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ba72b6ab0ac9c1734713707be48a1a7e

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/17/cnbc-excerpts-special-edition-of-cnbcs-squawk-box-live-from-d-c-today.html

CNBC Excerpts: Special Edition of CNBC’s “Squawk Box” Live From D.C. Today

CNBC Excerpts: Special Edition of CNBC’s “Squawk Box” Live From D.C. Today When: Today, Tuesday, April 17, 2018 Where: CNBC's "Squawk Box" Following are excerpts from CNBC interviews which aired on special edition of CNBC's "Squawk Box," live from the Rayburn Room in the U.S. Capitol today, Tuesday April 17th, including: Rep. Kevin Brady (R) Texas, Ways and Means Committee Chair; Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R) California, House Majority Leader; and Mick Mulvaney, Director of the Office of Management and Budget. Additional interviews are available on CNBC.com. All references must be sourced to CNBC. REP. KEVIN BRADY (R) TEXAS, WAYS AND MEANS COMMITTEE CHAIR Video: https://www.cnbc.com/video/2018/04/17/rep-mccarthy-and-rep-brady-on-tax-reform-house-leadership-and-trade.html?play=1. Brady on "The best is yet to come": The best is yet to come. Because this was really redesigned to leapfrog America to the lead pack as one of the best places on the planet for that next new plant, new facility. That takes some time. So I think the best is yet to come and today besides this being the last time we have to file, look at what's happening. So we are proposing the first reform of the IRS in 20 years. So we redesign, refocus, and really rein in the IRS abuses. Brady on IRS changes: We require the IRS to bring us back a new restructure in the whole agency within a year and a half. We redesign their whole I.T. system so they can protect our personal, private taxpayer information better. And then we really create a truly independent appeals process that puts taxpayers on the same level as the IRS in these disputes so they can be resolved more affordably and more quickly. And that's just one part of some major changes of the IRS. REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R) CALIFORNIA, HOUSE MAJORITY LEADER Video: https://www.cnbc.com/video/2018/04/17/rep-mccarthy-and-rep-brady-on-tax-reform-house-leadership-and-trade.html?play=1. McCarthy on the tax bill: As economic growth continues to go, I think come November, and then April will even be greater. I know the chairman, this week, just today, we're passing 13 more tax bills on the floor that are changing the form of the IRS and identity theft. Very important things that Americans care about. We continue to work. I think at the end of the day, you'll see this is very popular. McCarthy on Paul Ryan: Paul and I -- when we first came to congress, he's been one of my best friends. I don't know if you remember, back when we were in the minority, Paul and I and another -- Eric Cantor created, "Young Guns," one of the integral parts of helping us win majority. We have been a partner all the way through this. I'm humbled Paul would say that, but what's most important, Kevin will tell you and every member of this conference, we have to make sure a republican could become speaker in the next congress. So we have a lot of work to do. History goes against us. MICK MULVANEY, DIRECTOR OF OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET Video: https://www.cnbc.com/video/2018/04/17/mick-mulvaney-on-tax-cuts-and-the-us-economy.html?play=1. Mick Mulvaney on structural changes: We fundamentally changed the way the economy is structured, and the way we're going to tax wealth in this country, and wealth creation. Because keep it mind it's not only the tax code which we've reformed. Not just reduced the rates, we've changed the tax code. But we've also changed the regulatory policy, we've changed the energy policy, we've changed a lot of the way the economy works. This is a structural change of the economy for the better, and it's not a one-time thing. Mick Mulvaney on why Democrats need tax reform to fail: They're heavily invested in this message failing. If we reduce taxes, we reduce regulation, we increase energy independence and the economy does well, and all these people in this room get wealthier. There's a lot of Democrats who don't have anything to sell after that, so they need it to fail. And that's what worries me if the Democrats take the House. Mick Mulvaney on spending: Even those Democrats who worry about the deficit, we have a fundamental disagreement over how to solve the problem. We think it's growth and spending restraint and they think it's higher taxes. That is a fundamental difference. And that is what worries me again about Democrat control. Not that they don't worry about the deficit – they don't worry about it as much as they say, but even those that worry about it want to solve it by raising taxes, which I think we're proving doesn't work. For more information contact: Jennifer Dauble CNBC t: 201.735.4721 m: 201.615.2787 e: jennifer.dauble@nbcuni.com Emma Martin CNBC t: 201.735.4713 m: 551.275.6221 e: emma.martin@nbcuni.com About CNBC: With CNBC in the U.S., CNBC in Asia Pacific, CNBC in Europe, Middle East and Africa, and CNBC World, CNBC is the recognized world leader in business news and provides real-time financial market coverage and business information to more than 409 million homes worldwide, including more than 91 million households in the United States and Canada. CNBC also provides daily business updates to 400 million households across China. The network's 15 live hours a day of business programming in North America (weekdays from 4:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. ET) is produced at CNBC's global headquarters in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., and includes reports from CNBC News bureaus worldwide. CNBC at night features a mix of new reality programming, CNBC's highly successful series produced exclusively for CNBC and a number of distinctive in-house documentaries. CNBC Digital delivers more than 50 million multi-platform unique visitors each month. CNBC.com provides real-time financial market news and information to CNBC's investor audience. CNBC Make It is a digital destination focused on making you smarter about how you earn, save and spend your money by zeroing in on careers, leadership, entrepreneurship and personal finance. CNBC has a vast portfolio of digital products across a variety of platforms including: CNBC.com; CNBC PRO, the premium, integrated desktop/mobile service that provides live access to CNBC programming, exclusive video content and global market data and analysis; a suite of CNBC mobile products including the CNBC Apps for iOS, Android and Windows devices; and additional products such as the CNBC App for the Apple Watch and Apple TV. Members of the media can receive more information about CNBC and its programming on the NBCUniversal Media Village Web site at http://www.nbcumv.com/programming/cnbc. For more information about NBCUniversal, please visit http://www.NBCUniversal.com.

d368ffd5616a45b6b75fa6459f1a104a

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/17/cnbc-transcript-house-speaker-paul-ryan-speaks-with-squawk-box-today.html

CNBC TRANSCRIPT: HOUSE SPEAKER PAUL RYAN SPEAKS WITH “SQUAWK BOX” TODAY

CNBC TRANSCRIPT: HOUSE SPEAKER PAUL RYAN SPEAKS WITH “SQUAWK BOX” TODAY WHEN: Today, Tuesday, April 17, 2018 WHERE: CNBC'S "Squawk Box" – Live from the U.S. Capitol Following is the unofficial transcript of a CNBC interview with House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) on CNBC's "Squawk Box" (M-F 6AM – 9AM) today, Tuesday, April 17th. Following is a link to video of the full interview on CNBC.com: https://www.cnbc.com/video/2018/04/17/paul-ryan-im-not-a-political-person-im-a-policy-person.html?play=1. All references must be sourced to CNBC. JOE KERNEN: LAST WEEK HE SAID HE WOULDN'T RUN FOR RE-ELECTION AND HE CAME BOUNCING IN HERE. HE'S IN A REALLY GOOD MOOD. HIS RETIREMENT COMES AFTER A CAREER CROWNED BY SUCCESSFULLY SHEPHERDING TAX REFORM INTO LAW. JOINING US NOW, SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE PAUL RYAN. I BELIEVE YOU. ALRIGHT. BECAUSE I KNOW ABOUT KIDS AND I KNOW ABOUT WEEKEND DADS. REP. PAUL RYAN: YEAH. WE'VE TALKED ABOUT THIS FOR YEARS. KERNEN: WE HAVE. I CAN'T IMAGINE WHAT YOUR LIFE. NOT ONLY THAT, AS A REGULAR CONGRESSMAN BUT A SPEAKER WHICH IS JUST – RYAN: YEAH. SO WHEN WE HAVE RECESSES NORMALLY A GUY IN CONGRESS GOES HOME AND SPENDS TIME WITH YOUR FAMILY. WITH THE CONSTITUENTS, I'M ON THE ROAD. SO IT'S A REQUIREMENT OF THE JOB. KERNEN: IT'S HARD WORK, TOO. RYAN: YEAH. IT'S AN HONOR TO DO IT AND I'M GLAD THAT THREE YEARS IS GOOD. KERNEN: WELL THAT'S THE ONLY REASON YOU DID IT. YOU LOOK LIKE THE MOST -- AND I DON'T THINK THAT WAS AN ACT. YOU WERE SO RELUCTANT. RYAN: YEAH. BECAUSE I KNEW I KNEW WHAT IT INVOLVED. AND I WAS -- I LOVED BEING WAYS AND MEANS CHAIR. IT'S A GREAT JOB. AND IT'S A JOB YOU CAN HAVE A REALLY GOOD FAMILY/WORK LIFE BALANCE. SPEAKER IS A DIFFERENT STORY. IT'S AN ABSOLUTE HONORED TO HAVE THIS JOB. KERNEN: I COULD GUILT YOU INTO – RYAN: SEE, THE PEOPLE USED CATHOLIC GUILT TO GET ME IN THIS JOB IN THE FIRST PLACE. KERNEN: I COULD GUILT YOU INTO – YOU'RE NOT DONE ON ENTITLEMENTS. WE NEED YOUR VOICE. WE GOT TAX REFORM BUT WE NEED YOUR VOICE. RYAN: RIGHT. SO OBVIOUSLY TAX REFORM, REGULATORY RELIEF, REBUILDING THE MILITARY, WE'RE ABOUT TO DO SOME WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT ISSUES THAT I THINK ARE REALLY GOOD FOR LABOR MARKET SUPPLY. ENTITLEMENT REFORM IS THE ONE THING THAT I'VE BEEN WORKING ON PRETTY MUCH MY WHOLE LIFE. I'M REALLY PROUD OF THE FACT THAT EVERY TERM SINCE I WAS BUDGET CHAIR, WE'VE PASSED BUDGETS IN THE HOUSE THAT BALANCE THE BUDGET, THAT REFORM ENTITLEMENTS THAT PAY DOWN THE DEBT. WE PASSED THE BIGGEST ENTITLEMENT REFORM BILL IN THE HISTORY OF CONGRESS IN THE COUNTRY IN THE HOUSE LAST YEAR. IT FAILED BY A VOTE IN THE SENATE. I HATE THE FACT THAT THAT HAPPENED, BUT HERE IN THE HOUSE, WE'VE DONE OUR WORK. WE'VE STILL GOT A LOT MORE TO DO. AND IT REALLY IS ENTITLEMENTS AND IT'S HEALTH CARE ENTITLEMENTS WE HAVE TO GET UNDER CONTROL. BUT THERE'S JUST -- THERE COMES A TIME WHEN YOU'RE AT A STAGE IN LIFE WHERE YOU HAVE TO MAKE THESE KINDS OF DECISIONS. AND THAT'S THE DECISION I HAD TO MAKE. AND WHAT I DIDN'T WANT TO DO IS RUN FOR RE-ELECTION KNOWING I WASN'T GOING TO STAY A FULL TERM, AND BASICALLY BE DISHONEST WITH EVERYBODY, AND THEN HANG IT UP RIGHT AFTER THE ELECTION. WHICH IS WHAT THE POLITICAL PEOPLE SAY YOU SHOULD DO. I'M JUST NOT A POLITICAL PERSON. I'M A POLICY PERSON. AND I JUST DIDN'T WANT TO DO THAT. KERNEN: WE'VE HAD A LOT OF DISCUSSIONS. I REALLY DO THINK YOU'RE -- YOU'RE LIKE A CHOIR BOY. YOUR'E SO STRAIGHT LACED ABOUT EVERYTHING. SO, I UNDERSTAND THAT TRUMP MIGHT AT TIMES BE A DIFFERENT TYPE – RYAN: HE USED TO CALL ME A BOY SCOUT, BUT – KERNEN: YOU ARE A BOY SCOUT, OKAY. SO I UNDERSTAND THE TIMES WHERE YOU'VE CHAFED OR HE'S CHAFED OR I UNDERSTAND THAT RELATIONSHIP, BUT I THINK YOU HAD A GOOD WORKING RELATIONSHIP. RYAN: VERY MUCH SO. KERNEN: BUT WHO WRITES THE PIECE THAT YOU'RE LEAVING BECAUSE YOU DON'T WANT TO DEAL WITH TRUMP ANYMORE? RYAN: IT REALLY ISN'T. IT REALLY ISN'T. KERNEN: WHERE DO THEY GET THAT? DID THEY CITE – RYAN: PEOPLE WHO DON'T LIKE TRUMP SAY THIS. KERNEN: IS THAT FAKE NEWS? RYAN: YES, IT'S FAKE NEWS. OF COURSE. KERNEN: THAT IS FAKE NEWS. BECAUSE I READ THAT ARTICLE BUT IT SOUNDS ON THE SURFACE TO BE PLAUSIBLE. RYAN: LOOK WHAT HIS ELECTION GOT US. IT GOT US FINALLY A UNIFIED GOVERNMENT WHERE WE COULD TAKE ON THESE ISSUES. KERNEN: SO YOU CATEGORICALLY DENY THAT THIS HAD ANYTHING TO DO WITH HIM, ANYTHING TO DO WITH PRESIDENT TRUMP. RYAN: ABSOLUTELY. I'M GRATEFUL THAT HE HAS GIVEN US THIS CHANCE WITH HIS ELECTION TO DO FUNDAMENTAL TAX REFORM THAT IS A LONG TIME COMING AND FINALLY GOT DONE. LOOK AT THE REGULATORY RELIEF. LOOK AT WHAT THE OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY IS DOING NOW THAT WE HAVE LIFTED THE BAN ON EXPORTING CRUDE OIL. LOOK AT ALL THE LNG PLATFORMS THAT ARE BEING BUILT. LOOK AT ALL THE FRACKING THAT'S OCCURRING. ANWAR NOW IS BACK ONLINE. WE'VE BEEN TRYING TO GET ANWAR, THE ARCTIC NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE FOR 37 YEARS. AMERICA IS NOW GOING TO BE THE DOMINANT ENERGY PRODUCER IN THE WORLD. WE ARE PUTTING OPEC TO THE SIDE. WHY? BECAUSE DONALD TRUMP GOT ELECTED PRESIDENT WITH A REPUBLICAN CONGRESS AND LOOK WHAT'S HAPPENING. THAT'S JUST ONE SECTOR. THE PERMIAN BASIN THAT WAS DONE IN MIDLAND TEXAS A LITTLE WHILE AGO, THEY HAVE DISCOVERED RECOVERABLE OIL FIELDS THAT ARE AS BIG AS THE SAUDI OIL FIELD, IN JUST THIS PART OF TEXAS. WHY? NOW WE HAVE THIS GREAT OPENING. SO I'M JUST SAYING ONE SECTOR OF THE ECONOMY HAS BEEN UNLOCKED. THERE ARE MANY OTHER SECTORS – OUR DODD/FRANK REFORM AND REPLACE BILL, MOVING IT'S WAY THROUGH CONGRESS. KERNEN: WHEN ARE WE GOING TO SEE YOU AGAIN? I MEAN, YOU'RE— RYAN: WHAT I'M TRYING TO SAY IS HE'S GIVEN US THIS INCREDIBLE OPPORTUNITY TO GET A LOT OF GOOD THINGS DONE. KERNEN: I WANT TO TALK ABOUT YOU. BECKY QUICK: YOU'RE 48. RYAN: I'M 48 YEARS OLD. KERNEN: I'LL GET INTO – I WAS GOING TO -- YOU'RE IN YOUR LATE 20s NOW. RYAN: I CAME INTO CONGRESS WHEN I WAS 28 YEARS OLD. I'VE BEEN HERE 20 YEARS. I'M LIKE ONE OF THE OLD BULLS AROUND HERE. ISN'T THAT KIND OF FUNNY? KERNEN: WELL 48 IS – QUICK: BUT THAT'S YOUNG. RYAN: I KNOW, I KNOW. SO I'VE BEEN -- THAT'S THE OTHER POINT. I'VE BEEN HERE 20 YEARS. KERNEN: WHAT ELSE WILL YOU RUN FOR? RYAN: YOU KNOW, YOU NEVER SAY NEVER TO THOSE THINGS. BUT NOT ANY TIME SOON BECAUSE MY KIDS— QUICK: THAT'S THE SAME ANSWER I'VE HEARD YOU GIVE SEVEN TIMES. RYAN: BUT I HAVE NO INTENTION OF RUNNING FOR ANYTHING, SO WHAT ARE YOU REALLY GOING TO DO NEXT. RYAN: I HAVE NO INTENTION OF RUNNING FOR ANYTHING. MY KIDS ARE AT THAT AGE – KERNEN: WELL, RIGHT NOW. RYAN: YOU HAVE TEENAGERS. YOU GUYS – WELL, YOU DON'T YET. THEY'RE STILL PRETTY YOUNG. QUICK: I DO. I DO. RYAN: HOW OLD ARE THEY? QUICK: I HAVE – 15 IS THE OLDEST. RYAN: ALL RIGHT. 15'S THE OLDEST. SO WHEN YOU NEVER SEE THEM AND YOU ONLY HAVE SUNDAY NIGHT DINNERS AND SUNDAY MORNING MASS, IT GETS TO YOU AFTER AWHILE. YOU JUST – IT IS WHAT IT IS. KERNEN: SO IS McCARTHY GOING TO BE -- IS HE GOING TO TAKE NANCY PELOSI'S JOB OR IS HE GOING TO TAKE YOUR JOB? RYAN: NO, HE'S GOING TO TAKE MY JOB. NOT NANCY PELOSI'S JOB. KERNEN: YOU SURE? RYAN: WHY? YEAH, BECAUSE I FEEL REALLY GOOD ABOUT – KERNEN: IS IT GOING TO BE McCARTHY? RYAN: YEAH, I THINK IT SHOULD BE McCARTHY AND I THINK IT WILL BE. AND I THINK THAT'S AFTER THE TERM. LOOK, WE'VE GOT – THE LAST THING WE WANT TO DO IS HAVE DISRUPTION OF LEADERSHIP ELECTIONS IN THE MIDDLE OF A TERM RIGHT NOW. AND ALSO, THERE'S SO MUCH MORE WE CAN DO TO RUN FOR THE TAPE. WE'VE GOT TO DO OUR VOCATIONAL EDUCATION TECHNICAL EDUCATION BILL. WE'VE GOT TO DO – GETTING PEOPLE FROM WELFARE TO WORK. WE'VE GOT INFRASTRUCTURE BILLS. MORE REGULATORY RELIEF. WE'VE GOT OUR DODD/FRANK REFORMS. SO, WE'VE GOT MORE THINGS WE'RE GOING TO RUN TO THE TAPE AND GET DONE AND THEN WE'RE GOING TO GO TO THE VOTERS AND SHOW WHAT A BIG DIFFERENCE. LOOK AT – TODAY IS TAX DAY. THE AVERAGE FAMILY OF FOUR IS GETTING A $2,000 TAX CUT BECAUSE OF THE TAX BILL. THIS IS THE LAST YEAR OF THIS OLD TAX CODE. AND NOW YOU HAVE A NEW YEAR OF LOWER TAX RATES DOUBLING THE STANDARD DEDUCTION, DOUBLING THE CHILD TAX CREDIT. A SIMPLIFIED SYSTEM THESE ARE GOOD THINGS. PEOPLE KNOW IT. PEOPLE SEE IT. AND THEY KNOW THAT HAVING THIS UNIFIED REPUBLICAN GOVERNMENT IS MAKING A BIG POSITIVE DIFFERENCE IN OUR ECONOMY. KERNEN: WHAT DO YOU SAY TO PEOPLE WHO SAY YOU OUGHT TO LEAVE NOW BECAUSE YOU CAN'T RAISE MONEY? RYAN: WELL, THE ANSWER IS I AM AND I CAN AND THERE'S A LOT MORE WE CAN DO AND – KERNEN: NO WAY YOU LISTEN TO THAT. QUICK: NO THEY SAY, LEAVE NOW AND LET McCARTHY – RYAN: THE VAST MAJORITY OF MEMBERS SAY, "DON'T LEAVE. THERE'S SO MUCH MORE YOU CAN DO. WE WANT CONTINUITY. WE DON'T WANT TO HAVE DISRUPTING LEADERSHIP ELECTIONS IN THE MIDDLE OF THIS." AND BY THE WAY, THERE'S A LOT MORE I COULD DO. I'VE RAISED $54 MILLION FOR OUR PARTY SINCE THE FIRST OF THE TERM HERE AND I CAN RAISE A WHOLE LOT MORE. QUICK: LET ME ASK ONE QUESTION. AND WE'RE TALKING ABOUT NEWS STORIES AND WHETHER THEY'RE TRUE OR NOT. YESTERDAY I READ A POLITICO STORY THAT SUGGESTED YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH KEVIN McCARTHY WHICH IS VERY TIGHT HAS BEEN STRAINED BY YOUR DECISION TO STAY BECAUSE THAT LEAVES SEVEN MONTHS – RYAN: COMPLETE AND FULL TOTAL FAKE NEWS. THAT PARTICULAR ARTICLE. KERNEN: POLITICO, REALLY? QUICK: WHAT'S THAT? RYAN: YEAH. LOOK. I DON'T WANT TO SLAM NEWSPAPERS OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT, BUT HE AND I WERE JOKING ABOUT IT LAST NIGHT. QUICK: YOU WERE? RYAN: OH, YEAH. YEAH, WE'RE VERY CLOSE. HE'S MY PARTNER. QUICK: WHAT HAPPENS BECAUSE YOUR PARTY HAS BEEN A DIFFICULT ONE TO WRANGLE AS MOST PARTIES ARE. YOU DO HAVE THE FREEDOM CAUCUS SAYING, LOOK, WE DON'T LIKE THE BUDGET DEAL THAT WAS JUST CUT. WE DONT LIKE THE SPENDING THAT WAS IN IT THAT WAS GRANTED TO THE DEMOCRATS TO GET THEIR VOTES ON BOARD. WHAT DOES THAT -- WHAT HAPPENS TO YOUR PARTY? RYAN: WE'RE MORE UNIFIED THAN WE HAVE BEEN IN A LONG, LONG TIME. LOOK AT ALL THIS STUFF. WE PASSED OVER 500 BILLS HERE IN THE HOUSE SINCE THE FIRST OF THIS TERM. UNFORTUNATELY ABOUT 400 OF THEM ARE STILL SITTING IN THE SENATE. WE'VE HAD THE MOST PRODUCTIVE CONGRESS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES IN DECADES BECAUSE OF ALL THE BILLS WE'VE PASSED. THE REASON WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO PASS ALL THESE BILLS IS BECAUSE IT'S UNIFIED. I CAME IN A FRACTURED DISUNIFIED CAUCUS IN 2015. WE'RE SO MUCH MORE UNIFIED NOW. THAT'S ONE OF THE REASONS WHY I'M COMFORTABLE GOING IS BECAUSE WE HAVE COME TOGETHER AS A TEAM. WE'VE GELLED. WE PUT TOGETHER AN AGENDA IN 2016. WE RAN ON IT. AND NOW WE'RE EXECUTING ON THAT AGENDA. WE'RE TWO-THIRDS OF THE WAY THROUGH GETTING IT ALL DONE IN LAW. SO WE'VE GOTTEN SO MUCH OF OUR WORK DONE. AND BECAUSE WE'RE GELLED, BECAUSE WE HAVE A GREAT LEADERSHIP TEAM THAT COULD HAVE SEAMLESS TRANSFER, THAT'S WHY I FEEL COMFORTABLE DOING THIS. SOMETHING THAT I JUST FEEL OBLIGATED TO DO AT THIS PHASE OF LIFE I'M IN. AND I'M HAPPY. LOOK, I'VE GOTTEN ALMOST ALL THAT I WANTED DONE, DONE. THE ONLY THING IS THE HEALTH CARE ENTITLEMENTS. BUT LOOK, ENTERPRISE ZONES, I WORKED ON THAT WHEN I WAS WORKING FOR JACK KEMP. ENTERPRISE ZONES ARE NOW LAW OF THE LAND. SO THE CRITICAL COMPONENT OF OUR POVERTY FIGHTING AGENDA, THAT'S NOW THE LAW OF THE LAND. REWRITING THE TAX CODE, I'VE BEEN WORKING ON THAT ALL MY LIFE. THAT'S NOW THE LAW OF THE LAND. ALL THE REGULATORY RELIEF THAT WE THINK ARE IMPORTANT TO UNLOCKING CAPITAL, LAW OF THE LAND. SO THERE'S – BY THE WAY, THE MILITARY – WHEN YOU BECOME SPEAKER, YOU SPEND -- YOU GET THE SAME BRIEFINGS THE PRESIDENT GETS. YOU GET THE SAME INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE MILLITARY BRIEFINGS, SO I BECAME REALLY ACUTELY CONCERNED ABOUT THE STATE OF OUR MILITARY AND IT'S READINESS CRISIS. SO I REALLY TOOK TO THAT ISSUE NOW THAT IS THE LAW OF THE LAND. SO WE'VE GOTTEN SO MANY OF THE THINGS DONE THAT I SOUGHT OUT TO DO THAT I FEEL VERY CONTENT WITH THE ACHIEVEMENTS, AND NOW I JUST HAVE THIS FOCUS ON MAKING SURE THAT, YOU KNOW, I CAN DO THE OTHER REALLY IMPORTANT PARTS OF MY LIFE JOB WHICH IS FAMILY. YOU KNOW BEING A GOOD HUSBAND, BEING A GOOD DAD. I FEEL LIKE WE'VE GOT A LOT DONE. I THINK WE HAVE A GREAT TEAM TO PASS THE BATON ONTO. KERNEN: YOU KNOW, THE ECONOMY AS USUAL SHOULD BE WHAT DICTATES MIDTERMS AND THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION. THE GENERIC POLLING NARROWED AGAIN. IT'S GONE BACK AND FORTH. RYAN: THAT'S RIGHT. KERNEN: BUT STILL THE POLLING ON THE TAX BILL STILL NOT – IF – LISTENING TO YOU, IT SHOULD BE 80%. IT'S STILL 30%. RYAN: I THINK IT'S GOING TO GET THERE. HERE'S MY POINT. YOU SAID THE GENERIC BALLOT IS AT A GOOD PLACE, SO IF AN ELECTION WERE TODAY, WE'D KEEP THE MAJORITY, ACCORDING TO THE GENERIC BALLOT. KERNEN: REALLY? RYAN: OH YEAH. IF YOU'RE DOWN THREE OR FOUR – KERNEN: THREE OR FOUR IS KEEPING IT. RYAN: WE'LL TOTALLY KEEP IT. THERE'S THAT ONE POLL I THINK IT'S YOUR POLL, IT'S A MSNBC OR CNBC POLL. QUICK: I THINK IT'S A "WALL STREET JOURNAL" "NBC" POLL. RYAN: YEAH. RIGHT. I – YOU LOOK INSIDE THAT POLL, THEY SAY, "WHO DO YOU THINK IS THE BEST TO RUN THE ECONOMY?" "REPUBLICANS." I REALLY BELIEVE AS THE ELECTION GETS CLOSER AND WE'RE COMMUNICATING MORE SPECIFICALLY WITH CONSTITUENTS WHO SEE THAT BECAUSE OF THIS TAX BILL THEY GOT THEIR BONUSES, THEY GOT INCREASED BENEFITS, THEY GOT AN AVERAGE $2,000 TAX CUT. WHEN PEOPLE LOOK AND SEE, OH, THE CHILD TAX CREDIT GOT DOUBLED. MY STANDARD DEDUCTION GOT DOUBLED. MY TAX RATES WENT DOWN. KERNEN: LAST YEAR'S TAXES. NO ONE'S SEEING THAT YET. RYAN: THAT'S WHY THE BONUSES MADE A BIG DIFFERENCE. QUICK: WHAT IF IT COMES A YEAR FROM NOW? RYAN: BUT WHEN THEY SEE THIS IS COMING – THIS IS HAPPENING, AND YOU'VE GOT MILLIONS OF BONUSES THAT HAVE BEEN PAID OUT. AND OUR ABILITY TO COMMUNICATE SPECIFICALLY WITH CONSTITUENTS IN THIS DIGITAL AGE IS VERY, VERY GOOD. SO I AM CONVINCED WE ARE GOING TO BE ABLE TO COMMUNICATE THE BENEFITS OF THIS TAX LAW TO PEOPLE THIS FALL, SO NOT ONLY DO THEY RIGHT NOW SAY THEY WANT REPUBLICANS IN CHARGE OF THE ECONOMY BECAUSE THE ECONOMY IS GROWING WELL, NOT ONLY DO THEY WANT TO SAY THE REPUBLICANS IN CHARGE OF NATIONAL SECURITY BECAUSE THEY'RE BETTER ENTRUSTED TO KEEP US SAFE, AND WE HAVE GOOD POLLS RIGHT NOW. I FEEL CONFIDENT WE CAN KEEP THIS MAJORITY. WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN IS THE NATIONAL MEDIA IS GOING TO BE DOING THIS BIG NARRATIVE. UNDERNEATH THAT NATIONAL NARRATIVE IN OUR DISCREET CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICTS, WE KNOW HOW TO INDICATE TO CONSTITUENTS TO SHOW THEM HERE'S WHAT WE SAID WE WOULD DO, HERE'S WHAT WE DID, HERE'S HOW IT'S MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN YOUR LIFE. WE'RE ACTUALLY IMPROVING PEOPLE'S LIVES SPECIFICALLY AND I THINK WE HAVE A GOOD CASE TO MAKE, KERNEN: YOU KNOW THAT JUDGE IN WISCONSIN? WHAT ABOUT CONOR LAMB? ARE ANY OF THESE THINGS -- ARE THESE ALL ONEOFFS? RYAN: WELL, I THINK THE JUDGE IN WISCONSIN – THAT WAS GOOD. HE WON MY DISTRICT FINE. BUT IN MADISON AND MILWAUKEE HE DID REALLY WELL. AND THAT'S THE INTENSITY GAP ISSUE. I THINK CONOR LAMB WAS KIND OF A UNQIUE – KERNEN: WHAT'S SCOTT WALKER TALKING ABOUT? – IN WISCONSIN? RYAN: YEAH, WE HAD – MADISON AND MILWAUKEE, IT'S DAYTON COUNTY, MADISON AND MILWAUKEE COUNTY, THE TURNOUT WAS ELEVATED THERE SO WE HAVE TO MAKE SURE WE TURN OUT OUR VOTERS. THERE'S NO TWO WAYS ABOUT THAT. KERNEN: YOU SAY -- I MEAN, I LISTEN TO YOU ABOUT THE TAX BILL. AND THEN WE'RE GOING TO HAVE CHRIS VAN HOLLEN ON. RYAN: MY GUESS IS HE'S GOING TO SAY – KERNEN: HE'S GOING TO SAY THINGS THAT -- WE JUST HAD STENY ON. HE DIDN'T SAY ANY OF THIS. CAN YOU HANG OUT? I MEAN, STAND RIGHT HERE. STAND RIGHT HERE. RYAN: I'LL JUST YELL FROM THE SIDELINES. KERNEN: JUST SIT THERE AND GO – JUST LISTEN. AND DO HAND SIGNALS. WILL YOU DO THAT? DO YOU GOT TO GO DO SOMETHING? RYAN: YEAH. I'VE GOT TO RUN A CONFERENCE NOW. KERNEN: IS THAT A BIG DEAL? RYAN: YEAH. IT'S RUNNING CONGRESS – ALL OF OUR MEMBERS. KERNEN: OKAY. YOU SAY McCARTHY WILL – I HEARD IT'D BE EASIER FOR HIM TO WIN AS MINORITY LEADER BECAUSE OF THE FREEDOM – YOU DON'T NEED AS MANY VOTES. IT'S GOING TO BE TOUGH AS SPEAKER. RYAN: LOOK, WE ARE MORE GELLED THAN WE WERE EVER BEFORE. ONE OF THE REASONS WHY I'M HERE IS BECAUSE WE HAD A FRACTURED CAUCUS. WE HAVE PATCHED THOSE FRACTURES, WE ARE NOW WORKING TOGETHER TO PASS LEGISLATION. AND SO, I REALLY DO NOT THINK THE SCHISMS EXIST LIKE THEY DID BEFORE. AND THAT'S I'M CONFIDENT WE HAVE A GOOD LEADERSHIP TEAM THAT IS TRIED AND TRUE AND HAS PRODUCED. AND IT'S GOING TO BE A MUCH MORE SEAMLESS TRANSITION THIS TIME AROUND. THAT'S WHY I'M CONFIDENT DOING THIS. KERNEN: I HEAR CANTOR IS JUST KNOCKING THE COVER OFF THE BALL AT MOELIS. I HEAR HE'S REALLY – QUICK: ERIC. RYAN: ERIC. KERNEN: AND THEN THERE'S BOEHNER. YOU COULD GO INTO THE POT BUSINESS OR SOMETHING. HAVE YOU THOUGHT ABOUT -- WHAT HAPPENED? RYAN: I JUST ABOUT CHOKED ON MY COFFEE. NO, I WILL NOT BE DOING THAT. KERNEN: I'M JUST – YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING. RYAN: NO, MY PLAN IS TO COME UP WITH MY PLAN IN 2019. IN THE MEANTIME RUN TO THE TAPE. I'M GOING TO FIGURE THAT STUFF OUT LATER. KERNEN: ALL RIGHT. JUST IDEAS FOR YOU. RYAN: THANK YOU. YOU KNOW, WE'VE BEEN DOING THIS FOR 20 YEARS TOGETHER. QUICK: YOU'VE BEEN ON "SQUAWK BOX" LONGER THAN I HAVE. HE'S BEEN ON "SQUAWK BOX" LONGER THAN I HAVE. RYAN: I HAVE. CARL WAS – QUICK: YOU HAVE. YOU WERE BEFORE CARL. CARL AND I WERE AT THE SAME TIME. RYAN: PRE-SORKIN FOR SURE. JOE, YOU AND I. KERNEN: YEAH, ME AND YOU. I KNOW. RYAN: SO THIS IS FULL CIRCLE. KERNEN: LOOK AT YOU. YOU STILL HAD THAT WIDOWS PEAK. RYAN: THAT'S WHEN I HAD THE GUMBY HAIR CUT. QUICK: THAT WAS NOT THE BEGINNING THOUGH. KERNEN: THAT WAS LAST WEEK. YOU HAVEN'T CHANGED. QUICK: NO BUT YOU WERE GUEST HOSTING BEFORE I WAS ON. RYAN: YEAH, I GUEST HOSTED I GOT TO THINK, MAYBE A DOZEN TIMES? HALF A DOZEN TIMES? A LOT OF – MANY TIMES. KERNEN: YOU DID AND WE APPRECIATE IT. RYAN: BACK WHEN YOU WERE IN ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS. NOW YOU'RE DOWNTOWN. QUICK: HE'S A CNBC CONTRIBUTOR. KERNEN: A CNBC CONTRIBUTOR, YEAH. THAT'S ANOTHER THING YOU CAN DO. THAT'D BE A FEATHER IN YOUR CAP. SPEAKER IS ONE THING. ANYWAY. GOOD SEEING YOU. QUICK: GREAT TO SEE YOU. RYAN: WELCOME TO THE CAPITOL. KERNEN: I'M A LITTLE SAD. I MISS YOU. THIS IS THE END OF AN ERA. IT IS SAD. WELL, YOU'LL BE ON AGAIN BEFORE -- RYAN: YEAH, WE'LL SEE YOU AROUND. KERNEN: IF YOU REALLY LEAVE. QUICK: THANK YOU, PAUL. GREAT TO SEE YOU. RYAN: YOU TOO. For more information contact: Jennifer Dauble CNBC t: 201.735.4721 m: 201.615.2787 e: jennifer.dauble@nbcuni.com Emma Martin CNBC t: 201.735.4713 m: 551.275.6221 e: emma.martin@nbcuni.com About CNBC: With CNBC in the U.S., CNBC in Asia Pacific, CNBC in Europe, Middle East and Africa, and CNBC World, CNBC is the recognized world leader in business news and provides real-time financial market coverage and business information to more than 409 million homes worldwide, including more than 91 million households in the United States and Canada. CNBC also provides daily business updates to 400 million households across China. The network's 15 live hours a day of business programming in North America (weekdays from 4:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. ET) is produced at CNBC's global headquarters in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., and includes reports from CNBC News bureaus worldwide. CNBC at night features a mix of new reality programming, CNBC's highly successful series produced exclusively for CNBC and a number of distinctive in-house documentaries. CNBC Digital delivers more than 50 million multi-platform unique visitors each month. CNBC.com provides real-time financial market news and information to CNBC's investor audience. CNBC Make It is a digital destination focused on making you smarter about how you earn, save and spend your money by zeroing in on careers, leadership, entrepreneurship and personal finance. CNBC has a vast portfolio of digital products across a variety of platforms including: CNBC.com; CNBC PRO, the premium, integrated desktop/mobile service that provides live access to CNBC programming, exclusive video content and global market data and analysis; a suite of CNBC mobile products including the CNBC Apps for iOS, Android and Windows devices; and additional products such as the CNBC App for the Apple Watch and Apple TV. Members of the media can receive more information about CNBC and its programming on the NBCUniversal Media Village Web site at http://www.nbcumv.com/programming/cnbc. For more information about NBCUniversal, please visit http://www.NBCUniversal.com.

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https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/17/cnbc-transcript-treasury-secretary-steven-mnuchin-speaks-with-squawk-box-today.html

CNBC TRANSCRIPT: TREASURY SECRETARY STEVEN MNUCHIN SPEAKS WITH “SQUAWK BOX” TODAY

CNBC TRANSCRIPT: TREASURY SECRETARY STEVEN MNUCHIN SPEAKS WITH “SQUAWK BOX” TODAY WHEN: TODAY, TUESDAY, April 17, 2018 WHERE: CNBC'S "SQUAWK BOX" Following is the unofficial transcript of a CNBC interview with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin today on CNBC's "Squawk Box." Following is a link to video of the interview on CNBC.com: https://www.cnbc.com/video/2018/04/17/treasurys-mnuchin-we-front-loaded-economic-growth-in-tax-plan.html All references must be sourced to CNBC. BECKY QUICK: WELCOME BACK, EVERYBODY. TREASURY SECRETARY STEVEN MNUCHIN IS GOING TO BE JOINING IVANKA TRUMP IN NEW HAMPSHIRE TODAY TO TOUT THE BENEFITS OF TAX REFORM BUT FIRST HE'S HERE WITH US RIGHT HERE ON CNBC. MR SECRETARY THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE TODAY SECRETARY MNUCHIN: ITS GREAT TO BE WITH YOU QUICK: ITS GREAT TO SEE YOU TAX DAY IS A BIG DAY WE KNOW THAT THIS IS THE LAST TIME PEOPLE WILL BE USING THE OLD SYSTEM THAT PEOPLE ARE ALREADY GETTING READY FOR THE NEW SYSTEM MAYBE YOU CAN TELL US A BIT ABOUT WHAT YOURE SEEING SO FAR UNDER THIS NEW SYSTEM. MNUCHIN: WERE VERY SEEING STRONG ECONOMIC GROWTH WE LITERALLY HAVE MET WITH HUNDREDS OF EXECUTIVES, SMALL COMPANIES, BIG COMPANIES, AND THOUSANDS OF WORKERS WERE BEGINNING TO SEE THE IMPACT OF THE TAX CUTS SPECIFICALLY PEOPLE INVESTING LARGE AMOUNTS OF MONEY BACK INTO THE UNITED STATES. QUICK: WE KNOW ITS VERY EARLY DAYS, BUT MAYBE YOU COULD TELL US ABOUT THE TAX RECEIPTS YOURE SEEING AGAIN, WE UNDERSTAND THAT THE PROJECTIONS WOULD BE DOWN AT THIS PART OF THE YEAR FROM WHERE WE WERE A YEAR AGO BASED ON THESE CHANGES. WHAT ARE YOU SEEING? ARE THEY MEETING YOUR PROJECTIONS? MNUCHIN: I THINK ITS A LITTLE TOO EARLY TO PREDICT WHAT THE TAX RECEIPTS WE WILL HAVE A BETTER IDEA OVER THE COURSE OF THE WEEK BUT SO FAR THINGS ARE COMING IN AS EXPECTED. AND AGAIN, WHAT WE REALLY SHOULD BE FOCUSED ON IS ECONOMIC GROWTH, NOT TAX RECEIPTS BECAUSE I THINK AS YOU KNOW WEVE FRONT LOADED THE GROWTH INTO THE TAX PLAN BECAUSE OF AUTOMATIC EXPENSING WHICH IS ONE OF THE MOST POWERFUL PARTS OF THE TAX PLAN, WE WILL SEE LOWER REVENUES IN THE SHORT-TERM BECAUSE PEOPLE ARE USING THE DEPRECIATION TO ENCOURAGE INVESTMENT QUICK: I FOCUS ON THE TAX RECEIPTS JUST BECAUSE ITS SOMETHING WHEN YOU LOOK AT BUDGET DEFICITS THATS GOING TO BE SOMETHING PEOPLE TAKE INTO ACCOUNT. AGAIN, UNDERSTANDING THAT PROJECTIONS ARE TO DROP INITIALLY. ARE THEY MEETING YOUR PROJECTIONS? MNUCHIN: THEY ARE. AS MICK JUST TALKED ABOUT, WERE NOW AT A POINT WHERE WERE COMFORTABLE WITH OUR 3% OR HIGHER SUSTAINED ECONOMIC GROWTH THATS NOT ABOUT ANY ONE QUARTER. THERE WILL BE QUARTERS WHERE WERE HIGHER AND LOWER BUT WE ARE COMPFORTABLE ON TRACK AND THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN 2.2 AND 3% WILL PAY FOR THE TAX CUTS. QUICK: THERE ARE SO MANY AREAS THAT YOURE INVOLVED IN ISSUES COMING OUT OF WASHINGTON EVERY DAY THAT EFFECT WALL STREET, ISSUES LIKE SANCTIONS, ISSUES LIKE TRADE MAYBE WE CAN FOCUS ON TRADE FOR A LITTLE BIT WE HAVE SEEN TRADE CONCERNS RATCHETED UP PARTICULARLY WITH THE CHINESE. BUT YOUVE BEEN KIND OF IN THE MIDDLE OF SAYING, LOOK, WE COULD HAVE A NEGOTIATION THAT WORKS OUT. WHAT CAN YOU TELL US ON THAT FRONT RIGHT NOW? MNUCHIN: I THINK AS YOU KNOW, PRESIDENTS ECONOMIC PLAN HAS ALWAYS CONSISTED OF THREE PARTS. TAX REFORM, REGULATORY RELIEF, AND TRADE. TRADE IS AN IMPORTANT COMPONENT OF THAT. I HAVE THE IMF AND WORLD BANK MEETINGS COMING UP THIS WEEK ILL BE MEETING WITH ALL MY COUNTERPARTS WEVE BEEN TALKING ABOUT THESE ISSUES FOR THE LAST YEAR WE HAVE COMPLETE TRANSPARENCY. THE PRESIDENT BELIEVES IN FREE AND FAIR RECIPROCAL TRADE. WERE TRYING TO GET GOOD DEALS FOR AMERICAN COMPANIES EQUIVOLENT TO OTHERS HAVE HERE THAT IS REALLY WHAT THIS IS ALL ABOUT QUICK: WALL STREET HAS DETECTED A CHANGE IN TENOR ON THOSE TALKS IS THERE A CHANGE IN THE TENOR IS THIS SOMETHING THAT IS PERCEIVED AT THE HIGH LEVEL YOU ARE DEALING WITH? IS THERE A CHANGE IN THE TENOR OR IS THIS A CONTINUATION OF WHAT YOU HAVE BEEN DOING THE LAST YEAR? MNUCHIN: WELL, AGAIN, I THINK IT'S A FOCUSED STRATEGY THAT THE PRESIDENT HAS BEEN VERY CLEAR ON WEVE HAD AN INTEGRATED PLAN I SPEAK TO INVESTOR LIGHTHIZER ALMOST EVERY DAY I SPEAK TO THE PRESIDENT ALMOST EVERY DAY ABOUT THESE ISSUES, WE NOW HAVE LARRY ON BOARD HE'S A TERRIFIC PART OF THE TEAM AS YOU KNOW, SECRETARY ROSS SO THESE ARE COORDINATED EFFORTS. AGAIN, AS YOU KNOW, WEVE BEEN IN DIALOGUE WITH OUR COUNTERPARTS IN CHINA ABOUT RECIPROCAL TRADE THERE WERE SPEAKING TO THE EU SO WE HAVE A LOT OF FOCUS ON THIS THE PRESIDENT IS VERY DETERMINED TO MAKE SURE WE HAVE FREE TRADE. JOE KERNEN: IN DAVOS, THE PRESIDENT SAID IM THINKING ABOUT TPP WE WENT A FEW MONTHS AND NOTHING WAS DONE PEOPLE SAID SEE I TOLD YOU NOTHING WOULD HAPPEN THEN WE HEAR THAT HE ASKED LIGHTHIZER AND LARRY TO LOOK INTO IT. IS THAT ONGOING? HAS ANYTHING BEEN DONE YOU SAID YOU SOEAK TO LIGHTHIZER A LOT, DO YOU KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THE RECEPTION THATS RECEIVING BY THE 11 MEMBERS THAT ARE ALREADY IN THE TPP IS IT POSSIBLE THAT HAPPENS? MNUCHIN: SURE. AGAIN, LET ME SAY I THINK IT WAS A BIG ANNOUNCEMENT IN DAVOS WHERE THE PRESIDENT SAID HED RECONSIDER ENTERING, BUT ONLY UNDER BETTER TERMS WE QUIETLY HAD SOME CONVERSATIONS WITH OUR COUNTERPARTS ABOUT WHAT THE ISSUES ARE THE 11 PEOPLE THAT ARE IN TPP, WE HAVE FREE TRADE AGREEMENTS OR TRADE AGREEMENTS WITH MANY OF THEM. THE PRESIDENTS OBVIOUSLY AT MAR-A-LAGO TODAY. HELL BE TALKING WITH JAPAN ABOUT TRADE THAT IS ONE OF THE ISSUES THAT WILL BE ON THE AGENDA, JAPAN IS OBVIOUSLY ONE OF THE BIG PARTICIPANTS AND WERE FOCUSED ON OUR TRADE RELATIONSHIP WITH THEM THATS A BIG PART OF THE TPP RIGHT NOW. KERNEN: CHINA HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH THE NEW INTEREST IN JOINING THE TPP? MNUCHIN: NO. ITS INDEPENDENT AND AGAIN, THE PRESIDENT HAS BEEN CONSISTENT HE'LL ONLY JOIN TPP UNDER A DIFFERENT DEAL KERNEN: YOU HANDICAP IT AT ONE OUT OF THREE, TWO OUT OF THREE? WHAT ARE THE CHANCES WE END UP IN TPP MNUCHIN: I DONT REALLY HANDICAP IT BECAUSE ITS NOT -- KERNEN: BUT IS IT BETTER THAN 50/50 MNUCHIN: IM NOT GOING TO HANDICAP IT. BUT I WILL SAY IT IS NOT A QUESTION OF IF WE ARE IN OR NOT IN THE REAL QUESTION IS WILL WE MAKE THE PROGRESS ON TRADE WE WANT AND IM COMFORTABLE THAT WE WILL. WE ARE GOING PARTNER BY PARTNER ADDRESSING THESE ISSUES AND AGAIN, THIS ISNT ABOUT PROTECTIONISM. THIS ISNT ABOUT, YOU KNOW, TARIFFS. THIS IS ABOUT MAKING SURE THAT WE HAVE FREE AND FAIR RECIPROCAL TRADE. KERNEN: WE ALWAYS GOT TO TALK TO YOU ABOUT THE DOLLAR MNUCHIN: WHY NOT. KERNEN: THE PRESIDENT TWEETS AND SOME PEOPLE SAY ITS JUST A TWEET WHEN A PRESIDENT PUTS ANYTHING OUT, ITS -- YOU GOT TO TAKE IT SOMEWHAT MAYBE NOT LITERALLY BUT TAKE IT SERIOUSLY. SO HE TALKED ABOUT RUSSIA AND CHINA BOTH BEING CURRENCY DEVALUERS. WE PUT SANCTIONS ON RUSSIA THE RUBLES BEEN -- WE DEVALUED THE RUBLE. QUICK: ITS COUNTER TO WHAT WE SAW FROM A TREASURY REPORT LAST WEEK WHERE CHINA WAS NOT LABELED A MANIPULATOR. KERNEN: THAT SOUNDS LIKE THE PRESIDENT WISHES THE DOLLAR -- MNUCHIN: NO. THATS NOT THE CASE. IT WAS A WARNING SHOT AT CHINA AND RUSSIA ABOUT DEVALUATION CHINA HAS DEVALUED THEIR CURRENCY IN THE PAST AS A MATTER OF FACT, UP THROUGH 2016, THEY DEVALUED IT SIGNIFICANTLY STARTING IN 2017 RIGHT AFTER THE PRESIDENT WAS ELECTED, THEY'VE USED A LOT OF THEIR RESERVES TO ACTUALLY SUPPORT THE CURRENCY. SO, YOU KNOW, THE PRESIDENT WANTS TO MAKE SURE THEY DON'T CHANGE THESE PLANS AND HES WATCHING IT. QUICK: ALTHOUGH THE TREASURY REPORT FROM A FEW DAYS AGO SAID THAT CHINA RECENTLY HAS BEEN ACTIVELY TRYING TO PROP UP ITS CURRENCY AND NOT LET IT FALL BELOW THOSE ISSUES MNUCHIN: WELL THAT'S WHY I SAID ITS A WARNING SHOT TO MAKE SURE THAT CHINA DOESNT DEVALUE THE CURRENCY AS THEY HAVE IN THE PAST KERNEN: YOURE NOT HANDICAPPING ANYTHING FOR ME. CAN YOU HANDICAP THE LIKELIHOOD THAT SOME OF THE MOST PUNITIVE TARIFFS ACTUALLY GO INTO EFFECT? OR DOES SOMETHING HAPPEN TO SOLVE SOME OF THESE ISSUES BEFORE THEN? MNUCHIN: WELL, IM NOT IN THE HANDICAP BUSINESS. KERNEN: ARE YOU OPTIMISTIC? LARRY KUDLOW SEEMS TO THINK -- LARRY HAS ALWAYS TALKED PEOPLE DOWN OFF THE LEDGE ABOUT TRADE WARS ARE YOU OPTIMISTIC THERES A METHOD TO WHATS HAPPENING HERE? NO ONE WANTS A TRADE WAR MNUCHIN: I AM COMPLETELY LARRY AND I WERE TOGETHER YESTERDAY. WE WERE WITH THE PRESIDENT AS I SAID, HES INTREGALLY INVOLVED IN THESE DISCUSSIONS AND ALL THE SPECIFICS. AND, YOU KNOW, AS IVE USED THE WORD IM CAUTIOUSLY OPTIMISTIC. YOULL KNOW WHEN WE HAVE A DEAL. KERNEN: IF YOU GO ANYWHERE ELSE, WE HOPE YOU DONT, BUT YOU CAN SAY IM OPTIMISTICALLY CAUTIOUS, YOU CAN JUST INTERCHANGE THOSE IF YOU WANT JUST IN YOUR QUIVER. MNUCHIN: THE ONLY PLACE IM GOING DIFFERENTLY IS NEXT TIME YOU COME TO WASHINGTON WELL HOST YOU AT THE TREASURY. KERNEN: REALLY? MNUCHIN: ABSOLUTELY. QUICK: WE'RE THERE KERNEN: DID YOU GUYS GET THAT ARE WE LIVE? ARE WE STILL LIVE? GOOD THATD BE GREAT. REALLY MNUCHIN: TONY WILL BOOK THE DAY FOR YOU. WED LOVE TO HAVE YOU KERNEN: OKAY. QUICK: SECRETARY MNUCHIN, THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME. ITS A PLEASURE. MNUCHIN: GREAT TO BE WITH YOU BOTH For more information contact: Jennifer Dauble CNBC t: 201.735.4721 m: 201.615.2787 e: jennifer.dauble@nbcuni.com Emma Martin CNBC t: 201.735.4713 m: 551.275.6221 e: emma.martin@nbcuni.com

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https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/17/tehran-israel-will-be-punished-for-its-strike-on-iranian-drone-base.html

Israel ‘will be punished’ for its strike on Iranian drone base, Tehran says

Israel ‘will be punished’ for its strike on Iranian drone base, Tehran says An Israeli F-15 fighter jetJack Guez | AFP | Getty Images Iran has issued a threat against Israel following last weekend's attack on an Iranian drone base in Syria. "Tel Aviv will be punished for its aggressive action," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Ghassemi told local press Monday. "The occupying Zionist regime will, sooner or later, receive an appropriate response to its actions." The strike, which killed seven Iranian military advisors from the country's elite Quds Force in the Syrian city of Homs, has been neither confirmed nor denied by Israel's government. But a senior Israeli official admitted to The New York Times that the event was "the first time we attacked live Iranian targets — both facilities and people." Amid an already chaotic and internecine war involving numerous parties fighting for their own calculated interests, another conflict is coming into focus: the escalation of clashes between Iran and Israel. Since 2013, Israel has carried out more than 100 airstrikes in Syria, primarily targeting the Iranian-funded Lebanese militia group Hezbollah and military convoys. This hasn't featured heavily in news headlines, however, as Israel prefers to act in the shadows to reduce the pressure on adversaries to respond, and because Russia, with whom it has good relations, has so far tolerated its military actions. But the first months of 2018 have seen Israel broaden its intervention to increasingly target its longtime nemesis, Iran, directly. "The only thing more complex than the Syrian civil war would be the Syrian civil war overlaid with an Israel-Iran shooting war," said Henry Rome, Iran researcher at global risk consultancy Eurasia Group. This would inevitably drag the U.S. further into the conflict in support of Israel, while potentially empowering Russia as a mediator due to its relatively good relations with both sides. Israel and Iran's strategic aims in Syria come into direct conflict with one another. Iran seeks a permanent presence in Syria and Lebanon — part of what regional experts have called the growing "Shia crescent" of influence in the Middle East — as a long-term, strategic objective. And Israel sees an increasing threat in this deepening influence near its borders, which it fears could result in launching posts from which Hezbollah could attack. "There are many Israelis who have felt obliged to plan out a war with Iran, and their political leaders have spoken ominously about that in recent years," former U.S. ambassador to Syria Richard Murphy told CNBC, noting that the threat posed by Hezbollah is "considerable" given the missiles it commands in Lebanon and in supply posts in Syria. Therefore, a major red line for Israel, according to Rome, is the presence of permanent Iranian air, naval, or ground military bases in Syria — hence its strike on the drone base. The strike came two months after an Israeli F-16 was shot down by Syrian anti-aircraft defenses during an earlier attack on a drone base prompted by an armed Iranian drone entering Israeli airspace in early February. The two Israeli pilots onboard were ejected over Israeli territory and landed in stable condition. This instance underscores just how easily the war could widen, pulling the two adversaries into full-blown conflict over Syria. "Israeli intervention in Syria could easily trigger an escalation of the conflict or a further spillover of violence into the region," Ryan Turner, a senior risk analyst at PGI Group, told CNBC. Free Syrian Army fighters fire an anti-aircraft weapon in a rebel-held area of Aleppo, Syria December 12, 2016.Abdalrhman Ismail | Reuters And Israel's military actions are unlikely to abate, as its fundamental aim is to prevent Syria from being used as a base to threaten its interest. "To that end, Israel will continue to target Iranian military infrastructure in Syria and attempt to prevent the transfer of advanced weapons of Hezbollah," Turner added. Following the Iranian foreign ministry's statement, Hezbollah issued one of its own: Naim Qassesm, the group's deputy secretary-general, announced that Iran would retaliate at a time and place of its choosing. The next major flashpoint between the two? The Assad regime's fight for the southwestern city of Daraa, some 50 miles from the Israeli border. "The Israeli military fears the regime will use Hezbollah and Iranian forces to fight the battle and entrench themselves near the city," said Eurasia Group's Rome. He described this as "intolerable" for Israel, which would act militarily to stop the establishment of permanent Iranian positions. But while escalation is increasing, an all-out war between the two is unlikely, Murphy believes. "I don't think that's on the cards right now. The Iranian goal is to make sure Assad survives." And so far the Syrian president has done so, with the help of Tehran and Moscow, and is consolidating his power in much of the country. "It's a game that has its dangers," the ambassador said. "It's intense seeming, but it can be controlled by Tehran and Jerusalem, and I think they would not seek open warfare," Murphy said, adding that Syria itself is in no condition to be in active conflict against Israel. But each Israeli strike risks retaliation, said Turner, and "that has the potential to trigger a new cycle of escalation and violence that may not be easily contained."

