zieminski)

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