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DealBook|JPMorgan to Pay $307 Million for Steering Clients to Own Fundshttps://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/19/business/dealbook/jpmorgan-to-pay-307-million-for-steering-clients-to-own-funds.htmlDec. 18, 2015Credit...Mark Lennihan/Associated PressJPMorgan Chase has agreed to pay $307 million to settle accusations that it improperly steered clients to the companys in-house mutual funds and hedge funds.From 2008 to 2015, brokers and financial advisers in several divisions of JPMorgan gave preference to investment products created by the banks asset management division when deciding where to put client money, regulators said on Friday.In some cases, regulators said, the clients were put into products with higher fees, which earned JPMorgan more money, even when the same JPMorgan product was available for a lower fee.The undisclosed conflicts were pervasive, the head of enforcement at the Securities and Exchange Commission, Andrew J. Ceresney, said in a conference call.The settlement is a black mark for JPMorgans asset management division, a business that the company has been aggressively expanding and that has been seen as particularly promising in the new regulatory environment. The bank admitted wrongdoing in the settlement.We have always strived for full transparency in client communications, and in the last two years have further enhanced our disclosures in support of that goal, said Darin Oduyoye, a spokesman for JPMorgans asset management division.The disclosure weaknesses cited in the settlements were not intentional and we regret them, he said. We remain confident in our investment process and are proud of the way we manage money.JPMorgan will pay $267 million to the S.E.C. and an additional $40 million to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.The S.E.C. said that JPMorgan made $127 million in ill-gotten gains from its preference for in-house funds. The money from the settlement will not go to JPMorgans clients, though Mr. Ceresney said there was significant harm to clients here.Several JPMorgan brokers told The New York Times in 2012 and 2013 that they were encouraged by their superiors to put their clients into proprietary funds even when lower-cost or better-performing funds were available.One broker, Johnny Burris, said this month that after he complained about the practices he faced retaliation from JPMorgan employees. JPMorgan denied that its employees retaliated against Mr. Burris.Jordan A. Thomas, a lawyer at Labaton Sucharow representing whistle-blowers, said on Friday that one of his clients a former JPMorgan employee had assisted the S.E.C. in developing the case announced Friday.The agency said that starting in 2007, JPMorgan developed basic investment portfolios, in a program known as the Chase Strategic Portfolio, that automatically invested a significant portion of any money in proprietary JPMorgan mutual funds.The company developed a similar program for wealthier clients in JPMorgans private bank, known as the JPMorgan Investment Portfolio, which funneled money into the banks own hedge funds. JPMorgan also gave a preference to outside hedge fund managers who were willing to pay placement fees or retrocessions to JPMorgan.If a manager declined to pay retrocessions, an alternative manager with a similar investment strategy that would pay retrocessions was typically sought, the S.E.C. order released on Friday said.Banks are generally allowed to show a preference for their own investment products as long as they disclose that to clients.JPMorgan will not have to stop giving preferential treatment to its own funds as part of the settlement, but it will have to send new disclosures to all clients. | Business | <s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> DealBook|JPMorgan to Pay $307 Million for Steering Clients to Own Fundshttps://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/19/business/dealbook/jpmorgan-to-pay-307-million-for-steering-clients-to-own-funds.htmlDec. 18, 2015Credit...Mark Lennihan/Associated PressJPMorgan Chase has agreed to pay $307 million to settle accusations that it improperly steered clients to the companys in-house mutual funds and hedge funds.From 2008 to 2015, brokers and financial advisers in several divisions of JPMorgan gave preference to investment products created by the banks asset management division when deciding where to put client money, regulators said on Friday.In some cases, regulators said, the clients were put into products with higher fees, which earned JPMorgan more money, even when the same JPMorgan product was available for a lower fee.The undisclosed conflicts were pervasive, the head of enforcement at the Securities and Exchange Commission, Andrew J. Ceresney, said in a conference call.The settlement is a black mark for JPMorgans asset management division, a business that the company has been aggressively expanding and that has been seen as particularly promising in the new regulatory environment. The bank admitted wrongdoing in the settlement.We have always strived for full transparency in client communications, and in the last two years have further enhanced our disclosures in support of that goal, said Darin Oduyoye, a spokesman for JPMorgans asset management division.The disclosure weaknesses cited in the settlements were not intentional and we regret them, he said. We remain confident