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https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/17/top-hedge-fund-managers-say-well-come-running-back-to-them.html

Top hedge fund managers say we'll come running back to them as stock market turmoil returns

Top hedge fund managers say we'll come running back to them as stock market turmoil returns Lee AinslieDavid A. Grogan | CNBC Top hedge fund managers including Maverick Capital's Lee Ainslie and Hayman Capital's Kyle Bass are defending the industry against concerns that passive funds or artificial intelligence could usurp human management. "The conditions that have perpetuated a multi-year headwind are starting to reverse, with the result being a possible multi-year tailwind for hedge funds," Ainslie said in a wide-ranging paper published Monday. "Looking forwards, we're entering a period where the possibility for alpha generation should be more rewarding and beta (market) exposure will likely be less rewarding." The paper, published by the Alternative Investment Management Association and Aberdeen Standard Investments, sought opinions from leading managers on the future of investing. Hedge funds have fallen out of favor with investors in recent years as basic market-tracking index funds handily outperformed the group during this nine-year bull market. High-profile investors like David Einhorn and Bill Ackman underperformed the market badly in 2017, with net returns of 1.6 percent and negative 4 percent, respectively, versus the historic climb in equities. Ainslie, who founded Maverick in 1993, now oversees approximately $10 billion in assets under management, according to The Wall Street Journal. A former employee of Julian Robertson's Tiger Management, Ainslie is a value investor known for his stakes in technology. "History will end up repeating itself and we'll have some geopolitical risk really enter investment portfolios again accompanied by increased volatility," Bass said. "With the introduction of those two ingredients, our business should thrive, because the passive long-only investors will not do well in that environment in my opinion, and hedge funds will do very well in that environment, on a relative basis." Bass is the founder and managing partner of Hayman Capital Management, where he gained a reputation for betting against subprime mortgages during the financial crisis. Volatility is sometimes seen as a plus for hedge fund managers, who are able to bet against stocks in treacherous market conditions unlike long-only funds. Throughout the recent rise in volatility, hedge funds have managed to outperform the market ever so slightly this year, up 0.35 percent as measured by the HFRI Fund Weighted Composite Index. In comparison, the S&P 500 has added 0.27 percent since January. That tiny outperformance is likely not enough to justify their huge fees, however. "March and the first quarter of 2018 have already defined a significantly divergent financial market and hedge fund performance environment than prior years, with the shift and volatility punctuated by escalation of trade and tariff politics and economics," HFR President Kenneth J. Heinz said in a statement earlier this month. "As most equity markets declined, hedge funds quickly adapted to low and non-correlated exposures across asset classes, and to capital protection and preservation positions, en route to producing a first-quarter gain," he added. "It is likely that these trends will not only continue, but accelerate into mid-year, driving uncorrelated gains and industry capital growth." The advent of artificial intelligence and machine learning was another key topic addressed by hedge fund experts in the paper, though many thought it could be a long time until investors fully trust algorithms with their cash. "It will be tough for technology to truly disrupt investing in the field of financial advice — and to usurp the role of the traditional wealth manager unilaterally," said MIT finance professor Robert Merton. "The technology industry narrative appears to underestimate the importance and difficulty of acquiring trust. Technology does not create trust on its own," Merton added. "The incorporation of technology by wealth advisors with the trust asset will actually enhance their business, and not destroy it."

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https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/18/amazon-ceo-jeff-bezos-2018-shareholder-letter.html

Jeff Bezos reveals Amazon has 100 million Prime members in letter to shareholders

Jeff Bezos reveals Amazon has 100 million Prime members in letter to shareholders VIDEO3:1003:10Amazon Prime finally releases closely guarded subscription numbersClosing Bell Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has released his latest annual shareholder letter. In the letter, Bezos stressed the importance of having high standards in running a business. By setting high standards, companies are able to live up to "ever-rising customer expectations," he said. "How do you stay ahead of ever-rising customer expectations? There's no single way to do it – it's a combination of many things. But high standards (widely deployed and at all levels of detail) are certainly a big part of it," Bezos wrote in the letter. Bezos also disclosed for the first time that Prime now exceeds 100 million members worldwide. In 2017 alone, Amazon added more Prime members than any prior year, and shipped over five billion items through the paid membership service worldwide, he said. Amazon also sold the most number of devices last year, with customers buying "tens of millions" of Echo devices, Bezos wrote in the letter. With regards to Whole Foods, Bezos said the "technical work" is currently under way to bring Prime member benefits to the grocery chain. The annual letter, which Bezos has published every year since 1997, is widely considered a must-read by business professionals for its rich detail around the Amazon CEO's management principle and long-term thinking. This year's letter focuses on the idea of setting high standards. Bezos writes high standards are "teachable" and that they are "contagious" within an organization. But they have to be "domain specific" because they don't automatically spread from one area to another. In order to achieve high standards, Bezos says you need to "recognize" its exact meaning in a particular area, and then set the "scope" for realistic expectations to reach those goals. "So, the four elements of high standards as we see it: they are teachable, they are domain specific, you must recognize them, and you must explicitly coach realistic scope," Bezos writes. "Building a culture of high standards is well worth the effort, and there are many benefits." In one of the more amusing parts of the letter, Bezos gave an anecdote about a friend who visited a handstand coach — who told her it would take six months to master the skill — in order to illustrate his point: A close friend recently decided to learn to do a perfect free-standing handstand. No leaning against a wall. Not for just a few seconds. Instagram good. She decided to start her journey by taking a handstand workshop at her yoga studio. She then practiced for a while but wasn't getting the results she wanted. So, she hired a handstand coach. Yes, I know what you're thinking, but evidently this is an actual thing that exists. In the very first lesson, the coach gave her some wonderful advice. "Most people," he said, "think that if they work hard, they should be able to master a handstand in about two weeks. The reality is that it takes about six months of daily practice. If you think you should be able to do it in two weeks, you're just going to end up quitting." Unrealistic beliefs on scope – often hidden and undiscussed – kill high standards. To achieve high standards yourself or as part of a team, you need to form and proactively communicate realistic beliefs about how hard something is going to be – something this coach understood well. You can read the full letter here. VIDEO2:2102:21Here are four of Amazon’s creepiest patentsDigital Original

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https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/18/cnbc-exclusive-cnbc-transcript-goldman-sachs-chairman-ceo-lloyd-blankfein-speaks-with-cnbcs-wilfred-frost-today.html

CNBC Exclusive: CNBC Transcript: Goldman Sachs Chairman & CEO Lloyd Blankfein Speaks with CNBC’s Wilfred Frost Today

CNBC Exclusive: CNBC Transcript: Goldman Sachs Chairman & CEO Lloyd Blankfein Speaks with CNBC’s Wilfred Frost Today WHEN: Today, Wednesday, April 18, 2018 WHERE: CNBC's "Squawk Box" The following is the unofficial transcript of a CNBC EXCLUSIVE interview with Goldman Sachs Chairman & CEO Lloyd Blankfein and CNBC's Wilfred Frost on CNBC's "Squawk Box" (M-F, 6AM-9AM ET) today, Wednesday, April 18th. The following is a link to video of the full interview on CNBC.com: https://www.cnbc.com/video/2018/04/18/lloyd-blankfein-on-trade-markets-and-goldmans-next-ceo.html?play=1. All references must be sourced to CNBC. JOE KERNEN: LET'S GET TO WILFRED FROST. HE'S LIVE IN CHICAGO WITH A VERY SPECIAL GUEST. YOU KNOW, YOU CAN COME – TELL LLOYD HE CAN COME ON IN NEW YORK TOO. DOESN'T HAVE TO JUST BE IN CHICAGO, WILF. BUT WE'RE GLAD TO SEE HIM. WILFRED FROST: WELL, WE'RE HERE FOR A SPECIAL REASON WHICH WE'LL BE GETTING TO IN JUST A MOMENT. BUT FIRST I WANT TO SAY GOOD MORNING, AND THANK YOU LLOYD FOR JOINING US HERE ON CNBC. LLOYD BLANKFEIN: GOOD MORNING. GREAT TO BE HERE. FROST: I HAVE TO ASK QUICKLY, HAS THIS BEEN SCHEDULED IN ORDER TO CLASH WITH THE START OF JAMES GORMAN'S MORGAN STANLEY EARNINGS CONFERENCE CALL WHICH IS BEGINNING RIGHT NOW AS WELL. BLANKFEIN: NO. IS HE HAVING A CALL? FROST: YES. HE IS INDEED BUT I AM HOPING LOTS OF PEOPLE ARE TUNED IN BLANKFEIN: WE SHOULD MERGE THOSE FEEDS? WE SHOULD ALTERNATE. FROST: WE COULD DO THAT, BUT I THINK THIS IS GOING TO BE MORE BLOCKBUSTER, LLOYD SO LET'S GET TO THE TOPIC OF WHY WE'RE HERE WE'RE HERE FOR THE U.S./CHINA BUSINESS SUMMIT WHICH YOU'RE CO-HOSTING WITH CHINA INVESTMENT CORPORATION. THE LAST SORT OF ROUND OF THIS TYPE OF MEETING WAS IN CHINA NOVEMBER LAST YEAR WHERE VERY POSITIVE YOU ANNOUNCED WITH THEM A $5 BILLION FUND TO INVEST IN U.S. MANUFACTURING. SINCE THEN, THE TONE OF RELATIONS BETWEEN CHINA AND THE U.S. HAS DETERIORATED QUITE SIGNIFICANTLY. IS THAT RECOVERABLE? BLANKFEIN: NOT ONLY IS IT RECOVERABLE, IT HAS TO RECOVER. WE'RE THE TWO BIGGEST ECONOMIES IN THE WORLD THERE IS NO – THERE'S NO PATH FORWARD IF WE DISAGREE OR ARE DIAGREEABLE WITH EACH OTHER OVER THE LONG-TERM. WE NEED TO WORK THINGS OUT. I UNDERSTAND WHAT'S TRYING TO BE ACCOMPLISHED HERE. WE'RE NOT TRYING TO END TRADE WITH CHINA, WE'RE TRYING TO EVEN IT OUT. THERE ARE DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES AT WORK HERE. I'LL JUST SAY I WENT OVER IN THAT NOVEMBER, I WAS PART OF THAT TRADE MISSION THAT SECRETARY OF COMMERCE ROSS LED. IT LED TO A NUMBER OF SIGNED AGREEMENTS INCLUDING A CO-INVESTMENT BETWEEN OUR CLIENTS AND CIC WHICH IS THE SOVERIGN WEALTH FUND OF CHINA TO INVEST IN U.S. INDUSTRIES THAT IS U.S. MANUFACTURING COMPANIES WITH A VIEW TO INCREASING THE MANUFACTURING TO HAVE THEM SPECIFICALLY EXPORT MORE INTO CHINA WITH OUR CHINESE PARTNERS HELPING THEM GET ACCESS TO THE CHINESE MARKETS. FROST: IS IT POSSIBLE THAT THE PLUG COULD BE PULLED ON THAT INITIATIVE GIVEN THE RAISED TENSIONS WE'VE HAD IN THE PAST COUPLE OF MONTHS. BLANKFEIN: I WOULDN'T SAY AT THIS POINT ANYTHINGS IMPOSSIBLE, BUT THE COMMERCE SECRETARY ROSS WAS A KEYNOTE SPEAKER AT THE EVENT WE HAD LAST NIGHT THAT WAS CO-HOSTED BY OUR PARTNERS IN WHICH WE HAD DOZENS AND DOZENS OF U.S. CEOs AND THE SAME NUMBER OF CHINESE CEOs WORKING AND ENGAGING WITH EACH OTHER AND OF COURSE WHAT WE'RE DOING HERE CAN ONLY TIGHTEN THAT DEFICIT BECAUSE HERE IT'S CHINESE INVESTMENTS IN AMERICAN COMPANIES, AMERICAN JOBS TO MANUFACTURE AMERICAN GOODS TO SHIP TO CHINA AND SELL INTO CHINA. SO THIS IS GOOD ALL AROUND. FROST: SO YOU'RE SOUNDING PRETTY RELAXED IF I MAY SAY ABOUT THE ISSUE. CLEARLY TRADE TENSIONS HAVE WEIGHED ON MARKETS SIGNIFICANTLY. BUT IT SOUNDS LIKE YOU DON'T THINK THEYRE THAT SEVERE. SO OVERALL DO YOU SUPPORT THE PRESIDENTS ATTEMPTS TO RENEGOTIATE THESE TERMS OF TRADE WITH CHINA. BLANKFEIN: I QUITE UNDERSTAND AT THE END OF THE DAY EVERYBODY EVOLVES AND CHANGES. CHINA WAS A DEVELOPING MARKET THAT HAS DEVELOPED IN PART THEY NEEDED TO -- THEY HAD AN ECONOMY BASED ON EXPORT AT ALL COSTS. WHEN I SAY AT ALL COSTS, I MEAN EVEN SUBORDINATING INTERESTS ARE RESPECT TO THE ENVIRONMENT YOU KNOW, WHEN YOU HAVE TO GROW AT 10% BECAUSE YOU HAVE TO ACCOMMODATE A POPULATION MOVING FROM VILLAGES TO CITIES -- AND WANTING TO AVOID SOCIAL AND POLITICAL UNREST YOU MANUFACTURE, PRODUCE, EXPORT AND TO SOME EXTENT THAT IS GOOD FOR CHINA. AND BY THE WAY, GOOD FOR THE WORLD THEY ACHIEVE THAT KIND OF STABILITY. BUT AT THE SAME TIME SOME MARKETS AROUND THE WORLD INCLUDING MARKETS IN THE UNITED STATES GOT HOLLOWED OUT A BIT. AND SOME POLITICAL STABILITY THAT WAS WON FOR CHINA BY VIRTUE OF ITS TRADING PRACTICES RESULTED YOU MIGHT SAY IN SOME POLITICAL INSTABILITY AND ECONOMIC INSTABILITY IN THE UNITED STATES AND I THINK FROM THE U.S. POINT OF VIEW ITS TIME TO SAY LETS RE-EXAMINE WHERE WE STAND. AND SO I THINK THE KIND OF PRESSURE THAT'S BEING PUT TO BEAR IS FINE I THINK IT'S GOING TO WORK OUT NOT BECAUSE I'M SO POLLY-ANNISH I THINK IT IS GOING TO WORK BECAUSE IT HAS TO WORK OUT USUALLY THINGS THAT HAVE TO HAPPEN, HAPPEN AND YOU HAVE TO HAVE THE RIGHT BALANCE. FROST: LET'S TOUCH ON YOUR EARNINGS YESTERDAY, LLOYD WHICH WAS A BEAT ON EVERY LINE OVERALL EPS, LET'S TALK ABOUT FIRST OF ALL THE BEAT BACK ON TRADING THERE WAS A LOT OF FOCUS ON TRADING LAST YEAR. BACK THIS QUARTER. CAN THAT LAST THE REST OF THE YEAR OR IS IT A ONE QUARTER BOUNCEBACK, AS IT WERE? BLANKFEIN: IF YOU ASKED IT THE OPPOSITE WAY, THIS SURELY WOULD LAST FOREVER. I'D ALSO DISCOUNT THAT WE DON'T KNOW. WE'RE IN THE -- I SAY THIS -- WE'RE MORE IN THE CONTINGENCY BUSINESS THAN THE FORECASTING BUSINESS BUT THE CONDITIONS THAT PREVAIL WE'RE NOT TOP DECILE OR TOP QUARTILE CONDITIONS IN THE WORLD SO. YES, THEY'RE HIGHLY REPLICABLE I WOULD SAY. KIND OF FEELS ALMOST STANDARDISH BUT WHAT DIDN'T FEEL STANDARD WERE THE CONDITIONS OVER THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS. PEOPLE WILL DEBATE BACK AND FORTH WHAT'S NORMAL WHAT'S THE NEW NORMAL BUT CONDITIONS WHERE INTEREST RATES ARE ZERO, YIELD CURVES ARE FLAT, THERES NO RISK PREMIUM. WHERE CENTRAL BANKS ALL AROUND THE WORLD ARE BUYING ALL THE RISKY ASSETS WHICH THEREFORE PUT A DAMPER ON VOLATILITY AND THE OPPORTUNITIES TO PERFORM, THAT'S NOT A NATURAL STATE. WE HAVE NOT REVERSED ALL OF THAT, BUT WE'RE WALKING THAT BACK AND WALKING TO SO THE FIRST INDICATIONS OF A WITHDRAWAL FROM WHAT IS AN UNNATURAL STATE. THE MARKET BECOMES A BIT MORE VOLATILITY PEOPLE GET COMPENSATED FOR THE RISK THEYRE TAKING. OUR CLIENTS ARE DOING BETTER CONSEQUENTLY WE'RE DOING BETTER WITH THEM. SO I WOULDN'T SAY WE'RE POPPING CHAMPAGNE CORKS. BUT WE CAN CERTAINLY SEE WHAT HAPPENS WHEN NORMAL -- WHEN WE START TO WALK BACK TOWARDS A NORMAL FINANCIAL MARKET. FROST: THE SHARE PRICE TRADED DOWN PARTICULARLY ON THE NEWS THERE'D BE NO BUYBACK THIS QUARTER. DID INVESTORS MISUNDERSTAND THAT IS THAT A POSITIVE BECAUSE YOU'VE GOT OTHER USES OF CAPITAL FOR GROWTH? BLANKFEIN: LOOK. YOU NEVER KNOW ON THE DAY THAT EARNINGS COME OUT, THERE'S SOME -- THE MARKET RALLIED INTO THE EARNINGS. THERE ARE ADJUSTMENTS THAT GET TO BE MADE. INVESTORS, MOST INSTITUTIONAL INVESTORS ON THE DAY OF EARNING THEY GO AND CALL FOR MEETINGS THEN THEY DISCUSS. IT'S VERY HARD TO FIGURE OUT FROM ONE DAY IN FACT, ALMOST EVERY TIME THERES AN EARNINGS ANNOUNCEMENT, OUR STOCK DROPS. ALSO PEOPLE KNOW THAT EMPLOYEES CAN SELL FOR THE FIRST TIME ONCE EARNINGS ARE RELEASED SO EVERYONE EXCECTS A WAVE OF INTERNAL SELLING. THERES A LOT OF REASONS FOR STOCKS TO GO DOWN INCLUDING THE FACT THAT WE ANNOUNCE THAT FOR THIS ONE QUARTER, WE'RE SUSPENDING BUYBACKS. AND WE'RE SUSPENDING FOR REASONS THAT ARE QUITE GOOD. ONE OF THE CRITICISMS AND UNAVOIDABLE FACT OF THE LAST FEW YEARS IS THAT THE OPPORTUNITY SET WAS FAIRLY LOW IN OUR INDUSTRY AND SO THE RIGHT THING TO DO, BUT WE WE'RE STILL EARNING A PRETTY GOOD RETURN AND EARNING MONEY. SO WE WE'RE GIVING MONEY BACK TO OUR SHAREHOLDERS SO THEY COULD INVEST IN PLACES WE SEE OPPORTUNITIES TO INVEST IN OUR OWN BUSINESSES NOW. AND SO GUESS WHAT WE ARE SO FOR THIS QUARTER WE'RE PLAYING A BIT OF A CATCH-UP. WE HAD AN ACCOUNTING EFFECT FROM THE CHANGE IN TAX LAW THAT REDUCED OUR CAPITAL. SO FOR THIS ONE QUARTER, RATHER THAN EKE OUT A RETURN OF CAPITAL AND SPREAD IT OVER A FEW QUARTERS, WE DECIDE WE TAKE THAT MEDICINE THIS QUARTER GET ADDITIONAL CAPITAL AND INVEST IN OUR BUSINESSES. FROST: I WANT TO TOUCH ON SUCCESSION PLANNING. BLANKFEIN: WHERE ARE YOU GOING? FROST: VERY WELL SAID. NOWHERE, I HOPE. BUT YOU HAVE TO ASK THE BOSSES ABOUT THAT YOU AND I WERE CHATTING WITH DAVID. YOU AND THE BOARD MADE HIM SOLE PRESIDENT AND CEO RECENTLY. DOES THAT MEAN HE IS DEFINITIVELY THE NEXT CEO OF GOLDMAN SACHS? BLANKFEIN: NO. NOTHING IS DEFINITIVE IT SHOWS MY EXPECTATION THAT HE BE THE PERSON. HE'S THE FOURTH COO I'VE HAD BUT I TELL YOU – FROST: HE'S JUST NEXT DOOR. I HOPE HE CAN HEAR THAT. BLANKFEIN: HE'S TERRIFIC. I'M KIDDING, EXCEPT THAT'S FACTUALLY TRUE MY EXPECTATION IS -- LOOK. WE HAVE A BIT OF A PROCESS. WE HAVE TERRIFIC PEOPLE. WHATEVER ELSE PEOPLE COULD SAY ABOUT GOLDMAN FROM TIME TO TIME, NOBODY DOESN'T THINK WE HAVE GREAT PEOPLE INCLUDING VERY SENIOR PEOPLE, SOME OF WHOM STICK WITH THE FIRM AND MOSTLY THERE COMES A POINT AT WHICH YOUR CAREER TAPERS OFF AND PEOPLE GO OUTSIDE WHERE THEY DO FANTASTIC THINGS. DAVID IS THE GUY WHO'S LEFT AND I HAVEN;T ANNOUNCED ANYTHING ABOUT MY OWN TIMING, BUT IVE BEEN DOING THIS JOB FOR QUITE A WHILE SO IT IS NOT CRAZY PEOPLE SPECULATE ABOUT THIS. FROST: WHAT'S THE BIGGEST FACTOR ON TIMING? IS IT YOU NEED TO SEE MORE FROM DAVID OR YOU HAVE PERSONALLY MORE YOU WANT TO DO YOURSELF? BLANKFEIN: I HAVEN'T -- I THINK THERE'S A KIND OF NOT A QUESTION OF SEEING MORE, BUT I THINK THAT THERES A CULTURALIZATION AND PERIOD YOU GET USED TO TO TALK ABOUT DAVID WHO I LIKE VERY MUCH AND WORKED WITH FOR A COUPLE OF DECADES, HIS EXPERIENCE AND BACKGROUND – HIS JOB UP TO THE POINT WHERE HE WAS COO FOR A YEAR NEVER REALLY SURVEYED THE ENTIRE FIRM. AND SO HE RAN INVESTMENT BANKING AND THEN BECAME COO. THERE'S A LOT OF COMPLEXITY TO OUR SALES AND TRADING BUSINESSES OR INVESTING BUSINESSES OR ACTIVITIES OVERSEAS. SO I THINK IT'S GOOD FOR HIM TO BE THE KIND OF CEO IN WAITING, IF YOU WILL, HAVE THE BENEFITS OF BEING ABLE TO SURVEY THAT AND HAVE A PERIOD OF TIME WHERE HE DOESN;T QUITE HAVE THE ACCOUNTABILITY FOR THE CONSEQUENCES. FROST: LLOYD, WE HAVE A QUESTION FROM THE STUDIO FROM JOE. BLANKFEIN: HEY, JOE. HOW ARE YOU? KERNEN: LLOYD, YOU'RE STILL REALLY SHARP. I MEAN, THAT WAS GOOD. I'VE HAD -- YOU KNOW, WE'VE HAD THREE -- BECKY AND I HAVE HAD THREE CO-ANCHORS ON "SQUAWK" INCLUDING ANDREW TOO. WHO KNOWS. RIGHT? BUT YOU'RE STILL -- YOU CAN TELL YOU'RE STILL QUICK CAN I ASK YOU A QUESTION GOING BACK TO DAVOS, LLOYD. BLANKFEIN: SURE. KERNEN: YOU WERE IN A GREAT MOOD ABOUT BUSINESS CONDITIONS BACK THEN AND I GUESS IT HAD SOMETHING TO DO WITH JUST BUSINESS SENTIMENT, REALLY AND MAYBE THE UPCOMING TAX REFORM, DEREGULATION AND NOW YOUR EARNINGS REMINDED ME OF THE GOLDMAN IN THE PAST WHERE, YOU KNOW, THE ESTIMATE WOULD BE $3 AND YOUD EARN $6 OR SOMETHING. THAT HAPPENED A LOT. CAN THIS -- AND WILF REFERENCED IT IS THERE ANY REASON WHY 2019 OR 2020 ABSOLUTELY HAS TO BE WELL BELOW 2018 I SEE THE CBO SAYS THAT. EVERYBODY HAS THE IDEA THAT THIS IS ALL FRONT END LOADED BECAUSE OF TAX REFORM. BLANKFEIN: LOOK. EVERYBODY'S NERVOUS. AND, YOU KNOW, BULL MARKETS CLIMB A WALL OF WORRY. IT'S GONE ON -- THE BULL MARKETS GONE ON TOO LONG. WE CAN HAVE DUELLING CLICHES HERE, BUT BULL MARKETS DON'T DIE OF OLD AGE, ET CETERA, ET CETERA I WOULD SAY THAT GENERALLY THINGS DON'T GO IN THE SAME DIRECTION FOR A LONG TIME BECAUSE PEOPLE OVER ADJUST TO THEM, EXPECTATIONS CHANGE, IF MONEY IS TOO EASY THEN PEOPLE PUT THEM IN FOOLISH PLACES AND THEY GET -- YOU KNOW, THAT'S HOW BUBBLES FORM AND THEY BURST. OF COURSE YOU DON'T SEE IT UNTIL HINDSIGHT, ET CETERA THERES GENERALLY AN EXPECTATION THERE WILL BE CYCLES TO THINGS I SHARE THAT EXPECTATION BUT IF YOU DIVORCED YOURSELF FROM A GENERAL FEELING AND ANXIETY AND JUST LOOKED AT THE FACTS AND THE NUMBERS AND WHAT YOU CAN MEASURE, YOUD SAY THINGS LOOK AWFULLY GOOD AND IT FEELS LIKE AWFULLY GOOD IN A WAY IN WHICH THERE COULD BE A BIT OF A RUNWAY HERE FOR THINGS TO REMAIN PRETTY GOOD INFLATION IS IN CHECK. INTEREST RATES, THEREFORE, ARE LOWER THAN YOUD EXPECT AT THIS PART OF THE CYCLE. PEOPLE ARE WORKING COMMODITY PRICES ARE IN CHECK. THE BIGGEST COMMODITY PRICE IS HELD A BIT IN CHECK BY THE POTENTIAL SUPPLY OF MORE OIL COMING ONLINE IF THE PRICE ROSE ENOUGH TO JUSTIFY INVESTMENT IN THAT SPHERE. COUNTRIES THAT WERE HALF A CYCLE BEHIND US ARE KIND OF CATCHING UP THEYLL ADD WEALTH CREATION INTO THE WORLD. THERES A LOT OF REASONS FOR OPTIMISM BUT THEN AGAIN YOU HAVE TO REMIND YOURSELF YOU DON'T HEAR THE ONE THAT GETS YOU. ONLY IN HIND SIGHT ARE THE PROBLEMS OBVIOUS I THINK WE WILL GO FORWARD HERE ON A PLAYBOOK THAT INVOLVES OPTIMISM WITH A KIND OF HEALTHY STATE OF ANXIETY THAT, YOU KNOW, GOLDMAN SACHS HAS BEEN PRODUCING IN ITS LEADERS FOR 149 YEARS NOW. BECKY QUICK: HEY, LLOYD, LET'S TALK ABOUT SOME OF THE THINGS THAT COULD THROW US OFF THOUGH. I KNOW YOU SAID A LITTLE BIT AGO WHEN IT COMES TO THE U.S. AND CHINA TRADE TENSIONS, THAT YOU'RE OPTIMISTIC ABOUT THIS BUT YOU ALSO SAID THAT YOU'RE IN THE CONTINGENCY PLANNING BUSINESS. AND I JUST WONDER WHAT CONTINGENCIES YOU'RE PLANNING FOR IF THINGS DON'T GET RESOLVED, IF WE DO WIND UP IN SOME SORT OF A BROADER TRADE WAR? BLANKFEIN: IF WE FIND OURSELVES IN A BROADER TRADE WAR, THINGS WON'T HAPPEN. BUYERS OF COMPANIES AROUND THE WORLD INCLUDE AMERICANS BUYING CHINESE, TAKING ADVANTAGE OF CHINESE OPPORTUNITIES. CHINESE BUYING ASSETS IN AMERICA. THAT'S ON THE INVESTMENT SIDE. THE -- WE ARE HUGE MARKETS FOR EACH OTHER. OBVIOUSLY WE'RE A BIGGER MARKET FOR THEM, BUT WE HAVE ASPIRATIONS TO CHANGE THAT. AND BY THE WAY, THE CHINESE HAVE ASPIRATIONS TO HELP US CHANGE THAT. THAT'S WHY WE'RE DEVELOPING THIS CORPORATION FUND. AND I THINK, YOU KNOW, TO THE -- YOU KNOW, MY OBSERVATION OF THE CHINESE AND I CANT SPEAK FOR THEM OR THEIR LEADERSHIP, BUT THEY'RE A KIND OF A CONSENSUS DRIVEN DIFFERENT POLITICAL SYSTEM BUT ALSO CONSENSUS DRIVEN. I THINK THE LEADERSHIP HAS BEEN EXPRESSING THAT THEY WANT TO OPEN THEIR MARKETS, THAT THEY WANT TO YOU KNOW, DEAL WITH SOME OF THE PROBLEMS THAT THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION AND BUSINESS LEADERS GENERALLY HAVE IDENTIFIED ABOUT DOING BUSINESS IN CHINA AND THEY MADE GOOD PRONOUNCEMENTS BUT I'M SURE WHEN THEY GET BACK AND TRY TO DEVELOP A CONSENSUS AROUND IT, SOME OF THE BUSINESS INTERESTS IN CHINA GET A LITTLE BIT PAROCHIAL AND, YOU KNOW, SORT OF BETWEEN INTENTIONS AND EFFECT. THEY HAVEN'T BEEN ACCOMPLISHED. I THINK WITH THE PRESSURE THE ADMINISTRATION IS PUTTING ON, IT'S NOT ENTIRELY A BAD THING. WE GET TO THE RIGHT THING. AGAIN, MY OPTIMISM IS PREMISED ON THE IDEA THAT A REAL AGGRESSIVE MEAN SPIRITED TRADE WAR IS SO BAD AND THE NECESSITY AND THE ADVANTAGES THAT COME FROM TRADE BACK AND FORTH IS SO GOOD IT'D BE A VERY FARFETCHED THING TO NOT GET THERE WHEN WE KIND OF AGREE MOSTLY ON THE FACTS. IT'S JUST A QUESTION OF CHINESE WILL SAY THIS TAKES LONGER, WE'RE A DEVELOPING COUNTRY WE HAVE TO WAIT. IT TAKES TIME. WE SAY, GUESS WHAT THERE'S BEEN A LOT OF TIME. YOU HAVE DEVELOPED. YOUR ECONOMY IS VIRTUALLY THE SIZE OF OUR ECONOMY BY SOME MEASURES. A NEW DAY HAS DAWNED. LET'S GET WITH IT. THIS IS WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT. AND I THINK IF THAT'S WHAT IT'S ALL ABOUT, WE SHOULD GET TO THE RIGHT PLACE. MICHAEL SANTOLI: LLOYD, YOU – BLANKFEIN: ALSO, WE NEED EACH OTHER IN A LOT OF OTHER THINGS AS WELL. LOOK AT THE SECURITY SITUATION OF THE WORLD WITH NORTH KOREA. HERE ARE OTHER THINGS AT STAKE HERE, MAYBE BIGGER THINGS AT STAKE THAT PROVIDE ANOTHER IMPETUS FOR US GETTING TOGETHER AND WORKING THESE ISSUES OUT. SANTOLI: SURE, LLOYD, NOW GETTING BACK A LITTLE BIT TO YOUR BUSINESS. YOU ADDRESSED THE CORE BUSINESS IN THE LAST FEW MONTHS FEELING A LITTLE MORE NORMAL, PERHAPS, TO YOU PLAYING TO GOLDMAN SACHS' STRENGTH IN THE CORE FRANCHISES. I WONDER, THOUGH, IN TERMS OF THE BROADER BUSINESS MIX OF THE FIRM NOW, WE HEAR A LOT ABOUT SOME OF THE NEWER INITIATIVES LIKE CONSUMER LENDING, LIKE – AND I KNOW YOU MADE AN ACQUISITION RECENTLY OF A FINANCE -- PERSONAL FINANCE APP. WHATS GOLDMAN SACHS' EDGE IN THESE AREAS? WHERE DO YOU SEE IT GOING IN TERMS OF ITS ROLE IN THE FIRM LONG-TERM? BLANKFEIN: SURE. LET ME SAY, I'M SUPER EXCITED ABOUT THAT SPACE FOR US. AND I THINK PEOPLE MISINTERPRET THIS TO SOME EXTENT. SO LET ME SAY, WE HAVEN'T JUST MOVED -- WE HAVEN'T LOST OUR MINDS MOVING TO A CONSUMER BUSINESS THAT WE WEREN'T IN HISTORICALLY. THE CONSUMER BUSINESS HAS MOVED TO US. BECAUSE, I MEAN, IF CONSUMER BUSINESS IS ONE THING IF YOU'RE LENDING -- YOU KNOW, IF IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE AND YOU'RE JIMMY STEWART AND YOU'RE LENDING TO 500 PEOPLE AND YOU'RE LOOKING INTO PEOPLE'S SOUL AND CHARACTER DECIDING WHETHER TO MAKE AN INVESTMENT OR LENDING DECISION, THAT'S ONE THING. BUT IF YOU'RE LENDING TO 50 MILLION PEOPLE, IT'S MATH. IT'S ALGORITHMS. WHEN YOU SLAP DOWN A CREDIT CARD, THE CREDIT CARD COMPANY, THE BANK BEHIND IT IS MAKING A CREDIT DECISION TO EXTEND CREDIT TO YOU. REALLY? IN THAT SPLIT SECOND, HOW ARE THEY DOING THAT? THEY'RE DOING IT BY ALGORITHMS, SOPHISTICATED RISK MANAGEMENT METHODOLOGY. AND IT'S DISTRIBUTED ELECTRONICALLY. AND TO THE CASE OF CONSUMER LENDING IN OUR CASE, DIGITALLY. WELL, WE'RE VERY GOOD AT ALGORITHMIC TRADING. WE'RE VERY GOOD AT RISK MANAGEMENT. WE'RE VERY GOOD AT DIGITAL DISTRIBUTION. OBVIOUSLY A CONSUMER EXPERIENCE IS VERY IMPORTANT HERE AND WE HAD TO IMPORT THAT. IT'S IMPORTANT, BUT IT'S NOT THE BIGGEST PART OF THE ENTERPRISE AT THIS POINT. THIS HAS STARTED TO MOVE INTO OUR WHEEL HOUSE AND WE'RE TAKING ADVANTAGE OF IT NOW. NOW, WHY US? BECAUSE ON THE ONE HAND, WE HAVE THESE EXPERIENCES IN DIGITAL, A LOT OF THE WHOLESALE PLATFORMS THAT DRIVE THE WHOLESALE MARKET WERE CREATED BY GOLDMAN SACHS AND THEN HIVED OFF AND DISTRIBUTED TO A BROADER COMMUNITY. WE ALSO HAVE A BALANCE SHEET UNLIKE THE NORMAL DISRUPTERS OF MARKETS IN SILICON VALLEY, WE'RE A LICENSED BANK HOLDING COMPANY. WE CAN TAKE DEPOSITS AND LEND THEM OUT. THE OTHER BANK HOLDING COMPANIES NAMELY OUR COMPETITORS WHO'VE BEEN IN THE CONSUMER BUSINESS FOR A LONG TIME ARE A BIT OF A VICTIM BECAUSE OF THEIR LEGACY BUSINESSES. THEY HAVE BIG CREDIT CARD BALANCES AND ARE CHARGING ANYWHERE BETWEEN 16 AND 22 PERCENT FOR THOSE. THEY'RE NOT REALLY DYING TO REFINANCE THOSE CREDIT CARD BALANCES WITH CONSUMER LOANS AT 10 – 1,000 BASIS POINTS LOWER COST, OR 800 BASIS POINTS LOWER COST. WE'RE IN KIND OF A UNIQUE POSITION HERE. BIG BALANCE SHEET BANK, SKILL AT DIGITAL DISTRIBUTION, NO LEGACY BUSINESSES THAT CONFLICT WITH OUR CREATING A CONSUMER BUSINESS FOR 2018. KERNEN: HEY, LLOYD, WE WERE IN WASHINGTON YESTERDAY. WE HAD A LOT OF PEOPLE ON FROM BOTH SIDES OF THE AISLE. WE HAD STENY HOYER ON, A COUPLE OTHER DEMOCRATS, WHO SAID THEY WOULD RETAKE THE HOUSE, THEY'RE DEFINITELY GOING TO REPEAL THE TAX REFORM ACT AND I DON'T KNOW WHAT THEY'LL DO WITH FINANCIAL REGULATION. AT THIS POINT, WOULD YOU PREFER THAT THE GOP HOLDS ON TO THE HOUSE AND SENATE OR WOULD YOU PREFER THE DEMOCRATS RETAKE THE HOUSE? BLANKFEIN: I LIVE THIS BIFURCATED LIFE WHERE I'M GOLDMAN SACHS AND I'M LLOYD, YOU KNOW. KERNEN: I KNOW. I JUST WANTED TO SEE HOW YOU'D ANSWER. BLANKFEIN: ON THIS. KERNEN: OKAY, HOW ABOUT FOR GOLDMAN SACHS, WHICH WOULD YOU PREFER? BLANKFEIN: I PREFER – I'M FOR THE NONEXISTENT PARTY THAT IS A FRACTION OF EACH ONE. I'M FOR THE MODERATES. I WANT STABILITY. I WOULD LIKE TO THINK – KERNEN: SIMPLE QUESTION. GOP OR DEMOCRATS RETAKING THE HOUSE. WHICH DO YOU WANT? YOU NEED TO – BINARY. YOU WANT THE GOP TO KEEP IT – BLANKFEIN: I DON'T HAVE TO ANSWER. BECAUSE YOU ANSWER, YOU KNOW, YOU HAVE TO QUESTION THAT. OF COURSE! ON YOUR SIDE THE QUESTION IS SIMPLE, BUT AT THE END OF THE DAY, YOU'RE ASKING ME NOW OR PREDICATED YOUR QUESTION IS ARE DEMOCRATS GOING TO REVERSE A CONSEQUENTIAL PIECE OF LEGISLATION THAT WILL HAVE BEEN IN EFFECT FOR ALMOST TWO YEARS. KERNEN: THEY SAID THAT. BLANKFEIN: WHO WANTS TO LIVE THAT WAY? I WANT LEGISLATION TO HAVE INCORPORATED THE MODERATES OF BOTH HOUSES SO THEY CAN SUSTAIN THEMSELVES FOR MORE THAN ONE - KERNEN: YOU KNEW I'D ASK YOU IT. YOU KNEW WHAT YOU KNOW. I KNOW YOU. YOU KNOW ME. I LOVE SORT OF -- JUST -- BECAUSE – BLANKFEIN: I KNOW, YOU KNOW, I KNOW, YOU KNOW ME. FROST: LOOK, I WANT TO JUMP IN. BECAUSE WE ARE GETTING TO KNOW YOU A LITTLE BIT BETTER BECAUSE YOU WENT ON TO TWITTER RECENTLY. AND A LOT OF YOUR COLLEAGUES I'VE SPOKEN TO SUGGESTED THAT WAS BECAUSE YOU WANT TO SORT OF SHRUG OFF THE IMAGE THAT GOLDMAN SACHS' -- A WALL STREET CEO MIGHT HAVE AND PUT ACROSS A WITTY, MORE NATURE SIDE. IS THAT TRUE? BLANKFEIN: I'LL BE HONEST WITH YOU. I'VE BEEN CEO FOR 12 YEARS. I'VE BEEN TRYING TO GET THE IMAGE OF A NORMAL WALL STREET CEO. FROST: BUT THE TWEETING IS THAT TO OFFSET SOME OF THAT AND PUT OUT THAT THERE'S A BIT MORE OF A LIGHT HEARTED SIDE TO THINGS. IS THAT A FAIR EXPLANATION? BLANKFEIN: I WOULD SAY IT'S NOT THAT CALCULATED. WHAT I DID WAS I DISCOVERED – I DISCOVERED THE INSTRUMENT. I MEAN, I LIKE IT. AND I HAVE TO SAY, YOU KNOW, ONE OF SEVERAL THINGS I LEARNED FROM, IN A WAY, YOU KNOW, TRUMP HAS DONE IT, I'M NOT COMPETING WITH THAT. BUT WHAT I OBSERVED IS, LOOK, YOU'RE IN THE PRESS YOU HAVE YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES, I HAVE MINE. THE DAY BEFORE A STORY WILL RUN, I'LL GET A CALL FROM SOMEBODY OR A PRESS DEPARTMENT WILL GET, WE'RE GONNA SAY "BLIP, BLIP, BLIP" AND WE'LL SAY, "GEE, THAT'S WRONG. THAT'S NOT RIGHT. THAT'S A WRONG IMPRESSION. WILL YOU PLEASE CHANGE IT THIS WAY?" AND THEY'LL GO "NO." AND I'LL GO "OH MY GOODNESS. WHAT DO WE DO?" NOW YOU HAVE – EVERYBODY HAS ACCESS. IT'S BEEN A BIT OF A DISMEDIATION. AND SO ONE OF THE PAPERS WHO WROTE SOMETHING WHICH WAS INCORRECT AT THE TIME THAT WE WERE ABOUT TO DECLARE ME – WHAT WE WERE DOING IS WE WERE DECLARING THAT DAVID SOLOMON WILL BE THE SOLE COO, BUT INSTEAD THE STORY GOT CONFLATED WITH EVERYBODY'S EXPECTATIONS OF MY OWN TENURE. GUESS WHAT I WENT ON TWITTER AND I ADDRESSED SOMETHING. AND I DON'T HAVE TO – FROST: AND YOU SAID, "I KNOW HOW HUCKLEBERRY FINN FEELS." BLANKFEIN: I SAID, I KNOW HOW HUCKLEBERRY FINN FELT LISTENING TO HIS OWN EULOGY. IT GOT A LITTLE LAUGH BUT AT THE SAME TIME, I HAVE 90,000 FOLLOWERS NOT 90 MILLION FOLLOWERS, BUT I LOOK DOWN THE LIST AND 10,000 OF THEM ARE PRESS PEOPLE WHO THEN WRITE THE STORY AND PASS IT ON. AND SO IT'S NOT THAT CALCULATED. IT ALSO REFLECTS THE PERSONALITY. I LIKE THE FACT IT'S SHORT. I THINK IT'S A CHALLENGE TO SAY WHAT YOU WANT TO SAY, BE A LITTLE BIT PROVOCATIVE, NOT TOO PROVOCATIVE, AND SAY THAT IN A SMALL SPACE. SO I KIND OF LIKE THE MEDIUM. FROST: LLOYD, IT'S BEEN A PLEASURE HAVING YOU WITH US AS ALWAYS. THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR TIME. WE BETTER LET YOU GET BACK TO THIS VERY IMPORTANT CONFERENCE. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. BLANKFEIN: WELL THANK YOU. FROST: BACK TO YOU IN THE STUDIO. KERNEN: THANK YOU, WILF. THAT WAS GREAT. THANK YOU, LLOYD, TOO, AS WELL. BLANKFEIN: THANKS JOE. KERNEN: WE HOPE TO SEE HIM HERE ON SET. THANKS LLOYD. For more information contact: Jennifer Dauble CNBC t: 201.735.4721 m: 201.615.2787 e: jennifer.dauble@nbcuni.com Emma Martin CNBC t: 201.735.4713 m: 551.275.6221 e: emma.martin@nbcuni.com About CNBC: With CNBC in the U.S., CNBC in Asia Pacific, CNBC in Europe, Middle East and Africa, and CNBC World, CNBC is the recognized world leader in business news and provides real-time financial market coverage and business information to more than 409 million homes worldwide, including more than 91 million households in the United States and Canada. CNBC also provides daily business updates to 400 million households across China. The network's 15 live hours a day of business programming in North America (weekdays from 4:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. ET) is produced at CNBC's global headquarters in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., and includes reports from CNBC News bureaus worldwide. CNBC at night features a mix of new reality programming, CNBC's highly successful series produced exclusively for CNBC and a number of distinctive in-house documentaries. CNBC Digital delivers more than 50 million multi-platform unique visitors each month. CNBC.com provides real-time financial market news and information to CNBC's investor audience. CNBC Make It is a digital destination focused on making you smarter about how you earn, save and spend your money by zeroing in on careers, leadership, entrepreneurship and personal finance. CNBC has a vast portfolio of digital products across a variety of platforms including: CNBC.com; CNBC PRO, the premium, integrated desktop/mobile service that provides live access to CNBC programming, exclusive video content and global market data and analysis; a suite of CNBC mobile products including the CNBC Apps for iOS, Android and Windows devices; and additional products such as the CNBC App for the Apple Watch and Apple TV. Members of the media can receive more information about CNBC and its programming on the NBCUniversal Media Village Web site at http://www.nbcumv.com/programming/cnbc. For more information about NBCUniversal, please visit http://www.NBCUniversal.com.

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https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/18/credit-scores-could-jump-30-points-this-month.html?__source=sharebar%7Ctwitter&par=sharebar

Credit scores could jump 30 points this month

Credit scores could jump 30 points this month VIDEO0:5100:51Your credit score may jump this monthYour Money, Your Future Starting this week, some consumers may have a higher credit score. Because of improved standards for utilizing new and existing public records, the three major credit reporting companies are now excluding all tax liens from credit reports. That means some scores will head higher, for some by as much as 30 points. Credit scores, notably those from FICO, one of the largest credit scoring companies, generally range from 300 to 850. A good score generally is above 700, and those over 760 are considered excellent. Credit reporting and scores play a key role in most Americans' daily life. The process can determine the interest rate a consumer is going to pay for credit cards, car loans and mortgages — or whether they will get a loan at all. The actions come following a study by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that found problems with credit reporting and recommended changes to help consumers. (Incorrect information on a credit report is the top issue reported by consumers, according to the bureau.) Last July, credit reporting companies removed nearly 100 percent of civil judgment data and about 50 percent of tax lien data from credit reports. Now they have removed the rest. The latest change took effect Monday. As a result, LexisNexis Risk Solutions predicts that about 11 percent of the population had a judgment or lien removed from their credit file, according to the company's own estimate. Once that information is stripped out, credit scores may go up by as much as 30 points overall, LexisNexis found. LexisNexis also provides lenders with data to make decisions on consumer loans. Other industry groups have said these changes will have less of an impact. "Analyses conducted by the credit reporting agencies and credit score developers FICO and VantageScore show only modest credit scoring impacts," Eric Ellman, a senior vice president of the Consumer Data Industry Association, said in a statement when the changes were first announced. The association represents Equifax, Experian and TransUnion, the three largest credit reporting companies. A follow-up report by the CFPB found that only a small number of consumers who had civil judgments or tax liens removed from their reports in July experienced a jump significant enough to improve their credit profile. For consumers who are not directly affected by the change, there could be consequences as well. If banks are less able to differentiate a risky borrower from a nonrisky borrower, "lenders and servicers have to hedge for that risk," said Nick Larson, a business development manager for the financial services unit of LexisNexis Risk Solutions. As a result, lenders will have to charge higher interest rates across the board, he said. "Overall, consumers actually get hurt." More from Your Money Your Future:Mulvaney pitches his revamp of consumer bureau to Congress 5 cities for a fresh financial start For some consumers, bankruptcy is the solution to crushing debt Here's what people would do with a $10,000 windfall

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https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/18/ebay-jumps-after-big-upgrade-from-morgan-stanley.html

EBay shares jump after a 'double upgrade' from Morgan Stanley

EBay shares jump after a 'double upgrade' from Morgan Stanley Devin Wenig, eBayOdd Andersen | AFP | Getty Images Shares of eBay jumped 2.8 percent Wednesday after analysts at Morgan Stanley "double upgraded" the stock on expectations that a transition away from PayPal will give the online seller a boost. Analysts at the investment bank raised their rating on eBay to overweight all the way from underweight — skipping equal weight — and hiked their price target to $58 a share from $36. Morgan Stanley's new price target represents a 42.8 percent upside from Tuesday's close. EBay's stock was up 7.6 percent this year as of Tuesday's closing. "We expect EBAY to start intermediating its own payments (pulling away from PayPal) in '18 as management stated on its 4Q:17 conference call, with a planned full transition in mid-2020," Morgan Stanley analyst Brian Nowak said in a note to clients. "We are bullish about this initiative as we've seen other leading platforms … observe higher user conversion/spend from." "As a payment intermediator, EBAY will be responsible for collecting funds from buyers and instructing payment processors to disburse funds to merchants, which is currently done by PayPal. EBAY acting as both marketplace and payment intermediator could simplify and reduce costs for merchants, who would pay a single fee to EBAY," he said. EBay and PayPal were part of the same company until 2015, when they were split into independent stand-alone businesses. Earlier this year, eBay announced it would use Adyen to process its sales. Nowak said eBay's move away from PayPal should improve the company's ability to grow buyers and gross merchandise value, as well as increase earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) by 20 percent over the next three years. It will also lead to a 52 percent increase in gross payment margin, he said. "We could be early, as the market may not give EBAY credit for its 2021 payments business for some time," Nowak said. "That said, we expect the '18/'19 testing/gradual roll-out to act as sign posts for progress."

