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2017-01-02 10:59:00

Politico

Spicer: 'Irresponsible’ to plan Russia response without final report

"We're going to get all the information, get briefed properly and then make a decision,” Spicer said.

Sean Spicer said the Trump administration will wait until a final report on Russian meddling in the election before making any conclusions. | AP Photo Spicer: 'Irresponsible’ to plan Russia response without final report President-elect Donald Trump may be preparing to assume the presidency later this month, but one plan he isn’t making, according to his incoming press secretary, is what he will do if Russia was, in fact, behind the wave of cyberattacks that marred the 2016 election. To make such a plan without a final, conclusive report, Sean Spicer said, would be “unbelievably irresponsible.” The incoming White House press secretary said he expects a more detailed intelligence report regarding Russia’s cyberattacks to be released in the coming days and that until that report is released, Trump will not even consider what response his administration might make. Story Continued Below “The idea that you should be talking about the conclusions or actions you're going to take on a conclusion that’s not final yet is unbelievably irresponsible,” Spicer said Monday morning on CNN’s “New Day” as anchor Alisyn Camerota attempted to interject with a question. “No, no. Hold on. The report is not final. He's not been briefed by the heads of the intelligence community yet and you’re asking me what his response should be. Think about that.” Despite Spicer’s insistence that a final report has not yet been issued by the U.S. intelligence community regarding Russian cyberattacks directed at the U.S. election process during the presidential race, President Barack Obama announced a package of sanctions last week intended to punish the Kremlin for those attacks. Those sanctions were accompanied by a report detailing Russia’s cyber efforts, attacks that were officially pinned on Russia by all 17 federal intelligence agencies last October. Despite that assessment from the U.S. intelligence community, Trump has been unwilling to definitively accept that Russia was behind the cyberattacks, suggesting instead that it would be nearly impossible to determine the true culprit. He has been particularly incensed by the assessment of the CIA and the FBI, which were leaked to the media, that Russia’s cyberattacks were intended to aid his candidacy and help install him as president. Trump and his team have said such reports are little more than efforts from Democrats to delegitimize his presidency. "I just want them to be sure, because it's a pretty serious charge, and I want them to be sure," Trump told his traveling press pool during a brief question-and-answer session on New Year’s Eve. “So I want them to be sure. I think it’s unfair if they don’t know. And I know a lot about hacking. And hacking is a very hard thing to prove. So it could be somebody else. And I also know things that other people don’t know, and so they cannot be sure of the situation.” Trump told the pool that he would make an announcement on Tuesday or Wednesday of this week regarding what information he has that might cast doubt on the assessment that Russia is to blame for the cyberattacks. On CNN, Spicer offered no further clarity on what the president-elect might have to add to the intelligence community’s assessment. The incoming press secretary said there is a clear difference between the sanctions imposed the Obama administration and the congressional investigations that Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) have called for. While Graham and McCain have both been clear that they believe Russia was behind the attacks, Spicer said the planned inquiries are appropriate because they are seeking the truth, not acting upon supposedly incomplete information. “They believe something. Then they're having a hearing to get more information and coming to a conclusion,” Spicer said. “That's what we believe should happen. Understand all the information, get all of it, get briefed, make sure the report is final, get the intelligence community to brief us on that and then come to a conclusion.” “And you’re not going to make any plan? You guys aren't even having conversations about the possibility?” Camerota replied. “I know this is frustrating for you that we're doing it in a logical way. No, we're going to get all the information, get briefed properly and then make a decision,” Spicer said. “We're not going to put the cart before the horse.”

Louis Nelson

www.politico.com

http://www.politico.com/story/2017/01/trump-russia-hacking-response-sean-spicer-233100

UNDEFINED

2017-01-02 11:00:15

Fox News

Finland to pay unemployed basic income of $587 per month

Finland has become the first country in Europe to pay its unemployed citizens a basic monthly income, amounting to 560 euros ($587), in a social experiment hoped to cut government red tape, reduce poverty and boost employment.

Finland has become the first country in Europe to pay its unemployed citizens a basic monthly income, amounting to 560 euros ($587), in a social experiment hoped to cut government red tape, reduce poverty and boost employment. Olli Kangas from the Finnish government agency KELA said Monday that the two-year trial with the 2,000 randomly picked citizens who receive unemployment benefits kicked off Jan. 1. Those 2,000 unemployed chosen will receive 560 euros every month, with no reporting requirements on how they spend it. The amount will be deducted from any benefits they already receive. The unemployment rate of Finland, a nation of 5.5 million, stood at 8.1 percent in November with some 213,000 people without a job — unchanged from the previous year.

www.foxnews.com

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2017/01/02/finland-to-pay-unemployed-basic-income-587-per-month.html

RIGHT

2017-01-02 11:00:23

The Guardian

Brazil's men helped to become better fathers to reduce gender violence

A project that promotes men’s involvement in childcare is changing attitudes with the aim of promoting equality and protecting women and girls

Getting men to be active fathers may not seem the most obvious way to tackle gender-based violence. But, according to Gary Barker, CEO and founder of Promundo, which engages men and boys in ending violence against women and girls, policies that encourage men to do more unpaid care work are a vital part of achieving gender equality. “To us, it seemed obvious that we needed to figure out more constructive ways to engage men on this topic,” he says. In fact, there can be consequences when men aren’t brought into initiatives to empower women. According to Barker, while in the long-term, women who are better off financially are less likely to be involved in a violent relationship and more likely to leave a violent partner, in the short-term, the opposite can be true. Micro-credit programmes that target women, for example, can initially lead to an increase in violence. “[Her partner] may be feeling economically disempowered, the power dynamic feels like it’s shifting … and in some settings and some relationships, men might not be ready for that,” Barker explains. To tackle this in Brazil, Promundo runs a companion project to the government’s bolsa familia cash transfer programme, which for more than a decade has given cash to families living in poverty in return for enrolling their children in school and attending regular health checks. Bolsa familia reaches nearly a quarter of the country’s population, and 93% of its beneficiaries are women. Promundo’s companion project trained public sector staff to discuss gender equality and the importance of sharing care work when administering bolsa familia grants. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Gary Barker, CEO and founder of Promundo, which engages men and boys in ending violence against women and girls. Photograph: Brad Barket/ WireImage/Getty Images “We worked with staff who implement that programme to say, let’s encourage him to be part of helping the child with homework, let’s encourage him to go to the meetings with teachers,” says Barker. The project seems to be working. At the start, 75% of male participants said men’s responsibilities included childcare, by the end, 100% agreed. Promundo, which works in more than 20 countries and receives funding from foundations and government sources, including the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Bank, also recently successfully campaigned for Brazil to increase entitlement to paternity leave – one of few policy examples promoting men’s involvement in care work. Men are now able to take 20 days of paid parental leave, as opposed to the previous five. Barker had campaigned for more paternity leave in Brazil in 2007, but failed because too many employers did not want to provide this extra benefit to staff. He was also told by women’s rights organisations that mothers did not believe their partners were ready to care for their children. Barker hopes the country becoming one of only a handful in the global south to offer paid leave for fathers will begin closing the huge gap between men and women in time spent on caregiving. Combined with better policies around education and psychosocial support, he hopes it will also reduce levels of gender-based violence. According to the annual Map of Violence, in 2015 a woman was killed every two hours in Brazil. Whereas Brazilian women spend 22 hours a week, on average, on care and domestic work, men only spend 10 hours and eight minutes, according to Promundo’s 2015 State of the World’s Fathers report. The key, Barker says, will be scaling up work to engage men from small-scale projects at community level to become a more mainstream part of government policy and development programmes. “There’s a growing amount of evidence that if we can do this long enough and deep enough, and with enough key actors, we can see change. But they’ve been in limited areas – five schools, four provinces in a country,” he says. His views are shared by a number of women’s and girls’ rights organisations. According to Kerry Smith, head of girls’ rights and youth at Plan International UK, which works with men and boys to prevent female genital mutilation and child marriage: “If you want to address stereotypes of what women and girls are, you absolutely need to address stereotypes that men have to operate under as well. “In our minds, it isn’t the most important element, it isn’t the only element, but it is an essential ingredient of tackling and ending violence against women and girls. You need to look at it in a public health way. You need to treat and respond to the actual violence and you also need to take preventative measures, both of which need funding.” Toral Pattni, Care International’s senior humanitarian adviser for gender, acknowledges that in the context of limited funds, the balance between work with men and boys and protecting women who have experienced violence is “something many organisations struggle with. But if we are simply responding to the need but not tackling, not preventing it, then we are only ever going to be responding to the need.” Barker believes it’s time to assess how much it would cost to engage more men. “It’s a really key moment to now say how much would it cost to scale this up ... and to build it in to other streams of funding. To say, what does it cost to [engage men] in what you’re already doing?”

Anna Macswan

www.theguardian.com

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2017/jan/02/brazils-men-helped-to-become-better-fathers-to-reduce-gender-violence

LEFT

2017-01-02 11:00:23

The Guardian

Climate change in 2016: the good, the bad, and the ugly

John Abraham: 2016 wasn’t all bad news for the climate, but it was ugly toward the end

This past year had so many stories involving human-caused climate change – it will be forever in our memories. Here is a summary of some of the high points, from my perspective. When I say “high points” I don’t necessarily mean good. Some of these high points are bad and some are downright ugly. Let’s do the good first. The Good The best news of all, in my opinion, is the continued cost reductions and huge installations of clean energy both in the US and around the word. Wind, solar, and other renewables have been on an incredible run of decreasing costs and creative financing, which has made them economically competitive with dirty fossil fuels. Improvements and expansion of grid-based power storage has also advanced. These storage abilities are needed to allow intermittent power sources (like wind and solar) to play an even larger role in delivering power to the grid. In the end, clean power will win out based on simple dollars and cents – regardless of the fact they will also help save the world. On an international scale, the US, China, and other countries ratified the Paris climate agreement, which gives us a reasonable chance at avoiding the worst effects of climate change. In the lead up to that ratification, the US took major actions domestically to reduce its own emissions through steps like the Clean Power Plan. Emissions have been reduced in some countries like the US for a variety of reasons. First, very cheap natural gas is displacing dirtier coal-based power. Secondly, renewable energy sources like wind and solar are expanding, and people are using energy more wisely. All of this happened with a major reduction in energy costs in the US. This shows you can have clean energy that is also cheap. In court, it was a good year. A rag-tag group of pro-bono climate scientists beat a bunch of high-paid contrarians in court. We showed that their science was nonsense and the smart judge gave a very harsh judgement to the funded deniers. And last in this part of the list, I think this is the year we can say the climate deniers and the contrarians who downplay global warming threats finally lost the science war. In the past, there were a dwindling few scientists each year that attempted to find evidence that the world was not warming, or wasn’t warming much. Each year, the number of scientists in this group got smaller and smaller. This year, they were virtually nonexistent. The contrarians have almost given up looking for contrarian evidence – it just isn’t there. They have ceded the scientific field because their research was found to be wrong. Now, these contrarian scientists only appear in blogs, op-eds in newspapers, sometimes in pay-for-play journals – but rarely in competitively reviewed scientific venues. After being wrong for decades, they have seemingly just given up. The Bad Despite the progress above, global warming continued. In fact, 2016 marked the third year in a row that record global temperatures were set. We are well over halfway to the 2-degree mark that puts us into a real climate danger zone and we have not even come close to doubling CO2 yet (although we will). The temperature levels reached this year don’t prove the world is warming; in fact, we never look at a single year as evidence. Rather, proof was found in the oceans. Several major studies were published this year that clearly show the world’s oceans are warming and that computer simulations have been spot-on in their predictions. Simply put, the Earth is warming and the models got it right. But that said, reaching almost 1.5 degrees Celsius with only about a 45% increase in the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere means that the contrarians, like Roy Spencer, John Christy, Richard Lindzen, William Happer, and Judith Curry, are shown conclusively to be wrong. The rate of warming we are seeing, in both the air and ocean temperatures, is inconsistent with the fanciful and optimistic beliefs of this group. But not only does the Earth not care about the contrarians; the weather doesn’t either. And it has been a crazy year with many climate-change induced weather events that should give us all cause for concern. We know that a warming climate will have many weather effects. For instance, in a warming world, there is increased evaporation which tends to dry out areas and make droughts worse. But, in some parts of the world, the warming air has more water vapor (higher humidity) so that heavy rainfalls occur and more flooding happens. The general rule of thumb is that areas which are currently dry will become more dry. Areas that are currently wet become wetter. And rains will occur in heavier downpours. And that is just what we are seeing. In the United States, we have had a continuation of the terrible drought in California. We’ve had a new heat-wave drought in the southeastern part of the US and that led to terrible wildfires. There have been terrible floods in other locations, including Maryland, West Virginia, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi, Iowa, among others. Outside the US, there has been an incredible heat wave in the Arctic which has led to the lowest ever wintertime ice ever recorded there. The Arctic is looking very precarious for the important summertime low ice extent. We have a good chance at breaking the record (again). Terrible flooding the UK, Myanmar, Argentina, Indonesia, Spain, and Egypt, and others. There have been simultaneous flooding and heat waves in Australia, crazy hot weather in India and the Middle East. And typhoons and hurricanes are getting stronger because of climate change. As we warm the planet and its oceans, there is more energy available to fuel these hurricanes. According to expert Jeff Masters, 2016 saw the strongest storms ever observed in two regions. We also witnessed seven Category 5 storms, which is a huge number. Among typhoons that hit land, two of the top five occurred this year. These listed weather events, which are increasing, have been predicted to be an outcome of global warming. The scientists making these predictions got it right. The Ugly One of the two events in this category should come as no surprise – the election of Donald Trump. While I continue to hold out hope that Trump will take climate change seriously, he is surrounding himself with people who are not scientists – rather, they are advocates for the fossil fuel industry. Many have histories of not only denying the science but working to undermine the science and the scientists who study climate change. There is very little evidence that Trump or his administration will take climate change seriously. However, there are rumors Trump’s daughter may be more understanding of science. There is also the possibility that Trump will realize he is in a powerful position, a Republican President with a Republican Congress. If he realizes the economic and social peril that climate change poses, he may take it upon himself to be a savior of sort for the world. If, on the other-hand, he kills climate funding, pulls us out of our international agreements, and goes backwards on our own emission reductions, we will see a devastating effect for our climate and a probable rise in energy prices. It would be so ironic if, for instance, energy prices are higher in four years than they are now. The second ugly event is the continuation of the ubiquitous misinformation on climate change. With the reduction of responsible and professional staff and organizations, news has been abdicated to second-rate non-reporters. Some examples are David Rose from the UK who writes for The Mail on Sunday. In November he wrote an article wherein he claimed that the recent record temperatures were a result of El Niño, not global warming. His fake news article was embarrassingly wrong. You might have thought Mr. Rose was a climate scientist by reading his article, but he ignored 7 out of 8 climate records, he focused on a portion of the atmosphere and threw out out most of the warming data, he cherry picked his data set, ignored records set without El Niño, and he omitted the entirety of the Earth’s oceans in order to get his result – and he was still wrong. But, when articles appear in newspapers, even ones like The Mail, they have a veneer of credibility. Simply put, the reason 2014, then 2015, and now 2016 are all-time records is that we have emitted heat trapping gases. Rose is full of baloney. But misinformation wasn’t limited to the UK, it had its normal huge presence in the US. In the Wall Street Journal, contrarian Roger Pielke Jr. published an article where he described himself as a climate heretic. His name might be familiar as a former writer for Nate Silver’s 538 blog before they rapidly parted ways. Pielke claims that he was attacked by “thought police in journal, activities groups funded by billionaires, and the White House”. What Pielke didn’t tell his readers is that he threatened colleagues who dared to confront his faulty science (For which Nate Silver apologized). He also wrote misleading pieces that discussed tsunamis, volcanoes and earthquakes as though they were weather events (or at the very least, he failed to distinguish the difference to his readers). They are not weather events. Roger Pielke Jr’s problems were of his own making by poor science and shoddy professionalism. There are many other examples including those of second rate scientists or non-scientists finding high-profile media venues to spin their fantasies. It has become harder for readers to discern the real from the fake, the low from the high quality, the good from the fodder. And this issue brings me to the end, and my hope for 2017. Hope for 2017 After this year of fake news in US politics and elsewhere, I am hopeful that consumers of news will become much more discerning. I am hopeful that people who were duped this year will have higher standards next year. I hope that the thirst for reputable news and responsible sources will revitalize news media in the US. In particular, I hope that we see a resurgence in real reporters. People who have a professional obligation to get things right. People who live and die by their reputations and therefore cultivate those reputations. I understand that the Washington Post is actually hiring news reporters. This is unheard of in US print media but I hope it is a harbinger of things to come. If news consumers ask “where is this information coming from?” “Is it reputable?” “Can I double-check this article?” “What conflicts of influence might be present with this reporter of news?” Then, 2017 will be a glorious year and set us on a path of recovery. I am also hopeful that the economic position of renewable energy continues to improve. If so, the president of the USA won’t matter. We will be on a path to a cleaner safer world just based on unstoppable economics. Here’s to 2017!

John Abraham

www.theguardian.com

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2017/jan/02/climate-change-in-2016-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly

LEFT

2017-01-02 11:00:33

Breitbart

Speaker Paul Ryan Looks to New Term, Rep. Nancy Pelosi Awaits Revolt Aftershocks

Speaker Paul Ryan Looks to New Term, Rep. Nancy Pelosi Awaits Revolt Aftershocks

SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R.-Wis.) is the Republican nominee for Speaker of the House for Tuesday’s election, facing the challenge by Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D.-Calif.), whose own nomination victory in November was not always certain. Pelosi was challenged for the nomination by Rep. Timothy J. Ryan (D.-Ohio), a traditional Democrat, who took the fight to Pelosi inside the House Democratic Caucus, losing 134-63 in a vote delayed until Nov. 30. SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER The day of the vote, there was a furious whipping of Democratic congressmen, and going into the vote, Ryan’s people thought they had the commitments to make it so close that Pelosi would step aside — recognizing that she did not have the confidence of the caucus. But, unlike Hillary R. Clinton’s “Blue Wall,” Pelosi held on to her leadership team, the Black Congressional Caucus, female House Democrats, and all but a handful of 39 congressmen from the California delegation. Pelosi’s last scare was the nomination fight after the Tea Party tidal wave in 2010. Then, former Redskins quarterback Rep. Heath Shuler (D.-N.C.) lost to Pelosi, 150-to-43. In the January election for speaker, there were 18 Democrats not voting for Pelosi with Shuler collecting 11 of those votes. A source, who was in the room for the Nov. 30 caucus vote, told Breitbart News that after Ryan lost, he was gracious and called for party unity in the face of a President-elect Donald J. Trump and both the House and Senate controlled by the Republicans. A good measure of that party unity is Tuesday’s tally. For Ryan, he takes the gavel for his first full term as speaker upon his expected election with a 241-seat majority facing Pelosi’s 194 seats. After House conservatives forced Speaker John A. Boehner’s resignation in September 2015, the conservatives then blocked the candidacy of Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R.-Calif.). But, after months of rebellion, the establishment convinced Ryan to step forward to block a conservative from becoming speaker. Ryan took the gavel Oct. 29, 2015 and immediately drove through Chamber of Commerce priorities, such as a $350 million, six-year highway pork bill; expanding the foreign worker visa program; and reviving the Export-Import Bank that House conservatives, including six committee chairmen, had shut down. During the last 2015-2016 congressional session, Ryan championed his own agenda, A Better Way, which he pushed forward as an alternative to the Donald J. Trump campaign.

Neil W. Mccabe

www.breitbart.com

http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/01/02/speaker-paul-ryan-looks-to-new-term-rep-nancy-pelosi-awaits-revolt-aftershocks/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+breitbart+%28Breitbart+News%29

RIGHT

2017-01-02 11:03:36

CNN

Obama to deliver farewell address in Chicago

President Barack Obama will deliver his farewell address to the nation on January 10 from his home city of Chicago, the President announced in a statement Monday.

Story highlights President Barack Obama will deliver a farewell address in Chicago on January 10 It's a tradition stretching back to George Washington's departure from office Honolulu, Hawaii (CNN) President Barack Obama will deliver his farewell address to the nation on January 10 from his home city of Chicago, the President announced in a statement Monday. "I'm thinking about them as a chance to say thank you for this amazing journey, to celebrate the ways you've changed this country for the better these past eight years, and to offer some thoughts on where we all go from here," Obama wrote. President Obama said he was following the precedent set by George Washington, who penned a farewell address to the American people over 220 years ago. George W. Bush also delivered a farewell address in 2009 from the White House. "Since 2009, we've faced our fair share of challenges, and come through them stronger," Obama wrote Monday. Read More

Allie Malloy

www.cnn.com

http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/02/politics/barack-obama-farewell-address-chicago/index.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_topstories+%28RSS%3A+CNN+-+Top+Stories%29

UNDEFINED

2017-01-02 11:07:33

CNN

Unstable world braces for Trump

The political tumult that rocked the world in 2016 might be an appetizer for 2017.

Washington (CNN) The political tumult that rocked the world in 2016 might be an appetizer for 2017. Crucial elections loom this year in France and Germany, where the same anti-establishment backlash that produced Donald Trump and Brexit could offer an opening to nationalist leaders who oppose Muslim immigration and further erode the European unity that has been a signature of the post-World War II era. The Middle East is spiraling deeper into the mire of fraying borders and sectarian disorder while violence in places such Syria is unleashing a tide of desperate refugees that is destabilizing Europe. Meanwhile, rising powers such as China, Russia and Iran are closely watching the developments to determine whether the convulsions in the West give them an opening to advance their own interests. Trump delivers his acceptance speech during his election night event at the New York Hilton Midtown hotel on Wednesday, November 9. Trump delivers his acceptance speech during his election night event at the New York Hilton Midtown hotel on Wednesday, November 9. Trump shakes hands with President Barack Obama following a meeting in the Oval Office on November 10. Obama told his successor that he wanted him to succeed and would do everything he could to ensure a smooth transition. Trump walks with his wife and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell after a meeting at the US Capitol on November 10. Trump walks with his wife and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell after a meeting at the US Capitol on November 10. Ryan listens as Trump speaks to the press at the US Capitol on November 10. Trump talked about his eagerness to join forces with Ryan to begin implementing new policies. House Speaker Paul Ryan shows Trump and his wife, Melania, the Speaker's Balcony at the US Capitol on Thursday, November 10. House Speaker Paul Ryan shows Trump and his wife, Melania, the Speaker's Balcony at the US Capitol on Thursday, November 10. "60 Minutes" correspondent Lesley Stahl interviews Trump and his family at his New York home on Friday, November 11. It was Trump's first television interview since the election. Trump is flanked by Pence, left, and Romney after a meeting in Bedminster Township, New Jersey, on Saturday, November 19. Trump is flanked by Pence, left, and Romney after a meeting in Bedminster Township, New Jersey, on Saturday, November 19. Trump waves to a crowd at The New York Times building after meeting with some of the newspaper's reporters, editors and columnists on Tuesday, November 22. Six takeaways from the meeting Trump, left, and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney share a meal in New York on Tuesday, November 29. Romney was reportedly in the running for secretary of state. Trump visits the Carrier air-conditioning company in Indianapolis on Thursday, December 1. Carrier announced that it had reached a deal with Trump and Vice President-elect Mike Pence, who is currently governor of Indiana, to keep about 1,000 of 1,400 jobs at its Indianapolis plant rather than move them to Mexico. The Carrier plant had been a theme of Trump's campaign promise to prevent more jobs from being outsourced to other countries. Trump speaks to members of the media at Trump Tower in New York on December 6. Trump speaks to members of the media at Trump Tower in New York on December 6. Trump greets retired Marine Gen. James Mattis at a rally in Fayetteville, North Carolina, on Tuesday, December 6. Trump said he will nominate Mattis as his defense secretary. Trump shakes hands with Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad at an event in Des Moines, Iowa, on Thursday, December 8. Trump re-introduced Branstad as his pick for US ambassador to China. Betsy DeVos, Trump's pick for education secretary, speaks during an event in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on Friday, December 9. Trump waves during the Army-Navy football game, which was played in Baltimore on Saturday, December 10. Trump waves during the Army-Navy football game, which was played in Baltimore on Saturday, December 10. Trump has tapped ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson to serve as secretary of state, the transition team announced December 13. Tillerson, seen here at a conference in 2015, has no formal foreign-policy experience, but he has built close relationships with many world leaders by closing massive deals across Eurasia and the Middle East on behalf of the world's largest energy company. Trump selected former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, right, to be his nominee for energy secretary, which would make Perry the head of an agency he once suggested he would eliminate. Trump and his transition team are in the process of filling high-level positions for the new administration. Trump and rapper Kanye West speak to the press after meeting at Trump Tower in New York on December 13. Trump called West a "good man" and told journalists that they have been "friends for a long time." West later tweeted that he met with Trump to discuss "multicultural issues." Trump, Pence and House Speaker Paul Ryan wave during an event in West Allis, Wisconsin, on Tuesday, December 13. "He's like a fine wine," Trump said of Ryan at the rally, which was part of his "thank you" tour to states that helped him win the election. "Every day that goes by, I get to appreciate his genius more and more." Three of Trump's children -- from left, Donald Jr., Ivanka and Eric -- attend the meeting with tech leaders on December 14. Three of Trump's children -- from left, Donald Jr., Ivanka and Eric -- attend the meeting with tech leaders on December 14. President-elect Donald Trump, right, meets with technology executives in New York on Wednesday, December 14. From left are Jeff Bezos, chief executive officer of Amazon; Larry Page, chief executive officer of Google's parent company Alphabet; Sheryl Sandberg, chief operating officer of Facebook; and Vice President-elect Mike Pence. The three main areas discussed were jobs, immigration and China, according to a source briefed on the meeting. Of course, the 15 years since the September 11 attacks have been dominated by war, strife and economic disruption. But what makes 2017 so unique is that America -- long a force for stability -- is poised to inaugurate one of the most impulsive presidents ever to walk into the Oval Office. Far from acting as a brake against turmoil sweeping the globe, America under Trump could exacerbate it. Nicholas Dungan, an Atlantic Council senior fellow, said uncertainty about the President-elect could widen divides in the transatlantic alliance, the bedrock of 70 years of Western stability. "Donald Trump is in many respects the anti-Barack Obama," said Dungan, who teaches at Sciences Po, an international research university in France. "With Obama, there was tremendous trust but very little performance. With Trump it looks like there will be a deficit of trust and a surfeit of action." World on edge It's no wonder that Trump has the world on edge, despite arguments among supporters that the unpredictable statesmanship he has previewed in the presidential transition could strengthen the US position around the globe by keeping rivals off balance. He has questioned US alliances that kept the peace for decades in Europe and Asia and suggested he will "expand" the US nuclear arsenal. He has spent his transition feuding with spy agencies that concluded Russia interfered in the election. And he signaled to China that the taboo topic of Taiwan is on the table, casting doubt on 40 years of diplomatic protocol. The Trump effect could be all the more pronounced because the political equilibrium of much of the world has been upset, straining institutions and assumptions in international relations that have endured for decades. To judge how much has changed, and why the prospects of 2017 look so uncertain, it's worth looking back a year. When 2016 dawned, Obama, fresh from an Iran nuclear deal and seeing Obamacare upheld by the Supreme Court had every reason to expect a Democratic successor would secure his legacy. Republicans were confidently waiting for an establishment champion to emerge from their primary to send Trump back to reality TV. In Britain, David Cameron was basking in a surprising parliamentary majority won in a 2015 election. Most end-of-year polls predicted the Remain camp would win a referendum on membership in the European Union. In Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel, Time Magazine's reigning Person of the Year , was lauded for her moral example in embracing desperate refugees from the Middle East and was Europe's undisputed leader. And in Italy, Prime Minister Matteo Renzi was readying a trip to the US to receive Obama's blessing after harnessing hope and change as a successful political message of his own. Unthinkable happened again and again and again But within months, the unthinkable happened -- again, and again, and again. In a blink of an eye, Cameron was gone, felled by a referendum in which voters who felt economically and culturally dispossessed opted to leave the EU. Trump won the US election after a vitriolic campaign that tore at social, cultural and political divides and left the rest of the world confused about American power and identity. Renzi is history, crushed Cameron-style by his own referendum defeat which dealt a second hammer blow to the EU. And Merkel, rocked by a year-end terror attack in Berlin, faces a fight for political survival in a fall election hinging on immigration politics and a right wing resurgence spurred by her open door refugee policy. In France, where Islamic terrorism has become more frequent, President Francois Hollande acknowledged his dismal approval rating and nixed a re-election bid . The best hedge against an earthquake election win in May by far right national front leader Marine Le Pen is France's two-round election system that could unite opposition against her. A March election in the Netherlands promises a strong showing by far right leader Geert Wilders built on skepticism towards Brussels that is threatening the existence of the EU. Still if Merkel or an establishment rival prevails in Germany, and the hot favorite in the polls to win the French presidency, Francois Fillon, is also victorious, 2017 could be remembered as the year the populist revolt began to ebb. Adversaries mobilize As the West reels, its adversaries are mobilizing. Russian President Vladimir Putin defied Obama's predictions his venture in Syria would end in a quagmire. Now, he seems on the way to restoring the lost Russian influence that he watched ebb in despair after the fall of the Soviet Union. In Asia, Chinese President Xi Jinping is accelerating that country's accumulation of regional power and challenging US influence and allies in the South China Sea. A volatile President in the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, is trashing a prized US alliance. Trump's rejection of a vast Trans Pacific Partnership trade pact has already empowered China and undermined eight years of Obama's Asia pivot. The instability and uncertainty makes the choices Trump makes once he is inaugurated in January especially crucial. Should the new administration follow through on the President-elect's tough rhetoric on China and take protectionist steps that could incite a trade war, tensions in Asia could spike considerably. If Trump walks out on the Iran nuclear deal or infringes the Paris climate pact, he could send transatlantic relations into a spiral. Aligning the US closer to Moscow could also alarm European allies unless he makes a full-throated defense of NATO on his first trip to the continent. Asian allies Japan and South Korea are nervously trying to work out what Trump's campaign trail rhetoric means for crucial national security infrastructure in Asia. North Korea, meanwhile, is brewing what could be Trump's first big foreign crisis with its race for a functioning nuclear arsenal. In the Middle East, Trump's vow to move the US embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv could light a match to Palestinian-Israeli antagonism and put US Arab allies in a tough spot. Could Trump's strategy work? Of course, there's no certainty that Trump will plunge the world into a new spiral of instability. Major policy shifts can be disorienting, but they aren't always negative. Every President's foreign policy is in some ways a correction to that of his predecessor. So Trump's spontaneity could perhaps be an antidote to Obama's caution, which some critics said frittered away US power. Questioning trade deals, alliances and conventions could actually end up strengthening the US at home and in the world, Trump supporters argue. And just because the One China policy has dictated relations between Washington and Beijing for decades does not mean it should always be so, they say. Trump's naval buildup, meanwhile, could reassure US allies who feel bullied by China. And in an era of strongman leaders like Xi, Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a harder-to-read US President might keep American rivals off balance. Foreign policy often begins at home. And if tax cuts and slashing regulation ignites explosive economic growth, a Trump boom could help lift anemic economies in Euorope and Asia. Those who hope Trump will not upset the geopolitical apple cart also question whether responsibility will sober the President-elect. "There's just a whole different attitude and vibe when you're not in power as when you're in power," Obama said in his year-end press conference. "What we have to see is how will the President-elect operate and how will his team operate when they've been fully briefed on all these issues, they have their hands on all the levers of government and they've got to got to start making decisions."

Stephen Collinson

www.cnn.com

http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/02/politics/donald-trump-us-global-politics/index.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_latest+%28RSS%3A+CNN+-+Most+Recent%29

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2017-01-02 11:07:33

CNN

Unstable world braces for Trump

The political tumult that rocked the world in 2016 might be an appetizer for 2017.