in our investment process and are proud of the way we manage money.JPMorgan will pay $267 million to the S.E.C. and an additional $40 million to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.The S.E.C. said that JPMorgan made $127 million in ill-gotten gains from its preference for in-house funds. The money from the settlement will not go to JPMorgans clients, though Mr. Ceresney said there was significant harm to clients here.Several JPMorgan brokers told The New York Times in 2012 and 2013 that they were encouraged by their superiors to put their clients into proprietary funds even when lower-cost or better-performing funds were available.One broker, Johnny Burris, said this month that after he complained about the practices he faced retaliation from JPMorgan employees. JPMorgan denied that its employees retaliated against Mr. Burris.Jordan A. Thomas, a lawyer at Labaton Sucharow representing whistle-blowers, said on Friday that one of his clients a former JPMorgan employee had assisted the S.E.C. in developing the case announced Friday.The agency said that starting in 2007, JPMorgan developed basic investment portfolios, in a program known as the Chase Strategic Portfolio, that automatically invested a significant portion of any money in proprietary JPMorgan mutual funds.The company developed a similar program for wealthier clients in JPMorgans private bank, known as the JPMorgan Investment Portfolio, which funneled money into the banks own hedge funds. JPMorgan also gave a preference to outside hedge fund managers who were willing to pay placement fees or retrocessions to JPMorgan.If a manager declined to pay retrocessions, an alternative manager with a similar investment strategy that would pay retrocessions was typically sought, the S.E.C. order released on Friday said.Banks are generally allowed to show a preference for their own investment products as long as they disclose that to clients.JPMorgan will not have to stop giving preferential treatment to its own funds as part of the settlement, but it will have to send new disclosures to all clients. [/INST] Business </s> |
VideoSupporters of Narendra Modis Bharatiya Janata Party celebrated a landslide victory in Indias most populous state on Saturday, consolidating the prime ministers power and putting him in a strong position to win re-election in 2019.CreditCredit...Tsering Topgyal/Associated PressMarch 11, 2017NEW DELHI Prime Minister Narendra Modi led his party to a landslide victory in Indias largest state on Saturday, consolidating his power and putting him in a strong position to win re-election in 2019.The scale of the victory in Uttar Pradeshs legislative elections was all the more stunning because it followed Mr. Modis politically risky decision to eliminate most of Indias cash. The vote was seen as a referendum on the prime minister, who campaigned vigorously in recent days in Uttar Pradesh, which, with a population of more than 200 million, would be the worlds sixth largest country if it were independent.This is a stupendous achievement, said Ashok Malik, a fellow with the Observer Research Foundation, based in New Delhi. Here you had a prime minister making himself the face of the election in the absence of a local leader and stitching together a coalition across the state.The margin of victory in Uttar Pradesh was the largest seen by any party in more than 30 years. It gives Mr. Modi a significant advantage in the national elections in 2019, which in turn would bring him closer to his long-term goal of becoming a leader of historic significance, steering India away from its more socialist, secular past.Mr. Modis Bharatiya Janata Party, commonly called the B.J.P., also won at least one of four other state elections in which ballots were being counted on Saturday. The weakening India National Congress party, which once dominated the nations politics, won in Punjab, a powerful farming state, and remained in contention in two smaller states, showing that it was still a factor nationally, though less so than in years past.The Aam Aadmi Party, born of the anticorruption movement that has arisen in India in recent years, failed to win any state, suggesting that it was not yet ready to take over from the Congress party as the main opposition to Mr. Modi.Mr. Modi said on Twitter that his partys victories were humbling and overwhelming.In Uttar Pradesh, the Election Commission of India said the Bharatiya Janata Party had won or was leading in voting for 308 of the 403 seats in the state legislature, decimating the last-minute anti-Modi coalition cobbled together by Congress and the local governing party, the Samajwadi Party. By Saturday afternoon, that coalition had garnered only 57 seats.The coalition had appeared to be gaining steam after it was formed early this year, led by the dynamic, relatively young leader of the Samajwadi Party, Akhilesh Yadav, 43, whose father founded the party and presided over it for decades.That party and the Bahujan Samaj Party, commonly known as the B.S.P., have taken turns governing Uttar Pradesh in recent decades, in each case putting together coalitions that consisted mainly of the party leaders caste group along with Muslims. But on Saturday afternoon, the B.S.P., led by Kumari Mayawati, a leader of the Dalit caste, won or was leading in only 20 seats, the election commission said.The scale of the Bharatiya Janata Partys victory suggested that it had bridged