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https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/18/facebooks-future-growth-market-may-be-outside-the-us.html?__source=fincont&par=fincont

Facebook's final conquest: Squeezing more ad revenue out of rest of the world

Facebook's final conquest: Squeezing more ad revenue out of rest of the world Facebook was among the social media tools that proved influential during the anti-government protests in Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt, and during other Arab Spring uprisings in 2011.Chris Hondros | Getty Images If U.S. regulators crack down on Facebook's advertising business in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal, Mark Zuckerberg might take more of his direction from 19th-century newspapermen. Those young men went West, but in the case of the Facebook founder and CEO, it's East, or at least anywhere other than Europe and the U.S. where the lion's share of Facebook's future growth runway lies. The Western world is having its social media privacy moment. Zuckerberg took his grilling on Capitol Hill and, in Europe, new rules are coming in May that require consumers opt-in to sharing information. Zuckerberg has been repeatedly asked by the press and politicians if Facebook will adopt a subscription model so it no longer needs to generate revenue from advertising. He has been clear that Facebook sees that as having some potential in certain markets, but is a limited solution and will not be the social media's company's primary business model. "We think offering people an ad-supported service is the most aligned with our mission of trying to connect everyone in the world, because we want to offer a free service that everyone can afford. That's the only way we can reach billions of people," Zuckerberg told U.S. senators. The key to Facebook's response lies in a single set of numbers: The average ad revenue Facebook gets from each user of its services, including Instagram and WhatsApp, each quarter. In the fourth quarter of 2017, those numbers were $26.26 in the United States and Canada, $8.71 in Europe, $2.52 in Asia-Pacific, and sub-$2 in the catch-all category called rest of the world, according to its publicly reported earnings report. Yet the fourth quarter was also the first time ever that Facebook's daily average users in North America declined. The revelations about the company have soured many investors. Amid recent tech sector volatility there was talk of fund managers moving away from the top-performing quartet of FANG stocks (Facebook, Amazon, Netflix and Google now Alphabet). But some stock pickers are specifically aiming to take the Facebook out of FANG, according to an article this week in the Wall Street Journal. Facebook will report first quarter earnings next Wednesday, April 25. "Our thesis is that they are still in the early stages of monetizing their business outside of the U.S.," said Dan Ives senior strategist at marketing research firm GBH Insights. "It will never reach U.S. levels. But if user engagement continues to grow, [Facebook] will grow through this speed bump." The potential of these numbers has long been central to the Facebook bull case, because Facebook entered international markets after it was established in the U.S., and its revenue trajectory overseas has broadly traced the early days of its U.S. business. Facebook quarterly average ad revenue per user Region Q4 2015 ($) Q4 2016 ($) Q4 2017 ($) 2-year CAGR (%) US/Canada13.0619.2826.2641.8Europe4.435.868.7140.2Asia Pacific1.572.052.9236.4Rest of World1.091.391.8530.3 In 2011, for example, Facebook's companywide revenue per user was $5.11 for the whole year, and even then was higher in the U.S. than elsewhere, according to documents filed before the company's 2012 initial public stock offering. The gains came as the company got larger, gathered more user data and sold more marketers on its ability to help them reach the specific customers they need. The U.S., followed by every other market, is a common business model: Netflix, Amazon, Google and the online travel companies all followed that path, as well, with the need maybe just a bit more acute for Facebook now. Netflix, Amazon and Alphabet all get more than half of their subscribers or revenue from outside the U.S. Facebook noted last quarter that there are 18 million small businesses on Facebook in Europe. The rub for Facebook: Its U.S. growth is still even faster than its 40 percent clip in Europe in the fourth quarter of the last two years, the busiest part of the company's year. The rest of the world is a distant fourth place in terms of growth, but for years, Facebook has led efforts of the nonprofit Internet.org to invest in technology, including drones, that can provide cheap or even free internet access to people in developing markets (Google has its Project Loon internet balloons to provide free internet access in less developed nations). Facebook completed test flights of its internet drone, Aquila, last summer. Facebook's internet-beaming solar powered aircraft takes flight over Yuma, Arizona.Source: Facebook Facebook also offers what's called Free Basics in dozens of developing countries to provide free access to news and other "basic" apps, including in Colombia, Ghana, Kenya, Mexico, Pakistan and the Philippines. Its Express Wi-Fi app expanded to more than 20,000 hotspots in India last year and is now available in five countries—India, Kenya, Tanzania, Nigeria and Indonesia. The mission of Internet.org is connecting the world, one of Zuckerberg's favorite phrases, but of course having more of the world on the internet is also critical to Facebook's ability to monetize the rest of the global citizenry "product" in its free, ad-supported model by collecting data on users, and investments like "Free Basics" have not escaped controversy. In the third and fourth quarters of last year, the rest of the world segment of Facebook users surpassed $1 billion in advertising revenue for the first time, more than doubling from two years earlier, but still well behind the more the $6.3 billion from the U.S. and Canada, $3.2 billion in Europe, and $2 billion in the Asia Pacific region. Facebook continues to have its high-profile detractors in the market. CNBC's Jim Cramer said he thinks Facebook is "one Cambridge Analytica away from being regulated" in the U.S. and the scandal shows that the company is undermanaged and the risk to earnings estimates is too high. "No one who brushes up against the government of the United States, or Europe by the way, ever comes out unscathed," Cramer said in a video. The concern has been "a lost decade" for Facebook shares similar to what Microsoft experienced when it faced an antitrust regulatory crisis after its 90s heyday. U.S. regulation of Facebook rests on three big assumptions: The Trump administration isn't too distracted with its own problems to launch any kind of serious effort to regulate Facebook's use of customer data; the many members of Congress who appeared not to understand Facebook's business well during Zuckerberg's questioning are equipped to regulate it; and anti-regulation House Republicans would sign onto a bill to tie the company's hands. VIDEO7:4307:43I think more investigations for Facebook are coming, says top EU antitrust regulatorClosing Bell A more immediate risk is that Facebook may be hurt by regulation coming out of Europe, which is already implementing rules in May that will require the company to get customers to opt in to having their information shared, or require data-driven ad firms like Facebook and Google to demonstrate a legitimate interest in crunching user data, or get their permission to use it. Goldman analyst Heather Bellini and her colleagues wrote in a report last week that the changes could trim Facebook's company-wide revenue by 7 percent. That would come from a 10 percent decline in time spent on Facebook in Europe, and a 20 percent drop in the price advertisers would be willing to pay if their messages were less targeted because fewer customers are willing to let their data be shared, Goldman's team wrote. The Goldman team stressed that any revenue hit could be negated if Facebook successfully obtains user consent for processing personal data and there is no way for the Wall Street firm to determine the likelihood of users giving consent for data processing or deciding to opt out. Whether the privacy backlash spills over into developing nations will be an issue to monitor. Facebook announced in a blog post on Tuesday night that it will ultimately adopt the EU's privacy approach around the world, but a Reuters report found that another move it is making might leave many users around the world with less legal protection. Asian regulators are beginning to ask questions, but in the most notable case there is a direct link to Cambridge Analytica. Regulators in the Philippines have notified Facebook that they are investigating the Cambridge Analytica breach, in which an outside application developer improperly shared data with Cambridge, a U.K.-based political consulting firm that advised President Donald Trump's campaign. That move came shortly after local media outlets dug up a picture of Filipino president Rodrigo Duterte sharing a 2015 meal with a Cambridge Analytica executive, though Duterte denied using the firm's services in his own campaign. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (L) and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg attend a town hall meeting at Facebook headquarters in Menlo Park, California in September 2015.Susana Bates | AFP | Getty Images Overall, whether in the developed or developing world, consumers are showing few signs of being very bothered by the fallout from Cambridge Analytica, Ives said. He expects the damage to the company's revenue to be no more than 3 percent, well below the 42 percent year-over-year gain analysts have been expecting when Facebook reports its first quarter, based on surveys in which 15 percent of users say they will use Facebook less because of the privacy issue. Studies by both market researcher LinkFolio and Ives' firm show that very few consumers are actually cancelling their Facebook accounts, despite the recent popularity of the #deletefacebook hashtag. LinkFolio found that only about 20,000 more users than normal have said on Twitter that they ended their Facebook relationship, and GBH's surveys show that cancellations have been "negligible,'' according to Ives. Facebook reported more than 2.1 billion monthly average users in the fourth quarter. "It's not a meaningful hit," said LinkFolio founder Andy Swan. "With Facebook, there's no clear alternative the way there was with Uber [last year, when #deleteUber trended on Twitter, as critics urged users to switch to rival Lyft]. For Facebook, the alternative is Instagram, which they also own." Zuckerberg said under questioning that account deletions have not been meaningful. The controversy has taken a big bite out of Facebook shares, which have fallen from a year-to-date high above $190 to $164. RBC Capital Markets analyst Mark Mahaney said at 14 times earnings estimates, net of the company's cash, the shares are very cheap for a company whose earnings are expected to grow 30 percent annually. "The 19 percent pullback in FB shares has created a compelling entry point for what is one of tech's best growth stories," Mahaney said in a note to clients on Friday. "Our advertiser survey highlighted record-high levels of budget allocation and leading ROI." More from Global Investing Hot Spots:Saudi prince building tech hub with help of Amazon, LockheedChina's $1.2 trillion weapon in trade war with USThe Silicon Valley of trillion-dollar asteroid mining may be Luxembourg

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https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/18/fake-starbucks-coupons-circulate-online-promising-free-coffee-for-black-customers.html?utm_source=akdart

Fake Starbucks coupons circulate online promising free coffee for black customers

Fake Starbucks coupons circulate online promising free coffee for black customers Starbucks AlmondmilkSource: Starbucks Fake Starbucks coupons have begun circulating on social media in the wake of protests over the arrests of two black men who had asked to use a Starbucks restroom. The coupons, which feature images of Starbucks beverages, the brand's iconic color green and bar codes, appear to offer "people of color" or "African-American heritage" free drinks. "This is completely false and in no way associated with Starbucks," a Starbucks spokeswoman told CNBC. Tweet 1 Tweet 2 Business Insider was the first to report that the images were being shared on 4chan, a website that gained notoriety for spreading pro-Trump memes and messages during the 2016 presidential election. In 2017, members of this online community also attacked Starbucks, promoting "Dreamer Day," where immigrants would be given discounts. It was also a hoax. The coffee giant has been under fire since a video of the two black men being arrested Thursday at a Starbucks in Philadelphia went viral over the weekend. The woman who posted the video said that staff at the coffee shop had called police because the two men had not ordered anything while they waited for a friend to arrive. Starbucks said earlier this week that the manager of the shop was "no longer at that store." Starbucks said Tuesday it will be closing all of its company-owned restaurants in the U.S. during the afternoon of May 29 to conduct a racial-bias education program.

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https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/18/new-car-shoppers-face-higher-costs-from-auto-prices-loan-rates.html

New-car shoppers: Brace yourselves for higher costs

New-car shoppers: Brace yourselves for higher costs Anyone planning to go new-car shopping for the first time in a while might want to prepare themselves for sticker shock. A combination of higher auto prices, longer loans and climbing interest rates means a buyer who finances their purchase could pay about $6,500 more than they would have five years ago, according to research from Edmunds.com. "This is pretty much across the board," said Matt Jones, senior consumer advice editor at Edmunds.com. "When you put those three things together, people are going to be paying a lot more." Source: Patrick T. Fallon | Bloomberg | Getty Images The first hit: Pricier autos. The average price paid for a new car reached $34,623 in March, according to Edmunds. Five years ago, that number was $31,078. Then there are the loans, which can be a triple whammy. Rising interest rates make borrowing more expensive. Last month, interest rates on new-car loans stood at 5.7 percent, up from 4.4 percent in March 2013. And as prices have risen, consumers have been financing larger balances: An average $31,020, compared with $26,533 five years ago. Plus, they're taking on loans over a longer period of time. The average auto loan length is now 69.5 months compared with 65.7 months in March 2013. Generally, the longer the loan term, the more you'll pay in interest. The cost of buying a car Loan aspect March 2018 March 2013 Average length (in months)69.565.7Average monthly payment$525 $455 Average amount financed$31,020 $26,533 Average interest rate5.70%4.40%Total finance charges$5,474 $3,372 Total cost$36,494 $29,905 Part of the reason that costs have climbed is consumers' continuing preference for larger vehicles like SUVs and pickup trucks, which come with higher prices. For example, the average price on a compact car is $20,444, according to Kelley Blue Book. In comparison, a mid-size SUV/crossover runs an average of $38,541 and a full-size pickup truck would set you back $47,069. Added technology and safety features included in new models push prices up further. For consumers with poor credit, the financing cost shifts are especially pronounced. A buyer who finances about $31,000 and pays 11.4 percent in interest for a 69.5-month loan would end up shelling out $11,501 in interest charges. That's $6,027 more than at 5.7 percent. VIDEO0:4200:42Auto sales rate comes in at 17.48 millionClosing Bell Here are some tips for containing costs. Often, car shoppers zero in a car they want and don't seriously consider other options. "We're telling people to have a second and third choice," Jones said. "What if the interest rate is better on them? If you can save money over the years of your loan, maybe your backup choice is actually a better option." Part of looking around means checking in with a number of dealerships, because there can be differences in the deals they offer. Additionally, you can shop around for pre-approval from a lender. That way, you have a backup if a dealership cannot offer a better interest rate with its financing options. The easiest way to save money on a car? Buy a less expensive vehicle. "Sometimes when people buy a car and they love it, after six months of driving it, it's just a car," Jones said. "A less expensive car might be as good an option." In other words, new cars don't stay new. They get dirty, need oil changes, and might not be as exciting a possession after the novelty of owning it wears off. At that point, the commitment you've made to make payments every month for five years or more might not look so appealing. Sometimes when people buy a car and they love it, after six months of driving it, it's just a car.Matt JonesSenior consumer advice editor at Edmunds.com Keep in mind, too, that new cars generally lose about 10 percent of their value once driven off the lot. Leasing can be a way to get the car you want at a lower monthly price. The monthly payments on a lease averaged $120 less than those of traditional auto loans in 2016, Edmunds research shows. For large pickup trucks, which tend to retain more of their value than many vehicles, lease payments averaged $206 less than the average traditional loan payment. However, a car lease comes with mileage limits, typically about 12,000 annually. If you're over the limit at the end of the lease, you'll pay anywhere from about 15 cents to 25 cents for each extra mile you put on the car. At that rate, each 1,000 extra miles would cost somewhere between $150 and $250. Additionally, the car is expected to be returned at the end of the lease with only normal wear and tear. Going with a lease also means going through the car-buying process again in a few years. "Leases aren't for everybody, but if the goal is to save money, it's an option to consider," Jones said. More from Your Money, Your Future:When you make $2.13 an hour, tips really, really matterDog owners, here's what you need to know about liability insuranceThe top five spots for Gen Xers and younger boomers seeking a fresh start WATCH: Elon Musk's new underground tunnel project will transport cars at 125 mph VIDEO1:1301:13Elon Musk's new underground tunnel project will transport cars at 125 mphDigital Original

39867bbcc85babe366b9a4d8894b5f21

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/18/pharma-bro-martin-shkreli-gets-sent-to-federal-prison-in-new-jersey.html

Pharma bro fraudster Martin Shkreli sent to federal prison in New Jersey after being denied minimum security camp

Pharma bro fraudster Martin Shkreli sent to federal prison in New Jersey after being denied minimum security camp VIDEO0:5600:56Pharma bro Martin Shkreli is denied minimum security camp and sent to federal prison in New JerseyNews Videos "Pharma bro" scammer Martin Shkreli has been sent to a federal prison in New Jersey to serve the remainder of his seven-year sentence after being denied his request for a minimum-security federal camp. Shkreli, who had been in a Brooklyn federal jail since September, was shipped Tuesday to the low-security Fort Dix Federal Correctional Institution in New Jersey, according to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons. The prison is located on the U.S. military base at Fort Dix, about 80 miles from New York City, where Shkreli lived, and 30 miles from Philadelphia. It houses 3,945 inmates. Shkreli, 35, in March had asked to be sent to the minimum-security camp adjacent to another federal prison in Pennsylvania, FCI Canaan. His sentencing judge endorsed that request. But the Bureau of Prisons has the last word in determining where to place its inmates. Shkreli's lawyer Benjamin Brafman declined to comment Wednesday. Brafman previously said that Judge Kiyo Matsumoto's ruling last September that Shkreli was a public danger would prevent him from being sent to a minimum-security camp because of BOP guidelines. Camps are considered safer for inmates and are relatively more pleasant places to do one's sentence than facilities that have higher security designations. Matsumoto had said Shkreli was a danger as she revoked his bail for, among other things, his bizarre offer to Facebook followers of $5,000 for each strand of hair they managed to pull off the head of Hillary Clinton, who at the time was in the midst of a book tour. Fort Dix Correctional InstitutionSource: Federal Bureau of Prisons Shkreli until then had been free on $5 million bail despite being convicted in August of defrauding a group of hedge-fund investors and of manipulating the stock of a drug company he founded, Retrophin. Fort Dix's past inmates have included Buddy Cianci, the corrupt mayor of Providence, Rhode Island; high-ranking Patriarca crime family boss Matthew Gugliemetti Jr., and George Jung, the former cocaine kingpin portrayed by actor Johnny Depp in the film "Blow." Fort Dix also has housed Martin Frankel, the insurance swindler whose crimes led to $200 million in losses. Frankel was featured on CNBC's crime show "American Greed," as was Shkreli, recently. Matsumoto last month sentenced Shkreli to seven years in prison. She also ordered that he forfeit almost $7.4 million to the federal government, and pay a $75,000 fine. Last week, Matsumoto ordered Shkreli to also pay $388,000 in restitution to one of his investors. Shkreli first gained public notoriety in 2015 when he raised the price of the anti-parasite drug Daraprim by more than 5,000 percent while heading another pharmaceuticals company then known as Turing. The company since has changed its name to Vyera Pharmaceuticals. VIDEO0:5300:53Martin Shkreli worker called him 'mentally unstable,' and a 'scam artist' as she threatened to expose his lies to investorsNews Videos

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https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/18/regulators-had-proposed-stricter-testing-of-engine-involved-in-southwest-incident.html

Workhorse engine that exploded on Southwest flight had caught regulators' attention before

Workhorse engine that exploded on Southwest flight had caught regulators' attention before VIDEO0:5700:57Workhorse engine that exploded on Southwest flight had caught regulators' attention beforeNews Videos Regulators last year proposed more rigorous testing of the type of engine that exploded on a Dallas-bound Southwest Airlines flight on Tuesday. The suggested regulation is still working its way through the rulemaking process. One passenger was killed when the explosion caused shrapnel to cut into the Boeing 737-700's fuselage, blowing out a window, depressurizing the cabin. Passengers aboard Southwest Flight 1380 had rushed to pull the victim back into the plane after she was partially sucked out of a window, witnesses said. It was the first fatality on a U.S. airline since the 2009 Colgan Air crash near Buffalo, New York. VIDEO3:3003:30Safety in the skies in focus after Southwest engine failureSquawk Box The CFM56-7B, the engine involved in Tuesday's incident, is one of the most common in the world. It powers some 6,700 aircraft around the world, according to its manufacturer CFM International, a joint venture of General Electric and France's Safran Aircraft Engines. Southwest said it was its first on-board fatality related to an incident or accident in its history. The Federal Aviation Administration sought more rigorous testing of the engine last August, when it proposed a rule that would subject the engines to ultrasonic tests of their fan blades. Late Wednesday, the FAA said it would issue a rule within two weeks requiring such tests. "Any blades that fail the inspection will have to be replaced," said the FAA. On Aug. 27, 2016, a Southwest flight made an emergency landing in Pensacola, Florida, after a fan blade separated from the disc, according to the National Transportation Safety Board. Debris punched a 16-inch by 5-inch hole in the left fuselage, above the wing, the NTSB had said. In both incidents what occurred is known as uncontained engine failure. Engines are designed with special casings that are intended to keep blades and other metal from flying out and potentially striking the fuselage of the plane. Engine manufacturers put them through rigorous testing to make sure blades and other metal can be contained. Southwest late Tuesday said that it would accelerate testing of CFM56 engines "out of an abundance of caution" and that the ultrasonic checks of the engines' fan blades would likely be completed within 30 days. Several other airlines using this engine made similar announcements. GE and Safran are deploying technicians to support Southwest's inspection program. In a statement, GE said it also is supporting the effort of the NTSB and Southwest as they investigate the cause of the accident. "By law, CFM cannot provide information about the accident or details related to it. You may contact the NTSB for updates," the manufacturer said in a statement. "The members of the CFM Team worldwide wish to express their deepest condolences to family of the victim of this incident. VIDEO2:0402:04NTSB: Southwest engine showed signs of metal fatigueSquawk Box

69aebe4d0c15e3596fde0754acbf7377

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/18/trump-lawyer-michael-cohen-suggests-four-names-for-special-master.html

Trump lawyer Cohen floats four names for 'special master' in criminal probe. Prosecutors suggest judge who ruled for Trump

Trump lawyer Cohen floats four names for 'special master' in criminal probe. Prosecutors suggest judge who ruled for Trump President Donald Trump's personal lawyer Michael CohenBrendan McDermid | Reuters Federal prosecutors in New York on Wednesday suggested that a retired judge who once awarded President Donald Trump $5 million from a beauty pageant winner be appointed to review sensitive files seized from his lawyer Michael Cohen's office. Theodore Katz was just one of seven names floated by prosecutors and Cohen's lawyers for the position of "special master." That watchdog, if appointed by a judge, would help decide which documents seized from Cohen could be seen by prosecutors conducting a criminal probe of Cohen. Katz was acting as a private arbitrator for Trump's claim of defamation against the beauty queen. He was one of three retired federal magistrate judges suggested by the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York for a potential special master. All three men were judges in that district, which includes Manhattan and the Bronx. Cohen's lawyers suggested four former prosecutors from the Southern District. A spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office declined to comment on its list or Katz specifically. A special master, if appointed, would review all or some of the files seized from Cohen's home and office last week to see if any of them should not be turned over to prosecutors because they are protected by attorney-client privilege. Such privilege could preclude them from being used in a criminal case against Cohen or other people. Katz, in a 2012 private arbitration, ruled that Miss Pennsylvania USA 2012, Sheena Monnin had to pay Trump $5 million because she defamed him by saying his Miss USA pageant was rigged. Cohen, then general counsel to the Trump Organization, was quoted in a news story in 2012 saying that a clause in the Miss USA pageant gave pageant officials the right to pick the top five finalists and the eventual winners. But Cohen said Trump never used his power to overrule pageant judges. Monnin, who did not place in the top 15 in the Miss USA Pageant, later told reporters that the case with Trump "has been resolved." "I can say that no money was paid out of my pocket," she said in 2016, according to a news story. Trump had insulted Monnin's looks after she claimed the pageant was rigged. "If you look at her compared to the people who are in the top 15, you'll understand why she's not in the top 15," Trump said. Prosecutors on Wednesday also reiterated their opposition to a special master being appointed, saying it would slow down a review of Cohen's files by at least two months. Prosecutors additionally revealed that they expect to start giving Cohen copies of the materials seized from him on April 27, and expect to finish that process by May 11. Cohen and Trump lost a bid during a court hearing Monday to get first crack at reviewing the files seized from Cohen's office last week to identify files that might be held back from prosecutors because of attorney-client privilege protections. Lawyers for both Cohen and Trump expressed deep concern about the prosecution's plan to have a "filter team" of prosecutors not connected to Cohen's case conduct that review. The filter team, prosecutors said, would prevent the case prosecutors from seeing information that could taint the legality of any case filed against Cohen or someone else. But U.S. District Judge Kimba Wood left open the possibility that she would appoint a special master to help make that determination to some extent. She asked prosecutors and representatives for Cohen to identify candidates for that post. Wood also left open the possibility that she would have a filter team of prosecutors handle all or some of the initial review work. VIDEO4:0304:03Michael Cohen drama captures White House attentionSquawk Box Prosecutors, in their court filing Wednesday, said any review conducted by a special master would not begin until June, at the earliest. In contrast, prosecutors said, a filter team could begin that review this month. "The Government continues to believe ... that a Special Master is not warranted to review the seized materials for privilege and that a Government Filter Team would fairly and most efficiently accomplish this task," prosecutors wrote. But in the event a special master is needed, they added, prosecutors asked that one of three retired magistrate judges be appointed to that post. The recommended names were Frank Maas, James Francis and Katz. Maas and Katz are both currently associated with JAMS, the largest private provider of mediation and arbitration services in the world. Francis is a distinguished lecturer at the law school of the City University of New York. Cohen's first choice is Bart Schwartz, chairman of Guidepost Solutions, a corporate intelligence firm. Schwartz previously was chief of staff to Rudy Giuliani when Giuliani headed the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York. Giuliani, a former New York City mayor, is a supporter of Trump's who was considered but rejected, for the post of United States Attorney General in the Trump administration. Cohen's second choice is Joan McPhee, a partner in the Manhattan law firm Ropes & Gray. McPhee represented an engineer indicted for obstruction of justice in the Deepwater Horizon oil drilling rig spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Three weeks before trial in 2015, charges were dropped against her client. Tai Park, a partner in the Manhattan firm Park Jensen Bennett, is Cohen's third choice. Park had served for a decade in the U.S. attorney's office, where he was chief of the narcotics unit as well as senior trial counsel in the securities and commodities fraud task force. The fourth proposed candidate is George Canellos, a partner in the New York office of Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy, where he is global head of the litigation and arbitration group. Canellos had previously been at the Securities and Exchange Commission, where he served as co-director of the SEC's enforcement division. At the SEC, he supervised the insider trading actions against Raj Rajaratnam of Galleon Management. Cohen is being investigated for business-related matters, according to prosecutors. On April 9, FBI agents, armed with a search warrant signed by a federal judge, raided Cohen's office, apartment and a hotel room where he has been staying while his home is being renovated. Agents seized computer files, cellphones and boxes of documents. Among the files seized were ones relating to a $130,000 payoff that Cohen made shortly before the 2016 presidential election to porn star Stormy Daniels. Daniels has said Cohen gave her that money in exchange for her agreement not to publicly discuss an affair she claims to have had with Trump in 2006. The White House has said Trump had no such affair, and Trump has said he was unaware of the deal Cohen cut with Daniels at the time it occurred. Prosecutors also reportedly sought files related to a payment made by the National Enquirer to another woman, Playboy model Karen McDougal, who likewise claims she had sex with Trump. At a court hearing Monday, Cohen's lawyers revealed that in addition to Trump, Cohen had two other clients who he had recently done legal work or consulting for. One is now-former Republican Party fundraiser Elliott Broidy, a venture capitalist who consulted with Cohen about a $1.6 million payoff the married Broidy made to another Playboy model whom he had an affair with and impregnated. Broidy quit his GOP post last Friday after his infidelity came to light. The other client Cohen identified was Fox News host Sean Hannity, who had asked Cohen's lawyers to keep his name out of court filings. Hannity, after his name was revealed in court by Wood's order to Cohen's lawyer, said he only had "brief discussions" relating to legal issues with Cohen, most of which concern real estate. Hannity also said the discussions "never involved any matter between me and a third party." VIDEO1:3601:36Fox News host Sean Hannity is Michael Cohen's third clientClosing Bell

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https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/19/75-percent-of-the-ultra-rich-forecast-a-us-recession-in-the-next-two-years-survey-finds.html

75% of the ultra-rich forecast a US recession in the next two years, survey finds

75% of the ultra-rich forecast a US recession in the next two years, survey finds VIDEO0:4600:4675% of the ultra-rich forecast a US recession in the next two years, survey findsNews Videos The U.S. economy is firing on all cylinders, yet 75 percent of ultra-high net worth investors predict it will hit recession by 2020, a J.P. Morgan survey found. Of those expecting an economic downturn in the U.S., a fifth of respondents — 21 percent — believe it will begin in 2019 and 50 percent expect the next recession to start in 2020. J.P. Morgan Private Bank's Spring Investment Barometer, released this week, surveyed more than 700 global private clients across Europe and the Middle East. Ultra-high net worth individuals (HNWI) are generally classified as anyone with more than $30 million in liquid financial assets, and high-net worth is defined as having more than $1 million. The ominous predictions may come as a surprise to some, seeing as the U.S. is enjoying strong growth, robust corporate earnings and its lowest unemployment in 17 years. The International Monetary Fund recently upped its U.S. growth forecast for 2018 to 2.9 percent. J.P. Morgan's Anthony Collard, head of U.K. and Nordic investments, said that while concern was evident among ultra-high net worth investors regarding America's economic future, the bank does not see signs of it being close to a recession. "Until we see clear imbalances building, and policy approaching a point where it really constrains economic activity, we lean towards a view that the cycle will continue to expand," he said. VIDEO6:2706:27Robert Shiller on the markets, odds of a recession, Bitcoin and more Trading Nation But there is debate among economists as to whether this growth — fueled by a synchornized global upswing and stimulus injections like the recent Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which slashed corporate taxes, and an enlarged federal spending package — will last beyond 2019. Economists like Carl Tannenbaum at the Chicago-based Northern Trust warn that growth will not keep pace with the U.S. budget deficit, which is set to top $1 trillion in the next two years. "Sometime in the next decade we're going to have a recession which is really going to throw us off that trajectory," he told CNBC this week. And billionaire Microsoft founder Bill Gates makes a similar prediction, though without a specific timeline. Asked in March if there would be another financial crisis like the one in 2008, Gates replied, "Yes. It is hard to say when but this is a certainty." Market observers also worry about the flattening of the yield curve. The short-term U.S. two-year Treasury yield is nearing that of the 10-year yield, rising to its highest level since 2008 this week. This typically triggers worries that a recession is on the horizon, since higher short-term yields suggest that inflation and interest rates are expected to remain low for a longer period. VIDEO1:5001:50Market testing implies we are not looking at a global recession: StrategistSquawk on the Street But investment professionals like Saker Nusseibeh, chief executive at Hermes Investment Management, don't see this as cause for concern — in fact, he is among those who expect the curve to steepen, meaning market players expect higher inflation and thus higher interest rates from the U.S. Federal Reserve, signaling a stronger economy. "We do not see any indications of the U.S. economy entering anything like a possible recession," Nusseibeh said. "What we do see is clear indication of a stronger-than-anticipated U.S. economy." Markets are expecting at least three interest rate hikes from the Fed this year. Of the ultra HNWIs surveyed by J.P. Morgan, 41 percent believe the central bank will increase rates another two times or more following the latest rate rise in March. "Following the first U.S. rate hike in March, we expect the Federal Reserve to raise its policy rate significantly this year," said Collard. "We entered the year thinking that three 25 basis point hikes would occur in 2018, but four hikes could be possible under the right conditions." —CNBC's Silvia Amaro contributed to this report.

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https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/19/a-chance-to-make-significant-progress-on-nafta-has-arisen-canada-pm-trudeau-says.html

A chance to make 'significant progress' on NAFTA has arisen, Canada PM Trudeau says

A chance to make 'significant progress' on NAFTA has arisen, Canada PM Trudeau says Canadian Prime Minister Justin TrudeauPunit Paranjpe | AFP | Getty Images Canadian Prime Minister told reporters Thursday of "an opportunity to make significant progress" on the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). "We recognize the timelines that are in play," he said, referencing the Mexican election in July and U.S. mid-terms in the autumn. Trudeau said that he was looking for a deal that was "win, win, win" and would "stand up for the interests of Canada." CNBC reported Wednesday that the U.S. is targeting a tie-up of NAFTA within weeks. Trudeau was speaking in London, where he is attending the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. When asked about cybersecurity following the recent Facebook data-gathering scandal, Trudeau said that he had been "very much engaged with top platforms like Facebook in the past year or two." But he described the issue as an "area that requires more work."

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https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/19/abb-automation-is-growing.html

Automation in Africa, Asia and the Middle East is booming, ABB CEO says

Automation in Africa, Asia and the Middle East is booming, ABB CEO says VIDEO2:1402:14Electric vehicles a ‘fantastic opportunity’ for ABB, CEO saysSquawk Box Europe Swiss engineering giant ABB is seeing strong growth momentum in developing markets ranging from Asia to Africa, the president and chief executive told CNBC Thursday. "Asia, Middle East and Africa is really performing very well," ABB's Ulrich Spiesshofer told CNBC's "Squawk Box Europe" Thursday, following the company's first-quarter earnings report that showed a 20 percent increase in orders in those regions. "The infrastructure needs but also the upgrade and the industry side (have done well), and the investment in automation — not only in robotics — have made for a very strong quarter, and I'm very pleased with that performance," he added. Spiesshofer's comments come after the maker of industrial robots and power grids reported a better-than-expected first quarter net profit of $572 million, beating forecasts of $562 million in a Reuters poll of analysts. Revenue also rose above forecasts, to $8.63 billion, above an expected $8.39 billion. The results showed regional differences in orders. Total orders in Europe were down 3 percent, numbers in the Americas were stable, but they were particularly strong for Asia, the Middle East and Africa — with orders up 20 percent. Both large and base orders developed positively in China, India and the United Arab Emirates, ABB said in its earnings report. Collaborative dual-arm robot YuMi is pictured at the Swiss automation group ABB booth at the Hannover Messe industrial trade fair in Hanover, central Germany on April 13, 2015.Tobias Schwarz | Getty Images Spiesshofer said ABB was well placed to grow globally. "If you look at the way ABB is positioned, we're bringing power from any power plant to any consumption block of electricity. Renewables are kicking in, e-mobility is coming and this will be a great opportunity for us. In the automation side, there is no other player that has process, control, discreet automation, robotics and electrification and a strong digital platform. So we're shaping the world with our offering and we're contributing, so that means we participate in the growth," he said. The results showed a "strengthened ABB" and that the "transition year" of 2017, referring to the restructuring that the company has undergone in recent years, was "behind us," the earnings report from ABB said. Shares of the company soared 4 percent in early deals Thursday. While the short-term outlook was "trending positively in Europe and the United States, with growth expected to continue in China," it said uncertainties around "oil prices and foreign exchange translation effects" are expected to continue to influence the company's results. VIDEO2:1102:11ABB CEO: Long-term outlook on capital spending is positiveSquawk Box Europe Spiesshofer said the results showed that all of ABB's markets are "steady or improving." Particular focus was placed on the company's Power Grids business which has struggled in recent years. The company has also faced increased shareholder demand to ditch the Power Grids unit. Spiesshofer said the division continued to improve, however. "We have improved the underlying performance of this business. We have changed the business model, we cut certain business models and that means we have a dampening effect on the topline, but altogether this is the pristine asset in the power space, it's the number one globally and it's the most profitable by a long distance to its competitors and we are fully committed to continue the improvement journey into the future," he said.

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https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/19/g-20-countries-weak-in-tackling-tax-havens.html

G-20 nations slammed for being 'too slow' in tackling tax havens following the Panama Papers

G-20 nations slammed for being 'too slow' in tackling tax havens following the Panama Papers A police officer stands guard outside the Mossack Fonseca law firm office in Panama City April 12, 2016Carlos Jasso | Reuters G-20 countries are "weak" and have moved "too slowly" in improving transparency over financial secrecy two years after the Panama Papers revealed how wealthy individuals hide their money, an international corruption watchdog said Thursday. Transparency International warned that 10 G-20 nations have "very weak" legal frameworks that do little to help law enforcement officials and citizens find out who really owns companies within their borders. It said that France, Germany, Italy and Brazil have "significant" room for improvement. The U.K. remains the only G-20 country to have a central register detailing beneficial owners available to the public. A beneficial owner ultimately has significant control of, or owns, a corporate entity. The U.S., Australia and China are the only nations in the group to have improved from "weak" to "average" legal frameworks combating financial corruption. Canada and South Korea lag far behind all other G-20 countries. "The glacial pace of progress by the federal, provincial and territorial governments is an invitation to the corrupt, tax evaders and money launderers to continue 'snow-washing' their dirty money in Canada." warned Transparency International Executive Director Alesia Nahirny. "Meanwhile, Canada's reputation deteriorates further with only words to show and no concrete accomplishments." The Panama Papers saw the unprecedented leak of 11.5 million documents from offshore law firm Mossak Fonseca in April 2016. The leak raised questions over tax avoidance from prominent individuals such as the late father of former U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron, to secret offshore deals worth $2 billion with links to Vladimir Putin. Mossack Fonseca operated tax havens in Switzerland, Cyprus and, most notably, in the Caribbean. The British Virgin Islands held over 100,000 offshore companies alone.

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https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/19/middle-east-city-planning-has-tremendous-potential-says-exec.html

There's 'tremendous' potential for city planning in the Middle East, says infrastructure exec

There's 'tremendous' potential for city planning in the Middle East, says infrastructure exec There's great potential in the areas of urban and city planning in the Middle East, said the chief executive of Singapore-based urban and infrastructure consultancy Surbana Jurong on Thursday. Dubai, U.A.E.Getty Images The Middle East has been forward-looking when it comes to unusual property developments, Wong Heang Fine told CNBC's "Capital Connection." "They are very acceptable to great ideas. That's why you look at the Middle East, there are a lot of great iconic buildings, a lot of unusual type of developments … So the Middle East represents a tremendous market potential for us," he said. He added that the Middle East and South Asia regions represent between 10 to 15 percent of his firm's total revenue. With technology advances, the usual ways that cities are planned will also be transformed. For instance, with driverless cars, there is less demand for parking — freeing up more land. There are also co-working spaces to be built as more people make their living there, Wong said.

98a299d1cad4e74570a3fd9e96354123

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/20/apple-stock-aapl-goes-negative-for-the-year.html

Apple stock falls 4 percent, goes negative for the year

Apple stock falls 4 percent, goes negative for the year VIDEO4:5204:52Apple’s big decline drags down DowSquawk Alley A wave of negative sentiment on Apple sent the company's stock sinking on Friday. The stock was the worst-performing in the Dow Jones industrial average and ultimately closed down 4 percent. That left the stock off 2 percent on the year. It fell Friday morning after Morgan Stanley predicted that the company's iPhone sales will fall nearly 10 million below Wall Street's forecast. Another analyst predicted that the company's iPhone X will be killed off this year after Apple's suppliers reported inventory issues and poor earnings — though not all analysts agree with that assessment. The stakes are high for Apple as it fights to keep its place as the most valuable public company in the business world. The iPhone giant reports quarterly earnings on May 1, by which time iPhone X sales should be baked in to its results. Apple doesn't usually release sales numbers of individual models. The phone — the company's priciest yet — was widely expected to be a hit in the year ahead of its launch, with rumors of a new 10th-anniversary design and a "super-cycle" of upgrades. The company said in the autumn the phone was quickly backlogged, and CEO Tim Cook told CNBC that manufacturing was going well. But enthusiasm seemed to nosedive after the iPhone X was released later in the holiday shopping season and undercut in price by the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus, both impressive in their own right. Apple executives have tried to reassure Wall Street, but recent reports have swayed sentiment. In particular, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing said Thursday that its revenue guidance range for the second quarter is $7.8 billion to $7.9 billion versus the Wall Street estimate of $8.8 billion. The chip maker counts Apple as a major client, leading some analysts to believe that Apple is to blame for TSMC's weak outlook. But while Apple shares are down 2 percent year to date, 63 percent of analysts listed in FactSet still rate it as "overweight" or "buy." The average analyst expects shares to hit $192.84 for the year, well above Friday's close of $165.72. Some analysts are still optimistic that Apple's repatriation of foreign cash and quickly growing services division could boost the business long term. Piper Jaffray analysts also said earlier this month that more teens than ever own iPhones, for example, which could grow even more if prices fall. "Overall, we view the survey data as a sign that Apple's place as the dominant device brand among teens remains intact," Piper Jaffray's Michael Olson wrote. "We believe lower-cost 'X-gen' options would be well accepted by teens given strong mindshare Apple has with this demo." VIDEO6:2406:24Market now receptive to less positive headlines in tech: SantoliClosing Bell

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https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/20/closer-euro-area-integration-pays-off-says-italys-finance-minister.html

Closer euro area integration ‘pays off,’ says Italy’s finance minister

Closer euro area integration ‘pays off,’ says Italy’s finance minister Italian Finance Minister Pier Carlo Padoan smiles.Gabriel Bouys | AFP | Getty Images European leaders can build trust and fight populist threats by touting the economic benefits of closer integration, Italian Finance Minister Pier Carlo Padoan said Thursday. In a CNBC Facebook Live interview at the World Bank and International Monetary Fund's Spring Meetings 2018 in Washington, Padoan said strengthening euro area reforms would build more trust across the bloc. "Integration pays off in terms of improving living standards, improving job opportunities, improving welfare," Padoan said. "This must be much strengthened, and also dealing with poverty and those that are left behind in the integration process." Padoan said countries like Italy are "doing their homework" when it comes to reducing risk in the euro area in areas like non-performing loans and debt reduction. Italy is currently stuck in political gridlock as its parties have been unable to form a government more than one month after national elections. "Italy has been implementing reforms over the recent past and these are already producing tangible results, but also asking for Europe, which looks at stability, rigor, but also growth and jobs," Padoan said. VIDEO2:5402:54Euro area integration “pays off,” Italy’s finance minster saysEurope News The focus when it comes to euro area reforms, he said, is to balance risk-sharing with risk-reduction. "Now we need to make some steps forward in risk-sharing institutions such as fiscal backstop and, looking forward, the European Stability Mechanism." Padoan said European leaders will have a wide set of proposals to examine when they convene at the euro summit in June. "Leaders will have a very rich agenda in front of them, which includes completing the banking union but also adding a fiscal dimension to the institutional mechanism and providing more job creation to [the] cyclical mechanism," he said. Padoan participated in an on-stage panel discussion focusing on euro area reforms at the IMF alongside Eurogroup President Mario Centeno, German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz and former U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew. VIDEO2:5802:58Leadership in Europe these days is strong, Eurogroup President saysEurope News Portugal's Centeno also struck an optimistic tone about achieving reforms at the June euro summit in a Facebook Live interview following the panel. "There are good reasons to think that up to June we will be able to detail the roadmap we have in front of us completing the banking union, reinforcing the role of the European Stability Mechanism in crisis management," Centeno said. Centeno said European leaders need to find common ground and invest political capital in reforms now, before the next crisis strikes. "We know that the next crisis will come," he said. "We have to make sure that it arrives later than sooner but you need to be prepared."

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https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/20/cnbc-exclusive-cnbc-transcript-federal-reserve-governor-lael-brainard-speaks-with-cnbcs-sara-eisen-today.html

CNBC Exclusive: CNBC Transcript: Federal Reserve Governor Lael Brainard Speaks with CNBC’s Sara Eisen Today

CNBC Exclusive: CNBC Transcript: Federal Reserve Governor Lael Brainard Speaks with CNBC’s Sara Eisen Today WHEN: Today, Friday, April 20, 2018 WHERE: CNBC's "Power Lunch" – Live from the IMF Spring Meetings in Washington D.C. Following is the unofficial transcript of a CNBC EXCLUSIVE interview with Federal Reserve Governor Lael Brainard and CNBC's Sara Eisen on CNBC's "Power Lunch" (1PM – 3PM) today, Friday, April 20th. Following is a link to video from the interview on CNBC.com: https://www.cnbc.com/video/2018/04/20/were-seeing-synchronized-global-growth-fed-gov-lael-brainard.html?play=1. All references must be sourced to CNBC. EISEN: WELCOME BACK TO "POWER LUNCH." I'M SARA EISEN AT THE IMF SPRING MEETINGS IN WASHINGTON, HERE WITH AN IMPORTANT EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW FOR YOU, FEDERAL RESERVE GOVERNOR LAEL BRAINARD. NICE TO SEE YOU GOVERNOR. LAEL BRAINARD: NICE TO BE HERE. EISEN: THANKS FOR TAKING THE TIME. YOU KNOW, THE BACKDROP IS THE U.S. ECONOMY IS SET TO HAVE ITS BEST GROWTH IN YEARS AND YET PEOPLE SEEM A LITTLE BIT WORRIED ABOUT THE OUTLOOK. IS THIS AS GOOD AS IT GETS? BRAINARD: WELL, I THINK THAT WE ARE SEEING SYNCHRONIZED GROWTH AROUND THE WORLD. I THINK FINANCIAL OFFICIALS FROM AROUND THE WORLD ARE BREATHING A LITTLE EASIER. IT'S NICE TO SEE THE RECOVERY REALLY GAINING TRACTION. HERE IN THE U.S. IT'S BEEN GROWING WELL NOW FOR THE LAST YEAR AND A HALF. BUT IN OTHER COUNTRIES, THEY'RE REALLY STARTING TO SEE THAT GROWTH TAKING HOLD. BUT, OF COURSE, I DON'T THINK ANYBODY CAN AFFORD TO LET THEIR GUARD DOWN BECAUSE THERE ARE RISKS OVER THE HORIZON AND SO PEOPLE ARE LOOKING AT THOSE RISKS AND MAKING SURE THAT WE'RE GUARDING AGAINST ANY KINDS OF DOWNSIDE RISK TO THE OUTLOOK. EISEN: WHAT'S THE BIGGEST RICK IN YOUR ESTIMATION? BRAINARD: SO, I THINK IN THE U.S., GENERALLY SPEAKING, WE HAVE SEEN GOOD GROWTH. WE'VE SEEN THE LABOR MARKET CONTINUING TO TIGHTEN. PEOPLE COMING BACK IN TO THE JOB MARKET. INFLATION IS MOVING TOWARDS TARGET. ALL OF THOSE THINGS, I THINK, ARE VERY ENCOURAGING. BUT WE'VE ALSO SEEN THE ADDITION OF VERY SUBSTANTIAL FISCAL STIMULUS IN RECENT MONTHS. AND THAT KIND OF SIZABLE FISCAL STIMULUS AT THIS POINT IN THE CYCLE IS UNUSUAL AND SO, YOU KNOW, WE'LL HAVE TO SEE. WE'RE AT A TIME WHEN WE ARE GROWING ABOVE TREND AND RESOURCE UTILIZATION IS TIGHTENING, WE WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT WE DON'T SEE ANY IMBALANCES DEVELOPING. AROUND THE WORLD, DIFFERENT -- DIFFERENT COUNTRIES ARE LOOKING OVER THEIR SHOULDERS AT DIFFERENT RISKS OBVIOUSLY, TRADE IS ONE THAT AFFECTS EVERYBODY. EISEN: YEAH, HOW DO YOU FACTOR IN WHAT A TRADE WAR COULD DO FOR GROWTH IN THE UNITED STATES? BRAINARD: YEAH, SO RIGHT NOW I THINK IT'S VERY HARD TO SAY HOW CURRENT DISCUSSIONS MIGHT EVOLVE. VERY TARGETED MEASURES AND NEGOTIATIONS THAT RESULT IN OPENINGS, OF COURSE I THINK WOULD NOT BE A MATERIAL FACTOR FOR THE OVERALL OUTLOOK. BUT IF WE SAW BROADENING AND RETALIATORY MEASURES REALLY SPREADING THAT COULD DENT GLOBAL CONFIDENCE. IT COULD DISRUPT GLOBAL SUPPLY CHAINS. AND SO IT'S CERTAINLY AN UNCERTAINTY, A MATERIAL UNCERTAINTY TO THE OUTLOOK. EISEN: I WAS GOING TO SAY THERE IS ALREADY AN UNCERTAINTY AS TO WHETHER THESE TARIFFS ARE GOING TO PLAY OUT. DO YOU SEE IT ALREADY STARTING TO HAVE AN IMPACT POTENTIALLY ON INVESTMENT, CONFIDENCE, AND SPENDING DECISIONS FROM BUSINESS? BRAINARD: SO RIGHT NOW, I THINK THE DISCUSSIONS OVER TRADE ARE REALLY ONES THAT MAY BE IMPACTING INDIVIDUAL BUSINESSES. I SEE IT REALLY AS AN UNCERTAINTY TO THE OUTLOOK. BUT OF COURSE, A BROADENING, AND BROADER RETALIATORY KIND OF ENVIRONMENT, THAT COULD GET US INTO A MORE COMPLICATED SITUATION THAT COULD AFFECT GLOBAL CONFIDENCE. BUT THAT'S NOT WHERE WE ARE TODAY. EISEN: WHAT WOULD IT DO TO INFLATION? BRAINARD: SO, IN TERMS THE INFLATION OUTLOOK, YOU KNOW, WHEREAS WE WERE SEEING A DISCONNECT A YEAR AGO BETWEEN THE STRENGTHENING LABOR MARKET AND INFLATION THAT HAD REMAINED BELOW TARGET FOR MANY YEARS, TODAY ACTUALLY INFLATION IS MOVING MORE INLINE WITH WHAT ONE WOULD EXPECT AT THIS POINT, AND IN FACT THERE I THINK WE ARE LOOKING CAREFULLY AT INFLATION AND EXPECTING TO SEE IT MOVE TOWARDS TARGET INLINE WITH OUR OBJECTIVES. EISEN: FEELS LIKE WE'RE – THE MARKET IS PRICING IN RISING INFLATION EXPECTATIONS. WE'VE SEEN BOND YIELDS JUMP, TEN-YEAR IS MOVING TOWARD 3%. QUESTION IS, CAN – DO YOU HAVE CONFIDENCE THAT IT CAN REMAIN BENIGN, THE HEALTHY TYPE OF INFLATION? BRAINARD: YEAH, SO RIGHT NOW I THINK THE ECONOMIC OUTLOOK IS QUITE SOLID. AGAIN, WE'VE BEEN GROWING ABOVE TREND. WE'VE SEEN THAT THE LABOR MARKET HAS MOVED TOWARDS FULL EMPLOYMENT. THERE'S SOME INDICATIONS THAT RESOURCE UTILIZATION IS TIGHTEN. BUT WE'VE EXPERIENCED MANY YEARS OF INFLATION BELOW TARGET, AND SO IT'S I THINK JUST BEGINNING TO MOVE TOWARDS TARGET, WHICH IS VERY CONSISTENT WITH OUR DUAL MANDATE GOALS. EISEN: WHAT ABOUT HOUSING? WE'VE ALREADY STARTED TO SEE MORTGAGE RATES JUMP. ARE YOU WORRIED THIS COULD DENT THAT RECOVERY? BRAINARD: YEAH SO AS WE LOOK ACROSS -- AS WE SCAN THE DEVELOPMENT OF RISE THAT IS MAY BE DEVELOPING AT THIS POINT IN THIS CYCLE, THERE ARE TWO AREAS THAT I WOULD SAY HAVE CAUGHT MY EYE. ONE IS THAT ASSET VALUATIONS ARE SOMEWHAT STRETCHED. IF YOU LOOK RELATIVE TO ANY KIND OF HISTORICAL BENCHMARKS – EISEN: ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT STOCKS? BRAINARD: AND THE ASSET VALUATION PICTURE IS BROAD IN TERMS OF ELEVATED VALUES, BUT THERE ARE PARTICULAR AREAS FOR INSTANCE, JUNK BOND SPREADS, LEVERAGED LOAN SPREADS ARE QUITE TIGHT BY HISTORICAL STANDARDS. AND IF YOU LOOK AT BORROWING IN THE ECONOMY, IT'S MODERATE ACTUALLY OVERALL. THE HOUSEHOLD SECTOR REMAINS QUITE MODERATE COMPARED TO HISTORICAL STANDARDS BECAUSE HOUSEHOLDS HAD ONLY JUST REALLY COMPLETED DELEVERAGING IN MANY CASES. SO IF THERE ARE ANY SIGNS OF DEVELOPING IMBALANCES ON THE LEVERAGE FRONT THEY'D BE MORE ON THE CORPORATE SECTOR, WHERE WE DO SEE SIGNS OF LEVERAGE. EISEN: THERE'S THIS VIEW OUT THERE THAT THE FEDERAL RESERVE MAY HAVE TO BE MORE AGGRESSIVE THAN THE THREE INTEREST RATE THIS YEAR – HIKES THAT HAVE ALREADY BEEN FORECAST. HOW FLEXIBLE DO YOU THINK YOU ARE GOING TO BE BASED ON THE INFLATION EXPECTATIONS THAT ARE STARTING TO RISE? BRAINARD: I WILL BE VERY FOCUSED ON THE INCOMING DATA. AGAIN, SO FAR WE'VE SEEN GROWTH COMING IN A LITTLE BIT SOFTER THAN EXPECTED, PERHAPS, IN THE FIRST QUARTER. BUT WE'VE SEEN THAT BEFORE AND WE'RE COMING OFF A STRONG FOURTH QUARTER. WE'RE SEEING MOMENTUM PICKING UP. AND SO, YOU KNOW, MY ANTICIPATION IS THE OUTLOOK IS FOR CONTINUED SOLID GROWTH. AND, AGAIN, YOU KNOW, WE'RE ALREADY IN THE RANGE OF FULL EMPLOYMENT. INFLATION IS MOVING BACK TOWARDS OUR TARGET. THE OUTLOOK LOOKS CONSISTENT TO ME WITH CONTINUED GRADUAL INCREASES IN THE FEDERAL FUNDS RATE. BUT OF COURSE WE'LL HAVE TO CONTINUE TO WATCH THE INCOME DATA CAREFULLY AS WE MAKE THAT ASSESSMENT. EISEN: I WANTED TO ASK YOU ABOUT COMMODITY PRICES WHICH ARE ALSO STARTING TO MAKE A MOVE. HIGHER OIL PRICES BACK AT MULTI-YEAR HIGHS. ALUMINUM, COCOA, LUMBER. ARE WE GETTING TO THE POINT WHERE THIS IS GOING TO AFFECT CONSUMER SPENDING AND GROWTH? BRAINARD: YEAH, SO AS I LOOK AT COMMODITY PRICES, IN MANY RESPECTS AS PART OF A BROADER PICTURE WE SAW REAL HEADWINDS A FEW YEARS AGO. AND NOW WE'RE SEEING SOME OF THOSE HEAD WINDS -- THOSE HEAD WINDS THAT INCLUDED A REAL DROP OF DRILLING AND MINING IN THE OIL SECTOR FOR INSTANCE TURNING INTO TAILWINDS FOR THE U.S. ECONOMY. SO WHEN I LOOK AT COMMODITY PRICES, I SEE THOSE AS SIGNS OF STRENGTHENING GLOBAL DEMAND. BUT, AGAIN, IF YOU LOOK AT THE INFLATION PICTURE IN THE U.S. ECONOMY, YOU KNOW, WE'RE COMING OFF A PERIOD WHERE INFLATION EXPECTATIONS HAD BEEN QUITE LOW, AND WHERE IT – EISEN: SO $68 OIL SOUNDS LIKE IT DOESN'T BOTHER YOU – THAT'S A GOOD THING? BRAINARD: YEAH, SO AS I LOOK ACROSS THE U.S. ECONOMY, I SEE DEMAND HAVING STRENGTHENED. AND AGAIN, I THINK, YOU KNOW, WE'LL WATCH INFLATION OF COURSE VERY CAREFULLY. BUT RIGHT NOW INFLATION SEEMS TO BE MOVING AS ONE WOULD EXPECT AND MOVING TOWARDS TARGET AFTER A LONG PERIOD OF BEING WELL BELOW TARGET. EISEN: WE'VE SEEN SOME PRETTY WILD VOLATILITY LATELY IN THE STOCK MARKET. DO YOU SEE THAT AS HEALTHY, RETURN TO NORMAL, OR SOMETHING MORE OMINOUS? BRAINARD: SO I THINK AS WE LOOK ACROSS THE VARIOUS AREAS OF VULNERABILITY IN THE U.S. ECONOMY, IT'S CERTAINLY THE CASE THAT WE HAVE SEEN SOME CHOPINESS IN SOME MARKETS IN RECENT MONTHS. BUT WE HAVE TO RECALL THAT WAS COMING OFF A PERIOD OF EXTREMELY LOW VOLATILITY FOR A VERY PROTRACTED PERIOD OF TIME. EISEN: SO YOU'RE NOT WORRIED ABOUT THAT? BRAINARD: NOT -- I WOULD SAY GENERALLY AS I LOOK ACROSS, AGAIN, FINANCIAL VULNERABILITIES, I'M KEEPING TRACK OF ASSET VALUATIONS WHICH HAVE BEEN STRETCHED EVEN TAKING INTO ACCOUNT RECENT MOVEMENTS. I'M CERTAINLY FOCUSED ON RISING INDEBTEDNESS IN THE CORPORATE SECTOR. BUT, YOU KNOW, THAT'S IN A BROADER PICTURE, WHERE OUR BANKS ARE SO MUCH BETTER CAPITALIZED, AND MORE CAREFULLY MANAGING THEIR LIQUIDITY, AND WE HAVE IN PLACE A SYSTEM OF VERY ROBUST LIQUIDITY AND CAPITAL BUFFERS. SO THE RESILIENCE OF THE FINANCIAL SYSTEM I THINK IS AN OFFSETTING FACTOR THAT'S VERY IMPORTANT. EISEN: FINALLY, WE ARE STARTING TO SEE THE TRUMP FEDERAL RESERVE TAKE SHAPE. HE'S MADE A NUMBER OF NOMINATIONS. YOU'RE THE LAST REMAINING OBAMA FED GOVERNOR I THINK ON THE BOARD. HOW IS THIS FED DIFFERENT UNDER POWELL VERSUS YELLEN AND NOW THAT WE'RE STARTING TO LEARN WHO ELSE IS GOING TO COME ON BOARD? BRAINARD: AS YOU KNOW, THE FEDERAL RESERVE INSTITUTIONALLY HAS A VERY STRONG SET OF MANDATES THAT ARE GIVEN TO US BY CONGRESS. AND WE STEER BY THOSE MANDATES, OUR STATUTORY OBJECTIVE THAT CONGRESS GIVES US. SO IN THAT SENSE THERE IS A HIGH DEGREE OF CONTINUITY. AND I ANTICIPATE THERE WILL CONTINUE TO BE. EISEN: POLICY CONTINUITY, TOO? BRAINARD: AGAIN, BECAUSE WE WORK UNDER A GUIDANCE THAT'S GIVEN TO US BY CONGRESS, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE VERY CLEAR STATUTORY OBJECTIVES, FULL EMPLOYMENT, PRICE STABILITY. AND THOSE ARE THE THINGS THAT REALLY DETERMINE OUR POLICY COURSE. EISEN: WELL, THANK YOU FOR COMING HERE AND SHARING SOME OF YOUR THOUGHTS. BRAINARD: THANK YOU. EISEN: I KNOW THIS A FAMILIAR PLACE FOR YOU, FORMER UNDERSECRETARY FOR INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS, LAEL BRAINARD, WHO IS NOW FEDERAL RESERVE GOVERNOR. AND WITH THAT I WILL SEND IT BACK TO YOU GUYS IN THE STUDIO. MELISSA. For more information contact: Jennifer Dauble CNBC t: 201.735.4721 m: 201.615.2787 e: jennifer.dauble@nbcuni.com Emma Martin CNBC t: 201.735.4713 m: 551.275.6221 e: emma.martin@nbcuni.com About CNBC: With CNBC in the U.S., CNBC in Asia Pacific, CNBC in Europe, Middle East and Africa, and CNBC World, CNBC is the recognized world leader in business news and provides real-time financial market coverage and business information to more than 409 million homes worldwide, including more than 91 million households in the United States and Canada. CNBC also provides daily business updates to 400 million households across China. The network's 15 live hours a day of business programming in North America (weekdays from 4:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. ET) is produced at CNBC's global headquarters in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., and includes reports from CNBC News bureaus worldwide. CNBC at night features a mix of new reality programming, CNBC's highly successful series produced exclusively for CNBC and a number of distinctive in-house documentaries. CNBC Digital delivers more than 50 million multi-platform unique visitors each month. CNBC.com provides real-time financial market news and information to CNBC's investor audience. CNBC Make It is a digital destination focused on making you smarter about how you earn, save and spend your money by zeroing in on careers, leadership, entrepreneurship and personal finance. CNBC has a vast portfolio of digital products across a variety of platforms including: CNBC.com; CNBC PRO, the premium, integrated desktop/mobile service that provides live access to CNBC programming, exclusive video content and global market data and analysis; a suite of CNBC mobile products including the CNBC Apps for iOS, Android and Windows devices; and additional products such as the CNBC App for the Apple Watch and Apple TV. Members of the media can receive more information about CNBC and its programming on the NBCUniversal Media Village Web site at http://www.nbcumv.com/programming/cnbc. For more information about NBCUniversal, please visit http://www.NBCUniversal.com.