Washington (CNN) The political tumult that rocked the world in 2016 might be an appetizer for 2017. Crucial elections loom this year in France and Germany, where the same anti-establishment backlash that produced Donald Trump and Brexit could offer an opening to nationalist leaders who oppose Muslim immigration and further erode the European unity that has been a signature of the post-World War II era. Populism: What next after Trump and Brexit? Populism: What next after Trump and Brexit? 02:30 Populism: What next after Trump and Brexit? The Middle East is spiraling deeper into the mire of fraying borders and sectarian disorder while violence in places such Syria is unleashing a tide of desperate refugees that is destabilizing Europe. Meanwhile, rising powers such as China, Russia and Iran are closely watching the developments to determine whether the convulsions in the West give them an opening to advance their own interests. December 28: Women mourn the death of a family member in Toba Tek Singh, Pakistan. Local police said that dozens of people were killed and many transported to hospitals after they consumed contaminated alcohol during the Christmas holidays. December 28: Women mourn the death of a family member in Toba Tek Singh, Pakistan. Local police said that dozens of people were killed and many transported to hospitals after they consumed contaminated alcohol during the Christmas holidays. A gunman gestures after assassinating Andrey Karlov, the Russian ambassador to Turkey, at a photo exhibition in Ankara, Turkey. Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said the gunman was Mevlut Mert Altintas, a Turkish police officer. In a video circulating on social media, the shooter was heard shouting, "Allahu akbar (God is greatest). Do not forget Aleppo! Do not forget Syria! Do not forget Aleppo! Do not forget Syria!" Russia is the most powerful ally of the Syrian regime and has carried out airstrikes since September 2015 to prop up embattled leader Bashar al-Assad. Karlov, 62, had served in Ankara since July 2013. Arabic writing that reads "some day we will return" is seen on a bus window as civilians evacuate Aleppo, Syria. The evacuations began under a new ceasefire between rebels and pro-government forces. December 12: Children dressed as Santa Claus participate in a parade that collected food for the needy in Lisbon, Portugal. December 12: Children dressed as Santa Claus participate in a parade that collected food for the needy in Lisbon, Portugal. The remains of the Ghost Ship warehouse are seen in Oakland, California. A fire that killed 36 people ravaged the warehouse during a dance party on December 2. The cause of the fire is still under investigation, authorities said. See 2015: The year in pictures Edgar Maddison Welch, a 28-year-old from Salisbury, North Carolina, surrenders to police outside a pizzeria in the nation's capital. He was later charged with assault with a dangerous weapon. Washington's Metropolitan Police Department said Welch admitted he had come to investigate "Pizza Gate," a fictitious online conspiracy theory. Two firearms were recovered inside the restaurant, and an additional weapon was recovered from the suspect's vehicle, police said. Players from the Brazilian soccer team Chapecoense mourn their fallen teammates during a tribute at the team's stadium in Chapeco, Brazil. A charter airplane carrying 77 people, including most players from Chapecoense, crashed near Rionegro, Colombia, on November 28. Seventy-one people were killed, officials said. Six survived: three players, two crew members and one journalist. A burned car sits in a parking lot after a wildfire swept through Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Gatlinburg city officials declared mandatory evacuations in several areas as firefighters battled at least 14 fires in and around the city. The ashes of longtime Cuban leader Fidel Castro are driven through the streets of Havana, Cuba. Cubans gathered across the country to see his remains make their way to Santiago de Cuba. SWAT team members walk up the steps of a parking garage after an attack on the campus of Ohio State University. Authorities said Abdul Razak Ali Artan, an 18-year-old student, rammed his car into a group of pedestrians before using a butcher knife to cut several people. At least 11 people were hospitalized. Artan was fatally shot by a campus police officer. Six children were killed after a school bus crashed and flipped over in Chattanooga, Tennessee. More than a dozen other students were injured -- some with severe head or spinal injuries -- and the driver faces charges of reckless driving and vehicular homicide. Police use a water cannon on people protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline near Cannon Ball, North Dakota. The Dakota Access Pipeline is a $3.7 billion project that would cross four states and change the landscape of the US crude oil supply. But the Standing Rock Sioux tribe says the pipeline would affect its drinking-water supply and destroy its sacred sites. November 14: A cat named James wears a collar and tie as he looks out the window of the Ecuadorian Embassy in London. The embassy has been home to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange for more than four years now. November 14: A cat named James wears a collar and tie as he looks out the window of the Ecuadorian Embassy in London. The embassy has been home to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange for more than four years now. Crowds in Fremantle, Australia, look at a supermoon. NASA scientists said the moon was brighter than it had appeared at any point in the last 68 years. A member of Iraq's special forces guards two suspected ISIS fighters found hiding in a house in Mosul, Iraq. An Iraqi-led offensive was launched in October to reclaim Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city and the last major stronghold for ISIS in the country. Orange County Fire and Rescue tweeted this image of a bald eagle trapped in a storm drain in Orange County, Florida. The other eagle pictured flew away. CNN affiliate WFTV reported that the bird was trapped for about 90 minutes. US President-elect Donald Trump shakes hands with President Barack Obama during a meeting at the White House. "My No. 1 priority in the next two months is to try to facilitate a transition that ensures our President-elect is successful," Obama said. November 9: An image of Donald Trump is projected onto the Empire State Building in New York after Trump became President-elect of the United States. November 9: An image of Donald Trump is projected onto the Empire State Building in New York after Trump became President-elect of the United States. A man reacts as he watches voting results at the Javits Center in New York City. Supporters of Hillary Clinton had their hopes shattered after Republican nominee Donald Trump was elected the 45th President of the United States. The Chicago Cubs celebrate after winning Game 7 of the World Series. The Cubs defeated the Cleveland Indians in 10 innings to end the longest championship drought in major US sports. The Cubs hadn't won the World Series since 1908. October 31: A woman is caned in Banda Aceh, Indonesia. The province of Aceh is strictly Muslim and is the only province in the country implementing Sharia law. Public canings happen there regularly and often attract huge crowds. October 31: A woman is caned in Banda Aceh, Indonesia. The province of Aceh is strictly Muslim and is the only province in the country implementing Sharia law. Public canings happen there regularly and often attract huge crowds. Smoke rises from "The Jungle," a makeshift migrant camp in Calais, France, that authorities began dismantling on October 24. During evacuations, some of the migrants set shelters on fire. By the middle of the week, more than 4,400 people had been bused out of Calais to other regions of the country. The town is known for being a major transit point for migrants trying to reach Great Britain. October 24: A child's body is seen at a makeshift hospital after a cluster bomb attack in Douma, Syria. October 24: A child's body is seen at a makeshift hospital after a cluster bomb attack in Douma, Syria. Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton gestures to the crowd after the final presidential debate, which took place in Las Vegas. There was no handshake between her and Republican nominee Donald Trump. Police stand guard at the Grand Palace in Bangkok, Thailand, where the body of King Bhumibol Adulyadej was enshrined. The King's death was announced October 13. He was 88. October 17: Fans dressed as "Star Wars" characters Darth Vader and Chewbacca use the bathroom during a film festival in Antalya, Turkey. October 17: Fans dressed as "Star Wars" characters Darth Vader and Chewbacca use the bathroom during a film festival in Antalya, Turkey. October 17: A passenger jet passes over a house as it prepares to land at London's Heathrow Airport. October 17: A passenger jet passes over a house as it prepares to land at London's Heathrow Airport. Jimji, 6, cries out "Papa" as workers move the body of her father, Jimboy Bolasa, for burial in Manila, Philippines. Bolasa, 25, was found dead along with his neighbor. New Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte campaigned hard on a no-nonsense approach to crime, and on several occasions he has hinted openly that he doesn't oppose his police force or even citizens taking the lives of suspected criminals. Critics see the approach as a complete disregard of due process. "It's absolutely crippling to see that image and to see that little girl experiencing so much pain and loss; to know that her father was never given a trial, never had the opportunity to defend himself in front of a court," Daniel Berehulak said about the photo, which he took on assignment for The New York Times. "He was tortured and executed in the space of 30-45 minutes." Duterte's crackdown: 6 stories from the front lines A woman cries as the coffin of Roberto Laguerre is carried away for burial in Jeremie, Haiti. Laguerre, 32, died when the wall of a church next to his home fell during Hurricane Matthew. Anias and Jadon McDonald, twins who were born conjoined at the head in September 2015, are seen eight days before they were surgically separated at a New York hospital. The procedure, known as craniopagus surgery, is so rare that it has been conducted only 59 times since 1952. CNN was allowed exclusive access to the surgery and the McDonald family. Baseball fans and members of the Miami Marlins organization surround the hearse carrying Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez, who died in a boating accident. Fernandez, a 24-year-old native of Santa Clara, Cuba, was a beloved figure in Miami, where so many of his countrymen have settled and prospered. He was a two-time All-Star and the National League's Rookie of the Year in 2013. A staff member at the Tate Britain art museum poses next to Anthea Hamilton's "Project for a Door" during a press preview in London. A deeper look into the art world's most controversial award: The Turner Prize First lady Michelle Obama hugs former US President George W. Bush during the dedication ceremony of the new Smithsonian museum devoted to African-American history. The friendship of Michelle Obama and George W. Bush A protester embraces a member of the National Guard in Charlotte, North Carolina. Violent protests erupted in Charlotte following the death of Keith Lamont Scott, who was shot by police in an apartment complex parking lot. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Kerr Putney said Scott exited his car with a gun and that he was shot after he wouldn't drop it. Scott's family said he was unarmed and sitting in his car reading a book. A two-month investigation later determined that the police officer was justified in shooting Scott and that "all the credible evidence" led to the conclusion that Scott was armed. Mecklenburg County District Attorney Andrew Murray said he didn't reach the conclusions alone; a total of 15 prosecutors unanimously agreed with the decision. Wax figures of celebrity couple Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt are moved apart at Madame Tussauds London. Jolie had just filed for divorce, citing irreconcilable differences. The actors were married in August 2014. A woman and man in East Liverpool, Ohio, are seen passed out from a drug overdose as a child sits in the back seat of a car. The East Liverpool city administration posted the photo on Facebook, along with one other image, in order to show the devastating effects of heroin addiction. Rhonda Pasek, the child's grandmother who is seen in the photo, was sentenced to 180 days in jail and ordered to pay $280 in fines after pleading no contest to endangering a child and disorderly conduct and public intoxication. Editor's note: A portion of this photo has been blurred by CNN because of the age of the subject. Roman Catholic nuns from the Missionaries of Charity attend a service for the late Mother Teresa in Kolkata, India. Mother Teresa, who devoted her life to helping the poor and ill in India, was declared a saint by Pope Francis on September 4. August 29: Migrants swim away from a crowded wooden boat as they are rescued in the Mediterranean Sea north of Sabratha, Libya. Thousands were rescued from more than 20 boats. August 29: Migrants swim away from a crowded wooden boat as they are rescued in the Mediterranean Sea north of Sabratha, Libya. Thousands were rescued from more than 20 boats. More than 300 wild reindeer were killed by a single lightning strike in central Norway. Kjartan Knutsen, a spokesman for the Norwegian Environment Agency, said the reindeer were huddled together because of the bad weather in Hardangervidda National Park. Humans rarely visit the remote area. A rescued woman is carried away on a stretcher after a 6.2-magnitude earthquake in Amatrice, Italy. The earthquake devastated towns across central Italy and killed more than 250 people. This still image, taken from a video posted by the Aleppo Media Center, shows a young boy in an ambulance after an airstrike in Aleppo, Syria. It took nearly an hour to dig the boy, identified as Omran Daqneesh, out from the rubble, an activist told CNN. The airstrike destroyed his home, where he lived with his parents and two siblings. Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt looks back at his Olympic competitors during a 100-meter semifinal. Bolt won the final a short time later, becoming the first man in history to win the 100 meters at three straight Olympic Games. Danielle Blount and her 3-month-old baby, Ember, wait to be rescued by the Louisiana Army National Guard near Walker, Louisiana. More than 30,000 people were rescued in southern Louisiana after heavy rains caused flooding. Brazil's Globo media group released surveillance footage that shows US swimmers Ryan Lochte, James Feigen, Jack Conger and Gunnar Bentz at a gas station in Rio de Janeiro. The Olympians initially said they were robbed at gunpoint there by men in police uniforms. Brazilian police said the athletes concocted a story to cover up an act of vandalism that led to a confrontation with security guards. August 13: A young daredevil, center, waits for her turn as another person rides a motorbike around the "Devil's Barrel" at a carnival in Deli Serdang, Indonesia. August 13: A young daredevil, center, waits for her turn as another person rides a motorbike around the "Devil's Barrel" at a carnival in Deli Serdang, Indonesia. New York City police grab a man who was climbing the Trump Tower using giant suction cups. The 19-year-old was arrested and taken to Bellevue Hospital for a psychological evaluation, according to a law enforcement official. He was later charged with reckless endangerment and criminal trespassing. The Olympic diving pool turned green in Rio de Janeiro. Officials blamed the color change on a chemical imbalance in the water, but they said there were no health risks to the athletes. August 7: Performers dressed as Pikachu, a character from the Pokemon franchise, ride an elevator during the "Pikachu Outbreak" event in Yokohama, Japan. Hundreds of Pikachus were appearing at city landmarks to attract visitors in the Minato Mirai area. August 7: Performers dressed as Pikachu, a character from the Pokemon franchise, ride an elevator during the "Pikachu Outbreak" event in Yokohama, Japan. Hundreds of Pikachus were appearing at city landmarks to attract visitors in the Minato Mirai area. July 30: The barrel of a tank is seen as the vehicle moves across challenging terrain in Alabino, Russia. It was part of the International Army Games, a competition that involved troops from Russia and several other nations. July 30: The barrel of a tank is seen as the vehicle moves across challenging terrain in Alabino, Russia. It was part of the International Army Games, a competition that involved troops from Russia and several other nations. Skydiver Luke Aikins lands in a safety net in Simi Valley, California. He is the first person to land safely without a parachute after jumping from 25,000 feet. Hillary Clinton, the Democratic Party's presidential nominee, holds up a glass as she celebrates backstage at the Democratic National Convention. Among those joining her were her husband, former US President Bill Clinton, and her running mate, US Sen Tim Kaine. July 26: A thunderstorm occurs over Mount Sakurajima as the volcano erupts in Tarumizu, Japan. July 26: A thunderstorm occurs over Mount Sakurajima as the volcano erupts in Tarumizu, Japan. Donald Trump, the Republican Party's presidential nominee, delivers a speech at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland. "I have had a truly great life in business," he said as he accepted the nomination. "But now, my sole and exclusive mission is to go to work for our country -- to go to work for you. It's time to deliver a victory for the American people." Unprecedented: A race like no other Turkish soldiers surrender on Istanbul's Bosphorus Bridge after a failed coup attempt. At least 246 people were killed and more than 1,500 were injured in violence that broke out the night before. Thousands were detained, and the country went into a state of emergency. The Rev. Jesse Jackson consoles Alton Sterling's son, Cameron, at Sterling's funeral in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Sterling, 37, was fatally shot by police in Baton Rouge on July 5. Vigils and memorials spread across the country after cell phone video of the shooting was shared widely on social media. Federal authorities are still investigating what happened. Evidence stickers and bullet holes are seen on the windshield of the truck used in a terrorist attack in Nice, France. A man deliberately drove a truck into a crowd, killing 84 people on Bastille Day. Authorities said the man plotted his attack for months with "support and accomplices." Life after the truck attack July 11: A hamerkop tosses a toad in its mouth at Kruger National Park in South Africa. July 11: A hamerkop tosses a toad in its mouth at Kruger National Park in South Africa. A young woman stands in the street as two police officers move in to arrest her near the headquarters of the Baton Rouge Police Department in Louisiana. She was one of hundreds of protesters who blocked a Baton Rouge roadway to decry police brutality. Police respond to a scene where shots were fired in downtown Dallas. Five police officers were fatally shot during a protest over police shootings in Louisiana and Minnesota. Seven other officers were injured in the ambush, as were two civilians. The attacker was killed by a bomb-carrying police robot after negotiations failed. Travelers embrace outside Istanbul's Ataturk airport after a deadly terror attack there. Three terrorists armed with bombs and guns attacked the main international terminal, opening fire and eventually detonating their devices. Turkey in the shadow of terror Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the European Commission, speaks to Nigel Farage, leader of the UK Independence Party, at a meeting of the European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium. Farage, the most vocal architect of Britain's seismic decision to leave the European Union, gloated to the Parliament as members booed and turned their backs on him. Juncker fired back in his own speech. "You were fighting for the exit, the British people voted in favor of the exit. Why are you here?" he said. June 21: Lucy Lugo, wife of fallen police officer Endy Ekpanya, comforts their son, Julian, during his funeral service in Houston. Ekpanya, a police officer in Pearland, Texas, died after his patrol car was struck by another vehicle. June 21: Lucy Lugo, wife of fallen police officer Endy Ekpanya, comforts their son, Julian, during his funeral service in Houston. Ekpanya, a police officer in Pearland, Texas, died after his patrol car was struck by another vehicle. June 19: A cat rides on a motorcycle in Rio de Janeiro. The man in the photo said he always rides with his cat. June 19: A cat rides on a motorcycle in Rio de Janeiro. The man in the photo said he always rides with his cat. An Israeli army soldier aims his laser sight at a camera during a night raid in Hebron, West Bank. The army was carrying out raids in the West Bank, searching houses and making arrests a week after terrorists killed four Israelis at a popular food and shopping complex in Tel Aviv, Israel. Former Olympic sprinter Oscar Pistorius walks without his prosthetic legs during his sentencing hearing in Pretoria, South Africa. His attorney was arguing that he was a vulnerable figure who should receive a lesser sentence for the 2014 murder of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp. In July, a judge sentenced him to six years in prison. Lin-Manuel Miranda, creator and star of the hip-hop musical "Hamilton," performs at the Tony Awards. The Broadway smash, about the life of Founding Father Alexander Hamilton, won 11 awards -- one short of the record set by "The Producers" in 2001. People attend a candlelight vigil for the victims of the Orlando nightclub shooting. At least 49 people were killed in what was the deadliest mass shooting in US history. June 11: A member of the Queen's Guard fainted during the Trooping the Color parade in London. He recovered and returned to duty, authorities said. June 11: A member of the Queen's Guard fainted during the Trooping the Color parade in London. He recovered and returned to duty, authorities said. A poster that says "I Am Ali" covers a wall at the Kentucky Center for the Arts in Louisville, Kentucky. A festival was held there for boxing legend Muhammad Ali, a Louisville native who died June 3 at the age of 74. Behind the scenes with Muhammad Ali June 7: A worker at the S.E.A. Aquarium in Singapore demonstrates a way to feed jellyfish. June 7: A worker at the S.E.A. Aquarium in Singapore demonstrates a way to feed jellyfish. A giant panda named Hao Hao holds her newborn baby in her mouth at the Pairi Daiza zoo in Brugelette, Belgium. Giant panda cubs are very small in relation to their mother -- 1/900th of the size. They are also pink, hairless and blind, not opening their eyes for several weeks. After the remains of 40 newborn tiger cubs were found in freezers at a Buddhist temple in Thailand's Kanchanaburi Province, authorities started removing live tigers from the temple. The Wildlife Conservation Office was investigating the motives behind the temple storing the bodies and looking into the possibility that it was smuggling tiger parts, the organization's director told CNN. The "Tiger Temple" has long been popular with tourists who could walk among live tigers and pose for photos. The temple has said it is a sanctuary for wild animals. Suthipong Pakcharoong, the temple's vice president, told CNN that the temple would comply with the court order but that "there is nothing illegal and dangerous at all." May 27: A member of the humanitarian organization Sea-Watch holds a migrant baby who drowned after a boat capsized off the coast of Libya. The first five months of 2016 were "particularly deadly," according to the U.N. refugee agency, with at least 2,510 migrant deaths through May compared to 1,855 in the same period in 2015. May 27: A member of the humanitarian organization Sea-Watch holds a migrant baby who drowned after a boat capsized off the coast of Libya. The first five months of 2016 were "particularly deadly," according to the U.N. refugee agency, with at least 2,510 migrant deaths through May compared to 1,855 in the same period in 2015. A massive fuel tank, which was built for NASA's space shuttle program, is transported to a science center in Los Angeles. Cadet Alix Idrache sheds tears of joy as he graduates from the US Military Academy in West Point, New York. "I am from Haiti and never did I imagine that such honor would be one day bestowed on me," he said. He will soon be going to flight school. "Knowing that one day I will be a pilot is humbling beyond words," he said. "I could not help but be flooded with emotions knowing that I will be leading these men and women who are willing to give their all to preserve what we value as the American way of life." Some of the wreckage from EgyptAir Flight 804 was found north of Alexandria, Egypt. There were 66 people on the plane when it crashed during a flight from Paris to Cairo. A horse nuzzles Vietnam veteran Roberto Gonzales outside a VA hospital in San Antonio. Gonzales, a disabled horse trainer, wanted to spend some of his precious final moments with two of his beloved friends: his horses, Ringo and Sugar. He died two days later. May 17: Plebes from the US Naval Academy perform situps with a 12-foot log on top of them during the annual Sea Trials training exercise. May 17: Plebes from the US Naval Academy perform situps with a 12-foot log on top of them during the annual Sea Trials training exercise. An opposition protester yells as he is beaten by riot police in Nairobi, Kenya. Police in Kenya's capital came under fire for what critics said was a heavy-handed response to a largely peaceful opposition protest. Kenya's police chief called for an internal investigation, according to Interior Ministry spokesman Mwenda Njoka. A wildfire rips through the forest near Fort McMurray, Alberta. More than 88,000 people were forced to flee their homes. US President Barack Obama drops the microphone after speaking at the annual dinner of the White House Correspondents' Association. Obama's 10 best lines April 28: A police officer reacts during a clash with protesters in Lyon, France. People were protesting proposed reforms to the country's labor laws, and strikes forced cancellations and delays at two airports serving Paris. April 28: A police officer reacts during a clash with protesters in Lyon, France. People were protesting proposed reforms to the country's labor laws, and strikes forced cancellations and delays at two airports serving Paris. April 28: New Volkswagen cars are parked at a plant in Wolfsburg, Germany. April 28: New Volkswagen cars are parked at a plant in Wolfsburg, Germany. A Prince fan touches a wall at a venue where the late musician often performed in Minneapolis. The iconic musician died two days earlier at the age of 57. Toxicology tests in June concluded that the entertainer died from an accidental overdose of the opioid fentanyl, according to a report by the Midwest Medical Examiner's Office. The Solar Impulse 2 flies over San Francisco. The solar-powered airplane, flying around the world without a single drop of fuel, landed in California after a two-and-a-half-day flight across the Pacific Ocean. Four generations of British royalty are seen in this photo released by the Royal Mail, which put out a new set of stamps to commemorate the 90th birthday of Queen Elizabeth II. Seen with the Queen, from left, are her son Prince Charles; her great-grandson, Prince George; and her grandson Prince William. A man in Chacras, Ecuador, investigates a road that collapsed after a 7.8-magnitude earthquake. It was the strongest earthquake to hit Ecuador in decades. Hundreds of people were killed. Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro, center, attends the closing ceremonies of a Cuban Communist Party gathering in Havana, Cuba. Castro formally stepped down in 2008, and his brother Raul, right, is now President. Fidel Castro died in November at age 90. People try to rescue horses along Cypress Creek after more than a foot of rain fell in parts of Houston, submerging subdivisions and several interstate highways. Rescue workers search for missing people after a magnitude-7.0 earthquake caused a landslide in Japan's Kumamoto Prefecture. A magnitude-6.2 quake rattled the area two days earlier. April 14: A chimpanzee screams at a worker in Sendai, Japan, after it climbed an electric pole to avoid being captured. The chimp escaped from a zoo in Sendai and was on the loose for nearly two hours. April 14: A chimpanzee screams at a worker in Sendai, Japan, after it climbed an electric pole to avoid being captured. The chimp escaped from a zoo in Sendai and was on the loose for nearly two hours. March 31: Rescue workers and volunteers try to free people trapped under a collapsed overpass in Kolkata, India. More than a dozen people were killed and many more were missing after the overpass, which was under construction, collapsed in a congested area of the city. March 31: Rescue workers and volunteers try to free people trapped under a collapsed overpass in Kolkata, India. More than a dozen people were killed and many more were missing after the overpass, which was under construction, collapsed in a congested area of the city. Doug Ford cries into his mother's coat as he watches the casket of his father, former Toronto Mayor Rob Ford, being placed into a hearse. Rob Ford died of cancer at the age of 46. March 27: Migrants gather for a party at the border station of Idomeni, Greece. March 27: Migrants gather for a party at the border station of Idomeni, Greece. US Sen. Bernie Sanders, who was seeking the Democratic Party's presidential nomination, smiles at a bird after it landed on his podium in Portland, Oregon. Smoke rises in Palmyra, Syria, where the Syrian army was battling ISIS militants. Syrian forces recaptured the city a couple days later. It had been in ISIS' hands for months. March 24: A reveler's face is smeared with colored powder as he dances during Holi celebrations in Gauhati, India. The Holi festival of colors is a Hindu celebration marking the arrival of spring. March 24: A reveler's face is smeared with colored powder as he dances during Holi celebrations in Gauhati, India. The Holi festival of colors is a Hindu celebration marking the arrival of spring. March 24: A dinosaur balloon floats through Petah Tikva, Israel, during a parade for the Jewish holiday of Purim. March 24: A dinosaur balloon floats through Petah Tikva, Israel, during a parade for the Jewish holiday of Purim. A man sits near the top of a sequoia tree in downtown Seattle. Authorities were alerted to the man on March 22, and he was still clinging to its branches nearly a day later. He eventually came down and was charged with malicious mischief, according to the Seattle Times. Two wounded women sit in the airport in Brussels, Belgium, after two explosions rocked the facility. A subway station in the city was also targeted in terrorist attacks that killed at least 35 people and injured hundreds more. Faces of fear and hope in Brussels Cuban President Raul Castro tries to lift up the arm of US President Barack Obama at the end of a joint news conference in Havana, Cuba. Though they both acknowledged deep disagreements on human rights, political prisoners and economic reforms, the two leaders found common ground on the topic of the economic embargo on Cuba, which both want lifted. Obama went so far as to declare that "the embargo's going to end," though he couldn't say when. The casket of Nancy Reagan lies in repose at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California. The former first lady died March 6 at the age of 94. March 4: A snowy owl looks into a camera at an animal park in Neumunster, Germany. March 4: A snowy owl looks into a camera at an animal park in Neumunster, Germany. NASA astronaut Scott Kelly is helped off the Soyuz space capsule after he and two Russian cosmonauts landed in the Kazakhstan desert. Kelly spent nearly a year on the International Space Station. See his best photos from space Otto Frederick Warmbier, an American college student detained in North Korea, bows during a news conference in Pyongyang, North Korea. Warmbier was accused of trying to steal a political banner that was hanging from the walls of his Pyongyang hotel. In a video supplied to CNN, Warmbier was seen sobbing and pleading for forgiveness. Warmbier's parents asked the North Korean government to accept his apology and "consider his youth and make an important humanitarian gesture by allowing him to return to his loved ones." But in March, Warmbier was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor. Leonardo DiCaprio hugs his friend, former "Titanic" co-star Kate Winslet, at the Academy Awards. DiCaprio won the best-actor Oscar -- the first of his career -- for his role in "The Revenant." See all the winners A member of the Ku Klux Klan fights a man for an American flag during a KKK rally in Anaheim, California. Violence broke out between KKK members and counterprotesters, leaving five people injured and 13 people arrested, authorities said. The APEX telescope in Chile released a map of the Milky Way that gave astronomers a detailed look at the cold, dense gas from which stars are born in our galaxy. It's the first image of its kind to be captured at the submillimeter wavelengths between infrared light and radio waves. February 21: A chicken tries to eat a dead rat on a ranch in Roseburg, Oregon. February 21: A chicken tries to eat a dead rat on a ranch in Roseburg, Oregon. February 16: A diamond is studied in Ramat Gan, Israel. International Diamond Week attracted buyers from all over the world. February 16: A diamond is studied in Ramat Gan, Israel. International Diamond Week attracted buyers from all over the world. The chair of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia is draped in black in Washington. He died several days earlier at the age of 79. Rebels attack the Syrian regime's headquarters in the villages of Nubul and al-Zahraa. Earlier this year, a U.N. envoy estimated that 400,000 Syrians have likely been killed in the civil war that started in April 2011. People show their support for those occupying the headquarters of the Malheur Wildlife Refuge. The federal building in Oregon was occupied by armed protesters for 41 days until the last remaining ones surrendered to authorities. A wild elephant wandered into the Indian town of Siliguri, trampling parked cars and motorbikes before being tranquilized by wildlife officials. February 4: Riot police in Athens, Greece, try to avoid a Molotov cocktail thrown by protesters during a nationwide strike. Clashes broke out as tens of thousands of people protested pension reforms that were part of the country's latest economic bailout. February 4: Riot police in Athens, Greece, try to avoid a Molotov cocktail thrown by protesters during a nationwide strike. Clashes broke out as tens of thousands of people protested pension reforms that were part of the country's latest economic bailout. February 2: Dancers take part in a dress rehearsal of "Swan Lake" before it opened at the Joyce Theater in New York. February 2: Dancers take part in a dress rehearsal of "Swan Lake" before it opened at the Joyce Theater in New York. Comedian Bill Cosby, second from left, leaves a courthouse in Norristown, Pennsylvania, after a preliminary hearing. Cosby faces three counts of felony aggravated indecent assault from a 2004 case involving Andrea Constand, an employee at his alma mater, Temple University. She was the first of more than 50 women who have accused Cosby of sexual misconduct. Cosby has denied the allegations. Jose Wesley, a baby born with microcephaly, cries in Bonito, Brazil. Microcephaly is a neurological disorder that results in newborns with small heads and abnormal brain development. An outbreak of the Zika virus was linked to a surge of babies with the birth defect. A person walks their dog past a dead sperm whale in Skegness, England. Three whales washed up on the beach over the weekend. Experts believe they may have washed ashore while hunting. The Turkish coast guard helps migrants after their boat toppled en route to Greece. Europe's migration crisis in 25 photos January 16: A horseman jumps over a bonfire during the annual Las Luminarias festival in San Bartolome de Pinares, Spain. In honor of Anthony the Abbot, the patron saint of animals, horses are traditionally ridden through bonfires to purify and protect them in the year ahead. January 16: A horseman jumps over a bonfire during the annual Las Luminarias festival in San Bartolome de Pinares, Spain. In honor of Anthony the Abbot, the patron saint of animals, horses are traditionally ridden through bonfires to purify and protect them in the year ahead. A picture released by Sepahnews, the media arm for the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, shows the Iranian Navy capturing 10 American sailors. The sailors were briefly detained after traveling into Iranian territorial waters. A report released in June by military investigators found that the 10 sailors suffered from "failed leadership" on a mission that was plagued by mistakes from beginning to end. Andrew Watson, a resident of Flint, Michigan, drops to the floor in tears outside the doors to Flint's City Council. Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder was holding a news conference there about the city's water crisis. Snyder had declared a state of emergency three months after high lead levels were detected in Flint children. A woman with a David Bowie tattoo poses in front of a Bowie mural in London. The rock legend died a day earlier after an 18-month battle with cancer. He was 69. Drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman is escorted by soldiers at a federal hangar in Mexico City. Members of Mexico's navy caught Guzman in an early morning raid in the coastal city of Los Mochis, a senior law enforcement official told CNN. Mexico planned to extradite Guzman to the United States, where he faces drug trafficking charges connected to his cartel, authorities said. He had been on the run since escaping from a Mexican prison in July 2015. With tears running down his cheeks, US President Barack Obama talks about the victims of the Sandy Hook school shooting during a White House news conference. "Every time I think about those kids, it gets me mad," Obama said, referring to the 2012 massacre that killed 26 people in Connecticut. Obama, calling for a national "sense of urgency," unveiled a series of executive actions on guns, including expanded background checks. January 5: Conservationists examine a tranquilized orangutan during a rescue-and-release operation in Sungai Magkutub, Indonesia. Orangutans were being relocated after they lost their habitat to forest fires in 2015. January 5: Conservationists examine a tranquilized orangutan during a rescue-and-release operation in Sungai Magkutub, Indonesia. Orangutans were being relocated after they lost their habitat to forest fires in 2015. January 1: Fireworks light the sky over Copacabana beach during New Year's celebrations in Rio de Janeiro. January 1: Fireworks light the sky over Copacabana beach during New Year's celebrations in Rio de Janeiro. Of course, the 15 years since the September 11 attacks have been dominated by war, strife and economic disruption. But what makes 2017 so unique is that America -- long a force for stability -- is poised to inaugurate one of the most impulsive presidents ever to walk into the Oval Office. Far from acting as a brake against turmoil sweeping the globe, America under Trump could exacerbate it. Nicholas Dungan, an Atlantic Council senior fellow, said uncertainty about the President-elect could widen divides in the transatlantic alliance, the bedrock of 70 years of Western stability. "Donald Trump is in many respects the anti-Barack Obama," said Dungan, who teaches at Sciences Po, an international research university in France. "With Obama, there was tremendous trust but very little performance. With Trump it looks like there will be a deficit of trust and a surfeit of action." World on edge It's no wonder that Trump has the world on edge, despite arguments among supporters that the unpredictable statesmanship he has previewed in the presidential transition could strengthen the US position around the globe by keeping rivals off balance. He has questioned US alliances that kept the peace for decades in Europe and Asia and suggested he will "expand" the US nuclear arsenal. He has spent his transition feuding with spy agencies that concluded Russia interfered in the election. And he signaled to China that the taboo topic of Taiwan is on the table, casting doubt on 40 years of diplomatic protocol. The Trump effect could be all the more pronounced because the political equilibrium of much of the world has been upset, straining institutions and assumptions in international relations that have endured for decades. To judge how much has changed, and why the prospects of 2017 look so uncertain, it's worth looking back a year. When 2016 dawned, Obama, fresh from an Iran nuclear deal and seeing Obamacare upheld by the Supreme Court had every reason to expect a Democratic successor would secure his legacy. Republicans were confidently waiting for an establishment champion to emerge from their primary to send Trump back to reality TV. In Britain, David Cameron was basking in a surprising parliamentary majority won in a 2015 election. Most end-of-year polls predicted the Remain camp would win a referendum on membership in the European Union. In Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel, Time Magazine's reigning Person of the Year , was lauded for her moral example in embracing desperate refugees from the Middle East and was Europe's undisputed leader. And in Italy, Prime Minister Matteo Renzi was readying a trip to the US to receive Obama's blessing after harnessing hope and change as a successful political message of his own. Unthinkable happened again and again and again But within months, the unthinkable happened -- again, and again, and again. In a blink of an eye, Cameron was gone, felled by a referendum in which voters who felt economically and culturally dispossessed opted to leave the EU. Photos: UK votes to leave EU: How politicians have reacted Photos: UK votes to leave EU: How politicians have reacted Hide Caption 1 of 8 Photos: UK votes to leave EU: How politicians have reacted Hide Caption 2 of 8 Photos: UK votes to leave EU: How politicians have reacted Hide Caption 3 of 8 Photos: UK votes to leave EU: How politicians have reacted Hide Caption 4 of 8 Photos: UK votes to leave EU: How politicians have reacted Hide Caption 5 of 8 Photos: UK votes to leave EU: How politicians have reacted Hide Caption 6 of 8 Photos: UK votes to leave EU: How politicians have reacted Hide Caption 7 of 8 Photos: UK votes to leave EU: How politicians have reacted Hide Caption 8 of 8 Trump won the US election after a vitriolic campaign that tore at social, cultural and political divides and left the rest of the world confused about American power and identity. Renzi is history, crushed Cameron-style by his own referendum defeat which dealt a second hammer blow to the EU. And Merkel, rocked by a year-end terror attack in Berlin, faces a fight for political survival in a fall election hinging on immigration politics and a right wing resurgence spurred by her open door refugee policy. JUST WATCHED Know these 4 political terms for 2017 Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Know these 4 political terms for 2017 01:55 In France, where Islamic terrorism has become more frequent, President Francois Hollande acknowledged his dismal approval rating and nixed a re-election bid . The best hedge against an earthquake election win in May by far right national front leader Marine Le Pen is France's two-round election system that could unite opposition against her. A March election in the Netherlands promises a strong showing by far right leader Geert Wilders built on skepticism towards Brussels that is threatening the existence of the EU. Still if Merkel or an establishment rival prevails in Germany, and the hot favorite in the polls to win the French presidency, Francois Fillon, is also victorious, 2017 could be remembered as the year the populist revolt began to ebb. Adversaries mobilize As the West reels, its adversaries are mobilizing. Russian President Vladimir Putin defied Obama's predictions his venture in Syria would end in a quagmire. Now, he seems on the way to restoring the lost Russian influence that he watched ebb in despair after the fall of the Soviet Union. In Asia, Chinese President Xi Jinping is accelerating that country's accumulation of regional power and challenging US influence and allies in the South China Sea. A volatile President in the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, is trashing a prized US alliance. Trump's rejection of a vast Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact has already empowered China and undermined eight years of Obama's Asia pivot. JUST WATCHED Trump and China: What's at stake? Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Trump and China: What's at stake? 02:26 The instability and uncertainty makes the choices Trump makes once he is inaugurated in January especially crucial. Should the new administration follow through on the President-elect's tough rhetoric on China and take protectionist steps that could incite a trade war, tensions in Asia could spike considerably. If Trump walks out on the Iran nuclear deal or infringes the Paris climate pact, he could send transatlantic relations into a spiral. Aligning the US closer to Moscow could also alarm European allies unless he makes a full-throated defense of NATO on his first trip to the continent. JUST WATCHED What could Trump do about North Korea? Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH What could Trump do about North Korea? 02:29 Asian allies Japan and South Korea are nervously trying to work out what Trump's campaign trail rhetoric means for crucial national security infrastructure in Asia. North Korea, meanwhile, is brewing what could be Trump's first big foreign crisis with its race for a functioning nuclear arsenal. In the Middle East, Trump's vow to move the US embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv could light a match to Palestinian-Israeli antagonism and put US Arab allies in a tough spot. Could Trump's strategy work? Of course, there's no certainty that Trump will plunge the world into a new spiral of instability. Major policy shifts can be disorienting, but they aren't always negative. Every President's foreign policy is in some ways a correction to that of his predecessor. So Trump's spontaneity could perhaps be an antidote to Obama's caution, which some critics said frittered away US power. Questioning trade deals, alliances and conventions could actually end up strengthening the US at home and in the world, Trump supporters argue. And just because the One China policy has dictated relations between Washington and Beijing for decades does not mean it should always be so, they say. Trump's naval buildup, meanwhile, could reassure US allies who feel bullied by China. And in an era of strongman leaders like Xi, Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a harder-to-read US President might keep American rivals off balance. Foreign policy often begins at home. And if tax cuts and slashing regulation ignites explosive economic growth, a Trump boom could help lift anemic economies in Euorope and Asia. Those who hope Trump will not upset the geopolitical apple cart also question whether responsibility will sober the President-elect. "There's just a whole different attitude and vibe when you're not in power as when you're in power," Obama said in his year-end press conference. "What we have to see is how will the President-elect operate and how will his team operate when they've been fully briefed on all these issues, they have their hands on all the levers of government and they've got to got to start making decisions."

Stephen Collinson

www.cnn.com

http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/02/politics/donald-trump-us-global-politics/index.html

UNDEFINED

2017-01-02 11:10:39

CNN

Hill Republicans eye busy first 100 days of 2017

"Buckle up" was the advice Vice President-elect Mike Pence gave Hill Republicans about the hectic pace ahead for Capitol Hill's first 100 days in 2017.

The Republican-controlled Congress returns Tuesday to begin an aggressive push on a range of policies that their new partner -- President-elect Donald Trump -- can help turn into law. The focus in January will be to start the wheels in motion to repeal the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, and vote to confirm many of Trump's Cabinet nominees. There will also be debate about Russia's interference in the 2016 presidential election -- an issue the incoming President doesn't want to focus on, saying last week it's time to "move on" -- but many in his own party view as a serious threat. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is aiming to secure confirmation for many of Trump's top national security and economic team members around the time he is sworn in on January 20. While Democrats don't have the votes to block Trump's nominees, they are signaling an intense fight nevertheless. They are planning to leverage the high-profile committee hearings to draw contrasts with Republicans on key issues like health care, the environment and foreign policy. Obamacare repeal "Repeal and replace" has been the regular Republican refrain from virtually the day President Barack Obama's signature health care law became law in 2010. McConnell announced last month that the first vote of the new Congress will be to start dismantling Obamacare. The President isn't going quietly. Obama is scheduled to visit Capitol Hill on Wednesday for a rare meeting with all House and Senate Democrats to "discuss fighting GOP plans to repeal (the Affordable Care Act)," according to a senior Senate Democratic aide. The high-profile visit signals that the President will be personally involved defending the law that stands as his most important domestic policy legacy. Now that they have a GOP president to actually sign legislation that rolls back the law, congressional Republicans are acknowledging that it's complicated to simultaneously repeal Obamacare and put something else in its place. They control both the House and the Senate but they are limited because they don't have 60 votes in the Senate to overcome a Democratic filibuster that would be expected on efforts to get rid of Obamacare. Their plan is to use a budget process known as "reconciliation" to wipe away the major planks of Obamacare. The Senate will begin debating a budget resolution this week as the first step. That allows them to use the procedure to pass the repeal in the Senate with a simple majority, avoiding an expected Democratic filibuster. Reconciliation rules do limit the items in the law that can be rolled back to those that have a direct impact on the federal budget, and Republicans still don't have all the details ready on which ones they will include. Democrats are preparing an aggressive public relations campaign to highlight how Obamacare has helped the 20 million now covered because of the law, and the other benefits they believe have occurred, such as better preventive care. On a conference call with House Democrats last week, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi touted that the ACA lowered costs and improved outcomes for millions. She compared the fight ahead against Republicans to the one she led in 2005 and 2006 when then-President George W. Bush traveled around the country championing a proposal to privatize Social Security, a plan that didn't gain traction with the public or in Congress. Events in House congressional districts are planned for January 7, and Senate Democrats are also teeing up several events in Washington this week to remind people about the elements of Obamacare they believe are popular. Pelosi, incoming Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders announced that January 15 is a national "Our First Stand: Save Health Care" day of action for advocacy groups and Democrats to criticize Republicans for working to target the health care law, as well as other entitlement programs such as Medicare. While Republicans can pass the budget measure relatively quickly over a few weeks to begin unwinding Obamacare, the package that will contain the actual plans for repealing the law will take at least a couple of months to develop. Several committees in both the House and Senate will weigh in with their stamps on the details, including which taxes will go and which ones may need to remain in place until a new replacement plan is put in place. Democrats are also bracing for a big fight over funding for Planned Parenthood, an issue that has triggered multiple standoffs in the past with the GOP. It's unclear whether Republicans will include a ban on funding for the women's health care provider because of its role in providing abortion services as part of the initial budget bill. There is no consensus yet on when to address the issue, but conservatives are pressing for action soon and view the reconciliation process as the place to tackle it. Republicans are also struggling to come to consensus on how quickly they need to lay out their proposal to stand up a new health care system to take Obamacare's place. Conservatives are insisting they limit any transition period to two years. But GOP leaders are wary that once they begin unraveling the complicated federal and state programs now providing coverage, it will take three years or more to practically implement a new system. Multiple Republican aides say it's more likely that replacement plans will be voted on in a piecemeal fashion over multiple years, perhaps even after the 2018 midterm elections, to ensure there are not major marketplace disruptions or economic fallout for insurers, states or the private sector. Confirmation battles Trump's transition team describes the mix of business leaders and former military leaders selected for Cabinet posts as a group of outsiders set to shakeup the way Washington works. Republicans are confident that they have solid support and will get help of many of the red state Democrats, like West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, to confirm them. So far, Rex Tillerson, the oil company CEO Trump tapped to serve as secretary of state, is the only pick who is raising some concerns with a handful of Republicans. They want more information about his close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin and how he will deal with myriad foreign policy issues where the US has tangled with Russia like Syria, Iran and recent cyberattacks. Democrats are complaining that Tillerson, and many other Cabinet nominees, have been "very slow" in providing information to the committees ahead of the upcoming hearings that committee chairs are targeting to hold in the second week in January. They are threatening to drag out votes on nominees if they don't receive complete financial disclosure and ethics reports in advance of hearings so Senators can review the materials. "Republicans shouldn't expect their nominees to sail through if those nominees won't provide the disclosure that past nominees provided and that senators, and the American public, deserve," Matt House, a spokesman for Schumer, told CNN. Any delay would just be symbolic, but if Democrats use the full amount of debate time allowed under Senate rules, then a vote on each nominee that would normally take place in one or two days could stretch out a week. That could mean it could take months to clear through all of the president's nominees if Democrats decide to put up a fight, and other priorities like Obamacare repeal could also be delayed. Democrats have been critical of virtually every person Trump has selected, but they realize they can't wage war on all of them. In addition to highlighting conflicts Tillerson's business dealings might present, multiple Senate Democratic sources say they are digging into the stock trades of Georgia Republican Rep. Tom Price, Trump's pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. Under the law known as the "STOCK Act" Price has disclosed information about his trades involving health and pharmaceutical company stocks. One senior Democratic leadership aide suggested they view the issue of conflicts arising from votes in Price's post as budget chair coming around the time of these financial transactions as "seriously, seriously troubling." There is no evidence of any wrongdoing by Price. Phil Blando, a spokesman for Trump's transition team, had previously told CNN Price "complied fully with all applicable laws and ethics rules governing his personal finances." And if confirmed would comply with the law, Blando added. Russian hacking Obama's announcement last week of new sanctions against Russia for its cyberattacks during the presidential election are putting Hill Republicans in a tough spot. Virtually all the top GOP leaders in Congress publicly backed the sanctions, although they criticized how long it took to put them in place, along with the administration's overall foreign policy. US intelligence agencies have concluded that Russia carried out a steady and deliberate cyberoperation targeting top Democrats email accounts and the Democratic National Committee. Senate Armed Service Chairman John McCain, R-Arizona, is holding a Thursday hearing on the threat posed by foreign governments targeting US computer systems, including Russia, which will be the first public hearing since agencies revealed the links they found to Russia in the attacks. McCain, along with South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, have vowed to draft legislation imposing additional sanctions to penalize Russia, and Democrats have agreed to craft a bipartisan proposal. Both McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan have publicly denounced Russia's moves, but any bipartisan push to move sanctions legislation puts them in the precarious spot of using valuable time in the first 100 days of the new administration on an issue that puts them at odds with Trump. Floor fight over rules Democrats are criticizing new Republican proposed rules governing decorum in the chamber of the House of Representatives. In response to a summer sit-in that Democrats used to take over the House floor, GOP leaders are adding a provision to impose fines as high as $2,500 for any member who uses social media application to broadcast activities from the floor. Some Democrats are calling the proposal "unconstitutional," "a gag rule" and "Putinesque," but the changes are expected to pass. It's unclear if a legal challenge could force the GOP to back down.

Deirdre Walsh;Cnn Senior Congressional Producer

www.cnn.com

http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/02/politics/donald-trump-republicans-congress-2017/index.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_topstories+%28RSS%3A+CNN+-+Top+Stories%29

UNDEFINED

2017-01-02 11:12:48

Breitbart

D.C. Homeless # Doubles National Avg, Living Costs Soar to Record Highs

D.C. Homeless # Doubles National Avg, Living Costs Soar to Record Highs

SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER Washington, D.C. has the highest rate of homelessness among big cities, according to a survey of 32 big cities by the United States Conference of Mayors. In D.C., there are 124 homeless people for every 10,000 residents, more than twice the national average, while homelessness nationwide has gone down 12.9 percent over the last seven years, the New York Times reported. SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER Survey data was taken from the annual “Point in Time” count distributed by the Community Partnership for the Prevention of Homelessness, a nonprofit that works with the local government. According to the count, a total of 8,350 people experienced homelessness: 318 lived on the street, 6,259 lived in emergency shelters, and 1,773 lived in transitional housing. Recent census data shows that outside the number of homeless in the city, 17.3 percent of D.C. residents live in poverty. Those who work with the homeless and experience homelessness say the reason for the crisis stems from the high cost of urban living. Median home prices soared to record highs in 2016, according to WTOP. Census data released in December showed that four neighboring counties to the District of Columbia — Loudoun County, Falls Church, and Fairfax and Howard Counties — were the richest in the nation. Meanwhile, D.C. itself maintained a median income of more than $70,000. “There are no ‘new homeless,’” said Michael Ferrell, the executive director of the Coalition for the Homeless, which runs 10 shelter programs in D.C. “The one single thing that really has changed is the lack of affordable housing.” “The housing that’s being created today in the District is not for working-class people,” he said.

Katherine Rodriguez

www.breitbart.com

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RIGHT

2017-01-02 11:13:03

CNN

SpaceX moves past explosion with new launch plans

SpaceX said its rockets will return to flight as early as Sunday. The news comes following an in-depth investigation into the explosion of a rocket from its September mission.

SpaceX rockets may return to flight as early as Sunday, according to the company. The news comes following an in-depth investigation into the explosion of a rocket from SpaceX's September mission. The company said in a statement Monday the botched launch was due to a failed pressure vessel in a liquid oxygen tank. The vessel buckled, causing liquid oxygen to accumulate. It believes this led to friction, sparks and the explosion. SpaceX conducted the investigation along with officials from NASA, the Federal Aviation Authority, the U.S. Air Force and the National Transportation Safety Board. Related: Explosion at SpaceX launch pad in Cape Canaveral The Federal Aviation Administration will have to sign off on the report and issue SpaceX a license to launch. SpaceX appears optimistic it will be launching rockets again soon. To prevent such an incident from happening again, SpaceX will now load its rockets with warmer helium and revert to its older, proven method of loading helium. Down the road, it plans to change the design of its pressure vessels. SpaceX originally intended to return to space by November. Shortly after the investigation begin, CEO Elon Musk called it the most difficult and complex failure of the company's 14-year existence. Related: SpaceX doesn't launch another rocket in 2016 The company has drawn praise for its low-cost rockets and wowed spectators by landing rockets on a platform at sea. However, the company has also been dogged by mishaps, such as this fall's explosion. SpaceX holds a NASA contact to carry U.S. astronauts to the International Space Station, but for now, it plans to catch up on delayed launches.