such caste allegiances, some experts said, although it had yet to cross religious lines to attract large numbers of Muslims. While Mr. Modi has largely steered clear of divisive language on religion as prime minister, his party has a Hindu nationalist philosophy, and he was accused of complicity in anti-Muslim violence as the leader of his home state of Gujarat.This is the beginning of a new chapter in the history of India, Jitendra Singh, a minister of state in Mr. Modis office, told the television station Times Now. The Indian voter has learned to rise above caste and creed and vote for development and the future of India.In fact, although Mr. Modi won the 2014 national elections on a platform of jobs and development, his economic record is mixed. He has lured more foreign investment and is close to achieving a long-delayed tax overhaul, but new job creation has been slow and domestic private investment remains stagnant.The International Monetary Fund this year cut its projected growth rate for India by one percentage point, to 6.6 percent, in large part because of Mr. Modis sudden ban on the countrys largest currency notes in November.Saturdays results come less than four months after Mr. Modis Nov. 8 announcement that Indias largest notes, which made up 86 percent of the currency, would be banned starting the next day in a bid to fight corruption. A cash shortfall persisted for weeks as the government rushed to print enough new notes to replace the banned ones, slowing many of the countrys cash-based businesses and leaving many poor people struggling to make ends meet.As the cash crunch persisted, with millions waiting in line for notes, Mr. Modi faced criticism that his policy had hurt lower-income people, and many predicted that voters would punish him at the polls.But his big win in Uttar Pradesh coupled with victory in another state, Uttarakhand, and gains in the eastern state of Manipur, where his party had not been a contender in the recent past suggests that despite the pain the currency ban caused, voters believed Mr. Modi when he said it was needed to reduce corruption, some experts said.The narrative became less about whether it was right or wrong on economics, but more about the political narrative, the way Modi was able to shape it, said Harsh Pant, a professor of international relations specializing in India at Kings College in London.He said, I am a crusader against corruption, and you have to rise above your mundane economic realities and support me. And people did, Mr. Pant said.Votes were still being counted in the smaller states of Goa and Manipur on Saturday afternoon, and the margins were so close that it was not clear who would form the state governments.Experts said Mr. Modis win in Uttar Pradesh meant his party would be able to take control of the upper house of Indias Parliament next year. They expected him to have a freer hand in making the economic policy overhauls that he has long sought to spur development, including changes in the law to make it easier for companies to acquire farmland and to fire workers.But many experts cautioned that it was unlikely Mr. Modi would make major changes before the 2019 election. When he previously tried to ease land acquisition rules, he found himself pilloried as the suit boot prime minister, or guardian of the corporate class, the experts noted.Hell have the space, but hell also be concerned about re-election, Mr. Malik said. The prime minister may tinker with the laws, perhaps allowing states to change some labor laws to attract industry, but hes not suddenly going to shift gears in terms of policies, Mr. Malik said. | World | <s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> VideoSupporters of Narendra Modis Bharatiya Janata Party celebrated a landslide victory in Indias most populous state on Saturday, consolidating the prime ministers power and putting him in a strong position to win re-election in 2019.CreditCredit...Tsering Topgyal/Associated PressMarch 11, 2017NEW DELHI Prime Minister Narendra Modi led his party to a landslide victory in Indias largest state on Saturday, consolidating his power and putting him in a strong position to win re-election in 2019.The scale of the victory in Uttar Pradeshs legislative elections was all the more stunning because it followed Mr. Modis politically risky decision to eliminate most of Indias cash. The vote was seen as a referendum on the prime minister, who campaigned vigorously in recent days in Uttar Pradesh, which, with a population of more than 200 million, would be the worlds sixth largest country if it were independent.This is a stupendous achievement, said Ashok Malik, a fellow with the Observer Research Foundation, based in New Delhi. Here you had a prime minister making himself the face of the election in the absence of a local leader and stitching together a coalition across the state.The margin of victory in Uttar Pradesh was the largest seen by any party in more than 30 years. It gives Mr. Modi a significant advantage in the national elections in 2019, which in turn would bring him closer to his long-term goal of becoming a leader of historic significance, steering India away from its more socialist, secular past.Mr. Modis Bharatiya Janata Party, commonly called the B.J.P., also won at least one of four other state elections in which ballots were being counted on Saturday. The weakening India National Congress party, which once