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https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/20/gun-safety-advocates-focus-on-states-as-parkland-fervor-fades-in-dc.html

Gun safety advocates push legislation in states as Parkland fervor fades in DC

Gun safety advocates push legislation in states as Parkland fervor fades in DC Signs and flowers by the fence surrounding Stoneman Douglas High School. On February 14, 2018, a former school Stoneman Douglas student Nikolas Cruz entered the school at 2.30pm and proceeded to kill 3 teachers and 14 school children in a 7 minute shooting spree.Giles Clarke | Getty Images Washington answered the Parkland school shooting massacre with a political popgun. Beyond minor changes to existing background checks, President Donald Trump and Congress have mostly made noise. Even that has quieted since youthful protesters went home last month. The recovery of firearms-maker stock prices to beyond pre-Parkland levels reflects the capital's fleeting Trump-era attention span — no match for the entrenched power of the NRA. But that doesn't mean nothing is changing. Adopting the strategy Republicans used to block President Barack Obama in red America, gun safety advocates are pursuing incremental steps in Democratic-leaning areas of the country. "In the immediate future, the states are where the action's going to be," said John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety. The organization founded by billionaire ex-New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg points to a series of recent advances. Vermont has required background checks on all gun sales. Maryland legislators passed a "red flag" bill keeping guns from those deemed dangerous. Rhode Island's governor signed an executive order for the same purpose. Oregon enacted a bill making it harder for stalkers and domestic abusers to buy and possess guns. A bipartisan group of legislators in Minnesota is seeking tougher gun purchase background checks. Massachusetts, New Jersey and Vermont have all outlawed the "bump stocks" that turn semi-automatic weapons into machine guns. What all those states have in common: They voted Democratic in the 2016 presidential election. Everytown and its gun safety allies are leveraging their political contours just as red state Republicans worked around a Democratic White House to challenge regulation and the expansion of Medicaid in the Obama era. There has been some movement even in states Trump won in 2016. Florida — ground zero for the Parkland massacre — passed a red flag law and raised the age for rifle purchases to 21. Outgoing Gov. Rick Scott, courting swing voters in his close race for the Senate this fall, signed it over NRA opposition. Kansas legislators passed a bill to bar those convicted of domestic violence from owning guns. The Pennsylvania Senate took a similar step. Those signs of movement reflect a broad shift in national opinion. A Washington Post/ABC News Poll out Friday shows that Americans, by 57 percent to 34 percent, consider new laws to prevent gun violence a higher priority than protecting gun ownership. A 62 percent majority supports banning the sale of assault weapons, and 85 percent support red flag laws, the poll found. Yet gun safety activists concede their inability to push those and other measures through the GOP-controlled Congress this year. They have focused their federal efforts on galvanizing voters for this fall's midterm elections. Everytown has teamed up with liberal billionaire Tom Steyer's NextGen America and the organization of wounded ex-congresswoman Gabby Giffords on a national voter registration drive. Their goal is harnessing the youthful energy of what Feinblatt calls "the mass shooting generation," which has organized school walkouts and protests in Washington and across the country. (One such walkout is scheduled for Friday, the 19th anniversary of the Columbine school massacre.) It remains uncertain how much that energy can do to lift notoriously low voter-turnout rates among young people, especially in midterm elections. And even a Democratic-controlled Congress would struggle to move gun control legislation anytime given opposition from a Republican president as well as Democrats representing more conservative rural areas. Bloomberg's billions, however, give Everytown the luxury of patience. "If you are gutsy on this issue, we support you," Feinblatt said. "This is not a sprint."

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https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/20/man-linked-to-911-attacks-on-us-captured-in-syria-pentagon.html

Man linked to 9/11 attacks on US captured in Syria: Pentagon

Man linked to 9/11 attacks on US captured in Syria: Pentagon A flower lies atop names of victims at the 9/11 Memorial in New York on Sept. 10Getty Images A man linked to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, who was said to have praised "violent jihad," was captured in Syria by U.S.-backed forces more than a month ago, the Pentagon said on Thursday. "We can confirm that Mohammad Haydar Zammar, a Syrian-born German national, was captured more than a month ago by SDF (Syrian Democratic Forces) partners as part of their ongoing operations to defeat ISIS inside Syria," Pentagon spokesman Eric Pahon said, using an acronym for Islamic State. "We are working with our SDF partners to obtain additional details," Pahon said. VIDEO2:0602:06CNBC breaks down the missiles used in Syria StrikesSquawk Alley The 9/11 Commission report, a congressional account on the 2001 attacks, said Zammar was an "outspoken, flamboyant Islamist" who extolled "the virtues of violent jihad." It said Zammar reportedly had taken credit for influencing Ramzi Binalshibh, who is accused of wiring money to September 11 hijackers and passing information to al Qaeda operatives, and Mohammed Atta, who led the attack on the World Trade Center in New York City. U.S. officials have said that there are hundreds of foreign fighters and thousands of Syrian Islamic State militants in SDF custody.

ba2c7042a5d11cb924b1c4b36196ded4

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/20/north-korea-is-now-connected-to-south-korea-with-a-direct-hotline.html

North Korea is now connected to South Korea with a direct hotline

North Korea is now connected to South Korea with a direct hotline North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visits the Command of the Strategic Force of the Korean People's Army (KPA) in an unknown location in North Korea in this undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on August 15, 2017.KCNA | Reuters South Korean officials no longer have to use a bullhorn to communicate messages to their reclusive neighbor to the North. A direct phone line was installed and tested Friday, connecting South Korea's Blue House, the official residence and office of President Moon Jae-in, and the North's State Affairs Commission, where leader Kim Jong Un's power is consolidated. "The call quality was very good and we felt like we got a call from our next-door neighbor," South Korea's director for the Government Situation Room, Youn Kun-young, told reporters after the four-minute call. The hotline also reportedly features a screen for video chats as well as a fax system. The move signals a reduction in tensions on the Korean peninsula ahead of next week's face-to-face summit, the first since 2007, between the leaders of North Korea and South Korea. Notably, the April 27 meeting is set to take place in the South Korean village of Panmunjom, which would make Kim the first North Korean leader to cross the 38th parallel since the Korean War. "This direct line between ROK and DPRK senior leaders greatly reduces any chance of miscommunication that might lead to unnecessarily provocative actions," retired U.S. Army Lt. Col. Daniel Davis, a senior defense fellow for Defense Priorities, told CNBC. Davis, who served as an advisor to the Second Republic of Korea Army during his military career, noted that the meeting between the two Koreas sets a groundwork for a potential meeting between President Donald Trump and Kim. In this handout image provided by the South Korean Unification Ministry, A South Korean government official checks the direct communications hotline to talk with the North Korean side at the border village of Panmunjom on January 3, 2018 in Panmunjom, South Korea.Getty Images "It is a positive development that Moon and Kim are set to talk in about a week and that a Trump and Kim summit seems likely to follow shortly thereafter. But everyone should temper expectations for a near-term resolution of the situation on the Korean Peninsula," Davis said. "There is little chance Kim Jong Un will give up his nuclear weapons, which means the best option for the U.S. is to manage and deter North Korea, as we have successfully done for decades," he added. The widely anticipated meeting between Trump and Kim would be the first between sitting leaders of North Korea and the United States largely due to Pyongyang's nuclear weapons ambitions. Under third-generation North Korean leader Kim, the reclusive state has conducted its most powerful nuclear test, launched its first-ever intercontinental ballistic missile and threatened to send missiles into the waters near the Pacific Ocean U.S. territory of Guam. Since 2011, Kim has fired more than 85 missiles and conducted four nuclear weapons tests, more than his father, Kim Jong Il, and grandfather, Kim Il Sung, launched over a period of 27 years. Meanwhile, Trump confirmed Wednesday that CIA Director Mike Pompeo met with Kim over Easter weekend to coordinate logistics ahead of the unprecedented meeting.

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https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/20/some-facebook-users-curbed-use-after-cambridge-analytica-gbh-survey.html

Analyst says Facebook damage is 'contained' despite a survey showing people are using it less

Analyst says Facebook damage is 'contained' despite a survey showing people are using it less Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive officer and founder of FacebookAndrew Harrer | Bloomberg | Getty Images Some people report using Facebook less, but that damage might be outweighed in an upcoming earnings report by healthy Instagram's advertising sales. About 15 percent of users said in a poll that they will decrease their use of Facebook after a data scandal related to Cambridge Analytica, according to Daniel Ives, head of technology research at GBH Insights, in a Friday research note. But the number that said they deleted their accounts was "negligible," suggesting that the backlash has been contained, Ives said "We estimate in a worst case scenario that between $1 billion to $2 billion of annual advertising[about 3 percent of revenue] is potentially 'at risk' in 2018 based on slower user growth," Ives wrote. The speculation around Facebook's usership comes as regulators both in the U.S. and abroad have pushed Facebook to disclose more about its privacy practices. In recent months, a whistleblower and press reports indicated that some user data that Facebook thought was deleted had actually been sold via third parties like Cambridge Analytica. CEO Mark Zuckerberg sat before members of Congress to address the issue, and Ives said he thought Zuckerberg handled the grilling well. And during a joint hearing of the Senate Judiciary and Commerce committees, Zuckerberg said there had not been a dramatic falloff in the number of people that use Facebook. But while Zuckerberg has already addressed Capitol Hill, he will address Wall Street next week during the earnings report. The report, Ives said, could provide important updates on changes to the News Feed, user engagement, and investments in security. "[E]arnings will be the next key step for investors to either boost their confidence in the Facebook story going forward or raise further red flags around the risk profile going forward," Ives wrote. Until the "pivotal" quarterly report is released, Ives said he remains optimistic on Facebook's business prospects, thanks to increased monetization from "golden jewel" Instagram, which is owned by Facebook. Ives still thinks Facebook could hit $225 per share this year, well above the price of about $167 a share on Friday. The average price target on Wall Street was $216.47, according to FactSet, and, like Ives, 91 percent of analysts have a "buy" or "overweight" rating of the stock. Still, Ives said, heavier regulation remains a big unknown for the company. "[T]his will be a long winding road with a defining few weeks and months that lies ahead for Facebook and Zuckerberg," Ives wrote.

6f8bb975701abd9ffe8a9657420fd4ad

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/20/throw-out-all-of-your-romaine-lettuce-it-could-have-e-coli-cdc-says.html

Throw out all of your romaine lettuce, it could have E. coli, CDC says

Throw out all of your romaine lettuce, it could have E. coli, CDC says Karandaev | Getty Images Federal authorities are urging people who bought chopped romaine lettuce in the United States to throw it away because it could get them sick. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday the nationwide E. coli outbreak linked to romaine lettuce from Yuma, Ariz., has expanded to 53 cases in 16 states. The CDC warning is clear: All store-bought chopped romaine lettuce, including salads and mixes with romaine, should not be eaten — and thrown away. If someone has eaten the lettuce and not gotten sick, it should still be thrown away. If you don't know if the lettuce you're eating is romaine or not, toss it. Eating at a restaurant? Ask the waiter if the romaine lettuce is coming from the Yuma area. If the source can't be confirmed, do not order or eat it. Read more from USA Today:Southwest passengers had oxygen masks on wrongCalifornia has 8 of 10 most polluted citiesWomen get their periods every month — and it's incredibly expensive Restaurants and retailers should not sell chopped romaine from the Yuma area, the CDC said. They should also ask suppliers where the lettuce is from. The CDC added 18 cases since the last update on Friday. The outbreak, which started March 13, has resulted in 31 hospitalizations, which includes five people developing a type of kidney failure. There have been no deaths. Individual states, the CDC and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration are investigating the outbreak. Pennsylvania is the hardest-hit state with 12 cases, followed by Idaho with 10. New Jersey, Montana and Arizona are among the other states affected. About 70% of those sick are women or girls. The E. coli spreading through the states is "toxin-producing," the CDC states — specifically a toxin known as Shiga. People get sick within two to eight days of swallowing the germ, which causes diarrhea, stomach cramps and vomiting. Although most recover in one week, it could lead to kidney failure. To avoid E. coli, wash your hands regularly and thoroughly, cook meat completely, wash fruits and vegetables, avoid raw milk and don't prepare food when you're sick. If you find yourself sick, write down what you've eaten, contact your doctor and report your illness to your local health department.

ab373f4274c3519fb933b0952e2000b0

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/21/jiobit-tracker-tells-parents-when-kids-straying-from-safe-places.html

This tracker tells parents when their kids are straying from safe places

This tracker tells parents when their kids are straying from safe places VIDEO2:0202:02This device can track your child or pet even if they are in another countryDigital Original Jiobit CEO John Renaldi once lost his young son in a public park in Chicago for a nerve-wracking 30 minutes. After he recovered the boy, and recovered from the experience, the former vice president of e-commerce at Motorola Mobility decided to test out every kid- and pet-tracker on the market. There were several problems, he found. His son refused to wear a watch or a band. The battery on most trackers required daily recharging. And nothing he could find was durable enough to keep up with a snowman-building, puddle-stomping kid. So Renaldi created Jiobit for parents -- and pet-owners -- seeking greater peace of mind. SOURCE: Jiobit The Jiobit sells for $100 plus a $10 monthly fee for data and location services. The waterproof device is about the size of two quarters, and can be slipped into a kid's backpack, pocket, or clipped to their shoe or sleeve. One charge lasts for a week or more. The Jiobit uses a combination of WiFi, cellular networks, GPS and Bluetooth for tracking. That means it's not reliant on WiFi, which can be a problem if signals are weak. SOURCE: Jiobit Renaldi explained, "Let's just say you're at a music festival and your kid just took off... In that case, [Jiobit is] going to try to figure out how to connect. Because in this area, maybe there is an overloaded WiFi network, we don't use just one network. We traverse over all the different cellular networks to try and find a connection across all of them." Parents can use the Jiobit smartphone app to set up safe areas for their kids – like the pool where they take lessons, their friends' and grandparents' houses, school and Mom's office. If a kid strays from those areas, the Jiobit app will alert the parent and help them pinpoint the child's location. Its also beta testing a feature that will allow parents to zero in on their kids' location indoors, knowing which floor their kid is on within an airport, mall or museum, for example. The app and tracker work all over the world. That makes them handy for international travel. Renaldi said while the device was created for kids, some companies are starting to use it to keep track of workers or equipment in the field, especially at sprawling construction sites. SOURCE: Magdalena Petrova CNBC

474abb9e890f8b0b4af1fe2c8db3e684

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/23/cut-out-the-middleman-coach-nike-fenty-and-others-bypass-retailers-and-sell-straight-to-customers.html

Cut out the middleman: Coach, Nike, Fenty and others bypass retailers and sell straight to customers

Cut out the middleman: Coach, Nike, Fenty and others bypass retailers and sell straight to customers Getty Images NEW YORK — Shoppers didn't need an invite to New York Fashion Week to feel like they had special access to the Coach brand. Instead, they could tune into the luxury leather goods label's February fashion show on Instagram and Facebook, then head to Coach's website to get first dibs on the Dreamer — a purse that, at the time, was available for a limited window. "It was the channel we utilized most to drive awareness of the Dreamer's limited-time launch and availability,'' Andrea Shaw Resnick, a spokeswoman for Coach's parent company, Tapestry, said of social media platforms. "Social was able to drive a significant portion of that style's revenue on Coach.com.'' (Since then, Coach has brought the Dreamer bag back in preparation for a bigger launch later this year). More from USA Today:Walmart launches four new clothing brandsToys R Us blames Amazon, Target, Walmart for death blowAre shopping malls an endangered species? At a time when traditional retailers are struggling to woo customers, Coach is one of several brands that are increasingly skipping department stores to sell their purses, sneakers and clothing straight to shoppers. That direct connection — through websites, social media and sometimes their own branded stores — is helping companies build customer loyalty, gain more control over their images and boost profits by cutting out the middleman. And as more department stores and boutiques go out of business or close locations, direct links to customers can also help fashion and home good brands hold the line on sales. Sneaker giant Adidas has two apps that let fans reserve limited-release shoes available exclusively at its own stores. Shoppers who check out Nike Instagram feeds such as "Nike Women" or "Nike Soccer" can then link to Nike.com to make purchases. Michael Kors has shrunk the number of purses and accessories it ships to stores. And watchmaker Fossil is enlisting celebrities such as Yara Shahidi, star of Grown-ish and ABC's Black-ish to help steer Millennials and teens who make up Generation Z to its website and stores, not just traditional retailers. Mia Booker is one of many shoppers who prefers buying right from the source. A makeup artist in New York, Booker, 36, says she often learns about new products by clicking through photos posted on Instagram. That's how she found out about Fenty, pop star Rihanna's makeup line. Booker went to several Sephora stores but could not find the Fenty lipstick she wanted. She then turned to Fentybeauty.com to make a purchase. The next time she wanted to buy, the experience was even more seamless. She accessed the Fenty site by simply clicking on its Instagram feed. "There's a 'shop now' button, and it leads you to the Fenty page where that lipstick is for sale,'' says Booker, who with a tap of her phone bought the brand's Mattemoiselle Plush Matte lipstick in its deep burgundy "Griselda'' shade. "It's more convenient to buy from your device,'' she says. "It helps you cut down on time going to the physical store, and then when you get there you're disappointed because they don't have it.'' The ability for a brand to connect directly to shoppers such as Booker marks a sharp departure from the days when department stores and boutiques were largely the only ways a company could showcase and sell its wares. Now, backed by their own independent sales channels, brands can be more choosy in deciding what stores can sell their products. "The expectation is 'if I'm going to sell my brand in your store, I expect convenient locations, extraordinary customer service, and well-maintained stores,' " said Steve Barr, consumer markets leader at consultancy PwC. A key tool in reaching shoppers is Instagram's shopping feature launched last year that allows a user to click on a brand's tagged post or the "shop'' button and then buy the shirt, cosmetic or pair of shoes that caught their eye. More than 200 million Instagram users worldwide look at one or more business profiles daily. Because of features such as that and more, brands among the top 100 online apparel sellers that sold their goods directly to consumers through their websites had a 31% uptick in sales last year over 2016, according to NPD's Checkout E-commerce Tracking index. That's compared to a 24% sales increase experienced by retail websites that offered products from multiple brands. "Since the initial introduction of shopping on Instagram, we've seen strong adoption from both people and businesses in the U.S.'' says Susan Rose, Instagram's director of product marketing. Fossil, the watchmaker whose following on Facebook and Instagram grew 20% last year, says those platforms have not only boosted its sales, but are helping the company gather the information it needs to better market to shoppers. Directly connecting with consumers also lets a brand have more control over pricing and ensure discounting doesn't dull its image. Coach's corporate entity, now dubbed Tapestry, said last year that it would clear its merchandise from the shelves of more than 250 retailers — 25% of the stores carrying its products in North America — because of rampant discounting that was dimming the brand's prestige. In the department stores where its products remain, the company is limiting the ability to mark down Coach products. Coach began wielding more control over the sales of its handbags and accessories in the early 2000s, when, after peaking at about 1,500 North American department stores carrying its products, it began to pare that number. Now it increasingly relies on its own websites and global network of stores. Making competition even more fierce, Millennials and the teenagers ofGeneration Z aren't as wedded to brands as their parents and grandparents. As a result, brands have to work harder to connect emotionally to them. High-end purse maker Brahmin hopes it is connecting by offering exclusive colors and textures such as its signature Mini Sonny Crossbody purse in the shade and texture dubbed Black Thames or its Large Duxbury Satchel in the ombre palette it calls "Passion Fruit Melbourne" that can only be bought at the brand's boutiques or website, spokeswoman Chelsea Rothman says. "A lot of our wholesale partners have seen struggles in the recent past, so it's nice to have our own established'' link to customers," Rothman says. Nike has also made selling directly to consumers a priority. It says revenue flowing from Nike.com and the company's apps topped $2 billion last year — almost double what the company brought in from those channels during 2015. The sportswear company is not abandoning outside sellers. But it will be "shifting away'' from stores that lack premium service or experiences, Trevor Edwards, outgoing president of the Nike Brand, said at an event in October. When those stores don't offer "superior consumer experiences in either physical or digital ... that makes it less profitable over time as the consumers migrate away.'' To counter the trend of brands going straight to shoppers, some retailers are increasingly developing their own in-house brands to cultivate their own following. Walmart is launching four new private apparel lines, including its first kids collection. Rival Target, known for its highly coveted limited collaborations with designers such as Lily Pulitzer and Victoria Beckham, is rolling out a dozen new, exclusive brands including Hearth & Hand with Magnolia, a home-goods collaboration with Chip and Joanna Gaines, the popular hosts of the home-improvement TV show Fixer Upper. But the strategy may still not be enough to woo shoppers such as Booker, who says she now does 75% of her browsing and buying with the click of a button. "I do the majority of my shopping now pretty much online, unless it's clothing, where I physically have to go in and try it on,'' she says. "The store's basically a middleman.''

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https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/23/ex-mexican-president-vicente-fox-border-wall-is-just-trump-stupidity.html

Ex-Mexican President Vicente Fox: The idea of a border wall is 'stupidity out of the mind of Trump'

Ex-Mexican President Vicente Fox: The idea of a border wall is 'stupidity out of the mind of Trump' VIDEO4:5604:56Fmr. Mexico Pres. Fox: There are only winners, not zero-sum in tradeSquawk Alley Vicente Fox, formerly president of Mexico and currently a frequent critic of Donald Trump, told CNBC on Monday that the southern border wall proposed by the U.S. president serves "no positive purpose." "The building of a wall is the stupidity out of the mind of Trump," said Fox, who was Mexico's leader from 2000 to 2006. "It's just isolating the United States from the rest of the world." Trump has been calling for a wall on the United States-Mexico border since he launched his candidacy for president. Trump has argued repeatedly that a wall would secure the border and prevent illegal immigration. That's a theme the president echoed in a Monday morning tweet, while calling for Mexico to tighten its immigration controls as a condition for finalizing an updated NAFTA. Mexico, whose laws on immigration are very tough, must stop people from going through Mexico and into the U.S. We may make this a condition of the new NAFTA Agreement. Our Country cannot accept what is happening! Also, we must get Wall funding fast. The U.S., Mexico and Canada are in the throes of negotiating an overhaul of the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement. Fox said Trump's tweet is just a maneuver to try to "impress his base" of supporters. The former Mexican president predicted success in crafting a "better NAFTA" for all three countries. He spoke with CNBC's John Harwood from the eMerge Americas technology conference in Miami Beach, Florida. Despite Trump's rhetoric on trade, the exchange of goods and services does not have to be a zero-sum game, Fox said. Meanwhile, Fox said he has never met with Trump and won't meet the U.S. president unless he apologized to Mexico for all the disparaging remarks over the years, including part of the speech that launched his presidential candidacy in 2015. At the time, Trump called Mexican immigrants "rapists" and accused them of bringing "drugs" and "crime" to the U.S. He also said, "Some, I assume, are good people." "Every time he opens his mouth, his big mouth, same thing, back to the past, back to a national state, back to the grandeur of America," Fox said of Trump. "America has been great always. It will be great forever. It doesn't need Trump." The White House did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment on Fox's interview.

4bfebbacdf80b3e31510d46e0120e34d

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/23/north-korea-south-silences-propaganda-broadcasts-as-summit-looms.html

South Korea silences propaganda broadcasts to the North as summit looms

South Korea silences propaganda broadcasts to the North as summit looms A South Korean soldier stands next to the loudspeakers near the border area between South Korea and North Korea on January 8, 2016 in Yeoncheon, South Korea.Korea Pool-Donga Daily via Getty Images South Korea has stopped blaring music and other propaganda via loudspeakers along the border with North Korea, in an apparent gesture of goodwill ahead of top-level talks later this week. The South Korean defense ministry announced the high-decibel broadcasts it routinely played across the heavily fortified demilitarized zone had fallen silent at midnight on Sunday. "We hope this decision will lead both Koreas to stop mutual criticism and propaganda against each other and also contribute in creating peace and a new beginning," Seoul's defense ministry said in a statement Monday. South Korea said its dozens of speakers, which can be heard by North Korean troops and civilians in the surrounding area, would all be turned off to try to help create a better atmosphere for Friday's talks. It is the first time in more than two years that Seoul's propaganda offensive has stopped. North Korea also has its own system of speakers along the border between the two countries, which tends to play reports critical of its neighbor and their allies. It is not yet known whether Pyongyang will also silence its loudspeakers. Meanwhile, North and South Korea are ironing out the final details for a summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-In on Friday. Ahead of the scheduled inter-Korean meeting, Pyongyang said it would halt all nuclear and missile tests and scrap its nuclear test site. The announcement marked a remarkable turnaround in tensions after geopolitical uncertainty had been ratcheted up to unprecedented levels when the North carried out its largest-ever nuclear test last year. The North's move to stop missile and nuclear tests was initially welcomed by President Donald Trump, before the U.S. premier then adopted a more guarded stance Sunday. "We are a long way from conclusion on North Korea, maybe things will work out, and maybe they won't — only time will tell," he said via Twitter. Tweet 1 A successful summit between the Koreas could then help pave the way for a meeting between Kim and Trump. They are poised to hold talks in late May or June.

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https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/23/uae-energy-minister-suhail-al-mazrouei-on-opec-production-cuts-oil-prices.html

OPEC is acting with 'noble goal' of rescuing the oil market, says organization's president

OPEC is acting with 'noble goal' of rescuing the oil market, says organization's president VIDEO3:2603:26UAE energy minister: Production cuts have helped market to recoverSquawk Box Europe The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries is not artificially inflating oil prices but has instead come together with the "noble goal" to rescuing the market, OPEC's current chairman said Monday. "I don't think we ever said that we're targeting a price. We all remember what's happened two years ago — the market was over-flooded, and it wasn't OPEC who over-flooded the market. And no one intervened to do anything about it," Suhail Al Mazrouei, the United Arab Emirates' minister of energy and industry and OPEC president, told CNBC's Hadley Gamble. The oil market experienced a sharp downturn after an increase in shale production in the U.S. caused prices to plunge below $30 per barrel in 2016. "OPEC and non-OPEC (countries) came together, they sacrificed some of their production to try and fix the imbalance in the market. So the objective of OPEC was, I would say, a noble goal to rescue the market (from) a long over-supply," he said. U.S. President Donald Trump on Twitter last week accused OPEC of being responsible for "artificially very high" oil prices. VIDEO2:0002:00Saudi Arabia will always be safe, says UAE energy ministerSquawk Box Europe Oil prices rose in March rose above $70 per barrel over fears that tensions in the Middle East could escalate. On Monday, oil prices were mixed during Asian trading hours: Brent crude oil futures trading 0.05 percent higher while the U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were down by 0.03 percent. Al Mazrouei said oil markets are in a "much, much better position" now thanks to the agreement among major oil producers, including OPEC countries and Russia, to limit production until the end of 2018. But there's still work to be done to rebalance the oil market, the minister said, echoing the sentiment of Saudi Arabia's Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih and Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak. "The problem is if we keep the market over-supply or if we drown the market again ... We will have a way bigger problem down the road," Al Mazrouei said. "It's a bigger picture than just looking at the price today and yesterday and [saying] that the price is high," he added.

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https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/23/world-stocks-stumble-as-us-treasury-yields-near-3-percent.html

World stocks stumble as US Treasury yields near 3%

World stocks stumble as US Treasury yields near 3% VIDEO3:2503:25Pro says there are three reasons 10-year is risingSquawk Box World stocks slipped on Monday ahead of a blizzard of earnings from the world's biggest firms and as wary investors watched U.S. bond yields approach peaks that have triggered market spasms in the past. The on 10-year U.S. Treasurys hit its highest level since January 2014 at 2.99 percent, pushing the gap — or spread — to German bonds to the widest in 29 years and the dollar higher in the process. Traders were also getting a global round of economic surveys that should show in the coming days if economic softness in the first quarter was just a passing phase linked to wintery weather and the Lunar New Year holidays in Asia. Readings from Japan, France, and Germany were all relatively reassuring. Japan's PMI data firmed as output and domestic demand picked up, France got help from its services sector, while Germany came in above forecast despite weaker new orders numbers. "It's a good reading, it's still encouraging," said Chris Williamson, chief business economist at IHS Markit, of the combined euro zone numbers, which he said pointed to quarterly GDP growth of 0.6 percent. On the geopolitical front, there was plenty to digest too. North Korea said on Saturday that it would immediately suspend nuclear and missile tests, scrap its nuclear test site and instead pursue peace and economic growth. Talk of a trip by the U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to China, also fueled hopes that the recent trade tensions between the world's two biggest economies may be thawing. Oil prices edged down in the cross-currents but were not far from their highest since late 2014. The market had wobbled on Friday when U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted criticism of OPEC's role in pushing up global prices, but quickly steadied. Brent crude oil futures were off 20 cents at $73.83 per barrel, U.S. crude eased to $68.16. Aluminum prices leapt up again, though, to add to this month's 25 percent surge following U.S. sanctions on Russia's producer-giant Rusal. "Underlying (oil market) sentiment is bullish," Saxo Bank senior manager Ole Hansen. "And we have OPEC potentially trying to 'overtighten' the market." In stock markets, MSCI's world index fell 0.25 percent after Asia shed 0.5 percent overnight and and Europe then slipped 0.2 percent as results from Switzerland's biggest bank, UBS, disappointed and the rise in yields added pressure generally. E-Mini futures for the S&P 500 were also pointing to a lower start for Wall Street later. More than 180 companies in the S&P 500 are due to report results this week, including Amazon, Alphabet, Facebook, Microsoft, Boeing, and Chevron. Of particular concern for U.S. analysts will be executives' views about their exposure to China, amid the recent worries about a trade war. Treasury Secretary Mnuchin said on Saturday he might travel to Beijing, a move that could ease tensions between the two supersized economies. "A trip is under consideration," Mnuchin said at a news conference during the International Monetary Fund and World Bank spring meetings in Washington. "I did meet with the Chinese here. The discussions were really more around the governor's actions at the PBOC (People's Bank of China) and certain actions they've announced in terms of opening some of their markets, which we very much encourage and appreciate." Back in commodity markets, the spike in oil has driven up both market expectations of future inflation and long-term bond yields. Yields on 10-year Treasurys are at the highest now since early 2014 and again threatening the hugely important 3 percent bulwark. The last time yields neared this number in 2013 it rocked risk appetite and sent stocks sliding. It also came shortly before oil prices went on a mighty 75 percent tumble. "Another $5/barrel increase in oil will be enough for U.S. 10-year yields to threaten 3 percent. Oil is now at the cusp of levels where higher prices will spark greater FX and broader asset market volatility," said Deutsche Bank's macro strategist, Alan Ruskin. Traditionally the dollar had a slight negative correlation with oil, mostly because the dominant causation goes from dollar weakness to rising oil prices, he added. "If oil helps push the 10-year yield into new terrain for this cycle, this will play at least mildly USD positive in a change of correlation." Indeed, dealers cited widening yield differentials for the dollar's broad rally. The gap with German bonds has touched the widest in almost three decades. On a spot basis shorter-term U.S. 2-year yields are testing 2.5 percent, which is the highest since 2008. The greenback was last at 108.215 having broken through major resistance in the 107.90/108.00 zone, which has held solid since mid-February. The dollar index powered up to 90.69, and further away from last week's low at 89.229. The euro was easier at $1.2232, having repeatedly failed to break above $1.2400 in the last couple of weeks. Investors are awaiting the European Central Bank's policy meeting on Thursday amid talk that policymakers feel it is still too early to announce a timetable for winding down its bond buying. ECB chief Mario Draghi said on Friday he was confident that the inflation outlook has picked up, but uncertainties "warrant patience, persistence and prudence."

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https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/23/zelle-the-banks-answer-to-venmo-proves-vulnerable-to-fraud.html

Zelle, the banks’ answer to Venmo, proves vulnerable to fraud

Zelle, the banks’ answer to Venmo, proves vulnerable to fraud Jane Butler, a Wells Fargo customer who said she first heard of Zelle when it was used to steal $2,500 from her bank account, in Downingtown, Pa., April 18, 2018.Bryan Anselm | The New York Times Big banks are making it easy to zap money to your friends. Maybe too easy. Zelle, a service that allows bank customers to instantly send money to their acquaintances, is booming. Thousands of new users sign up every day. Some $75 billion zoomed through Zelle's network last year. That's more than twice the amount of money that customers transferred with Venmo, a rival money-transfer app. But the same features that make Zelle so useful for customers, its speed and ubiquity, have made it irresistible to thieves. Hackers and con artists have used the system to steal from victims — some of whom had never used Zelle or even heard of it until someone used it to clean out their bank accounts. More from the New York Times: Banks look to cellphones to replace A.T.M. cardsGoing cashless: my journey into the futureThanks to Venmo, we now all know how cheap our friends are Interviews with more than two dozen customers who had their money stolen through Zelle illustrate the weaknesses that criminals are using in targeting the network. While all financial systems are susceptible to fraud, aspects of Zelle's design, like not always notifying customers when money is transferred — some banks do; others don't — have contributed to the system's vulnerability. And some customers who lost money were made whole by their banks; others were not. For the banks, Zelle is a big — and must-win — bet on where money is headed. As consumers become increasingly accustomed to splitting dinner checks, paying for their coffee and hailing an Uber without touching paper money, banks are rushing to stake their claim on the wallet of the future. In recent years, apps such as Venmo (which is owned by PayPal), Popmoney, Square Cash and Apple Pay made digital cash transfers quick and simple. Banks were falling behind. So they joined up to create a rival product, run by Early Warning Services, a Scottsdale, Ariz., consortium that is jointly owned by seven large banks. Last June, Early Warning introduced Zelle. It is built directly into each bank's mobile app, making the system easy to use for customers — or thieves who gain access to their accounts. The scale of the problem is hard to pinpoint, because Zelle is fairly new and banks do not report much data about it. But banking analysts say they have seen some alarming incidents. "I know of one bank that was experiencing a 90 percent fraud rate on Zelle transactions, which is insane," said Genevieve Gimbert, a partner in PwC's financial crimes unit. Most banks have strong authentication and fraud-detection controls for Zelle, she said, but some "just implemented it without any protections" like two-factor authentication and user-behavior monitoring. Zelle said the problem was under control. "There are very few incidents," said Lou Anne Alexander, Early Warning's head of payments. "When there is a problem, we and the banks are proactive. It's not something we're putting our heads in the sand about." Eighteen banks in the United States, including most of the biggest players, are using Zelle, and 70 more are in the process of setting it up. Collectively, they connect about half of the traditional checking accounts in the United States. Cash transfers within the network often take place within seconds — much faster than on most of its rival payment services. That has made it more difficult for banks to halt or reverse illicit transactions. Security is a cornerstone of Zelle's marketing campaign. In one TV commercial, Daveed Diggs, an actor and rapper known for "Hamilton" and "black-ish," is encouraged to pay for playoff tickets through Zelle by another actor who raps: "You can send money safely, 'cause that's what it's for, and it's backed by the banks, so you know it's secure." But the system has had problems. Brian Kemm, a Bank of America customer in Pasadena, Calif., lost $300 because of a misdirected payment. To transfer money through Zelle, the sender enters the recipient's phone number or email address. Zelle is built on the assumption that each of those identifiers is unique to one person. Last November, Mr. Kemm tried to send cash to his mother, Carol Kemm, who is also a Bank of America customer. He typed in the mobile phone number Ms. Kemm had been using for at least three years and hit "send." "She told me she didn't get it, and my first thought was, 'Mom, you're not being very tech-savvy,'" Mr. Kemm said. "Eventually, after a few days, I realized it really didn't get there." When he called Bank of America's customer service line, he learned that the $300 had been transferred — to a JPMorgan Chase bank account, whose owner had registered the same phone number Ms. Kemm used. He said he was told that there was nothing Bank of America could do to get his money back. Mr. Kemm filed a police report and a fraud claim with Bank of America. On Nov. 30, the bank sent him a reply: "Our records indicate that we initiated the transfer in accordance with your instructions. As a result, your account will not be credited for this claim." After being contacted for this article, Bank of America said it would refund Mr. Kemm. "In general, in cases in which the mobile number was previously registered to another person and directed to that account, we'll work with the receiving bank to reverse the transaction," said Betty Riess, a bank spokeswoman. Another Bank of America customer, Heather Pocorobba, went hunting on March 18 for tickets to a Justin Timberlake concert. On Craigslist, she found two good seats for $260. The seller suggested she pay with Zelle. "I naïvely believed that since my bank uses it, the accounts must be connected to real people, with some sort of protection built in," Ms. Pocorobba said. As soon as she sent the cash, the seller stopped answering her text messages. She never got the tickets — or her money back. She reported the fraud to the police and her bank. Bank of America's fine print about Zelle tells customers: "You are protected by the same security you're used to where you will not be liable for fraudulent transactions." The catch is that the bank, like all the others that use Zelle, only considers transactions fraudulent if the customer did not authorize them. When a customer knowingly sends money to someone, the bank offers no protection against rip-offs. (Credit cards, by contrast, protect users against such scammers.) "We're committed to ensuring consumers are aware of potential scams, including reminding them that Zelle is intended for sending funds to friends, family or people they know," said Ms. Riess, the Bank of America spokeswoman. Bob Sullivan, an author who specializes in cybercrime and consumer protection, said he was stunned by how poorly the banks had communicated Zelle's risks — and by their failure to learn from the painful lessons of the past. Craigslist, PayPal and Venmo faced early criticism for leaving users vulnerable to fraud. In response, each made changes. Craigslist, for example, added a warning about scams on every sale listing. PayPal increased the protections it offers on some digital sales and provided a detailed disclosure about what transactions it will and won't protect. And Venmo — which, like Zelle, does not protect users if a seller does not deliver what they promised — upgraded its security policies in 2015 to better detect fraud, including by notifying customers when someone adds an email address or new device to their account. This year, the Federal Trade Commission criticized the company for not having those protections in place from the start. Customers have to hunt on Zelle's website to get to this red flag: "Neither Zelle nor the participating financial institutions offer a protection program for any purchase or sale conducted using Zelle." Some banks, such as JPMorgan, don't notify customers when new recipients are linked to their Zelle accounts. David Nowicki, a BB&T customer, discovered in March that someone had gained access to his online accounts and used Zelle to steal $4,000. Mr. Nowicki said he had never received any email or phone notifications about the transactions, or about a new computer accessing his account. After he filed a fraud claim with BB&T, and a police report, the bank refunded his loss. "We have multiple layers of security measures," said David R. White, a BB&T spokesman. "Clients are protected and reimbursed for any unauthorized transactions." BB&T sends email notices about Zelle transactions, Mr. White said. Mr. Nowicki, however, said he was certain he had not received any. Jane Butler, a Wells Fargo customer in Downingtown, Pa., first heard of Zelle when it was used to steal $2,500 from her bank account. The con was elaborate. First, a phishing email that appeared to be from Wells Fargo tricked her into entering her bank ID and password into a fraudulent website. The next day, Ms. Butler got a call that appeared to be from Wells Fargo's fraud department. The number she saw displayed on her phone screen matched the phone number on the back of her bank card — but it wasn't her bank on the other end of the line. The call had been spoofed. The caller tricked her into handing over one-time passcodes that provided access to Zelle, which was then used to make six transfers from her account, ranging from one penny to $999.98. Wells Fargo refunded Ms. Butler for her loss. Others have fallen victim to similar calls. Cory McWilliams, a Wells Fargo customer in Houston, said that thieves had called him from a spoofed Wells Fargo number, fooled him into giving them authentication codes texted by the bank and then stole $1,000. Jim Seitz, a Wells Fargo spokesman, said the company takes customer security "very seriously" and that it will "continue to evolve our multilayers of controls to further help our customers avoid becoming victims of fraud." Mr. McWilliams reported the theft to a banker at his local branch, and Wells Fargo refunded his loss. "The banker I spoke with was not surprised at all," Mr. McWilliams said. "He stated he was aware this sort of scam was going around."

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https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/24/alaska-airlines-is-scrubbing-virgin-americas-presence-from-airports-tonight.html

Alaska Airlines is scrubbing Virgin America's presence from airports tonight

Alaska Airlines is scrubbing Virgin America's presence from airports tonight A Virgin America planeGetty Images Don't bother looking for a Virgin America kiosk at the airport Wednesday morning. Employees of Alaska Airlines, which merged with Richard Branson-backed Virgin America in December 2016, are racing to scrub the former company's branding from 29 airports around the U.S. Virgin America-branded kiosks and signs at baggage claim, curbside check-in and ticket counters will be removed and switched out for Alaska Airlines' logos "overnight," the company said. Virgin America's website will redirect travelers to Alaska's. There will be a single call center. Virgin America's last departure, Flight 1947 is scheduled to take off from Los Angeles to Virgin America's former home base of San Francisco at 9:35 p.m. In January, Virgin America planes lost their colorful call sign — "Redwood" — the way air traffic controllers and airlines address flights. Now these flights are simply called "Alaska." Even though the merger closed more than a year ago, the airline is working through the details of combining the two companies, which together have more than 21,000 employees, according to a recent Alaska Airlines filing. The branding of Virgin America, which started flying in 2007, won't be completely gone come morning. Seattle-based Alaska will start repainting Virgin's red-and-white Airbus fleet in the fourth quarter of 2018 and expects it to be completed by 2019 in Alaska's blue-and-white colors. Virgin America planes, which have included black leather seats, will be retrofitted to match Alaska's more closely later this year. Flight attendants will also transition to new uniforms by late 2019, said Ann Johnson, a spokeswoman for the airline. In April, airport employees, such as customer service agents, who had worked for Virgin America started wearing a "transitional uniform" but that a few white, blue and navy items will be added to "identify them as part of the Alaska family," she said. VIDEO0:5200:52Alaska Airlines to investigate Randi Zuckerberg's report of sexual harassment on planeNews Videos

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https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/06/29/trumps-scaled-back-travel-ban-goes-into-effect-thursday/438523001/

Trump's scaled-back travel ban goes into effect

Trump's scaled-back travel ban goes into effect President Trump's scaled-back travel ban against majority-Muslim countries went into effect at 8 p.m. ET Thursday. But it is unlikely to result in the chaos at airports his original ban caused in January, when hundreds of travelers were caught in limbo. The Jan. 27 order was struck down by federal courts, prompting Trump to issue a new version that the Supreme Court this week said could be implemented on a limited basis. Those barred would be citizens of Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen with no close ties to the United States, no previously approved visa or refugee status or permanent residence (green card). They will be banned for up to 90 days as the federal government reviews vetting procedures to ensure that terrorists do not infiltrate the U.S. Travelers from the six majority-Muslim countries who can prove a "bona fide relationship" to a U.S. person or entity — a standard created by the Supreme Court — can enter. The State Department sent a cable to its consulates advising that immediate relatives of U.S. citizens — such as parents, children, spouses or fiancées — could continue traveling. Grandparents, grandchildren, aunts, uncles, cousins and in-laws could not. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said the government created that list by relying on a definition of family found in the Immigration and Nationality Act. Places such as JFK International Airport were quiet in the wake of the ban, but protesters met in other places to voice their opposition. At Los Angeles International Airport, demonstrators chanted, "Say it out, say it clear, immigrants are welcome here," according to TravelWireNews. In Washington, protesters gathered outside of the Trump International Hotel while someone projected a hologram onto the building reading "#NoBan, #NoWall," reported Kassy Dillon, a contributor for The Hill. The state of Hawaii stepped into the fray on Thursday, asking a federal judge to rule that the president's travel ban defies the Supreme Court ruling, Politico and CNN reported. Lawyers for the state and for an imam in Hawaii say the guidance takes too narrow a view of what family members would be exempt. David Leopold, a Cleveland immigration attorney and past president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, said the government is walking a perilous line by using such a restrictive definition. "I think the administration's interpretation is much more narrow than what the Supreme Court order allows," he said. "No surprise." The State Department said foreigners who already have interviews for visas scheduled at U.S. consulates overseas will be able to continue that process. But, they may end up being refused entry if they cannot show strong ties to the U.S. Nauert also said refugees who have been approved to enter the country by July 6 will be allowed to do so, but those planning to arrive after will be subject to the ban. Omar Jadwat, director of the Immigrants' Rights Project of the ACLU, complained that the Trump administration is vague abut its plans for enforcing the ban. He said attorneys will be stationed at international terminals of major U.S. airports to ensure the administration complies with the rules set by the Supreme Court. "I'm hopeful that they will comply, that they won't try to get cute or push the limits or stretch anything," said Jadwat, who has argued against Trump's travel ban in lower federal courts. "But obviously, we need to be watching closely." Read more: Who can (and can’t) travel under the new travel ban What's next for Trump's travel ban Supreme Court reinstates Trump's travel ban, but only for some immigrants The administration said it has been working quickly to make sure the travel ban goes into effect smoothly. "This is obviously an important matter...and everybody wants to get this right," State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said this week. "They want to see this implemented in an orderly fashion, and so in doing that I think they’ll probably take their time — as much time as they have — to make sure they get it right." Contributing: Oren Dorell in Washington, D.C.