Matt Mcfarland

money.cnn.com

http://money.cnn.com/2017/01/02/technology/spacex-explosion-investigation/index.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_latest+%28RSS%3A+CNN+-+Most+Recent%29

UNDEFINED

2017-01-02 11:14:12

The Guardian

I’ll say it again: E-cigarettes are still far safer than smoking

Despite evidence suggesting e-cigarettes are far less harmful than smoking, more people than ever believe them to be just as harmful. Professor Linda Bauld discusses the evidence

January is a time for New Year’s resolutions and if you’re one of the world’s one billion smokers, your resolution may be to stop smoking. For some people, this year’s quit attempt might involve an electronic cigarette, and a recent study in England, published in the BMJ, suggested that these devices helped at least 18,000 smokers to stop in 2015 who would not otherwise have done so. That’s very good news, but will there be as many quit attempts in 2017 as there have been in the past with e-cigarettes? I’m not so sure. Since I last wrote about e-cigarettes in this column one year ago, headlines about the dangers of these devices have continued to appear and show no sign of abating. The result is clear. More people believe today, compared with a year ago, that e-cigarettes are as harmful as smoking. In fact these incorrect perceptions have risen year on year, from fewer than one in ten adults in Great Britain in 2013 to one in four this past summer. Surveys of smokers show similar patterns, with an increasing proportion believing that e-cigarettes are more or equally harmful than tobacco. Why can't scientists agree on e-cigarettes? Read more Yet we know that these harm perceptions are wrong. There is now very strong evidence, from a range of studies, that vaping - inhaling nicotine without the combustion involved in smoking - is far less risky than smoking cigarettes. Just a few months ago this body of evidence was brought together by the Royal College of Physicians who published an authoritative report analysing dozens of studies and concluded that the hazard to health arising from long term vapour inhalation from e-cigarettes is unlikely to exceed 5% of the harm from smoking tobacco. The RCP, and since then other UK doctor’s organisations such as the Royal College of General Practitioners, have made clear that it is important to promote the use of e-cigarettes, along with other non-tobacco nicotine products (like Nicotine Replacement Therapy such as gum or inhalators) to smokers who are trying to quit. The work of these organisations is underpinned by a consensus statement endorsed by many of the main health charities and public health bodies in the UK. They agree that vaping is safer than smoking, and while these products are not risk free and should not be promoted to children or never smokers, they have a legitimate and positive role to play in tobacco control. But this consensus is not shared around the world. The regular stream of media scare stories driving harm perceptions often originates in other countries where there is no such view about relative risks. Some media headlines are driven by poor science but others originate from reports by credible organisations who focus on the absolute risk of any e-cigarette use without comparing it to smoking (which is uniquely deadly and kills one in two regular users). 2016 saw at least two major reports of this kind. In September the World Health Organisation published a report that set out a series of steps on e-cigarette regulation for countries signed up to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, a global public health treaty. These options were primarily about banning or severely restricting the sale, distribution and marketing of e-cigarettes. The WHO report was comprehensively critiqued by the UK Centre for Tobacco and Alcohol Studies, but its findings mean that e-cigarettes will continue to be unavailable to millions of smokers in many countries who have banned these devices or are considering doing so. Does a tobacco-free world need to be nicotine free? Read more December 2016 saw the publication of a review authored by the US Surgeon General, which focused on e-cigarette use in young people. This described e-cigarette use as a public health concern, arguing that e-cigarettes are now the most commonly used tobacco product amongst US youth and that nicotine use in any form is unsafe for young people and also pregnant women. While some of the science in the report is accurate, the conclusions endorsing heavy regulation of e-cigarettes were not. The report did not compare the risks of smoking and vaping, failed to make clear that e-cigarettes are not tobacco products, and drew conclusions about nicotine that would also apply to Nicotine Replacement Therapy - which is safe and licensed for use in pregnancy and by young smokers. It also endorsed policies which could deter current smokers from switching to e-cigarettes. American scientists have critiqued data from the USA that provided the basis for the Surgeon General’s report, but it is likely that this publication will contribute to public perceptions that e-cigarettes are dangerous. These two reports largely ignore the fact that there are already measures in place in many countries (including all of the EU) to protect the public from any risks from e-cigarettes. These include policies like age of sale, limits on advertising and child- and tamper-proof packaging - all important to protect children while still allowing sales to adult smokers and ex-smokers. Concerns about exploding batteries and nicotine poisoning can also be dealt with by following simple safety rules, such as those set out by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents. I believe that e-cigarettes have huge potential to save lives by providing an alternative to smoking. Yet this can only be realised if we address negative harm perceptions and communicate honestly with the public. Ongoing research can help with this, and 2016 has seen the start of important studies, many commissioned by Cancer Research UK, which will tell us more in the future. We also need to keep our eye on new technology, such as heat not burn tobacco products, which are emerging and about which we know little. Only time will tell whether the UK’s positive approach towards e-cigarettes strikes the right balance between risks and benefits. For now, however, we must do all we can to encourage smokers to try to stop at New Year or any other time. For those trying with e-cigarettes, this is a positive choice that should be supported. Linda Bauld is Professor of Health Policy at the University of Stirling, Deputy Director of the UK Centre for Tobacco and Alcohol Studies and holds the CRUK/BUPA Chair in Behavioural Research for Cancer Prevention at Cancer Research UK. She is a former scientific adviser on tobacco control to the UK government and chaired the NICE guidance group on tobacco harm reduction.

Linda Bauld

www.theguardian.com

https://www.theguardian.com/science/sifting-the-evidence/2017/jan/02/ill-say-it-again-e-cigarettes-are-still-far-safer-than-smoking

LEFT

2017-01-02 11:17:17

HuffPost

Long Island School Board Opposes Nomination of 'Amway' DeVos

At its December 19, 2016 meeting the Board of Education of the Patchogue-Medford Union Free School District voted unanimously to

At its December 19, 2016 meeting the Board of Education of the Patchogue-Medford Union Free School District voted unanimously to oppose the nomination of Betsy 'Amway' DeVos as United States Secretary of Education. The resolution called on the Senate to reject the nomination and invited President-elect Trump to a meeting with board members to discuss their concerns. The Board Resolution (see below) condemned the nomination of DeVos because of her lack of either experience or credentials and her support for charter schools and school voucher programs. District parents are strong opponents of mandated Common Core aligned exams. In April 2016 over seventy percent of eligible students chose to opt-out of the high-stakes standardized tests. The Patchogue-Medford Union Free School District is located on the south shore of Long Island in New York State. It is a diverse school district with a population of almost 9,000 students, about 60% are white, 32% are Latino, and 8% are Asian or Black. Almost 45% of the district's students receive free or reduced price lunch and approximately 10% are English language learners. Whereas, the Board of Education of the Patchogue-Medford School District has been elected by the residents of the Patchogue-Medford Union Free School District to determine policy and approve programming for the students of the district, within the confines of both federal and state statutes governing education, and . . . Whereas, this Board of Education, on many occasions, has expressed its displeasure with the requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act and the Every Student Succeeds Act, as well as the implementation of the Common Core and Annual Professional Performance Review and the high stakes testing which accompany these mandates, and . . . Whereas, the Board of Education wants all of our students, regardless of ability, background, race, or gender, to feel secure, focusing on the physical, social, emotional, cognitive, and relational growth of our students, and . . . Whereas, President-Elect Trump has called for the nomination of Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education of the United States, a candidate apparently lacking any credentials as an educator, experience in the administration and management of public schools, demonstrating a pre-disposition towards and long-history of support for charter schools and school voucher programs, which by their very nature eviscerate free and appropriate public education for specific economic, social and racial groups, and . . . Whereas, Ms. DeVos has been at the forefront of the establishment of the Detroit charter school initiative, by all accounts an abject failure which hurt students and enriched the coffers of private companies, therefore be it . . . Resolved, that the Patchogue-Medford Board of Education hereby, based on this record, opposes the confirmation of Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education, and until such time as the incoming Trump administration presents a formal vision for the future of public education in the United States of America and will continue to oppose such a nomination, and calls upon the incoming United States Senate to stand firm by opposing this nominee and affirming this serious need, and be it further . . . Resolved, that the Board of Education invites the president-elect, the nominee for secretary of education or representatives of the incoming education team to meet with them to conduct a forthright and meaningful discussion about the future of public education and their strategies to affect the necessary changes. Follow Alan Singer on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ReecesPieces8

Alan Singer;Social Studies Educator;Hofstra University;My Opinions;Of Course;Are My Own;Follow Alan Singer On Twitter;Alan J. Singer

www.huffingtonpost.com

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alan-singer/long-island-school-board_b_13927034.html

LEFT

2017-01-02 11:17:57

CNN

Mark Shriver to Trump administration: Don't forget about the children and poor

As Congress returns and Washington readies for a new president, the leader of a children's advocacy group fears that vulnerable children and other at-risk communities might have the most to lose from Donald Trump's agenda.

The Axe Files, featuring David Axelrod, is a podcast distributed by CNN and produced at the University of Chicago Institute of Politics. The author works for the podcast. Chicago (CNN) As Congress returns and Washington readies for a new president, the leader of a children's advocacy group fears that vulnerable children and other at-risk communities might have the most to lose from Donald Trump's agenda. Mark Shriver, head of the children's rights group Save the Children, expressed concerns with the policy priorities of the incoming Donald Trump administration — personal and corporate tax cuts, increases in defense spending, reductions in entitlements — and what it could mean for the vulnerable communities that have marginal influence in Washington. "They don't have political sway. They're not making big campaign contributions," Shriver told David Axelrod on "The Axe Files" podcast, produced by the University of Chicago Institute of Politics and CNN. "And when the cuts are made, they're the ones who don't have the biggest voice, and they're the most vulnerable." Instead of cutting programs for children, Shriver wants to see Congress recommit to initiatives like early childhood education, which has garnered bipartisan support at the state and local level and has shown results. "Those first five years of life when 90% of brain growth happens, I think is the biggest social justice issue in this country," argued Shriver, because poor children are developing at a slower pace than more affluent children for want of resources and a proper learning environment. "It's outrageous that we don't do more as a country," Shriver continued. "I wish the leadership in Washington would see what's going on in the states and make a commitment to our poor kids before they enter kindergarten." During the conversation, Shriver touched on the personal impact that his parents — Sargent Shriver, the first director of the Peace Corps, and Eunice Kennedy Shriver, a driving force behind the Special Olympics — had on him. It was their Catholic faith and commitment to helping the poor and vulnerable that contributed to his decision to pursue a career in public service, Shriver says. While his commitment to public service never wavered, Shriver says that his faith underwent a test of confidence as he felt increasingly disconnected from the church of his youth and descended into what he called "a Catholic funk." Then Pope Francis began his papacy through very public and humble gestures of charity — asking for the blessing of the crowd at St. Peter's Square before he blessed them, washing the feet of juvenile offenders, even paying his own hotel bill. Shriver could see that this pope was different, but he wasn't certain if it was genuine. "These are all gestures that kind of clearly caught my attention and made me wonder, are these publicity stunts in order to garner positive PR for the church, or is this guy the real deal?" Shriver said. He was determined to find out. Driven by a need for greater understanding of the roots of Pope Francis's faith, and a desire to renew his own, Shriver set out to learn more about the new pope through his journey from Jesuit priest and reformist bishop in Buenos Aires to leader of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics, a remarkable path that he chronicles in his new book, "Pilgrimage: My Search for the Real Pope Francis." Shriver, answering emphatically that Pope Francis is indeed "the real deal," believes his power comes in part from his ability to challenge individuals to do their part to make our communities stronger and more compassionate. "I think that's why people respond to him," Shriver said. "Because great leadership, whether they're political or religious, ask us to get beyond our self... And they inspire us to go into our soul and to try to make connection with our neighbors. Not build walls and isolate us, right? And that's what great leaders do, and I think that's what he's doing." Whether Pope Francis, who is 80, can build a legacy strong enough to withstand the more traditional elements within the institutional arm of the Catholic Church, is a question Shriver cannot answer, but he is certain that the Pope has already left a lasting impact. "The way [Pope Francis] treats people on the fringes...he's sending a message to all of us," stated Shriver. "I think it's going to be hard to backtrack on that."

Tim Skoczek;The Axe Files

www.cnn.com

http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/02/politics/mark-shriver-axe-files/index.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_latest+%28RSS%3A+CNN+-+Most+Recent%29

UNDEFINED

2017-01-02 11:19:15

CNN

Bitcoin tops $1,000...highest level in 3 years

The value of the controversial virtual currency Bitcoin topped $1,000, it's best level in at least three years.

Bitcoin kicked off 2017 with a bang. The value of the digital currency topped $1,000 on Monday, its best level in at least three years. Bitcoin has spiked in recent months following a series of unexpected global events kicked off by Brexit, the election of Donald Trump and the sudden ban of large rupee notes in India. "It was a perfect storm of events," said Charles Hayter, founder and CEO of digital currency comparison website CryptoCompare. "Uncertainty is key." Hayter said the rise of populism globally means that "walls are going up rather than coming down," and people are seeing higher risks of trade wars and other fallout from the ratcheting up of tensions. All this has led Bitcoin's value to more than double in the past year to $1,023, from around $430. Just since Trump's election, it has spiked 40%. Related: What is bitcoin? Bitcoin is preferred by some people for its perceived anonymity, and it has also been used for illegal purchases of drugs, and other products. The value of Bitcoin has fluctuated wildly over the years. In 2013, Bitcoin increased tenfold in just two months to $1,151. However, a hack on the Tokyo-based Mt.Gox Bitcoin exchange in 2014 sent the currency plunging to less than $400. Bitcoin was created anonymously online in 2009. It belongs to no country. It's not recognized by any government as "legal tender." Yet, it is the best-known and the most popular digital currency. Hacking continues to be a major issue. As recently as August, hackers stole Bitcoin worth about $65 million after attacking a major digital currency exchange Bitfinex. But despite the controversy over the years, Bitcoin-related startups have attracted big name investors. Among them: American Express (AXP), Bain Capital, Deloitte, Goldman Sachs (GS), MasterCard (MA), the New York Life Insurance Company, and the New York Stock Exchange. They are betting that the technology will change the way we trade stocks, send money to each other, get paid at work, and much more. --Jose Pagliery contributed to this report.

Pallavi Gogoi

money.cnn.com

http://money.cnn.com/2017/01/02/investing/bitcoin-1000-2017/index.html?section=money_news_international&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fmoney_news_international+%28CNNMoney%3A+International+News%29

UNDEFINED

2017-01-02 11:29:57

CBS News

Syrian boy with no arms thrives in U.S., hopes for family to arrive

11-year-old Ahmad Alkhalaf, who lost his arms in an explosion in Syria, is adjusting to his new life in the U.S.

SHARON, Mass. - Ahmad Alkhalaf has had a busy year. He attended Democratic President Barack Obama’s final State of the Union address as a special guest of a congressman. He learned to bike and rollerblade, took martial arts and gymnastics classes and spent his summer playing soccer and swimming in a lake at a day camp in the Boston suburbs. And he received his first pair of prosthetic arms after his were blown off three years ago in a refugee camp bomb blast that also killed three of his siblings. But as the 11-year-old Syrian boy looks to another year in his adopted home, he says his dream is to be reunited with his mother and four surviving siblings, who are living in Istanbul. “I want my mom to come here,” he said on a recent Saturday as he kicked around a soccer ball in a park. “I feel like I’m losing her. It’s been too long. I can’t take it anymore.” Ahmad’s father, Dirgam Alkhalaf, said those hopes largely hinge on whether Republican President-elect Donald Trump follows through on his pledge to curtail the flow of Syrians and Muslims to the U.S. Alkhalaf has applied for asylum and hopes to petition for the rest of the family if he and Ahmad are permitted to stay. “I can only be hopeful he’ll do the right thing,” Alkhalaf said of Trump through an interpreter. “No matter what people say, I’m optimistic.” Trump transition team officials didn’t return emails seeking comment on the family’s case. Alkhalaf said he can’t return to Turkey after renouncing his temporary residency status there. Returning to Syria, where the Sunni Muslim family lived just outside the battle-scarred city of Aleppo, also isn’t an option. “There is nothing left in Syria for us. Our home is destroyed; the government is out to get us,” he said, referring to Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime, which he says conducted the 2013 bombing. “I’ve got nowhere to go if the U.S. doesn’t want me.” The father and son have been living among a rotating group of Muslim families since their arrival in June 2015 on a medical visa for Ahmad. Alkhalaf works as a security guard at a mosque after receiving his work permit in July. He hopes to take his driver’s license exam soon. The emotional strain of separation has taken its toll on the family, Alkhalaf said. His youngest son in Turkey has developed asthma-like problems, his wife is being treated for high blood pressure and Ahmad doesn’t always sleep well, a problem that started with night terrors following the bomb blasts. “Emotionally, I’m drained,” Alkhalaf said. “If we were all together, I think a lot of us would feel better. It’s half the battle.” Ahmad talks with his mother often and knows she’s struggling to provide for his siblings. The family largely lives off the charity of the Muslim community in New England and what Alkhalaf can send from his wages. Ahmad said he tries to perk his mother up by telling her about the new things he’s experiencing. “I try to make her happy, but it’s hard,” Ahmad said. He enrolled in the fourth grade this past fall at a school in the Boston suburbs. He is awaiting a more advanced pair of prosthetic arms. And he hopes to join a soccer team this spring. Officials at Heights Elementary say Ahmad’s stresses haven’t appeared to affect his schooling. If anything, they say, they’re impressed with how quickly he has embraced his new environment, where he is receiving physical and occupational therapy, one-on-one reading and math help and other support. “He really wants to talk to people and understand things on many levels,” said Holly Geiger, Ahmad’s teacher. “He’s not shy, and I think that’s helped.” Supporters have purposely jam-packed Ahmad’s schedule, said Nabil Jalal, a Sharon resident who is among those helping Ahmad and his father. As Ahmad ran off to join an arts and craft session, Jalal worried what the new year might bring. “You can’t have one parent and not the other, no matter how good the life is here,” Jalal said. “There’s a big missing part.”

www.cbsnews.com

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/ahmad-alkhalaf-syria-boy-with-no-arms-thrives-in-us-hopes-for-family-to-arrive/

CENTER

2017-01-02 11:34:35

Reuters

Britain's Labour leader could quit before next election: union boss

The leader of Britain's opposition Labour party, Jeremy Corbyn, could step down before the next national election in 2020 if its poor opinion poll ratings do not improve, the head of its biggest union backer said in an interview published on Monday.

LONDON (Reuters) - The leader of Britain's opposition Labour party, Jeremy Corbyn, could step down before the next national election in 2020 if its poor opinion poll ratings do not improve, the head of its biggest union backer said in an interview published on Monday. Labour has consistently placed a distant second in opinion polls and a survey by YouGov in December had the party on 25 percent, its lowest since September 2009, versus 42 percent for Prime Minister Theresa May's Conservatives. The next parliamentary election is due in 2020. "Let's suppose we are not having a snap election. It buys into this question of what happens if we get to 2019 and opinion polls are still awful," Corbyn supporter Len McCluskey, head of the country's biggest union and Labour's largest financial backer Unite, was quoted as saying by the Daily Mirror. "The truth is everybody would examine that situation, including Jeremy Corbyn and (Labour finance spokesman) John McDonnell ... These two are not egomaniacs, they are not desperate to cling on to power for power's sake." Left-winger Corbyn was re-elected Labour leader in September after a challenge from one of his lawmakers that exposed sharp divisions between the party's elected representatives and grassroots supporters. His office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on McCluskey's remarks. May, appointed prime minister in July last year after Britain's vote to leave the EU forced the resignation of David Cameron, has said she does not intend to hold an early election. But Labour's poor poll ratings and a court battle over whether parliament's approval is needed to begin EU divorce proceedings have increased speculation she could seek to boost her slim majority in parliament by calling a snap vote. Corbyn has repeatedly said Labour is ready to fight an early election. His party faces an upcoming electoral test after lawmaker Jamie Reed, a vocal critic of Corbyn, said last month he would step down at the end of January. The area in northern England that Reed represents voted strongly in favor of Brexit. In a December election for a vacant Conservative-held parliamentary seat, Labour slipped from second to fourth place.

Reuters Editorial;Reuters Staff;Min Read

www.reuters.com

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-britain-politics-labour-idUSKBN14M0J9

CENTER

2017-01-02 11:41:30

CNN

Tesco will stop charging women more for razors

Britain's biggest supermarket chain has pledged to stop charging more for products that it markets to women.

Britain's biggest supermarket chain has pledged to stop charging more for products that it markets to women. Tesco said Monday that it has cut the price of basic women's razors to match the price offered for identical men's razors. The company had come under pressure from British lawmaker Paula Sherriff after it was found to charge twice as much for pink disposable twin-blade razors as blue ones. The products are identical except for color and price. Blue razors were priced at £0.10, while pink one were being offered for £0.20. Tesco, which runs 3,500 stores across the U.K., has sent a letter to Sherriff saying it has reviewed its products to make sure it's not overcharging women. "We are guided by doing what is right for our customers ... so we have reduced the cost of our women's twin blade razors, so that they are the same price per unit as the male equivalent," a Tesco spokesman said in a statement. Tesco has defended the pricing by arguing that it sells many more men's razors, making it easier to keep prices low. The price change was first reported by The Guardian. Related: 'Pink tax' angers women from New York to London Tesco is not the only company to face criticism over a "pink tax," where women are charged more for comparable products. British pharmacy chain Boots was forced to cut prices of some items last year after an online campaign called on the company to stop unfair pricing. In New York City, a study of 800 products performed by the city government found that women paid more in 42% of cases. Related: Startup cuts prices on feminine products to protest 'pink tax' The Fawcett Society in the U.K. said its own investigation across major supermarkets showed women are paying on average 31% more for a basket of comparable products.

Ivana Kottasova

money.cnn.com

http://money.cnn.com/2017/01/02/news/economy/tesco-women-pricing-razors/index.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fedition_us+%28RSS%3A+CNNi+-+U.S.%29

UNDEFINED

2017-01-02 11:47:36

CNN

How Trump made hatred profitable for Milo Yiannopoulos

"America's favorite mischievous gay conservative," is how publisher Simon & Schuster bills its newest high-profile author, Ruth Ben-Ghiat writes

Ruth Ben-Ghiat is a professor of history and Italian studies at New York University. She is a frequent contributor to CNN Opinion. The opinions in this commentary are hers. Positioning himself as the defender of victimized white males, he goes after those he sees as their antagonists: feminists, people of color, and immigrants, cloaking his hate speech under the mantle of the right to free expression. He's banned for life from Twitter (for his harassment of African-American actor Leslie Jones). So why on earth would Simon & Schuster give him a platform? Profit, for one thing. "Dangerous" immediately went to the top of Amazon.com's bestseller list on the strength of its pre-orders. The media opportunities generated by the publishing house's parent company, CBS, will likely compensate for any boycotts that materialize ( the Chicago Review of Books has announced it would not review any Simon & Schuster books in 2017 as a protest and others, from indie booksellers to celebrities, are talking about boycotts). There's also the issue of freedom of speech. Opinion is divided, even among liberals, about whether Milo, and his book, should be censored. Where are the boundaries about what's fit for public circulation and who should decide or enforce them? This same debate arose last year in Germany on the occasion of the reissue of Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf, which had been banned in Germany since the end of World War II. For every reader who came away from reading it disgusted by the violence of fascism, the concern was that there could be others inspired by exactly that. In the United States, many of Milo's fans are also supporters of President-elect Donald Trump. Milo sees Trump the political disrupter as a kindred spirit. As he noted at the opening of the art show #DaddyWillSaveUs (during which he sat almost naked in a tub full of cow blood to honor Americans killed by undocumented immigrants), Trump's "Make America Great Again" has revived "the dissident element in culture -- punk, mischief, irreverence..." Such boosterism apparently made Milo a good fit for Simon & Schuster's Threshold imprint, which publishes not only Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh but also Trump himself (most recently "Great Again: How to Fix our Crippled America"). By signing Milo's "Dangerous," the publishing house simply makes more evident what Trump's campaign already proved: for today's GOP, racist rhetoric has become normal political discourse. The risk that hateful rhetoric could become an inspiration for rather than a deterrent against hateful action is particularly relevant in Milo's case, since his behavior raises the question of the link between dangerous speech online and on-the-ground actions -- a connection that came up repeatedly during our recent Presidential campaign. Milo is above all a performer who lives for the attention -- in the form of outrage -- his theater of bigotry brings. At the University of Wisconsin (a stop on his "Dangerous Faggot" college campus tour), Milo harassed a transgender student in person; at DePaul University, he claimed he had had sex with the brothers of his black female protesters and called for their arrest. Nothing's off limits to Milo, and his fans like it that way. And this is the real storyline of Milo's book deal: far from being "mischievous," Milo is a barometer for the far rightward shift and expansion of the conservative movement in America to elevate figures that traffic in violent speech. ORLANDO, FL - JUNE 15: Milo Yiannopoulos, a conservative columnist and internet personality, holds a press conference down the street from the Pulse Nightclub, June 15, 2016 in Orlando, Florida. Yiannopoulos was briefly banned from Twitter on Wednesday. The shooting at Pulse Nightclub, which killed 49 people and injured 53, is the worst mass-shooting event in American history. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images) In fact, if we look closely, Milo and Trump have more in common than one might think. Both have outsized egos and platforms but have chosen to target ordinary citizens on Twitter, leading in some cases to their followers issuing threats to their targets' safety (including rape, if that target is a woman). Both mock those who are "different" (Trump, the disabled; Milo, transgender people). Both are longstanding misogynists. Both continually test their audiences to see what they can get away with and believe the rules won't apply to them. So while Milo may seem a unique figure, in reality he merely serves up, with the flash of excess and a British accent, the attitudes toward people of color and women that marked the Trump campaign. Lest you doubt that, listen to Milo, and then revisit the videos of Trump's campaign rallies. See the faces contorted with hatred, and listen to the chants wishing violence on his opponent, Hillary Clinton. Watch as Trump supporters whose skin is too dark for the crowd's liking are manhandled and ejected, as happened in North Carolina and elsewhere. We can debate endlessly the logic or morality of Simon & Schuster's giving Milo a lucrative deal, but ultimately the responsibility for the climate that made this professional hater a bankable figure is the GOP's, and Trump's, own.

Ruth Ben-Ghiat

www.cnn.com

http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/02/opinions/milo-yiannopoulos-and-trump-profitable-hate-ben-ghiat-opinion/index.html

UNDEFINED

2017-01-02 11:53:00

Politico

Trump expected to name Marc Short legislative affairs director

Short was a top aide to Mike Pence during the general election

Trump expected to name Marc Short legislative affairs director President-elect Donald Trump is expected to name Marc Short, a top adviser to Vice President-elect Mike Pence, to lead the legislative affairs shop for the White House, a key position helping guide Trump’s agenda through the Republican Congress, according to two people familiar with the matter. Rick Dearborn, the executive director of the presidential transition and a longtime chief of staff to Sen. Jeff Sessions, was originally in line for the legislative affairs post, but he is now expected to be named a deputy chief of staff, according to multiple transition officials. Dearborn’s expected title is deputy chief of staff for legislative, intergovernmental and cabinet affairs, according to a person familiar with the matter, and Short would be part of Dearborn’s team. Short, who previously worked as a top operative running the expansive political network of billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch, is a longtime adviser to Pence and has previously worked in both the House and Senate. Short’s new perch will give Pence’s inner circle a critical foothold inside the White House, as Pence himself is expected to play a major role in shepherding Trump’s agenda through Capitol Hill. The Trump transition team and Short did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Short’s job was first reported on Twitter by Axios’ Mike Allen. Short is a longtime Republican operative who served as chief of staff to Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas and Pence, when he was in the House. During the 2016 campaign, Short worked as an adviser for Sen. Marco Rubio during the primaries and later as a senior adviser for Pence during the general election. Since the election, Short has attended some meetings with Pence on Capitol Hill.

Shane Goldmacher

www.politico.com

http://www.politico.com/blogs/donald-trump-administration/2017/01/trump-legislative-affairs-director-233113

UNDEFINED

2017-01-02 11:59:17

Reuters

BRIEF-Jiayuan International says unit enters into equity transfer framework agreement

Jiayuan International Group Ltd :

Jan 2 (Reuters) - Jiayuan International Group Ltd : * Unit entered into equity transfer framework agreement with vendors and target company * Deal for an initial consideration of RMB610 million * Agreement sets out principal terms in respect of sale and purchase of 49% equity interest in Shenzhen Songling Industrial * Consideration will be funded by internal resources of group and bank financing Source text for Eikon: Further company coverage:

Reuters Editorial;Reuters Staff;Min Read

www.reuters.com

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSFWN1EP0AO

CENTER

2017-01-02 11:59:24

CBS News

Medicare revamping heart attack, hip fracture coverage

Medicare is already experimenting in dozens of communities with heart, hip, knee and cancer care in aging Americans

Heart attacks and broken hips cause much suffering and worry as people grow older. This year, Medicare wants to start changing how it pays for treatment of these life-threatening conditions, to promote quality and contain costs. Beneficiaries and family members may notice a new approach. Hospitals and doctors in dozens of communities selected for large-scale experiments on this front are already gearing up. The goal is to test the notion that better coordination among clinicians, hospitals, and rehab centers can head off complications, prevent avoidable hospital re-admissions and help patients achieve more stable and enduring recoveries. If results back that up, Medicare can adopt the changes nationwide. The cardiac and hip fracture experiments are the latest development in a big push under the Obama administration to reinvent Medicare, steering the program away from paying piecemeal for services, regardless of quality and cost. It’s unclear whether Donald Trump as president will continue the pace of change, slow down or even hit pause. Trump’s Health and Human Services nominee, orthopedic-surgeon-turned-congressman Tom Price, has expressed general concern that the doctor-patient relationship could be harmed by Medicare payment changes seeking to contain costs. And the Medicare division that designed the experiments - the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation - is itself under threat of being abolished because it was created by President Barack Obama’s 2010 health care law. Some outside groups, including AARP, worry that Medicare may be moving too fast and that focusing on cost containment could lead to beneficiaries being shortchanged on rehab care. Innovation center director Patrick Conway, who also serves as Medicare’s chief medical officer, is plowing ahead nonetheless. “Delivery system reform and paying for better care are bipartisan issues,” Conway said. And quality ranks ahead of cost savings in evaluating any results, he added. The cardiac and hip fracture experiments focus on traditional Medicare, which remains the choice of nearly 7 in 10 out of Medicare’s 57 million beneficiaries. The cardiac experiment involves both heart bypass and heart attack patients. The trials join similar ongoing tests involving surgery for hip and knee replacement, as well as care for cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. In the experiments, doctors, hospitals, and rehab centers get paid the regular Medicare rates. But hospitals are given responsibility for overall quality and cost, measured against benchmarks set by Medicare. If the hospital meets or exceeds the goals, it earns a financial bonus, which can be shared with other service providers. If the hospital falls short, it may have to pay the government money. “Now your doctor and hospital are working together to make sure they are well coordinated,” said Conway. Under the old system, if a patient was discharged from the hospital after a heart attack, “they might hand you a piece of paper that said please follow up with your primary care doctor,” Conway continued. “In this model, the hospital is going to have a strong incentive to make sure you follow up.” Overall, about 168,000 Medicare beneficiaries are treated for heart attacks in a given year, while 48,000 undergo heart bypass surgery for clogged arteries and 109,000 have surgery for broken hips. Around the country, hospitals in 98 metro areas will be involved in the cardiac experiment. The hip surgery experiment involves 67 areas that are also part of Medicare’s ongoing test with hip and knee replacements. Areas in the cardiac test include Boston, as well as Akron, Ohio; Charleston, South Carolina; Fort Collins, Colorado; Utica, New York; and Yuma, Arizona. A smaller group of communities will be involved in a related experiment that pays hospitals for coordinating rehab care for heart patients. Although the benefits of cardiac rehab are widely recognized, only a small share of patients receives it. The hip fracture test includes the Miami, New York, and Los Angeles metro areas, as well as Austin, Texas; Bismarck, North Dakota; Flint, Michigan, and New Orleans. Hospitals are not happy with the changes, though doctors have generally been supportive. A big concern for hospitals is that Medicare requires mandatory participation by all the facilities in areas selected for these tests. But Conway says that’s likely to lead to even better results. The idea is that hospitals will watch each other’s performance closely, and the ones that have room to improve will try to catch the high achievers.

www.cbsnews.com

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/medicare-heart-attack-hip-fracture-coverage-changing/

CENTER

2017-01-02 12:00:24

The Guardian

Trump victory spurs women to run for office across US: 'Our time is coming'

Organizations report surging numbers of women mulling campaigns as potential candidates describe motivations: ‘Trump pushed me over the edge’

Victoria Oliver has been a police officer for 20 years, the last 10 as a detective, but it didn’t take a Sherlock Holmes instinct for her to deduce that it was time for her to run for political office. “The election was so divisive. You can take the easy option and sit on the sidelines and criticize, or you can get involved and try to change things,” she said. The surprise victory of Donald Trump in November was the clincher. “They’ve picked a petulant boy to run our nation, instead of this incredible woman who was such a force and won the popular vote,” she said. Oliver, a member of the Denver police department, will embark on a training course this January aimed at preparing her to become a candidate in future local, state or national elections. She is part of a surge of women across the country who are rushing to run for office in the aftermath of the election – women disappointed that Hillary Clinton lost and disgusted with the sexist and racist rhetoric of Trump’s campaign and the ultra-conservative credentials of his proposed cabinet. “We are a force to be reckoned with,” said Oliver. “Our time is coming.” US yet to join ranks of countries with female leaders Read more VoteRunLead (VRL), an organization that trains future female politicians, normally receives between 30 and 80 applicants for each of its regular webinars. “In a 48-hour period after the election, we had 1,100 women sign up for our next webinar and we had to close it and start a wait list,” said Erin Vilardi, executive director of VoteRunLead. “Most women said they woke up on November 9 and realized they could no longer just spectate or click on online petitions, they wanted to know how to run for office, whether it’s the school board, the city council, state or national representation,” she added. VRL is a non-partisan organization and women signing up are not asked whether they intend to run as Democrats or Republicans. The main theme of the new influx could be summed up as “a rejection of Trump”, Vilardi said. Two-thirds of existing VRL members who state an affiliation are Democrats. Other organizations that specifically aim to put Democratic women in power, such as Emily’s List and Emerge America, are also reporting a dramatic spike in interest from women. In Maryland, Eve Hurwitz, 44, had thought about entering politics before but had been concerned at her lack of experience. “My degree is in music and my career is in business and the military. But when Trump won, I thought: ‘He isn’t qualified either and he’s going to be president,’” she said. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Eve Hurwitz on the USS Enterprise while serving in the navy. Photograph: Courtesy of Eve Hurwitz Hurwitz is a naval flight officer who served as a mission controller flying in an airborne early warning aircraft during combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. She was based on the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise and switched from active duty to the reserve in 2010. She is now a financial software consultant. “Trump tipped me over the edge. I thought: what’s stopping me?” She is training with VRL and wants to become a candidate for state lawmaker in Virginia “within six to 12 months”, she said, or perhaps even go straight for national office in 2018. Emerge America, a progressive political coaching group, reported almost 800 women signed up for different aspects of their training courses since the election, exponentially more than normal. One of its courses had 35 women sign up in the six weeks before the election - and 230 in the six weeks after. Emily’s List, which focuses on getting pro-choice, Democratic women into office and offers one-on-one training, reported that it usually put a lot of resources into scouting women suitable for politics, but now those women were coming to them. “We have seen an unprecedented number of women raising their hands, wanting to run,” said Denise Feriozzi, deputy executive director of Emily’s List. She said Emily’s List had an eye on state governor races coming up in 2018. “We’ve had a lot of success in getting women elected to Congress but there are only two Democratic women governors in the country,” said Feriozzi. Jenny Willford, 30, knows some of what it will take. She narrowly failed to win a local open seat on the outskirts of Denver in 2015, losing to a fellow Democrat and male party stalwart at least twice her age. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Jenny Willford: ‘I have stories for days about the sexist stuff I heard.’ Photograph: Courtesy of Jenny Willford “I have stories for days about the sexist stuff I heard. I was told I should have asked his permission and that it was his ‘turn’. Then a voter told me I should be home taking care of my child and baking apple pie – literally. I was called a bitch,” she said. She is currently weighing whether to run again and meanwhile is running Emerge Colorado, a branch of Emerge America. Oliver, 50, will enter Emerge Colorado’s training course in January with plans to run for city or state office in two to five years. She became a cop to try to improve community race relations “and because growing up I didn’t see officers like me. I knew black women were there, but I wasn’t seeing them on the beat,” she said. She takes pride in bridging divides. Oliver said she had a lot of respect for the Black Lives Matter movement and had close friends who were ardent supporters of the grassroots organization that emerged from public outrage over the deaths of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown and a string of unarmed black men killed by law enforcement. “When these things occur, I tell people I’m not going to attack the officer because I’m black and I’m not going to defend them because I’m a cop,” she said. Oliver believes that the vast majority of police officers are sound and well intentioned. When there is a bad officer or a terrible mistake, the authorities need to “hear the whole story, examine it and fix it”, she said. One of her tenets is good communication. At 96 I couldn’t wait to vote for a female president. I feel let down by America | Esther Diamond Read more “Everyone starts on the same page of respect with me, including suspects. But if they drop that I can drop it very fast, too,” she said. She worries that people have lost faith in the power of their vote in the US and that politicians have stopped listening to the people. Fayrouz Saad, an Arab American and a Muslim woman, sees “a void” in Congress and state legislatures of young, minority faces. Saad, 33, has already been through the Emerge Michigan political training program. She works in the Detroit mayor’s office and has a master’s degree in public administration from Kennedy School of Government at Harvard. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Fayrouz Saad: ‘Rather than hoping someone else steps in, why shouldn’t I?’ Photograph: Salam Zahr “I had this moment of clarity after the election that rather than hoping someone else steps in, why shouldn’t I?” she said. “I want to run as soon as possible.” During the campaign, relatives of hers were told by people they didn’t know: “I can’t wait for Donald Trump to deport you.” She is interested in immigrants’ rights and women’s rights but also income inequality and improving public education. “When I was in fifth grade I told my teacher I wanted to be the first woman president,” she said. “Why not? Why not me? Why not continue to work my butt off in the hope I could be secretary of state one day? President? I would like to think that one day America could vote for a Muslim American woman and if not me, then someone.”

Joanna Walters

www.theguardian.com

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/02/women-politics-us-election

LEFT

2017-01-02 12:00:24

The Guardian

To save global liberalism, time to look beyond government

In the absence of geopolitical leadership and stability, talented, experienced people outside of office can play a vital role

For all the best wishes for a Happy New Year we are sending each other, few of us are looking ahead to 2017 with much optimism. Alliances are under strain. Pax Americana looks like a thing of the past. Civil wars – most fuelled by outsiders – are consuming the Middle East. Europe is facing a series of crises. And terrorists continue to wreak havoc wherever they can. Meanwhile, markets will be driven up and down as much by Donald Trump’s impulsive tweets as by economic reality. President Putin will continue to exploit signs of weakness or western disunity. China will react as China always does to perceived – or real – slights. In the UK, Brexiters are still enjoying bayonetting the corpses of their opponents, but know that they too will have to face reality in 2017. Resolving the contradictions within the government’s various positions, and preventing backbench revolts destroying its slim parliamentary majority, will be all-consuming. Elsewhere in Europe, France and Germany will be consumed by their own elections while in Hungary and Poland respect for democracy and the rule of law is under threat. So, at a time of worrying global instability, there is unlikely to be much focus on international affairs by what we used to call the free world – and if that sounds like overreaction to the events of 2016, take a look at what the losing Republican governor of North Carolina just did to prevent his successor getting on with the job when he takes over in January. But it’s precisely because governments are distracted or incapacitated that there is a role for non-state actors. America always has a wealth of talented people waiting in the wings, or in thinktanks, while a president of the opposing party occupies the White House. Out of office, they undertake specialist missions, sometimes solo and sometimes in bipartisan groups, to address the big foreign and security policy issues of the day. Congress does the same thing, invariably obtaining high-level access for traveling congressional delegations (CoDels), as do the UK parliament’s select committees. The private channels established in this way can be of great value. The first two years of negotiations with Iran culminating in the 2015 nuclear deal, for example, were conducted below the radar by US officials and then senator, later secretary of state, John Kerry. For years, Track Two diplomacy of this kind has helped ensure that the US and Russian governments understand each other even when official relations are strained. Today we have to confront uncertainty and unpredictability, fear, populist nationalism being whipped up and exploited by so-called strongmen, and the use of social media – described in a recent Washington Post editorial as “a neutral host body for parasitical insanity” – to spread fake facts. This would be a dangerous combination even if America was not in transition and other governments were capable of pulling together to manage the risks. But it is, and they aren’t. Political figures could help too, though like the financiers whose greed brought the world’s financial system to its knees in 2008 and left others to pick up the tab, some might do better to keep their heads down and carry on making large sums on the lecture circuit. Here in Britain, a large minority continues to believe that calling and then losing the EU referendum last June was the greatest act of political irresponsibility of modern times. The need for other players to help take the strain is clear enough. But it shouldn’t be left to the United States. America has immense reserves of talent, but it also has baggage, like the other once Great Powers. There are businessmen, academics, retired generals and former diplomats from many other countries with long experience and trusted relationships built up over many years who can and should come together, in a genuinely transatlantic or perhaps global way, with a view to looking strategically at the facts, assessing trends and risks, and warning the public and political leaders when danger lies ahead and how to avoid it. Respected policy centers and thinktanks on both sides of the Atlantic are beginning to think along these lines. Their work will be all the more valuable if governments come to realize how absorbed they are with their own domestic concerns and that they could do with a helping hand.