dominated the nations politics, won in Punjab, a powerful farming state, and remained in contention in two smaller states, showing that it was still a factor nationally, though less so than in years past.The Aam Aadmi Party, born of the anticorruption movement that has arisen in India in recent years, failed to win any state, suggesting that it was not yet ready to take over from the Congress party as the main opposition to Mr. Modi.Mr. Modi said on Twitter that his partys victories were humbling and overwhelming.In Uttar Pradesh, the Election Commission of India said the Bharatiya Janata Party had won or was leading in voting for 308 of the 403 seats in the state legislature, decimating the last-minute anti-Modi coalition cobbled together by Congress and the local governing party, the Samajwadi Party. By Saturday afternoon, that coalition had garnered only 57 seats.The coalition had appeared to be gaining steam after it was formed early this year, led by the dynamic, relatively young leader of the Samajwadi Party, Akhilesh Yadav, 43, whose father founded the party and presided over it for decades.That party and the Bahujan Samaj Party, commonly known as the B.S.P., have taken turns governing Uttar Pradesh in recent decades, in each case putting together coalitions that consisted mainly of the party leaders caste group along with Muslims. But on Saturday afternoon, the B.S.P., led by Kumari Mayawati, a leader of the Dalit caste, won or was leading in only 20 seats, the election commission said.The scale of the Bharatiya Janata Partys victory suggested that it had bridged such caste allegiances, some experts said, although it had yet to cross religious lines to attract large numbers of Muslims. While Mr. Modi has largely steered clear of divisive language on religion as prime minister, his party has a Hindu nationalist philosophy, and he was accused of complicity in anti-Muslim violence as the leader of his home state of Gujarat.This is the beginning of a new chapter in the history of India, Jitendra Singh, a minister of state in Mr. Modis office, told the television station Times Now. The Indian voter has learned to rise above caste and creed and vote for development and the future of India.In fact, although Mr. Modi won the 2014 national elections on a platform of jobs and development, his economic record is mixed. He has lured more foreign investment and is close to achieving a long-delayed tax overhaul, but new job creation has been slow and domestic private investment remains stagnant.The International Monetary Fund this year cut its projected growth rate for India by one percentage point, to 6.6 percent, in large part because of Mr. Modis sudden ban on the countrys largest currency notes in November.Saturdays results come less than four months after Mr. Modis Nov. 8 announcement that Indias largest notes, which made up 86 percent of the currency, would be banned starting the next day in a bid to fight corruption. A cash shortfall persisted for weeks as the government rushed to print enough new notes to replace the banned ones, slowing many of the countrys cash-based businesses and leaving many poor people struggling to make ends meet.As the cash crunch persisted, with millions waiting in line for notes, Mr. Modi faced criticism that his policy had hurt lower-income people, and many predicted that voters would punish him at the polls.But his big win in Uttar Pradesh coupled with victory in another state, Uttarakhand, and gains in the eastern state of Manipur, where his party had not been a contender in the recent past suggests that despite the pain the currency ban caused, voters believed Mr. Modi when he said it was needed to reduce corruption, some experts said.The narrative became less about whether it was right or wrong on economics, but more about the political narrative, the way Modi was able to shape it, said Harsh Pant, a professor of international relations specializing in India at Kings College in London.He said, I am a crusader against corruption, and you have to rise above your mundane economic realities and support me. And people did, Mr. Pant said.Votes were still being counted in the smaller states of Goa and Manipur on Saturday afternoon, and the margins were so close that it was not clear who would form the state governments.Experts said Mr. Modis win in Uttar Pradesh meant his party would be able to take control of the upper house of Indias Parliament next year. They expected him to have a freer hand in making the economic policy overhauls that he has long sought to spur development, including changes in the law to make it easier for companies to acquire farmland and to fire workers.But many experts cautioned that it was unlikely Mr. Modi would make major changes before the 2019 election. When he previously tried to ease land acquisition rules, he found himself pilloried as the suit boot prime minister, or guardian of the corporate class, the experts noted.Hell have the space, but hell also be concerned about re-election, Mr. Malik said. The prime minister may tinker with the laws, perhaps allowing states to change some labor laws to attract industry, but hes not suddenly going to shift gears in terms of policies, Mr. Malik said. [/INST] World </s> |