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https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/06/29/vatican-cardinal-sexual-abuse-scandal/438000001/

High-ranking Vatican official charged with multiple sexual assault offenses

High-ranking Vatican official charged with multiple sexual assault offenses Police in Australia have charged the continent's most senior ranking Catholic with multiple counts of sexual assault, bringing the church's ongoing sex abuse scandal to the highest ranks of the Vatican. Deputy Commissioner Shane Patton of the Victoria Police made the announcement during a news conference. Cardinal George Pell, 76, is chief financial adviser to Pope Francis and the highest ranking Vatican official to be charged in the church's ongoing sex abuse scandal that goes back decades. Pell is due to appear in magistrate's court in Melbourne, Australia, on July 18 for a hearing, Patton told reporters. Pell is charged with "historical sexual offenses," which under Australian law are alleged offenses that happened some time ago. Patton said there are multiple complaints against Pell but he did not elaborate. Pell denied the accusations Thursday, and denounced what he called a “relentless character assassination” in the media, the Associated Press reported. He said he would return to Australia to face the charges. Vatican spokesman Greg Burke said Pope Francis had learned with “regret” of the charges and granted Pell a leave of absence to defend himself, according to the AP. He said the Vatican’s financial reforms would continue in Pell's absence. Patton said the cardinal would not be treated any differently than anyone else facing such charges. "Cardinal Pell has been treated the same as anyone else in this investigation," Patton said. The charges represent a setback to Pope Francis, who has promised a “zero tolerance” policy when it comes to sex abuse. READ MORE: Vatican to hear testimony from first man to accuse Guam priest of sex abuse Sex orgies, prostitution, porn: Allegations shake Catholic Church in Italy Catholic nun blasts ‘male power’ in blunt talk at the Vatican For years, Pell has faced allegations that he mishandled cases of clergy abuse when he was archbishop of Melbourne and, later, Sydney, the Associated Press reported. His actions as archbishop came under tight scrutiny in recent years by a government-authorized investigation into how the Catholic Church and other institutions have responded to child sex abuse. Australia’s years-long Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse found high levels of abuse in Australia’s Catholic Church, revealing earlier this year that 7 percent of Catholic priests were accused of sexually abusing children over the last several decades, the Associated Press reported. READ MORE: Vatican finance minister rejects latest sexual abuse allegations Pope: I'll wait to weigh in on cardinal's case Last year, Pell acknowledged during his testimony to the commission that the Catholic Church had made “enormous mistakes” in allowing thousands of children to be raped and molested by priests. He conceded that he, too, had erred by often believing the priests over victims who alleged abuse. And he vowed to help end a rash of suicides that has plagued church abuse victims in his Australian hometown of Ballarat. But more recently, Pell himself became the focus of a clergy sex abuse investigation. Pell studied at St. Patrick's College and Corpus Christi College, both in Victoria, before studying at Urban University in Rome, according to The Age. He has a doctorate in church history from Oxford and was ordained in 1966.

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https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/06/30/opcw-probe-sarin-used-deadly-attack-syria/442056001/

OPCW probe: Sarin used in deadly attack in Syria

OPCW probe: Sarin used in deadly attack in Syria THE HAGUE, Netherlands - An investigation by the international chemical weapons watchdog confirmed Friday that sarin nerve gas was used in a deadly April 4 attack on a Syrian town, the latest confirmation of chemical weapons use in Syria’s civil war. The attack on Khan Sheikhoun in Syria’s Idlib province left more than 90 people dead, including women and children, and sparked outrage around the world as photos and video of the aftermath, including quivering children dying on camera, were widely broadcast. “I strongly condemn this atrocity, which wholly contradicts the norms enshrined in the Chemical Weapons Convention,” Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons Director-General Ahmet Uzumcu said in a statement. “The perpetrators of this horrific attack must be held accountable for their crimes.” The investigation did not apportion blame. Its findings will be used by a joint United Nations-OPCW investigation team to assess who was responsible. The U.S. State Department said in a statement issued Thursday night after the report was circulated to OPCW member states that “The facts reflect a despicable and highly dangerous record of chemical weapons use by the Assad regime.” President Donald Trump cited images of the aftermath of the Khan Sheikhoun attack when he launched a punitive strike days later, firing cruise missiles on a Syrian government-controlled air base from where U.S. officials said the Syrian military had launched the chemical attack. It was the first direct American assault on the Syrian government and Trump’s most dramatic military order since becoming president months before. Syrian President Bashar Assad has denied using chemical weapons. His staunch ally, Russian President Vladimir Putin, said earlier this month that he believed the attack was “a provocation” staged “by people who wanted to blame him (Assad) for that.” Both the U.S. and the OPCW were at pains to defend the probe’s methodology. Investigators did not visit the scene of the attack, deeming it too dangerous, but analyzed samples from victims and survivors as well as interviewing witnesses. “A rigorous methodology was employed for conducting an investigation of alleged use of chemical weapons that took into account corroboration between interviewee testimonies; open-source research, documents, and other records; and the characteristics of the samples including those provided by the Government of the Syrian Arab Republic,” the OPCW said in a statement. The Syrian government joined the OPCW in 2013 after it was blamed for a deadly poison gas attack in a Damascus suburb. As it joined, Assad’s government declared some 1,300 tons of chemical weapons and precursor chemicals which were subsequently destroyed in an unprecedented international operation. However, the organization still has unanswered questions about the completeness of Syria’s initial declaration, meaning that it has never conclusively been able to confirm that the country has no more chemical weapons.

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https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/06/30/trump-travel-ban-lawsuits/442286001/

As Trump travel ban goes into effect, lawsuits begin

As Trump travel ban goes into effect, lawsuits begin President Trump's scaled-back travel ban against six majority-Muslim nations operated without disruptions at airports Friday as opponents challenged its restrictive rules on who is permitted entry into the USA. The American Civil Liberties Union and immigration advocacy groups reported no big problems with the ban, which went into effect Thursday, unlike Trump's first, broader order that left hundreds of travelers from abroad in legal limbo in late January. "I am not aware of any refugees being detained as a result of this executive order," Betsy Fisher, policy director for the International Refugee Assistance Project, said Friday. After the Supreme Court allowed the revised ban to go into effect, legal challenges quickly surfaced. Hawaii's attorney general filed a lawsuit late Thursday to force the Trump administration to clarify how it created its list of people who will be banned and those who won't. The concern is that the administration is setting rules that may limit entry more than the Supreme Court intended. In a ruling Monday, the court allowed the administration to enforce its 90-day travel ban against nationals of Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen, so the government can tighten its screening to keep terrorists from sneaking into the country. The court ordered the administration to allow entry to people from those countries who could prove a "bona fide" relationship with a U.S. person or entity. The State Department concluded that foreigners who have a parent, spouse, fiancée, child, adult son or daughter, son-in-law, daughter-in-law or sibling in the USA qualified under that definition. The department said foreigners' grandparents, grandchildren, aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews did not qualify and would be banned. Read more: Who can (and can’t) travel under the new travel ban Trump's scaled-back travel ban goes into effect Supreme Court travel ban ruling: What it means The State Department said Thursday that it used a definition of family written into federal law under the Immigration and Nationality Act. Fisher said the administration clearly sought the most restrictive definition it could find, and she warned that it could violate the directives from the Supreme Court. "It's quite clear that the relationships intended to be protected were broader than just one degree of separation," Fisher said. Lee Gelernt, an ACLU attorney involved in legal challenges against Trump's travel ban, said more lawsuits could follow if the State Department does not expand its definition of a "bona fide" relationship. "We are still hoping the government will make it unnecessary to proceed with litigation by rethinking how they are implementing the Supreme Court's decision," Gelernt said. The limited ban will remain in effect while the Supreme Court considers whether the ban is unconstitutional by targeting Muslims. The court could hear arguments after it reconvenes in October or dismiss the case if Trump lets the ban expire after 90 days because new screening procedures are in place.

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https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/07/06/spain-running-bulls/455039001/

Spain's running of the bulls: the good, the bad and the ugly

Spain's running of the bulls: the good, the bad and the ugly Thousands of people risk their lives each year at the running of the bulls in Spain, which kicked off Thursday in Pamplona. The nine-day San Fermin festival runs from July 6 to 14. Here's what you need to know about the controversial fiesta: What happens? More than a million tourists visit Pamplona to see the bull runs, or “encierros” in Spanish. They are a big part of summer festivals in Spain. Bull runs happen during eight mornings where people race with bulls along a 930-yard street course to the bullring. In afternoon bullfights, the bulls face matadors and almost certain death. Herding the bulls through the streets of Pamplona dates back to the 13th century to corral the bulls into a bullfighting ring. The animals would run through a similar half-mile stretch as they do today, as youngsters and adults chased after them with sticks. How far is the run? The run begins on Pamplona's Santo Domingo street and finishes in the Plaza de Toros, where the bullpen is located. The run is a little over a half-mile. For speedy runners, the course should only take a few minutes to complete. If participants make it to the bullpen, they can continue to run around the arena with the bulls. What do people wear? Participants traditionally wear all white with a red scarf — a Pañuelico — to honor San Fermin. Religious customs show priests would dress in red to honor saints. Red is also the color associated with charging bulls in bullfights. Can anyone participate? Men and women age 18 and older can run with the bulls. Runners must be sober and cannot take photos while inside the barriers. A rule change in 1974 allowed women to participate in what had been a male-only event. There are also festivities for children. At 10 p.m. each day, children have their own encierro where they can run with a fake bull stuffed with fireworks. How dangerous is the event? Dozens of people are injured each year, most often trampled by the bulls. Last year, 12 people, including four Americans, were gored during the bull runs. Since record-keeping began in 1924, 15 people have died after being gored at the festival. Why are there protests against the festival? Animal rights organizations, including People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and Spanish group AnimaNaturalis, claim that workers use electric prods and sharp sticks to agitate the bulls before releasing them into the streets. Activists covered in fake blood protested Wednesday, on the eve of the festival. Some wore horns on their head and had messages painted on their chests that said “Stop Bull Fights.” Catalonia, an autonomous region in northeastern Spain, banned bullfighting in 2010 following a campaign by animal rights groups. A poll at the time showed 60% of Spaniards said they didn't like bullfighting, while 57% also said they opposed the ban because it was a rejection of Spanish tradition. Last year, Spain's constitutional court overturned the ban on bullfighting, declaring it unconstitutional. Is there security in the city? Security has been increased to thwart a potential terrorist attack with more than 3,500 officers deployed this year. What's the significance of San Fermin? The festival originally occurred in September each year, but was changed in 1592 to start in July. It combines religious and celebratory components to honor San Fermin, or St. Fermin, who was the first bishop of Pamplona. Before the bulls are released, festival-goers chant, in Spanish, "We ask San Fermin, being our patron saint, to guide us in the bull run and give us his blessing." The chant is followed by yells of "Viva San Fermin! Gora San Fermin," or "long live San Fermin." Why is the festival so famous? Ernest Hemingway's 1926 novel The Sun Also Rises depicted a group of Americans and Britons who travel to Spain for the annual running of the bulls. This story drew international attention and immortalized the festival in the eyes of tourists. What are the festival traditions besides the encierro? Before the eight days of the running of the bulls, the festival begins with shooting a firework rocket called the "Chupinazo." Festival-goers douse themselves with wine and sing in honor of St. Fermin. Though wine and sangria are part of the celebration, participants are not allowed to run while drunk. Each morning also begins with a Parade of Giants, who represent four pairs of kings and queens from four different places. Contributing: Christine Rushton and Jennifer Calfas

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https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/07/17/china-donkey-shortage/456034001/

China has a donkey shortage — and why that matters

China has a donkey shortage — and why that matters BEIJING — Chinese farmer Ma Yufa grows vegetables on steep terraces in the mountains north of here — the type of terrain better suited for a donkey instead of a tractor. But Ma, 80, who lives much the way his ancestors did, said his last donkey died in 2014, and he couldn't replace her. “There aren’t any donkeys left,” Ma said sadly. “We’ve killed them all.” China is in the grip of a massive donkey shortage caused by soaring demand for e’jiao — a traditional medicine made by boiling donkey skin. Demand for e’jiao has doubled since 2010, hitting nearly 15 million pounds a year in 2015, according to the national e’jiao association. The substance was once affordable only by royalty, because one donkey yields 2.2 pounds of e'jiao. Only 30 years ago, China had 11 million donkeys — the largest herd in the world — but the number has dwindled to between 3 million and 5 million, despite intensive breeding programs. “The e’jiao trade is unsustainable in its current form,” said Alex Mayers, with the British-based Donkey Sanctuary animal charity. In late June, Botswana became the latest country to ban the export of donkey skins in response to reports of hundreds of animals being killed every week. E’jiao makers, mostly based in the eastern Chinese province of Shandong, deny their product is causing the donkey shortage. They claim they are creating a new role for the animal in the modern world. They also say farmers in China and around the world can get rich by breeding donkeys for them. “E’jiao is one of traditional Chinese medicine's three great treasures, along with deer horn and ginseng,” said Liu Guangyuan, vice chairman of China’s largest e’jiao producers, Dong’e E’jiao. E’jiao's history is traced to at least the second century B.C. By the 19th century, a royal concubine named Ci Xi used the medicine to prevent her from miscarrying, and her son became emperor of China. Today the smelly, brown gelatin is marketed as a cure for dementia, infertility and respiratory problems, among other ailments. And the high price doesn’t stop people from buying it. One block made in 2007 was valued at $47 a gram, more expensive than gold. China has a long tradition of using rare and expensive animal parts in food and medicine: wine from tiger bones, soup from shark’s fin and medicine from pangolinscales. China is also home to the world's largest ivory market, though the government has promised to close all carving factories and shops by the end of the year. “Why do the Chinese believe all the world's resources are theirs to ravage and destroy?” asked Marjorie Farabee, of the Texas-based Wild Horse Freedom Federation. Her organization said American wild burros are illegally shipped to Mexico for slaughter and then sold to China. Some countries see opportunity in China’s growing demand. Government officials from the Pakistani province where Osama bin Laden was killed recently visited Beijing to export donkeys along the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor — part of China's plan for a revived Silk Road. Although Pakistan is one of nine countries that banned the export of donkey skins for religious reasons, the province is offering to export about 80,000 live donkeys a year, said Asul Khan, deputy director of livestock and dairy development for the province. “With investment in breeding centers, we could export more,” he added. Pakistan implemented the ban on donkey skins because the mostly Muslim population feared the remaining meat could be passed off as beef and sold in markets. Donkey meat is forbidden in most Muslim cultures. There is another reason for the donkey shortage besides the high demand: They aren't very fertile. Donkeys are pregnant for up to 14 months, females tend to give birth to one foal at a time, and most are needed for work, so owners don’t let them breed. That's why there are only 44 million donkeys worldwide. China may be consuming donkeys faster than they can be replaced. When Tanzania banned donkey slaughters in May, the minister of agriculture, livestock and fisheries, Charles Tizeba, told parliament the animal was facing “extinction” without action. Ethiopia introduced a ban this year and is currently battling to shut down two Chinese-owned slaughterhouses after local protests. In Niger, one of five other African nations with bans in place, the price of a donkey rose four-fold to $145, as Chinese buyers moved in. In China, donkeys are being stolen from farmers like Ma. Many of China’s 300 million farmers still rely on animal labor to plow fields, carry crops to market or grind maize, especially in poor or mountainous areas. As a result, donkeys are often considered like a member of the family. “The value of keeping a donkey far outweighs the temporary benefit of selling one for its skin,” said Mayers of Donkey Sanctuary.

77bcb3ba44c62e8bfc5c50027a8f9cd2

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/07/17/south-korea-proposes-peace-talks-north/483705001/

South Korea proposes peace talks with North

South Korea proposes peace talks with North South Korea on Monday proposed holding bilateral military talks with the North this week aimed at reducing tensions across the border and Red Cross talks on Aug. 1 to discuss resuming reunions of families separated since the Korean War more than 60 years ago. South Korea wants military talks to begin Friday at a North Korean building in the truce village of Panmunjom, the Ministry of National Defense said in a statement picked up by South Korea's Yonhap news agency. Vice Minister Suh Choo-suk said the talks would attempt to end "all acts of hostility" near the Military Demarcation Line that divides the two Koreas. The talks would be the first dialogue between the military authorities in almost three years. South Korea President Moon Jae-in stressed engagement with the North in his election campaign this year. Moon, speaking in Berlin earlier this month, reiterated his position and called for a peace treaty with Pyongyang. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un voiced support for talks last year, saying dialogue could ease tensions in the region. A series of missile tests since that time, however, had added stress to Pyongyang's relations with Seoul as well as other neighbors in the region and the West. The standoff between North Korea and Seoul and its allies drew even more tense July 4 when Pyongyang tested its first intercontinental ballistic missile. The Hwasong-14's estimated maximum range of about 4,163 miles means it could hit targets in Alaska. Read more: U.S. missile defense plans to zap North Korean threats Try diplomacy first on North Korea, even though it probably won’t work North Korea missile may not have re-entered atmosphere, report says Pyongyang's tests have spurred urgency in development of a missile-defense system being deployed in South Korea. Last week, the U.S. military successfully intercepted a simulated intermediate-range ballistic missile using the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system. The defense system, along with joint military exercises conducted between Seoul and the U.S., have drawn sharp condemnation from Kim. Moon says bilateral talks could ease tensions. Seoul made a separate proposal on talks that would resume family reunions on the occasion of the Chuseok harvest festival holiday in early October, Yonhap reported. A similar event was held in October 2015, allowing family members to reunite after being separated since the Demarcation Line was drawn in 1953. North Korea provided no immediate response to the overtures, which came the same day South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung Wha met with the Tomas Ojea Quintana, the U.N. special rapporteur on human rights in North Korea, to discuss dealing with the dire human rights abuses in the reclusive state. Kang said human rights in North Korea are a "matter of great concern" to the South Korean government under Moon. Also Monday, the European Union condemned North Korea's missile tests and said it was considering imposing tougher sanctions. EU foreign ministers issued a statement urging Pyongyang to "comply without delay, fully and unconditionally, with its obligations under all relevant U.N. Security Council resolutions and to refrain from any further provocative action that could increase regional and global tensions." British Foreign Minister Boris Johnson said the EU should make no concessions to Pyongyang until Kim moves toward denuclearization. “We remain absolutely determined to try to get the North Koreans to see sense, and (we) continue to put pressure on the regime in Pyongyang," Johnson said. He added that the best way to do that is "to put pressure on the Chinese."

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https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/07/18/mandela-day-15-nelson-mandelas-most-inspiring-quotes/435632001/

Mandela Day: 15 of Nelson Mandela's most inspiring quotes

Mandela Day: 15 of Nelson Mandela's most inspiring quotes Mandela Day is marked around the world on July 18 to celebrate the birthday of Nelson Mandela, the late president of South Africa and Nobel Peace Prize winner. In his 95 years, Mandela inspired countless individuals. Here is a collection of quotes that personify his spirit: 1) "Difficulties break some men but make others. No axe is sharp enough to cut the soul of a sinner who keeps on trying, one armed with the hope that he will rise even in the end." 2) "It always seems impossible until it's done." 3) "If I had my time over I would do the same again. So would any man who dares call himself a man." 4) "I like friends who have independent minds because they tend to make you see problems from all angles." 5) "Real leaders must be ready to sacrifice all for the freedom of their people." 6) "A fundamental concern for others in our individual and community lives would go a long way in making the world the better place we so passionately dreamt of." Remembering Mandela: 'Everyone was in awe of him' 7) "Everyone can rise above their circumstances and achieve success if they are dedicated to and passionate about what they do." 8) "Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world." 9) "I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear." 10) "For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others." 11) "Resentment is like drinking poison and then hoping it will kill your enemies." 12) "Lead from the back — and let others believe they are in front." 13) "Do not judge me by my successes, judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up again." 14) "I hate race discrimination most intensely and in all its manifestations. I have fought it all during my life; I fight it now, and will do so until the end of my days." 15) "A good head and a good heart are always a formidable combination." A version of this article was originally published after Nelson Mandela's death.

59d4ae8cf31898024074b4843fdaf748

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/07/21/earthquake-greece-turkey/498294001/

At least 2 dead, over 100 injured after powerful quake hits Greek islands, Turkey's coast

At least 2 dead, over 100 injured after powerful quake hits Greek islands, Turkey's coast ATHENS, Greece - A powerful earthquake shook the Greek resort island of Kos overnight, damaging older buildings and the main port, killing at least two people and causing more than 120 injuries. The 6.5-magnitude quake about 1:30 a.m. Friday rattled other islands and Turkey’s Aegean coast as well, but Kos was nearest to the epicenter and appeared to be the worst-hit, with all of the deaths and injuries reported there. Fallen bricks and other debris coated many streets, and the island’s seafront road and parts of the main town were flooded by a small tsunami. Giorgos Hadjimarkos, regional governor, said four or five of the injuries were “worrying” and damaged buildings were being inspected, but the “main priority at the moment is saving lives.” The Kos hospital said at least 20 of the injured had broken bones. A wall collapsed on a building dating to the 1930s and it crushed people who were at the bar in the building’s lower level, according to Kos Mayor Giorgos Kyritsis. “There are not many old buildings left on Kos. Nearly all the structures on the island have been built under the new codes to withstand earthquakes,” the mayor said. Kos’s “old town” area, full of bars and other nighttime entertainment, was littered with broken stone in the streets. Hotels had shattered glass and other damage, leaving hundreds of tourists to spend the rest of the night outdoors, trying to sleep on beach loungers with blankets provided by staff. “The instant reaction was to get ourselves out of the room,” said Christopher Hackland of Edinburgh, Scotland, who is a scuba instructor on Kos. “There was banging. There was shaking. The light was swinging, banging on the ceiling, crockery falling out of the cupboards, and pans … “There was a lot of screaming and crying and hysterics coming from the hotel,” he said, referring to the hotel next to his apartment building. “It felt like being at a theme park with one of the illusions, an optical illusion where you feel like you’re upside down.” Authorities had warned of a localized tsunami, and witnesses described a “swelling” of the sea after the earthquake. A seafront road and parts of the island’s main town were flooded, and the rising seawater even pushed a boat onto the main road and caused several cars to slam into each other. Ferry service was canceled until daylight because Kos’s main port was damaged, and at least one ferry en route to the port was unable to dock. Other buildings damaged included an old mosque where a minaret collapsed and a 14th-century fortress at the entrance to the main port. Minor damage — cracks in buildings, smashed windows and trashed shops — appeared widespread. Rescuers were checking for trapped people inside houses after the quake struck in the middle of the night and were heading to outlying villages to check for damage. Greek officials said the quake was 6.5-magnitude and the numerous aftershocks were weaker but still could put at risk the buildings that were already damaged. The epicenter was 6 miles (10 kilometers) south of Bodrum, Turkey, and 10 miles (16 kilometers) east-northeast of Kos with a depth of 6 miles (10 kilometers). In Turkey, the ensuing panic caused minor injuries, according to Esengul Civelek, governor of Mugla province. In Bitez, a resort town about 6 kilometers (4 miles) west of Bodrum, the quake sent frightened residents running into the streets. Hotel guests briefly returned to their rooms to pick up their belongings but chose to spend the rest of the night outside, with some using sheets and cushions borrowed from nearby lounge chairs to build makeshift beds. Greece and Turkey lie in an especially earthquake-prone zone. Contributing: Associated Press reporters Ayse Wieting in Bitez, Turkey; Elena Becatoros in Saranda, Albania; and Ron DePasquale in New York

a3660a61d367e097da490f7c4e4c659c

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/07/25/house-russia-sanctions-bill-trump-authority/509231001/

House passes Russia sanctions bill

House passes Russia sanctions bill The House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a bill Tuesday that toughens sanctions on Russia for its alleged meddling in the 2016 presidential election — and makes it harder for President Trump to ease punitive measures against Moscow. The vote, 419-3, followed a bipartisan agreement reached over the weekend between House and Senate negotiators and comes amid growing scrutiny by Congress and a special prosecutor of possible links between Russian officials and the Trump campaign. The measure now heads to the Senate for a vote. The bill could be sent to Trump to sign it into law before Congress begins its August recess. Read more: Congress strikes deal on Russia sanctions, despite Trump objection Treasury fines Exxon $2M for 'reckless disregard' of Russia sanctions under Rex Tillerson The bill punishes Russia for meddling in the U.S. presidential elections and for its military aggression in Ukraine and Syria. Russia has not done enough to implement a cease-fire in eastern Ukraine, where Russian-backed separatists are fighting government troops, according to the State Department. The bill also targets Iran and North Korea for their illicit ballistic missile programs and support for terrorism. Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., urged the Senate to quickly pass the measure and send it to the president. "Passing the bill on a bipartisan basis will send a strong signal to the White House that the Kremlin needs to be held accountable for meddling in last year's election,” Schumer said. Rep. Ed Royce, R-Calif., chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said the bill "empowers Congress to review and to disapprove of any sanctions relief," that Trump might offer to Russia. "This strong oversight is necessary and it is appropriate," he said. The bill codifies sanctions imposed by President Barack Obama over Russia's alleged interference in the presidential election to aid Trump. That is the firm conclusion of the U.S. intelligence community, but Trump said that the allegation is not backed up by evidence and is being promoted by critics to discredit his election. The sanctions, which primarily target Russian oil and gas projects with companies based in the U.S., Germany and other countries, will be harder for Trump to lift because he'll need congressional approval. The Trump administration “has shown over and over that they’re willing to cozy up to Putin,” said Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. “But here’s the truth: Russia is not our ally. Putin wants to harm the United States, splinter our alliances, and undermine western democracy. This Congress will not allow him to succeed.” Russian and European officials have warned that if signed by Trump, the measure could worsen relations between the U.S., its allies and Russia. The proposed sanctions have drawn condemnation from U.S. allies in the European Union, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and from Russian President Vladimir Putin, who said the sanctions would be “harmful” to U.S.-Russian ties. Russian Sen. Aleksey Pushkov predicted Tuesday that sanctions would create problems with Europe and Russia, but not ease tensions with Trump's domestic rivals. “If Trump signs the sanctions bill, he will not calm down his enemies — they desire his impeachment,” Pushkov said. “But he will inflict double damage — to relations with Russia and the European Union at the same time,” he said, according to the Russian news site RT. E.U. commissioners oppose the new sanctions and are ready to retaliate, if necessary, Radio Free Europe reported Tuesday, citing multiple unnamed sources. European leaders seek to protect their businesses and Brussels' ability to set its own energy policies with Russia without interference from the U.S., which has an interest in gaining market share for its own energy suppliers, the news agency reported. Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, said the bill may ruffle Europeans initially but it will help them in the long run because it will hurt Russia's ability to exploit gas — its number one export which it uses to apply political pressure on its clients. "I know Germany isn’t happy about it, but this is something we have to do," Ryan said. "We have to maintain a focus on how we get our gas from here in the United States to our allies in Europe so they’re not so dependent on the Russians, which is part and parcel of what this is all about." Some senators urged their House colleagues to pass the bill because they say the integrity of the 2018 midterm elections is at stake. “We must ensure that Russia does not successfully interfere again,” said Sen. Jeff Coons, D-Del., in a statement. “It is crucial that the House, the Senate, and the White House enact this bill quickly and protect our democracy moving forward.” Trump had objected to the bill's limits on his ability to lift or ease the sanctions. The Senate passed an earlier version of the bill 98-2. “This demonstrates that despite the president’s intentions, American policy toward an aggressive Kremlin is becoming stronger,” said John Herbst, a former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine and Uzbekistan, two former Soviet republics.

b799be9f758e89378a9a4dda9967bc89

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/07/28/archaeologists-find-more-evidence-babylonian-destruction-jerusalem/521054001/

Archaeologists find more evidence of Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem

Archaeologists find more evidence of Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem JERUSALEM (RNS) — Israeli archaeologists recently discovered 2,600-year-old artifacts they say offer further concrete evidence of the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem around 586 B.C. The Israel Antiquities Authority announced the discovery just days before Tisha B’Av, a Jewish fast day commemorating the anniversary of the destruction of both the First Temple by the Babylonians and the Second Temple by the Romans in the year 70. The fast begins at sundown Monday. The announcement comes at a time of great turmoil in and around the Temple Mount (the Haram al-Sharif in Arabic), the holiest site in Judaism and the third holiest in Islam after Mecca and Medina. During the four-month excavation, carried out in the Jerusalem Walls National Park near Jerusalem’s Old City, archaeologists found charred wood, pottery, fish scales and bones, grape seeds and “rare artifacts” covered by burned charcoal and layers of building debris. Among the most important finds were dozens of storage jars, several of them with handles stamped with the image of a petalled rose, or rosette. “These seals are characteristic of the end of the First Temple Period and were used for the administrative system that developed towards the end of the Judean dynasty,” according to dig directors Joe Uziel and Ortal Chalaf. At the time, Jerusalem was the capital of the Kingdom of Judea. Classifying objects using seals “facilitated controlling, overseeing, collecting, marketing and storing crop yields,” they said. The excavation also revealed an artistically rendered small ivory statue of a woman whose hair was cut in an “Egyptian style,” and indicates the wealth of some residents of the ancient city, the authority said. The excavation also showed that ancient Jerusalem was larger than first thought: It extended beyond the line of the already-excavated city wall before it was destroyed. “Throughout the Iron Age, Jerusalem underwent constant growth, expressed both in the construction of numerous city walls and the fact that the city later spread beyond them,” Uziel and Chalaf said.

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https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/07/30/venezuela-president-nicolas-madurovoting-underway-venezuela-after-months-bloodshed/523646001/

Venezuela says 8 million voted in election that opposition decries as a sham

Venezuela says 8 million voted in election that opposition decries as a sham CARACAS, Venezuela — Venezuelan election officials said 8 million people voted Sunday to create a constitutional assembly endowing President Nicolás Maduro with virtually unlimited powers, a vote total decried by domestic and foreign critics as a sham. Venezuela’s National Electoral Council's estimated turnout Sunday was more than double that of political opponents and independent experts. Opposition leaders also said 12 people were killed in violence in the face of a massive presence of troops around the country on Sunday. The government confirmed nine deaths. Maduro, who faces a worsening economic crisis despite Venezuela's enormous oil reserves, seeks to establish a friendly assembly that would bypass the opposition-controlled Congress to rewrite the country’s 1999 constitution. Opponents accuse him of trying to create a single-party, authoritarian system like that in Cuba. Electoral Council President Tibisay Lucena announced just before midnight Sunday that turnout was 41.53%, or 8,089,320 people. The count was met with mockery and anger from members of the opposition, who said they believed between 2 million and 3 million people voted. Julio Borges, president of the opposition-led National Assembly, said only 7% of the electorate had voted — a silent protest of Maduro's power grab, which would slam the brakes on democracy. The opposition had urged voters to boycott the vote, but millions of Venezuelans who hold government jobs were ordered to cast ballots or risk being fired. Others feared loss of social benefits like subsidized food. “I’m here because I’m hoping for housing,” admitted hairdresser Luisa Marquez, 46, as she waited in line to vote. Opinion polls had indicated that more than two-thirds of the nation opposed the president's move. The opposition said 7 million had voted against constitutional changes in a referendum it had organized a week ago. A midday check of 10 polling places here in the capital Sunday showed most of them empty or nearly empty. “Venezuela has screamed with its silence,” said Borges, who put the day's death toll at 12. The public prosecutor's office confirmed nine deaths. Maduro's vision of a new constitution to consolidate his power has drawn ire in Washington. Last week, the Trump administration imposed sanctions on 13 senior Venezuelan officials, and the White House and some U.S. lawmakers said stiffer sanctions could follow. Mexico said it would support U.S. sanctions, and the Organization of American States and the European Parliament have also expressed support for the opposition. Late Sunday, the U.S. State Department officially condemned the Venezuelan government for holding the vote, saying Maduro's bid to consolidate power would “undermine the Venezuelan people’s right to self-determination.” U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley has called the vote a “sham election.” In Venezuela, opposition leaders refused to put up candidates, arguing that the election has been structured to ensure that Maduro’s ruling socialist party dominates. Thus virtually all the more than 5,000 candidates for 545 assembly seats are Maduro supporters. The opposition vowed to protest despite a ban on public gatherings issued by Maduro. In some parts of the capital, people took to the streets in protest against the vote, but they were soon repelled by security forces throwing tear gas. During a protest, opposition supporters set an explosive that injured seven police officers, the public prosecutor's office said. After the blast, police set fire to four motorcycles belonging to journalists. Read more: After months of fatal protests, Venezuela braces for controversial vote Sunday Why this vote in Venezuela is so important Maduro has struggled with a rapidly deteriorating economy and strengthening political opposition. Some voters said they believed the new assembly might improve life in Venezuela. “I’m voting today because I want peace to be restored,” said seamstress Carmen Martinez, 44. But she said she was less certain the assembly will solve the nation's economic ills. "I’m going to have hope, but I doubt this could solve that problem," she said. Months of violence leading up to the vote showed little signs of ending, with media reporting that a leading assembly candidate and an opposition activist were killed before voting even began. José Felix Pineda, a lawyer running in the election, was shot in his home Saturday night, a senior Venezuelan minister told the BBC. Maduro has denied links to violent paramilitaries that have run roughshod across the country, blaming the opposition for unrelenting violence that has left more than 100 people dead. Maduro himself voted with little fanfare early in the morning. “We’ve stoically withstood the terrorist, criminal violence,” he said. “Hopefully the world will respectfully extend its arms toward our country.” Opposition leader Henrique Capriles called on Venezuelans to protest on Monday. Contributing: The Associated Press. Contributing: John Bacon in McLean, Va.

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https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/07/31/united-states-mulls-arming-ukraine-russian-menace-grows/517997001/

United States mulls arming Ukraine as Russian menace grows near NATO border

United States mulls arming Ukraine as Russian menace grows near NATO border The U.S. military for the first time is putting together a plan to provide lethal defensive weapons to Ukraine to counter a growing Russian military menace to Ukraine and Europe. The planning underway by the Joint Chiefs of Staff requires White House approval, which puts President Trump in a bind because it threatens to upend his hopes of improving relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin. An official at the White House’s National Security Council told USA TODAY the U.S. government has not ruled out providing defensive weapons to Ukraine. The official requested anonymity because of the sensitive subject. The issue is being debated in the White House as violence spikes in eastern Ukraine, where Russian-backed insurgents have stepped up attacks on Ukrainian government forces, and as Russia prepares for a large military exercise that analysts expect will put more tanks on the borders of Ukraine and NATO countries. On Monday, Vice President Pence warned of the "specter of aggression" by Russia as he began a visit to the Baltic nation of Estonia, which worries about Russian threats. Estonia and two other former Soviet republics, Latvia and Lithuania, now belong to NATO. The proposal to arm Ukraine comes as Trumps prepares to sign new legislation that strengthens sanctions on Russia over its involvement in neighboring Ukraine, a move that prompted Putin Sunday to expel 755 American diplomats. The logic behind arming Ukraine, which the Kremlin opposes, was endorsed this week by Trump’s special representative to Ukraine, former NATO envoy Kurt Volker. “Defensive weapons, ones that would allow Ukraine to defend itself, and to take out tanks for example, would actually help" stop Russia threatening Ukraine, Volker said in a BBC interview published Tuesday. "I'm not again predicting where we go on this. That's a matter for further discussion and decision. But I think that argument that it would be provocative to Russia or emboldening of Ukraine is just getting it backwards," he said. Nineteen Ukrainian troops have been killed and 65 injured in July in shelling, sniper fire and firefights, according to the Ukraine Crisis Media Center in Kiev. After nine Ukrainian soldiers were killed in a series of attacks on July 19, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert blamed "so-called separatists" who she said are “Russian-led and Russian-backed." Nauert said Russia’s military is in Ukraine leading and advising anti-government forces, a claim Putin has repeatedly denied. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has not decided whether to recommend lethal aid to Ukraine, Nauert said Thursday. Air Force Gen. Paul Selva testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee on July 18 that the Joint Chiefs of Staff and European Command are preparing a proposal to arm Ukraine. "It will be more than just a military recommendation," Selva said. "This will be a policy choice on whether or not we're going to give the Ukrainian government the tools they need to defend themselves against what we believe to be a Russian-supported insurgency movement in the Donbass" region of eastern Ukraine. Such planning marks a change in U.S. thinking about the conflict since it began in 2014, when President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel said more weapons would provoke a Russian escalation and military buildup. “But the Russians are doing all this anyway,” and now threaten other NATO countries in eastern Europe, said Phillip Karber, a former Defense Department official under President Ronald Reagan who now heads the Potomac Foundation in Vienna, Va. “There’s a realization that there has to be a response, at least by the military.” Karber has recommended in briefings on Capitol Hill and with defense and White House officials that the U.S. provide Ukraine with anti-tank weapons that would blunt an armored advance by Russia. Russia has reconstituted, moved or upgraded three large military units, which are now positioned near Russia’s western border, opposite Ukraine and U.S. allies in Eastern Europe, Karber said. Russia brought back the First Guards Tank Army, which was disbanded after the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, ending the Cold War. That unit is now manned with veteran professional soldiers rather than conscripts or reservists, and will be sent to Belarus, north of Ukraine, to take part in the military exercises that Russia holds every few years. The Russian military recently moved the 20th Army, a combined infantry and mechanized unit, from near Moscow to near the Ukrainian border opposite the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, roughly midway between Ukraine’s north and south, Karber said. And Russian’s 8th Army has been deployed near the Russian city of Rostov, near southeastern Ukraine. Two headquarters subordinate to the 8th Army are stationed in insurgent-held Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine, Karber said. Russia’s exercises, which date back to the Soviet era during the 1970s and 1980s, were revived in 1999 by Putin when he became prime minister, Karber said. The last exercise took place in 2013, and involved a simulated attack on a NATO country and the simulated use of nuclear weapons. Russia ordered 200 railway cars to transport tanks for the drill. This year, Russia ordered 4,000 rail cars to move the 1st Guards Army’s tanks to September’s exercise, Karber said. “That will be the largest buildup since the Cold War and right up against the Baltics,” he said, referring to former Soviet republics Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, now NATO members. “It’s a big deal.” John Herbst, a former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine who is at the Atlantic Council think tank in Washington, D.C., joined Karber and former NATO commander Gen. Philip Breedlove at a recent event in Washington to urge arming Ukraine with defensive weapons. If Trump’s special envoy Volker “wants a real shot at getting a change in this war, he has to raise the cost to the Kremlin,” Herbst said. He needs to “persuade the Kremlin that aggression is not a winning option,” he said.

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https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/08/02/kim-jong-un-cruel-dangerous-but-not-crazy-say-north-korean-experts/529335001/

Kim Jong Un is cruel and dangerous but not crazy, North Korean experts say

Kim Jong Un is cruel and dangerous but not crazy, North Korean experts say SEOUL — Kim Jong Un's pursuit of nuclear weapons, incendiary rhetoric and odd appearance often cast the North Korean leader as an erratic, even deranged dictator. Yet analysts and South Korean government officials who track North Korea closely describe Kim as a clever and rational, if brutal, figure who has solidified control over his country since assuming power in 2011. Developing nuclear weapons that threaten the United States is his insurance policy against being overthrown by a U.S.-led coalition, said Joo Seong-ha, a defector who was imprisoned in North Korea before escaping to South Korea. A nuclear weapons program is “the most powerful bargaining chip that North Korea has,” said Joo. Kim, the third generation of his family to rule the isolated country, is mindful that Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein was ousted by a U.S.-led coalition in 2003, said Jenny Town, assistant director of the U.S.-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. Saddam did not have nuclear weapons or any other weapons of mass destruction, as President George W. Bush claimed as justification for invading Iraq. “The idea that Kim Jong Un’s decisions, particularly about his nuclear weapons program, are irrational is a myth,” Town said. “The caricature, cartoonish image of him is easy for people to believe.” Either way, he is the most dangerous security threat President Trump faces. North Korea has launched more than a dozen test missiles since February and may be within a year or two of being able to place a nuclear warhead on a missile capable of reaching cities in the United States. "We are at a point in time where choices will have to be made one way or the other," Gen. Mark Milley, the Army chief of staff, said recently. "None of them are good.” Little was known about Kim when he came to power in his 20s. (His birth year is believed to be in 1983 or 1984.) He was schooled for a time in Switzerland and was an avid basketball enthusiast who would play pickup games with his security detail, according to North Korea Leadership Watch, an organization that tracks the secretive government. He was drinking whiskey and smoking cigarettes by age 15, according to the organization’s website. He only emerged as a public figure a year before the death of his father, Kim Jong Il, and had to move quickly to establish control over the country his father had ruled for 17 years. He proved ruthless in knocking off rivals and consolidating power. “There were a lot of expectations and a lot of doubts about who he was,” Town said. “His early moves were geared toward trying to establish his own power base.” Kim ordered his uncle, Jang Song Thaek, executed about a year after coming into power, according to the South Korean intelligence service. More recently, he is suspected by South Korea's government of ordering the killing of his exiled half brother, Kim Jong Nam, a potential rival who was poisoned with a toxic nerve agent in Malaysia in February. Kim also executed five senior government officials with anti-aircraft guns, according to the government here. In another sign of the his cruelty, the regime imprisoned Otto Warmbier, a visiting U.S. college student, allegedly for stealing a propaganda poster in a hotel in the North Korean capital Pyongyang. He served 18 months behind bars before being returned to the United States in a comatose state. He died a week later. Three Americans are still held by North Korea, which also operates brutal forced labor camps where citizens are imprisoned. While solidifying his power, Kim has liberalized the economy and broadened his support in a country plagued by a deadly famine in the 1990s. Despite international sanctions aimed at squeezing the regime into ending its nuclear weapons program, new buildings are going up in Pyongyang, more cars are on the streets, and luxury goods are available in some stores. Apartments are selling for more than $100,000, a dramatic price increase for an impoverished country, said Moon Chung-in, an adviser to South Korean President Moon Jae-in. The economy grew 3.9% last year over the previous year, the largest increase since 1999, according to South Korea's central bank. About 90% of North Korea's trade is with China, but North Korea has also engaged in illicit weapons sales in Africa and elsewhere in defiance of sanctions, according to the United Nations. Shops in Pyongyang now carry flat screen televisions and luxury brands. Still, it’s nothing like the prosperity 120 miles to the south in Seoul, the bustling, economically vibrant capital of South Korea. The average annual income in North Korea is $1,300, compared to $28,000 in South Korea and $56,000 in the United States. Still, the income figure represents a major improvement for North Korea, where citizens have long lived with economic deprivation under a state-controlled system. Kim hasn’t removed regulations that prohibit free markets, but his government has looked the other way in many cases, allowing small businesses to operate independently and a small property market to emerge. Kim's father experimented with liberalizing the economy, but usually backtracked, said Kent Boydston, an analyst at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. His son seems more committed to at least modest reforms. The changes have helped make him more popular, particularly among younger North Koreans, Moon Chung-in said. “North Korea is very, very stable,” he said. “Kim Jong Un has consolidated power fully.” This story was based on reporting conducted on a trip to South Korea sponsored by the East-West Center, the Korea Press Foundation and the Pacific Century Institute. Read more: North Korea:Tillerson said U.S. seeks dialogue with North if it abandons nuclear program Missile threat:North Korea missile launch gives already nervous fliers more to worry about

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https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/08/08/kenyans-choose-next-president/547899001/

Kenyans choose next president in fiercely contested vote

Kenyans choose next president in fiercely contested vote NAIROBI, Kenya — Millions voted peacefully Tuesday in a fiercely contested election pitting President Uhuru Kenyatta against challenger Raila Odinga in this East African country known for its stability but also its divided ethnic allegiances. Preliminary results show Kenyatta ahead with 55.4%, while Odinga had 43.9% after votes from nearly one-quarter of 40,883 polling stations had been counted, according to the Kenyan election commission. By law, election officials have up to a week to announce results, but many analysts believe the outcome will be declared in one or two days. Voters formed long lines at many polling stations before dawn, waiting for the chance to cast ballots for the presidency as well as more than 1,800 elected positions, including governors, legislative representatives and county officials. A key concern was whether Kenya would echo its 2013 election, a mostly peaceful affair despite opposition allegations of vote-tampering, or the 2007 election, which led to violence fueled by ethnic divisions that killed more than 1,000 people. More:Kenya's hotly contested presidential election marred by violence — once again Former U.S. secretary of State John Kerry, who is the chief election observer for The Carter Center, described the vote as “an inspiring day in Kenya watching democracy in action.” “Enthusiastic voters not fazed by long lines,” he tweeted. Kenyatta, 55, the son of Kenya’s first president after independence from British colonial rule, campaigned on a record of major infrastructure projects, many backed by China, and claimed strong economic growth. Odinga, 72, is also the son of a leader of the independence struggle and has cast himself as a champion of the poor and a harsh critic of endemic corruption in many state institutions. However, many voters were expected to vote along ethnic lines. President Kenyatta is widely seen as the candidate of the Kikuyu people, the country’s largest ethnic group. Odinga is associated with the Luo voting bloc, which has never produced a head of state. More than 300 people, including ethnic Maasai draped in traditional red blankets, waited for hours in the dark before polling station opened in the Rift Valley town of Il Bissil. Kenyan television also showed long lines of voters in the port city of Mombasa. “This is a positive feedback for us,” polling official James Njaya said of the high turnout in Kibera, a poor area in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital. Like many Kenyan voters, Fred Nyakundi, 34, arrived at a polling station several hours before it opened and waited in line in the dark before casting his vote. “The exercise is very slow, but I am happy with the service I got,” said Nyakundi, who owns a carpentry business in Nairobi. “I am going home to open the business and wait for results.” Another voter, Fatuma Ramadhan, 41, thought the voting procedure was speedy. She was able to vote at 6 a.m., when polling stations opened, and then opened her restaurant to serve breakfast to other voters Reaction to the result could partly depend on the performance of Kenya’s electoral commission, which will collect vote counts from the polling stations. Fears of violence were increased by the murder of an electoral official in charge of technology days ahead of the election. The election commission has said that about 25% of polling stations won’t have network coverage, meaning officials will have to move to find a better signal and transmit results by satellite telephones. The winner of the presidential race must get more than 50% of the votes as well as one-quarter or more votes in at least 24 of Kenya’s 47 counties, according to election officials. If the front-runner falls short of those benchmarks, the two top contenders will contest a run-off vote. President Kenyatta and challenger Odinga also faced off in the 2013 election. Kenyatta won by a thin margin, with just over 50% of the vote; Odinga alleged voting irregularities and took his case to Kenya’s highest court, which ruled in Kenyatta’s favor by validating the results. Kenya has nearly 20 million registered voters out of a population of more than 40 million.

a6606292f2dc71dfcbd2338cafacda6b

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/08/08/report-north-korea-has-nuke-fits-inside-missile/549188001/

North Korea threatens missile strike on Guam; Trump vows 'fire and fury'

North Korea threatens missile strike on Guam; Trump vows 'fire and fury' North Korea threatened a ballistic missile strike on the U.S. territory of Guam, the latest war mongering exchange between the rogue nation and President Trump, who vowed "fire and fury like the world has never seen." Trump on Tuesday lashed out at North Korea in response to reports of a new milestone in its nuclear quest. North Korea's military said it is considering a missile launch aimed near the U.S. strategic military installations in Guam, according to South Korea's Yonhap News Agency. Trump's harsh comments to reporters came hours after The Washington Post, citing a confidential Defense Intelligence Agency report, said North Korea has produced a miniaturized nuclear warhead that can fit inside its missiles. "North Korea best not make any more threats to the United States," Trump said from the clubhouse at his golf course in Bedminster, N.J. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un "has been very threatening beyond a normal state, and as I said they will be met with fire and fury and frankly power, the likes of which this world has never seen before," he said. Yonhap reported that the North's strategic force in charge of the country's ballistic missiles issued a statement that it is seriously reviewing measures to send a strong message that it can neutralize the U.S. military bases in Guam that house nuclear bombers and other key assets, with its Hwasong-12 missiles. In January, Trump tweeted: "North Korea just stated that it is in the final stages of developing a nuclear weapon capable of reaching parts of the U.S. It won't happen!" The DIA completed the latest analysis on the miniature warhead in July, shortly after another intelligence assessment that sharply raises the official estimate for the total number of bombs in the communist country’s atomic arsenal. The warhead breakthrough is considered a crucial advancement on the path to producing a nuclear weapon capable of striking the U.S. mainland, experts said. “Today is the day that we can definitely say North Korea is a nuclear power," Harry Kazianis, director of defense studies at the Center for the National Interest, told USA TODAY. "There is no more time to stick our heads in the sand and think we have months or years to confront this challenge." Kazianis said it still is not clear whether North Korea has developed heat shield technology required to allow a missile to leave and re-enter the atmosphere. But he said the U.S. should assume the worst. "Today is truly a sad day indeed," he said. U.S. defense officials have said there are few good military options to deal with North Korea. In addition to its nuclear arsenal, the nation has rockets and artillery aimed at Seoul, the South Korean capital that is only 35 miles from the Demilitarized Zone. "It will be a war more serious in terms of human suffering than anything we’ve seen since 1953," Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said earlier this year. "It will involve the massive shelling of an ally’s capital, which is one of the most densely packed cities on earth." "We are at a point in time where choices will have to be made one way or the other," Gen. Mark Milley, the Army chief of staff, said recently. "None of them are good.” War of words::North Korea, U.S. timeline: 12 days of increasing tension Related:North Korea threatens 'thousands-fold' revenge against U.S. for sanctions More:Kim Jong Un is cruel and dangerous but not crazy, North Korean experts say Reaction:U.S. missile defense plans to zap North Korean threats More:U.S.-North Korea tensions mount over tough new sanctions at Manila meeting The DIA and Pentagon did not immediately respond to USA TODAY's requests for comment on the Post report. The State Department declined to comment citing "intelligence matters." The DIA 's latest assessment comes against a backdrop of growing international concern regarding North Korea's nuclear and missile testing. North Korea has launched more than a dozen test missiles this year. Concerns were heightened late last month when tests of an intercontinental ballistic missile indicated Pyongyang may be within a year or two of obtaining the technology to reach the U.S. with nuclear missiles. China, Pyongyang's biggest supporter, on Sunday urged North Korea to halt its testing. That came a day after China and Russia joined with the United States in a unanimous U.N. Security Council vote approving the toughest economic sanctions yet against the increasingly isolated regime. The sanctions target about a third of North Korea's estimated $3 billion in annual exports. North Korea expressed outrage at the U.N. vote, vowing to launch “thousands-fold” revenge against the United States. The U.S. has expressed a willingness to work with Kim. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said last week that the U.S. was not demanding regime change and was willing to talk with Pyongyang — if the North agrees to abandon its quest for nuclear weapons. North Korea has repeatedly refused to conduct any negotiations aimed at halting its nuclear progress. Experts on the crisis repeated a call made by the Trump administration in recent months: China, North Korea's top trading partner and protector, must step in. "Today's news makes clear that much more than these sanctions is required to protect U.S. interests," said Jay Lefkowitz, a former U.S. special envoy on human rights in North Korea. "But if we expect China to really crack down on NK, we need to be serious about what China's interests are." Kazianis said China must enforce the sanctions and strip North Korea of vital resources used for its militarization. "If they don’t, we will wake up one morning and discover North Korea has tested a hydrogen bomb or a three-stage ICBM — and that could hit ALL of the U.S. homeland.” Contributing: Jim Michaels, USA TODAY

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https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/08/08/unearthed-fishing-village-birthplace-3-jesus-apostles/546094001/

Is this unearthed fishing village the birthplace of 3 of Jesus’ apostles?

Is this unearthed fishing village the birthplace of 3 of Jesus’ apostles? Corrections and clarifications: An earlier version of this story misidentified the college associated with the excavation team. JERUSALEM (RNS) — Archaeologists excavating in northern Israel believe they may have discovered the biblical city of Bethsaida, the hometown of three of Jesus’ apostles on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. For decades archaeologists have searched for the fishing village where apostles Peter, Andrew and Philip lived, according to the New Testament. Three possible sites in the area had been identified but all were inconclusive. This summer, however, during the second year of excavating, a team from Nyack College in New York discovered remnants of a Roman-era bathhouse, potsherds and coins from the first to third centuries. These findings are consistent with the chronicles of the 1st century historian Josephus Flavius, who wrote that the Roman King Philip Herod transformed the small village of Bethsaida into a polis, or city state, called Julias. “He didn’t specify whether he built it directly on top of the village or nearby, but the presence of a Roman bathhouse says this was once an urban area,” said Mordechai Aviam, head of the Institute of Galilean Archaeology at Kinneret College, and lead archeologist for the excavation. Aviam noted that the layer from the Roman period was found roughly six feet below a layer from the Byzantine period. “We discovered a mosaic floor and other items that made it clear this was a Roman bathhouse,” he told RNS. This year and last the team also discovered dozens of golden glass mosaics, evidence of an “important” and “magnificent” church, according to a statement from the college. Aviam said this finding supports the testimony of an 8th century Christian pilgrim who said he had “the house of Tsaida,” a church built “in honor of Peter and Andreas, two of Jesus’ apostles.” The Hebrew word for “house” is “beth” or “beit,” so the word Bethsaida means the “house of Tsaida.” Aviam said he is confident his team’s next excavation will yield “more evidence” that this is the site of Bethsaida and Julias.

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https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/08/14/big-ben-to-fall-silent-for-4-years-of-repairs/104583280/

Big Ben in London is going silent for 4 years of repairs — so no more bongs

Big Ben in London is going silent for 4 years of repairs — so no more bongs LONDON — Big Ben, the giant bell on the clock at Britain's Houses of Parliament, will be silenced from next week to allow four years of repair work. The famous gongs that ring across the River Thames will stop at noon on Aug. 21 and will only resume regular service in 2021. The bell will still ring for major events such as Remembrance Sunday and New Year's Eve. The 160-year-old Queen Elizabeth Tower, where the 15.1 ton bell and the clock reside, will undergo a $38 million restoration that will see the clock dismantled and its four dials cleaned and repaired. The bell will also be cleaned and checked for cracks. Big Ben has fallen silent before since it first sounded in 1859. The last extensive conservation works took place from 1983 to 1985. The upcoming work will be its longest period of silence. "This historic clock is loved by so many people. It is both an honor and a great responsibility to keep it in good working order for public enjoyment," said Steve Jaggs, the keeper of the clock. "Every day our team of highly skilled clock mechanics cares for this Victorian masterpiece but, in order to keep the clock ticking, we must now take the time to thoroughly inspect and restore it." The BBC broadcasts Big Ben's bongs before the radio news every evening through a microphone in the belfry. The British broadcaster first tested the sound of substitute bells, before saying it will use a recording.