Peter Westmacott

www.theguardian.com

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jan/02/save-global-liberalism-look-beyond-government

LEFT

2017-01-02 12:00:24

The Guardian

Seasteading: tech leaders' plans for floating city trouble French Polynesians

As a Peter Thiel-funded group moves to build a colony in a local lagoon, residents fear wealthy Americans just want to use their home to avoid taxes

A futuristic plan to build a floating techno-libertarian city in a French Polynesian lagoon has left some local residents worried they could be the next unsuspecting inhabitants of a peaceful planet in a science-fiction movie. “It reminds me of the innocent Ewoks of the moon of Endor who saw in the Galactic Empire a providential manna,” said Tahitian TV host Alexandre Taliercio. “They let them build what they wanted on earth and in orbit, but that’s not to say that the Empire shared the blueprints of the Death Star with them.” The proposal for a seastead – an autonomous oceanic colony; think homesteading, but wetter - took a significant step on Christmas Day, when a Silicon Valley group announced it had reached an agreement with the French Polynesian government, with officials poised to explore serving as the group’s host. Seasteaders said it was a breakthrough that could change the world, but Taliercio worried that rich Americans simply wanted to use his home to dodge taxes. The tech winners and losers of 2016 (hint: Facebook – and Facebook) Read more “These millionaires,” he said, “lulled by an illusory desire to free themselves from the existing states, seem to have much more to gain than we do.” The idea of seasteading – escaping the laws, regulations, and taxes of life on terra firma by establishing an outpost in international waters – has long enchanted libertarians. “The question of whether seasteading is possible or desirable is in my mind not even relevant. It is absolutely necessary,” the billionaire PayPal founder Peter Thiel said at a 2009 seasteading conference. After Thiel helped launch the Seasteading Institute with a $500,000 investment, seasteading became the movement of the moment in Silicon Valley, where regulation and government bureaucracy are anathema and the billionaire’s success as an investor – his current fortune is largely due to his early stake in Facebook – has given him the reputation of a visionary. The logistical and financial challenges of establishing a colony in international waters, however, proved steep. So this year the Seasteading Institute began negotiations with French Polynesia, which is a part of France, but has significant autonomy. On 30 November, French Polynesia’s cabinet gave president Edouard Fritch a mandate, and he will travel to San Francisco in January to sign an agreement to develop a “special governing framework” for “seazones”, according to Randolph Hencken, the Seasteading Institute’s executive director. Hencken said by email that the agreement stipulated that the institute must prove that seasteading will provide economic benefits and not harm the environment, and that the government will not provide any subsidies. “Our seasteading collaboration with French Polynesia was initiated by the Tahitians themselves and will bring jobs, economic growth, and environmental resiliency to the region,” Hencken said. Hencken predicts a close relationship between the seastead and the islands. In an interview with Business Insider in October, he suggested that he would be able to take a speedboat to French Polynesia to take yoga classes and go to restaurants. The islands would also provide a construction base, he said, further reducing costs. While Hencken argued that seasteading would be a boon for French Polynesia, exemption from taxes is a key factor in the seasteading movement. In his 2009 speech, Thiel argued that “anything that can be done to create much larger numbers of countries will be very good”, largely because the proliferation of nations would drive down marginal tax rates. “If we want to increase freedom, we want to increase the number of countries.” It is that attitude that draws the suspicion of local residents like Taliercio, who questioned whether “facilitating the tax evasion of the world’s greatest fortunes” would be healthy for South Pacific nations. “I grew up in what is for the rest of the world a terrestrial paradise, but I can testify today that the other side of the picture is not glorious and makes me sad,” Taliercio said. “The unemployment rate is distressing; the impoverishment of the population is palpable everywhere; our social protection system is in deficit and is in peril.” Indeed, French Polynesia’s GDP is just $5.6bn, or about the equivalent of two Peter Thiels. Alexandre Le Quéré, a Tahitian radio journalist, poked fun at the idea on Polynésie 1ère, a local media outlet. He quipped that proponents of the “futuristic delirium” of seasteading wanted a “Noah’s Ark to the Wall Street gravy”. Le Quéré also expressed concern that the project could produce “chaos” for the local population. Hervé Raimana Lallemant-Moe, a professor of international and environmental law at the Université de la Polynésie Française, pointed out that the island nation was “particularly vulnerable” due to its isolation, size, economy, and the threat of climate change, and that the population was generally opposed to large projects on environmental grounds. “It is clear that the people do not think that the creation of artificial islands should be a priority,” he said. The president’s office declined to comment on the plan to the Guardian, but a statement cited the potential for economic development as a benefit to the country. The government also mentioned the importance of “the presence of serious investors” and named Thiel as a backer. Thiel’s spokesman told the Guardian that he was not “involved in the French Polynesia seasteading efforts”. Marc Collins, a Tahitian businessman and former minister of tourism, said that the negative reaction to the project was to be expected. “Tahitians are sick and tired and hearing of these mega, massive projects that go nowhere,” he said. “There is a predisposition of the population to be very cautious.” But Collins, who invited the Seasteading Institute to consider French Polynesia after reading about the group’s attempts to find a host country in Wired, said that he believed the project was in the best interest of his country. Collins hopes that the seastead will boost the economy, bring the country into more contact with technological innovators in Silicon Valley, and help combat the “brain drain” that sees educated Tahitians leave the islands in search of work. “If anyone knows how to live on the oceans it’s Tahitians,” he said. “Polynesians are the original seasteaders.”

Julia Carrie Wong

www.theguardian.com

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/jan/02/seasteading-peter-thiel-french-polynesia

LEFT

2017-01-02 12:01:31

Fox News

Gambia opposition warns ousted ruler against 'rebel' moves

Gambia's political opposition says long-time ruler Yahya Jammeh could be considered a rebel leader if he takes up arms and doesn't step down later this month.

Gambia's political opposition says long-time ruler Yahya Jammeh could be considered a rebel leader if he takes up arms and doesn't step down later this month. Halifa Sallah, spokesman for Gambia's opposition coalition, gave the firm warning Monday, days after the president railed against the West African regional bloc that has urged him to step down. Jammeh vowed that any presence of foreign troops in the tiny West African nation would be tantamount to an act of war. The president's party is challenging the results in the Dec. 1 election won by opposition coalition candidate Adama Barrow. Meanwhile, President-elect Barrow says he is planning a Jan. 19 inauguration. He has urged Jammeh to open communication channels and peacefully relinquish power after 22 years in office.

www.foxnews.com

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2017/01/02/gambia-opposition-warns-ousted-ruler-against-rebel-moves.html

RIGHT

2017-01-02 12:01:31

Fox News

US-led coalition service member dies in Iraq

A service member in the U.S.-led coalition battling the Islamic State group has died in a non-combat related incident in Iraq.

A service member in the U.S.-led coalition battling the Islamic State group has died in a "non-combat related incident" in Iraq. A statement from the U.S. military said the service member was killed on Monday, without providing further details. It did not identify the individual or give a nationality. According to the Pentagon, there are 4,815 U.S. troops in Iraq, including special operations forces. They are mainly providing logistical and other support to Iraqi combat forces, but have been operating closer to the front lines as part of a massive operation to retake the IS-held city of Mosul.

www.foxnews.com

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2017/01/02/us-led-coalition-service-member-dies-in-iraq.html

RIGHT

2017-01-02 12:06:00

Breitbart

Confirm Jeff Sessions as Attorney General To Curb Gun Crime in Chicago, Says NRA-ILA's Chris Cox.

Confirm Jeff Sessions as Attorney General To Curb Gun Crime in Chicago, Says NRA-ILA's Chris Cox.

SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER Senators can help reduce the continuing bloodshed in Chicago by confirming Sen. Jeff Sessions as the new Attorney General, says NRA-ILA executive director Chris Cox. The political response to this situation has been immoral. But help is on the way with a new AG. #confirmsessions. https://t.co/Bp0oIs9zN0 SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER — Chris Cox (@nracwc) December 31, 2016 Sen. Jeff Sessions’ nomination hearing is expected to begin next week, amid fierce opposition from progressive groups. Breitbart News previously reported that Chicago ended 2016 with nearly 800 homicides for the year. The Chicago Tribune reports that there were a total of 779 homicides between January 1, 2016, and December 31, 2016, an increase of nearly 300 homicides over 2015 figures. And there were a 4,385 shootings — fatal and non-fatal combined — in gun-controlled Chicago during 2016. The response to this carnage has been business as usual. The Tribune summed up the response to Chicago’s rise in homicides by suggesting there are “few answers” for curtailing the violence. It has long been known that one of the biggest problems in the status quo response to Chicago gun crime is the lackadaisical approach to prosecuting individuals who violate federal gun laws in the city. The NRA made this very point in Amercia’s 1st Freedom in August 2015: In 2014 in Chicago, over 2,500 people were shot—nearly 400 of them fatally—and police seized more than 6,252 guns. Yet out of those 6,252 guns seized, Fardon’s federal prosecutors saw fit to pursue just 62 weapons prosecutions. In other words, for every 100 guns police seized, federal prosecutors made just one prosecution. With nearly 800 homicides in gun-controlled Chicago last year, the NRA-ILA’s Cox labels the lackluster response to death upon death as “immoral” and posits Sessions’ confirmation as the means to reverse the lack of prosecutions for gun law violations. AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and host of “Bullets with AWR Hawkins,” a Breitbart News podcast. He is also the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at [email protected].

Awr Hawkins

www.breitbart.com

http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/01/02/sessions-chicago-gun-crime/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+breitbart+%28Breitbart+News%29

RIGHT

2017-01-02 12:08:15

CNN

What Obamacare could be replaced with under Trump

Congress returns to work this week and repealing Obamacare is at the top of its to do list. Based on previous proposals, here's what the GOP's plan to replace Obamacare may look like.

Welcome to 2017. It's time to repeal Obamacare. Congress returns to work this week and dismantling Obamacare is at the top of its to-do list. Broad legislation to repeal and replace Obamacare would require 60 votes in the Senate, and Republicans don't control enough seats to make that happen or to squash a filibuster by the Democrats. Instead, Republican lawmakers are expected to gut key provisions in the law using the budget reconciliation process. This process is limited to provisions that affect federal revenues and spending and requires only a simple majority to pass. It would enable Congress to repeal the Obamacare mandates that individuals have coverage and that companies with 50 or more employees provide workers with affordable insurance. Also, it can do away with the federal subsidies, eliminate funding for Medicaid expansion and cancel a multitude of Obamacare-related taxes. Lawmakers are hoping to start the budget reconciliation process soon after they return to work Tuesday, though it may take a couple of months -- or potentially longer -- before they can get the repeal bill to Trump. Related: GOP timetable for getting Obamacare repeal to Trump is ambitious And it may take even longer to say goodbye to these Obamacare provisions. Since Republican lawmakers don't have a replacement plan ready, they are expected to delay the repeal from taking effect for at least two years. The so-called "repeal and delay" tactic, however, is not sitting well with some in Congress, particularly a few top GOP senators. Senator Lamar Alexander, who chairs the health committee, said if the process is rushed, harm may be done or mistakes made. These senators would like to wait until a more solid replacement plan is in hand so it's possible they will try to slow down the reconciliation process. Related: Obamacare chaos: Insurers may flee before new plan is put in place The Obama administration and Democratic lawmakers are also promising to make things difficult. They are touting the fact that a record number of people have signed up for coverage so far. And they are emphasizing how much Obamacare means to Americans, asking them to share their stories using the hashtag #CoverageMatters. Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi is requesting that other congressional members hold events in mid-January, highlighting the risks of Republicans' plans for Obamacare and Medicare. Also, Democrats and insurers are warning that any delay in replacing Obamacare could throw the individual insurance market into chaos for 2018. Insurers don't have time to wait around and see if they like what Republicans propose. They must submit their initial rate filings for 2018 to state regulators in May and sign contracts by September. Related: Health care chief: Obamacare repeal will be 'chaos' Republicans, however, may need more time than that to replace Obamacare. Maintaining coverage for those with pre-existing conditions and for low-income Americans could prove especially vexing since these groups are often costly to insure. Readers: How has Obamacare affected you? How should President-elect Trump reform health care? Email [email protected] and we may cite you in an upcoming story. Only one repeal-and-replace bill has ever made it to the desk of President Obama, who vetoed it in early 2016. That bill would have increased the number of uninsured by 22 million, according to an analysis by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office. However, the legislation provides a framework for how Republican lawmakers -- particularly House Speaker Paul Ryan and House Budget Committee Chair Tom Price, who is Trump's pick for health secretary -- would replace Obamacare. Here's what a Republican plan to replace Obamacare may look like: Tax credits instead of subsidies: Instead of providing federal subsidies to help people afford their premiums, Republicans would give refundable tax credits to those who buy policies in the individual market. Republicans would adjust the credit by age, instead of income, as Obamacare does. Ryan, in his "A Better Way" plan, does not provide details. But Price's "Empowering Patients First Act" lays out how much people would receive, ranging from $1,200 for those ages 18 to 35 to $3,000 for those age 50 and up. The Republican plan would help more middle class Americans, who make too much to qualify for Obamacare subsidies. But the tax credits could prove much less generous for many lower- and moderate-income Obamacare enrollees who do receive the subsidies, which can lower the cost of coverage to just under 10% of their annual income. Related: Repealing Obamacare affects everyone High-risk pools for the sick: Republicans would set up a two-track system to cover people with pre-existing conditions: one for those who maintain continuous coverage and one for those who don't. Those who are currently covered could not be dropped from their plans or be prevented from renewing them because they are sick. And insurers can't charge them higher premiums. For those with a pre-existing condition who haven't maintained continuous coverage, the GOP would bring back state-based high-risk pools, which were largely shut down after the Obamacare exchanges became operational in 2014. Ryan's plan would funnel $25 billion over 10 years to the pools, while Price's would provide $1 billion annually over three years. This falls far short of what some experts say is needed. Covering the majority of uninsured Americans with pre-existing conditions through a national high risk pool would cost an estimated $178 billion a year, according to a 2014 Commonwealth Fund report. Related: How Trump may cover Americans with pre-existing conditions Medicaid block grants: Republicans would limit how much the federal government spends on the health insurance program for the poor. Most plans call for providing states with a fixed amount of money under a block grant program or a set grant per enrollee, known as a per capita grant. The GOP would also encourage states to design plans that fit their needs. More would be allowed to charge premiums or co-payments or adopt work requirements, for instance. Ryan's plan calls for freezing the number of states that have expanded Medicaid under Obamacare and would limit the funding for covering low-income adults. Price does not address Medicaid in his proposal beyond repealing expansion. Under Obamacare, states can opt to expand their Medicaid programs to cover all low-income adults up to 138% of the poverty level, or about $16,400 for an individual. The federal government covered 100% of the expansion population's costs from the provision's debut in 2014 through 2016. That rate will gradually decrease to 90% by 2020. So far, 31 states plus the District of Columbia have signed on. Related: Major changes for Medicaid coming under Trump and the GOP Bolstering Health Savings Accounts: Health Savings Accounts are a favorite policy tool of Republicans. Trump, Ryan and Price all mention them in their plans. HSAs are only available to people with high-deductible health plans. Those participants can make tax deductible contributions toward current and future health care expenses. Any savings they don't use can remain invested and grow tax-free. One of the goals of HSAs is to entice more people to enroll in high-deductible plans, which are seen as a way to slow the growth of health care spending since consumers must shell out more from their own pocket. Price would provide a $1,000 one-time refundable tax credit for contributions and would increase the amount people could sock away in these accounts, up from the current $3,350 for individuals and $6,750 for families. He would broaden eligibility, protect the accounts from bankruptcy proceedings and allow older Americans to transfer their required minimum distribution from their retirement accounts into their HSAs. Ryan, meanwhile, would expand the maximum contribution to the account so it would equal an enrollee's deductible and out-of-pocket expense limit. And he would allow more people to participate, such as military members enrolled in TRICARE. Related: Why Obamacare could be the messiest battle of 2017 Capping employer-sponsored plans: Both Obamacare and Republicans want to keep the cost of employer-sponsored insurance in check to deter companies from offering overly generous plans. Economists argue this would help slow the rise in health care costs and raise more revenue for the federal government. Obamacare aimed to do so through the so-called Cadillac tax, which was to impose a 40% tax on the value of policies above $10,200 for single coverage and $27,500 for family coverage in 2018. However, the provision was despised by companies and unions alike, and its implementation was delayed to 2020. Ryan and Price would limit the tax exclusion on work-based insurance coverage. Ryan doesn't provide details, but Price would cap the benefit at $8,000 for individuals and $20,000 for families. About 150 million Americans are insured through their jobs. The average individual policy cost $6,435 in 2016, while the family premium was $18,142, according to the 2016 Kaiser/HRET Employer Health Benefits report. CNN Senior Congressional Producer Deirdre Walsh contributed to this story.

Tami Luhby

money.cnn.com

http://money.cnn.com/2017/01/02/news/economy/obamacare-repeal-congress-trump/index.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_latest+%28RSS%3A+CNN+-+Most+Recent%29

UNDEFINED

2017-01-02 12:09:18

Breitbart

Sanctuary Cities Freed 2,000 Migrants in FY 2016

More than 2,000 illegal immigrants have been freed from sanctuary cities’ police departments in fiscal year 2016.

SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER More than 2,000 illegal immigrants have been freed from sanctuary cities’ police departments in fiscal year 2016 instead of being handed over to federal immigration officials. In a year-end report from the Department of Homeland Security, nearly 279 sanctuary cities were detailed responsible for the release of illegal immigrants back onto the streets as the municipalities continue to refuse adherence to federal immigration law, according to the Washington Times. SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER Federal immigration officials reported that they are on track to surpass the 2016 record of freed illegal immigrants in the first two months of FY2017. The report also mentions how border agents are seeing a surge of migration most recently, while only 114,000 illegal immigrants were actually captured by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency last year. As the Washington Times notes, those caught by ICE represent a mere one percent of the over 11 million illegal immigrants who are documented to be living in the country. “More than 90 percent of those ICE apprehended had criminal convictions, had gang ties, were deemed national security risks, were new illegal arrivals or were defying active orders of deportation,” the Washington Times noted. The challenge for President-Elect Donald Trump to rid the county of sanctuary cities, which make it impossible to deport illegal immigrants being held in police custody, the fight will not be as tough as it once could have been. Back in Fiscal Year 2015, as the Washington Times reports, there were 395 sanctuary cities. During that time, those municipalities released a total of 8,546 back into the public. John Binder is a contributor for Breitbart Texas. Follow him on Twitter at @JxhnBinder.

John Binder

www.breitbart.com

http://www.breitbart.com/texas/2017/01/02/sanctuary-cities-freed-2000-migrants-fy-2016/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+breitbart+%28Breitbart+News%29

RIGHT

2017-01-02 12:16:36

The Guardian

European shares hit highs as manufacturing sectors grow

Stock markets in Italy, Germany and France are up on Monday in thin trading as PMI index reaches highest level since 2011

Major European equity indexes climbed to new highs in thin trading on Monday, with strong manufacturing reports from the region boosting sentiment on the first trading day of 2017. Italy’s FTSE MIB index was up 1.3% in morning trading after rising to its highest since January 2016. Germany’s DAX rose 0.8% after reaching to its highest in nearly 17 months, while France’s CAC gained 0.3% following a 13-month peak earlier in the day. The eurozone’s blue-chip Euro STOXX 50 index was up 0.4%, the highest level since December 2015, with a brighter macroeconomic picture helping the broader market. British and Swiss markets were closed. IHS Markit’s 2016 manufacturing purchasing managers’ index for the eurozone registered 54.9 in December, its highest since April 2011. The 50 mark separates growth from contraction; in November the figure was 53.7. German manufacturing growth reached its highest in almost three years, driven by rising demand from Asia and the US. French manufacturing hit a five-and-a-half-year high, and Italian manufacturing activity grew at its fastest rate since June. Koen De Leus, chief economist at BNP Paribas Fortis, said: “It’s nice to see some good economic numbers on the first trading day of the near year. It has improved sentiment and could help the market to set new highs in the coming months. “However, the road ahead looks bumpy because of several political risks in Europe. Overall, I am positive on European stocks this year as valuations are quite attractive compared to the United States and company margins are slowly improving, helped as well by the cheap euro.” Italian shares were also boosted by a rally in the country’s lenders. The Italian banking index rose about 2%, supported by a 5.6% jump in Banco BPM on the first day of trading for the newly merged bank. Banco BPM said on Monday that the new lender, created after a merger between Banco Popolare and BPM, started with a share capital of €7.1bn. Other Italian banks were also up, with shares in UniCredit , UBI Banca and Mediobanca up between 2.1% and 3.5%. Trading was thin, with volumes at 8% for the CAC index and 13% for the euro STOXX 50 of their 90-day daily averages in the first two hours of trading. Britain’s blue-chip FTSE 100 index closed 2016 at a record high on Friday after clocking a yearly gain of 14.4%, the best performer among major European stock indexes, with a sharp decline in sterling after the vote to leave the EU helping exporters and stronger metals prices boosting miners. FTSE 100 ends 2016 at all-time high after surge in dollar earners Read more Among individual movers, Dialog Semiconductor, a maker of chips used in smartphones, fell 0.3%, underperforming the broader market, after a report said late on Friday that Apple would trim output of iPhones by about 10% in the January-March quarter.

www.theguardian.com

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/jan/02/european-shares-highs-manufacturing-stock-markets-italy-germany-france

LEFT

2017-01-02 12:20:18

HuffPost

ISIS Claims Istanbul Nightclub Attack That Claimed 39

The gunman remains at large.

Osman Orsal / Reuters Islamic State claimed responsibility on Monday for a New Year’s Day mass shooting in a packed Istanbul nightclub that killed 39 people, an attack carried out by a lone gunman who remains at large. It described the Reina nightclub, where many foreigners as well as Turks were killed, as a gathering point for Christians celebrating their “apostate holiday”. The attack, it said, was revenge for Turkish military involvement in Syria. “The apostate Turkish government should know that the blood of Muslims shed with airplanes and artillery fire will, with God’s permission, ignite a fire in their own land,” the Islamic State declaration said. There was no immediate comment from Turkish officials. The jihadist group has been blamed for at least half a dozen attacks on civilian targets in Turkey over the past 18 months but, other than targeted assassinations, this is the first time it has directly claimed any of them. It made the statement on one of its Telegram channels, a method used after attacks elsewhere. NATO member Turkey is part of the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State and launched an incursion into neighboring Syria in August to drive the radical Sunni militants from its borders, sending in tanks and special forces backed by fighter jets. Nationals of Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Lebanon, Libya, Israel, India, a Turkish-Belgian dual citizen and a Franco-Tunisian woman were among those killed at the exclusive nightclub on the shores of the Bosphorus waterway. Twenty-five of the dead were foreigners, according to the state-run Anadolu news agency. Police distributed a hazy black-and-white photo of the alleged gunman taken from security footage. State broadcaster TRT Haber said eight people had been detained in Istanbul. The authorities believe the attacker may be from a Central Asian nation and suspect he had links to Islamic State, the Hurriyet newspaper said. It said he may be from the same cell responsible for a gun-and-bomb attack on Istanbul’s main airport in June, in which 45 people were killed and hundreds wounded. The attack at Reina, popular with Turkish celebrities and wealthy visitors, shook Turkey as it tries to recover from a failed July coup and a series of deadly bombings in Istanbul and elsewhere, some blamed on Islamic State, others claimed by Kurdish militants. Osman Orsal / Reuters Around 600 people were thought to be inside when the gunman shot dead a policeman and civilian at the door, forcing his way in then opening fire with an automatic assault rifle. Witnesses said he shouted “Allahu Akbar” (God is Greatest). Some at the club jumped into the Bosphorus after the attacker began shooting at random just over an hour into the new year. Witnesses described diving under tables as he walked around spraying bullets. KALASHNIKOV IN SUITCASE The attacker was believed to have taken a taxi from the southern Zeytinburnu district of Istanbul and, because of the busy traffic, got out and walked the last four minutes to the entrance of the nightclub, newspaper Haberturk said. He pulled his Kalashnikov rifle from a suitcase at the side of the road, opened fire on those at the door, then threw two hand grenades after entering, Haberturk said, without citing its sources. It said six empty magazines were found at the scene and that he was estimated to have fired at least 180 bullets. Security services had been on alert across Europe for new year celebrations following an attack on a Christmas market in Berlin that killed 12 people. Only days ago, an online message from a pro-Islamic State group called for attacks by “lone wolves” on “celebrations, gatherings and clubs”. In a statement hours after the shooting, President Tayyip Erdogan said such attacks aimed to create chaos and destabilize the country. Four months into its operation in Syria, the Turkish army and the rebels it backs are besieging the Islamic State-held town of al-Bab. Erdogan has said he wants them to continue to Raqqa, the jihadists’ Syrian stronghold. Turkey has also been cracking down on Islamic State networks at home. In counter-terrorism operations between Dec 26-Jan 2, Turkish police detained 147 people over links to the group and formally arrested 25 of them, the interior ministry said. OZAN KOSE via Getty Images The New Year’s Day attack came five months after a failed military coup, in which more than 240 people were killed, many of them in Istanbul, as rogue soldiers commandeered tanks and fighter jets in a bid to seize power. More than 100,000 people, including soldiers and police officers, have been sacked or suspended in a subsequent crackdown ordered by Erdogan, raising concern both about civic rights and the effectiveness of Turkey’s security apparatus. The government says the purges will make the military, police and other institutions more disciplined and effective. Turkey has seen repeated attacks in recent weeks. On Dec. 10, two bombs claimed by Kurdish militants exploded outside a soccer stadium in Istanbul, killing 44 people. A security guard who survived that attack was killed at Reina. A car bomb killed at least 13 soldiers and wounded 56 when it ripped through a bus carrying off-duty military personnel in the central city of Kayseri a week later, an attack Erdogan also blamed on Kurdish militants. Islamic State’s Amaq website said the group was behind a car bomb attack that killed 11 people and wounded 100 in the city of Diyarbakir in November, but Turkish authorities denied this and said Kurdish militants carried out the attack.

www.huffingtonpost.com

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/isis-claims-istanbul-nightclub-attack-that-claimed-39_us_586a43fde4b0eb58648a05e3?ir=WorldPost&utm_hp_ref=world

LEFT

2017-01-02 12:24:59

Reuters

BRIEF-iStreet Network says Mangal Keshav Capital cuts stake in co by 2.11 pct

Istreet Network Ltd :

Jan 2 (Reuters) - Istreet Network Ltd : * says Mangal Keshav Capital cuts stake in co by 2.11 percent to 5.52 percent Source text: (bit.ly/2hJIyjj) Further company coverage: (Bengaluru newsroom)

Reuters Editorial;Reuters Staff;Min Read

www.reuters.com

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSFWN1ER01C

CENTER

2017-01-02 12:30:14

Fox News

Egypt arrests 12 protesting transfer of islands to Saudis

Egyptian police have arrested 12 people at a protest against the transfer of two Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia.

Egyptian police have arrested 12 people at a protest against the transfer of two Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia. Security officials say the Monday arrests were made around the Journalists' Union building in central Cairo, where dozens of people, mostly lawyers and journalists, had gathered to demonstrate. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to brief reporters. Last Thursday, state media reported that President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi's government approved the maritime border agreement and sent it to parliament for ratification despite a court ruling the deal unconstitutional. The transfer was announced alongside a Saudi aid package last year, leading critics to condemn it as a land sell-off. The April signing of the agreement set off the largest demonstrations of el-Sissi's two-year rule.

www.foxnews.com

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2017/01/02/egypt-arrests-12-protesting-transfer-islands-to-saudis.html

RIGHT

2017-01-02 12:31:34

The Guardian

Bitcoin tops $1,000 for first time in three years as 2017 trading begins

Nascent digital currency outperformed all of its central bank counterparts with 125% rise in value in 2016

Bitcoin has started 2017 with a bang, with its value hitting a three-year high of more than $1,000 (£815). The nascent digital currency, which has been criticised as a vehicle for a range of nefarious characters from drug dealers to tax evaders to operate, outperformed all of its central bank counterparts with a 125% climb in value in 2016. Market watchers have suggested that the soaring value may have been boosted in the past year by increased demand in China on the back of a 7% fall in the value of the yuan - the Chinese currency’s weakest annual performance in more than 20 years. Data shows most bitcoin trading is done in China, according to Reuters. The currency is used to move money across the globe quickly and anonymously and is free of control from any central bank or government, making it attractive to those who want to get around capital controls. It is also may appeal to those worried about a shortage of cash, as in India where the prime minister, Narendra Modi, removed high-denomination banknotes from circulation in November. “The growing war on cash and capital controls is making bitcoin look like a viable, if high risk alternative,” said Paul Gordon, a board member of the UK Digital Currency Association and co-founder of Quantave, a firm that seeks to make it easier for institutional investors to access digital currency exchanges. Bitcoin is still some way off its all-time high of $1,163 reached on the Bitstamp exchange in late 2013, but there are now many more coins in circulation - 12.5 are added to the system every 10 minutes. Its total worth is at a record high of more than $16bn, putting its value at around the same as that of an average FTSE 100 company. During its last surge in 2013, bitcoin boomed as users and speculators rushed to invest in a currency that was supposedly about to become a platform for a disruptive new financial services industry. Its value increased tenfold in two months in late 2013, but a hack on the Tokyo-based Mt Gox exchange saw it plunge to under $400 in the following weeks.

Simon Goodley

www.theguardian.com

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/jan/02/bitcoin-tops-1000-for-first-time-in-three-years-as-2017-trading-begins

LEFT

2017-01-02 12:40:39

CNN

Is Trump's Twitter future @realDonaldTrump or @POTUS? Probably both

Donald Trump's top spokesman Sean Spicer promises more tweets from the president-elect, possibly from multiple fronts.

Donald Trump's tweets have provided fodder for his adversaries, fuel for his supporters and -- at times -- frustration for a news media still not quite sure how to cover this president-elect. And his new top spokesman says you can expect a lot more of them, possibly from multiple fronts. Incoming White House press secretary Sean Spicer was asked Monday during an interview on Fox News whether Trump planned to maintain his current Twitter account (@realDonaldTrump), or tweet from the official account currently held by President Barack Obama (@POTUS). But who said he had to choose? "I think he'll probably be tweeting from both, or whatever he chooses," Spicer said. Related: How Jennifer Rubin went from Romney 'shill' to Trump scourge Trump will inherit the official presidential account once he officially takes office later this month. Obama was the first sitting president to assume the @POTUS account, which was created last year. Prior to that, Obama tweeted occasionally from the @BarackObama account, which has been run by his presidential campaign staffers and then the spin-off nonprofit "Organizing for Action." When Obama leaves office on January 20, all of the more than 300 tweets on the @POTUS timeline will be archived and then wiped clean from the account itself to make way for Trump, but the account will keep its nearly 13 million followers. That total, while otherwise impressive, is dwarfed by the more than 18 million accounts that follow @realDonaldTrump. (The president-elect also has millions of followers on both Facebook and Instagram.) Trump has been a prolific Twitter user for years, using his account to promote his business and political interests and relentlessly taunt his adversaries. The tweets are often impetuous and nocturnal, and at times seem to be prompted by whatever Trump has just seen on television. Related: Trump's Twitter inspiration? Cable news But there is no question that Trump has prospered politically from his use of social media, even as many worry about the possible consequences of his tweets once they are sent from the Oval Office. Following his election in November, Trump said in an interview on "60 Minutes" that he would be "very restrained" on Twitter once he becomes president. On Sunday, in an interview with ABC's "This Week," Spicer said that Trump's social media reach "freaks the mainstream media out." "You know what, the fact of the matter is that, when he tweets he gets results," Spicer said. Related: Trump chief of staff Priebus: White House press briefings could be changed Spicer, who has promised changes to the way the White House interacts with the press, reiterated that point in his interview Monday on Fox News. "He understands the ability to go straight to the American people and have a conversation with them," he said. "Now I know that is unbelievably frustrating to the mainstream media, but that is what makes him so authentic is he can speak truth to power on Twitter, on Facebook, on Instagram, get a message out and have a conversation with the American people and not have it filtered through the mainstream media."

Tom Kludt

money.cnn.com

http://money.cnn.com/2017/01/02/media/donald-trump-twitter-accounts/index.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fmoney_latest+%28CNNMoney%3A+Latest+News%29

UNDEFINED

2017-01-02 12:41:15

Breitbart

Another One Bites the Dust: Chinese Twitter Boss Leaves After Just Seven Months

The head of Twitter's Chinese operations, Kathy Chen, has announced she is leaving the company.

SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER The head of Twitter’s Chinese operations, Kathy Chen, has announced she is leaving the company, making her the first top executive to resign from the company in 2017. Chen was hired by Twitter in April 2016 as Managing Director for Twitter’s Chinese operations, having previously worked for companies including Microsoft and Cisco. However, her credentials were immediately questioned by Chinese free speech activists after it was revealed she had previously worked for the Chinese military. SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER She wrote on Twitter that it was the “right time to leave the company,” following a restructuring of Twitter’s Asian operations that allows them to work directly with Chinese advertisers. 7/12 Now that the Twitter APAC team is working directly with Chinese advertisers, this is the right time for me to leave the company. — Kathy Chen (@kathychen2016) December 31, 2016 Although Twitter is currently blocked in China, many Chinese businesses still advertise on the site, and it is also popular with many Chinese dissidents living across the world. 8/12 I'm proud to have helped build a successful Great China business for Twitter and thank @shaileshrao & @alizaknox for the opportunity. — Kathy Chen (@kathychen2016) December 31, 2016 Chen joins a long list of top Twitter executives who left the company last year. Some of the most important figures to leave included Twitter’s Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Adam Messinger, Chief Operating Officer (COO) Adam Bain and the company’s vice president of finance Todd Morgenfield. As well as losing key figures in the business, Twitter also faced tumbling stock prices and political controversy throughout 2016. You can follow Ben Kew on Facebook, on Twitter at @ben_kew, or email him at [email protected]

Ben Kew

www.breitbart.com

http://www.breitbart.com/tech/2017/01/02/another-one-bites-dust-chinese-twitter-boss-leaves-just-seven-months/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+breitbart+%28Breitbart+News%29

RIGHT

2017-01-02 12:46:58

Breitbart

Inauguration Performance Will 'Unite' America

A retired member of the dance company said that the group should put aside their politics and perform proudly at Donald Trump's inauguration.

SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER A retired member of the world-famous Rockettes dance troupe is encouraging its members to set aside their political differences and proudly perform at the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump. “The only thing the Rockettes should be focused on is performing for our nation and helping unite us all with the joy, love, beauty and strength for which they are famous,” says Patty DeCarlo Grantham, a veteran member of the renowned troupe. SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER Grantham, who’s president of the 552-member Rockette Alumnae Association, says she was appalled by backlash and calls encouraging Rockettes to boycott the inaugural event. “To perform for someone that represents everything that we, as women, have ever had to overcome is contrary to everything we know to be right and true,” former Rockette Autumn Withers wrote last week, The Wrap reported. “On a national level, the optics of this alone normalize the atrocious remarks Mr. Trump has openly made towards women,” Withers continued. “The idea that if you simply ask their bosses or perhaps pay their bosses enough money, a line of beautiful women will oblige anyone in any way is exploitation.” Grantham, responding to Withers, wrote to the Madison Square Garden Co., which owns Radio City Music Hall. “We are all aware how contentious this election has been for our country,” Grantham wrote, assuring MSG owner James Dolan “that in no way does Ms. Withers’ opinions reflect the opinion of the Rockette Alumnae Association.” Madison Square Garden Company released a statement last week confirming that the high-kicking dancers are not obligated to perform and that each Rockette “must voluntarily sign up.” .@MSG says "it is always their choice" in new statement on #Rockettes performing at Trump inauguration https://t.co/6CjiuSCFAG pic.twitter.com/gbDIrROqbW — Jackie Strause (@jackiedstrause) December 23, 2016 “Like the millions of people who are true Rockette fans, we cannot wait to see the Rockettes proudly ‘strut their stuff’ for the upcoming inauguration of the President of the United States of America,” wrote Grantham, who performed as a Rockette from 1959 through 1970. The Rockettes last performed at President George W. Bush’s presidential inauguration in 2005. The iconic dance troupe will join previously announced performers the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and teenage opera singer Jackie Evancho at the event on January 20. Follow Jerome Hudson on Twitter @jeromeehudson

Jerome Hudson

www.breitbart.com

http://www.breitbart.com/big-hollywood/2017/01/02/former-rockette-says-trump-inauguration-performance-will-unite-america/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+breitbart+%28Breitbart+News%29

RIGHT

2017-01-02 13:00:12

Fox News

Libyan presidential council member resigns, citing failure

A prominent member of the presidential council of Libya's U.N.-backed government in Tripoli has resigned.

A prominent member of the presidential council of Libya's U.N.-backed government in Tripoli has resigned. Musa al-Koni's resignation at a televised press conference Monday was the first such move by one of the nine members of the council, formed in early 2016. Al-Koni, a deputy Prime Minister from southern Libya, cited the body's failure to assert authority over state institutions or provide services to citizens as a reason for his resignation. The U.N.-brokered body was created as an attempt to establish a unity government to end the chaos that has plagued Libya since the ouster and killing of longtime strongman Moammar Gadhafi in a 2011 uprising. Instead, Libya remains divided between east and west, with no effective government and rival factions and militias.

www.foxnews.com

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2017/01/02/libyan-presidential-council-member-resigns-citing-failure.html

RIGHT

2017-01-02 13:00:25

The Guardian

Guns, wages and pot: the new laws taking effect across the US this year

Tennessee will allow some 18-year-olds to receive handgun carry permits while many states are to raise their minimum wages

In 2017, new laws across the US will go into effect. Here are some of the new, noteworthy, and impactful policies: Guns: there may be more armed teenagers in Tennessee A range of new gun legislation will go into effect, and while places such as California are working to restrict guns, Tennessee is opening up its gun laws. Starting in 2017, 18-year-olds who are on active duty in the military, are retired veterans or were honorably discharged will be able to receive handgun carry permits. The age remains 21 for everyone else. The bill passed unanimously in the state senate. Other laws: More assault weapons are off limits in California, including semiautomatic rifles Californians will have to go through a background check to purchase not just guns but also ammunition Babysitters and other guests will be permitted to use deadly force against intruders, as part of Missouri’s new concealed carry law Minimum wage: many states to see minimum wage rise in 2017 Minimum wage increases remain a contentious political issue but in 2017, a record 20 states and the District of Columbia will see increased pay for low-wage workers. The fight for $15 is on in New York and California. New York is working toward a statewide $15-per-hour minimum wage but Governor Andrew Cuomo has different timelines, depending on each industry and location in the state. California’s minimum wage will go up to $10.50, with the hopes of reaching $15 by 2022. Ohio’s state legislature took steps to block Cleveland’s efforts to reach a $15 minimum wage by passing a law that forces local jurisdictions to maintain the same wage as the state rate, which will go up to $8.15 in 2017. The following minimum wage increases go into effect 1 January: Massachusetts: $10 to $11 Connecticut: $9.60 to $10.10 Arizona: $8.05 to $10 Colorado: $8.31 to $9.30 Arkansas: $8 to $8.50 Michigan: $8.50 to $8.90 Vermont: $9.60 to $10 Maine: $7.50 to $9 Hawaii: $8.50 to $9.25 Washington state: $9.47 to $11 Several other states will raise their minimum wages later in the year. The Economic Policy Institute tracks all the changes here. Domestic violence and sexual assault: hairdressers to provide support to victims Starting 1 January, cosmetologists, hairdressers and nail technicians in Illinois will be required to undergo one hour of training on how to provide support to victims of domestic violence or sexual assault. It will also be mandatory for establishments to hang posters with helpline details. Several California laws passed this year will also go into effect, addressing the prosecution of sexual assault crimes: Following the Brock Turner case, California implemented tougher sentencing guidelines for sexual assault cases California removed the statute of limitations in some rape cases, meaning there is no time limit for filing charges against an alleged perpetrator. Some say the move was inspired by Bill Cosby’s case The definition of rape has also been broadened to include “all forms of nonconsensual sexual assault” Alcohol and pot: Californians can get tipsy at beauty parlors A new law allows beauty parlors and salons to serve up to 12 ounces of complimentary alcohol without violating state liquor law requirements. In other substance-related developments, on election day in 2016, four states approved ballot initiatives legalizing recreational marijuana. Recreational pot will become legal in Nevada on 1 January. Maine’s law should go partially into effect in late January. In Connecticut, advanced practice registered nurses will now be allowed to certify a patient for medical marijuana use (except for glaucoma). New York announced a similar regulation in November. US election bright spots: gun control, recreational marijuana and more Read more Health: doctors with religious objections will have to refer patients elsewhere A new law amends Illinois’s Health Care Right of Conscience Act to require that providers, including doctors and clinics, who refuse services for moral or religious reasons ensure their choice does not endanger patient health. That means doctors must either refer patients elsewhere or at least provide information on alternatives. The measure has proved controversial - a small number of clinics sued because they objected to giving referrals or information related to abortion. A judge recently issued a preliminary injunction temporarily preventing the state from enforcing the law against the clinics that sued, according to the Chicago Tribune. Other new health-related laws: More foam bans, more civics lessons San Francisco will implement the country’s widest ban on plastic foam, which environmentalists say can take hundreds of years to degrade. The new law will ban the substance in food products such as meat trays, packing peanuts, ice chests, dock floats and mooring buoys, and even coffee cups. In Tennessee, students will now be required to take a civics test before they graduate from high school. The questions will be similar to those on the US citizenship test, part of a movement to improve Americans’ engagement and understanding of the country’s democratic process.