Credit...Remko De Waal/Agence France-Presse Getty ImagesMarch 10, 2017AMSTERDAM In the final days before next weeks parliamentary elections in the Netherlands, the far-right leaders support appeared to be softening and a previously minor party, the Greens, led by a charismatic young politician, was poised to become one of the two top parties on the left.But there is little consensus among Dutch voters about what sort of government they want, and multiple polls show that at least five parties could be within a few seats of each other once the results are in.Currently, we have a not-so-normal situation, said Maurice de Hond, a pollster who has been tracking Dutch politics for 40 years and who, like everyone interviewed, described the electorate as fragmented.Sarah de Lange, a political scientist at the University of Amsterdam, described the picture as extremely fragmented, to an extent that we have not seen before in the Netherlands.That suggests a level of discomfort with the current government and little unity on which way to go, said another pollster, Frank van Dalen.In Wednesdays elections, about 12 parties are likely to win at least one seat in the 150-seat Parliament. The Dutch Parliament has two chambers; this election is for seats in the House of Representatives, which has the lead role in writing legislation.It takes a simple majority, or 76 seats, to form a government.For at least the last century, no single party has won a majority, and the government has been formed by coalitions of two or three parties.This time, it is likely to take a coalition of four or five parties to reach the 76 seats needed to form a government.A decline in support for the far-right leader, Geert Wilders, whose populist, anti-Muslim and anti-European Union message had won him much notoriety, means that he is unlikely to be part of the next government. Short of winning the most votes, he does not have the clout to call the shots, and other parties refuse to work with him.ImageCredit...Emmanuel Dunand/Agence France-Presse Getty ImagesThis is a pattern with Mr. Wilders, Mr. van Dalen said: He scores well in the polls before an election, but he does not perform as well once voters cast their ballots. A vote for him and for a handful of other small parties is effectively a protest vote.But Mr. van Dalen, who studies long-term voting trends, cautioned against treating polls as if they were results. In the Netherlands, many voters do not decide until just before an election. As of two weeks ago, 50 to 60 percent of eligible voters were undecided, Ms. de Lange said.A striking change this time is the disintegration of the mainstream, left-leaning Labor Party, which for years has been in the government. Because the Labor Party has been willing to work with the conservatives, it appeared to its supporters to have deserted its principles.The lesson of Labors decline is not lost on either the Greens or D66, the leading party on the left.Those parties will be reluctant to work with the mainstream right-wing party that is likely to win the most votes because they saw what happened to Labor and they dont want it to happen to them, Mr. van Dalen said.Two charismatic politicians bear watching in this election. On the right, Sybrand Buma is a straight-talking leader of the Christian Democrats. Mr. Bumas party was in power for many years, fell out of favor, but now is experiencing a revival with a message that plays to members of the ethnic Dutch majority who are keen to preserve Dutch traditions and limit immigration.On the left, Jesse Klaver, 30, appears ready to transform the Green Left party, or the Greens, from a minor player into a party that can potentially play a powerful role. He has been reaching out to young people who have had little interest in politics.His constituency appears to be young, mostly urban and white, judging by his final campaign rally on Thursday. Mr. Klaver comes across as earnest but confident as he tries to bridge the traditional divide between left and right.What we want to do is fight populism, Mr. Klaver said. Every conversation I have with voters starts with Islam and Muslims, and then it goes to housing, their income and health care.The traditional parties are not winning elections anymore, he added. A lot of people are disappointed in politics. What we want to do with Greens is be an alternative for the center parties. But this is not an alternative built with fear and hate, but an alternative built on ideals and hope and optimism. | World | <s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> Credit...Remko De Waal/Agence France-Presse Getty ImagesMarch 10, 2017AMSTERDAM In the final days before next weeks parliamentary elections in the Netherlands, the far-right leaders support appeared to be softening and a previously minor party, the Greens, led by a charismatic young politician, was poised to become one of the two top parties on the left.But there is little consensus among Dutch voters about what sort of government they want, and multiple polls show that at least five parties could be within a few seats of each other once the results are in.Currently, we have a not-so-normal situation, said Maurice de Hond, a pollster who has been tracking Dutch politics for 40 years and who, like everyone interviewed, described the electorate as fragmented.Sarah de Lange, a political scientist at the University of Amsterdam, described the picture as extremely fragmented, to an extent that we have not seen before in the Netherlands.That suggests a level of discomfort with the current government and little unity on which way to go, said another