57868d38b5729b989d597cf361ef30fc

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/08/14/nazi-salute-drunk-american-man-beaten-up-under-investigation-germany/564017001/

Drunk American man beaten up, under investigation after giving Nazi salute in Germany

Drunk American man beaten up, under investigation after giving Nazi salute in Germany BERLIN (AP) — Police say a drunken American man was punched by a passer-by as he gave the stiff-armed Nazi salute multiple times in downtown Dresden. Dresden police said Sunday the 41-year-old, whose name and hometown weren't given for privacy reasons, suffered minor injuries in the 8:15 a.m. Saturday assault. Police say the American, who is under investigation for violating Germany's laws against the display of Nazi symbols or slogans, had an extremely high blood alcohol level. His assailant fled the scene, and is being sought for causing bodily harm. It's the second time this month that tourists have gotten themselves into legal trouble for giving the Nazi salute. On August 5 two Chinese tourists were caught taking photos of themselves making the gesture in front of Berlin's Reichstag building.

45a2b9b5e15271e4c7aea3a78ad1a11d

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/08/17/south-african-slam-poet-she-tells-like-is-and-some-dont-want-hear/541349001/

South African 'slam' poet: She tells it like it is, and some don't want to hear it

South African 'slam' poet: She tells it like it is, and some don't want to hear it CAPE TOWN, South Africa — Arms outstretched and eyes locked on her audience, Koleka Putuma is a big stage presence for a young woman barely 5 feet tall. Her voice is velvet. But her words cut like a knife. Race, religion, womanhood and sexuality: In a society still healing the wounds left by apartheid, Putuma tackles the touchiest subjects with verse that inspires some to stand and cheer; others to blush and squirm. At 26, she is widely acknowledged to be a leading light in a new generation of “slam” poets who are using the oral traditions of the country’s indigenous cultures, its dazzling array of languages — and blunt honesty — as a path to the future. An evening of poetry might include several languages. Poets and their audiences may be black or white. And performances may be punctuated by whistles, shouts and applause. Some poets and educators argue that raising the profile of indigenous languages — and diminishing the dominance of English and Afrikaans — will bridge the gap between South Africa’s haves and have-nots. “I definitely consider myself the kind of poet that says the things that nobody wants to say, in many ways that can disturb the peace,” Putuma said. “We can get real.” Take her most famous poem, Water. Starting from a widely held belief that black people are afraid of large bodies of water, Putuma takes aim at the complacency of those who think South Africa’s divisions are a thing of the past: Our respect for water is what you have termed fear The audacity to trade and murder us over water Then mock us for being scared of it The audacity to arrive by water and invade us. In Soweto, such language is met by shouts of affirmation. Among South Africa’s young people — including young whites — there is a hunger to find ways to cross the racial divide. But at a 2015 TEDx event in Stellenbosch, a conservative, predominantly Afrikaans university town in the heart of Cape wine country, “the auditorium was silent, some people were turning red in front of my eyes,” Putuma recalled in a blog post. Organizers asked if they could release a video of the event — without her performance of Water. They didn’t explain why publicly, but Putuma said it was because they thought the poem was offensive. She regarded it as censorship. And she said so — very publicly. Putuma, who was the winner of South Africa’s first national slam poetry competition in 2014, also has been named one of Africa’s top 10 poets. Her poetry has been in part an effort to find her voice — as a woman and as a black in South Africa. “Silence is a thing for us black women,” she said. “The goal for me is to write myself into something, be it into existence. Just to talk.” South Africans, in their search for self-expression, have been influenced by U.S. slam poets. “You’ll find that a lot of South African poets have the accent and they’ve got the rhythm of African American poets,” Putuma said. She is uneasy about that. South Africa has 11 official languages, its own traditions and a long history of spoken word performance being used as a tool to reach social goals. The languages reflect a diversity that South Africa’s white rulers long kept a lid on. Zulu and Xhosa are the most common among black South Africans, accounting for nearly 40% of the population. They are followed by Afrikaans and English, the first language of just less than a quarter of the population. Children who speak anything but English or Afrikaans are taught in their mother tongue for the first three years only — if they’re lucky — a policy that tends to cement the existing socio-economic hierarchy. Born into a large family that is Christian and Xhosa, Putuma performs mostly in English. Occasionally she will use Xhosa. She also is a primary member of a group that sings in Xhosa to accompany English verse. Poets who come from a traditional culture where praise-singing or oral storytelling is prevalent are more likely to draw on that rather than outside influences, said Toni Stuart, a Cape Town poet. “We have our own culture, languages and styles. South Africa really does have its own roots in slam poetry that is different from in the U.S.” said Stuart. “Poets have always used their voices and created spaces for discussions and change.” “Poets are naming specific wounds and pains left over from apartheid,” she said. “There’s a lot around identity — where we’ve come from and where we’re going.” Stuart’s work with a collective of women artists and writers called And the Word Was Women Ensemble, received critical acclaim. A non-profit she co-founded — I Am Somebody! — works to foster reconciliation and integration in Cape Town among young people who speak many different languages at home. Stuart, 34, also is developing a multilingual poetry education project for high school-aged students. Born to a family of mixed descent, she grew up speaking English and Afrikaans. She currently is learning Xhosa. It’s that mix of languages and the cultures they represent that drew U.S. performance poet Javier Perez to Cape Town. Perez began writing and performing slam poetry with friends while studying at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania. A grant allowed him to travel to Australia, Brazil, Guatemala, Jamaica and South Africa to study how poetry can pull young people away from a criminal lifestyle. He said Cape Town is where he has grown the most as an artist. And he co-founded a spoken-word program for young people here. “There is no other city you can go to and hear four different languages at one performance,” Perez said. “There’s a real effort here to preserve these different languages, as well.” English is still the dominant language in the world of work in Cape Town. “But there are still people who are committed to their mother tongue, despite the obstacles it brings. That’s very important because poetry is about preserving origins, histories and stories,” Perez said. The mission built into much of the spoken word movement is to push South Africa from its traditional hierarchy of languages to an easy multi-lingualism that its proponents see as the future. And to finally lay bare all the old wounds so they finally can be healed. To get there, Putuma and her peers are trying to start an “honest-to-God-truthful conversation” about hard issues South Africa still needs to face. Her poem Water ends this way: Another one (who looks like me) died todayAnother one (who looks like me) was murdered todayMay that be the conversation at the tableAnd we can all thereafter wash this bitter meal with amnesia And go for a swim after thatJust for fun.Just for fun. Alexa Cole is an alumnus of the School of International Training (SIT) Study Abroad program in South Africa, where she produced this report in association with Round Earth Media, a nonprofit organization that supports the next generation of global journalists.

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https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/08/21/u-s-south-korea-military-drills/585250001/

U.S., South Korea start military drills amid 'second war' threats from Pyongyang

U.S., South Korea start military drills amid 'second war' threats from Pyongyang SEOUL — The U.S. and South Korea started their annual joint military exercises Monday amid threats from Pyongyang that the drills could spark a “second Korean war.” North Korea’s official government newspaper Rodong Sinmun warned against "reckless behavior driving the situation into the uncontrollable phase of a nuclear war." The newspaper said Sunday that North Korea possessed missiles capable of striking the U.S. mainland “from anywhere and anytime as it pleases.” “The (Korean Peoples Army) is keeping a high alert, fully ready to contain the enemies. It will take resolute steps the moment even a slight sign of the ‘preventive war’ is spotted,” the article said. The military drills, called Ulchi Freedom Guardian, are held every summer and have long been viewed by North Korea as a preparation for war. The North vows a strong military response to the exercise each year. The exercises come after North Korea threatened to launch four ballistic missiles toward the U.S. territory of Guam, although tensions have appeared to ease in recent days. More:North Korea warns of nuclear war if U.S. drill turns to 'actual fighting' More:Marine Corps Gen. Joseph Dunford: War with North Korea ‘horrific’ but nukes ‘unimaginable’ Ulchi Freedom Guardian is a “computer simulated defensive exercise designed to enhance readiness, protect the region and maintain stability on the Korean peninsula," the U.S. Defense Department said. The 11-day exercise will involve 17,500 American troops and roughly 50,000 South Korean service members, according to the Pentagon and South Korea’s Defense Ministry. The number of U.S. troops has been reduced from last year’s 25,000. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Sunday that the reduction simply reflects a need for fewer troops and is not a result of tensions with North Korea. United Nations Command forces from seven countries — Australia, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, New Zealand, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom — are also participating. South Korean President Moon Jae-in said Monday that the exercise was a “defensive drill” and that North Korea shouldn’t use it "as a pretext for aggravating the situation." "North Korea must understand that it is because of its repeated provocations that South Korea and the U.S. have to conduct defensive exercises, which in turn keeps the vicious cycle going," he said during a Cabinet meeting, according to the South Korean Yonhap News Agency. A strong showing of top U.S. military brass is on hand for the exercises. Adm. Harry Harris, head of Pacific Command; Gen. John Hyten, commander of the U.S. Strategic Command; and Lt. Gen. Samuel Greaves, director of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency, have arrived in Seoul to view drills and meet with their South Korean counterparts. Their visits come on the heels of a trip to South Korea last week by Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff. Both China and Russia proposed last month a halt on the exercises in exchange for a freeze on North Korean missile tests. However, Dunford last week emphasized that the military drills were "not currently on the table as part of the negotiation at any level.” Tensions have remained high on the Korean Peninsula as North Korea has conducted 12 missile tests in 2017, and as President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un have engaged in a war of words. In July, North Korea successfully launched two intercontinental ballistic missiles, which it claims could reach the U.S. mainland. Trump warned that North Korea would face “fire and fury like the world has never seen” if Pyongyang kept threatening the U.S. Kim backed off the plan to fire missiles in the vicinity of the western Pacific island of Guam last week, saying he would watch "the foolish and stupid conduct of the Yankees" before deciding whether to approve plans to launch the weapons, North Korean state media reported. That prompted Trump to tweet that the North Korean leader made a "wise and well reasoned decision." More:Amid North Korean crisis, Guam residents rally for peace More:What it will take to avoid a catastrophic war with North Korea

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https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/08/22/north-koreas-latest-threat-south-korea-u-s-merciless-retaliation/588856001/

North Korea's latest threat to South Korea, U.S.: 'Merciless retaliation'

North Korea's latest threat to South Korea, U.S.: 'Merciless retaliation' North Korea threatened South Korea and the United States on Tuesday with "merciless retaliation" over their ongoing joint military drills. Pyongyang warned both countries they "should take the whole responsibility for catastrophic results from (a) reckless war game," according to comments by the North's military published by the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). South Korean and U.S. troops began 10 days of joint military exercises on Monday. About 50,000 South Korean forces and 17,500 U.S. military are taking part. Pyongyang views the annual drills as an invasion rehearsal. South Korea and the U.S. describe them as defensive in nature. This year's drills come amid a war of words between North Korea and the U.S. over the former's threat to launch missiles into waters near the U.S. territory of Guam, although tensions have eased in recent days. Adm. Harry Harris, the commander of U.S. forces in the Pacific, said the drills are critical for the allies to maintain readiness against an aggressive North Korea. "A strong diplomatic effort backed by a strong military effort is key because credible combat power should be in support of diplomacy and not the other way around," Harris said during a news conference at the Osan Air Base in South Korea. Vincent Brooks, commander of U.S. Forces Korea, said the allies should continue the war games until they "have reason not to" and that reason "has not yet emerged." In a separate opinion piece published by KCNA, North Korea described President Trump as a leader who tweets "weird articles of his ego-driven thoughts" and "spouts rubbish" that make life for his aides difficult. In previous commentaries, the North has described Trump as "going senile" and a "war maniac bereft of reason." A North Korean diplomat appearing at a United Nations forum on nuclear disarmament in Geneva on Tuesday said Pyongyang would not negotiate over its nuclear program. Ju Yong-chol said his country's nuclear deterrence was a "justifiable" and "legitimate" form of self-defense in the face of hostile U.S. foreign policy. Trump has said using military force against North Korea is an option to prevent it from mastering the technology needed to deliver a nuclear weapon to the U.S. via a missile. North Korea has conducted five successful nuclear tests but security experts disagree over whether it has the ability to deploy nuclear material on a long-range missile. In an attempt to further isolate North Korea, the U.S. Treasury Department imposed fresh sanctions on 16 Chinese and Russian individuals and entities Tuesday. The move is designed to crack down on groups and businesses that could be helping Pyongyang develop its missile and nuclear programs.

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https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/08/24/breitbart-other-alt-right-websites-darlings-russian-propaganda-effort/598258001/

Breitbart, other 'alt-right' websites are the darlings of Russian propaganda effort

Breitbart, other 'alt-right' websites are the darlings of Russian propaganda effort Amid an investigation into Russian meddling in the last U.S. presidential election, a Russian propaganda Twitter network aimed at American audiences consistently spreads links to Breitbart and other right-wing or conspiracy theory websites that boost President Trump and bash Democrats. The websites — which include True Pundit, the Gateway Pundit and Imperialist U — are regular features on the list of “Top Domains” pushed by a network of 600 Twitter accounts followed by the German Marshall Fund of the United States, which tracks a Russian disinformation and propaganda campaign focused on U.S. voters. On Thursday, the most popular domains mentioned by the network in the previous 48 hours, according to the tracker, included True Pundit, the Russian government-controlled television network RT, the Gateway Pundit, Fox News, Russian government news agency Sputnik News and Breitbart. The network’s main role is to amplify messages deemed to benefit the Kremlin, but that doesn’t mean the websites' authors share the same goals, said Laura Rosenberger, director of the Alliance for Securing Democracy, which created the monitoring project for the fund. “Just being shared by Kremlin information operations does not mean they are part of the Kremlin’s disinformation operations,” Rosenberger said. “It just means something on these sites, or a lot of things on these sites, is either advancing a message the Kremlin is trying to push or that it is trying to discredit.” Alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 election and possible collusion with the Trump campaign is the focus of an investigation by special prosecutor Robert Mueller. The Gateway Pundit’s founder Jim Hoft called the project a “far-left smear site” of the Marshall Fund, a nonprofit group that promotes transatlantic cooperation. “It’s complete rubbish. ... The (fund) website’s real purpose is to smear websites supportive of Donald Trump and his accomplishments as Russian propaganda,” Hoft said in an email. “Of course, we have no connection to the Russians nor have we ever had any contact with any Russian officials.” Hoft did not deny that the Russians amplify his message, but asserted that the Russian government-controlled television network RT tends to cover more anti-American far-left stories and personalities than those about conservative Trump supporters. The Alliance for Securing Democracy’s advisory council includes “several #NeverTrumpers and far left hacks,” Hoft said. He listed President George W. Bush’s director of Homeland Security, Michael Chertoff; Bill Kristol, editor of the conservative Weekly Standard and former senior official in the George H.W. Bush administration; Michael Morell, former acting director of the CIA; former U.S. ambassador to Moscow Mike McFaul; Hillary Clinton’s senior policy adviser Jake Sullivan, and President Obama’s chief technology officer Nicole Wong. Others on the panel include the former Republican chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Mike Rogers of Michigan; Adm. Jim Stavridis, former commander of the U.S. European Command, and David Kramer, a senior fellow in the human rights and diplomacy program at Florida International University’s Steven J. Green School of International and Public Affairs. The websites carried a range of stories Wednesday that reflect themes promoted by the Russian network. Some examples: Breitbart: Run by Trump’s recently departed chief strategist Steve Bannon, it carried a story by the Associated Press about a "snub" of Trump's son-in-law and close adviser Jared Kushner by Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry after a cut in U.S. aid to Egypt over that country's ties with North Korea. Kushner, who is spearheading efforts to revive Mideast peace talks, later met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi but the AP story had not been updated on the Breitbart site. The Gateway Pundit: It ran stories with the headlines, "Alt-Left Protesters Show up to Phoenix Rally Armed with AR-15’s and Bullet Proof Vests,” and “Former Russian Amb Kislyak Slaps CNN in Ambush Interview: ‘You Should Be Ashamed.’” True Pundit: It carried a video with the headline, “‘A total eclipse of the facts’: Don Lemon Calls Trump ‘Unhinged’ In Wild Rant After Arizona Rally.” Thomas Paine, managing editor at True Pundit, did not deny playing a part in the Russian network’s information operation, but implied that mainstream media do the same. “We are flattered to be accused of participating in disinformation campaigns for government because as a start-up that's the exact time-tested model we have been emulating from the New York Times, Washington Post and other mainstream media outlets," Paine wrote in an email. Anti-Imperialist U: A blogger who goes by the name Hugo Turner wrote on Sunday that neo-Nazis and other right-wing extremists who participated in the Aug. 12 fracas in Charlottesville, Va., were among “hundreds of well-armed, highly trained fascist groups and militias, many interlocking with the military, police, FBI and the CIA.” Turner also called the popular revolt in Ukraine that ousted pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych in 2014 a “fascist coup” launched by the United States. Turner calls himself a novelist on Twitter, but is not listed by Amazon as publishing any books. James Carden, executive editor for the American Committee for East West Accord, which promotes better relations between the U.S. and Russia, assailed the Marshall Fund’s Twitter tracker an “assault on public discourse.” In an op-ed in The Nation, he said the fund, founded in 1972 by German Chancellor Willy Brandt to memorialize the U.S.-financed Marshall Plan that helped rebuild his nation after World War II, was “embracing the Russia panic that dominates the current discourse in Washington.” “It is a legitimate thing” to look at how the Russians try to influence American political discourse, Carden said in an interview. But Russian sites on the tracker also report on legitimate stories, he said. “It seems that anything critical of the United States is now all of a sudden Russian propaganda,” he said. “That’s a slippery slope.” Sudan:Russian ambassador found dead in Khartoum residence More:Russia probe could reveal Trump's closest-held secrets Sanctions:U.S. imposes new penalties on Chinese, Russian firms over North Korea

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https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/08/30/houston-copes-flood-1-000-die-india-monsoon/617173001/

As Texas copes with Harvey aftermath, more than 1,000 die in India monsoon

As Texas copes with Harvey aftermath, more than 1,000 die in India monsoon NEW DELHI — Heavy rains paralyzed India, Bangladesh and Nepal this week, as the worst monsoon in years has caused more than 1,000 deaths. In the western India city of Mumbai, many of its 20 million residents waded through waist-high water trying to get home from work after being stuck there overnight. Buses and trains were halted as roads became impassable. India is used to regular flooding during monsoon season from June to September, especially in Mumbai, where millions live in shantytowns with poor drainage. Still, this year's floods are unusually severe. And now, the weather service is predicting continuing rain through the week. Shikha Joshi, 32, a banker in Mumbai, had to spend the night inside a local train that was trapped because the railway tracks were under water. “No one could move anywhere, so it was better to sit and let the time pass,” said Joshi, who fretted about her 12-year-old brother left home alone — until neighbors went to look after him. Shivam Arora, 43, a trader in Mumbai, was luckier. "I have taken the local train to work every day for the past 17 years and never have I seen the network be so adversely affected. It was a complete breakdown of the system," he said. "Trains were canceled, stations were closed, places (to take shelter) were jammed, and the situation on the roads was catastrophic," he added. Thankfully, my Facebook feed was filled with people offering their homes as shelters. And I had to crash at my friend's place." Schools were shut, offices closed early or remained shuttered as the city experienced power outages. People opened their doors to stranded residents and some took to the streets to distribute water and food. The staggering number of deaths in India and its neighbors occurred when the rains triggered landslides and destroyed thousands of houses, schools, hospitals and farmland, the United Nations said this week. Over the past two days, Indian officials said at least five people, including two children, died because of the flooding in and around Mumbai. In the state of Bihar in eastern India — one of the worst areas affected — at least 400 have died. Mahesh Yadav, 42, a farmer from the Araria district of Bihar, had to flee from his home as the nearby Koshi River rose. “I took my family and few canisters of grains and beans on a boat before fleeing the house. Now, one cannot see my house anywhere. It has gone well under the water,” he said after taking refuge with his wife and two children in a makeshift shelter with about 200 other families. “It is difficult to feed children even after successfully fleeing the flood," said his wife, Aarti Devi, 38. "Every other person is fighting for food.” In other parts of India, especially remote villages, rescue workers are struggling to get to people left homeless or injured, but the continuous rains are delaying the work, according to police and residents. Sunder Kumar, 53, a construction worker from the village Valmiki Nagar in the state of Bihar, said in a phone call that he is worried. “We are living in a temporary shelter which is just a few feet from the floodwater. The situation will get worse if the water rises," he said. "Relief and rescue teams do not know this location, as it is far from their reach.” King Edward Memorial Hospital in Mumbai and other medical centers were hit with flooding. Some wards were closed and supplies delayed as officials struggled to keep the dirty water out of the facility. Bilal Bhat, 37, who runs a small shop in Srinagar, was trying to get his son to the doctor. “My son is sick for the last seven days, and the flood has crippled us to move anywhere,” he said. "Now I have to hire a boat to take my son to the hospital." The forecast for more rain was terrible news for Mohammad Faizan, 33, a small-goods trader who had to flee his house in Uttar Pradesh’s Bahraich district after the area started filling with the floodwater. “I could not take anything with me," he said. "I left my family at their grandfather’s home. I am living on the roof of my house, which is the only part left un-submerged, waiting for the water to pass.” Most just hope the water goes away soon. Poonam Kumari, 32, used to run a small clothing boutique at her house in Kishanganj in Bihar, but she lost her sewing machine in the flood. She's not sure how she will recover her business, much less manage the next few days. “My 8-year-old son is suffering from a stomach infection because we had to live on the relief packets that several agencies distributed,” she said. "Even now I cannot provide him good food or treatment because I have no money. All I can wish for is the floodwater to go down very soon.” Mohan reported from Varanasi, India. More:'Catastrophic flooding' persists even as Houston waterways recede More:Port Arthur mayor: 'Our whole city is underwater' More:On the heels of Hurricane Harvey, Tropical Storm Irma forms; U.S. impact unknown

961f27f98589220a402be79895acf1f5

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/08/30/north-korea-missile-japan/615401001/

Missile Defense Agency: U.S. warship successfully shoots down missile in test off Hawaii

Missile Defense Agency: U.S. warship successfully shoots down missile in test off Hawaii The U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) said a U.S. warship successfully shot down a medium-range ballistic missile in a test off Hawaii on Wednesday, as North Korean leader Kim Jong Un vowed to press ahead with more missile tests in the Pacific. The USS John Paul Jones detected and tracked a missile launched from the Pacific Missile Range Facility on Kauai with its onboard radar, before intercepting it with SM-6 missiles, the MDA said. It said it marked the second time an SM-6 missile has successfully intercepted a medium-range ballistic missile in a test. MDA Director Lt. Gen. Sam Greaves said the test marked a "key milestone." "We will continue developing ballistic missile defense technologies to stay ahead of the threat as it evolves," Greaves said in a statement. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis will meet Wednesday at the Pentagon with South Korea's Defense Minister Song Young-moo, the Pentagon said. The two will discuss possible responses to North Korea's provocative actions, according to South Korea's Yonhap news agency. North Korea on Wednesday released images of its intermediate-range ballistic missile launch over Japan a day before. The official Korean Central News Agency reported Wednesday that the Hwasong-12, the first missile the nation has fired over Japan, was “guided” by leader Kim Jong Un and observed by senior officials. “Involved in the drill were Hwasong artillery units…tasked with striking the bases of the U.S. imperialist aggressor forces located in the Pacific operational theater,” the KCNA reported. More:Kim Jong Un promises more missile launches, despite Trump warning More:U.S. revises assessment on North Korean missile launches It said the launch of the intermediate-range rocket was “part of the muscle-flexing” in reaction to ongoing military drills by the U.S. and South Korea, “in disregard” for Pyongyang’s “meaningful and crucial warning.” The North sees the military exercises as a preparation for war. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said the missile traveled nearly 1,700 miles and reached a maximum height of 341 miles as it flew over the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido early Tuesday. Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary, Yoshihide Suga, described the test as an "unprecedented, grave threat." Kim said "more ballistic missile rocket launching drills" are "necessary" to modernize his military's strategic capabilities and that his country will continue to watch “U.S. demeanors” before it decides on future actions. Kim expressed "great satisfaction" with what he called a “meaningful prelude” to containing the U.S. territory of Guam, which he has threatened to fire four missiles toward. President Trump warned Tuesday that "all options are on the table" in response to North Korea's latest missile launch. A military one seems unlikely, security analysts said. The U.N. Security Council said it “strongly condemns” the missile test and the North’s launching of three ballistic missiles into the sea on Aug. 25. It demanded that Pyongyang “immediately cease all such actions” in a statement following an emergency meeting Tuesday. It did not announce new sanctions. Choo Mi-ae, the head of South Korea’s ruling Democratic Party, urged Pyongyang to accept its offer of dialogue and said “such an act that threatens neighboring nations is unpardonable," the South’s Yonhap news agency reported. "If North Korea trusts South Korea's government and holds its hands, the door will open for its survival. Otherwise, it will face more serious isolation,” Choo said. More:China demands U.S. 'correct its mistake' over North Korea sanctions Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said his country will “fully and completely” abide by U.N. Security Council sanctions and would work with other council members on how best to react to the North’s latest action. “We will make a necessary response,” Wang said. China, North Korea’s most important ally, accounts for about 90% of the North’s foreign trade. British Prime Minister Theresa May called on China to put more pressure on North Korea, as she arrived in Japan for a three-day visit Wednesday. “We think that China has a role to play and we’d encourage China to do everything it can to bring pressure on North Korea to stop this,” she said. Earlier this month, the Trump administration imposed sanctions on 10 companies and six individuals from mostly China and Russia who it says helped North Korea develop its nuclear and ballistic missile programs. They were the latest in a raft of blacklists issued in recent months to punish Chinese and Russian companies that try to evade international efforts to isolate North Korea. Contributing: Jim Michaels

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https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/09/01/flooding-central-nigeria/624150001/

More than 100,000 displaced by flooding in central Nigeria

More than 100,000 displaced by flooding in central Nigeria WARRI, Nigeria - Nigeria’s president says more than 100,000 people have been displaced by flooding in the central part of the country. It is not immediately known whether anyone has died in the flooding in Benue state. President Muhammadu Buhari says emergency response teams are being sent to the area, where nearly 2,800 households have been displaced. Benue state is prone to flooding because of a prominent river that runs through the area. In 2012, more than 50,000 households were submerged and dozens died in flooding. More than 30 people have lost their lives across Nigeria since the start of the rainy season.

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https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/09/03/hydrogen-bomb-vs-atomic-bomb-whats-difference/629582001/

Hydrogen bomb vs. atomic bomb: What's the difference?

Hydrogen bomb vs. atomic bomb: What's the difference? How powerful are hydrogen bombs? Think of it this way: They use atomic bombs just as a trigger. Atomic weapons like those previously tested by North Korea rely on nuclear fission to release energy — basically splitting atoms. The bombs dropped by the United States on Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II used this technology to release explosive power equivalent to about 15 and 20 kilotons (1,000 metric tons) of TNT, respectively. Hydrogen bombs use nuclear fusion, in which atoms fuse together, to release even greater amounts of energy. The two-stage process is often referred to as a thermonuclear reaction. The first hydrogen bomb tested by the United States in November 1952 released the equivalent energy of 10,000 kilotons (or 10 megatons) of TNT. North Korea’s state-run broadcaster said on Sunday that the country had successfully conducted a test of a hydrogen bomb that can be loaded onto its new intercontinental ballistic missiles. Back in January 2016, North Korea announced its first test of a hydrogen bomb, a major leap in its nuclear program that promptly drew international condemnation. If North Korea really has tested a hydrogen bomb, as it claims — and that remains a big “if” — it has joined a select group. According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, the United States, Russia, Britain, France and China have nuclear arsenals composed of hydrogen weapons; Israel, India, and Pakistan are generally believed to have nuclear weapons that use only nuclear fission. Editor's note: An earlier version of this story published in January 2016.

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https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/09/07/alleged-russian-political-meddling-documented-27-countries-since-2004/619056001/

Alleged Russian political meddling documented in 27 countries since 2004

Alleged Russian political meddling documented in 27 countries since 2004 Russia has meddled in the affairs of at least 27 European and North American countries since 2004 with interference that ranges from cyberattacks to disinformation campaigns, according to an analysis by a surveillance organization. The findings, provided to USA TODAY, show the meddling started in former Soviet republics allied with the West and spread to Western Europe. More recently affected are Canada and the United States, where Congress and an independent prosecutor are investigating possible Russian involvement in the 2016 presidential election. The alleged Russian interference abroad was compiled by the Alliance for Securing Democracy of the German Marshall Fund, a nonprofit organization that fosters closer bonds between the United States and Europe. In August, the group began tracking Russian efforts to influence U.S. public opinion through a network of Twitter accounts that disseminates messages considered helpful to the Kremlin. More:Breitbart, other 'alt-right' websites are the darlings of Russian propaganda effort More:Russian network amplified Trump's Flake criticism On Wednesday, Facebook said an internal investigation uncovered $100,000 in advertising spending by hundreds of fake accounts and pages, likely operated out of Russia, which sought to sow political division during the U.S. presidential election. The ads were traced to a Russian "troll farm," a Facebook official said. The giant social network said it has shared the findings with U.S. investigators. The pattern of Russian government-linked behavior in the United States is similar to that seen in other countries, said Laura Rosenberger, director of the alliance. “These are all the tools they use to undermine democratic institutions in different places,” Rosenberger said. “For a lot of Americans, the question of Russian interference in U.S. elections came out of nowhere. It sounds crazy to most people that this has been part of the Russian playbook for more than a decade.” More:Putin meets Le Pen, denies French election interference More:Amid 'rigged' election charges, Russia wants to monitor U.S. vote Countries the alliance said have been targeted are: Belarus, Bulgaria, Canada, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, United Kingdom, Ukraine and the United States. Current targets include German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who faces re-election this month. Here are a few examples cited by the alliance of alleged Russian interference: April 5, 2004: Prime Minister Rolandas Paksas of Lithuania, a former Soviet republic, was impeached for granting citizenship to alleged Russian crime figure Yuri Borisov and leaking him classified information that he was under investigation. Borisov contributed $400,000 to Paksas' 2003 election campaign, presumably with the Kremlin's blessing. April 27, 2007: Estonia, another former Soviet republic, accused hackers using Russian IP addresses of a wide-scale denial of service attack that shut down the Internet in Estonia, one of NATO’s newest members. The attack on the government, newspaper and banking websites appeared to be a response to Estonian authorities’ decision to move a Soviet World War II memorial known as the Bronze Soldier from a central square in Tallinn, the Baltic nation’s capital. Russia denied the accusation. Aug. 7, 2008: Cyberattacks conducted from Russia brought Internet traffic to a halt in the former Soviet republic of Georgia, while Russian troops invaded Georgian territory. January 2013: Spain’s Civil Guard unraveled a Russian mafia network accused of laundering large sums of money through Banco Madrid. Sept. 17, 2014: Russian “election observers” from the Russian Public Institute of Electoral Law cast doubt on the validity of the Scottish referendum on independence from the United Kingdom a day before the vote. July 22, 2016: WikiLeaks published about 20,000 emails from the Democratic National Committee that U.S. intelligence and independent cybersecurity firms said were stolen by Russian government hackers a month earlier. March 9, 2017: Canada’s foreign minister was targeted in a Russian media campaign focusing on alleged Nazi links. Spring 2017: French presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron was targeted by rumors about his sexual orientation and alleged corruption that were spread by far-right websites and relayed by Russian media. Macron was elected by a wide margin. The Kremlin repeatedly has dismissed the allegations as anti-Russian propaganda. James Carden, executive editor of the American Committee for East-West Accord, which promotes better relations between the U.S. and Russia, said Moscow's actions are no different from what the U.S. government does to promote its interests abroad, and they are "being blown up beyond any proportion.” “We do it, they do it, the Chinese, Israelis, everyone is doing it,” Carden said. More:Russia engineered election hacks and meddling in Europe More:U.S. imposes new penalties on Chinese, Russian firms over North Korea Clint Watts, a former FBI agent and counterterrorism specialist who has focused on the Russian use of the Internet to spread propaganda and disinformation, said the idea that the U.S. engages in such activities is preposterous. “When did we hack 4,000 people of a foreign country and dump all their information on the Internet?” Watts said, referring to multiple intrusions of U.S. government and military computers that have been attributed to Kremlin-directed hackers. The goal of Russia’s efforts in the U.S. and Europe “is to make the institution of democracy look not credible,” said Watts, who is now a fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute. “Either the institutions are corrupt or you can’t trust the vote." The type of activity that Rosenberger’s staff compiled goes back much further than 2004, according to Dov Levin, a researcher at Carnegie Mellon University who documented 36 known attempts by the Russian or Soviet government to influence elections around the world and 81 American attempts from 1946 to 2000. The most common American methods involved secret campaign funding right before an election, Levin said. He said that during the 1990 Nicaraguan election, U.S. agents leaked damaging information about alleged corruption by Nicaragua's leftist Sandinista Party officials and their Swiss bank accounts to German newspapers. Those reports were then picked up by the Nicaraguan opposition. Sandinista leader Daniel Ortega lost that election, “and the American intervention played probably an important role in that regard,” Levin said. The U.S. also intervened in the 1996 Russian presidential election on behalf of Boris Yeltsin, but it has not done so since Vladimir Putin became president in 2000, Levin said. The most common Soviet and Russian tactics are “dirty tricks — attempts to harm in some way the side they don’t want to win,” Levin said. According to a report in the British newspaper The Guardian, KGB agents in 1984 planted an allegation that the new AIDS epidemic was caused by a secret American military biological weapons program. Russian officials later admitted it was false. Moscow's goal was to stop the re-election of anti-Soviet President Ronald Reagan, who won in a landslide. In 2011, Putin declared that then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was behind massive protests against his election, calling it an attack on Russian sovereignty. He also has railed against U.S. democracy promotion campaigns abroad that he blames for helping spark pro-Western political revolutions in the former Soviet republics of Georgia, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan. Putin also blames the United States for last year's release of the Panama Papers, documents on secret financial transactions that exposed many in Putin's inner circle, according to a new book by Russian journalists Andrei Soldatov and Irina Borogan. They say that is another reason Putin ordered a campaign to help Donald Trump defeat Clinton in last year's presidential election, as the U.S. intelligence community alleges. Ben Nimmo, an analyst at the Atlantic Council’s DFR Labs, which tracks Russian propaganda, said Russian tactics mirror those used by the Soviet Union against its own people. The Soviets used “massacres, the gulag prison system and the KGB intelligence service to intimidate and eliminate potential opponents inside the Soviet Union and outside its borders,” he said. “That is the system Putin came out of.”

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https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/09/07/isis-losses-syria-bolster-assad/641562001/

ISIS losses in Syria bolster Assad's ability to reclaim control

ISIS losses in Syria bolster Assad's ability to reclaim control WASHINGTON — The Trump administration’s focus on battling the Islamic State is having an unintended consequence in Syria’s long civil war: Russian-backed dictator Bashar Assad is making steady gains in reclaiming control of his country. Syrian government forces this week defeated the Islamic State in a key battle, further expanding the regime’s influence in northeastern Syria and bringing them a step closer to U.S.-backed troops near the same area. The advances by both regime and U.S.-backed forces have prompted the Russians and the United States to expand their military contacts, which have in effect divided Syria into zones of influence. The need for these talks are growing more urgent as the territory controlled by the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, is shrinking and an increasing number of forces are converging in a small area in northeast Syria. The critical area is south of Raqqa, the Islamic State's de facto capital, where the Euphrates River has served as a border between Russian-backed Syrian forces and U.S.-backed local militias fighting ISIS. The Russians and Americans are figuring out how to extend that line as both U.S.-backed and Syrian regime forces make headway against ISIS. The contacts between the U.S. and Russian military began as a way to avoid mishaps between their aircraft but this year expanded to create buffers on the ground between the two sides. The de facto buffer zones are giving the Syrian regime room to expand its influence, analysts say. Earlier this week regime forces reached a beleaguered army brigade outpost in Deir el-Zour that had been surrounded by ISIS for several years. ISIS still controls much of the town and surrounding area with about 2,500 militants, the Pentagon said, but the Syrian army success gives the regime an important foothold in an oil-rich area. “We’re allowing the Syrian regime to come back,” said Jennifer Cafarella, an analyst at the Institute for the Study of War. The coalition has continued to bomb ISIS targets throughout the Euphrates River Valley, despite Assad regime gains, the Pentagon has said. Still, the coalition is "concerned" about the Syrian regime's commitment to defeating ISIS, said Col. Ryan Dillon, a coalition spokesman. For example, the Assad regime was recently party to an agreement that allowed an ISIS convoy leave an area near the Lebanese border and head toward the border with Iraq. The coalition has blocked the convoy from getting to its destination by cratering a road and knocking out a bridge. It has not targeted vehicles in the convoy because the fighters are traveling with women and children. The administration’s policy in Syria is somewhat contradictory, analysts say. The Pentagon has said it welcomes any assistance in eliminating ISIS, but the administration has also said that Assad should step down. Assad is backed by Iran and Hezbollah, a Shiite militia backed by Iran, in addition to Russia. “Islamic State losses are good,” said Matthew Levitt, an analyst at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. “Regime gains with help from the likes of Russia, Iran and Hezbollah are not good.” The war against ISIS is increasingly concentrated in the Euphrates River Valley, which stretches 150 miles from Syria into Iraq. Many militant leaders have escaped into the string of villages along the river, as Raqqa has come under increasing pressure. “The final stand of ISIS will be in the middle Euphrates River Valley,” said Lt. Gen. Stephen Townsend, who recently stepped down as the top coalition commander for Iraq and Syria. “As they converge there have to be measures put into place to ensure we stay focused on our enemy, which is ISIS,” Dillon said. Michael Knights, an analyst at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said the limited talks between the coalition and Russia are "about staying out of each other’s way.” The Pentagon is barred by law from conducting more extensive cooperation with Russian forces. The Assad regime sees the defeat of ISIS, which opposes the regime, as a means to expand its grip on territory. The Assad regime has been steadily recapturing ground it had lost after more than six years of civil war. The U.S. has several hundred advisers and other forces in Syria backing the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which consist of about 50,000 Kurdish and Arab fighters. But the United States has made it clear it doesn't intend to remain in Syria. The SDF, America's key ally there, is opposed to the Islamic State, but may be willing to work with Assad’s regime once the militants are defeated. “We have a counter ISIL policy,” Levitt said. “We don’t have a Syria policy.” More:ISIS is rapidly losing control of Raqqa, its headquarters in Syria More:Fight against ISIS 'far from over' despite terrorist group's loss of Mosul More:Defeat of ISIS in northern Iraq town marks milestone in campaign to eliminate group

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https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/09/07/mexico-earthquake-southern-coast/644918001/

Powerful earthquake hits Mexico's southern coast, kills dozens

Powerful earthquake hits Mexico's southern coast, kills dozens A massive magnitude 8.1 earthquake rocked Mexico's southern coast early Friday, killing dozens in what may be the strongest quake to strike the country in a century. Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto said that at least 61 people were killed. The temblor triggered a tsunami threat to several neighboring countries. The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake's epicenter was 102 miles west of Tapachula in southern Chiapas state not far from Guatemala. It had a depth of about 22 miles. Nieto said there have been 62 aftershocks. He also said that the quake's magnitude was slightly stronger, at 8.2, than the USGS readings, which would make it the largest to strike the country in 100 years, and bigger than an 8.1 quake in 1985 that killed thousands and devastated large parts of Mexico City. Nieto later declared three days of mourning, The Associated Press reported. “The power of this earthquake was devastating, but we are certain that the power of unity, the power of solidarity and the power of shared responsibility will be greater,” Pena Nieto said, according to AP. Friday's quake struck off the coast of southern Mexico in Chiapas state, toppling houses and causing buildings to sway violently 650 miles in away the country’s capital. In Chiapas, the quake produced tsunami waves and sent people running into the streets in panic. Nieto said serious damage had been caused and that 1 million customers initially had been without power, but electricity had been restored to 800,000 of them. The U.S. Tsunami Warning System said the earthquake was a potential tsunami threat to several Central American countries, including the Pacific coastlines of Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, El Salvador and Costa Rica. It said the threat was still being evaluated for Hawaii, Guam and other Pacific islands. There was no tsunami threat for the West coast of the United States. Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales spoke on national television to call for calm while emergency crews checked for damage. Local radio in the Central American country reported one death, but it could not be confirmed. “We have reports of some damage and the death of one person, even though we still don’t have exact details,” Morales said. He said the possible death occurred in San Marcos state near the border with Mexico. Earthquakes in Mexico tend to strike in the southern states of Chiapas, Oaxaca and Guerrero, but impact Mexico City, which was built on the soft soils of a lakebed. The 1985 earthquake leveled large portions of Mexico City, but since then building codes have been tightened and quake drills have become routine. The quake comes as Hurricane Katia was projected to barrel in Mexico early Saturday. More:While Irma takes aim on Florida, Hurricanes Jose and Katia are also threatening Contributing: The Associated Press

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https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/09/14/barbuda-hurricane-irama-devastation/665950001/

'For first time in 300 years, there’s not a single living person on the island of Barbuda'

'For first time in 300 years, there’s not a single living person on the island of Barbuda' Barbuda has been left completely devastated by Hurricane Irma. An estimated 95% of Barbuda’s structures are damaged, and the entire island of around 1,800 people has been evacuated. “The damage is complete,” says Ambassador Ronald Sanders, who has served as Antigua and Barbuda’s ambassador to the U.S. since 2015. “For the first time in 300 years, there’s not a single living person on the island of Barbuda — a civilization that has existed on that island for over 300 years has now been extinguished.” According to Sanders, Irma was “the most ferocious, cruel and merciless storm” in the island’s history. The hurricane was 378 miles wide when it descended on Barbuda, which is just 62 square miles. “This was a huge monster,” he says. “The island and the people on the island had absolutely no chance.” Evacuees from Barbuda were sent to Antigua, which did not suffer the same level of damage from Irma. “We’ve had most of the people we’ve brought over to Antigua in shelters,” says Sanders. “We’ve tried to make living accommodations as good as humanly possible in these circumstances. Fortunately, we had planned ahead for this hurricane, and we had ordered supplies in from Miami and the United States before the hurricane hit.” Though Barbudan evacuees are safe, Sanders says the situation is not ideal — people are living in cramped quarters in government facilities and nursing homes, including some 500 school-aged children. Now that school is back in session, Antigua must find room for these students. “The situation is unacceptable, and it’s costly,” he says. “We’re going to have to keep this going for sometime because Barbuda’s not going to be rebuilt in a hurry, and when we do rebuild it, we’re going to have to rebuild to massive hurricane standards. This is going to take a while. There is no electricity there, there is no potable water anymore, there is no structure in which people can survive. We have a mammoth task on our hands.” Sanders says the world must step up and help Barbuda. “We are a small island community — the gross domestic product of Antigua is $1 billion a year,” he says. “We cannot afford to take on this responsibility by ourselves. Barbuda is not just a disaster, it’s a humanitarian crisis. We are hopeful that the international community will come to our aid, not because we’re begging for something we want, but because we’re begging for something that is needed.” Right now, initial estimates suggest that Barbuda will need about $200 million to recover. Antigua and Barbuda will create a sustainable development plan for rebuilding Barbuda, Sanders says, adding that he hopes the global community will provide humanitarian recovery aid. “We have declared a state of emergency in Barbuda because it is a complete disaster and uninhabitable,” he says. “We cannot cope with our own resources alone.” In addition to financial aid, Sanders says the global community must also stand up to climate change. “We believe climate change is here to stay — it’s a reality, despite all of the naysayers,” he says. “We know that these things have occurred as a result of the profligacy of the countries that are rich, and have abused the system. We, unfortunately, who contribute less than naught point naught percent of pollution of the world’s atmosphere, are the world’s greatest victims.” This story first aired as an interview on PRI's The Takeaway. MORE FROM PRI.ORG: More:Ireland's youngest prime minister is under tough criticism More:Thousands of people are homeless after Mexico's worst earthquake in a century More:How a violent history created the US Virgin Islands as we know them

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https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/09/14/north-korea-japan-no-longer-needed-exist-near-us/665002001/

North Korea threatens to 'sink' Japan and turn U.S. to 'ashes and darkness'

North Korea threatens to 'sink' Japan and turn U.S. to 'ashes and darkness' North Korea threatened Thursday to use nuclear weapons to "sink" Japan and turn the United States into "ashes and darkness," in reaction to the new U.N. sanctions imposed over its nuclear and missile programs. "The four islands of the archipelago should be sunken into the sea by the nuclear bomb of Juche. Japan is no longer needed to exist near us," said the Korea Asia-Pacific Peace Committee, which is North Korea's official propaganda arm. More:Defectors provide rare glimpse of isolated life in North Korea Juche, which translates as "self-reliance," is Pyongyang’s ruling ideology, a blend of Marxism and hyper-nationalism. The sanctions were unanimously adopted by the United Nations Security Council this week after North Korea’s sixth, and possibly most powerful, nuclear test this month. Leader Kim Jong Un had also threatened to launch missiles over Japan into the Pacific and toward the U.S. territory of Guam. The moves have elicited a series of counter-threats from President Trump, although the possibility of war remains remote. The North Korean statement also called for the breakup of the U.N. Security Council, calling it "a tool of evil" and comprised of "money-bribed" nations. Japan's chief cabinet secretary, Yoshihide Suga, called the North's comments extremely provocative and outrageous" and said that if "North Korea stays the course that it is on, it will increasingly become isolated." Suga said the North's statement "significantly escalates tensions in the region." In Seoul, the South Korean government said it was considering providing the North, via U.N. agencies, $8 million in aid for humanitarian assistance for infants and pregnant women, according to the South's Yonhap News Agency. "The government's basic stance is that humanitarian assistance to those who are vulnerable in North Korea should be continued regardless of political considerations," the agency reported, citing Seoul's unification ministry, which aims to promote Korean reunification. The U.N. estimates about 18 million North Koreans out of its population of 25 million suffer from food shortages and malnutrition. The new U.N. sanctions ban North Korea from importing all natural gas liquids and condensates and cap imports of crude oil at the level of the last 12 months. A ban was also placed on its textile exports — its largest export after coal and other minerals. The measures prohibit all countries from authorizing new work permits for North Korean workers. All are important sources of currency for the isolated nation. The sanctions add to restrictions on iron ore exports and limits to Pyongyang’s use of foreign banks. U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson urged China to use its influence as North Korea’s principal supplier of oil to press Pyongyang into reconsidering its development of nuclear weapons. Tillerson said it would be “very difficult” to get China to consent to an oil embargo against its neighbor, but he still asked China as a “great country and a world power” to use its leverage as the supplier of virtually all North Korea’s oil. “That is a very powerful tool and it has been used in the past,” Tillerson said Thursday. “We hope China will not reject that.” Tillerson spoke after talks in London with senior British and French officials on North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs. British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said, “The Chinese have done more perhaps than we thought that they would, but there is scope for them to do much, much more, particularly in respect to oil.” A report Thursday in the Nikkei, a Japanese newspaper, said satellite imagery appeared to indicate that North Korea was preparing for another long-range missile test. Pyongyang was expected to test an intercontinental ballistic rocket last Sunday as North Koreans celebrated the country’s 69th anniversary of its founding, but the test did not happen. More:Can North Korea target a U.S. city? Experts say not yet

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https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/09/15/aberdeen-known-scotlands-texas-turns-green-energy-after-oil-boom-turns-bust/587565001/

Aberdeen, known as Scotland's 'Texas,' turns to green energy after oil boom turns to bust

Aberdeen, known as Scotland's 'Texas,' turns to green energy after oil boom turns to bust ABERDEEN, Scotland — This northeastern coastal city was a sleepy college town and fishing port until the 1960s, when the discovery of oil in the North Sea triggered an economic boom that earned it the nickname “Scotland’s Texas.” But a crash in global oil prices sent the economy into a tailspin, forcing this city of 200,000 to transform itself into a powerhouse for green energy to fight climate change and revive its once booming economy. “The installation, operation and maintenance of wind is an obvious crossover,” said Morag McCorkindale, chief operating officer of the Aberdeen Renewable Energy Group, a consortium of businesses assembled by the city government. “Some form of long-term decline is seen as inevitable," he said. "We looked at several different diversification opportunities, but the one that took off was the renewables.” One potential beneficiary of the new emphasis is Guy Ingerson, 30, who lost his job as a buyer in the oil industry two years ago. He moved back in with his mother and works retail jobs while campaigning for investment in the renewable energy sector. “2016 in particular was hard for us,” Ingerson said. “You’ve seen people losing their homes, people having to use food banks, and a large amount of people being put in temporary accommodations. People don’t have the money to buy things.” That bleak picture is familiar to Michelle Matthew, 43, a former oil rig recruiter who lost her job last year and now helps feed the needy at CFINE, a food bank on the city docks where oil supply vessels moor. “There are people I’ve spoken to who have worked in the industry, manual laborers, who lost their job and struggled to get work,” Matthew said. “Especially older folk. It gets difficult for them to get back into careers.” The oil crisis hit in mid-2014, when oil prices fell by half and have since hovered around $50 a barrel. Matthew’s food bank has limited people to biweekly visits to manage demand. Unemployment in the city increased 25% during the slump and hit 5.4% in 2016, according to government data. That was about a percentage point higher than the national average. Luckily for the beleaguered community, the combination of high hills, local skills and strong winds make this corner of Scotland bursting with lucrative opportunities for renewable energy. Scotland has around a quarter of the European Union’s potential for wind power, according to the Scottish regional government. Businesses are finding ways to turn oil industry equipment into new uses for renewable energy. “The wind turbines now use a jacket structure developed from oil rigs, for example,” McCorkindale said. The innovations in Aberdeen could help other countries develop clean energy, she said. “We’re driven by environmental and economic concerns, but we are also developing technology that could help nations out there who are just desperate for power,” she added. “People are coming from all over the world to see what we are doing.” Two miles north of Aberdeen’s downtown, at the tiny fishing station of Blackdog, Swedish energy company Vattenfall is building the European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre to test deep sea oil rig technology in the choppy Scottish waters. The project is slated to become one of the largest wind farms in the world. “As Europe’s energy capital, Aberdeen is already well positioned to transfer more than 40 years of world-class oil and gas expertise into renewable energy — particularly offshore renewables” said Adam Ezzamel, who is overseeing the project. For young people in Aberdeen, a shift away from alternating cycles of boom and bust cannot come quick enough. Aberdeen native Niall Ford, 21, makes ends meet by playing music around the city and serving coffee at a youth café. It is one of the few businesses doing well in a city center full of empty properties amid glistening granite buildings and grand Victorian streets. “When you walk around town and see all these places closed down, it is nice to know there is still somewhere you can go and hang out.” Ford said. “A lot of people my age looking for more specialized jobs will tend to head out of the city. That seems to be changing. If there is going to be this ebb and flow, we need some momentum to get things happening.” Or as Ingerson summed it up: “We don’t want to end up like a coal town where we have years of reliance on one industry and then have it ripped from under our feet. We have to start hammering that message through, and we need to do it fast.” More:Why India's renewable energy revolution is racing ahead More:Humans were already changing the environment 11,500 years ago More:U.S. withdrawing from Paris climate agreement, Trump announces

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https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/09/17/acid-attacks-growing-more-common-across-europe/675461001/

Acid attacks growing more common across Europe

Acid attacks growing more common across Europe Acid attacks, similar to the one injuring four U.S. women Sunday at a French train station, are escalating across Europe, and authorities are concerned that corrosive substances may become more of a “weapon of choice” for potential terrorist attacks. Sunday's attack in Marseille against four Boston College students studying abroad is not being considered a terrorist attack, French authorities said. The female suspect, 41, has a history of mental health problems and was arrested at the scene. Boston College said the students are all juniors. “It appears that the students are fine, considering the circumstances, though they may require additional treatment for burns,” said Nick Gozik, director of the college's Office of International Programs. The Paris prosecutor’s office said its counter-terrorism division, which has responsibility for all terror-related incidents in France, had not assumed jurisdiction for the attack. More:4 U.S. female college students attacked with acid in France; terrorism not suspected More:Moped mayhem: UK attackers on scooters target victims with thefts, acid More:Acid attacks against women in India on the rise; survivors fight back But police and academic researchers say acid-related attacks — many involving terrorism — are spreading across Europe and have occurred recently in the United States. Toxic substances, including drain cleaner, are used as weapons more frequently partly as a result of a crackdown on guns and knives overseas in recent years. An assault in east London this year at the Mangle nightclub left two people blind in one eye from what police called a "corrosive fluid." Witnesses said the attack followed a fight in the club. In April, police in Manchester in northern England, said a pregnant woman and a man suffered "severe discomfort" when someone threw bleach in their eyes from a passing car. Assaults involving corrosive substances have more than doubled in England since 2012, according to police data obtained by the British Broadcasting Company. The vast majority of attacks were in London, with at least 208 since 2016. The data show that at least 38 of those incidents have caused serious injuries, and at least one was fatal. The attacks have become so acute that advocates of some victims have called on the British Parliament to make it illegal to purchase strong acid products without a license. Other acid incidents have been reported in Berlin and in Italy, where a former Miss Italy finalist was reportedly attacked by a former boyfriend. In the U.S., two women were attacked just a week apart in 2010 in separate incidents in Mesa, Ariz., and Vancouver, Wash. In England, acid attacks have been rising as a percent of all violent attacks, but the actual number of incidents was “tiny” compared to attacks with other weapons, according to Assistant Chief Constable Rachel Kearton, who is the National Police Chiefs Council lead for corrosive attacks. Simon Harding, a criminologist and expert on gangs at London’s Middlesex University, told the BBC that acid is becoming "a weapon of first choice." "Acid throwing is a way of showing dominance, power and control ... building enormous fear among gang peer groups," he said. Harding noted that gang members know charges against them may not be as serious in an acid-throwing incident, as opposed to other weapons, and that acid-throwing cases are harder to prosecute because there’s rarely DNA evidence.