Nicole Puglise;Mazin Sidahmed

www.theguardian.com

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jan/02/new-us-laws-guns-minimum-wage-domestic-violence

LEFT

2017-01-02 13:02:51

CNN

Thailand van crash: 25 killed

At least 25 people, including two children, died after a van crashed into a pickup truck and burst into flames Mionday on a highway in Thailand, police told CNN.

Bangkok, Thailand (CNN) At least 25 people -- including two children -- died Monday after a van crashed into a pickup truck and burst into flames in Thailand, police told CNN. The crash happened in Ban Bueng District, Chonburi Province, about 114 kilometers (71 miles) southeast of Bangkok, when the van driver lost control and veered across the highway into oncoming traffic, said Lt. Col. Viroj Chiemcharas, deputy chief to the Ban Bueng Provincial Police Station. In the van, 14 people were killed and one person survived, he said. In the pickup truck, nine adults and two children were killed and one person survived. The two survivors are being treated at local hospitals. Read More

Kocha Olarn

www.cnn.com

http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/02/asia/thailand-highway-crash/index.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_latest+%28RSS%3A+CNN+-+Most+Recent%29

UNDEFINED

2017-01-02 13:14:38

Breitbart

Mother of Two Dies in Front of Family, Friends While Using Facebook Live

An Arkansas woman collapsed and died in front of her children while video livestreaming on Facebook.

SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER An Arkansas woman collapsed and died in front of her children while video livestreaming on Facebook. KARK reports that Keiana Herndon, a 25-year old mother of two from Little Rock, Arkansas, was streaming on Facebook Live when suddenly she dropped to the floor and remained there motionless. Thirty minutes after Keiana’s collapse, a friend that had been watching the livestream came to Keiana’s house to check on her, finding her dead in her home. SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER “She’s a very intelligent kid,” said Richard Herndon, Keiana’s father, speaking to KARK,.“I haven’t seen the video. I don’t have the strength right now,” he continued. It appears that many others have seen the video, however, with KARK reporting that as many as a thousand viewers appeared to watch Keiana’s livestream following her collapse before the video was taken down. “The views went from two or three, to too many for it to be a tragic live shot,” said Jeffrey Herndon, Keiana’s uncle. “It’s amazing for someone to sit there and see somebody or hear them take their last breath and nobody did anything,” said Richard Herndon. “So, I want to take my hat off to everybody that actually did something.” The cause of Herndon’s death has not yet been determined, but her father stated that Keiana had recently been told that an issue with her thyroid could prove deadly. Keiana’s body has been sent to the state crime lab to determine an exact cause of death. This is not the first dramatic event to unfold via Facebook Live. Four people were arrested at a New York hotel in November when what appeared to be a handgun was brandished on a Facebook livestream. Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart Tech covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan_ or email him at [email protected]

Lucas Nolan

www.breitbart.com

http://www.breitbart.com/tech/2017/01/02/mother-of-two-dies-in-front-of-family-friends-while-using-facebook-live/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+breitbart+%28Breitbart+News%29

RIGHT

2017-01-02 13:17:51

HuffPost

Could Trump's Deregulation Agenda Open An Additional $70 Billion Solar Market in the US?

President elect Trump has vowed to end "

President elect Trump has vowed to end "all unnecessary regulations" in the energy industry as part of an "America-first energy" plan. Much attention has been paid to how regulations, which limit environmental and human-health impacts from pollution, restrict the use of fossil fuels. However, a recent study indicated that antiquated regulations are providing a barrier for renewable energy - specifically preventing an additional $70 billion market to the already explosive growth of solar energy. As Elon Musk, the Chief Executive Officer overseeing the Solar City - Tesla marriage, is happy to point out, solar cells are extremely cost effective. Due to the tremendous drop in costs for solar technology, solar photovoltaic generated electricity, is now regularly less expensive than grid electricity and adoption is now rising rapidly throughout the U.S. Bloomberg reports that the American solar industry had a record first quarter in 2016, and for the first time, it drove the majority of new power generation. As an August article in the Harvard Business Review pointed out because the U.S. solar industry is creating a lot of jobs (bringing on new workers 12 times faster than the overall economy), it could literally absorb all the jobs lost to the entire coal industry if U.S. coal is completely shut down in bankruptcy. Most people jumping onto the solar bandwagon at this point are doing it for cost savings created by the opportunity of ever increasing electric utility rates. The wealthy can afford to install a large high power solar energy system - enough to meet their energy needs over the entire year. Families without the up-front capital rely on zero money down programs like those offered by Solar City and other solar lease providers. They will not save as much money, but they still come out comfortably ahead, while helping green and modernize the grid. However, the average American moves over 11 times over their lifetime and more than a third of Americans rent so making a 25 year investment in fixed solar photovoltaic system on a roof is challenging. How can these people take part in the solar energy revolution and all the money savings that come with it? A technical solution to this is problem is called "plug and play solar photovoltaic" (PV) systems. They are affordable (you buy 1 solar panel at a time for a few hundred dollars) and portable grid-tied solar electric systems. They can be purchased and installed by an average person with no training. This sounds great. Unfortunately, they are largely thought to be illegal in the U.S. because of antiquated regulations. Customers must check to find out with their local utility. Earlier this year my research group painstakingly went through a technical/safety analysis of plug-and-play PV in the U.S. The study showed there is no valid technical reason we should not follow the trends in other advanced industrialized nations and allow plug and play solar in America. Countries like the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Switzerland already encourage plug and play solar. Even the Czech Republic permits it! A blanket federal U.S. electrical regulation may allow plug and play solar in the future (and it could fit nicely into the Trump deregulation goals). However, such a shift in regulations could radically alter the current solar market - for the better. This new study provides an estimate of this new U.S. market for plug and play PV systems if such regulations are updated by investigating personal financial decision making for Americans. This is an additional market on what is already going on with full home solar systems. The potential savings for the prosumer (producing consumer) are mapped for the U.S. over a range of scenarios. The results show the total potential U.S. market for plug and play solar is over 57 gigawatts (GW). That is actually quite a lot of power as it is equivalent to about 57 large coal or nuclear plants. For comparison there are already less than 100 nuclear plants in the U.S. These plug and play systems would generate approximately 108,417,000 MWh/year, which is 4 times the electricity generated from U.S. solar in 2015. This is remarkable because it would come from systems of only 1 kW or less - tiny 1 to 4 solar panel systems! This distributed solar energy made possible from plug and play solar would provide American consumers approximately $13 billion/year in cost savings! This would be a huge boon for the working and middle class. However, all the money is not going only to the little people. Big established companies also stand to make a fortune on plug and play solar. Perhaps most interesting to investors is the effect this deregulation of the electric system would have on American retailers such as Wal Mart, Costco, Home Depot, Lowes, Target, etc. Plug and play solar represents an opportunity for sales for retailers from $14.3-$71.7 billion depending on your assumptions about the capital cost of plug and play solar systems. Not exactly pocket change for a new market. Happy deregulation!

Joshua Pearce;Director Michigan Tech Open Sustainability Technology Lab;Scientist;Engineer;Solar Photovoltaic Specialist;Open Hardware Hacker.;Follow Joshua Pearce On Twitter;Www.Twitter.Com Profpearce;Joshua M. Pearce;David Denkenberger

www.huffingtonpost.com

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joshua-pearce/could-trumps-deregulation_b_13927610.html

LEFT

2017-01-02 13:20:13

CNN

Donald Trump-themed restaurant opens in Iraqi Kurdistan

Donald Trump has fans in Iraqi Kurdistan. One businessman has named his restaurant Trump Fish. And a soldier named his baby after the US President-elect.

Story highlights One fan of the President-elect named his Dohuk restaurant Trump Fish And a Peshmerga fighter even named his newborn boy Trump Dohuk, northern Iraq (CNN) Could he help make Iraqi Kurdistan great again? Some people here are so convinced he will that they are showing their love for Donald Trump in unusual ways. One, Nadyar Zawiti, has jumped on the Trump train particularly enthusiastically, naming his fish restaurant in the northern Iraqi city of Dohuk after the US President-elect. Zawiti heard Trump say during the campaign that he was a big fan of Kurdish forces, and called for the US to arm them in their fight against ISIS. Excellent: A restaurant named Trump Fish in Dohuk in the Kurdistan Region of northern #Iraq. https://t.co/IPloI7RWBl pic.twitter.com/WunkdRzVLL — Nader Itayim (@ncitayim) December 18, 2016 He's hoping the incoming president will make good on his promise -- so much so that he named his new restaurant Trump Fish.

Ben Wedeman;Cnn;Elizabeth Roberts

www.cnn.com

http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/02/middleeast/donald-trump-themed-restaurant-iraq/index.html

UNDEFINED

2017-01-02 13:21:58

The Guardian

Organ donation becomes mandatory in France

France changes law to presume consent for organs to be removed unless person joins official ‘refusal register’

France has reversed its policy on organ donations so that all people could become donors on their death unless they join an official register to opt out. The new law presumes consent for organs to be removed, even if it goes against the wishes of the family. 'It's better than winning the lottery': readers' organ donation stories Read more Until 1 January, when the new legislation took effect, unless the person who had died had previously expressed a clear wish for or against donation, doctors were required to consult relatives who, in almost a third of cases, refused. Those who do not want all or any of their organs to be used must now put their name on a “refusal register” – so far 150,000 people have signed up. The authorities have promised to make it easier for those who wish to refuse by allowing them to join the register online instead of by registered post. Alternatively, those vehemently opposed to their organs being used, can leave a signed document with their next-of-kin or transmit their wish orally to relatives who must make a written declaration of non-consent to doctors at the time of death. The process is explained on the agency’s Facebook page. In November, the French Agence de la Biomedecine released a film, Deja-Vu2, aimed at encouraging 15- to 25-year-olds to agree to organ donation. The European Union has highlighted the lack of organs for transplant and the increasing number of patients on waitings lists worldwide. Its figures claim that in 2014, 86,000 people were waiting for organ donations in EU states, Norway and Turkey, and 16 people were dying every day while waiting for a transplant. In the UK, doctors lament one of the lowest consent rates in Europe, as well as a shortage of donors from black or Asian communities. A record number of organs were donated and transplanted in the UK in 2015-2016, but the rate remains short of the target of 80% by 2020. The biggest obstacle remains relatives’ opposition, who have vetoed transplants even from registered donors. NHSBT, which is responsible for the NHS organ donor register and for matching and allocating donor organs, said it was considering further steps it could take when approaching families to ensure more potential donors’ decisions were not vetoed. One option would be to no longer ask the next-of-kin to confirm consent or authorisation. Their permission is not required by law if someone has registered a decision to donate on the NHS organ donor register. Families in Scotland are already required to complete a retraction form to record why they overturned a relative’s decision to donate. NHSBT said a similar form could be introduced across the UK.

Kim Willsher

www.theguardian.com

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/jan/02/france-organ-donation-law

LEFT

2017-01-02 13:22:56

Breitbart

Eight Immigration Victories Won for Americans in 2016

Last year was a success for Americans who are fed up with mass immigration, outsourcing, and trade deals that they think are hollowing out their society.

SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER Last year was a success for Americans who are fed up with mass immigration, outsourcing, and trade deals that they think are hollowing out their society. Here are a handful of wins from 2016—victories achieved by Americans in the face of opposition from the media, big business, the political establishment, and progressives. SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER 1) The collapse of Gov. Jeb Bush and Sen. Marco Rubio. Bush infamously called illegal immigration an “act of love” and wanted to force middle-class Americans to compete with an unlimited supply of foreign professionals for decent jobs. He said he wanted to grant legal status, and U.S. citizenship, to tens of millions of illegal aliens. He declared enforcing immigration law was not an “American value.” Rubio, of course, pushed for the nation-killing “Gang of Eight” bill that would have flooded America with 33 million new migrants seeking U.S. jobs and granted amnesty plus an unlimited supply of foreign college graduates and refugees —after swearing to the Tea Party voters who put him in the Senate he would never vote for an amnesty bill. GOP voters reacted by tanking Bush in South Carolina and dealing Rubio a humiliating defeat in Florida during the Republican primaries. 2) Electing Donald Trump as President of the United States. Voters elected Trump not because he was a billionaire celebrity who writes his own tweets, but because he campaigned at great personal expense and risk to build a wall, deport illegal aliens, reform contract-worker programs, halt the illicit drug trade, prevent Islamic terrorism, renegotiate trade deals outsourcing U.S. jobs, and curb American involvement in never-ending Middle Eastern conflicts. Rubio and Bush were comically out of touch with Americans’ concerns about these issues. In a mere 18 months, the conventional wisdom about ratcheting up immigration and handing out amnesty to illegals was swept away. Trump’s first term is very promising for pro-American immigration reformers—and at the very least, Hillary Clinton will never have the chance to make her open borders “dream” a reality. 3) Victims of illegal alien crime and their families receiving national awareness, sympathy, and outrage on their behalf. Forget reporters calling them a “hate group” and a “hate rally”—for the first time these long-suffering families told their stories directly to their fellow citizens on the national stage and asked for justice. Celebrities are told they’re “so brave” for posing nude and tweeting about women’s’ rights, but it takes real courage to recount your son’s death at the hands of an illegal alien, publicly, in the hopes no parent is ever made to suffer such a loss. Illegal alien crime is almost completely preventable, and Americans rewarded the only candidate who took their side in this crisis with the presidency. 4) Fewer Americans trust the media and its stealthy pleas for amnesty and mass immigration. Despite wall-to-wall media propaganda about mass immigration and the aggressive denials that any drawbacks exist, over half of all voters are openly insisting they want immigration levels halved or reduced to zero. Another 58 percent believe illegal aliens should not be allowed to stay in the U.S., period. Breitbart News previously reported on a poll that found 75 percent of voters want unemployed Americans to receive U.S. jobs, compared to only three percent who think the U.S. should import more foreigners to fill them. Sixty-one percent said politicians “who would rather import foreign workers to take jobs rather than give them to current U.S. residents [are] unfit to hold office.” Meanwhile, trust in the media continues to hover at an all-time low. 5) The facts about immigration continue to “come out of the shadows.” There is now no excuse for leftists and the media to sneer at anyone who questions mass immigration as “demagogues.” Forty-two million migrants is an enormous number of people to fit into a country in only a few decades. Businesses got cheaper workers and Democrats got more voters, but the nation got millions of new residents who have little incentive to assimilate. Voters are finally allowed to ask: Do we want to live in a country where barbaric practices — such as beheadings, animal sacrifice, and female genital mutilation — take place? Do we want our children to learn “the value of diversity” instead of math, reading, science, writing, and American history? The media can no longer cover up these stories so easily, and political correctness lost much of its power over the immigration debate. 6) The nomination of Jeff Sessions as Attorney General. Thanks to the Democrats’ nuclear option, the well-liked Sessions is almost certainly a “lock” for Attorney General. A Sessions-run Department of Justice will crack down on lawless sanctuary cities, help craft tougher sentences to penalize drug trafficking, and overhaul the department to answer voters’ calls for law and order. 7) Paul Ryan abandoning the H-2B visa program. This visa program would have given 198,000 blue-collar jobs to migrants instead of unemployed or underemployed Americans. Ryan’s decision to not continue the pink-slip program may be a sign that one of the nation’s leading advocates for importing foreign workers may have learned a lesson or two. The long-standing H-2B program allows companies to annually bring in 66,000 foreign workers instead of hiring Americans. The program provides the companies with cheap seasonal workers, minimizes the need for companies to recruit and train Americans, and it also cuts the salaries paid to full-time American workers, say advocates. Ryan’s December 2015 language expanded the visa program by saying that foreign H-2B workers would not count towards the annual 66,000 limit if they had worked for a H-2B employer during the prior three years. In effect, the “returning worker exemption” covertly quadrupled the size of the H-2B program from 66,000 visas per year up to 264,000 visas per year. That is an increase of up to 198,000 outsourcing visas each year. Ryan has retreated on his “Pink-Slip Plan” before Trump assumed office, but cautious voters should still assume that he adheres to his long-held, pro-mass immigration and amnesty beliefs. 8) The death of the bill promising to slash prison sentences for drug traffickers, including many illegal aliens. As murders rise in major cities and a raging opioid epidemic claims tens of thousands of lives, some Republicans partnered with Democrats to spring federal drug traffickers from prison. As Breitbart News has previously reported: Nearly a quarter of all inmates in federal prison are non-citizens, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, most of which are Mexicans. The bill would have released illegal alien drug traffickers into American communities without requiring their deportations. Fortunately, under a Trump administration, the bill has virtually no chance of becoming law.

Katie Mchugh

www.breitbart.com

http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/01/02/8-immigration-victories-won-for-america-in-2016/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+breitbart+%28Breitbart+News%29

RIGHT

2017-01-02 13:24:00

The Wall Street Journal

Twitter China Chief Kathy Chen Departs

Twitter’s controversial China chief, Kathy Chen, has departed after only eight months, the latest executive to leave amid a global reorganization.

BEIJING—Twitter Inc.’s controversial China chief has departed after only eight months, the latest executive to leave amid a global reorganization. A stream of executives has left the company since it announced layoffs in October amid continued losses. Profitability has long been a challenge for the popular social network and its revenue growth...

Eva Dou

www.wsj.com

http://www.wsj.com/articles/twitter-china-chief-kathy-chen-departs-1483363495

UNDEFINED

2017-01-02 13:29:56

Reuters

Bank of Israel says preparing for "renormalisation" of interest rates

Israel's central bank said onMonday that its medium-term policy goals would include preparingfor an interest rate rise, though it gave no detailed time framefor when it might begin a tightening cycle with economic growthseen slowing this year.

JERUSALEM, Jan 2 (Reuters) - Israel's central bank said on Monday that its medium-term policy goals would include preparing for an interest rate rise, though it gave no detailed time frame for when it might begin a tightening cycle with economic growth seen slowing this year. Price stability would remain its chief aim, the Bank of Israel said, adding that an anticipated recovery in the global economy required the regulator to "prepare for a renormalisation of monetary policy" in the longer term. "To that end, the Bank of Israel will continue to align the macroeconomic projection abilities with conditions created after the crisis and to take into account considerations related to financial stability when formulating monetary policy," it said. The central bank last week held its benchmark interest rate at 0.1 percent for a 22nd straight month. Its own economists project steady rates through the third quarter of 2017 and a 15 basis point increase in the fourth quarter. Israel has been in deflation for more than two years, with the annual inflation rate at -0.3 percent in November. Inflation is expected to reach 1 percent late this year, the bottom of the government's 1-3 percent annual inflation target. Israel's economy grew a provisional 3.8 percent in 2016 and is forecast to grow 3.2 percent this year. Other three-year targets included increasing banking competition and efficiency, it said. The bank said it wanted to bolster competition in retail credit areas, including lending to small businesses and the provision of payment and settlement systems, by supporting technology changes and setting up a national credit data register. The central bank said per capita GDP may decline sharply later this decade due to changes in demographics. It said it would recommend to government policies support growth by boosting productivity and developing infrastructure and human capital. It also said it would continue looking to expand the range of markets and assets in which it invests foreign exchange reserves. (Reporting by Steven Scheer; editing by Richard Lough)

Reuters Editorial;Reuters Staff;Min Read

www.reuters.com

http://www.reuters.com/article/israel-cenbank-idUSL5N1ES10G

CENTER

2017-01-02 13:35:00

The Wall Street Journal

President Obama to Give Jan. 10 Farewell Address in Chicago

President Barack Obama will deliver his farewell address to the country on Jan. 10 in his hometown of Chicago, according to a White House official.

WASHINGTON—President Barack Obama will deliver his farewell address to the country on Jan. 10 in his hometown of Chicago, according to a White House official. Mr. Obama’s address will come near the end of what has become a rocky transition period between his White House and President-elect Donald Trump. The two men have deep differences...

Carol E. Lee

www.wsj.com

http://www.wsj.com/articles/president-obama-to-give-jan-10-farewell-address-in-chicago-1483364114

UNDEFINED

2017-01-02 13:37:18

Breitbart

Racism 'Genie' Won't Go 'Back in Bottle' after Trump

The rocker discussed his biggest fears during Trump's presidency in a conversation with podcast host Marc Maron.

SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER Bruce Springsteen opened up about his biggest fears of a Donald Trump presidency this week, telling podcast host Marc Maron that he doubts the billionaire businessman has the “competence” to perform his presidential duties and that his policy proposals appeal to Americans’ “worst angels.” In a wide-ranging, hour-long discussion on Maron’s podcast, WTF with Marc Maron, the 67-year-old E Street Band leader — a vocal supporter of former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton — said he has never felt the kind of fear he feels now that Trump has been elected. SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER “It’s simply the fear of, ‘Is someone simply competent enough to do this particular job?'” Springsteen told Maron. “Forget about where they are ideologically. Do they simply have the pure competence to be put in a position of such responsibility?” Springsteen — who previously predicted Trump would lose the election and has called him a “toxic narcissist” and a “moron” — told Maron that he understands how Trump got elected. He said that Americans deeply affected by “de-industrialization, globalization and technological advances” were drawn to Trump’s promises to bring jobs back to America and to secure the southern border and fight terrorism. But the rocker said that Trump’s proposed policies are “lies,” and he fears what would happen if “the worst aspects of what [Trump] appealed to comes to fruition.” He continued: “When you let that genie out of the bottle — racism, bigotry, intolerance — when you let those things out of the bottle, they don’t go back in the bottle that easily, if they go back in at all. Whether it’s a rise in hate crimes, people feeling that they have license to speak and behave in ways that previously were considered un-American, and are un-American. That’s what he’s appealing to. And so my fear is that those things find a place in ordinary, civil society, demeans the discussion and events of the day, and the country changes in a way that is unrecognizable, and we become estranged… Those are all dangerous things, and he hasn’t even taken office yet. So we gotta wait and see. But those are certainly the implications, and you also look at who he’s been picking for his Cabinet, that doesn’t speak very well for what’s coming up.” Springsteen also offered a silver lining to Trump’s presidency; that Americans could realize that there are millions of people in the country who think differently than they do. “So the answer is not to pull back into your little box, the answer is, ‘Let’s find out,'” he told Maron. “There’s plenty of good, solid folks that voted for Donald Trump, as well as people who had other agendas. But to know that, you’ve got to know some.” Springsteen was a fierce critic of Trump in the closing months of the 2016 campaign, at one point calling the Republican’s candidacy a “tragedy for our democracy.” On the eve of Election Day, the rocker performed a brief acoustic set featuring songs including “Dancing in the Dark” and “Thunder Road” at a last-minute rally for Hillary Clinton in Philadelphia. Hear Springsteen’s full interview with Marc Maron here. Follow Daniel Nussbaum on Twitter: @dznussbaum

Daniel Nussbaum

www.breitbart.com

http://www.breitbart.com/big-hollywood/2017/01/02/springsteen-talks-biggest-fear-trump-presidency-racism-genie-doesnt-go-back-bottle/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+breitbart+%28Breitbart+News%29

RIGHT

2017-01-02 13:44:00

The Wall Street Journal

Central Banks Loosening Their Grip on Markets

For markets, the era of the central bank may be starting to draw to a close.

For markets, the era of the central bank may be starting to draw to a close. In 2017, tightening monetary policy and brighter economic fundamentals could ease markets from the grip of the central banks whose policy in recent years has dominated trading in bonds, shares and other assets. That shift portends big changes for investors, who already are repositioning in anticipation. A long period of ultralow interest rates and...

Jon Sindreu;Jon.Sindreu Wsj.Com

www.wsj.com

http://www.wsj.com/articles/central-banks-loosening-their-grip-on-markets-1483364681

UNDEFINED

2017-01-02 13:44:32

The Guardian

Book explaining gender diversity to primary school children sparks furore

CJ Atkinson, author of Can I Tell You About Gender Diversity?, calls fury over book from Mail on Sunday and Tory grandees a ‘trans-panic’

“My name is Kit and I’m 12 years old. I live in a house with my mum and dad, and our dog, Pickle. When I was born, the doctors told my mum and dad that they had a baby girl, and so for the first few years of my life that’s how my parents raised me. This is called being assigned female at birth. I wasn’t ever very happy that way.” These are the opening lines of a controversial new book called Can I Tell You About Gender Diversity? which is being introduced into some primary schools as a resource for children, parents and teachers, and claims to be the first book to explain “medical transitioning” to children as young as seven. It is not published until later this month, but the slim volume has already prompted fury from the Mail on Sunday, former Tory party chairman Lord Tebbit and one-time Conservative Home Office minister Ann Widdecombe, as well as Mail columnist Sarah Vine who complained that the target audience was children not even ready to choose their A-levels, “let alone challenge their own biology”. The book is written by LGBT activist CJ Atkinson. Speaking to the Guardian in their first ever interview, Atkinson condemned the media coverage as misleading, inaccurate and potentially harmful for young people who identify as transgender. “We call it trans-panic,” said Atkinson, adding: “This mud-slinging has to stop. It causes active harm. When you have a group of transgender young people, one in two will consider suicide, one in three will attempt it.” Under the headline “Stop calling them boys and girls!”, the Mail on Sunday told readers that the book advised that children as young as seven should be taught in schools to stop using the terms boys and girls in case they discriminate against transgender pupils. In response, Tebbit said it was damaging to children to introduce uncertainty into their minds. Meanwhile, under the headline “Gender, our children and the death of common sense”, Vine said in her column: “In attempting to improve the lives of a vanishingly small minority, we are threatening the sanity of – and yes I’m going to say it – normal children. It’s time to put an end to this nonsense.” Atkinson, a published poet but first-time author, denied advocating that school children should stop using the terms boys and girls as widely reported. “I would not go to a seven-year-old and say, ‘You can’t call yourself anything.’ That’s not what I’ve written. “If you identify as a girl, assigned female at birth, and you like the colour pink, you like wearing dresses and sparkly things, that’s awesome. But if you are a boy who likes pink sparkly things that’s also awesome. “It’s not a case of saying, let’s break everything down so that there’s nothing, so there’s no meaning in anything. It’s a case of opening it up so everybody can have access to everything. “Writing the book, I had joked about the fact that I knew there would be some people who would not read it but would still have a lot to say about it. I’m not naive,” said Atkinson, who is an ambassador for Educate & Celebrate, which has developed an Ofsted-recognised programme to support LGBTQ inclusion in schools with the help of £200,000 funding from the Department for Education. “Lord Tebbit said it’s the worst thing on earth – he’s very opposed to the idea of the book. Ann Widdecombe said it was dotty. In this particular case, quite literally they don’t know what they are talking about. They have not read the book,” said Atkinson. The 60-page booklet is the latest in the Can I Tell You About ...? series of books published by Jessica Kingsley Publishers which are designed to offer a simple introduction to sometimes complex and challenging issues, including adoption, autism, depression, eating disorders and ME/chronic fatigue syndrome. “The books are designed for kids from the age of seven,” explains Atkinson, who identifies as queer and uses the pronouns they, their and them. Two-thirds of each book in the series is about a person who is experiencing the issue the book aims to discuss (in this case Kit and gender diversity), and the remainder is a section called “How other people can help” which provides factual information for others, including teachers and parents. Kit, the protagonist, doesn’t like playing with dolls or wearing dresses and at the age of three asks to be called Christopher. “You see,” explains Kit, “I have a different gender identity than I was assigned at birth. Another name for this is called being transgender.” He begins to wear boys’ clothes, using he/him pronouns, changes his name on his birth certificate and explains that hormone blockers will stop him going through female puberty “and stop my body developing in ways that make me unhappy”. He thinks he will take testosterone at 16 so he can go through male puberty with the other boys in his class; he goes on to talk about surgery as part of transitioning, about gender dysphoria and the use of different pronouns – while Kit has chosen he, his friend Amy is she, Sam has chosen they, and Leigh xe. Atkinson, a practising Anglican who grew up in Bradford and went to an all-girls grammar school, said: “My upbringing was very traditional. My parents have always been very supportive. I know I’m lucky. But I know that the luck that I have is not shared by a lot of people. “The world is changing. A book like this is needed. People want to help. They want to know. They want to have conversations but they don’t know how. A lot of the time it is not being dealt with or talked about in schools.” Last week it emerged that Childline has been receiving an average of eight calls a day from children and adolescents about gender dysphoria and transgender issues – more than double the number received the year before, with callers complaining of bullying and transphobia. A spokesperson for Jessica Kingsley Publishers said the book had been commissioned because of a lack of available resources currently in schools. “With the growing number of children questioning their gender, schools and parents across the country have been challenged over the limited support they can offer them. “The introduction of gender-neutral toilets and non-binary pronouns are important first steps, but there is a definite lack of resources out there for teachers, parents and children themselves. “This book will spark discussion in the classroom and at home, answering difficult questions that children may have about gender diversity.”

Sally Weale;Caroline Jordan;Stephen Pritchard

www.theguardian.com

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/jan/02/book-explaining-gender-diversity-to-primary-school-children-sparks-furore

LEFT

2017-01-02 14:01:01

Breitbart

Mike Pence to Plot Repealing Obamacare on Same Day Obama Tries to Save It

Mike Pence to Plot Repealing Obamacare on Same Day Obama Tries to Save It

SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER Vice President-elect Mike Pence is going to meet with House Republicans on Wednesday to talked about repealing and replacing Obamacare, the same day that President Obama plans to meet with Democrats to talk about saving it. Politico’s Rachael Bade cites a senior Republican leadership aide as her source, as House Republicans prepare a sweeping political agenda after Trump becomes president. SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER Last week, reports noted that Obama would brief Democrats on ways to save his signature health care legislation, despite a frequently united Republican front against the bill while the president was in office. Vox’s Sarah Kliff and Ezra Klein also revealed last week that they would sit down with President Obama to discuss Obamacare live on Facebook.

Charlie Spiering

www.breitbart.com

http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/01/02/mike-pence-to-plot-repealing-obamacare-on-same-day-obama-tries-to-save-it/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+breitbart+%28Breitbart+News%29

RIGHT

2017-01-02 14:08:49

HuffPost

Istanbul Attack and the Challenge of Prevention

The Istanbul night club massacre underscores the vulnerability of an open society to this type of terrorist attack. In an episode reminiscent of Orlando,...

The Istanbul night club massacre underscores the vulnerability of an open society to this type of terrorist attack. In an episode reminiscent of Orlando, Florida, a lone gunman shot his way into club, killing its security guard and 38 revelers. He then vanished into warren of the ancient city's streets. The terrorist chose his target well. A nightclub openly serving alcohol on a secular holiday symbolizes everything that the Islamists hate. Its popularity with foreigners was a bonus. Twenty-five tourists died in the attack, which will certainly discourage anyone planning a vacation in Turkey. An epicenter in the struggle with the Islamic State, Turkey has been hit repeatedly over the past year. The Christmas Market attack in Berlin, however, reveals that such an attack can occur anywhere at any time. A determined operative armed with a light automatic weapon or driving a truck and willing to die for his cause is virtually impossible to stop. Modern cities are target-rich environments. Governments can secure airports and public buildings. They cannot protect the thousands of places people gather to work, shop and recreate. Venues and events are soft targets. Acting alone or under the direction of ISIS, a single individual can easily create a mass-casualty incident at any locale where large numbers gather. Americans may be breathing a sigh of relief that we escaped a holiday attack. Our good fortune, however, probably stems more from our lower threat level than from the prowess of our intelligence or law enforcement agencies. The 3.3 million Muslims living in the United States are woven into the rich tapestry of American life. They enjoy the same benefits and opportunities as everyone else and the same success rate. They are not concentrated in ghettos or subject to widespread discrimination. Inclusion and respect for diversity are good antidotes to extremism. As Orlando and San Bernardino illustrate, the U.S. does face an Islamist threat, although it is far lower than the one in Europe. Countering it requires good intelligence and effective law enforcement. These measures will, however, never be enough. Only by mitigating circumstances that make people prone to radicalization and identifying those at risk can attacks be reduced or prevented. Terrorists such as the San Bernardino shooters often show warning signs friends and family ignore. Eliciting cooperation from those who interact with at-risk populations is crucial. Given the impossibility of protecting every potential target, prevention is the best option.

Tom Mockaitis;International Security Analyst Military Historian. Prof. Of History;Depaul University;Teaches Counter- Terrorism Courses Around The World.;Follow Tom Mockaitis On Twitter;Www.Twitter.Com Drmockaitis

www.huffingtonpost.com

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tom-mockaitis/istanbul-attack-and-the-c_b_13927868.html

LEFT

2017-01-02 14:10:00

The Wall Street Journal

For Financials, Expectations Are Already High

The dual prospects of a Donald Trump presidency and further interest-rate increases lifted banks’ shares in the closing weeks of 2016. This year will reveal whether a new economic order will actually emerge.

The dual prospects of a Donald Trump presidency and further interest-rate increases lifted banks’ shares in the closing weeks of 2016. This year will reveal whether a new economic order will actually emerge, and boost banks’ businesses with it. The outcome is crucial for both broader markets and the nation’s outlook for growth. Financial stocks are a big part of the S&P 500, and banks’ ability and willingness to lend could prove...

John Carney;John.Carney Wsj.Com

www.wsj.com

http://www.wsj.com/articles/banks-ability-to-lend-is-key-to-trumps-planned-business-boom-1483366252

UNDEFINED

2017-01-02 14:10:55

USA Today

Islamic State takes credit for New Year's attack at Istanbul nightclub

The Islamic State took credit for the attack during the New Year's celebration that left 39 dead and 69 injured, Turkish media reported.

Skip in Skip x Embed x Share The Islamic State is reportedly taking credit for the mass killing of dozens of New Year's Eve revelers at an Istanbul nightclub. USA TODAY NETWORK A video capture shows the gunman entering the Reina nightclub early Jan. 1, 2017. (Photo: DHA VIA DEPO POHOTOS, European Pressphoto Agency) The Islamic State claimed it was behind the shooting that created chaos at an Istanbul nightclub on New Year's and left 39 dead and 69 injured, according to reports from Turkish media and social media. Hurriyet and Karar news outlets reported, citing unnamed sources, that authorities believe the shooting was similar to the June attack at the Ataturk Airport, and they are trying to determine whether both attacks came from the same Islamic State affiliate. Meanwhile, multiple reports are pointing to a statement in Arabic circulating social media that reportedly comes from the Islamic State and takes credit for the New Year's attack, calling it revenge for Turkey's role in airstrikes and bombardments in Syria. The gunman, who remains at large, killed a police officer and a civilian outside the Reina club in the early hours of Jan. 1 before entering the crowded club and shooting it up with a long-barreled weapon. Reports said more than 500 people were packed into the venue. The disturbing attack was captured on video, which shows him dressed in black and carrying a backpack as he shoots the officer. Earlier reports said the gunman wore a Santa Claus costume, but officials dismissed that later. The video, which the AP obtained from the Haberturk newspaper, shows the assailant wearing a Santa Claus hat during part of the attack. At least 24 of those killed were from other countries, Turkey’s state-run news agency reported. Many were from the Middle East, including Jordan, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia, although countries from India to Belgium reported their citizens among the casualties, the Associated Press reported. Among the injured is a businessman from Greenville, Del., WCAU-TV and The Associated Press reported. William Jacob Raak, 35, was visiting friends in Istanbul at the time of the attack. He was shot in the leg. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned “the terror attack in Istanbul’s Ortakoy neighborhood in the first hours of 2017” and offered condolences for those who died. Contributing: Associated Press; Bart Jensen, USA TODAY. Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/2hJccoU

Steph Solis;A.M. Est January

www.usatoday.com

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/01/02/istanbul-turkey-nightclub-attack/96077880/?utm_source=feedblitz&utm_medium=FeedBlitzRss&utm_campaign=usatoday-newstopstories

CENTER

2017-01-02 14:11:27

The Guardian

Sheffield tree activists vow to protect 'jewel in the crown'

Residents determined to block removal of 31 lime trees from row of 700 along Rivelin Valley Road

A bitter dispute over the future of hundreds of roadside trees in Sheffield looks set to continue into 2017, as campaigners rally to protect the second longest avenue of limes in the UK. The row came to national attention in November when council contractors summoned people out of bed to move their cars and police detained protesters as eight trees were chopped down in Hallam. Nick Clegg, the local MP, said it was “something you’d expect to see in Putin’s Russia rather than a Sheffield suburb”. The council apologised and promised not to employ the same tactics again. But the dispute is far from over. Residents are determined to save 31 towering lime trees set to be cut down on leafy Rivelin Valley Road, described as one of the jewels in Sheffield’s arboreal crown. The road, which was built in 1907 by the local water company, is lined by 700 lime trees across three and a half miles, second only to Clumber Park in Nottinghamshire. Rebecca Hammond, a local protester, said the plan to remove some of the trees would create two clear gaps in the avenue. “The visual impact will be humongous. There’s no need for it,” she said. “If all of those go in one go, it will not look the same in my lifetime. Those trees are now over 100 years old and if they’re replaced with saplings it’s going to be a long time before it looks the same.” She said local people had been told that most of the trees would be felled because the roots could be damaged when the road was resurfaced. “That’s a bit like saying I might graze my finger and it might go septic so I’m going to amputate my hand now,” Hammond said. “That’s lazy and unacceptable.” She added: “Lots of people, not just in Sheffield but even people who now live abroad, remember Rivelin Valley Road and what it is – a majestic avenue of lime trees. It is so loved, Sheffield-wide. It’s not just a local thing. It’s not just the tree outside my house on my street. It’s actually a Sheffield landmark.” The fight for Sheffield’s trees has its roots in a 25-year private finance initiative (PFI) deal signed by the Labour-run council in 2012. The contractor Amey is tasked with maintaining the city’s 36,000 roadside trees as part of a road maintenance agreement that the company says will “see Sheffield’s roads transformed from some of the worst in the country to the best in the country within the first five years”. The contractor and council say the trees that are being removed are diseased or dangerous, but protesters say many of them simply do not fit in with Amey’s resurfacing approach. Nearly 2,000 people have signed a petition urging the council to reconsider felling the 31 lime trees, which they describe as “an invaluable asset to Sheffield and its heritage”. Bryan Lodge, the council’s cabinet member for the environment, said: “The independent tree panel is looking at the trees on Rivelin Valley Road. We have not yet received its report so are unable to provide definite plans or timescales at this stage. We will provide more information as the process continues. “We have taken on board comments, good and bad, over the past year and I want people in Sheffield to know that we will use this feedback to inform how we work to maintain and improve Sheffield’s streets – for now and future generations. Where trees are removed, we will replace them.”

Josh Halliday;Patrick Barkham

www.theguardian.com

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jan/02/sheffield-tree-activists-vow-to-protect-jewel-in-the-crown-rivelin-valley-road

LEFT

2017-01-02 14:13:57

HuffPost

Around 60 Killed In Brazilian Prison Riot Sparked By Rival Drug Gangs

Riot took hours to control as deadly fighting rampaged through the jail.

Mario Tama via Getty Images An inmate in the Anisio Jobim penitentiary complex on February 17, 2016 in Manaus, Brazil. Media reported that at least 50 people were killed in a riot at a Manaus prison on Monday. BRASILIA, Jan 2 (Reuters) - Around 60 people have been killed in a bloody prison riot sparked by a war between rival drug gangs in the Amazon jungle city of Manaus, officials said on Monday, in some of the worst violence in years in Brazil’s overcrowded penitentiary system. The head of security for Amazonas state, Sergio Fontes, told a news conference that the death toll could rise as authorities get a clearer idea of the scale of the rebellion sparked by a fight between rival drug gangs. Manaus’ Em Tempo newspaper reported that several of the dead had their decapitated bodies thrown over the prison wall. The riot began late Sunday and was brought under control by around 7 a.m. on Monday, Fontes said. Authorities were still counting the prisoners to determine how many had escaped, he added. International watchdog groups sharply criticize Brazil for its prison system, where overcrowding is the norm and deadly riots routinely break out. The massacre was the latest clash between inmates aligned with the Sao Paulo-based First Capital Command (PCC) drug gang, Brazil’s most powerful, and a local Manaus criminal group known as the North Family. The Manaus-based gang is widely believed to be attacking PCC inmates at the behest of the Rio de Janeiro-based Red Command (CV) drug gang, Brazil’s second largest. Security analysts have said that a truce that held for years between the PCC and CV was broken last year, resulting in months of deadly prison battles between the gangs and sparking fears that chaos will spread to other prisons. In the latest riot, a group of inmates exchanged gunfire with police and held 12 prison guards hostage late on Sunday in the largest prison in Manaus, an industrial city on the banks of the Amazon River, Globo TV reported. Fontes said that 74 prisoners were taken hostage during the riot, with some executed and some released. A video posted on the website of the Manaus-based newspaper Em Tempo showed dozens of bloodied and mutilated bodies piled atop each other on the prison floor as other inmates milled about. Brazil’s prison system is precariously overcrowded and conditions in many institutions are horrific. That has sparked a rash of deadly riots in recent years.

www.huffingtonpost.com

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/brazil-prison-riot_us_586a5f5ee4b0eb58648a0a37?ir=WorldPost&utm_hp_ref=world

LEFT

2017-01-02 14:15:31

Fox News

The Latest: Judge sets rules for Roof's courtroom movements

The Latest on the next trial phase of the man facing a possible death sentence for slaying nine people during Bible study (all times local): 3:15 p.m.