485537db13bb7a144443cd20eee05ac9

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/09/20/iran-nuclear-deal-nuclear-program/685404001/

Iran nuclear deal: What's at stake for U.S., allies?

Iran nuclear deal: What's at stake for U.S., allies? President Trump said Wednesday at the United Nations that he has made a decision about whether to keep or kill the Iran nuclear deal he called an "embarrassment to the United States." But he's not saying what that decision is. In the meantime, here's what you need to know about the Iran nuclear agreement: What is the Iran nuclear agreement? In 2015, President Barack Obama signed off on an agreement with the United Kingdom, France, Russia, China, Germany and the European Union in which Iran agreed to give up the means to make nuclear weapons. More:Trump says he's made a decision on Iran nuclear deal – but won't say what it is More:Iran's Rouhani condemns Trump at United Nations As part of the agreement, the U.S. and its allies would reduce long-term economic sanctions on Tehran. Why is the deal back in the news now? Trump now faces an Oct. 15 deadline to tell Congress whether he intends to re-certify the deal or get rid of it. The other signatories have said Iran is complying with the agreement, and that voiding it would only encourage Iran's nuclear weapons program, and could possibly trigger an arms race throughout the Middle East. Killing the deal would be a "grave mistake," French President Emmanuel Macron said during his speech to the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday. What happens if Trump chooses to kill the deal? If Trump chooses not to re-certify the deal, that alone may not completely scrap the agreement. Congress would still have 60 days to decide whether or not to re-impose sanctions. What has candidate Trump said about the Iran nuclear deal? During the presidential campaign, Donald Trump strongly condemned the Iran nuclear agreement negotiated by President Barack Obama. He has called it "one of the dumbest deals I've ever seen," "amateur hour" and "a disaster." His first priority as president, Trump promised, would be to "dismantle" it.

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https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/09/21/puerto-ricans-hurricane-maria/688060001/

In Puerto Rico, a desperate search for loved ones; power may be out 3-6 months

In Puerto Rico, a desperate search for loved ones; power may be out 3-6 months SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — The day after the worst storm to hit the island in 80 years, rescue teams continued searching for residents trapped in ravaged communities as the government warned that Hurricane Maria destroyed so much of the island it may be awhile before help arrives. “We ask the people of Puerto Rico for patience, to prepare for at least 72 hours before there is a functioning government,” Abner Gómez, director of Puerto Rico’s Emergency Management Agency, said at a Thursday press conference. Hurricane Maria tore through the center of this island nation of 3.4 million people with 155-mph winds and a ferocity not seen here in nearly a century, crippling the government and plunging the entire country into darkness. Gov. Ricardo Rosselló has said it may be three to six months before power is restored. Places like Loíza, Canóvanas, Río Grande y Toa Baja were some of the hardest hit, and rescuers still struggled to reach those communities. On Thursday, residents desperately tried to reach loved ones in the storm’s path, many of whom have been essentially cut off from the world. Rosselló earlier said he had not been able to reach his own father, former governor Pedro Rosselló. Enormous downed trees blocked streets and wires crisscrossed roads in the Isla Verde neighborhood of San Juan. In nearby Condado, drivers slowly waded their cars through streets and highways still submerged in floodwaters. Some motorists drove through oncoming traffic to avoid flooded highway lanes. Others turned around and went back. In the residential Carolina neighborhood, trees and debris clogged roads, but the concrete-slab homes in the district mostly withstood Maria's battering winds. Still, the violence unleashed by the storm terrorized residents. Victor Ramirez, 78, said this was by far the worst storm he'd seen on the island. "You could hear people crying, they were scared," he said as he surveyed the trees and debris the storm dumped on his street. "This one was devastating." Maria, now a Category 3 storm, was lashing the northeastern Dominican Republic early Thursday. It is expected to pass near the Turks and Caicos later in the day. More:Entire island of Puerto Rico without power after pummeling by Hurricane Maria More:What it's like to ride out Hurricane Maria More:It's hard to see Hurricane Maria through all this smoke More than 11,000 people sought refuge in about 500 shelters prepared by the government, Rosselló said. “Months and months and months and months are going to pass before we can recover from this,” Felix Delgado, the mayor of the northern city of Catano, told the Associated Press. Shawn Zimmerman, 27, a student from Lewistown, Pa., who moved to Puerto Rico nearly two years ago, was among those who helped clear smaller branches after the storm. “The storm didn’t bother me,” he said. “It’s the devastation. I get goosebumps. It’s going to take us a long time.” The U.S. territory, a decade deep in recession and struggling to pay its bills, wrestled with a massive recovery effort after Hurricane Irma sideswiped the island on Sept. 6, damaging buildings and knocking out power to a third of homes and businesses. Contributing: John Bacon, USA TODAY; The Associated Press

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https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/09/22/hurricane-maria-aftermath-puerto-rico-battles-floods/692251001/

Hurricane Maria aftermath: Puerto Rico battles epic flooding

Hurricane Maria aftermath: Puerto Rico battles epic flooding LOĺZA, Puerto Rico — Glenda Fuentes thanked God and considered herself lucky when Hurricane Maria’s battering winds finally subsided. One of the most catastrophic events to ever hit Puerto Rico, she thought, was over. Then the water came, battering her home in waves and quickly filling every room of her house. Within an hour, waist-high floodwaters had swallowed her home. “It was disastrous,” said Fuentes, 58, who lives in the Miñi Miñi area of Loíza. “It came all at once and went through the entire house.” Hurricane Maria tore through the middle of Puerto Rico early Wednesday with 150 mph sustained winds, splintering homes and crippling the island nation of 3.4 million. But floods brought on by the storm have been equally destructive and deadly. Along the north coast, places such as Loíza, Levittown, Toa Baja and Vega Baja were hit by deadly floods. People scrambled to rooftops as floods unleashed by the storm enveloped entire towns and rescue teams fought through the storm’s lingering winds to reach them. In Toa Baja, one of the worst hit places, more than 4,000 people were rescued from the floods, many from rooftops, local officials said. At least eight people drowned there, including a family of four that sheltered in their home from the storm, an elderly couple and a state policeman and his son, the town’s mayor Bernardo "Betito" Márquez told El Nuevo Dia. More:Hurricane Maria bears down on Turks and Caicos islands before heading out to sea More:Will Hurricane Maria hit the U.S. mainland? It's unlikely, but not impossible “Rain, lots of rain,” Márquez told the news site. “The swells go up and down but don’t go back out to sea. They stay. So the water just keeps rising.” While moving away from Puerto Rico, Hurricane Maria is so large it was expected to continue dumping rain on the island, with an extra 4 to 8 inches likely through Saturday. In some parts of the island, the total rainfall from the storm is expected to be up to 40 inches. The storm crippled this island nation, leaving many communities completely cut off by flood waters and impassable roads.The Federal Emergency Management Agency said it would open an air bridge from the mainland on Friday, with three to four military planes flying to the island every day carrying water, food, generators and temporary shelters. But with government help slow to reach some communities, many residents began the recovery process themselves. The hurricane dumped mounds of sand from nearby beaches onto Route 187, the main road connecting San Juan and Loíza that runs along the coast. On Thursday, bands of young men carrying machetes and hatchets hacked sections of Route 187 free, while bulldozers pushed the sand off the road and into heaping piles on the shoulder. Roberto Bermudez, 56, lives on that road. He was set to ride out the storm in his one-story concrete home with his wife and mother-in-law. But as Maria’s winds intensified, he saw the palms bend down nearly to the floor and the sea start to swell over Route 187. He put the family in the car and raced to higher ground in San Juan. “I’m brave, but what was coming our way was braver,” Bermudez said. In Loíza, a staging area was set near a school that doubled as a shelter for displaced residents. National National Guard troops and State Police mingled with worried residents. Just down the street, floodwaters still engulfed the neighborhood of Miñi Miñi. Some people waded into the water to return to their homes or search for loved ones. High-water trucks continuously brought residents out of the flooded area. Others, refusing to leave, waited on the second story of two-story homes, as contaminated floodwater circled their homes. On Thursday, the embattled neighborhood drew a visit from Gov. Ricardo Rosselló, who took part on rescue missions, met with the city’s mayor and spoke with displaced residents. One of them, Fuentes, said she waded out of her flooded home and went to her sister’s house, where a high-water truck picked them up and brought them to a shelter. But the shelter had run out of cots and water and had no baths, she said. She was considering returning to her flooded home and riding out the disaster there. “This is worse than my home,” she said, standing outside the shelter. “I just want to go home.”

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https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/09/25/trumps-new-travel-ban-applies-eight-countries-heres-why/699962001/

Trump's new travel ban: Why these 8 countries now

Trump's new travel ban: Why these 8 countries now President Trump listed eight countries in a new travel ban that he said is intended to protect Americans from harm. The countries either do not currently manage and screen their citizens to higher U.S. standards imposed since Trump took office, or they present “sufficient risk factors” that require restrictions on their citizens' travel to the United States, the White House said. The eight nations will remain on the list “until we are sure that we can conduct proper screening and vetting of those countries’ nationals,” the White House said in a statement Sunday night. Two countries that were on previous versions of Trump’s travel ban were removed from the new one: Sudan: It is listed as a state sponsor of terrorism and continues to be the site of terrorist activity, yet it was taken off the most recent list of six countries barred. After the U.S. government shared new security requirements with countries in July, some nations agreed to share more information regarding terrorism threats, improved travel document security or did a better job of reporting lost and stolen passports, the White House said. Iraq: It also has a significant terrorist presence and is still fighting to destroy the remnants of Islamic State fighters within its borders with significant U.S. support. Despite that, travel limitations are not warranted because of the close cooperative relationship between the U.S. government and the democratically elected government of Iraq, the White House said. Iraq had been on the original ban against seven majority-Muslim nations issued in January but was dropped when a revised list of six nations was issued in March. Here is the situation in each country on the new list and the White House rationale for banning its citizens from entering the U.S.: Chad The Saharan African nation has been a U.S. ally in the war against al-Qaeda-linked and Islamic State-affiliated Boko Haram and other radical groups, yet the terrorist threat there has been sufficient to warrant travel advisories by the State Department and Britain’s Foreign Office. “There have been numerous attacks by armed elements in the Lake Chad region throughout 2016 and 2017, where the terrorist group Boko Haram remains active,” the foreign office reported in a recent advisory. What the White House said: While Chad is an important partner in the fight against terrorists, its government does not share public-safety and terrorism-related information. The order suspends suspended travel for immigrants, business travelers and tourists. Iran The Shiite-majority Islamic Republic of Iran is Washington’s primary nemesis in the Middle East. The State Department accuses Iran of supporting the brutal reign of Syrian President Bashar Assad, and terrorist groups and militias in Yemen, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and the Gaza Strip. Iran also continues to test ballistic missiles, despite a United Nations Security Council resolution forbidding such tests while the 2015 nuclear deal negotiated by President Barack Obama is in force. Trump says Iran’s ballistic missile tests show that it is violating the spirit, if not the letter, of the deal. What the White House said: Iran “regularly fails to cooperate with the United States Government in identifying security risks,” and that as a state sponsor of terrorism, it is a source of significant terrorist threats. The order suspended travel for all Iranians who are not students or on exchange programs. Libya The North African country, whose proven oil reserves rank ninth globally, has been locked in a civil war since the overthrow of strongman Moammar Gadhafi by a U.S.-backed rebel movement in 2011. Warring factions include terrorist militias who fight under the banner of al-Qaeda or the Islamic State, and other militias and armies that control various territories and cities. On Sunday, U.S. Africa Command reported that six airstrikes on Friday killed 17 Islamic State fighters near the Libyan city of Sirte. What the White House said: While Libya’s government is a terrorist fighting partner, the presence of terrorists and Libya’s “challenges” in sharing public-safety and terrorism-related information was a factor in the decision to ban its citizens from traveling to the U.S. Another factor: Libya has not been “fully cooperative” when it comes to receiving Libyan nationals under orders for removal from the U.S. The order suspends Libyan immigrants, tourists and business travelers. North Korea The isolated East Asian nation has been high on Trump’s list of global troublemakers, mainly due to its nuclear weapons program, which has made several breakthrough advances in the past two years. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has threatened nuclear retaliation if attacked by the United States. This month he tested multiple ballistic missiles with launches that vaulted high over Japan, and a powerful hydrogen bomb for the first time. The U.S. government accuses North Korea of exporting its nuclear technology to Syria, and possibly collaborating with Iran on nuclear and missile technology. North Korean intelligence operatives are suspected in multiple assassinations and in the disappearances of Japanese, South Korean and U.S. citizens in East Asia. The United States issued 100 visas to North Koreans last year, 52 for business or tourism and the others for diplomats, according a report last month by broadcaster Voice of America. From March to June this year, the U.S. issued 18 visas to North Koreans, according to the report, which said that 1,200 visas were issued a year from 1997 through 2001. What the White House said: North Korea does not cooperate “in any respect and fails to satisfy all information-sharing requirements.” The suspension applies to all North Korean immigrants and non-immigrant travelers. Somalia The East African nation has been in a state of civil war for decades and has an active Islamic State-linked terrorist movement known as al-Shabab. U.S. forces have been working with troops loyal to the government of Somalia, which has expanded its control over the capital Mogadishu, although terrorists have killed dozens of people there this year. What the White House said: Somalia satisfied minimum U.S. requirements for information sharing, but has significant identity-management deficiencies and is still considered a terrorist haven. The order suspends Somali immigration, and requires enhanced screening and vetting for non-immigrant travelers. Syria This war-torn Middle Eastern country that borders NATO ally Turkey, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan and Iraq has been fighting a six-year-long civil war with numerous militias and terrorist groups backed by almost every nation in the region, including Iran and Saudi Arabia, as well as the U.S. and Russia. The Iran-backed Hezbollah militia, al-Qaeda and the Islamic State are all active in Syria, fighting each other. According to the State Department, all three either have attacked or seek to attack Western targets. What the White House said: Syria’s government is a state-sponsor of terrorism that “regularly fails to cooperate” in identifying security risks, while being a significant source of terrorist threats. The order suspends travel to Syrian immigrants and non-immigrants. Venezuela The South American nation has been in turmoil as the anti-American socialist government seeks to quash the political opposition by suspending the opposition-controlled parliament, packing the supreme court with friendly judges and appointing a new elective body of supporters in a referendum condemned by the U.S. government as being rigged. In a speech to the United Nations General Assembly last week, Trump listed Venezuela in a new “list of rogue nations” that updated the “Axis of Evil” coined in 2002 by President George W. Bush. What the White House said: Venezuela’s government has not cooperated to identify public safety threats, does not share terrorism-related information and has not been fully cooperative in receiving nationals who had been ordered removed from the U.S. The suspension order applies to certain Venezuelan government officials and their immediate family members who are non-immigrants on business or tourist travel to the U.S. Yemen The Arabian Peninsula nation has been fighting al-Qaeda terrorists for more than a decade, and is now embroiled in a civil war against Houthi rebels backed by Iran. The shaky government is backed by Saudi Arabia, which leads an Arab coalition in conducting airstrikes in support of Yemeni government forces. Yemen’s military also shares intelligence with the United States, which has fought terrorists there for years. What the White House said: Although Yemen is an important partner in the fight against terrorism, its government faces significant identity-management challenges, which are amplified by the significant terrorist presence. It also does not share enough terrorism-related information, the White House said. The order suspends travel for Yemeni immigrants and tourist and business travelers. More:New travel ban adds North Korea, Venezuela More:Supreme Court: No expansion of travel ban's refugee exemptions More:President Trump at U.N.: Here are the 3 nations in Trump's new 'Axis of Evil'

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https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/09/26/saudi-arabia-says-allow-women-drive-first-time/705377001/

Saudi Arabia says it will allow women to drive for first time

Saudi Arabia says it will allow women to drive for first time Saudi Arabia announced Tuesday that it will allow women to drive for the first time in the ultra-conservative kingdom, ending a policy criticized worldwide as a human rights violation. Saudi Arabia, the only country in the world to bar females from driving, has received negative attention for years for detaining women who defied its ban. In a royal decree signed by King Salman bin Abdulaziz, the order said it will be effective immediately, but the rollout will take months, according to the Saudi Press Agency. The decree said women would be allowed to drive "in accordance with the Islamic laws." Activists are celebrating the news as a major development in a country where women face extreme social and personal restrictions as a result of the kingdom’s strict interpretation of Islam. Women are not allowed to travel without the permission of a male guardian. They also must cover their hair and bodies in public under the law. The United States welcomed Saudi Arabia’s announcement Tuesday, with State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert saying the U.S. is “happy” with the move, according to the Associated Press. Nauert would not comment on other restrictions Saudi women face in the kingdom. The progressive developments follow a decade of incremental change in Saudi Arabia, with more women working in retail and being appointed top executive roles at the Saudi stock exchange and Dammam Airport. Women can now also be appointed to the Shoura Council and run in municipal elections. Women in Saudi Arabia who have defied the accepted norm of their gender not driving have met extreme outcomes. Manal al-Sharif was arrested for breaking the law in 2011 when she filmed herself cruising behind the wheel of a car and uploaded the video to YouTube. Eventually she was released from jail after an international outcry. She said the arrest only made her more determined to speak out for Saudi women's rights. Her passion led her to write a memoir, Daring to Drive: a Saudi Woman's Awakening. "My society is very conservative. Women are treated as minors who need protection and permission of men for almost everything," al-Sharif said in a July interview with USA TODAY. More:Saudi female driver speaks out for women: 'Your rights are taken, not given' Al-Sharif explained that when 47 women tried to break an accepted norm by driving on Nov. 6, 1990, the religious establishment balked. "They were denounced as immoral women out to destroy Saudi society," al-Sharif said. "Two days after the protest, the Saudi grand mufti issued a decree that driving by women was un-Islamic. The official argument: Women who drive will become immoral." Contributing: Waseem Abbasi

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https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/09/26/witch-doctors-sacrificing-children-drought-stricken-african-country-uganda/703756001/

Witch doctors sacrificing children in this drought-stricken African country

Witch doctors sacrificing children in this drought-stricken African country KATABI, Uganda — Jackline Mukisa sobbed as she described how her 8-year-old son was found in a nearby swamp in February without teeth, lips, ears and genitals. “My innocent son died a painful death,” said Mukisa, 28. “How could somebody intend to murder my son?” A motorcyclist offered John Lubega a lift as he walked back from school, according to fellow students who saw him last. His remains suggest he was slowly killed as part of a human sacrifice ritual performed by witch doctors, apparently to appease the spirits, said Mukisa, who filed a police report. No arrest has been made so far. In this landlocked country whose diverse landscape includes the snow-capped Ruwenzori Mountains and immense Lake Victoria, many believe sacrificial rituals can bring quick wealth and health. Among those rituals, human sacrifice, especially of children, occurs frequently despite the government’s efforts to stop it. Seven children and two adults were sacrificed last year, said Moses Binoga, a police officer who heads Uganda’s Anti-Human Sacrifice and Trafficking Task Force. Seven children and six adults were sacrificed in 2015. But experts said the number could be much higher. Times are tough in Uganda, and people are looking to sacrifices to improve their fortunes. The worst drought in over half a century has hit parts of East Africa, leaving more than 11 million people in this nation facing food insecurity and 1.6 million on the brink of famine, according to the Ugandan government. “There is no food due to the ongoing drought, and some believe that this has been brought by ancestral spirits,” said Joel Mugoya, a traditional healer. “So there is a high desire for people to conduct sacrifices so that they come out of this problem.” Recently, Uganda police arrested 44 suspects in Katabi, a town 24 miles from the capital, Kampala, in connection with a spate of killings of children and women. Half of the suspects have been charged in court, including two alleged masterminds. Uganda Police Inspector General Kale Kayihura said one suspect confessed to killing eight women. More than 21 women have been killed between May 3 and Sept. 4, Kayihura said. “The murders were for ritual sacrifices,” he told residents last week. “We are working hard to arrest the remaining suspects and end the practice.” Francis Bahati’s wife was among the victims. He discovered her body after three days of searching. Her fingers and feet had been cut off for ritual purposes, likely in hopes of securing better fortunes. “I was shocked and even lost consciousness,” he said. Last year police arrested Herbert Were, a resident of Busia town in eastern Uganda, for beheading his 8-year-old brother, Joel Ogema. Were, 21, confessed to police that he killed his brother in hopes of attaining wealth. Church leaders are teaming up with police to end the brutal practice. Pastor Peter Sewakiryanga, who heads Kyampisi Childcare Ministries, a Christian organization that fights child sacrifice in Uganda, said children disappear in the country every week. They are often found dead, or alive with missing body parts. Most survivors or victims do not file police reports, Sewakiryanga said, adding that he implores victims to come forward. “It’s a serious problem but we are fighting it with the help of the government,” he said. Sacrifices often involve removing body parts, blood or tissue while the child is still alive. “It’s a brutal ritual that destroys the lives of our children and affects their parents mentally,” he added. “We are working with the police to arrest witch doctors involved in the ritual. We are also assisting the survivors financially and with moral support.” Sewakiryanga said his charity worked with Ugandan police three years ago to arrest a witch doctor and his accomplices who sacrificed a 7-year-old girl named Suubi. The witch doctor drained her blood and cut out her genitals, he said. He then cut the neck and drained the blood of the girl’s 10-year-old brother, Kanani. In June, a Ugandan court sentenced the witch doctor to life in prison. Fears of witch doctors have hurt women who practice traditional medicine, however. According to KidsRights, a global organization that advocates for children, Uganda has 650,000 registered traditional healers and an estimated 3 million unregistered practitioners. Unscrupulous witch doctors hide among so-called healers, the group said. “They should arrest people who murdered my son,” Mukisa said. “The government is doing little to protect our children. They must begin to arrest all witch doctors.” But Sewakiryanga said arresting everyone claiming to practice medicine was going too far. He hoped to end the practice by changing the hearts of those who promote human sacrifice. Efforts to end the practice need to expand, he said. Other countries in Africa reported to be practicing child sacrifice include Tanzania, Nigeria, Swaziland, Liberia, Botswana, South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe.

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https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/09/26/yes-puerto-rico-part-united-states/703273001/

Yes, Puerto Rico is part of the United States

Yes, Puerto Rico is part of the United States The destruction wrought by Hurricane Maria on the 3.4 million residents of Puerto Rico resurfaced a disturbing fact – many Americans don't know the first thing about the Caribbean island. A USA Today/Suffolk University poll conducted in March found that fewer than half of Americans (47%) believe that Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens by birth. They are. Instead, 30% of the people surveyed thought residents of the island are citizens of Puerto Rico. Another 21% just didn't know where the people of Puerto Rico belong. That may help explain why the nation rallied behind the victims of Hurricane Harvey in Texas and Hurricane Irma in Florida, but have not responded in the same way to the victims of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico. "What I fear is that the federal government is not stepping up as fully and as quickly as we must," Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., whose parents are Puerto Rican, said on the floor of the House of Representatives on Tuesday. "We need an air lift. We need an effort the scale of Dunkirk. We need the federal government to go all in." President Trump announced Tuesday morning that he will visit the island next week, but confusion remains. So what exactly is Puerto Rico? It's a U.S. commonwealth Puerto Rico first became a U.S. territory following the Spanish-American War, which was ignited by the explosion of the U.S.S. Maine in Havana Harbor in 1898. The war ended with the U.S. acquiring many of Spain's possessions, including Cuba, Guam, the Philippines and Puerto Rico. In 1952, Puerto Ricans adopted a new constitution, which established the current relationship of Puerto Rico as a commonwealth of the United States. Under that arrangement, Puerto Rico shares many similarities to U.S. states. Its residents elect their own legislative assembly, a governor, and a representative to the U.S. House of Representatives. But unlike U.S. states, Puerto Ricans on the island cannot vote in presidential elections, and their representative in the House — known as a resident commissioner — has no vote. The island also has a Federal Affairs Administration, based in Washington, D.C., which represents the island before the federal government, the 50 state governments and U.S. businesses. Its residents are U.S. citizens In 1917, the U.S. Congress passed the Jones–Shafroth Act, which grants U.S. citizenship to anyone born on the island. As U.S. citizens, Puerto Ricans can freely travel and move to the U.S. mainland without a passport or a visa. For Puerto Ricans, traveling to the mainland is the same as a New Yorker crossing into New Jersey or flying to Hawaii. Thousands of Puerto Ricans have taken advantage of that in recent years as the island's finances have crumbled. From 2006 to 2015, about 445,000 left the island for the mainland, more than 10% of the island's population, according to the Puerto Rico Statistics Institute. Most of them live in New York, Florida, and New Jersey. As citizens, Puerto Ricans can also volunteer to serve, or be drafted into, the military. About 18,000 Puerto Ricans served in World War I, 65,000 in World War II, 61,000 in the Korean War, and 48,000 in Vietnam, according to Puerto Rico's former governor Luis Fortuño. Puerto Ricans get some, but not all, federal benefits As U.S. citizens, Puerto Ricans receive many of the same financial benefits, and liabilities, of their mainland counterparts. They pay most federal taxes, including payroll, Social Security and Medicare taxes. But they do not pay federal personal income taxes. Puerto Ricans receive many, but not all, federal benefits. For example, the federal government matches 100% of Medicaid funding for people living in the 50 states and the District of Columbia, but matches only 57.2% of Medicaid expenditures for residents of Puerto Rico. Congress has also capped annual Medicaid spending in Puerto Rico. Finances in Puerto Rico were dire even before Maria hit Hurricane Maria hit the island at the worst possible time as the government was already grappling with a historic economic crisis that has forced the closure of schools, hospitals and other government services. In May, an oversight board appointed to manage the crisis filed for the equivalency of bankruptcy protection. The government is being crushed by $74 billion in debts and $49 billion in pension liabilities, but its creditors are worried the island will default on its payments. Even Trump raised that concern in a series of tweets Monday night lamenting the "billions of dollars owed to Wall Street and the banks which, sadly, must be dealt with."

272ba02f358d80fe6c0b90339e71c24b

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/09/28/balis-mount-agung-volcano-threatens-erupt/711697001/

More than 134,000 flee as Bali's Mount Agung volcano threatens to erupt

More than 134,000 flee as Bali's Mount Agung volcano threatens to erupt More than 134,000 people have fled the area surrounding the Mount Agung volcano on the Indonesian island of Bali, fearing an imminent eruption. The Indonesian disaster agency’s 134,200 figure is more than double the population of the exclusion zone 7.5 miles around the mountain, but people from further afield are leaving too, the Associated Press reported. The volcano, located in the northeast of the island, has been rumbling since August but the tremors escalated dramatically in recent days. It last erupted in 1963, spewing ash, gas, rock and miles of lava, killing more than 1,100 people and destroying numerous homes. It remained active for more than a year. Many of the evacuees, who set off after the red alert was given on Friday, are sheltering in buildings including temporary camps and sports centers. Sirens will be sounded if an eruption occurs. “I was very worried about the situation” said Nyoman Suarta, who lives in a village just outside the danger zone. “So I decided to get out to save myself with my stuff and my pet,” he said, carrying a bird in a cage. The island attracts millions of tourists every year, many of them Australian. Bali authorities urged holidaymakers to continue visiting the island. More:Indonesian volcano: Nearly 50,000 flee imminent eruption “Bali tourism is safe. Do not spread the misleading news that Bali is not safe because Mount Agung is on the highest alert status. Please, come and visit Bali,” said A.A. Gede Yuniartha Putra, the island's tourism chief, according to the Australian website news.com.au. The website said Indonesian authorities were on standby to divert flights in the event of an eruption. Meanwhile, thousands of cows have been left behind by villagers fleeing the volcano. Indonesia’s disaster agency said about 30,000 of the animals were in the danger zone, while fleeing villagers sold or took with them 10,000. Local animal officials were trying to evacuate the cattle — which need 1,200 tons of dry feed a month in addition to grazing — but so far removed only about 1,400 because of a limited number of trucks, the AP reported There are more than 120 active volcanoes in Indonesia, made up of thousands of islands on the “Ring of Fire” of fault lines and volcanos in the Pacific. Mount Sinabung on Sumatra, an Indonesian island 1,400 miles from Bali, has been erupting periodically since 2010, belching a miles-high cloud of ash that has forced over 30,000 people to evacuate. Elsewhere in the Pacific, all 11,000 residents of the island of Ambae in Vanuatu were evacuated when the Manaro Voui volcano erupted over the weekend.

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https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/09/28/santiago-maldonado-argentina-obsessed-his-disappearance/711503001/

Where in the world is Santiago Maldonado? Argentina obsessed with activist's disappearance

Where in the world is Santiago Maldonado? Argentina obsessed with activist's disappearance BUENOS AIRES — For two months, a shaggy, solemn face has been plastered on the front pages of Argentina's newspapers, printed on T-shirts and spray-painted on murals across the country, all with the same line of text “Where is Santiago Maldonado?” The 28-year-old activist went missing on Aug. 1 during a protest for indigenous rights in Patagonia on the southern tip of South America. Law enforcement officials, who broke up the protest, later claimed Maldonado drowned in a nearby river or escaped over the border to Chile. Yet the lack of a body or DNA evidence has created a frenzy among Argentinians, who are obsessed with the case, and for good reason given the country's recent past: They fear the government made him "disappear." That is a chilling prospect in a country where as many as 30,000 political opponents of the ruling military dictatorship were grabbed off the streets in the 1970s and '80s and "disappeared." They often were interrogated by the military regime, tortured and then dropped into the Atlantic Ocean from an airplane. That the government is behind Maldonado's vanishing is “the only hypothesis there is because there aren’t witnesses to support other hypotheses,” said Andrea Antico, Maldonado’s sister-in-law. “We believe that the state is responsible for the forced disappearance of Santiago.” Antico and other government critics say it is not coincidental that Maldonado's disappearance comes during the rule of President Mauricio Macri, the first conservative to hold the top office since the military regime ended in 1983. They’ve tried to show that Macri, who took office in 2015, has a history of authoritarianism, with low tolerance for public demonstrations and an indifference to human rights, especially when it comes to indigenous communities obstructing completion of infrastructure and energy projects intended to jump-start the country’s struggling economy. Pressure on the Macri administration to find Maldonado grows as an increasing number of international organizations, including Human Rights Watch and the United Nations, express their concern over his disappearance. The day he went missing, Maldonado, a craftsman and tattoo artist from a town near this capital city, was attending a Mapuche protest in the southern province of Chubut, where the indigenous community of Pu Lof is fighting for land currently owned by Italian fashion billionaire Luciano Benetton. Maldonado and other activists demanded the release of Facundo Jones Huala, the leader of the Ancestral Mapuche Resistance that both Argentina and Chile have labeled a terrorist faction. The protest forced the Argentine Gendarmerie — a federal border enforcement agency — to intervene when Maldonado and other activists tried blocking a nearby road. Officers forcibly broke up the demonstration, but no one has yet determined where Maldonado went after the chaos. One of the demonstrators, Maxi Goldschmidt, reported seeing Maldonado at the bank of the Chubut River that other protesters had begun crossing, but his family said he doesn’t know how to swim. Maldonado's brother said protesters told him they saw Maldonado being loaded into a government vehicle — an arrest that would have been ordered from as high up as National Security Minister Patricia Bullrich. Whether Maldonado was a target of the federal government or a member of the Ancestral Mapuche Resistance remains unclear. His family denies his involvement in the terrorist organization. The government had pursued a lead indicating that he participated in an attack on a Benetton guard post a month before the protest. An employee stabbed one of the attackers in the dark, leaving a blood stain. The country waited weeks to see if the DNA from the blood matched Maldonado’s, but the result came back negative. Now, attention has turned to the eight Gendarmerie officers who may have acted outside of protocol in breaking up the demonstration. After initially denying foul play, one officer confessed to throwing a rock in frustration. Another, whose jaw was broken, said he fired a rubber bullet at an unidentified protester. In addition, in an audio recorded on the message app WhatsApp that was leaked, an officer can be heard saying that Maldonado is in the back of a truck. Another recording mentions a body in a river, and a third discusses hiding law enforcement vehicles. Despite what many Argentinians consider to be overwhelming evidence against the Gendarmerie, the federal judge overseeing the investigation, insisted that Maldonado drowned while crossing the river. “I don’t see evidence that allows me to maintain that he could have been seriously wounded by a shot from a short distance or a stone by one or more Gendarmerie officers,” Judge Guido Otranto said in an interview with one of Argentina’s largest daily newspapers, La Nación. Those comments drew sharp criticism from both the public and the Maldonado family, which called the investigation “slow and inefficient” justice. Otranto was replaced at the end of September following a complaint about his comments, giving the Maldonado family renewed hope that a transparent and fair investigation will result in Santiago’s reappearance — something quite rare in Argentina. “We need to know where Santiago is, what happened to him, who is responsible for causing this pain,” Antico said. “That is our cause and we aren’t going to back down.”

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https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/09/29/these-zimbabwe-children-hunt-delicacy-mice-and-sell-them-snacks/716123001/

These Zimbabwe children hunt 'delicacy' mice and sell them as snacks

These Zimbabwe children hunt 'delicacy' mice and sell them as snacks CHIDZA, Zimbabwe — With headlamps to peer through the darkness, children in rural Chidza village in central Zimbabwe scamper through the night to trap mice, which they roast and sell to motorists on the road to neighboring South Africa. Considered a delicacy, the field mice are hunted in cornfields where they have grown plump on the grains, grass and wild fruits. The children use old-fashioned traps — wooden rectangles with spring loaded bars — and bait them with seeds of grain. They strategically place the traps on little paths used by the mice as they look for food. Sometimes within minutes of laying the trap a mouse is caught. The snapping sound of a trap alerts the kids who rush to retrieve their catch. On a good night the children say they can catch between 50 and 100 mice. The night hunting comes at a risk as snakes are also on the prowl for the rodents. By the end of their trapping adventures the children will have the mice heaped in dishes. The mice are then roasted over an open fire, salted and left to dry before finding their way on the market. Standing by the roadside, the children attract travelers by holding up skewers of the mice. They sell 10 mice for a dollar and say they are doing a brisk business.

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https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/10/03/report-says-mystery-flight-370-almost-inconceivable/726308001/

MH370: 'Inconceivable' disappearance remains mystery 3 years later

MH370: 'Inconceivable' disappearance remains mystery 3 years later After spending more than three years and $160 million scouring thousands of square miles of the Indian Ocean, the disappearance of Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 and the 239 people aboard remains a total mystery, a dismayed Australian government admitted Tuesday. In a final report, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau said authorities are no closer to understanding the reasons behind the plane's disappearance or the plane's exact location. “It is almost inconceivable and certainly societally unacceptable in the modern aviation era with 10 million passengers boarding commercial aircraft every day, for a large commercial aircraft to be missing and for the world not to know with certainty what became of the aircraft and those on board,” the safety bureau said. “The reasons for the loss of MH370 cannot be established with certainty until the aircraft is found,” the bureau, which coordinated the search, said in the 440-page report. The aircraft disappeared on March 8, 2014, during a flight from Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia to Beijing. Last year, the Joint Agency Coordination Center in Australia suspended a search after teams combed the 46,000-square mile search zone in the southern Indian Ocean without finding the plane. Two sections of flaps were traced to the plane, but the fuselage has not been found. Despite other methods such as studying satellite imagery and investigating ocean drifts after debris from the plane washed ashore on islands in the eastern Indian Ocean and the east coast of Africa, the 1,046-day search was called off by the governments of Malaysia, China and Australia on Jan. 17. “The ATSB expresses our deepest sympathies to the families of the passengers and crew on board MH370. We share your profound and prolonged grief, and deeply regret that we have not been able to locate the aircraft, nor those 239 souls on board that remain missing.” The plane never issued a distress signal, and investigators believe it flew on automatic pilot until running out of fuel and crashing somewhere in the vast Indian Ocean. Some debris washed ashore in 2015 and 2016, but not enough to allow any firm conclusions about what happened to the plane. Search teams analyzed satellite imagery showing objects in the ocean that may have been MH370 debris. The report said the analysis identified an area of less than 9,650 square miles — roughly the size of the state of Vermont — that “has the highest likelihood of containing MH370.” The bureau noted the Malaysian government is “continuing work on their investigation of the facts and circumstances surrounding the loss of MH370.” The search was extremely difficult because no transmissions were received from the aircraft after its first 38 minutes of flight. Systems designed to automatically transmit the flight’s position failed to work after this point, the report said. Subsequent analysis of radar and satellite communication data revealed the aircraft had continued to fly for seven hours. Its last positively known position was fixed at the northern tip of Sumatra by surveillance systems operating that night, six hours before it ended its flight in the southern Indian Ocean. The bureau said the search had at least led to some important gains in the field of locating missing aircraft on flights over deep ocean areas, with improvements made to systems for tracking aircraft. “Steps are being taken to advance other aircraft systems including emergency locator transponders and flight recorder locator beacons,” the report said. Contributing: The Associated Press

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https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/10/18/real-death-toll-puerto-rico-probably-450-much-higher-than-official-count/774918001/

Real death toll in Puerto Rico is probably 450 — much higher than official count

Real death toll in Puerto Rico is probably 450 — much higher than official count Three weeks after Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico, we’ve seen images of the destruction and heard stories about the lack of electricity and basic supplies like food and water in some areas. But the main way we measure — and understand — the scope of any disaster is through the death toll. The official count is now 48 deaths. But the news site Vox thought that number seemed off. "We knew from reports on the ground, and investigative journalists who've also been looking into this, that this was very likely way too low of a number,” said Eliza Barclay, an editor at Vox. So they dug into the numbers, cross-checking with news reports, and found that the number of casualties resulting from the hurricane was probably much closer to 450. Two members of Congress have now announced they will request an audit of the official death toll. Here are a few highlights from Vox’s report: -At the time of the report, the official death toll was 43.-National and local news outlets reported an additional 36 deaths attributed to the hurricane.-NPR reported an additional 49 bodies with unidentified cause of death sent to a hospital morgue since the storm.-The Los Angeles Times reported 50 more deaths than normal in one region in the three days after the hurricane.-Puerto Rico's Center for Investigative Reporting found 69 hospital morgues were are at “capacity.”-According to El Vocero newspaper, 350 bodies are being stored at the Institute of Forensic Sciences awaiting autopsies, but it’s not clear how many of them were there before the hurricane. Listen to The World’s full interview with Vox’s Eliza Barclay. MORE FROM GLOBAL POST AND PRI: Many Syrians are thrilled their national soccer team didn't make it to the World Cup A rescue dog named Frida has become a national hero in Mexico Why people stay friends with their rapists This article originally appeared on GlobalPost and PRI.org. Its content was created separately to USA TODAY.

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https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/10/21/9-7-million-year-old-teeth-discovery-germany-could-re-write-human-history/787140001/

9.7-million-year-old teeth discovery in Germany could re-write human history

9.7-million-year-old teeth discovery in Germany could re-write human history The great ape teeth found in Eppelsheim last year could topple the understanding of our earliest history. Herbert Lutz, head of the excavation team, tells Deutsche Welle what the find means to him — and how it almost didn’t happen. A little over a year ago, a team of archaeologists in southwestern Germany uncovered two teeth where the Rhine River used to flow, in the town of Eppelsheim near Mainz. The news of the discovery was announced this week, because the team that performed the excavation wanted to make sure that what they had found was as significant as they initially thought. Herbert Lutz heads that team at the Natural History Museum in Mainz. Herbert Lutz: It's completely new to science, and it is a big surprise because nobody had expected such a tremendous, extremely rare discovery. To find a completely new species? Nobody expected that. Deutsche Welle (DW): Why were you looking at this precise location? HL: We were excavating riverbed sediments of the proto-Rhine River near Eppelsheim. These sediments are approximately 10 million years old and are well known in science, ever since the first fossils were excavated here in the early 19th century. DW: And how old are the teeth you've found? HL: Around 9.7 million years old. DW: What does a 9.7-million-year-old tooth look like? HL: It's perfectly preserved. It actually looks like a new excellent tooth; however, it's no longer white. It's shining like amber. DW: No less has been said about this tooth than that the history of mankind now has to be rewritten… HL: Well you know it's a question that's been discussed for decades. New discoveries lead to new insights that may contribute to our knowledge about our own history, and this finding has that potential because the great ape species has a relationship to Homo sapiens. DW: So what's the big groundbreaking knowledge here? HL: The groundbreaking knowledge is that we have comparable finds only in East Africa. And these are much, much younger. These species are well known as Ardi and Lucy, and their canines look very similar to the one here from Eppelsheim, but they are only two, three, four or five million years old, and Eppelsheim is almost 10. So the question is: What has happened? DW: You mean - how this great ape got up to the Rhine valley, or whether the species in Africa came from Europe? HL: Yeah, we have similar species in Africa, but we don't know where this great ape came from. We do not have comparable finds from southern Europe, even from in between maybe Greece or Turkey. From there, we know of great ape fossils, but they all look much different. And so it's a great mystery. DW: So this is the lone Rhineland monkey whose teeth have been found. Can the general public see the discovery? HL: Until Sunday, yes, they are in our exhibition in the museum in Mainz. And most likely about mid November they will be on display in a great exhibition in the Landesmuseum in Mainz. DW: Professor Lutz, can you give us a sense of how important this finding was to you personally? HL: Well, we've been digging at this site for 17 years now. And when we started, of course everybody knew it had the potential to yield hominoid fossils. We were always waiting for such a find. But at the end of 2016, we decided to finish the excavation and just in the last second, if you will, these two teeth came to light. We really weren't expecting such a tremendous discovery. So for us now it's clear we have to continue, and we will continue. And, well, I think it's a big luck to experience such an exciting story. I did not expect it. Professor Herbert Lutz is deputy director of the Natural History Museum in Mainz. His focus is geological and paleontological excavation.

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https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/10/23/all-presidents-men-and-women-trump-like-leaders-proliferate/789931001/

All the president's men and women: Trump-like leaders proliferate

All the president's men and women: Trump-like leaders proliferate Corrections & Clarifications: A previous version of this article misstated the date of Rodrigo Duterte's election. Call them the political offspring of President Trump if you like: Wealthy, controversial, outspoken and skilled at delivering electoral upsets and victories by appealing to voters' nativist instincts on immigration, Islam, trade, jobs and law and order. In at least two cases, the Philippines and Czech Republic, Trump's influence has spawned elected leaders made in his own image. Several other leaders or would-be leaders resemble the U.S. president in at least some ways. Here's a look at the international Trump effect: Andrej Babis, 63, Czech Republic This entrepreneur and billionaire is set to become the Czech Republic's next prime minister after his ANO party won more than three times the number of votes as the conservative ODS party, which came in second, in Saturday's national election. More:'Czech Donald Trump': Populist tide spreads to one of Central Europe's last liberal democracies Like Trump, Babis has a sprawling business empire. It includes vast holdings in agriculture and forestry, chemicals, real estate and newspapers. He has vowed to use his business acumen to cut government red tape and fight corruption, although he is the subject of a possible tax crime and conflict-of-interest probe. He campaigned on a promise to resist immigration and wants the Czech Republic to forge closer ties with non-European Union partners, including Russia. Sound familiar? Rodrigo Duterte, 72, the Philippines President Duterte is known for his inflammatory rhetoric and tough stance against alleged drug users and dealers. He has compared himself to Adolf Hitler, called the pope a "son of a whore" and admitted he would have no problem murdering thousands of drug addicts. Duterte, a former mayor, won national office before Trump, in June 2016, on an anti-crime and anti-corruption platform. However, his political rise coincided with Trump's campaign for president. His brutal war on drugs, which he recently suspended, has led to thousands of extra-judicial killings by police. He's rich, too, although the source of his wealth remains a mystery. Duterte said he grew up in a poor family but also claimed he became a millionaire at a young age after an inheritance. Rappler, an online news site based in the Philippines, has reported that over the past 12 years, Duterte's wealth has increased by 290%, a rise that does not match his declared assets. More:Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte pulls out of brutal drugs war Like Trump, Duterte dislikes the United Nations. Trump once complained about the interior design at the international organization's headquarters in New York. "The cheap 12 inch sq. marble tiles behind speaker at UN always bothered me. I will replace with beautiful large marble slabs if they ask me," Trump said in 2012. Duterte has gone one step further and offered to burn down the U.N. The two men will meet next month when Trump visits Asia. Who else is walking and talking like Trump? Bulgaria's Veselin Mareshki, 50, is a businessman and politician who founded the anti-immigration Volya party. He owns a drug store chain with more than 350 branches nationwide. The New York Times reported this year that his name is on all of them: "Mareshki, Mareshki, Mareshki. You see it everywhere. Like Trump, Trump, Trump." Geert Wilders, 54, is leader of the far right in the Netherlands. Long before Trump sought to ban U.S. travel by citizens of several Muslim countries, Wilders was infuriating his opponents by calling for a ban on Muslim immigration. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte held off a challenge by Wilders in the March election by taking a Trump-like turn to the right and questioning the place of Islam in Dutch society. Marine Le Pen, 49, lost France's presidential election in May to the smooth-talking pro-European centrist Emmanuel Macron. If Macron fails to deliver on a promise to boost France's long-stagnant economy, Le Pen could yet prevail. She, too, has vowed to revitalize France's industrial past and promised to put "core" traditional France first. Those themes could have mass appeal to working class voters when France holds its next election in 2022. Boris Johnson, 53, is Britain's foreign minister — and possibly future prime minister. He has a shock of blond hair that seems Trump-like, he was born in New York, and he's pretty good at saying outrageous things. A former journalist, he can't hide his obsession with media coverage. He helped lead the campaign for Britain to exit the European Union, an outcome endorsed by Trump. Jacinda Ardern, 37, is New Zealand's new prime minister. She opposes tax cuts and supports the welfare state, unlike Trump. However, she wants to lower immigration to New Zealand. That promptedThe Wall Street Journal to tweet last month: "Meet New Zealand's Justin Trudeau (prime minister of Canada) — except she's more like Trump on immigration." Ardern said she found it "offensive" to be compared to the American leader.