The Latest on the next trial phase of the man facing a possible death sentence for slaying nine people during Bible study (all times local): 3:15 p.m. A judge has issued an order governing Dylann Roof's movement within the federal courtroom where he'll be acting as his own lawyer during sentencing. U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel on Monday ruled that Roof can't approach witnesses or the jury during court, set to get underway on Tuesday. He'll also be sitting in a chair furthest from the jury and victims' family members. The same jury that last month found Roof guilty of 33 federal charges is set to return to court Tuesday to begin weighing if he should be sentenced to life in prison or death for the June 2015 slayings of nine black parishioners during a Charleston church Bible study. Gergel's order was published online as he conducted a closed hearing on Roof's competency. Media outlets including The Associated Press argued it should be open to the public, but the judge said he feared Roof may not get a fair trial if jurors knew of what was discussed. ___ 1:15 p.m. A judge has called for a recess in a second hearing on the competency of a man charged with killing nine black people during Bible study at a South Carolina church. U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel heard more than three hours of testimony Monday before breaking for lunch. Over the weekend, Gergel says a court-appointed psychiatrist examined 22-year-old Dylann Roof for about five hours. Jay Bender, an attorney for The Associated Press and other outlets, said closing the hearing would keep the community from an important part of the legal process. Gergel ordered Monday's hearing closed to the media and public, saying Roof's right to a fair trial could be hampered if jurors mulling his sentence learned the contents of the hearing. Jurors are set to begin hearing evidence Tuesday as to why prosecutors feel he should be put to death for killing nine people at Emanuel AME Church in June 2015. ___ 9:30 a.m. A federal judge has shut out the public from a second hearing on the competency of a man charged with killing nine black people during Bible study at a South Carolina church. U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel ruled Monday that Dylann Roof's right to a fair trial could be hampered if jurors mulling his sentence learned the contents of the hearing. Jay Bender, an attorney for The Associated Press and other media outlets, argued against the closure. Bender said closing the hearing to the public would be keeping the community from an important part of the legal process. Gergel said he would have had to sequester the jury if he opened up the hearing. The judge said he didn't think jurors would intentionally seek out information about the result but might come by it inadvertently, a risk he couldn't take. Gergel said he'd release a transcript of the hearing after a verdict is reached in the case. Jurors are set to begin hearing evidence Tuesday as to why prosecutors feel he should be put to death for killing nine people at Emanuel AME Church in June 2015. ___ 3:30 a.m. The same jury that last month unanimously found Dylann Roof guilty in the slayings of nine black parishioners at a South Carolina church is returning to court to begin contemplating his punishment. The sentencing phase of Roof's trial begins Tuesday in Charleston. He could face the death penalty. With Roof representing himself, the process is sure to be unconventional. The 22-year-old said he plans to call no witnesses or introduce any evidence. Prosecutors plan to call up to 38 people related to the nine people killed and three who survived the June 2015 slaughter during Bible study at Emanuel AME Church. Even if Roof is sentenced to death, it's highly unlikely he'd be executed anytime soon. The federal government hasn't carried out a death sentence since 2003.

www.foxnews.com

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/01/02/latest-judge-sets-rules-for-roof-courtroom-movements.html

RIGHT

2017-01-02 14:15:42

Reuters

UPDATE 2-China's capital enjoys brief respite, but smog returning on Tuesday

Heavy smog that blanketed partsof China at the weekend cleared somewhat on Monday, with flightsin Beijing back to normal, but it was likely only to be a briefrespite with more choking smog expected to return to the wintrynorth within 24 hours.

(Adds pollution could persist for up to seven days) By Chen Aizhu and Fang Cheng BEIJING, Jan 2 (Reuters) - Heavy smog that blanketed parts of China at the weekend cleared somewhat on Monday, with flights in Beijing back to normal, but it was likely only to be a brief respite with more choking smog expected to return to the wintry north within 24 hours. Weather forecasts on Monday showed the smog would return to Beijing and nearby Tianjin city from Tuesday. It was expected to persist until Thursday in Hebei, the heavily industrialised province that surrounds the capital, and Henan and Shandong provinces as the region battles freezing temperatures. Severe pollution is forecast to persist in the region for three to seven days, the official Xinhua news agency reported. Authorities have been issuing smog alerts across the north since mid-December, prompting orders for hundreds of factories to scale back production or close outright and for restrictions on motorists to cut emissions. Pollution alerts are common in northern China, especially during winter when energy demand, much of it met by coal, soars. A pollution index that measures the average concentration of small breathable particles, known as PM2.5, dropped to just over 100 micrograms per cubic metre in Beijing early on Monday from more than 500 on Sunday night. The safe recommended level of PM2.5 is 10 micrograms per cubic metre, according to the World Health Organization. A customer service staff member at the Beijing Capital International Airport said flights were returning to normal. Smog on Sunday caused hundreds of flights to be cancelled and highways to shut, disrupting the first day of the New Year holiday. On Monday, the Beijing government maintained its orange alert for heavy pollution and a ban on heavy-duty construction trucks from using the roads. An orange alert is the second-highest level in a four-tier pollution warning system adopted by Beijing when China, worried that its heavy industrial past was tarnishing its global reputation and holding back development, declared a "war on pollution" in 2014. Despite that declaration, public anger is mounting about pollution and what many Chinese see as government talk, but little action, to end it. That anger has occasionally spilled over into protests. Late on Sunday, the Ministry of Environmental Protection said 62 northern cities had issued yellow, orange or red alerts. Some highways to Beijing and Tianjin were re-opened as motorists headed home at the end of the long weekend, state television reported later on Monday. But 20 highways remained closed in Shandon province, as heavy smog persisted. State television also reported that some factories in Hebei province's heavy industry hub of Tangshan, including a coal-fired power plant of Datang Power International, and several steel mills, were found to be violating the curb on operations. The latest bout of air pollution began on Friday. China has struggled to tackle the problem effectively after decades of breakneck economic growth, much of it based on heavy industry and the coal-fired power sector. (Additional reporting by Ryan Woo; Editing by Paul Tait and Robert Birsel)

Reuters Editorial;Reuters Staff;Min Read

www.reuters.com

http://www.reuters.com/article/china-pollution-idUSL4N1ES13D

CENTER

2017-01-02 14:18:10

The Guardian

Chancellor failing to cancel ‘tax giveaway’ to banks, says Labour

John McDonnell accuses Philip Hammond of handing Britain’s biggest banks a rebate by not reversing cuts to the bank levy

John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, has accused Philip Hammond of failing to cancel a “tax giveaway” by his predecessor to Britain’s biggest banks, worth more than £1bn this year. In his summer budget after the 2015 general election, George Osborne announced deep cuts to the bank levy, which was introduced after the financial crisis and charged according to the size of banks’ balance sheets. Big banks, including HSBC and Standard Chartered, which felt penalised by the levy, had warned the then-chancellor that they could move their headquarters outside the UK. Osborne announced phased cuts in the levy over the parliament and made up the shortfall in revenue by imposing an 8% surcharge on banks’ corporation tax, which falls on all lenders, not just the largest. McDonnell said by failing to reverse the cuts in the bank levy at the autumn statement in November, Hammond was handing the big banks a rebate taxpayers can ill afford. The latest forecasts from the independent Office for Budget Responsibility, published alongside the autumn statement, showed revenue from the bank levy at £2.7bn for the current financial year, instead of the £3.8bn expected last March, before the general election. “Philip Hammond tried to sneak out the fact that he has continued this cut in the bank levy, which will provide big banks with a tax giveaway larger than under even George Osborne. “The fact that we are seeing such a large handout to the biggest banks in our country at a time when we are seeing cuts to our schools, NHS and a funding crisis in our care service is truly shameful. McDonnell, who is the Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn’s closest ally, will make a major speech on economic policy this month, and hopes to draw a clear dividing line with the Conservatives by showing that he would take on vested interests as chancellor. He recently made a series of spending pledges to protect pensioner benefits, including the costly triple-lock guarantee, in an effort to win over elderly voters who overwhelmingly backed Labour in 2015. Labour also wants to show that it will fight to avoid a “bankers’ Brexit”, which protects the interests of the City at the expense of ordinary taxpayers – though it has said it would like to see the continuation of “passporting”, the regime allowing UK-based banks to trade throughout the EU. A spokesman for McDonnell said Labour would reverse the cuts to the levy – and would be unlikely to remove the corporation tax surcharge, because it came alongside a series of cuts in the corporation tax rate which had reduced big corporations’ tax liability. At the time the policy was announced, the Treasury minister Harriet Baldwin told MPs: “It means that the overall rate of corporation tax will be slightly lower for banks than it was in 2010.” Britain’s competition watchdog, the Competition and Markets Authority, warned that the shift to the corporation tax levy would reduce the advantages of the tax system for smaller banks trying to break into the market. So-called challenger banks told the CMA they expected to be paying up to £123m more in tax between them by 2020-21 as a result of the changes. “The overall effect, compared with the pre-2016 position, is that the tax advantages of smaller banks including new entrants have been reduced as a result of the changes to the bank levy and the introduction of the CTS. Therefore, any effect that these tax advantages had in off-setting the barriers to entry and expansion such banks face are likely to be reduced,” the CMA said. A Treasury spokesperson said: “The government is clear that banks, like all businesses, must pay the right amount of tax. The reform of the bank levy was announced alongside the introduction of a new 8% surcharge on bank profit. Together, the levy and the surcharge are expected to raise over £18bn from banks over the next five years.‎”

Heather Stewart

www.theguardian.com

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/jan/02/chancellor-failing-cancel-tax-giveaway-banks-says-labour-john-mcdonnell

LEFT

2017-01-02 14:18:59

HuffPost

Pacific countries advance regional policy towards migration and climate change

Villagers watch the sunset over a small lagoon ne...

Villagers watch the sunset over a small lagoon near the village of Tangintebu in the central Pacific island nation of Kiribati. David Gray/Reuters It has been scientifically demonstrated that, regardless of whether we admit it or not, climate change is a global process, unfortunately continuous, a "threat multiplier" and "very likely" to be human-induced. Since 2008, an average of 21.5 million people have been displaced from their homes each year by rapid onset climate-related events. And the number of such events is going to increase in the future. The same empirical research shows that slow-onset events and environmental degradation also contribute to people's decision to move. But recent failures to offer protection to people affected by climate change all over the world, including in the Pacific region show a regrettable lack of international legal safeguards (norms and language) when addressing climate change. Implicit in this is a lack of respect for the human rights of those seeking refuge, which policy and law makers can no longer afford. Traditional law and climate legal risks Supported by AXA Research Fund and United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS), my recent research focuses on the main two existing systems of law in the Pacific - the state or national legislation, and the Kastom law (the traditional, customary law). It analyses how the differences between the two could create legal risks when implementing international law associated with climate change, such as the 2015 Paris Agreement. While state or national law covers executive or legislative law, Kastom law governs local community law. It is also known as the law of clans, families or tribes, depending on the respective structures. Implementing international norms into the domestic law typically follows a top-bottom approach, emanating from the legislative or executive level to the community. The existence of a second system of law at local level could dramatically impact such an approach. Norms end up being interpreted through the filter of Kastom law. What people in communities understand about new laws could sometimes change completely the initial purpose or expected results of these laws. International regulations are not always welcomed by local people and this is a global issue. However, not all local communities own a system of law, which may interfere with the tubular top-bottom approach. In some parts of the Pacific for example, planting a tree could initiate immediate land ownership that sometimes is not reflected in the domestic land legislation. And definitely does not subscribe to any international norms regulating land management. My research is based on a human rights-based approach that emphasises a bottom-up standpoint. It embraces a progressive interpretation of law that underlines a need for flexibility, openness and concrete applicability of the law when it comes to supporting and implementing climate science. Law in general, should be regarded as a supportive concept rather than a restrictive (sometimes oppressive) state-led process. My project will conclude in 2018 with a second segment of field research, when final data will be processed and conclusions published and disseminated. So far, there are indications of discrepancies between the two systems of law that affect both legislators and communities. And it seems that structural domestic legal reforms may be necessary to address these inconsistencies. Hybrid law The methodology used in this project is called hybrid international law. It was elaborated in 2007 as a requisite for interpreting the relationship between climate change and customary law in the Pacific, which is sometimes only spoken, and hard to mark or analyse. Hybrid law refers to three branches of international law - environmental law, human rights and refugee or migration law. It shows an indubitable interrelation between these three branches and that climate change cannot be addressed without referring to human rights or migration - as direct or subsidiary effects. Mai Langsdon/Reuters It's also incomplete to analyse human rights without considering climate change or look at human mobility without considering climate triggers as one of the main factors of causality. Migrants, displaced or relocated people - both internally and cross-border - have human rights and states should not implement or abandon policies to prevent them from safe passage and legal access to protection. Under international human rights law and customary international law, states have an obligation to respect the rights of migrants or refugees, to treat them with dignity and respect, and to protect against their return if they face the risk of having their human rights violated. While international refugee law does not refer to environmental threats as factors of persecution or conflict, this doesn't exonerate states of their obligations to address the needs of people seeking protection from climate change. A regional framework Preliminary findings of my research show that the preeminent approach to address human mobility in the context of climate change is at the regional level. This is particularly the case for the Pacific, where some regional approaches have recently proved their strength. A potential regional framework on human mobility and climate change, which would consider both regular and customary law, would address migrants' rights, fill in the gaps at the international level and help the individual incapacity of states in addressing this complex process at the national level. It's clear that, at the international level, the process of agreeing on a global framework for dealing with climate mobility could be long and not necessarily oriented towards migrants' needs. It takes political will, and that sometimes does not serve the main recipient countries. But more importantly, it takes time, and time is something vulnerable people affected by climate change, who are willing to move but can't, do not have. At the domestic level, most states where migration or displacement occur lack financial and human resources and face limitations to tackle the matter alone. Edgar Su/Reuters During a Regional Meeting on Climate Change and Migration in the Pacific organised by the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (PIFS) and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN-ESCAP) in early December, senior Pacific island government officials pushed the need for finding immediate solutions to address the needs of people on the move by creating a legal regional framework. The ten Pacific country representatives who participated in the meeting aimed to create internal guidelines to address human mobility, while respecting the sovereignty of states in taking decisions internally. They are also looking into creating a potentially binding document to regulate cross-border human mobility with an emphasis on sharing experiences, mutual respect and cultural identity. Efforts will continue in 2017 - on both the technical and political levels - to accelerate this unprecedented regional initiative to address human mobility and climate change. Once again, the Pacific is on the front line. Cosmin Corendea, Postdoctoral Fellow, Institute for Environment and Human Security, United Nations University This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

The Conversation Global;The Conversation Is A Collaboration Between Editors;Academics Providing Informed News Analysis;Commentary Free To Read;Follow The Conversation Global On Twitter;Www.Twitter.Com _Tcglobal

www.huffingtonpost.com

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/the-conversation-global/pacific-countries-advance_b_13927886.html

LEFT

2017-01-02 14:19:33

HuffPost

ISIS Kills At Least 24 In Baghdad Bombing, Cut Key Road To Mosul

The militant group is trying to hold off an enormous advance on the occupied city of Mosul.

Ahmed Saad / Reuters People look at a burned vehicle at the site of car bomb attack in a busy square at Baghdad's sprawling Sadr City district, in Iraq January 2, 2017. BAGHDAD/TIKRIT, Iraq, Jan 2 (Reuters) - An Islamic State car bomb killed 24 people in a busy square in Baghdad’s sprawling Sadr City district on Monday, and the militants cut a key road north from the capital to Mosul, their last major stronghold in the country. An online statement distributed by Amaq news agency, which supports Islamic State, said the ultra-hardline Sunni group had targeted a gathering of Shi’ite Muslims, whom it considers apostates. Sixty-seven people were wounded in the blast. U.S.-backed Iraqi forces are currently fighting to push Islamic State from the northern city of Mosul, but are facing fierce resistance. The group has lost most of the territory it seized in a blitz across northern and western Iraq in 2014. The recapture of Mosul would probably spell the end for its self-styled caliphate, but the militants would still be capable of fighting a guerrilla-style insurgency in Iraq, and plotting or inspiring attacks on the West. Three bombs killed 29 people across the capital on Saturday, and an attack near the southern city of Najaf on Sunday left seven policemen dead. Monday’s blast in Sadr City hit a square where day laborers typically gather. Nine of the victims were women in a passing minibus. Their charred bodies were visible inside the burnt-out remains of the vehicle. Blood stained the ground nearby. A separate blast near a hospital in central Baghdad killed one civilian and wounded nine, police and medical sources said. “The terrorists will attempt to attack civilians in order to make up for their losses, but we assure the Iraqi people and the world that we are able to end terrorism and shorten its life,” Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi told reporters after meeting with visiting French President Francois Hollande. Hollande, whose country has faced a series of militant attacks in the past two years, said French soldiers serving in a U.S.-led coalition against the jihadists in Iraq were preventing more mass killings at home. Ahmed Saad / Reuters People gather at the site of car bomb attack in a busy square at Baghdad's sprawling Sadr City district, in Iraq January 2, 2017. ROAD TO MOSUL Since the drive to recapture Mosul began on Oct. 17, elite forces have retaken a quarter of the city in the biggest ground operation in Iraq since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein. Abadi has said the group will be driven out of the country by April. Clashes continued in and around Mosul on Monday. The counter-terrorism service (CTS) blew up several Islamic State car bombs before they reached their targets, and linked up with the Rapid Response forces, an elite Interior Ministry unit, said spokesman Sabah al-Numani. CTS was also clearing North Karma district of remaining militants, the fourth area the unit has retaken in the past week, he said. Islamic State targeted military positions away from the main battlefield, killing at least 16 pro-government fighters and cutting a strategic road linking the city to Baghdad. Militants attacked an army barracks near Baiji, 180 km (110 miles) north of the capital, killing four soldiers and wounding 12 people, including Sunni tribal fighters, army and police sources said. They seized weapons there and launched mortars at nearby Shirqat, forcing security forces to impose a curfew and close schools and offices in the town, according to local officials and security sources. Shirqat mayor Ali Dodah said Islamic State seized three checkpoints on the main road linking Baiji to Shirqat following the attacks. Shelling in Shirqat had killed at least two children, he told Reuters by phone. In a separate incident, gunmen broke into a village near Udhaim, 90 km (56 miles) north of Baghdad, where they executed nine Sunni tribal fighters with shots to the head, police and medical sources said.

www.huffingtonpost.com

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/isis-baghdad-mosul_us_586a6054e4b0d9a5945c00fb?ir=WorldPost&utm_hp_ref=world

LEFT

2017-01-02 14:22:10

CBS News

10-month-old Massachusetts baby revived twice after ingesting fentanyl

“The opioid epidemic knows no boundaries,” mayor warns, as police still have not announced charges in baby's near-overdose

METHUEN, Mass. - Authorities in Massachusetts say a 10-month-old baby had to be revived twice after she was exposed to fentanyl. Police arrived at the Methuen residence early Saturday afternoon after receiving a report of a child not breathing. First responders took the child to Lawrence General Hospital, where police say she stopped breathing twice and had to be resuscitated. She was later airlifted to Tufts Medical Center in Boston, where she’s in stable condition. One relative told CBS Boston that the child is doing “fine” and could be released from the hospital today. Authorities say hospital tests indicate the baby had the potent synthetic opioid fentanyl in her system. The Department of Children and Families says it has taken custody of the baby. The incident remains under investigation. “The opioid epidemic knows no boundaries,” Methuen Mayor Stephen Zanni said in a release Monday. “We must continue to be vigilant in ensuring that children do not have access to harmful substances and to do everything we can to fight the disease of addiction.” Methuen Police Lt. Michael Pappalardo said there were “numerous items of interest that were looked at” in the home, but did not say whether or not drugs were found there. No arrests have been made in connection with the incident. Methuen Police also announced the seizure of 14 kilos of fentanyl with a street value of roughly $1.2 million elsewhere in the city Monday. The powerful synthetic opiate fentanyl keeps making headlines for all the wrong reasons. Over the past few years, cities across the country experienced overdose outbreaks related to the drug, prompting the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to issue a nationwide alert about the dangers of fentanyl in 2015. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that overdose deaths involving synthetic opioids, which include fentanyl, increased by 80 percent from 2013 to 2014, and roughly 5,500 people died from overdoses involving these drugs in 2014. Typically used to treat or manage severe pain in patients, fentanyl is a prescription drug similar to but more powerful than morphine. When prescribed by a doctor, it is administered via injection, patch, or pill.

www.cbsnews.com

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/10-month-old-massachusetts-baby-revived-twice-ingesting-fentanyl/

CENTER

2017-01-02 14:26:55

HuffPost

Myanmar Vows Action After Video Shows Police Beating Rohingya Muslims

Footage showed villagers being violently treated during a government crackdown.

Soe Zeya Tun / Reuters United Wa State Army (UWSA) soldier holds a weapon as he marches during a festival in a village outside Pansang, Wa territory in northeast Myanmar October 3, 2016. YANGON, Jan 2 (Reuters) - Myanmar has promised to take action against policemen who beat Muslims after footage of villagers being treated violently appeared online amid tension over a government crackdown aimed at rooting out suspected insurgents. Troops have poured into Rakhine State on Myanmar’s northwestern border with Bangladesh since gunmen attacked border posts on Oct. 9, killing nine officers. The Myanmar army sweep has sent some 34,000 members of the Rohingya Muslim minority fleeing into neighboring Bangladesh, the United Nations says. Residents and rights groups accuse security forces of abuses during the operation including summary executions and rape, which the government of Aung San Suu Kyi denies. In footage shared widely on social media and aired by Myanmar broadcasters, several policemen appeared to beat and kick two villagers during an operation in which dozens of Rohingya Muslims were told to line up for questioning. The video offers a rare glimpse into the region that has been cut off to aid workers and other outsiders since October. Suu Kyi’s office confirmed the authenticity of the footage, which it said was shot by a member of the police during a clearance operation on Nov. 5 in northern Rakhine State. “Action will be taken against police who allegedly beat villagers,” the office said in a statement issued late on Sunday. Police were acting on a tip-off that gunmen who attacked police two days earlier were being sheltered in the village, called Kotankauk, the office said. The office identified four policemen by name, including the leader of the operation and one it said could be seen beating villagers in the video. “Further investigations are being carried out to expose other police officers who beat the villagers,” it said. A senior police officer in the capital of Naypyitaw told Reuters authorities detained four policemen on Monday on suspicion they were involved in the beating. The officer declined to be identified as he is not authorized to speak to media. The violence in Rakhine State has renewed international criticism that Nobel Peace Prize winner Suu Kyi has done too little to help members of the Muslim minority, who are denied citizenship in predominantly Buddhist Myanmar.

www.huffingtonpost.com

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/myanmar-rohingya-muslims_us_586a6184e4b0de3a08f9050f?ir=WorldPost&utm_hp_ref=world

LEFT

2017-01-02 14:42:13

CNN

Cologne police under fire for alleged racial profiling

Cologne police are alleged to have detained hundreds of men because they appeared to be of African origin for questioning on New Year's Eve.

(CNN) Cologne's chief of police has rejected criticism over accusations that officers used racial profiling while conducting identification checks on New Year's Eve. Authorities in the city had stepped up security measures for revelers after last year's spate of sexual assaults which were blamed on refugees of North African descent. More than 1,500 officers were deployed to the inner city, with additional support of several hundred federal police present at railway stations. Officers screened around 650 "primarily Arab-looking" men as they traveled through Cologne's main train station, a spokesperson told CNN. Six were formally arrested, three of whom already faced warrants for their arrest. Authorities provided no details as to the nationalities of those in custody. A further 300 young people were stopped in Deutz, the station before Cologne's main terminus, due to overcrowding, police added. JUST WATCHED Refugees in Germany fear deportation Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Refugees in Germany fear deportation 04:09 Speaking to the press, Cologne's police chief, Jurgen Mathies, admitted officers had specifically targeted men who appeared to be North African to undergo checks, but defended their actions. "I reject this negative criticism. We have decided to take these measures as we had insights. We have observed the situation. Together with the federal state police we have seen a highly aggressive group of men out of nowhere and this is why we have decided to implement our security concept as previously decided. "Our experiences, from last New Year's Eve and previous raids that took place, showed we needed to check those people. They were not gray haired older men nor blonde young women," he added. Police have also faced a public backlash after using describing those detained as "hundreds of Nafris" in an update to their social media channels. "Nafri" is a colloquial term used in Germany for North Africans, police told CNN. When asked about it by German media, Mathies said, "The term was used in a very unfortunate way. It is used within the police internally and also in the media. But again, it is very unfortunate it was used in the midst of this situation, I regret this very much and I cannot take it back." Some say the expression is free of any racial connotations, while others, including politicians from the left leaning SPD and the Greens, say it is highly dehumanizing. JUST WATCHED Refugees react to Cologne attacks Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Refugees react to Cologne attacks 03:05 The increased security operations also saw officers carrying out random ID checks throughout the night while two dozen police vehicles including armored personnel carriers, water cannons and concrete roadblocks were also in place to maintain peace throughout the festivities. "Thanks to the good collaboration of all security partners, the City of Cologne, the Cologne Police and the Federal Police, our New Year's Eve in Cologne was cheerful and safe," said Gergor Timmer, spokesman for Cologne Mayor Henriette Reker, who cited the enhanced security measures behind the city's safe holiday period. "This turned out to be a success. The citizens of Cologne and our guests from all over the world reclaimed the places and streets around the cathedral." Roughly half a million visitors attended the New Year's Eve celebrations in Cologne to watch a firework display, with an estimated 50,000 revelers around the Cologne Cathedral and another 10,000 partygoers in the old part of the city. Last year's attacks fueled a political firestorm over immigration in Germany after police described the perpetrators as gangs of Arab or North African men. Over the last 12 months anti-refugee sentiment has increased in the country. A recent poll suggested 82% of Germans were unhappy with German Chancellor Angela Merkel's open door policy towards asylum seekers. This appeared to be confirmed by her party -- Christian Democratic Union -- suffering a slump in last year's Berlin election. In an effort to court German voters ahead of the country's national election later in the year, Merkel has promised to stand by those seeking refuge in the country but has said she will ensure German security through the implementation of new tougher laws.

Nadine Schmidt;Lauren Said-Moorhouse

www.cnn.com

http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/02/europe/cologne-police-alleged-racial-profiling/index.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fedition_europe+%28RSS%3A+CNNi+-+Europe%29

UNDEFINED

2017-01-02 14:42:40

The Guardian

Chicago records more homicides in 2016 than New York and LA combined

City’s most violent year in two decades saw 762 killings and 1,100 more shooting incidents than previous year

One of the most violent years in Chicago’s history ended with the highest number of homicides recorded in more than two decades. A total of 762 homicides were recorded in the city in 2016 – more than the figures for New York and Los Angeles combined. The nation’s third-largest city also saw 1,100 more shooting incidents last year than it did in 2015, according to data released on Sunday by the Chicago police department. The statistics underline a story of bloodshed that has put Chicago at the center of a national dialogue about gun violence. The numbers are staggering, even for those who followed the steady news accounts of weekends ending with dozens of shootings and monthly death tolls that hadn’t been seen in years. The increase in homicides compared to 2015, when 485 were reported, is the largest spike in 60 years. Police and city officials have lamented the flood of illegal guns into the city, and the crime statistics appeared to support their claims: police recovered 8,300 illegal guns in 2016, a 20% increase from the previous year. Chicago police shootings: data reveals 92 deaths and 2,623 bullets fired Read more Chicago’s police superintendent, Eddie Johnson, said during a news conference on Sunday that Chicago is among many US cities that have seen a spike in violence, including in attacks on police. He said anger at police, including in the wake of video released that showed a white Chicago officer shooting a black teenager 16 times, has left criminals “emboldened” to violent crimes. He also said it’s becoming clearer to criminals that they have little to fear from the criminal justice system. “In Chicago, we just don’t have a deterrent to pick up a gun,” he said. “Any time a guy stealing a loaf of bread spends more time pre-trial in jail than a gun offender, something is wrong.” Johnson, who has for months complained about Illinois’ lax gun laws, said he thinks more and more gang members are arming themselves because the price for being caught is small compared to other large cities. He said gang members he had spoken to consider the court system “a joke”. The bulk of the deaths and shooting incidents, which jumped from 2,426 in 2015 to 3,550 last year, occurred in only five of the city’s 22 police districts on the city’s south and west sides, all poor and predominantly black areas where gangs are most active. Police said the shootings in those areas generally weren’t random, with more than 80% of the victims having previously been identified by police as more susceptible because of their gang ties or past arrests. The city has scrambled to address the violence. Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced last year that 1,000 officers would be added to the police department. At the same time, police officials have been trying to figure out why homicides and shootings – which began climbing the year before – suddenly surged. On Sunday, Johnson said he hoped several initiatives – including more street cameras in some of the city’s most dangerous neighborhoods, and the expansion of gunshot-detection systems – would lead to more arrests and drive down the violent crime rate. Johnson has said several factors have contributed to the increased violence. He noted 2016 was the first full year since the city was forced in November 2015 to release video of the fatal police shooting of Laquan McDonald, the black 17-year-old boy who was shot 16 times by a white police officer. The video cost former Chicago police superintendent Garry McCarthy his job, sparked major protests around the city, and led to federal and state investigations of the police department. It also left Johnson with the task of trying to restore public trust in what appeared to be a weakened police force, a perception that was only buttressed by a dramatic drop in the number of arrests in 2016. The police department has cited several factors for the declining numbers, including a concerted effort not to make minor drug arrests and focus on gun violence. Johnson pointed to gun arrests and gun seizures as evidence that his officers are aggressively fighting crime. But critics said they had no doubt that officers had become far more reluctant to do their jobs since the McDonald video was released and the officer who killed the teen was charged with murder. “It’s almost like a pull back so they [gangs] can kill each other sort of thing,” said the Reverend Marshall Hatch, a prominent minister in one of Chicago’s most dangerous neighborhoods on the west side. Johnson acknowledged in a recent interview with the Associated Press that officers have become more cautious, in part out of fear of becoming the next “viral video”. He also said a state law that took effect last January requiring officers to fill out lengthy contact cards when they stop someone had resulted in fewer stops, because the cards require more paperwork for officers and the cards are “scrutinized” by federal judges. He said those concerns are not lost on criminals. “Criminals watch TV, pay attention to the media,” he said. “They see an opportunity to commit nefarious activity.”

Associated Press

www.theguardian.com

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jan/02/chicago-homicides-shootings-2016

LEFT

2017-01-02 14:46:44

Breitbart

Consumers Slow to Embrace Virtual Reality in 2016

Despite the transformative nature of the technology, the debut of virtual reality products in 2016 was notably hesitant.

SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER Despite the transformative nature of the technology, the debut of virtual reality products in 2016 was notably hesitant. In 2014, Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook acquired Oculus Rift for a hot $2 billion. At that time, he declared that the technology would need to move 50-100 million units in order for it to become an “important” platform. In 2016, the Oculus Rift was projected to have sold 400,000 units. The company has yet to release even the most vague sales numbers on the product, so it’s virtually impossible to know how close they’ve actually gotten to that projection. SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER Despite being the banner product launch of VR technology, the Rift has been outshone by both Valve’s HTC Vive and the console-specific PlayStation VR. Those were projected for 500,000 and 800,000 units, respectively. But even if every projection was matched, we’re looking at a top-end of about 1.7 million units shipped between all major devices. That hasn’t appeared to dissuade just about everyone else from taking a stab at the new tech. Samsung’s Gear VR and Google’s Daydream are among the front-runners in a race to provide viable competition to a marketplace being flooded with pricey prototypes. The expense of the devices is a major hurdle. Most computers don’t have the horsepower for a PC virtual reality experience already, which means that most of these headsets come with a substantial additional investment beyond the headset itself. Software remains very limited, and no one seems to have found that “killer app” that makes the entire affair seem necessary to the average consumer. Right now, VR is little more than a clever side show. It remains to be seen whether any of the billions of dollars invested can produce a main event. Zuckerberg sees VR as the next step in social media. He believes that eventually, it will “become a part of daily life for billions of people.” And despite the lackluster projected numbers in the first year of VR, it’s a reasonable guess. The ability to talk, interact, and play games “face to face” with friends and family across the globe would almost certainly be worth the investment for those missing their favorite people. If a deployed soldier could speak and interact virtually with his or her children across an ocean, the cost suddenly seems inconsequential to the experience. It’s hard to tell whether we’re headed for a VR revolution, or whether Augmented Reality is the next logical step. 2016 may have discouraged investors, but the potential is still there, waiting to be tapped. One thing is almost certain — with so much on the line, it’s unlikely that Virtual Reality is going anywhere. We’re only waiting to see who it is that can first truly capture our imagination, and turn it from a gimmick into a smartphone-esque necessity. Follow Nate Church @Get2Church on Twitter for the latest news in gaming and technology, and snarky opinions on both.

Nate Church

www.breitbart.com

http://www.breitbart.com/tech/2017/01/02/consumers-slow-to-embrace-virtual-reality-in-2016/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+breitbart+%28Breitbart+News%29

RIGHT

2017-01-02 14:53:43

Breitbart

Facebook Censors Iconic Statue of Neptune for Containing Nudity

Facebook censored an image of the iconic statue of the Roman god Neptune, claiming, “It presents an image with content that is explicitly sexual."

SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER Facebook censored an image of the iconic statue of the Roman god Neptune, claiming, “It presents an image with content that is explicitly sexual.” Elisa Barbari, a local writer from Bologna, Italy, where the iconic statue stands, attempted to use the image to advertise her Facebook page: “Stories, curiosities and views of Bologna.” SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER “I wanted to promote my page but it seems that for Facebook the statue is a sexually explicit image that shows off too much flesh,” claimed Barbari, whose advert was denied by Facebook. “Really, Neptune? This is crazy!” “Back in the 1950s, during celebrations for school children graduating, they used to cover up Neptune,” she continued. “Maybe Facebook would prefer the statue to be dressed again… How can a work of art, our very own statue of Neptune, be the object of censorship?” In their statement, Facebook cited the social network’s rules against “nude bodies” as the reason why the image was censored, adding that there were no exceptions for “artistic or educational reasons.” “The use of the image was not approved because it violates Facebook’s guide lines on advertising,” declared Facebook. “It presents an image with content that is explicitly sexual and which shows to an excessive degree the body, concentrating unnecessarily on body parts.” “The use of images or video of nude bodies or plunging necklines is not allowed, even if the use is for artistic or educational reasons,” they concluded. In September, Facebook came under criticism after they censored an iconic image from the Vietnam war, portraying a naked crying girl during a napalm attack. The censorship of the image led to sanctions by the company against Norwegian author Tom Egeland, the editor of Norway’s largest newspaper Epsen Egil Hansen, and even the Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg, who eventually received an apology from Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg. Afterposten editor Epsen Egil Hansen criticized Facebook’s move, proclaiming that he thought the company were “abusing” their power, while Prime Minister Erna Solberg claimed that “What they do in removing such pictures, whatever their reasons, is to edit our common history.” The social network has also taken a firm stance against harmless comedy meme pages, deleting and then reinstating the popular anti-SJW page “Meninist,” removing anti-Hillary Clinton comedy pages, and even sanctioning page admins for uploading pictures of the rapper Drake morphed into a Nintendo 64 controller, forcing Facebook’s top content creators to start numerous revolts against the social network. However, Facebook have repeatedly refused to deal with real violations of their policy, including a picture that portrayed a robed man beheading a police officer that was posted by a Black Panther page, and numerous pages threatening or calling for the execution of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. Social media entrepreneur and WTF Magazine owner Jason M. Fyk, who is a part of the #PowerToThePages Facebook censorship awareness group, told Breitbart Tech that Facebook’s purge of pages meant that he had to let go of his former employees and rethink his business steps after they reduced his traffic substantially. He was even sanctioned by the site for posting a picture of Family Guy cartoon star Peter Griffin dancing while holding his digital man-boobs. “Facebook literally saved my life. I wouldn’t be where I am right now in life and for that I thank Mark Zuckerberg directly, but don’t take away freedom of thought and expression,” said Fyk to Breitbart Tech. “Facebook has become something far more than just a business. People’s lives are effected by it. It supports single parents and gives some people outlets to express who they are. You’re hurting family’s both those that post and those that view our content. Please reconsider your stance on content because Facebook is important to all of us.” Charlie Nash is a reporter for Breitbart Tech. You can follow him on Twitter @MrNashington or like his page at Facebook.

Charlie Nash

www.breitbart.com

http://www.breitbart.com/tech/2017/01/02/facebook-censors-iconic-statue-of-neptune-for-containing-nudity/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+breitbart+%28Breitbart+News%29

RIGHT

2017-01-02 15:12:02

Breitbart

CNN Cuts Mic During New Year’s Eve Show

CNN anchor Don Lemon chugged tequila, had his ear pierced, and launched into a rant about how "awful" 2016 was during a drunken live New Year’s Eve performance that ended with producers cutting off his microphone.

SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER CNN anchor Don Lemon chugged tequila, had his ear pierced, and launched into a rant about how “awful” 2016 was during a drunken live New Year’s Eve performance that ended with producers cutting off his microphone. Comedienne Kathy Griffin and CNN anchor Anderson Cooper kicked off the bizarre sequence of events by debating whether Lemon should get a tattoo or have his ear pierced. SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER “What are you thinking?” CNN anchor Brooke Baldwin asked Lemon, who was reporting live from New Orleans. “Nipples! Nipples! Nipples!” Griffin screamed suggested a nipple piercing, as Lemon began to unbutton his shirt. He eventually settled on getting his ear pierced. “Is this going to hurt?” a tequila shot-guzzling Lemon asked Chris, an ink-laden tattoo artist who was hold a piercing gun in his hand. “It’s not going to hurt me,” Chris said. “You’ll be fine.” “Mama Lemon,” a seemingly embarrassed Baldwin said, while looking into the camera,” I don’t know what he’s thinking. At least it’s just his ear, you know what I’m saying?” After the needled was in and Lemon was sporting a fleur de lis earring, Baldwin said “this is what happens when a lot of tequila happens.” About 30 minutes later, as the clock struck midnight and the New Year had finally arrived, Lemon (now drinking champagne) began to rebuke 2016. “I can’t hear a damn thing,” Lemon said. “So, 2016 was awful,” he added just before his microphone was abruptly cut off. What exactly was so “awful” about 2016, we may never know. But perhaps CNN cut off Lemon’s mic because it didn’t want to relive the public relations nightmare it endured last month after one of the network’s producers was heard offscreen joking about the possibility of President-elect Donald Trump’s plane crashing. And, of course, 2016 was the year Lemon was called “dumb as a rock” by none other than Trump. .@dbongino You were fantastic in defending both the Second Amendment and me last night on @CNN. Don Lemon is a lightweight – dumb as a rock — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 10, 2016 Oddly though, in a year where CNN had seen steep ratings declines and had been dubbed the “Clinton News Network,” Lemon’s on-air antics received rave reviews on social media as #drunkdonlemon trended online. CNN needs to be cutting to #DrunkDonLemon every 10 minutes, if not 5. #CNNNYE — Ashleigh Virginia (@ashvirginia_) January 1, 2017 Don Lemon wasted on @CNN getting his ear pierced in a bar is the perfect way to end 2016. #DrunkDonLemon — Tim Baker👨🏻‍💻 (@IAmTimBaker) January 1, 2017 Honestly, #drunkdonlemon is the best thing ever on TV. 2016 finally gave us a solid. — Nicole McDaniel (@nicoleann75) January 1, 2017 Follow Jerome Hudson on Twitter: @JeromeEHudson

Jerome Hudson

www.breitbart.com

http://www.breitbart.com/big-journalism/2017/01/02/drunk-don-lemon-cnn-cuts-mic-during-new-years-eve-show/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+breitbart+%28Breitbart+News%29

RIGHT

2017-01-02 15:13:00

The Wall Street Journal

Republican Congress Promises to Move Quickly Toward Goals

The nation’s new, all-Republican leadership begins to take power Tuesday with an ambitious agenda of tax cuts, regulation rollbacks and repeal of President Barack Obama’s health law, but they face a complicated legislative path pocked with unresolved policy details.

WASHINGTON—The nation’s new, all-Republican leadership begins to take power Tuesday with an ambitious agenda of tax cuts, regulation rollbacks and repeal of President Barack Obama’s health law, but they face a complicated legislative path pocked with unresolved policy details. After new senators are sworn in Tuesday by Vice President Joe Biden, a symbol of the departing Democratic administration, and House members by GOP Speaker Paul...

Siobhan Hughes;Kristina Peterson;Siobhan.Hughes Wsj.Com;Kristina.Peterson Wsj.Com

www.wsj.com

http://www.wsj.com/articles/republican-congress-promises-to-move-quickly-toward-goals-1483370025

UNDEFINED

2017-01-02 15:30:56

HuffPost

5 Times to Pick Up the Telephone Instead

A version of this article originally appeared on

A version of this article originally appeared on Gen[FKD]. Sign up for my newsletter to get my articles straight to your inbox. Most of us spend nearly nine hours a day engaged in media, technology or communications, but just a fraction of that time is spent talking on the phone. A 2014 Telegraph article reports that the number of landline calls has fallen by 38 percent since 2007. Meanwhile, even the average length of a cellphone call has dropped from 2.38 minutes in 1993 to 1.8 in 2012. Many of us view phone calls as distracting, superfluous and presumptuous, which is partly why phone communication is largely excluded from millennial career advice. We prefer email. But, in a few cases, they're still essential, superior modes of communication. Here are five times to get on the phone: If it's going to be awkward. One Forbes article advocated email over phone conversation because there are no awkward silences or pauses in emails. But this awkwardness is exactly why we need phones. Silence is a form of listening, empathy, respect and expression. It's also a way of communicating: we receive valuable information from pauses. Conversations that may be awkward on the phone are more likely to be offensive, misunderstood or even incomprehensible by email. Because awkward phone calls can sometimes turn into catastrophic email exchanges, it's better to bite the bullet and bear the discomfort. If you want to build a relationship. Phone calls humanize work communication in a way that email can't. Spoken words spark collaboration and laughter. We build relationships not by exchanging information but by feeling like we're together. Moreover, tone and context are easily misread in email, which can lead to unnecessary conflict and damage existing or potential relationships. "It is hard to get the EQ (emotional intelligence) right in email," explains Anthony Tjan for Harvard Business Review. When you've scheduled it. Calling someone out of the blue can feel confrontational and needy unless you have regular dialogue. In the age of email and calendar invites, there's nearly no reason to call someone without scheduling it first. This is both a courtesy and a productivity trick: by scheduling when the call will happen and how long it will last, you're more likely to stick to the agenda and allocated time. If you're negotiating. When you're thinking about whether to call or send an email, ask, "Is this a negotiation or a notification?" Whenever you don't want something in writing or you're still talking terms or discussing, phone calls can sort out interests and information without setting anything in stone prematurely. On the other hand, if you're simply trying to share information as an FYI, the receiver would likely appreciate not getting a phone call. There's nothing to converse about; an emailed heads up would be better. There's a distinction between sharing data, where one person talks at the other and conversation "where there's a coming together and more of an exchange," Dr. Richard Graham told The Telegraph. If it's time to close a loop. Email gives people an opportunity to research and consider what's on the table. Phone calls, by contrast, require thinking and responding quickly and spontaneously, which can make them stressful or inadequate when we want to weigh our options and take time to respond. But, for this same reason, calls can also be a great way to close the loop. If an existing email exchange is persistently unclear or unsettled, a phone call can politely put people on the spot and get a definitive answer. In short, phone calls can remove a digital bottleneck and tie up an exchange so we can move on or forward. Takeaway Fundamentally, how we communicate depends on what we're exchanging. If you're exchanging cut and dry information, email often suffices. If you're exchanging thoughts, ideas, opinions or potential terms for negotiation, a phone call may be warranted. Today, we have infinite ways of communicating information. Matching the right medium with the right topic can save us time and start more meaningful working relationships. If you liked this post, sign up for my weekly newsletter to receive my latest articles. Follow Caroline Beaton on Twitter: www.twitter.com/cs_beaton

Caroline Beaton;I Cover The Psychology Of Millennials At Work.;Follow Caroline Beaton On Twitter;Www.Twitter.Com Cs_Beaton

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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/caroline-beaton/5-times-to-pick-up-the-te_b_13916358.html?utm_hp_ref=business&ir=Business

LEFT

2017-01-02 15:32:11

CBS News

"Shaky hands" steadier after non-invasive treatment

Millions suffer from essential tremor, which causes involuntary hand shakiness, but a new MRI-guided treatment is helping some

Imagine having your hands shake so much that it’s hard to hold a glass of water, feed yourself, shave or put on makeup. Millions of people suffer from what’s called “essential tremor,” a neurological disorder that causes involuntary shaking. It’s typically not a dangerous condition, but essential tremor can become worse over time, becoming severe in some people. Wall Street businesswoman Alexandra Lebenthal suffers from the condition, but there’s now a non-invasive brain procedure that stops the shaking, WCBS’s Dr. Max Gomez reported. Lebenthal said the tremor affected every aspect of her life, including her work. “Taking a glass of wine or sparkling water from a tray at a party, being able to take a picture with my iPhone, so many basic, basic things,” she said. When medications didn’t help, Lebenthal became one of the first patients to receive a new FDA-approved treatment for essential tremor called “Exablate Neuro.” Developed by researchers in Israel, the outpatient, MRI-guided procedure uses focused ultrasound waves to target and ablate tissue deep in the brain. “It allows us to send ultrasound waves to specific spots in the brain and actually change the way the brain functions,” said Dr. Michael G. Kaplitt, Weill Cornell Medical College. Patients have reported a nearly 50 percent improvement in their tremors. The FDA only allows the procedure to be done on one side of the brain. Lebenthal chose her right side because she’s left-handed. “This is the new and improved and perfect hand,” she said, noting that even one steady hand has changed her life. “This is now, after the procedure, so just unbelievable,” she said. Essential tremor doesn’t lead to other diseases -- although sometimes it’s mistaken for Parkinson’s, but it can be very troubling, especially if the shaking also affects the head or voice. There are some medications that can help, but they have side effects, so the new ultrasound treatment is a welcome option for patients like Lebenthal. The treatment is done with the patient fully awake and test results can be seen right away.

www.cbsnews.com

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/shaky-hands-essential-tremor-steadier-non-invasive-device-exablate-neuro-treatment/

CENTER

2017-01-02 15:32:50

HuffPost

Obama's Farewell Address To Lay A Path Forward Under Trump

Obama said he was inspired by the farewell remarks of George Washington, who “set the precedent for a peaceful, democratic transfer of power.”

President Barack Obama will deliver a farewell address next week in his adopted hometown of Chicago, just 10 days before he hands over the Oval Office to President-elect Donald Trump. Formally announcing the event in an email to supporters Monday, Obama said that the speech, inspired by George Washington’s farewell address in 1796, will both express gratitude and lay out a path forward, as Democrats attempt to recover from their electoral losses and mount an effective response to Trump’s presidency. “I’m just beginning to write my remarks,” Obama wrote. “But I’m thinking about them as a chance to say thank you for this amazing journey, to celebrate the ways you’ve changed this country for the better these past eight years, and to offer some thoughts on where we all go from here.” The speech, likely his final public address as president, is scheduled for next Tuesday, Jan. 10, at McCormick Place, the city’s main convention center and the site of his 2012 re-election victory rally. Anadolu Agency via Getty Images Obama waves to reporters at his end-of-year press conference in December. Next week, he will deliver what will likely be his final speech as president. The tradition of a farewell address dates back to Washington, who “set the precedent for a peaceful, democratic transfer of power,” Obama wrote. President George W. Bush gave his own farewell address five days before leaving office in 2009, celebrating “America’s character” and giving his “best wishes to President-elect Obama, his wife Michelle, and their two beautiful girls.” On Sunday, Obama posted a series of tweets celebrating his administration’s achievements, much of which will be jeopardized under the incoming Trump administration. As we look ahead to the future, I wanted to take a moment to look back on the remarkable progress that you made possible these past 8 years. — President Obama (@POTUS) January 1, 2017 Democrats are already preparing for a battle over the Affordable Care Act, which Republicans have repeatedly pledged to repeal. On Wednesday, Obama plans to meet with Democratic leaders on Capitol Hill to discuss strategy. But next week’s speech will likely strike an optimistic and cordial tone. Obama has been fiercely committed to ensuring a peaceful transition of power, even as Trump has violated norms and set alarming precedents during the transition period. When asked about his concerns about Trump, Obama has mostly demurred. “Since 2009, we’ve faced our fair share of challenges, and come through them stronger,” Obama wrote on Monday. “That’s because we have never let go of a belief that has guided us ever since our founding — our conviction that, together, we can change this country for the better.”

Marina Fang;Associate Politics Editor;The Huffington Post

www.huffingtonpost.com

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/obama-farewell-address_us_586a5ce0e4b0d9a5945bfee9

LEFT

2017-01-02 15:37:01

Breitbart

Inspired by Wolverine, Scientists Develop Self-Healing Artificial Material

A team of scientists out of UC Riverside has developed a material that can mend itself, inspired by the self-healing power of iconic Marvel hero Wolverine.

SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER A team of scientists out of UC Riverside has developed a material that can mend itself, inspired by the self-healing power of iconic Marvel hero Wolverine. Thirty-one year old UCR Adjunct Assistant Professor of Chemistry Chao Wang is fascinated by Wolverine’s fictional regenerative abilities, specifically the manner in which his body heals itself of even the most dire injuries he sustains. It was this fascination that led him toward the development of a synthetic material that could repair itself, alongside a team that included fellow researchers from the University of Colorado. SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER The material needed to be able to mend itself, but the team wanted to do more. They wanted it to be conductive so that it could be stimulated in the same manner as our nervous systems stimulate our muscles, elastic enough to flex and stretch through any imaginable use, and transparent to boot. The material could be used for anything from powering devices to functional artificial muscle. It could make robots stronger and more graceful, or even be used to create artificial limbs that are virtually indistinguishable from the real thing. University of Colorado Assistant Professor Christoph Keplinger has used similar — though not self-healing — technology to create artificial muscle and transparent loudspeakers. But it’s that crucial ability to regenerate that sets this development apart and makes it viable to far broader usage. Carefully proportioned ionic conductivity is the key, in what Ph.D. student Tim Morrissey calls the “Goldilocks combination.” The self-healing even functioned when the material was cut into two entirely separate pieces, completely reforming until it had regained complete functionality, without any outside stimulation. It’s difficult to fathom the potential of such a massive leap forward in artificial tissue, but many are trying. Chao Wang’s e-mail inbox is quickly swelling messages from individuals all around the world, hoping to participate in the new material’s development. Follow Nate Church @Get2Church on Twitter for the latest news in gaming and technology, and snarky opinions on both.

Nate Church

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http://www.breitbart.com/tech/2017/01/02/inspired-by-wolverine-scientists-develop-self-healing-artificial-material/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+breitbart+%28Breitbart+News%29

RIGHT

2017-01-02 15:42:36

The Guardian

Dozens killed in gang violence at Brazilian jail

Decapitated bodies thrown over prison wall in Manaus after clash between inmates aligned with rival drug gangs

Around 60 people have been killed in a jail riot sparked by a war between rival drug gangs in the Amazon jungle city of Manaus. The head of security for Amazonas state, Sergio Fontes, said the death toll could rise as authorities got a clearer idea of the scale of the violence. He said the riot began late on Sunday and was brought under control by around 7am on Monday. Authorities were counting the prisoners to determine how many had escaped. It was the latest in a series of clashes between inmates aligned with the São Paulo-based First Capital Command (PCC), Brazil’s most powerful drug gang, and a local Manaus criminal group known as the North Family. The Manaus-based gang is widely believed to be attacking PCC inmates at the behest of the Rio de Janeiro-based Red Command (CV), Brazil’s second largest drug gang. Security analysts have said a truce that held for years between the PCC and CV was broken last year. In the latest riot, a group of inmates exchanged gunfire with police and held 12 prison guards hostage, Globo TV reported. Fontes said 74 prisoners were taken hostage during the riot, some of whom were killed and some released. Em Tempo newspaper reported that several decapitated bodies were thrown over the prison wall. A video posted on the newspaper’s website showed dozens of bloodied and mutilated bodies piled atop each other on the prison floor as other inmates milled about. Brazil’s prison system is precariously overcrowded and conditions in many institutions are horrific. Sunday’s riot was the deadliest in years. In 1992, 111 inmates were killed at Carandiru prison in São Paulo state, nearly all of them by police as they retook the jail.

Reuters In Brasilia

www.theguardian.com

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/02/dozens-killed-in-gang-violence-at-brazilian-jail-manaus

LEFT

2017-01-02 15:47:26

Breitbart

Virginia Man Dies After Plummeting 10 Stories Down D.C. Hotel's Boiler Shaft on New Year's

Virginia Man Dies After Plummeting 10 Stories Down D.C. Hotel's Boiler Shaft on New Year's

SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER A Virginia man died after he fell 10 stories down the boiler shaft of a Washington, D.C. hotel shortly after New Year’s, according to D.C. police and fire departments. Police say John Leonard, 23, of Herndon, climbed onto the roof of the Dupont Circle Hotel along with another person to get some good views of the city just before 2:30 a.m. Sunday when he fell down the shaft to the basement, the Washington Post reported. SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER “It looks like a fall,” said Rachel Schaerr, a spokeswoman for the D.C. police. “He went up to the roof to catch a really good view.” D.C. Fire and Metropolitan Police Department said in a tweet that officers responded to 72 emergency calls in the first hour of 2017, more than one emergency per minute. Mark Caldwell, the manager of the hotel, called the incident “a tragic accident.” D.C. police are still investigating the accident to determine how the fall occurred, NBC Washington reports.

Katherine Rodriguez

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RIGHT

2017-01-02 15:48:04

Breitbart

'91 Percent' of Chicago Homicides Committed with Firearm

The Chicago Tribune reports that "about 91 percent" of Chicago homicides in 2016 were committed with a firearm, despite decades of gun control legislation.

SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER Chicago and gun control are so intertwined that the legacy of one is the legacy of the other. With that said, it is worth noting that “about 91 percent” of Chicago homicides in 2016 were committed with a firearm, according to the Chicago Tribune. Think about it–Chicago has played host to decades of gun control experiments, including an all-out handgun ban from 1982-2010. Yet 2016 witnessed 779 homicides in the city, and over 9 out of 10 of those were firearm-related. And even after the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit struck down Illinois’ ban on concealed carry in December 2012, city leaders fought to make implementation of concealed carry as difficult as possible. For example, on September 15, 2013, American Thinker reported that Mayor Rahm Emanuel was fighting to block off sections of the city where concealed carry permit holders would be barred from carrying guns for self-defense. SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER These and other gun controls ultimately do one thing–they make it difficult for law-abiding citizens to acquire and carry the guns they need for self-defense, while doing nothing to curtail the behavior of criminals, who will always acquire and carry the guns they use in crime. Fast-forward to 2016 and Chicago’s gun-control legacy–779 homicides, more than 9 out of 10 of which were committed with a firearm. On January 2, 2017, the Chicago Tribune pointed to a recent study from the University of Chicago Crime Lab which shows “that of the five largest U.S. cities by population, including New York City, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Houston, Chicago has seen the largest single-year homicide increase of the last 25 years.” Moreover, whereas “Los Angeles’ homicides committed with guns averaged 72 percent from 2011 to 2015, and 60 percent in New York City,” the rate is Chicago is now “about 91 percent.” University of Chicago social service administration professor Jens Ludwig stressed that the growing use of guns for homicide in Chicago does not necessarily mean there are more guns in Chicago now than in the past. Rather, the situation may simply be that criminals feel less compunction about using guns to take lives in cold blood; therefore, more firearm-related homicides are showing up. It is interesting to note that the rate of firearm usage in homicides was “about 76 percent” in 1998. That climbed to “88 percent” on Obama’s watch during 2015, and now sits at “about 91 percent.” This is the legacy of gun control. AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and host of “Bullets with AWR Hawkins,” a Breitbart News podcast. He is also the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at [email protected].

Awr Hawkins

www.breitbart.com

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RIGHT

2017-01-02 15:49:00

The Wall Street Journal

Businesses Ramp Up Investment Despite Rising Rates

U.S. companies are preparing to invest again after years on the sidelines, and rising interest rates are unlikely to impede them.

U.S. companies are preparing to invest again after years on the sidelines, and rising interest rates are unlikely to impede them. Executives have grown more optimistic about growth, in part anticipating that President-elect Donald Trump’s administration and Republican congressional majorities will bring regulatory rollbacks, corporate tax breaks and increased infrastructure spending. The Federal Reserve last month signaled...

Theo Francis;Vipal Monga;Google;Theo.Francis Wsj.Com;Vipal.Monga Wsj.Com

www.wsj.com

http://www.wsj.com/articles/businesses-ramp-up-investment-despite-rising-rates-1483372142

UNDEFINED

2017-01-02 16:01:07

HuffPost

Donald Trump's Incoming Press Secretary Suggests Russia's Role In Hacking Is Irrelevant

Sean Spicer is more concerned with the DNC's IT security than the Kremlin's attempt to swing the U.S. election.

President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming press secretary, Sean Spicer, wants Americans to focus more on the DNC’s cybersecurity efforts than Russia’s role in a recent cyberattack against U.S. government servers. Spicer chose to dance around questions regarding Kremlin involvement in the attack on a Monday “Fox & Friends” appearance. When asked point-blank if Russia was behind the hacking, he failed to formulate a coherent response. He stumbled on his words: But a question ― there’s a difference between whether they were behind ― look, every ― look, there’s of ― you know ― “probing” is the actual word when you go out and try to go to various sites ― whether or not they were hacked and they did anything is a completely different story. After several seconds of unintelligible mumbling, Spicer decided to side step the question altogether and suggested Russian involvement is irrelevant if it didn’t effectively influence the election. “The way the mainstream media is playing this up is that they had an influence in the election,” Spicer said. “There is zero evidence they actually influenced the election.” But a joint report released last week from the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security directly blamed Russian intelligence services for meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Still, Spicer implied the president-elect isn’t concerned with mounting evidence naming Russia as the culprit behind the attack. He suggested the DNC’s cybersecurity strategy ― not a foreign adversary’s illegal attempt to swing the U.S. election ― is the larger issue at hand. “Frankly, and I don’t mean to be disrespectful because hacking is wrong,” Spicer said. “But that 13-page report is more of a ‘how-to’ manual for the DNC as to how they can improve their IT security.” The report followed Russian sanctions imposed by President Barack Obama, which expel 35 Russian diplomats and bar several Russian intelligence agencies and officers from traveling to the U.S and doing business with American companies. In a Sunday interview on ABC’s “This Week,” Spicer said he thought the president’s course of action might be too harsh. He questioned whether the penalties imposed were an appropriate response to Russia’s unprecedented act of cyberwarfare. “One of the questions that we have is, why the magnitude of this? I mean, you look at 35 people being expelled, two sites being closed down, the question is, is that response in proportion to the actions taken?” Spicer said. “Maybe it was; maybe it wasn’t but you have to think about that.” Several other members of Trump’s inner circle have also spoken out against Obama’s sanctions ― not to oppose punishment, but to call for stricter penalties. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) called the sanctions a “good initial step,” but said a stronger response to the attack must be made. On “Fox & Friends” last week, former UN Ambassador John Bolton warned against Republicans brushing off the Russian hacking. “The fact that Russian efforts were incompetent or insufficient shouldn’t make us feel better,” he said. “If Japan had attacked Pearl Harbor and all of its bombs and torpedoes had missed, no Americans killed, no ships sunk, would we have said no harm, no foul? No, it’s the effort that they made, if this is accurate, that should trouble us. Not the fact that it failed.”

Hayley Miller;Reporter;The Huffington Post

www.huffingtonpost.com

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trumps-press-secretary-sean-spicer-russian-hacking_us_586a48eae4b0eb58648a063b?ir=WorldPost&utm_hp_ref=world

LEFT

2017-01-02 16:05:43

USA Today

Suicide car bomber outside Mogadishu airport kills 3: Police

MOGADISHU, Somalia - A Somali police officer says a suicide bomber detonated an explosives-laden vehicle at a security checkpoint near Mogadishu’s international airport, killing at least three people.

Breaking news. (Photo: USA TODAY) MOGADISHU, Somalia - A Somali police officer says a suicide bomber detonated an explosives-laden vehicle at a security checkpoint near Mogadishu’s international airport, killing at least three people. Capt. Mohamed Hussein says the bomb detonated Monday as security forces were searching cars at the checkpoint, a few hundred meters (yards) from the main base of the African Union peacekeeping mission. The checkpoint is close to United Nations offices and the Peace Hotel, which is often frequented by foreigners and officials. The powerful blast blew roofs off nearby buildings. A second blast and heavy gunfire could be heard at the checkpoint after the attack, but there were no immediate details. The al-Qaida-linked Islamic extremist group al-Shabab, which often carries out such attacks, quickly claimed responsibility for Monday’s attack through its radio arm, Andalus. Despite being ousted from most of its key strongholds across large parts of south and central Somalia, the homegrown group continues to wage deadly attacks across the country. Somalia’s capital has seen frequent bomb attacks at hotels and military checkpoints. In July, two al-Shabab suicide bombers detonated explosives-laden cars outside the office of the U.N.’s mine-clearing agency and an army checkpoint near the African Union’s main base, killing 13. The assaults have threatened this Horn of Africa nation’s attempts to rebuild from decades of chaos. The country’s presidential election, a key step toward recovery, already has been delayed multiple times because of security and other concerns. Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/2iVXNn3

Abdi Guled;A.M. Est January

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CENTER

2017-01-02 16:08:23

HuffPost

We Need To Know The Algorithms The Government Uses To Make Important Decisions About Us

By Nicholas Diakopoulos,

In criminal justice systems, credit markets, employment arenas, higher education admissions processes and even social media networks, data-driven algorithms now drive decision-making in ways that touch our economic, social and civic lives. These software systems rank, classify, associate or filter information, using human-crafted or data-induced rules that allow for consistent treatment across large populations. But while there may be efficiency gains from these techniques, they can also harbor biases against disadvantaged groups or reinforce structural discrimination. In terms of criminal justice, for example, is it fair to make judgments on an individual's parole based on statistical tendencies measured across a wide group of people? Could discrimination arise from applying a statistical model developed for one state's population to another, demographically different population? The public needs to understand the bias and power of algorithms used in the public sphere, including by government agencies. An effort I am involved with, called algorithmic accountability, seeks to make the influences of those sorts of systems clearer and more widely understood. Existing transparency techniques, when applied to algorithms, could enable people to monitor, audit and criticize how those systems are functioning -- or not, as the case may be. Unfortunately, government agencies seem unprepared for inquiries about algorithms and their uses in decisions that significantly affect both individuals and the public at large. Opening algorithms to public scrutiny Last year the federal government began studying the pros and cons of using computerized data analysis to help determine prison inmates' likelihood of reoffending upon release. Scoring individuals as low-, medium-, or high-risk can help with housing and treatment decisions, identifying people who can safely be sent to a minimum security prison or even a "halfway house," or who would benefit from a particular type of psychological care. That information can make the justice process more efficient and less expensive, and even reduce prison crowding. Treating low-risk offenders like high-risk offenders has been shown in some studies to lead to them internalizing being a "sick" criminal and in need of treatment for their deviant behavior. Separating them can thus reduce the development of negative behaviors that would lead to recidivism upon release. Data and algorithms for scoring inmates' reoffending risk are already used extensively by states for managing pretrial detention, probation, parole and even sentencing. But it's easy for them to go unnoticed -- they often look like unassuming bureaucratic paperwork. Typically the algorithms are boiled down to simplified score sheets that are filled out by public servants with little understanding of the underlying calculations. For instance, a case worker might evaluate a prisoner using a form where the case worker marks down that the prisoner had been convicted of a violent crime, was young at the time of the first arrest, and had not graduated from high school or gotten a GED. Those factors and other characteristics about the person and the crime result in a score that suggests whether the inmate might be eligible for parole review. The form itself, as well as its scoring system, often discloses key features about the algorithm, like the variables under consideration and how they come together to form an overall risk score. But what's also important for algorithmic transparency is to know how such forms were designed, developed and evaluated. Only then can the public know whether the factors and calculations involved in arriving at the score are fair and reasonable, or uninformed and biased. Using the Freedom of Information Act Our primary tool for getting our hands on those forms, and their supporting material, is the law, and specifically, freedom of information laws. They are among the most powerful mechanisms the public has at its disposal for ensuring transparency in government. At the federal level, the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) allows the public to formally request -- and expect to receive in return -- documents from the federal government. Analogous statutes exist for each state. Enacted in 1966, FOIA was created before the widespread use of computing, and well before large reams of data were routinely used in software systems to manage individuals and make predictions. There has been some initial research into whether FOIA is able to facilitate the disclosure of software source code. But a question remains about whether current laws are responsive to the needs of the 21st-century public: can we FOIA algorithms? A case study in algorithm transparency I set out to answer this question at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland, where I am an assistant professor. In the fall of 2015, working with my colleague Sandy Banisky's media law class, we guided students in submitting FOIA requests to each of the 50 states. We asked for documents, mathematical descriptions, data, validation assessments, contracts and source code related to algorithms used in criminal justice, such as for parole and probation, bail or sentencing decisions. As a semester-long project, the effort was necessarily constrained by time, with plenty of hurdles and relatively few successes. As with many journalists' investigations, even figuring out whom to ask -- and how -- was a challenge. Different agencies may be responsible for different areas of the criminal justice system (sentencing might be done by courts, but parole management done by a Department of Corrections). Even after identifying the right person, students found government officials used different terminology that made it hard to communicate what information they wanted. At times, students had to work hard to explain "criminal justice algorithms" to a not-so-data-savvy public servant. In retrospect, it might have been more effective to ask for "risk assessment tools," as that is a term often used by state governments. Handling the answers Some states, such as Colorado, flat-out denied our request, saying that the algorithms were contained in software, which was not considered a "document" that open government laws required officials to make public. Different states have different rules about disclosing software use. This has sometimes surfaced in the courts, such as a 2004 suit against the city of Detroit over whether the formula for calculating water fees charged to an adjacent city should be made public. In our own efforts, we received only one mathematical description of a criminal justice algorithm: Oregon disclosed the 16 variables and their weights in a model used there to predict recidivism. The state of North Dakota released an Excel spreadsheet showing the equation used for determining dates when inmates would be eligible to be considered for parole. From Idaho and New Mexico we received documents with some descriptions of the recidivism-risk assessments those states used, but no details about how they were developed or validated. Nine states based their refusal to disclose details about their criminal justice algorithms on the claim that the information was really owned by a company. This implication is that releasing the algorithm would harm the firm that developed it. A common recidivism-risk questionnaire, called the LSI-R, turns out to be a commercial product, protected by copyright. States such as Hawaii and Maine claimed that prevented its disclosure to the public. Louisiana said its contract with the developer of a new risk assessment technique barred the release of the requested information for six months. The state of Kentucky cited its contract with a philanthropic foundation as the reason it could not disclose more details. Concerns about proprietary information may be legitimate, but given that the government routinely contracts with private companies, how do we balance those concerns against an explainable and indeed legitimate justice system? Making improvements Much-needed FOIA reform is currently under deliberation by Congress. This provides an opportunity for the law to be modernized, but the proposed changes still do little to accommodate the growing use of algorithms in government. Algorithmic transparency information might be codified into reports that the government generates and makes public on a regular basis, as part of business as usual. As a society we should require that public information officers be trained so they are literate and indeed fluent in the terminology they may encounter when the public is asking for algorithms. The federal government might even create a new position for an "algorithms czar," an ombudsman whose task it would be to communicate about and field inquiries into government automation. None of the documents we received in our research told us how criminal justice risk assessment forms were developed or evaluated. As algorithms govern more and more of our lives, citizens need -- and must demand -- more transparency. Nicholas Diakopoulos, Tow Fellow, Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia University; Assistant Professor of Journalism, University of Maryland This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

The Conversation Us;Independent Source Of News;Analysis;Experts In The Academic Community.;Follow The Conversation Us On Twitter;Www.Twitter.Com Conversationus

www.huffingtonpost.com

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/the-conversation-us/we-need-to-know-the-algor_b_13928928.html?utm_hp_ref=politics&ir=Politics

LEFT

2017-01-02 16:09:00

The Wall Street Journal

Anshu Jain Joins Cantor Fitzgerald as President

Anshu Jain, former co-chief executive officer of Deutsche Bank, has joined Cantor Fitzgerald in a newly created president role.

Anshu Jain has landed a top job at New York-based Cantor Fitzgerald LP a year and a half after being replaced as co-chief executive officer of Deutsche Bank AG. In his newly created position as group-level president, Mr. Jain will help oversee Cantor’s companywide strategy and expansion efforts in areas including fixed-income and equities...

Jenny Strasburg;Google;Jenny.Strasburg Wsj.Com

www.wsj.com

http://www.wsj.com/articles/anshu-jain-joins-cantor-fitzgerald-as-president-1483373348

UNDEFINED

2017-01-02 16:16:28

Breitbart

Stolen Flatbed Truck Accidentally Attaches Itself to Police Car, Drags Officer Inside

Stolen Flatbed Truck Accidentally Attaches Itself to Police Car, Drags Officer Inside

SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER A police car with an officer inside accidentally got hooked to a stolen flatbed truck and was dragged down a highway Monday morning. The stolen truck was approaching the New York State Thruway toward Suffern, New York when New York State Police said they responded to calls for help. SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER “At that point the operator of the stolen flatbed completed a u-turn, and started heading back soutbound on the New York State Thruway, and during that time he came into contact with two state police units pursuing the vehicle, and he ultimately exited here at 15A,” New York State Police Captain Richard Mazzone said to CBS New York. Officers from East Rutherford, New Jersey chasing the truck into New York tried to stop the driver of the stolen truck from Hackensack when one of the police cars trying to chase the truck down inadvertently got hooked to the truck, NBC New York reported. The chase came to an end on Route 59 near the Suffern border when it slammed into a Ramapo police car. Two of the officers suffered minor injuries, as well as the suspect who was arrested.

Katherine Rodriguez

www.breitbart.com

http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/01/02/stolen-flatbed-truck-accidentally-attaches-police-car-drags-officer-inside/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+breitbart+%28Breitbart+News%29

RIGHT

2017-01-02 16:16:53

The Guardian

BHS liquidator pores over details of Green and Chappell property deals

Insolvency specialist is said to be making huge exercise in data collation relating to whether directors breached legal duty

The liquidators of BHS are conducting a detailed investigation into property transactions that took place during the regimes of Sir Philip Green and Dominic Chappell, including whether the directors of the retailer breached their duties. Insolvency practitioners have a legal duty to review the conduct of the directors of a collapsed company, but the scope and depth of the BHS investigation is rare. FRP Advisory is undertaking a “massive exercise in data collation”, according to one source close to the winding up of BHS. BHS collapsed into administration last April, leading to the loss of 11,000 jobs and leaving a £571m pension deficit. A parliamentary investigation into the failure of the department store chain concluded that it had been systematically plundered under the ownership of Green and Chappell. Green owned BHS for 15 years until he sold it to Chappell, a former bankrupt, for £1. During his ownership, the Green family and other shareholders collected at least £580m from BHS in dividends, rental payments, and interest on loans. Chappell’s company, Retail Acquisitions, received payments of up to £25m from BHS despite owning the department store chain for just 13 months until it collapsed. The parliamentary committee that investigated BHS quizzed Green and Chappell about a series of property deals. Green was criticised over the sale by Arcadia, his retail business, of BHS’s shop in Ealing, west London, to a company run by his stepson less than a week before BHS was sold to Chappell. How attempts to save BHS, and 11,000 jobs, were doomed by chaos and mistrust Read more Brett Palos, who also appeared before MPs during their inquiry, bought the store for £6.9m through his company Thackeray Estates, then sold it for a £3m profit three months later. Chappell also sold BHS’s main warehouse in Atherstone, Warwickshire, for £15m to a company that has one of his friends, Mahmood Ismailjee, as a director. Green told MPs he was not involved the Ealing transaction and that the company had valued the property before selling it. Chappell has insisted he acted properly as a director throughout his tenure at BHS. Under British corporate law, the directors of a company have a duty not to sell assets at an undervalue. If a director is found to have breached this duty, he is at risk of being disqualified by the Insolvency Service. Liquidators can also apply to the court to reverse the transaction if it occurred within the last two years. A spokesman for FRP said: “We will be continuing our process of making recoveries through liquidation on behalf of all creditors and continuing with our statutory duties.” However, the firm revealed more details about its work in a progress report sent to creditors of BHS at the end of November, just before the retailer moved from administration. FRP said: “The concurrent administrators [FRP] have commenced their enquiries into a number of historic matters of concern and key transactions, including those raised by the parliamentary enquiry into the company’s failure, and they are working with their legal advisers, Jones Day, to determine appropriate avenues of further investigation. “It would not be appropriate to comment in detail on the nature and level of the concurrent administrators’ investigations at this juncture. However, within the parameters of the court order, these have included a review of the possible claims and challenges available to an insolvency office holder pursuant to the Companies Act 2006 and Insolvency Act 1986, including those relating to antecedent transactions and wrongful trading.” FRP was brought in to be the joint administrator to BHS with Duff & Phelps – then the sole liquidator – by the Pension Protection fund, the biggest creditor. Green, who spent Christmas and new year in Florida, remains in talks with the Pensions Regulator about a settlement for the BHS pension scheme. He has until March to reach a deal before the regulator moves to the next stage of its legal proceedings against him. Chappell said the period since BHS collapsed had been “extremely difficult” and that Retail Acquisitions did “everything we possibly could” to save the retailer. “Everybody has been under very close scrutiny,” he added. “We have complied with every regulatory body, of which there is five we have been dealing with. We have been open and frank with them right the way through and living up to our fiduciary care as directors of a business that has failed. “As it has been stated, we took huge amounts of legal advice right the way through, from the start to the finish of BHS. We complied with every single thing that we needed to do as directors and at no stage did we trade immorally.”

Graham Ruddick

www.theguardian.com

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/jan/02/bhs-liquidator-property-deal-investigation-green-chappell

LEFT

2017-01-02 16:23:10

Breitbart

Mariah Carey Lip Sync Debacle Mocked By Indiana Pacers Fans (VIDEO)

Mariah Carey's disastrous performance Saturday on Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve was mocked by fans at the latest Indiana Pacers game.

SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER Mariah Carey’s disastrous performance Saturday on Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve was mocked by fans at the latest Indiana Pacers game. When the “Lip Sync Cam” lit up, fans at Bankers Life Field were encouraged to sing lyrics from Carey’s 1991 hit song “Emotions.” SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER “That was so funny last night. That was the best thing ever,” a man can be heard saying in a video posted by TMZ. Carey’s live show in Times Square was plagued with technical difficulties, including one that caused the crooner’s audio track to be thrown out of sync. She sporadically hummed along while the lyrics to “Emotions” played. And by the time the audio issues were out, Carey had given up on the performance. On Monday, Carey shrugged off the debacle. “Shit happens,” she tweeted, adding “Have a happy and healthy new year everybody! Here’s to making more headlines in 2017.” Shit happens 😩 Have a happy and healthy new year everybody!🎉 Here's to making more headlines in 2017 😂 pic.twitter.com/0Td8se57jr — Mariah Carey (@MariahCarey) January 1, 2017 Check out the epic trolling by the Pacers fans in the video above. Follow Jerome Hudson on Twitter: @JeromeEHudson

Jerome Hudson

www.breitbart.com

http://www.breitbart.com/big-hollywood/2017/01/02/mariah-carey-lip-sync-debacle-mocked-by-indiana-pacers-fans-video/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+breitbart+%28Breitbart+News%29

RIGHT

2017-01-02 16:27:46

CNN

Trump spokesman Sean Spicer casts doubt on Intel report on Russia hacks

Donald Trump's incoming press secretary Sean Spicer clashed with CNN host Alisyn Camerota on "New Day," Monday over Russsa intel report.

(CNN) The President-elect's incoming press secretary, Sean Spicer, clashed Monday with CNN host Alisyn Camerota, casting doubt on a US intelligence assessment that suggests Russia directed hacks on the Democratic National Committee in order to sway the presidential race in favor of Donald Trump. "This report that everyone keeps talking about is not final," Spicer said, speaking on CNN's "New Day." The "intelligence community is talking about wrapping it up later this week ... the idea that we are jumping to conclusions before we have a final report is frankly irresponsible." "I know this is frustrating for you that we are doing it in a logical way." Trump spox takes shot at @AlisynCamerota https://t.co/ffqmL8CubK — New Day (@NewDay) January 2, 2017 Over the weekend, Trump voiced doubt over the pending report, invoking flawed intelligence from the lead-up to the Iraq War and suggesting someone else could be to blame for the hacks. He also claimed to have inside information on the matter, which he said he would reveal later this week. "I just want them to be sure, because it's a pretty serious charge, and I want them to be sure," said Trump, speaking from his Mar-a-Lago estate. "And if you look at the weapons of mass destruction, that was a disaster, and they were wrong." Trump has repeatedly cast aside the uniform US intelligence assessment from early October that Moscow was behind hacking, even after receiving classified intelligence briefings. Trump's decision puts him at odds with congressional leaders from his own party. The President-elect has scheduled an intelligence briefing midweek on the hacking. Read More

Josiah Ryan

www.cnn.com

http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/02/politics/trump-spokesman-sean-spicer-russia-hacking-report-cnntv/index.html

UNDEFINED

2017-01-02 16:30:00

The Wall Street Journal

China Infrastructure Spending Won’t Prop Up Metals as Housing Slows

Spending on infrastructure in China won’t fully compensate for a slowdown in housing in terms of demand for iron, copper and coal.

Global commodities producers are hoping that China will order big lumps of iron, coal and copper in the new year to send prices higher. The miners are banking on a boost in infrastructure spending, which they believe would offset the price declines caused by slowing growth in housing. China is the marginal buyer of every big commodity, but the idea that Chinese infrastructure can itself drive prices much beyond recent highs looks...

Nathaniel Taplin

www.wsj.com

http://www.wsj.com/articles/china-infrastructure-spending-wont-prop-up-metals-as-housing-slows-1483374640

UNDEFINED

2017-01-02 16:37:12

HuffPost

America Can't Afford more Wars: Time for Washington to Promote Economics of Peace

President-elect Donald Trump appears focused on domestic policy. He wants to rebuild infrastructure, cut taxes, reduce imports, save jobs, streamline reg...

President-elect Donald Trump appears focused on domestic policy. He wants to rebuild infrastructure, cut taxes, reduce imports, save jobs, streamline regulation, and more. While he seems to have strong views on international issues, he lacks "nuance." He won't be able to escape foreign controversies, but he could avoid creating his own. He should follow one overriding principle: Stay out of war. George W. Bush thought differently. Unfortunately, his two conflicts are the gifts which keep on giving--disastrously. The Afghanistan war was necessary, but only its initial phase, targeting al-Qaeda and ousting the Taliban. The following 14-plus years of Quixotic nation-building were a tragic diversion. The invasion of Iraq, with no connection to 9/11 and posing no threat to America, was foolish from the start. In these two conflicts, estimates Brown University's Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs, almost 6900 American military personnel have died and another 52,000 have been wounded. Even more U.S. contractors, nearly 7100, have been killed. Tens of thousands more have been injured. Thousands of allied military personnel and foreign contractors also have become casualties. These numbers understate the human cost. Many of those wounded suffered, and still suffer, grievously. They would have died in earlier wars and will endure crippling injuries for the rest of their lives. Wrote Neta Crawford of Boston University, "The veterans of these wars suffer from skeletal injury, PTSD and Traumatic Brain Injury at rates higher than the veterans of other wars." Moreover, hundreds of thousands of civilians have died in the sectarian conflict unleashed by the U.S. invasion in Iraq: estimates start at around 200,000 and race upward. More than 30,000 have died in the Afghan war. U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan have killed more than 1400 civilians. Thousands more civilians have died in Pakistani military operations supported by America. An estimated 7.6 million Iraqis, Afghans, and Pakistanis have been displaced at home or turned into refugees overseas. Imagine what America would be if Bush had not plunged the nation into two disastrous and unnecessary wars. Imagine if the tens of thousands of Americans had not been killed or injured. Imagine if they were alive and well to serve their families, communities, and country. Imagine what they could have accomplished for themselves and contributed to the lives of those around them. The nation would be much richer in human, social, and economic terms. While these lives obviously cannot be reclaimed, the president-elect could honor their sacrifice by avoiding any similarly misguided wars in the future. There's also the financial cost of Bush's follies. As of September, figured Crawford in a Watson Institute paper, Washington had spent $4.79 trillion on Afghanistan and Iraq, along with still sizeable but much smaller amounts in Pakistan and Syria. Of course, explained Crawford, "a full accounting of any war's burdens cannot be placed in columns on a ledger." Yet by even this limited measure Americans should recoil in horror at the extraordinary waste. These prodigious expenditures span the spectrum. Much went for combat operations. A substantial amount funded civilian aid and reconstruction, much of it grossly wasted. Some expenditures covered anti-terrorism activities at home. Washington paid allies, such as Croatia, Georgia, Jordan, and Poland, for their support. Pakistan, too, received much civilian and military assistance, including $22 billion in Coalition Support Funds. Highly indebted Uncle Sam paid interest on the Pentagon's appropriations. In addition, wrote Crawford, "any reasonable estimate of the costs of the wars includes the fact that each war entails essentially signing rather large promissory notes to fulfill the U.S. obligations for medical care and support for wounded veterans. These future obligations will total approximately an additional $1 trillion in medical and disability payments and additional administrative burden through 2053." For instance, an astounding 327,000 veterans of the post-9/11 wars have been diagnosed with brain injuries and more than 700,000 have been classified as at least 30 percent disabled. Promiscuous war-making also requires a larger military. Thus, greater annual expenditures are required to support a bigger force structure and more weapons. Pay was increased to attract volunteers as unpopular wars reduced the propensity of many young men and women to enlist. Crawford also noted that expenses rose because of "the more complicated medical needs of active duty soldiers injured during their deployments." Benefits must be provided to additional retirees. Overall, Bush's misguided wars prompted a large increase in military outlays for this "base budget," which Barack Obama only began trimming late in his first term, before pushing back up after he plunged America into war against the Islamic State. Crawford attributed $733 billion in base budget expenses to Bush's wars. Still, Crawford's $4.79 trillion cost estimate remains too low. It does not include the expense of veterans' care paid by states and localities. Nor "other costs externalized to military families and Americans more generally," including "the macro-economic consequences of the wars." Nor is future interest expense included. Neither Bush nor Obama used traditional measures to finance their wars--such as higher taxes, sale of war bonds, equivalent spending cuts, or conscription. Thus, the conflicts, wrote Crawford, "are projected to add more than $1 trillion dollars to the national debt by 2023. By 2053, interest costs will be at least $7.9 trillion unless the U.S. changes the way it pays for the wars." That is, Americans may eventually pay more to finance the wars' costs than for the wars themselves. Who predicted anything close to this expense? No one, at least not in the Bush administration. Mitch Daniels, head of the Office of Management and Budget, figured $50 to $60 billion total. Economic adviser Lawrence Lindsey was forced out after predicting a war cost of $100 billion to $200 billion. The president he served viewed this estimate as wildly excessive. In short, the Bush administration lived in a fantasy world as it committed the worst foreign policy blunder in decades. Trillions of dollars were diverted from other, beneficial uses. And we will continue paying for Bush's wars for years if not decades more. Donald Trump should take a different course if he wants to solve problems, make deals, and strengthen America. He should start by insisting on no more stupid wars. No social engineering, no nation-building, no humanitarian crusades, no shaping the international environment. Absent a compelling justification, an extraordinarily serious if not vital interest, he should not loose the dogs of war. Next, he should end Bush's stupid wars. President Trump should bring the troops home from Afghanistan immediately. Fifteen years is enough. So long as the Taliban does not host terrorist training camps, Washington can live with a divided Afghanistan stuck in the Dark Ages. It is beyond America's power to turn Central Asia into a mirror image of America. And he should draw down U.S. forces in Iraq. The latter has the resources to defeat the Islamic State. America can only lose participating in an ongoing sectarian war in which even its allies are adversaries: Shia-dominated Iraqi military, local Sunni tribes, Kurdish Peshmerga, Sunni Turkey's military, and Iran-backed Shia militias. Unfortunately, after pushing the Iraqi Humpty Dumpty off of the wall, Washington cannot put him back together again. It might be hard for Donald Trump to decide what to do. But it shouldn't be hard for him to decide what not to do: start another war. He is far more likely to succeed if America is at peace. Making that happen would be could be his most important legacy.