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https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/10/25/how-many-missiles-north-korea-test-before-end-year/797701001/

This is how many missiles North Korea will test before the end of the year

This is how many missiles North Korea will test before the end of the year If North Korea's past record is anything to go by, Pyongyang may only test a few more missiles before the end of the year, according to a U.S. researcher. Shea Cotton, a North Korea expert at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies in California, concluded the regime conducts fewer missile tests in the final three months of the year compared to all other periods. In fact, according to Cotton's calculations, North Korea may test no missiles until 2018. Cotton, who built a database that tracks Pyongyang's military activity, calculated that for the last five years North Korea's missile test frequency has averaged 0.8 in the fourth quarter against 4.3 in the first, 4.8 in the second and 4.2 in the third. In a series of Twitter posts this week Cotton conceded he isn't certain why the drop off takes place around this time and it could be a statistical anomaly. "We’ve observed it every year since (Kim Jong Un) took power (in 2012)," he wrote. "I suspect North Korea spends its resources in the fall on the harvest or other winter preparations." Cotton noted — he made the observation Oct. 22. — it's "been 38 days since the last DPRK missile test. This is the longest gap in tests we've seen since DPRK started tests on Feb. 12 this year." DPRK is North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. "In April and May, North Korea was testing missiles at a rate of about one per week. This 38 day gap is a big slowdown from that" he added. President Trump departs for a tour of Asia next amid heightened tensions with North Korea over its nuclear program. He will visit Japan, South Korea, China, Vietnam and the Philippines. During the 12-day trip he is likely to pressure the region's leaders — one avenue could be by threatening to withhold valuable trade deals — to help curb North Korea's nuclear and missile programs. For the last few months, Trump has been exchanging inflammatory insults and rhetoric with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. "The president's engagements will strengthen the international resolve to confront the North Korean threat and ensure the complete, verifiable, and irreversible denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," the White House said in a statement. "He will also emphasize the importance of fair and reciprocal economic ties with America's trade partners," the statement added. North Korea held its last and most powerful nuclear test on Sept. 3. While in South Korea, Trump could break from recent presidential custom of visiting the demilitarized zone that has separated North and South Korea for more than 60 years. Vice President Mike Pence visited the area in April. Cotton, the researcher, stressed that the relative dearth of Pyongyang missile activity was not linked to Trump's foreceful diplomatic stance toward North Korea. "The point I’m making is that this slow down probably isn’t cuz our DPRK policies are working so much as it’s (Kim Jong Un) staying on schedule," he said. "And also that if we want to negotiate with DPRK now is a great time to do it since they’re not going to be firing off rockets every week." More:North Korea making millions from construction projects in Africa: report

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https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/10/25/two-person-firms-300-million-puerto-rico-contract-raises-eyebrows/796882001/

Two-person energy firm's $300 million Puerto Rico contract raises eyebrows

Two-person energy firm's $300 million Puerto Rico contract raises eyebrows A $300 million contract to help rebuild Puerto Rico's electrical infrastructure, which was awarded to a small, two-year-old Montana company that had only two employees when Hurricane Maria struck the U.S. territory, has sparked calls for an investigation from both Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill. In addition to its size and relative inexperience, the fact that Whitefish Energy Holdings is based in Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke's hometown of Whitefish, Mont., is fueling questions about how Whitefish Energy Holdings secured the lucrative contract. The former Montana congressman's son also had a summer job at a Whitefish construction site. A spokesman for House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Rob Bishop, R-Utah, agreed that congressional review was needed. The committee has jurisdiction over Puerto Rico and other U.S. territories. More:Five weeks after Maria most of Puerto Rico remains an island in the dark “The size and unknown details of this contract raise numerous questions. This is one of many things the committee is taking a close look at as it continues to work with the resident commissioner, governor’s office and oversight board to ensure Puerto Rico’s recovery is robust, effective and sustained,” said Parish Braden, a spokesman for Bishop. "Congress needs to understand why the Whitefish contract was awarded and whether other, more cost-effective options were available," Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva, D-Ariz., the senior Democrat on the Natural Resources Committee, said in a statement. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., said she has asked the Government Accountability Office to investigate the contract award to Whitefish Energy, which she called a “brand-new company with two employees.” Whitefish Energy announced the contract last week but Whitefish spokesman Ken Luce said the company has been on the ground in Puerto Rico since Oct. 2. In that time, Whitefish Energy said it has put 300 people to work, mostly subcontractors, repairing the critical power lines that run through the Island's mountains. Twenty more workers are arriving each day, Luce said, and overall, the company plans to add 700 more. "Anybody in Washington who is critical of Whitefish Energy getting this contract should be asking why is nobody else getting any work done," Luce said. "We're getting work done every day." Whitefish Energy is "a two-person firm with a business model to ramp up," Luce explained. "The majority of the industry operates the same way. You have a core group of people with expertise" who find the workers and subcontractors needed to get a given job done. "If you want to question the business model look at 300 people working there from October 2 to today," Luce said. Luce also said Zinke's friendship with CEO Andy Techmanski "had nothing whatsoever to do with the contract" and that Zinke didn't even know about it until the deal was already done. The Interior Department denied that Zinke played any role in the contract award. “Neither the secretary nor anyone in his office have taken any meetings or action on behalf of this company,” the department said in a statement. Zinke and Techmanskis know each other “because they both live in a small town where everyone knows everyone,” the statement said. Maria hit the island on Sept. 20 as a Category 4 storm, killing more than 50 people and knocking out electricity to the whole island. More than a month later, only 30% of customers have power. Luce said Whitefish had a team in Puerto Rico on Sept. 26 to meet with representatives of the beleaguered Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority. With the power still out, they poured over maps by smartphone light as the Whitefish Energy made its pitch. Ricardo Ramos, PREPA's director, said Whitefish was one of two companies on the government’s shortlist. The other company wanted a $25 million down payment due to the risk of working with PREPA, which filed for bankruptcy in July. Luce agreed that PREPA's financial troubles drove many competitors away. He said Whitefish Energy's willingness to take the risk of dealing with the Island's troubled power authority, coupled with the Whitefish Energy's proficiency in rugged, mountain work landed them the deal. Luce acknowledged that a relatively unestablished company landing this contract "would be highly unusual" were it not for those two deciding factors. He was confident that any congressional concerns about Whitefish Energy will be answered by the results on the ground. "We respect the governor's call for the island to be at 95% (power restored) by Christmas," Luce said. "We are doing everything we can to meet that goal for the island." Contributing: The Associated Press

11f54c22b2164651058b565c458072e7

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/10/26/puerto-ricos-gov-rossello-orders-audit-whitefish-contract-fix-power-grid/803095001/

Puerto Rico's Gov. Rosselló orders audit of Whitefish contract to fix power grid

Puerto Rico's Gov. Rosselló orders audit of Whitefish contract to fix power grid Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosselló wants the inspector general of the Department of Homeland Security to look into a contract awarded to a small Montana firm to rebuild portions of the island’s hurricane-ravaged electric grid. Montana-based Whitefish Energy Holdings, which had been registered for two years and had two employees when Hurricane Maria hit the island Sept. 20, landed the $300 million contract with the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) six days later. The company now has 300 people working on the island “providing important recovery services,” Rosselló said in a letter sent Wednesday to Inspector General John Roth. Whitefish employs mostly subcontractors. Rosselló described a three-hour conference call Tuesday between representatives of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and law firm Greenberg Traurig, representing PREPA. “The FEMA team concluded that they will want to follow up with additional questions and information requests on the procurement process, but that they had no comments on the the Whitefish contract at this point since it appeared to comply 100% with FEMA regulations,” Rosselló wrote. Rosselló said that in addition to the inspector general’s review of the contract, the governor has asked his own Office of Management and Budget to audit the Whitefish contract to make sure it followed Puerto Rico and federal law. More:Five weeks after Maria most of Puerto Rico remains an island in the dark More:Two-person energy firm's $300 million Puerto Rico contract raises eyebrows More:Two-person energy firm's $300 million Puerto Rico contract raises eyebrows The contract has raised eyebrows on the island and in Washington, where Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill have called for an investigation. The small company with a short track record is based in Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke's hometown of Whitefish, Mont., fueling questions about how the lucrative deal was clinched. Whitefish is backed by a private equity, HBC Investments, which is headed by Joe Colonnetta, a major donor to the President Trump's election campaign, the Trump Victory PAC and other GOP candidates. Whitefish Energy spokesman Ken Luce said only two capable companies answered PREPA’s call for bids, which Luce attributed to industry doubts about the bankrupt utility's ability to pay a massive repair bill after its infrastructure was decimated by the twin storms. "Everybody waited, including the U.S. government, to get involved," Luce said. "Whitefish had good financial backing with private equity and was willing to take that risk.” Whitefish CEO Andrew Techmanski spoke to PREPA officials about his company's capabilities after Hurricane Irma hit the island and before Maria, Luce said. After Maria, PREPA issued a request for proposals and Techmanski called again. He flew to the island to make an initial agreement on Sept. 26. The first Whitefish workers arrived Oct. 2 though the contract wasn't finalized until 18 days later, Luce said. PREPA, which is owned by the Puerto Rican government, filed for bankruptcy in July, seeking to restructure its $9 billion debt. It was the fifth Puerto Rican agency to do so, as the commonwealth's government tries to deal with $74 billion in debts. Ricardo Ramos, executive director for PREPA, defended the contract with Whitefish and another private contractor, Cobra Acquisitions LLC earlier this week, instead of signing a mutual aid agreement with members of the American Public Power Association, as most other utilities do in damaging emergencies such as hurricanes. If PREPA had activated the mutual aid agreement, it would have had “to do all the mobilization, provide transportation, fuel and accommodation,” Ramos said, according to El Nuevo Dia newspaper in Puerto Rico. And these private companies are taking care of their own logistics requirements, including food, fuel delivery, accommodations, transporting their equipment and materials. "It is a relief in terms of logistics for PREPA,” he said. Of the five companies that responded to PREPA’s call for bids after Hurricane Irma, Whitefish’s bid was lowest, Ramos said. And the Montana company only sought a $3 million downpayment, compared to a $25 million downpayment demanded by the only other company in the running, he said. PREPA’s contract with Whitefish, signed Oct. 17, calls for the company to be paid $330 hourly for a site supervisor, $227 per hour for a journeyman lineman, and $204 for a heavy equipment operator. The company is also charging $80 a day to feed and $332 to house each worker. Flights are charged at $1,000 in each direction. Subcontractors are paid significantly more: $462/hour for a supervisor, $319/hour for a journeyman lineman, and $286/hour for a heavy equipment operator. Under the contract, PREPA is required to pay Whitefish within 10 days of its weekly invoices for time, materials and equipment rentals, up to a maximum of $300 million.

c5d35c402b1b47818ebd08390ffeb838

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/10/30/new-airport-security-measures/812349001/

New airport security measures add the human element back into screenings

New airport security measures add the human element back into screenings New security measures have gone into effect for all flights traveling to the U.S. Airlines will be interviewing passengers at check-in and boarding gates all over the world to comply with new government requirements from the Transportation Security Administration, or TSA. The new rules are expected to affect about 180 different airline companies — and the approximately 325,000 passengers that arrive in the US each day. Passengers can expect a short interview with an airline ticket agent or security agent at the airport. “The vast majority of people won't even really be aware of these questions — it’s going to be in the form of a casual conversation,” says Philip Baum. He’s the editor-in-chief of the magazine, Aviation Security International, and the director of Green Light, a security training and consulting company. More:Behind the scenes: What happens at an airport overnight? More:Facial recognition: iPhone today, tomorrow the airport? Baum says that many of the airlines who have the resources to do so have contracted security companies to conduct screenings. Others have trained their own workers to perform these duties. Critics have raised concerns that the new security measures will increase profiling of passengers based on race, religion, nationality, etc. But Baum says the training airline employees have been receiving is focused on behavioral analysis. It’s supposed to be more like an interview than an interrogation. “What we're asking agents to do is to look for people who do not match baseline expectations, through their behavior or through their documents, and to act on it,” says Baum. He says it’s “common sense” security that should have been implemented years ago. You know, like the automated yes/no questions you get asked when checking in for a flight online. “Did you pack your bag yourself?” or “Has anybody given you anything to take on board?” Those types of questions were never intended to be asked by a computer, Baum says, “because it doesn't really matter how you answer those questions. What matters is the way you answer those questions.” The TSA’s decision to add this human element back into security screenings, according to Baum, indicates a change in mindset from relying almost completely on technology to detect threats. “Sometimes, human beings are better at identifying threats than machines.” This article originally appeared on PRI.org. Its content was created separately to USA TODAY. MORE FROM PRI.ORG: More:Global warming threatens nutrition levels in staple crops More:The science behind 'baby talk' More:Why practice rarely makes perfect

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https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/10/30/north-korea-vows-launch-more-satellites-into-orbit/812313001/

North Korea vows to launch more satellites into orbit

North Korea vows to launch more satellites into orbit North Korea vowed to launch more satellites into space Monday, in what the United States and the U.N. view as a covert test of the reclusive regime's ballistic missile technology. The nation says its five-year space development program is aimed at helping to improve its economy. "Some countries have manipulated U.N. sanctions resolutions against us and hindered the sovereign country's space development. It is not a tolerable act," the state-run Rodong Sinmun newspaper said. "It is a global trend that a country seeks the economic growth with the space program." The plan to launch satellites is seen as an attempt by Pyongyang to build a case to potentially launch a long-range rocket, South Korean news agency Yonhap reported. The North fired long-range rockets in 2012 and 2016. More:North Korea nuclear missile attack threat accelerating, Pentagon chief says More:Defense Secretary Jim Mattis visits Korean DMZ, warns of 'catastrophe' Ballistic missiles and the rockets used to launch satellites have similar bodies, engines and other technology. North Korea’s deputy U.N. ambassador Kim In Ryong announced North Korea’s plan for 2016-2020 to develop “practical satellites that can contribute to the economic development and improvement of the people’s living” at a U.N. General Assembly committee meeting earlier this month. He said the U.S. was "going frantic to illegalize our development of outer space," by claiming it violated U.N. sanctions. Kim said no U.N. article states that satellite launches threaten international peace and security, "nor is there any article stipulating that one cannot use ballistic rocket technology in launching a satellite." “The U.S. is the country that launched the largest number of satellites and yet it claims that our launch of satellites is a threat to international peace and security," Kim said. "This is a preposterous allegation and extreme double standards." Kim said North Korea launched its first pilot communications satellite, Kwangmyongsong-1, in August 1998. He said his country "entered the practical satellite developing stage” with the successful entry into orbit of Kwangmyongsong-4 in February 2016. North Korea has not made any provocations since it conducted its sixth and most powerful nuclear test on Sept. 3. Earlier in the summer, it launched missiles over Japan and test-launched two intercontinental ballistic missiles. Meanwhile, South Korean newspaper JoongAng Ilbo newspaper reported that Chinese police arrested two North Korean agents in Beijing on suspicion of plotting to murder Kim Han Sol, the 22-year-old nephew of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Kim Han Sol's father Kim Jong Nam — Kim Jong Un's half-brother — was assassinated at the Kuala Lumpur Airport in Malaysia on Feb. 13. Two women are currently on trial for murder, which they deny. Four other suspects including the alleged mastermind of the plot remain at large.

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https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/10/30/puerto-rico-power-restoration-why-taking-so-long/806747001/

Puerto Rico power restoration: Why it is taking so long

Puerto Rico power restoration: Why it is taking so long Corrections & clarifications: An earlier version of the story mischaracterized the Edison Electric Institute. The story also misstated the payment status of workers from Jacksonville Electric Authority for work performed. When hurricanes Harvey and Irma hit Texas and Florida back to back, utility companies from other states spent just a few hours finalizing contracts to dispatch linemen and bucket trucks to help restore power. But when Hurricane Maria decimated Puerto Rico on Sept. 20, simply clearing that first step to provide assistance became a complicated process that significantly delayed deploying power crews. The result: 70% of the island remains without power nearly six weeks later. Lakeland Electric, a utility in Central Florida, has both sent and received assistance after multiple storms in recent years, a now-standardized process that allows fleets of trucks to roll out quickly across the country after a disaster. But Lakeland's general manager, Joel Ivy, said he's never gone through a process like the one after Maria. Ivy spent the first few days after the storm just figuring out exactly who was in charge. His team spent another week negotiating a contract with Whitefish Energy Holdings, the small Montana company hired by Puerto Rico's electric authority to oversee the restoration of the island's power grid. Lakeland's first linemen finally arrived in San Juan on Saturday — 36 days after Maria made landfall. "It's been difficult," Ivy said. By Sunday, Puerto Rican officials had seen enough and decided to cancel the $300 million contract with Whitefish. The decision by the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) followed a growing list of officials from Washington to San Juan who voiced concern over the way the Montana company won its contract and its ability to handle the monumental task of rebuilding the island's electrical grid. Those raising concerns included Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosselló, Democrats and Republicans in Congress, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and, according to the Wall Street Journal and CNN, the FBI. Whitefish is located in Whitefish, Mont., the hometown of Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke. The company is backed by a private equity firm, HBC Investments, which is headed by Joe Colonnetta, a major donor to President Trump's election campaign, the Trump Victory PAC and other Republican candidates. The company defended its work in Puerto Rico, pointing to the 350 workers and 600 pieces of heavy electrical equipment it has sent to the island since Maria made landfall. That compares to more than 10,000 power workers who responded to Irma in Florida and Harvey in Texas. "We are very proud of our contributions to the island's recovery and proud of the tremendous work that our team has done under very challenging conditions,” read a statement from the company. More:Puerto Rico's Gov. Rosselló orders audit of Whitefish contract to fix power grid More:Five weeks after Maria most of Puerto Rico remains an island in the dark More:In isolated Puerto Rican town, a need for water, power — and news Off to a rough start After Maria tore through Puerto Rico as a Category 4 storm with winds of 155 mph, the first question facing power companies was simple: Who's in charge? The Army Corps of Engineers offered to take over the power restoration effort, said Carlos Mercader, head of Puerto Rico's Washington office. The governor accepted, and the two sides signed an agreement Sept. 30, but Rosselló said little came of it. "He was not seeing, at that time, the response he thought there should be after signing that agreement," Mercader said. Meanwhile, power companies that wanted to help were calling Washington and trade groups to figure out what was going on. "They seemed to be spinning their wheels and not making a lot of progress," said Mike Brost, vice president and general manager of the Jacksonville Electric Authority. "Then someone on our team became aware of Whitefish." Whitefish signed a contract with PREPA on Sept. 26 and initiated a process that deviated from standard recovery procedures. Two U.S. groups usually coordinate the response after a large-scale power outage: the American Public Power Association (APPA), a trade group of not-for-profit public utilities, and the Edison Electric Institute (EEI), the association representing private, investor-owned utilities. Both groups broker "mutual-aid agreements," contracts with power companies that set rates and terms of the work. The utility requesting assistance is usually responsible for paying and lodging the workers who come to help, and the contracts are fairly uniform to allow for quick response times. That system was used in Florida and Texas following their hurricanes. For example, power company AEP Texas initiated a mutual-aid agreement with EEI and staged about 1,000 workers from 11 states before Harvey even made landfall, said Judith Talavera, the company's president and chief operating officer. Those crews rolled into the heavily hit towns of Rockport, Fulton and Victoria days after the storm passed, quickly repairing and replacing more than 5,700 light poles and 700 miles of power lines, she said. At the height of the effort, more than 5,600 work crews — from New Jersey, Oklahoma, California and elsewhere — swarmed across South Texas, Talavera said. Power was restored within two weeks. “It really was a unified effort,” she said. “We couldn’t have done it without the support of all the communities out there.” The trade groups were ready to implement a similar coordinated response for Puerto Rico, which had a standing mutual-aid agreement with APPA. But the call to activate the response never came. “We did have people that were standing by,” APPA spokeswoman Meena Dayak said. “If there had been a call for help, we could have found willing people to help.” Instead, Whitefish would serve as the coordinator of all power companies heading to Puerto Rico, a monumental challenge considering the scope of the outages and the need to transport people and equipment to the island. "It was certainly different from the normal process," said Brost of the Jacksonville utility. "This was a lot worse." Concerns before and after Power companies described a wide variety of concerns before they were willing to sign a contract. Ivy, of the Lakeland utility, said his company had to work through insurance coverage for equipment that would be traveling by sea to Puerto Rico. He needed to get guarantees that his workers — who would be working 16-hour days, seven days a week — had somewhere safe to sleep, reliable supplies of food and security for them and their equipment. "We just wanted to make sure that we’re sending our guys into as known a situation as we could make it," Ivy said. Officials at the Kissimmee (Fla.) Utility Authority had so many questions that they didn't sign an agreement until they spoke directly with workers from Jacksonville to verify that Whitefish employees were on the ground in Puerto Rico and holding up their end of the bargain. "That was a roadblock," said Chris Gent, vice president of the Kissimmee company. "Jacksonville took that initial leap for all of us. They said, 'Yes, the port is fine. The lodging is fine. There is food and fresh water being provided.’ That put us at ease to feel we could sign this contract." But after arriving in Puerto Rico, the problems have continued. Brost said his company hasn't been reimbursed by Whitefish since it started work three weeks ago. The utility has been filing weekly invoices to Whitefish, he said, but none has been approved because Whitefish keeps asking for more supporting documents and running all changes past PREPA. "The level of bureaucracy — it's amazing," Brost said. Power companies hope the complications they experienced in the weeks following the storm will be resolved, allowing more companies to pour into Puerto Rico to fix an electrical grid that could take months to restore. "I understand that other companies are still hesitant," Brost said. "We had significant concerns and hesitations as well. But we got to an adequate level of comfort. And the desire to help a public power partner and the people of Puerto Rico was enough to tip us in the right direction." Contributing: Oren Dorell. Follow on Twitter: @MrRJervis, @alangomez.

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https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/11/01/army-sgt-bowe-bergdahl-has-ptsd-and-needs-treatment-expert-testifies-hearing/821547001/

Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl has PTSD and needs treatment, expert testifies at hearing

Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl has PTSD and needs treatment, expert testifies at hearing FORT BRAGG, N.C. — Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who deserted his post in Afghanistan and was held captive by the Taliban for five years, suffers from post-traumatic stress and will need a range of treatment for that and other disorders, a forensic psychiatrist testified Wednesday. Charles Morgan, who has extensively studied prisoners of war, was called as a defense witness in the punishment hearing for Bergdahl, 31, who has pleaded guilty to charges of desertion and misbehavior before the enemy. He faces a potential life sentence. Under questioning, Morgan said that the lack of control that prisoners face in confinement could aggravate symptoms of the post traumatic stress by reminding Bergdahl of his Taliban captivity. He was tortured and kept in isolation for much of the time he was held by the militants. Defense attorneys are attempting to establish a case for leniency, calling witnesses Wednesday who have highlighted his struggles with mental health and who also talked about his work to rescue stray cats. Prosecutors have called witnesses who highlighted the consequences of Bergdahl's decision to desert his combat outpost. Several servicemen who were seriously wounded in the manhunt to find Bergdahl testified about their injuries and the desperate all-hands manhunt to get him back. Any punishment will be decided by the military judge presiding over the hearing, said Col. Jeffery Nance. Closing arguments in the case could come Thursday. Morgan said Bergdahl suffered from a personality disorder even before he enlisted in the Army. The symptoms made him seem odd, eccentric and aloof. People with the disorder, called schizotypal, also often indulge in grandiose fantasies or believe grand conspiracies about how the world works, he said. That "unique world view" might compel them to take action they are convinced is morally right, even if it isn't well grounded in reality. Bergdahl has said he initially left the post because he had concerns about his command's leadership and wanted to bring those to the attention of top leaders. He had told fellow soldiers that he felt his unit’s tactics weren’t aggressive enough in pursuing the Taliban. More:Bergdahl: 'My words can't take away their pain' More:Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl was 'gold mine' of information, analyst says More:Bergdahl, facing sentencing, says Taliban treated him better than Army "He's a smart guy," Morgan said, but can be painfully naive. Before he joined the Army he had traveled to France with plans to join the Foreign Legion, but seemed puzzled that people spoke French and had to ask at the airport when he arrived where to find the legion, Morgan said. He then needed help getting a return ticket home. People with schizotypal can often have a range of interests and be curious about the world. Bergdahl's own interests ranged from ballet to guns. He mused about Socrates. That existing disorder when he joined the Army made Bergdahl more susceptible to post-traumatic stress disorder from his captivity, Morgan said. Bergdahl may also have had PTSD before his ordeal in Afghanistan, Morgan added. Morgan also described an odd and sometimes tense family upbringing in Idaho. “Home life wasn’t always peaceful,” Morgan said. Bergdahl feared his father, who sometimes displayed a violent temper and would punch his fist through the walls. As a boy Bergdahl would sometime hide when he heard his father's truck coming up the driveway. He described a feeling of panic when he realized he had not brought the lure that his father had told him to pack when they went fishing. He was home-schooled and his mother had trouble trying to teach him to read. He had trouble bonding with people but is attracted to helping animals, according to a witness allowed to testify by phone under an arrangement where she would not be identified by name. She runs an animal rescue shelter. Bergdahl trapped feral cats and brought them to her shelter for care. She said Bergdahl had an "uncanny" bond with the cats. "He's almost like a cat whisperer," she said. Morgan said that working with animals is good therapy for someone like Bergdahl, who has trouble trusting other people, particularly after his treatment in captivity where he was regularly beaten. Animals are seen as innocent and "don't harbor ill will," he said.

cc4cd13798f59bb3aed399b1363646be

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/11/14/sardinia-oldest-people-world-italy/811783001/

This Italian island is home to the oldest people in the world. Here's their secret

This Italian island is home to the oldest people in the world. Here's their secret SARDINIA, Italy — Zelinda Paglieno, who turned 102 in October, offers sobering advice when asked what's the secret to her long and healthy life: "Two fingers width of red wine, and no more, at lunchtime every day.” “I’ve never smoked, but a little wine is good for you — and that’s something I still do now. We have very good grapes here,” she explained. Paglieno’s age is no anomaly here in picturesque Sardinia, an Italian island in the Mediterranean that is home to the oldest people in the world, according to researchers on aging. Sardinia is one of only five "Blue Zones" in the world identified as having residents who often reach age 90 or older. The other four are Okinawa (Japan), Nicoya (Costa Rica), Icaria (Greece) and the Seventh-day Adventist community in Loma Linda, Calif. Paglieno, in her hometown of Esterzili, population 600, has three neighbors who are 100 or older. Despite her age, Paglieno remains in good health and happily navigates the hilly mountain village she’s lived in her whole life. She attributes her longevity to living off the land, good old-fashioned hard work, destino (destiny) and, of course, the local red wine known to be rich in polyphenols, which offer numerous health benefits. Researchers studying centenarians in Sardinia’s remote mountain areas have a different explanation. “Genetics is the main thing. The individuals living to these ages are almost always related,” said Pino Ledda, lead researcher of the Blue Zone Project in the region. He points to charts on his computer about the nearby village of Seulo, a few miles from Esterzili on an adjacent mountainside, that had 20 centenarians over the past two decades. “These areas are remote and have a history of isolation, so the gene pool is small — but why the genes here are leading to such long lives, that’s what we’re investigating,” he said. Seulo’s longevity milestones have been extensively documented and verified with records that stretch back to the 19th century, said Ledda, who now lives full time in the village. The village is regarded as the place where people live the longest in the world. Throughout Seulo, older residents can be seen walking the hillside and uneven roads, slowly but steadily going about their business. Around them, large black-and-white pictures adorn the facade of 20 homes — portraits of the village’s centenarians since 1996. Centenarians are cherished here, where each is made honorary mayor on his or her 100th birthday. Another aspect to life along the narrow streets of Seulo not seen elsewhere on earth: men living as long as women. Of the 20 centenarians in the village during the past two decades, 11 were men. Caterina Moi, 97, who prefers to go by her nickname Lelina, was married to the village's last male centenarian, Salvato Angelo, who died in August at 102. Her cousin just turned 103. “I’m not old!” Moi exclaims after explaining she was born in 1920, a few years after her cousin and late husband. She still hears well, can negotiate the steep steps to her first-floor home with relative ease and has no problem recounting past moments in her life. Moi is also clear on why she believes she’s been graced with a long and healthy life — hard work. “Since I was young I have always worked," she said. "Salvato was a hard worker also. There were no machines to help you. We had to do everything by hand. When it came to working I’ve never said, 'I don’t feel good, I can’t do this today,' I’ve just got on with what needed to be done." The belief that hard work equals a long life echos throughout Sardinia. Researchers like Ledda are reluctant to agree but admit there’s a little truth to it. Centenarians in Seulo and Esterzili share something else. Their families have lived and worked off the land for generations, some working into their 90s. “We ate what we grew. If you wanted vegetable soup one day, you had to go collect the ingredients yourself,” Moi said. “We didn’t need to think about eating healthy. We ate what we had, and it was healthy.” Living off the land may provide an answer to why people here have good genes to live a long time, and researchers are studying stomach bacteria for clues. “We’re looking at the flora of the intestines and gut to see whether it has something to do with what people are eating, and whether it has to do with a diet specific to Sardinia,” Ledda said. “The centenarians are helping us with this, donating stool samples that can be analyzed, and we hope to soon have a better idea of what’s going on.” Many residents like Moi and Paglieno are happy to assist, especially if it helps revitalize interest in their communities. More than half of the buildings in isolated Seulo and Esterzili are empty and falling into disrepair. It’s also a chance to impart their own little piece of wisdom after a long, happy, and healthy life. “Go live your life, work hard and be active — and a little wine,” Paglieno repeated. “I’ve already had mine for today. It’s one of the secrets, but just a little. Don’t abuse it.”

b0244137623dd4414283ca75d545a72d

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/11/16/two-months-without-north-korean-missile-test-record-year-cause-hope/867564001/

Two months without a North Korean missile test is a record for this year: Cause for hope?

Two months without a North Korean missile test is a record for this year: Cause for hope? WASHINGTON — North Korea has gone two months without test firing a missile, the longest such dry spell this year. Is it reason for hope? “Any answer is speculative,” said Jonathan Pollack, an analyst at the Brookings Institution, a Washington, D.C., think tank. “The reasons could be technical. The reasons could be political.” The problem is that that the United States has very little insight into the isolated country and its enigmatic leader, Kim Jong Un. U.S. intelligence agencies can peer from the sky and count missiles, tanks and other weapons, at least those that aren’t hidden underground. But reading the intentions of its leadership has proved next to impossible. The country remains under the iron grip of Kim, who apparently is the sole decision-maker about when to launch a missile test. Analysts scrutinize what information they can. North Korea has traditionally fired fewer missiles in the last three months of the year, said Tom Karako, an analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “We don’t know why that is,” he added. North Korea launched a record number of missile tests this year, raising worries that a miscalculation by the North of the United States about the other country's intentions could lead to war in the region. North Korea conducted 15 missile tests and detonated a nuclear bomb this year, according to data compiled by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. The last test was Sept. 14, when North Korea launched an intermediate range missile that flew over Japan and into the northern Pacific. The high number of tests this year have helped North Korea advance its nuclear weapons program. It has also raised tensions with the United States and its allies to one of the highest levels in decades. North Korea is still conducting tests with rocket engines and conducting other work that suggests it is not slowing its nuclear weapons program, Pollack said. That has raised speculation that the pause in tests could be political. Pollack said Kim may have cooled the tests to see the reaction from President Trump, who has repeatedly threatened to annihilate North Korea if it strikes first. The lull in tests has not been accompanied by a respite in insults and threats the U.S. and North Korean leader have exchanged all year. “Why would Kim Jong Un insult me by calling me "old," when I would NEVER call him "short and fat?" Trump tweeted on Saturday. North Korea’s response was quick. A newspaper controlled by North Korea’s ruling party said Trump has been "sentenced to death” by the Korean people. More:Kim Jong Un is cruel and dangerous but not crazy, North Korean experts say More:From good to bad: 5 possible options for what's next in North Korea-U.S. standoff More:North Korea on Trump's Asia visit: He deserves death

11aebcba5e1accde76cb33e78d66f448

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/11/17/italian-doctor-says-worlds-first-human-head-transplant-imminent/847288001/

Italian doctor says world's first human head transplant 'imminent'

Italian doctor says world's first human head transplant 'imminent' An Italian doctor announced Friday that he will soon perform the world’s first human head transplant in China because medical communities in the United States and Europe would not permit the controversial procedure. "The Americans did not understand," Sergio Canavero told a news conference in Vienna. Canavero said the Chinese government and Xiaoping Ren, a Chinese doctor partnering with him on the procedure, would confirm the surgery's date "within days" to signal its goal of becoming a world leader in all fields, including medicine. "Chinese President Xi Jinping wants to restore China to greatness. He wants to make it the sole superpower in the world. I believe he is doing it," Canavero said. In a phone interview with USA TODAY, Canavero decried the unwillingness of the U.S. or Europe to host the surgery. "No American medical institute or center would pursue this, and there is no will by the U.S. government to support it," he said. Canavero would not divulge the identity of the Chinese donor or recipient. The donor will be the healthy body of a brain-dead patient matched for build with a recipient's disease-free head. Canavero estimates the procedure will cost up to $100 million and involve several dozen surgeons and other specialists. He will simultaneously sever the spinal cords of the donor and recipient with a diamond blade. To protect the recipient's brain from immediate death before it is attached to the body, it will be cooled to a state of deep hypothermia. The recipient and donor will be in a sitting position to facilitate what's expected to be more than about 24 hours of laborious work to separate and then reconnect vertebral bones, jugular veins, the trachea, esophagus and other neck structures. Machines will help the recipient breathe, pumping blood through the body. The patient will be kept in a drug-induced coma for an unspecified recovery time. Michael Sarr, a former surgeon at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., and the editor of the journal Surgery, said Canavero's procedure is radical. Doctors "have always been taught that when you cut a nerve, the 'downstream side,' the part that takes a signal and conducts it to somewhere else, dies," he said. "The 'upstream side,' the part that generates the signal, dies back a little — a millimeter or two — and eventually regrows. As long as that 'downstream' channel is still there, it can regrow through that channel, but only for a length of about a foot." This is why, he said, if you amputate your wrist and then re-implant it and line the nerves up well, you can recover function in your hand. But if your arm gets amputated at the shoulder, it won't be re-implanted because it will never lead to a functional hand. "What Canavero will do differently is bathe the ends of the nerves in a solution that stabilizes the membranes and put them back together," Sarr said. "The nerves will be fused, but won't regrow. And he will do this not in the peripheral nerves such as you find in the arm, but in the spinal cord, where there's multiple types of nerve channels." There has been some success using Canavero's proposed technique on mice and dogs. In one example, a dog walked after six weeks, albeit with an awkward gait. "Based on the classic thinking about how nerves regenerate it was unbelievable," Sarr said. Canavero said his team has "rehearsed" his technique with human cadavers in China, but there are otherwise no known human trials. He said the 18-hour operation on two corpses showed it was possible to reconnect the spinal cord and blood vessels. Before the full transplant takes place, two brain-dead patients will undergo the surgery. Most medical experts say it's a long shot, but even if the operation works the biggest obstacle may not be the science itself, but whether it should happen at all. "There are too many risks at this point to go ahead with it," said Assya Pascalev, a biomedical ethicist at Howard University in Washington, D.C. "We don't have enough data with animal models, sufficient published and peer-reviewed results, and particularly data about morbidity and mortality on the animals that have had the procedure." Pascalev said that any groundbreaking procedure is certain to face objections and skepticism, and requires a leap of faith. "The first heart transplant, hand transplant, facial transplant: all were met with serious reservations," Pascalev said. "There are also regulatory concerns. China does not have the same ethical standards and requirements that the United States and Europe have." She added that there were major unanswered questions about the recipient if the surgery succeeds, such as whether he or she would have legal rights to children produced by the new body. "It's not just about a head adjusting to a new body. We might be dealing with a whole new person." Canavero dismissed these concerns. "Western bioethicists needed to stop patronizing the world," he said. He added that China's receptiveness to hosting the surgery reflected its determination to replace the U.S. as the world leader in all fields. "Who sent America to the Moon? It was Wernher von Braun," he said, referring to the German immigrant who was an early rocket developer and space-exploration advocate for the U.S. James Giordano, a professor of medicine and neurosciences at Georgetown University Medical Center in Washington, agreed with Pascalev that not enough rigorous study has been done to support a procedure with so many risks. He said patients might be better served if Canavero focused on spinal reconstruction, not transplants. Yet he also gave him some credit for his pioneering work. "He's run the ethical flag up the poles and said, 'Look, I'm not an ethicist, I'm a neurologist and this may be an avant-garde technique, I recognize there is a high possibility for failure, but this is the only way we can push the envelope and probe the cutting edge to determine what works, what doesn't and why.'"

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https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/11/23/slave-trade-libya-outrage-across-africa/891129001/

Outrage across Africa after report exposes slave trade in Libya

Outrage across Africa after report exposes slave trade in Libya Who's the highest bidder? 800 Dinar! 1,000 Dinar! 1,100 Dinar! In the end, the winning bid is 1,200 Libyan Dinar — the equivalent of $800 (€680). A done deal; however, this isn't just any auction for a car or a piece of art. What's being sold here is a group of frightened young men from Sub-Saharan Africa. The low-resolution images, apparently taken at a market in Libya earlier in 2017 were shown on the U.S.-based network CNN last week, which looked further into the issue. Journalists working for CNN discovered several such slave markets in the country's interior, proving what experts had feared for a long time: migrants trying to reach Europe via Libya continue to be subject to abuse. Heavy criticism across Africa Politicians in Africa have expressed their outrage at the scandal — especially in West Africa where most African migrants originate. President of Niger Mahamadou Issoufou felt particularly revolted by the reports, summoning the Libyan ambassador to Niger and demanding the International Court of Justice investigate Libya for trading slaves. Meanwhile the foreign minister of Burkina Faso, Alpha Barry, told the press that he had also summoned the Libyan ambassador to the capital Ouagadougou for consultations. The issue has since been added to the agenda of next week's African Union meeting in Ivory Coast, to take place on November 29 and 30. The issue has made waves in the Ivory Coast itself — 155 Ivorian refugees, including 89 women and underage migrants, were returned from Libya to the Ivory Coast earlier this week as part of a reintegration initiative launched by the European Union. Representatives of the Ivorian government, however, said that the health of those migrants returned from Libya was in a "deplorable state." Libya vows to cooperate with U.N. investigation Protests meanwhile took place outside the Libyan embassies in several other African capital cities including Bamako, Mali and Conakry, Guinea over the weekend. Another protest is planned in London later this week. A protest outside the Libyan embassy in Paris spilled out into the famous Arc De Triomphe roundabout at the heart of the French capital. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in New York on Monday that "slavery has no place in our world and these actions are among the most egregious abuses of human rights and may amount to crimes against humanity," appealing to the Libyan leadership to investigate these cases and bring those responsible for the slave trade to justice. He said that he had asked all relevant U.N. departments to investigate the issue further. Guterres added that all countries should join the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and sign its 2004 optional protocol on human trafficking. Libya's internationally recognized government, which is also supported by the UN, has announced that it will launch an investigation. Ahmed Omar Maiteeq, vice chairman of the presidential council of Libya, announced the establishment of a commission to that end. The foreign ministry in a statement added: "If these allegations are confirmed, all implicated persons will be punished." 'Libya was hell' Most refugees stranded in Libya come from West Africa, from countries such as Nigeria, Guinea, Burkina Faso or Ivory Coast. Additionally, many Eritreans and Somalians are also among those who hope to find a better future in Europe. Oftentimes they use a route crossing Niger's desert city of Agadez, where they encounter human traffickers, who promise to get them to the Mediterranean Coast and on to Europe. That journey, however, often ends in Libya. "Libya was hell," says Souleymane, a young migrant from the Ivory Coast. He told DW that he was held captive in the North African country for over a month. Only by chance did he manage to return home with the help of an initiative launched by the U.N.'s International Organization for Migration (IOM). "I had to live in permanent fear of being picked up by a militia group and sold off as a slave." Complete dependence Fighting human trafficking in northern Africa has been a top priority for the U.N. for years. However, there's little progress; on the contrary, the practice appears to have intensified in recent years, says Othman Belbeisi, the IOM Chief of Mission in Libya. Belbeisi told DW that local militias often held refugees for up to three months in dungeons in Libya in order to exploit them: "The problem is that most economic migrants don't have any kind of documentation on them and therefore do not cross official borders into Libya but rather make themselves completely dependent on people smugglers. It isn't rare that they end up being kidnapped, and if their ransom isn't paid they'll be sold off, tortured or even murdered." He added that as long as legal ways of migration into Europe weren't facilitated, many young Africans would remain motivated to take such risks. According to the IOM, more than 160,000 migrants have so far managed to cross the Mediterranean Sea this year alone. Hundreds of thousands, however, are still waiting to make the sea journey to Europe. Nearly 3,000 refugees died since the beginning of this year on the perilous sea route. Sandrine Blanchard contributed to this article. This article originally appeared on Deutsche Welle. Its content was created separately to USA TODAY.

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https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/11/26/egypt-tries-recover-mosque-attack-but-vows-respond/895938001/

Egypt tries to recover from mosque attack, but vows to respond

Egypt tries to recover from mosque attack, but vows to respond CAIRO – As Egyptians try to recover from the massacre at a northern Sinai mosque that left 305 dead, the area's tribal leaders swore blood-feud revenge on Sunday against those behind the coordinated attack. No one has claimed responsibility for Friday's bombing and assault, but Egyptian law enforcement officials believe the Islamic State-Sinai Province, a 6-year-old terror cell that swore allegiance to the Islamic State, was responsible. "The massacre that was carried out against the residents of al-Rawdah village will turn into a burning fire that will eliminate (the Islamic State)," said Ibrahim Ergany, chief of the Union of Sinai Tribes, a group representing the three largest Bedouin clans in the territory. In the days following Friday's assault — the deadliest militant attack in modern Egyptian history — the military carried out airstrikes against hideouts used by terrorists believed to be behind the attack, the military said Sunday in a statement. The airstrikes destroyed hideouts containing weapons, ammunition and explosive material, and law enforcement personnel followed up by combing through the bombed-out areas. Those strikes did little to heal the survivors of the attack, mostly Bedouin from the Sawarka tribe, a group that spiritually identifies with the mystical Sufi order of Muslim. The Islamic State views Sufis as heretics. Witnesses said more than two dozen assailants descended on the mosque in five all-terrain vehicles. Gunmen detonated a bomb at the end of prayers and then opened fire as people tried to flee. The gunmen also fired on ambulances and set cars on fire to block roads, witnesses said. "I found people piled on top of each other and they kept firing at anyone," the mosque's Imam Mohamed Abdel Fattah told Egyptian State TV from his hospital bed in Sharqiyah, 100 miles west of the massacre site. "They fired at anyone who breathed." "We received warnings about 10 days ago not to perform Sufi rituals, claiming that it is contrary to Islam," said Ahmed Ghanem al-Jarirat, a village elder in al-Rawdah. "Before the attack, we never saw any violence in our village because we are peaceful." More:Egypt raises death toll in Sinai mosque attack to 305 More:Egypt’s options dwindling in its fight against militants More:Islamic State–Sinai Province: What is the ISIS-linked terrorist group? Since President Mohammed Morsi was deposed by a military coup in 2013, terrorists in Egypt had mostly targeted security forces and Coptic Christians. Friday's mosque attack signaled that the country's armed Islamists are changing tactics and selecting Muslims with different beliefs and rituals as their new targets. Eyewitnesses said the assailants arrived carrying the black flag of the Islamic State, also known as ISIS — a sign that the Islamic State-Sinai Province was behind the attack. On Sunday, most people were focused on caring for the 125 worshipers who were wounded and burying those who died. Islamic tradition dictates that the dead are buried within 24 hours, creating a busy scene throughout the desert city. "The funerals reminded me of the massacre," said Ahmed al Sawarki, 40, who survived the attack. "The victims were buried in the mass graves, each of them with about 80 bodies inside." Al Sawarki said his cousin, Mansour, was one of those killed, leaving behind his family with nobody to care for the women and children. "There is no one left in the house now, other than his wife and two handicapped sisters," al Sawarki said. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has vowed to respond to the terrorism with "brute force" and ordered the establishment of a monument to honor the victims of the mosque attack. Sisi also instructed his government to pay $11,000 to each victim's family. But the Bedouins of the Sinai say nothing will satisfy them short of direct retribution. "We will not be consoled until each murderer in the Sinai is eliminated, and no mercy will be shown," said the statement issued by Ibrahim Ergany's Union of Sinai Tribes.

fe51ac49fe4a63958d32ef1e3b886d49

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/11/27/prince-harry-marry-divorced-american-and-church-fine/899944001/

Prince Harry will marry a divorced American — and the church is fine with it

Prince Harry will marry a divorced American — and the church is fine with it LONDON — A British royal marrying an American divorcee in 1936 threw the British monarchy and the Church of England into crisis, but that didn’t happen when Prince Harry decided to marry Meghan Markle. The announcement in London on Monday that Prince Harry is engaged to the American actress ended fevered speculation about the couple and was accompanied by statements of delight from Harry’s grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, and his father, heir to the throne Prince Charles. It was so very different from the last time a British royal wanted to marry an American divorcee. That 1936 engagement led to the abdication of the king, Edward VIII, who decided he would rather give up the throne than divorced Baltimore socialite Wallis Simpson. The sticking point in 1936 was the rule on divorce and remarriage in the Church of England, of which the monarch of the United Kingdom is head. The church’s ban on remarriage for a divorced person whose previous spouse is alive applied to King Edward, and still held for Queen Elizabeth’s sister, Princess Margaret, in 1953. She was told she could not marry the man she loved, Capt. Peter Townsend, because the Church of England would not countenance it. Her only path to marry him would be to renounce her right to the throne — and to effectively leave the royal family. She chose to not marry the Royal Air Force officer. In 2005, the situation was different for the divorced Prince Charles, who wanted to marry the divorced Camilla Parker Bowles. He was free to remarry as a divorced man, because his first wife, Princess Diana, had died. But Parker Bowles’ first husband was still alive. The prince married Parker Bowles in a compromise: They tied the knot in a civil ceremony and then had an Anglican blessing for their marriage in St. George’s Chapel, at Windsor Castle, conducted by then-Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams. By then the Church of England had agreed that in certain circumstances those divorced could marry in church, but not if the relationship of the couple wishing to marry had caused the divorce, or if the latest wedding could cause public scandal. On those grounds, the church felt it was inadvisable for Prince Charles and Parker Bowles to have a full church wedding. Today, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby revealed no qualms about Prince Harry marrying a divorcee, a sign of how the Church of England has changed. “I wish them many years of love, happiness and fulfillment and ask that God blesses them throughout their married life together,” said the archbishop. He also said, suggesting that the couple have already settled on an Anglican wedding ceremony: “I am so happy that Prince Harry and Ms. Markle have chosen to make their vows before God.” It would have been a lot tougher for Prince Harry and Markle had she turned out to be Catholic. There has been speculation that Markle is Roman Catholic because she was educated at Immaculate Heart, an exclusive Los Angeles Catholic school. But press reports indicate that her parents chose it for its strong academics, rather than its religious character. If Markle had indeed been Catholic she would have been unable, as a divorced woman, to marry in her own church unless it had declared her previous marriage invalid. And until just four years ago, being Catholic would also have prevented her marrying into the British royal family, unless the person she intended to marry renounced his right to be in the line of succession. It was only in 2013 that the Succession to the Crown Act was passed, enabling a Catholic to marry someone in line to the throne. What that act did not change was the requirement that the British sovereign be a Protestant. But Britain’s religious heritage — its roots in the break with Rome enacted by Henry VIII — still resonates in royal affairs today. Given that the British monarch is also by law the head of the Church of England, any further reform is unlikely, unless the monarch’s role as head of the church is abolished. More:We ask Londoners about Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. Their responses may surprise you More:Palace: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announce engagement More:Prince Harry and Meghan Markle: 10 things to know about the royal engagement

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https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/11/28/could-we-run-out-sand-because-we-going-through-fast/901605001/

Could we run out of sand? Because we are going through it fast

Could we run out of sand? Because we are going through it fast On parts of the shoreline in the Moroccan beach town of Tangier, something is amiss. Though the ocean is there — its waves lapping, crashing and roaring as they have since time immemorial — it is not a place for long days of lazing on soft sand. Because there isn't any. Instead of a rolling golden strand, there is a rockscape with lunar-like formations. Though spectacular to behold, they aren't natural phenomena — but actually just former beaches stripped bare by large-scale theft of sand. But why steal it? "We have a lot of sand, but we also have a lot of demand," Hermann Kessler from the German Environment Agency (UBA) told Deutsche Welle. It is used in many, many things. From toothpaste and plaster to stone-washed jeans; crockery, kitchen sinks and toilet bowls; from windows and beer bottles to silicon chips that are used in items from smart phones to cars. But by far the biggest consumer is the construction industry, which uses sand to produce bricks, asphalt and concrete. It takes around 200 tons (400,000 pounds) of the stuff to make a mid-sized house; to build a kilometer of highway takes 30,000 tons; and a nuclear power plant around 12 million tons. A recent report by the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) estimated the annual global consumption of sand and gravel to exceed 40 billion tons. "Sand is a fossil resource," said researcher Kiran Pereira, who founded sandstories.org to raise awareness of the issue. "It takes millions of years to form — but a mine can be exhausted in decades," she pointed out. "We need to recognize and value the ecosystem services provided by sand, many of which are irreplaceable." Construction, corruption and crime How critical the situation is varies greatly from location to location. "We won't be running out of sand here in Germany," said Kessler, who is responsible for resource conservation at UBA. "But globally, it's a very different story." The biggest sand importer in the world is Singapore. In the past 40 years, the small and crowded island has used large-scale land reclamation — a process that entails filling in shallow waters to be able to build on them — to expand by its land mass by about 50 square miles. That practice requires vast quantities of sand. There was a time when much of it came from nearby Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam and Cambodia — but all four countries have now banned Singapore from exporting their beaches. This has pushed sand's metric ton price up from €2.55 (3.00 dollars) to €161. And that increase has had impact. "The sand business is very corrupt," Kessler said, adding it is often conducted illegally, and is done by people who "don't shy away from threats and even murder." Criminal gangs are stealing sand in countries ranging from Jamaica to Nigeria. India even has a sand mafia, known for its ruthlessness. Some gangs will drive onto a beach with excavators and large trucks and help themselves to as much as they can in a single night — while others use simple hand tools to fill bags they load onto mules to take directly to nearby construction sites. Environmental impact Another method of extraction is to use suction dredge barges, which act like giant vacuum cleaners that suck up the sand from the ocean floor in shallow waters. This wreaks havoc on the ocean floor. "Anything that gets pumped up by one of these suction dredge barges is essentially dead," said Kim Detloff, head of marine conservation at Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union (NABU) in Germany. "There are studies that show sand habitats don't recover at all after they've gone through this." This practice, like that of loading half a beach onto trucks in the dead of night, can also lead to coastal erosion. If miners take too much from the sloping shallows, it can cause the the beach to slide toward and eventually into the ocean, leaving nothing behind to protect the shore against the force of the waves. Though land mining in sandy inland areas can be less damaging if done efficiently, that is not always the case. "If you cut into the aquifer, which usually happens, there is always the danger that contaminants can enter the groundwater," said Till Hopf, who is in charge of conservation and land use at NABU. Such contamination can be chemicals released during the mining process; or also biological contaminants like bacteria, which are normal in surface water, but are filtered out as that water seeps through the sediment. No easy fix There is no silver bullet to solve this problem, though there are various efforts underway to find alternatives. Two German entrepreneurs are currently experimenting with desert sand, which in a twist of irony — given that the oil-rich countries of the Persian Gulf region are among the biggest importers — is too wind-polished to use in concrete. Though it's still early days, they have found a way to combine smooth desert grains with synthetic resin to create polymer concrete, which is even more durable than its conventional counterpart. In light of environmental problems around building with concrete, there's also concrete recycling — but for that to make economic and environmental sense, there needs to be enough old concrete close to the new construction site. Likewise, there's a case to be made for the more widespread use of wood and more efficient mining methods. As things stand, miners usually seek a very specific grain size and discard the rest of the sand — although this could often be used in construction as well, reducing the need for further extraction. Fossil material Unfortunately, none of these approaches are immediate solutions to such a large-scale issue. Part of the problem is construction industry's attachment to concrete. Architects, engineers and builders all know how to work with concrete and have the tools to do it, which provides no incentive for innovation. In that sense, concrete — and by extension sand — is a lot like oil. We use it to solve many different problems, for which it will take extra effort to find alternatives. "We need sand, there is no way around it," said Kessler. "But that doesn't mean we shouldn't try to use it more ecologically."

3196099e7928e63df19bbb59ba708c6d

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/11/28/jamaica-wants-booming-marijuana-market-but-farmers-able-cash-in/903585001/

Jamaica wants in on the booming marijuana market. But will farmers be able to cash in?

Jamaica wants in on the booming marijuana market. But will farmers be able to cash in? Most of the time farmers are proud of their crops and are happy to talk about them. But ask a certain kind of farmer what they grow and they might seem a little evasive. “I farm goats and cows and cabbage in the bush,” says Baxter, a middle-aged farmer in Jamaica. Inquire further and he starts to laugh. Baxter isn’t his real name. He doesn’t want to use it because one of his biggest crops is marijuana. Baxter wears black plastic sunglasses and khaki cargo shorts torn off below the knee. His teeth are stained from the cigarettes he seems to be rolling constantly. He’s standing in the center of a small, rural town on the edge of a bustling street. Goats, chickens and dogs wander through, trying to avoid brightly colored motorbikes. Here in Jamaica, where Baxter lives and works, growing pot for recreational use is illegal. But it’s still a business. “Yeah, man, a big business,” he says. “A big, illegal business.” So Baxter’s farm is hidden. It has to be. To find it, you have to head deep into the countryside. First, a taxi ride out of town. Then, a hike through green sugar cane on a dirt path. Finally, around a corner, is a rocky field covered with knee-high marijuana plants. At night, Baxter sleeps in the open, under a lean-to. Someone always has to be on the lookout for government helicopters. But that could change. The international market for marijuana is booming. It’s set to reach $50 billion within a decade. And after spending millions to crack down on the drug, Jamaica’s government has decided it wants to cash in. It legalized medical marijuana and created a new licensing system to allow farmers to legally grow cannabis for medical, scientific or therapeutic purposes. But the fees are expensive and small farmers like Baxter say they’re being left by the wayside. “It’s not easy, lots of money to get the license,” he says. “Lots of thousands of dollars.” Applying for the license alone costs $300 and the licenses can cost farmers thousands of dollars per acre. Then there are processing fees, transportation fees and more. Jamaica’s Cannabis Licensing Authority says some of these other expensive requirements, like fencing and surveillance cameras, are dictated by international drug laws. Kim Ford is also a local farmer. Her parents sent her to school in the U.S., but now she’s back and is a member of her local Hemp and Ganja Growers Association. She says all these costs have her worried about wealthy foreigners. “They make more money and then they come here and can pay for licensing, build a whole building, buy a piece of land to put it on, and can move forward,” she says. China has already invested hundreds of millions of dollars in bauxite mining and sugarcane in Jamaica. Other foreigner investors from Canada and the United Kingdom have purchased some of the hotels lining Jamaica’s famous white-sand beaches. Ford says she worries the same thing could happen with cannabis — wealthy business people with foreign passports coming in and taking over once again. “It’s a constant taking away from a country,” she says. Another part of the problem? The United States. “Jamaica never would have made (medical) cannabis illegal but for the influence of the United States.” According to the State Department, Jamaica is the largest Caribbean supplier of illegal pot to the United States. Charles Nesson, a Harvard Law professor with a lifelong interest in Jamaica says the federal government doesn’t want more weed coming in. But, Nesson says, keeping pot illegal in Jamaica means problems for small farmers like Baxter. “Criminalize something that is widely available to poor people, widely used by poor people — that leaves discretion in the police as to who they want to arrest,” he says. There are billions of dollars at stake and a whole list of problems. But there’s also cultural pushback here in Jamaica. The stereotype that all Jamaicans smoke weed is just that — a stereotype. Jamaican culture is traditional — even conservative. And pot is not always OK. Traditionally, it’s Jamaica’s Rastafarians who’ve embraced cannabis — for spiritual reasons. And the push to legalize ganja has made things better for them. Police are no longer allowed to arrest anyone carrying less than two ounces. Last year the Rastafari community held a three-day cultural celebration during which participants were legally able to use the drug. They plan to have another celebration in December. Ras Iyah V is a Rastafari elder. He wants Jamaicans to benefit from the new regulations, but not just spiritually. “I want to see economic benefit coming from the ganja industry coming back to the community,” he says. But educating sustenance farmers about government regulations is difficult. Iyah V is also on the board of the Cannabis Licensing Authority. He says they’ve been holding community meetings, but often, farmers don’t show up. “If people are paying attention to what is going on, then some of these fears would be alleviated.” Like fears about all those fees. The licensing board says it’s aware of the concerns. It’ll waive fees for small farmers until the end of the year after their crops are sold. It’s also working on a pilot project to let farmers share costs. But that doesn’t mean all that much to farmers like Baxter. He says years ago, his farm was discovered — spotted by government workers from the sky. "A big, green helicopter ... come straight over the field, with a white guy in it.” His entire crop was destroyed. “They cut all of it and burn it,” he says. Baxter waited till the weather was cool enough and then he planted his fields again. He’s not planning to apply for a license but he is planning to keep farming. This article originally appeared on Pri.org. Its contents was created separately to USA TODAY. MORE FROM PRI: More:Why some say Paris shouldn't take down this racist sign More:Trump's first international hotel wants to ditch his name More:Where things stand with North Korea

35819c5e7058b8233c4ee28a8ddfd994

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/11/29/americans-arrested-over-thai-temple-photo/904303001/

'Traveling Butts' Americans arrested over Thai temple photo

'Traveling Butts' Americans arrested over Thai temple photo BANGKOK – Two Americans who maintained a social media account called “Traveling Butts” have been arrested in Thailand after posting a photo of themselves at a famous Buddhist temple with their rear ends exposed, police said Wednesday. Deputy police spokesman Krisana Pattanacharoen said the men were arrested Tuesday night at a Bangkok airport and face public indecency charges. The men caused an uproar in Buddhist-majority Thailand last week after their photo taken at Bangkok’s Wat Arun was widely shared, prompting a police investigation. The men, whom police identified only by their first names, maintained a since-deleted Instagram account where they posed for photos at tourist destinations around the world with their buttocks exposed. The account had more than 14,000 followers. Visitors to temples in Thailand are expected to dress modestly and at some sites people are not allowed to wear shorts or shirts that don’t cover their shoulders. Police said the men each paid a fine of 5,000 baht ($150) at a police station near the temple and have been handed over to immigration authorities. Police are also considering charging the men under Thailand’s computer crimes act as the image was posted online, said Wisit Suwan, the deputy chief of the Bangkok Yai district police station. The controversial law is often used against political activists to stifle free speech online or against those accused of insulting Thailand’s monarchy. It carries punishments of up to five years in prison.