Doug Bandow;Contributing Writer;Policy Analyst;Follow Doug Bandow On Twitter;Www.Twitter.Com Doug_Bandow

www.huffingtonpost.com

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/doug-bandow/america-cant-afford-more_b_13929040.html?utm_hp_ref=politics&ir=Politics

LEFT

2017-01-02 16:56:19

HuffPost

Civil Society During the Trump Years

As the Obama administration winds down and the Trump presidency is now only a few days away, it is apparent that civil society, in the form of non-govern...

As the Obama administration winds down and the Trump presidency is now only a few days away, it is apparent that civil society, in the form of non-governmental organizations, advocacy groups, professional association, and perhaps most importantly a broad sense among the American people that we are a free people with rights that we will not relinquish easily, will become an increasingly important bulwark against efforts by the Trump administration to rollback democracy. That language may be a strong way to start the New Year, but that is what the president-elect, in so many words, has pledged to do, and there is little reason to think he will move away from that position. Civil society has long been strong and vibrant and strong in the US. National organizations across the political spectrum, including groups like the ACLU, Planned Parenthood, the NAACP, and yes the NRA and the Chamber of Commerce, have played an important role in our democracy and our political life. Additionally, thousands of organizations at the local level have helped people fight against injustice, learn more about policy questions, mobilize to achieve political goals and help people understand their rights. Without these types of organizations, and the networks of trust and cooperation that they help engender, and indeed from which they spring, American democracy would be a shadow of what has been. This is a foundational reality about our country. It is also one that will be likely be tested during the next administration. Civil society organizations that are committed to protecting the rights of Americans, particularly women, LGBT people, and racial and religious minorities will be essential to preserving American democracy in the months and years to come. While it is important to recognize the value of these kinds of organizations, and the critical role they must play in the near future, it is also necessary to recognize that they too will encounter obstacles and potentially harassment from the government. It is not at all difficult to imagine that a president who during his campaign and the transition period has attacked and made threats against the media will take a similar approach to civil society more broadly. A Trump administration that seeks to pass laws limiting the rights of, for example, Muslims, through registries or other forms of discrimination will encounter resistance from organizations like the ACLU. A President Trump would then likely turn to Twitter to insult the leaders of ACLU and the organization itself. This is not a far-fetched scenario given what he recently did to Indiana labor leader Chuck Jones. President Trump could defend those Tweets, change the subject and otherwise deflect responsibility, but his more thuggish supporters could easily take it upon themselves to threaten or harass those ACLU leaders. Events like this have not happened yet, but they are the kinds of things about which we should be particularly aware as the administration settles in. In countries around the world, one of the first components of democratic rollback are efforts by the state to delegitimize and damage important civil society organizations. We must be prepared for that in Trump's America as well. Significantly, most of the strategies employed by civil society such as mobilizing people for elections, seeking to put pressure on members of congress, lawsuits and the like, rely upon functioning, and sometimes even sympathetic, political institutions. In the US, civil society has drawn much of its strength precisely from being able to operate in relationship to consistent and rational government institutions. After January 20th, the political space for this will continue to shrink. We already see a Republican congress that is extremely reluctant to look into conflicts of interests, and the ties between Trump and Moscow that would, in previous eras, be major and enduring scandals. Because of Republicans in the Senate who refused to do their constitutional duty and hold hearings and a confirmation vote for President Obama's Supreme Court appointee last year, Trump will inherit a vacancy on the court. It is all but certain he will fill that vacancy with a very conservative judge, thus making it more difficult for civil society organizations to win cases in front of the country's highest court. Lastly, that court will very likely support GOP efforts in key states to pass more voter suppression laws, making electoral strategies less likely so succeed. This will add up to a political environment where many progressive civil society organizations will find themselves either stymied or harassed much of the time. Thus, while it civil society remains an important piece of the democratic milieu in the US, the ability of these organizations to stop the undemocratic impulses of the incoming Trump administration will be strained. Progressive organizations are absolutely essential to protecting our rights and to preserving our democracy and deserver our ongoing support, but they will also face unprecedented challenges; and Americans would be over-optimistic to simply assume that this longstanding safeguard will remain effective in the coming Trump years.

Lincoln Mitchell;Host Of Painting The Corners;The Baseball;International Affairs Podcast. For More Information Visit Lincolnmitchell.Com;Follow Lincoln Mitchell On Twitter;Www.Twitter.Com Lincolnmitchell;Lincoln A. Mitchell

www.huffingtonpost.com

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lincoln-mitchell/civil-society-during-the_b_13929112.html?utm_hp_ref=politics&ir=Politics

LEFT

2017-01-02 16:57:00

HuffPost

Israeli Settlement Policy As A Strategic Arm Of The Religious Nationalists' Annexation Plan Can Harm United States Interests And Have Negative Implications For The American Jewish Community

In recent days, Israeli settlement activity has been the focus of considerable attention, condemned in a United Nations Resolution which the Obama Admini...

In recent days, Israeli settlement activity has been the focus of considerable attention, condemned in a United Nations Resolution which the Obama Administration did not veto but abstained from supporting and in an impassioned speech by Secretary of State John Kerry who warned that settlement activities were rapidly making a future "two-state" solution impossible to achieve. Both the abstention and the speech were sharply attacked by Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu as well as members of Congress from both sides of the aisle and a number of American Jewish organizations. And President- Elect Trump made it clear that his administration would treat the Israelis totally differently, asking them to "stay strong" until he takes office. Whether or not one agrees with the UN actions or all of the elements of Kerry's speech, one should recognize the importance of one ongoing development that Kerry briefly referred to. Israel's religious nationalists, like the Jewish Home Party headed by Naftali Bennett, and other right wing Israeli groups, powerful members of Prime Minister Netanyahu's governing coalition, are using settlement expansion as part of a strategy ultimately to incorporate the West Bank -what they call Judea and Samaria - into a biblically inspired "Greater Israel." And, disappointingly, in Trump's choice of bankruptcy attorney David Friedman as his Ambassador to Israel, he has selected an avowed supporter of Israel settlement expansion who is hostile to a two-state solution and argues that it would not be illegal for Israel to annex the West Bank. Thus, settlement expansion has become the means to two ends: to preclude a two state solution and to carry out annexation. There are now about 570,000 Jewish settlers living over the "Green Line" ((pre) 1967 borders.) The problematic number is not settlements in East Jerusalem (200,000 representing 35.1% of settlers over the Green line) or settlements in lands that will end up as part of Israel in a land swap (large settlement blocks and land adjacent to the Green Line with a population of 260,000 representing 45.6% of settlers). It is the small and isolated settlements in the mountain ridge, east of the separation barrier created by Israel, with a population already of 103,000 people (representing 18.2% of settlers; not including 6,500 Israelis living in settlements in the Jordan Valley) that present the major and growing problem. These settlements are being placed in the heart of the West Bank, on land that must remain part of any Palestinian state for it to have the contiguity that allows it to function effectively as a state. Recognizing the enormous difficulty in the past of moving even a few hundred settlers, imagine the impossibility of moving thousands of committed settlers who refuse to leave and whose rabbis tell the Israeli troops to disobey orders to force them out. After expanding settlements throughout Palestinian lands, the nationalists plan to annex the West Bank (and perhaps even Gaza) and put Israel in a position of either accepting the millions of Palestinian residents as full citizens in a bi-national state which, because of the disproportionate numbers of Palestinians and their higher birth rates, will not be Jewish (a course they have no intention of following) or applying apartheid principles to treat them as second class denizens in Greater Israel or try to force them out of their ancestral lands altogether to another country, (the Gaza population to Egypt and the West Bankers to Jordan or another state.). Until now, as a supporter of Israel and like most American Jews involved in Jewish organizational life, I have been reading and listening to discussions about these developments simply from the perspective of their effect on Israel. I have been an ardent Zionist from a very early age, continuing through my service in a number of American Jewish organizations and I still serve as a Board member of the Israel Policy Forum, which I helped found at the request of then Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. Not only did I consistently support Israel politically, I headed a major business in Israel investing millions of dollars and creating numbers of jobs there. In all of my thinking, then, I focused on the implications for Israel of settlement expansion and the end of a two-state solution. And, as I have written before, I concluded that such a program would destroy the Zionist dream of what Israel could and should be. But, recently, I asked myself a different question: what are the potential consequences - benefits or detriments - to the United States of Israel's continued expansion of settlements and are there any implications from these consequences for the American Jewish community? To start, I can see absolutely no benefits that would accrue to the United States from Israel expanding its settlements into the West Bank but I can clearly see detriments to the United States from the failure of a two-state solution. Israel's annexation of the West Bank and treatment of the 2.6 million Palestinians living there and what actions it may take against the 1.4 million Palestinians living in Gaza, could end Israel's position as the only democracy in the Middle East. If having it as a democratic ally is now so valuable to the United States interests as to warrant, for example, $38 billion in American military aid, the converse is also true - not having a democratic ally would be a heavy loss to the United States. Moreover, the proposed treatment of the Palestinian population by the nationalists would end up in violent reactions against Israel directly from Palestinians and then from other Arabs, including Jihadists, and quickly would be matched by attacks on American interests - of the country most supportive of Israel. It is too optimistic to expect that these attacks would be limited to the Middle East and not end up on our own shores. Meanwhile, as Thomas Friedman points out in his column "Bibi Makes Trump His Chump" (NY Times, December 28, 2016 p.A21) all of this would greatly benefit Iran and ISIS and enable Iran "to present America's Sunni Arab allies as lackeys of an extremist Israel." These developments would take their toll on the American Jewish community in a number of ways. Anti-democratic Israeli actions would open the door for challenges in our country to the high levels of economic and other support given to Israel. This would include the very people who voted Donald Trump into office who, together with other American voters, might find it difficult to understand why billions of dollars are going to an undemocratic Israel while they continue to suffer job losses and reductions in health care and in social security. When those in the Jewish community seek to defend Israeli actions, as they always do, that would open the door to attacks on them and provide fodder for increased anti-Semitism here in the United States. One of the most grievous impacts of this scenario is the effect on young American Jews. Many American Jews, like me, had hoped that Israel would be a beacon, attracting younger generations of Jews to the Jewish heritage, culture and religion. Already, rather than being a source of pride, many Jewish college students are seeing Israel attacked on their campuses. At the same time, younger American Jews, some the children and grandchildren of committed supporters of Israel, are disavowing Israel and decrying its actions. One can imagine the reactions of the younger Jews if Israel engages in apartheid activities or forced transfer of Palestinians off their ancestral land. At the end of the day, only the Israelis can decide on the course of action that their country will take. And I recognize full well that Israelis today generally have little regard for the opinions of American Jews. I do hope they will understand the implications of their actions on their own future. At present, as Secretary Kerry has pointed out, the two- state solution is in "serious jeopardy" and some experts, like Stephen A. Cook, Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, argue that it is already dead. But there is a group of approximately 240 former IDF generals, heads of Israel intelligence services like Mossad, Shabak and Police equivalents, who have joined together under the banner "Commanders For Israel's Security" (CIS) who still hold out hope. They are working to make a two-state result a reality through a pro-active political and security plan that they have developed and publicly presented. Maybe, that kind of leadership can prevail to help their fellow Israelis see the light. The alternative is very painful to contemplate!

Robert K. Lifton;Fmr. President;The American Jewish Congress;Israel Policy Forum;Co-Chair Of The Middle East Project Of The Council On Foreign Relations;Follow Robert K. Lifton On Twitter;Www.Twitter.Com Robert K. Lifto

www.huffingtonpost.com

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-k-lifton/israeli-settlement-policy_b_13912990.html?utm_hp_ref=politics&ir=Politics

LEFT

2017-01-02 16:57:00

The Wall Street Journal

Investors Leave Active Funds Despite Fee Cuts

Those stock and bond pickers that cut mutual-fund fees most aggressively in 2016 are the ones that continue to lose clients to lower-cost rivals.

Those stock and bond pickers that cut mutual-fund fees most aggressively in 2016 are the ones that continue to lose clients to lower-cost rivals. The average asset-weighted fee for actively managed stock mutual funds fell by 4.8% in 2016, the most severe decline since at least the 1990s, according to Morningstar Inc. Meanwhile the average asset-weighted fee for actively managed bond funds fell more than 6%. The growing...

Sarah Krouse;Sarah.Krouse Wsj.Com

www.wsj.com

http://www.wsj.com/articles/active-funds-fee-cutting-doesnt-stem-investor-exodus-1483376271

UNDEFINED

2017-01-02 16:57:19

HuffPost

On Pseudo-Excellence and Corruption in the Kenyan Education System

Kenyans were treated to a

Kenyans were treated to a shock recently when the Cabinet Secretary for Education released results for the 2016 Kenyan Certificate of Secondary Education (K.C.S.E) examinations. The reason? In addition to the fact that they came a mere six weeks after the conclusion of the examinations, the results were probably the worst recorded in the history of 8-4-4 (Kenya's education system encompassing 8 years of primary school, 4 years of high school and 4 years of university). Only about 15 % of the country's candidature obtained a mean score of C+ and above, and only 141 students out of some 500,000 who sat for the examination earned the distinction of scoring an 'A'. This was in stark contrast to previous years, where such a number would easily accrue to a single top-tier high school. I am an alumnus of "the" Alliance High School (popularly referred to as Bush) - arguably the single most prestigious boys' high school in Kenya. It is revered for its rigorous academics and tradition of excellence - and it is not hard to see why. The topmost rungs of government, academia and business in the country are all inundated with alumni of the institution. The school produced 202 A's in 2015, but only managed to produce 14 in 2016 after the new Cabinet Secretary for Education cracked down completely on irregularities that had plagued the Kenyan education system for so long. For purposes of comparison Alliance Girls' High School, the institution's sister school, scored 25 A's in 2015 and 25 A's in 2016 in a stunning display of consistency lauded by the Cabinet Secretary. I'd like to start by stating that I'm proud of my alma mater and what it stands for, at least in theory. I'm grateful for the intellectual challenge it exposed me to through its rigorous curriculum. I'm grateful for the leadership lessons as a captain in my penultimate year of study. Most importantly I'm grateful for the expanded worldview the institution afforded me, a once unsophisticated young man from rural Western Kenya, by choosing me to represent it in perhaps the most coveted and competitive opportunity it has to offer - an exchange program at one of America's leading high schools. That being said, I am not proud of the culture of pseudo-excellence and ethical rot that has come to characterize the institution, and the Kenyan education system by extension, in the most recent era. Make no mistake: Kenya is a country where your grades do matter. The letter grade you attain in KCSE is pretty much a stamp on your destiny. An A? You're free to pursue anything you want at the university level - Medicine, Law, Engineering and what not. Anything less than that, and your possibilities dramatically shrink. Well, unless you're rich - in which case you can pay yourself into a "parallel" program in these fields or seek an education outside the country. Nowhere are these facts brandished in your face more often than at Bush, where the target school mean score in my year was 12.00 (this would only be possible if everyone at the school got an 'A'). This seemed like a practical target given the caliber of students the institution admits (the school has its pick of the crème de la crème of students who sit for the secondary school entry examinations), and was accompanied by some hard work - morning classes at 5:00 AM and sessions during the school holiday period, for instance. A top performer who had his eyes set on at the very least scoring a plain A in each of my subjects, featuring amongst the 100 best KCSE candidates nationally and pursuing medicine at the University of Nairobi or abroad, I bought into the vision that a 12.00 mean score was possible. I was going to get an A and there was no reason to believe that my classmates were not going to. Halfway into my final year at Bush, I received admission to the African Leadership Academy (ALA). Reasoning that ALA would expose me to the same spectrum of opportunities as Bush with the added benefit of living and studying in Africa's most developed economy for two years, I forfeited the option of sitting for my KCSE. In ensuing exchanges with the school administration, I started feeling as if they were less concerned about what I thought was the right path for myself and more concerned about having a gifted student sit for KCSE to push the school mean score closer to the 12.00 target. I did not capitulate, and stand by my decision to date. I did not sit for KCSE at Bush, though I have heard stories. Stories from my peers about mbuzi (leakages right before examinations). Why a school that boasts some of the country's brightest minds would opt for such a tactic is beyond me. I don't know whether the stories are true but if they are I am glad I never had the option to position myself for such self-defeating antics. If the stories are true (which my pride as an alumnus makes me hope they are not), they only scratch the surface of what is wrong with Bush and the Kenyan education system by extension. The fine ecosystem for breeding academic genius is compromised by a myopic prioritization of quantity over quality. Instead of asking, "How can we produce the best quality doctors, engineers and lawyers?" top schools ask "How can we get as many of our students as possible eligible to pursue medicine, engineering and law degrees at the university?" Instead of asking, "How can we help students identify their passions and pursue them?", top schools ask, "How can we get many of our students pursuing prestigious careers to boost our profile?". This obsession is evident in the virtually nonexistent resources dedicated to the development of the non-traditional student who might not be "A material" in Chemistry or Mathematics, but who has the potential to make a world-famous artist someday. It doesn't end there. I am sure that many individuals who underwent the 8-4-4 system would agree that it does not adequately focus on a holistic education. Sure, many schools have clubs and sports to help mold well-rounded students. But how useful is that when your Physics teacher walks in two minutes before the beginning of the next class slot (reserved for Physical Education) and insists on taking up the P.E. period conceivably because of its relative unimportance? And you - Alliance High School (a moniker for the country's top high schools) - who is "Strong to Serve" - who are you serving when you fill Form 1 spots for deserving students with individuals who don't meet the cut but who have opulent parents? Who do your Captains serve when they abuse their power to needlessly torture their powerless counterparts? What breed of leaders are you siring when Captains cook up house competition results at end-of-semester school dinners to reward themselves for house competitions they did not win? What leadership paradigm are you promoting when Captains are basically exempt from rules their fellow students are exhorted to abide by? Kenya is one of the most corrupt countries in the world. If, like me, you believe that corruption begins at the top, then it is very easy to see where it all starts. Top schools attract top talent. Top talent translates into top leadership. If top leadership is cultured by the education system in a corrupt, entitled manner, then it's no surprise that Kenyans live in a country where government officials compensate themselves unreasonably (while also embezzling public funds), and shamelessly argue that the government has no money to negotiate reasonable pay packages when teachers and doctors strike. I have a fun fact for everyone complaining that the ministry's unprecedented strictness with grading is toying around with the future of high school graduates: half of students who get admitted to medical programs in the country having scored A's in Chemistry and Biology drop out due to their inability handle university-level Organic Chemistry and Biology. Some students who score C+ in Chemistry and Biology and pursue diploma programs in medicine out of passion for the field make better doctors than those who score A's. Perhaps we need to reexamine our unhealthy infatuation with grades. Food for thought: Would you rather the surgeon who operates on you be a passionate, knowledgeable one who got an honest B in KCSE, or a semi-quack who got an A in KCSE because he received answers in advance of the examination, and struggled through seven years of medical school just because he thinks the field is prestigious? As somebody who loves my country dearly, and who hopes to serve it in technocratic capacity pretty soon - who knows, even run for the Presidency someday - it pains me to see it knee deep in depravity. It lights up my heart to see fearless leaders like Fred Matiang'i (the Cabinet Secretary for Education) and George Magoha (the Chairman of the Kenya National Examinations Council) step up to systemic fraudulence in the Kenyan education system. To them, and to every Kenyan who has welcomed tenets of their leadership, I say thank you. Thank you for extolling honest leadership, and for proving that the exemplar can thrive in the midst of perversion. Kenya, much like any other country, is not perfect - but it is because of people like you that she will inch closer and closer to perfection. I long for the day when such integrity will pervade the Kenyan police force, the government tender awarding process and innumerable other dimensions of the country's modus operandi. Yes, education is only one facet of the Kenyan economy. But reform - true reform - has to start somewhere - and I cannot think of a better place to begin.

Timothy Machasio;Kenyan Patriot;Follow Timothy Machasio On Twitter;Www.Twitter.Com Timothymachasio

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2017-01-02 16:59:42

The Guardian

‘Mass molestation’ in Bangalore blamed on Indians ‘copying’ west

State minister says women harassed during New Year’s Eve celebrations because young people dressed and acted like westerners

An alleged “mass molestation” on the streets of one of India’s biggest cities on New Year’s Eve was the result of young people trying to “copy” western mindsets and clothing, an Indian state minister has claimed. Thousands of people gathered on two central streets in Bangalore on Saturday night to celebrate the new year. But local newspaper reports and eyewitnesses said the crowd became unruly and began to subject women to sexual assault and harassment. The Bangalore Mirror said its photojournalists were “first-hand witnesses to the brazen, mass molestation of women” on the city’s streets, publishing pictures of one woman pressed in by a crowd of men and another appearing to cower on the shoulder of a female police officer. One witness told the Guardian: “I saw women being molested in the crowd, and people trying to find places where they could hide themselves and not be attacked.” “There were inhuman acts,” said Sammy, who asked for his surname to be withheld. “People were acting like they were helping the women, but actually they were molesting them, insulting them, just provoking them. “Any girl who was passing through those streets was at least being monitored with [the men’s] eyes. That was the minimum,” he said. “The maximum was that even if she was suffocated and someone was trying to pick her up, there would be lots of people trying to grab her. “I couldn’t stand it, I felt helpless.” Chaitali Wasnick, a photographer, wrote on Facebook that a man had tried to grope her on Saturday night as she was coming back from work. “With so much ease he did [it], as if he thought I’ll not utter a word,” she said. No police officers intervened, even as she fought the man off, she added. Police in the city have said they were badly outnumbered by the crowd in the area but received no official complaints of sexual assault, considered a massively underreported crime in India. “We had deployed 1,600 police personnel in the area for new year’s celebrations and around 60,000 people had come there that night,” said Nagaraj, the inspector at the Cubbon Park police station, who like many Indians uses only one name. “But we had the situation under control. However, if such incidents did take place that night we urge people to come forward and file complaints.” G Parmeshwara, the home minister for Karnataka state, appeared to brush aside the incident on Monday in comments to the news agency ANI. “[On] events like new year’s … there are women who are harassed or treated badly,” he said. “These kinds of things do happen.” He said the problem was that the young people who had gathered in the city’s streets “were almost like westerners”. “They tried to copy the westerners, not only in their mindset but even in their dressing,” he said. “So some disturbance, some girls are harassed, these kinds of things do happen.” He added that he could not “force people to dress like Kannadigas” – people belonging to the Kannada cultural group that dominates the state. Bangalore, a hub for India’s tech industry, is safer than the Indian capital, Delhi, but still records the third-highest number of attacks intended “to outrage the modesty” of women, according to the country’s crime statistics bureau. Surveys cited by Amnesty International have shown that only 1% of Indian women who experience sexual violence will report it to the police. Parameswara said police in Bangalore would hold discussions to “see if there are any alternatives to this kind of events so that women and children are safe”. Last year police reportedly sent pre-New Year’s Eve text messages to hundreds of thousands of men who had been charged with sex offences, warning them to behave during festivities on the night and that they and their phones were “still under observation”.

Michael Safi

www.theguardian.com

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/02/mass-molestation-bangalore-blamed-on-indians-copying-west

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2017-01-02 17:01:33

Fox News

Mexicans block roads, stations to protest gasoline hikes

Small groups of protesters blockaded some roads and gasoline stations in Mexico on Monday to protest a government price deregulation that sent the price of fuel up by as much as 20 percent over the weekend.

next Image 1 of 3 prev next Image 2 of 3 prev Image 3 of 3 Small groups of protesters blockaded some roads and gasoline stations in Mexico on Monday to protest a government price deregulation that sent the price of fuel up by as much as 20 percent over the weekend. One group blockaded a privately owned gasoline station on Mexico City's main boulevard, shouting: "The people, united, will never be defeated!" "This will increase the cost of living for all Mexicans. It will make more expensive transportation, basic food stuffs, food, and it will ultimately hit Mexican families," said Rafael Sotocruz, a nurse who was protesting at the station. On a busy highway leading into the capital from the west, another group blocked traffic and held up a banner reading "Enough already!" Reports on social media and local newspaper sites suggested small, intermittent protests popped up at a half dozen other sites across the country. The Mexican government said the deregulation had long been planned, but unfortunately coincided with rising world oil prices. The deregulation is aimed at ending subsidies that the government says largely benefit wealthier Mexicans and at attracting interest in private participation in the newly opened fuel market "Unfortunately, it coincided with a significant increase in international oil prices," said Miguel Messmacher, Mexico's assistant finance secretary. That, and a drop in the value of the Mexican peso against the dollar in 2016, probably would have resulted in gas price hikes last year, but the government was still setting prices then. Mexico imports much of its gasoline, even though it exports crude oil. "It was precisely because we were limiting these (price) movements in some ways that gave rise to this pent-up increase," Messmacher said. "These things always create bad feelings," he added. "That is very clear, and very understandable. It is very clear to us that this is obviously an unpopular measure." When the deregulation took effect on New Year's Day protesters snarled traffic on one of the country's main north-south highways. Gasoline supplies have begun stabilizing after some stations were recently left dry due to what officials described as panic buying, increased holiday demand, unforeseen shipping delays and damage to pipelines that officials blamed on a surge in fuel thefts. Authorities still haven't explained why pipelines thefts increased so dramatically in early December, but the government was forced to increase military patrols by 60 percent to combat the thefts. Thieves steal about $1.4 billion worth of fuel products annually from pipelines operated by the state oil company, Pemex, according to official estimates. The 2017 price deregulation is part of a broader overhaul of Mexico's energy sector passed two years ago under President Enrique Pena Nieto allowing some private investment and ending more than seven decades of state monopoly over oil. In a second phase later this year, other companies will be allowed to begin importing and distributing gasoline instead of Pemex handling the entire supply chain.

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https://www.foxnews.com/world/mexicans-block-roads-stations-to-protest-gasoline-hikes

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2017-01-02 17:03:00

The Wall Street Journal

Gang Fight in Brazil Prison Leaves Scores Dead

A fight between rival drug gangs sparked a prison riot that left about 60 inmates dead in the Brazilian city of Manaus, according to local authorities.

SÃO PAULO—About 60 inmates were killed in a prison riot sparked by a fight between rival drug gangs in the Brazilian city of Manaus, local authorities said. The uprising began Sunday afternoon at the Anísio Jobim prison complex and lasted more than 17 hours. Two prison-based gangs have been battling over control of drug sales across the region,...

Rogerio Jelmayer

www.wsj.com

http://www.wsj.com/articles/gang-fight-in-brazil-prison-leaves-scores-dead-1483376607

UNDEFINED

2017-01-02 17:07:18

CBS News

Pharmacist heads to trial over fatal meningitis outbreak

Pharmacist Barry Cadden, former head of the New England Compounding Center, will stand trial over a fatal meningitis outbreak in 2012 that killed dozens

A former executive at a Massachusetts compounding pharmacy blamed for a national meningitis outbreak that killed dozens and sickened hundreds of people in 2012 is headed for trial. Barry Cadden is charged with 25 counts of murder and other offenses under federal racketeering laws. His trial is scheduled to start Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Boston, with jury selection expected to get underway Friday. Cadden was the co-founder and head pharmacist of the New England Compounding Center in Framingham. Prosecutors say the center used expired ingredients and failed to follow cleanliness standards, resulting in tainted steroid injections. The 2012 fungal meningitis outbreak killed 64 people and sickened over 750. People in 20 states were affected; Indiana, Michigan, and Tennessee were the hardest hit. About half developed a rare fungal form of meningitis. The rest suffered joint or spinal infections. A “60 Minutes” investigation in 2013 found that the New England Compounding Center was manufacturing large quantities of steroids without FDA approval, rather than preparing individual prescriptions. A whistleblower who worked at the center said mold was repeatedly found in the “clean room,” a supposedly sterile environment where drugs were prepared. Cadden pleaded not guilty and is free on bail. His lawyer has said that federal prosecutors overreached in charging him with murder. The outbreak prompted new federal and state laws to better regulate compounding pharmacies, which custom-mix medications and supply them directly to hospitals and doctors.

www.cbsnews.com

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/pharmacist-barry-cadden-new-england-compounding-center-heads-to-trial-fatal-meningitis-outbreak/

CENTER

2017-01-02 17:08:20

HuffPost

Show Me On The Doll Where 2016 Touched You

It was the year we learned that our neighbors, our friends, our lovers, the people we care about deeply and thought we knew, had political beliefs so div...

I t was the year we learned that our neighbors, our friends, our lovers, the people we care about deeply and thought we knew, had political beliefs so divergent from our own we could no longer be friends. And that was just the Bernie versus Hillary primaries. 2016 was the year we lost Leonard Cohen and Harper Lee and Muhammad Ali and John Glenn and David Bowie and real heroes. For more than one day. Villains thrived. Even American Olympic athletes sank our pride. It was the year where daily shootings shot past being the New Normal of last year and turned into the Old Hat of today’s news stories. And when Pizza-Gate trumped Reality-Gate. We learned that, if there was anything more disturbing than a black man showing up in 2015’s Star Wars, it was women showing up in 2016’s Ghostbusters. But Steve Martin is the Sexist Man of the Year. At least David Duke is back to set us all on the straight and narrow-minded. As are Swastikas and hate crimes and pussy-bow third wives. 2016 was the year we learned that “Tomorrow Belongs to Me” became today. And that “Tomorrow” we might be so underwater we won’t see the sun come out. We drank the Kool-Aid and the water in Flint. Weather forecasts were as useless as poll predictions. In 2016 We witnessed the massacre of 49 people at a gay bar in Orlando, the Once Happiest Place on Earth, knowing full well that if a straight bar in Washington had been hit, Congress might have finally gotten some work done. The year showed us that the GOP no longer even pretends to tell the truth, and is rewarded for it, and that Mitt Romney is the highest bidder’s bitch. Mitch McConnell put on his dog collar years ago. If Billy Joel taught us that we didn’t start the fire, Ted Nugent showed us that we’d be better off if we threw minorities into the blaze. He’s now the U.S. Poet Laureate. Aleppo amounted to nothing to the ears of Gary Johnson, who actually received presidential votes, and was probably confused as the name of a dog food brand by talking heads who gave facts the short shrift. But those emails… Even Throwback Thursday took a Black Mirror turn as it threw up Newt Gingrich and Rudy Giuliani and women as second-class citizens. And every lie about a Clinton. This was the year protest voters protested sanity. 2016 showed us why we can’t have anything nice. So we’re getting rid of environmental protections, LGBTQ protections, female rights protections, education protections, healthcare protections, Medicare and Medicaid protections, diplomatic protections, and democracy protections. Soon animal wildlife will be a myth to be read alongside other great fables, like Noah’s Ark. And soon the bible will be a history course. We learned that Evolution is a myth but God is having a very real war over how his son is addressed on his birthday. His disciples are loading up on assault rifles, for the love of Christ. 2016 was the year we lost The Good Wife, and everything good. 2016 showed us that a guest spot on Dancing with the Stars is the best way to get a cabinet position for a position you didn’t know existed, and that Saran Palin might just be the smartest cookie in the female political GOP gene pool. Or just the least offensive. Kellyanne Conway and Michele Bachmann almost make me miss Anita Bryant. 2016 was the year the movie Network went from science fiction warning to TV news and the TV show The Man in the High Castle went from science fiction to a TV warning label. 2016 showed us that, contrary to what even some women told us, electing a female President is not a been-there done-that deal, and that Susan Sarandon has proved the Conservative Right right: Hollywood liberal elitists are dead brains walking and we shouldn’t care what celebrities think. Unless they run for President. In 2016 we learned that, if you can’t say it on a meme, or a tweet, it’s irrelevant, and more than likely fake news. And that when they go low, we roll over to accommodate them. In 2016 we went from hating Muslims to hating a whole new batch of the population; each other. In 2016 Barack Obama made it clear that it wasn’t 30 years of fake-GOP-scandals that kept a democrat out of office, or Putin, or James Comey, or voter suppression, or Democratic-fatigue or apathy. It was that we didn’t let him run for a third term. The Alt-Right will love that, when they select their third-term leader. We spent more time on Benghazi hearings than 9/11, Pearl Harbor, JFK, and 3,500 lawsuits. But Ivanka is hawking lovely diamond jewelry on the new White House Home Shopping Network. Jackie Collins died, Gene Wilder died, Prince died, Princess Leia died, George Michael died, and just about everything we loved about the eighties died. Even Madonna was late. Brexit signaled the end of European Unity and NATO is hanging in the balance. On the bright side, non-entity Kim Kardashian is holding up naked selfies well and non-voter Kanye West is beholden to the idea that communication is key to democracy. Yeezus F. Christ! In 2016 Debbie Reynolds died because she wanted to be with her daughter. Or perhaps any better place. Maybe we’ll get postcards. This past year we left freedom in the dust and placed into office a fascist, misogynist, xenophobic, racist, gay-snuffing, mentally unstable, criminally engaged, politically ignorant, thin-skinned, draft-dodging non-taxpaying, treasonous, seditious, emolument-scoffing, Putin puppet, miserable wretch of a human being, even though the opposition won 3 million more votes and the founding fathers deliberately created a system to avoid such a catastrophe. Because all we are saying is give hate a chance. If there’s one thing we learned in 2016 it’s that we never learn. But the lessons look lovely in the mist.

David Toussaint;Four-Time Author;Longtime Writer;Actor;Pug Lover

www.huffingtonpost.com

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/show-me-on-the-doll-where-2016-touched-you_us_586a8708e4b014e7c72ee2ea?ir=Queer+Voices&utm_hp_ref=queer-voices

LEFT

2017-01-02 17:09:28

CNN

Brazil prison riot: At least 60 dead

A 17-hour uprising at a prison in Brazil claimed the lives of at least 60 people over the weekend, state-run media reported Monday.

(CNN) A 17-hour uprising at a prison in Brazil claimed the lives of at least 60 people over the weekend, state-run media reported Monday. The revolt started Sunday afternoon as part of a rivalry between two criminal organizations at the Anísio Jobim Prison Complex in the city of Manaus, Agencia Brasil reported, citing the country's Public Safety Secretary Sergio Fontes. CNN Map Among the hostages were 74 prisoners and an unknown number of prison guards, Fontes said. Bodies were thrown over the wall of the complex, and at least six people were decapitated, the news agency reported. Authorities said they did not know how many prisoners might have escaped. Developing story - more to come

Jay Croft

www.cnn.com

http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/02/americas/brazil-prison-riot/index.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_topstories+%28RSS%3A+CNN+-+Top+Stories%29

UNDEFINED

2017-01-02 17:13:19

HuffPost

3 Large Enterprise Software Acquisitions Recommended for 2017

The enterprise software market has seen several acquisitions this year, from Salesforce, SAP, and Oracle. Here are three acquisition recommendations that we could expect in 2017. Salesforce Should Acquire Marketo This year, Salesforce (NYSE: CRM) has spent close to $5 billion on acquisitions, with the largest one being the $2.8 billion acquisition of e-commerce platform Demandware. The key focus of its acquisition spree has been to beef up its artificial intelligence capabilities in the Marketing Cloud. In the recent third quarter, Salesforce reported that its Marketing Cloud, which now includes the subscription and support revenue from Demandware, grew 46% to $247.2 million. Sales Cloud grew 14% to $776.2 million, Service Cloud grew 26% to $589.9 million, App Cloud and others grew 38% to $370.7 million. Total revenue grew 25% to $2.14 billion and net loss widened to $37.3 million or $0.05 per share from $25.2 million or $0.04 per share a year ago. It has a cash balance of $1.2 billion. It expects revenue of $8.365 billion to $8.375 billion, or an increase of 25% to 26% in fiscal 2017. For the full year 2018, Salesforce expects revenue of $10.1 to $10.15 billion, an increase of 21%. A good acquisition prospect for Salesforce would be marketing automation leader Marketo, which could complement its focus on the Marketing Cloud. Marketo has around 4,500 customers including big names like Best Buy, Citibank, Coca-Cola, Ford, Microsoft, and Pfizer. It was founded in 2006 and went public in 2013. Its annual revenue increased 40% to $210 million in 2015 and net loss was $71.5 million. In May this year, Marketo was acquired by private equity firm Vista Equity Partners for $1.79 billion. SAP Should Acquire Splunk A cornerstone of SAP's strategy this year has been the development of Internet of Things (IoT) offerings, for which it has allocated a budget of $2.25 billion. As part of this focus, SAP this year acquired Plat.One, a developer of a platform used for creating, deploying, and managing IoT applications and Palo Alto, California-based Altiscale. Altiscale offers cloud-based versions of the Hadoop and Spark open source software for storing, processing, and analyzing different kinds of data. Both these were small acquisitions. But with the total IoT revenue opportunity projected to grow to $3 trillion in 2025 from $750 billion in 2015, SAP should be looking at a large acquisition. Machine-to-machine analytics market leader Splunk (NASDAQ: SPLK) would be an apt fit for its IoT strategy. Splunk's tools help organizations make sense of data collected through data sources including mobile phones, PCs, and other devices. Its machine-to-machine data analytics software helps in identifying bottlenecks in software applications and data networks as well as detect security breaches in information networks. It's approaching $1 billion in revenue and growing at almost 40%. It is currently trading at $53.72 with a market capitalization of $7.3 billion. This is one successful Unicorn that has shown strong growth since it went public at $17 a share back in 2012. SAP ended the third quarter with cash balance of €4.1 billion ($4.2 billion). Its third quarter revenues grew 8% over the year to €5.4 billion (~$5.9 billion) and operating profits were €1.64 billion (~$1.79 billion). Services revenues were up 6.6% to €920 million (~$1 billion) and Cloud and Software business grew 8% over the year to €4.5 billion (~$4.9 billion). Splunk, as I have pointed out earlier, is, most likely, also on Microsoft's radar. So this would be a competitive situation. Oracle Should Acquire Workday For the past couple of years, cloud has dominated Oracle's strategy. In July, it announced its plans to acquire NetSuite for $9.3 billion, which underlines this focus. The NetSuite deal is expected to help Oracle compete against SAP and Workday. However, financial management and human capital management software vendor Workday has hit some hurdles. Its stock is currently trading at a market cap of $13.8 billion and could well be a good acquisition prospect for Oracle. Workday's third quarter revenues grew 34% over the year to $409.58 million driven by a 38% growth in subscription revenues which came in at $335.7 million. Professional services revenues grew 18% over the year to $73.9 million. It expects to end the current year with revenues of $1.56 billion-$1.563 billion with billings of $1.887-$1.892 billion. Workday is focusing on the public sector, which analysts say indicates that it is struggling to sell to the larger and more lucrative private sector. Oracle's recently reported second quarter earnings of $0.61 cents a share on revenue of $9.1 billion. Total cloud revenue was $1.1 billion, up 64%. It ended the second quarter with cash balance of $18.5 billion and marketable securities of $39.6 billion. Workday, also, as I have pointed out earlier, is, most likely, also on Microsoft's radar. So this would also be a competitive situation. As you see from the above discussion, Microsoft poses a meaningful threat to all three players, and they will need to fight to win their target deals in 2017. Photo credit: Fernando Kokubun/Flickr.com. Follow Sramana Mitra on Twitter: www.twitter.com/sramana

Sramana Mitra;Founder;One Million One Million;Follow Sramana Mitra On Twitter;Www.Twitter.Com Sramana

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