pollster, Frank van Dalen.In Wednesdays elections, about 12 parties are likely to win at least one seat in the 150-seat Parliament. The Dutch Parliament has two chambers; this election is for seats in the House of Representatives, which has the lead role in writing legislation.It takes a simple majority, or 76 seats, to form a government.For at least the last century, no single party has won a majority, and the government has been formed by coalitions of two or three parties.This time, it is likely to take a coalition of four or five parties to reach the 76 seats needed to form a government.A decline in support for the far-right leader, Geert Wilders, whose populist, anti-Muslim and anti-European Union message had won him much notoriety, means that he is unlikely to be part of the next government. Short of winning the most votes, he does not have the clout to call the shots, and other parties refuse to work with him.ImageCredit...Emmanuel Dunand/Agence France-Presse Getty ImagesThis is a pattern with Mr. Wilders, Mr. van Dalen said: He scores well in the polls before an election, but he does not perform as well once voters cast their ballots. A vote for him and for a handful of other small parties is effectively a protest vote.But Mr. van Dalen, who studies long-term voting trends, cautioned against treating polls as if they were results. In the Netherlands, many voters do not decide until just before an election. As of two weeks ago, 50 to 60 percent of eligible voters were undecided, Ms. de Lange said.A striking change this time is the disintegration of the mainstream, left-leaning Labor Party, which for years has been in the government. Because the Labor Party has been willing to work with the conservatives, it appeared to its supporters to have deserted its principles.The lesson of Labors decline is not lost on either the Greens or D66, the leading party on the left.Those parties will be reluctant to work with the mainstream right-wing party that is likely to win the most votes because they saw what happened to Labor and they dont want it to happen to them, Mr. van Dalen said.Two charismatic politicians bear watching in this election. On the right, Sybrand Buma is a straight-talking leader of the Christian Democrats. Mr. Bumas party was in power for many years, fell out of favor, but now is experiencing a revival with a message that plays to members of the ethnic Dutch majority who are keen to preserve Dutch traditions and limit immigration.On the left, Jesse Klaver, 30, appears ready to transform the Green Left party, or the Greens, from a minor player into a party that can potentially play a powerful role. He has been reaching out to young people who have had little interest in politics.His constituency appears to be young, mostly urban and white, judging by his final campaign rally on Thursday. Mr. Klaver comes across as earnest but confident as he tries to bridge the traditional divide between left and right.What we want to do is fight populism, Mr. Klaver said. Every conversation I have with voters starts with Islam and Muslims, and then it goes to housing, their income and health care.The traditional parties are not winning elections anymore, he added. A lot of people are disappointed in politics. What we want to do with Greens is be an alternative for the center parties. But this is not an alternative built with fear and hate, but an alternative built on ideals and hope and optimism. [/INST] World </s> |
Credit...Justin Lane/European Pressphoto AgencyMarch 10, 2017The Republican proposal to replace the Affordable Care Act would bar people from using federal tax credits to buy health insurance plans that cover abortion.If the measure is passed, abortion rights advocates fear it could compel insurers to stop offering abortion coverage at all.Theres no reason insurers would sell any plans that cover abortion because everyone would be wanting to use these tax credits, said Adam Sonfield, a senior policy manager for the Guttmacher Institute, a research center that works to promote access to abortion.For now, the proposal would create a big problem for two of the largest and most liberal states: California, where state law requires insurers to cover abortion, and New York, which has long encouraged coverage by including it in its model plan of what insurers have to cover. Massachusetts, too, has long indicated that insurers should cover abortion as medically necessary.The law, if passed, would all but make it impossible for Californians to use the new tax credits to buy health insurance.States would be faced with this choice: Do we get rid of our abortion coverage requirement, or deny state residents all the tax credits? said Gretchen Borchelt, the vice president for reproductive rights and health at the National Womens Law Center. Its putting states in a really terrible position.She and other advocates for abortion rights said they expected legal challenges from California and other states if the law passed. They argued it goes against Republican promises of increased options in health insurance, and their embrace of states rights.The proposal continues a move away from abortion coverage in recent years. Until the Affordable Care Act was passed in 2010, insurers in most states offered plans covering abortion. The A.C.A. allowed states to bar insurers from offering plans through the A.C.A. marketplaces that cover abortion and 25 states did so (except for coverage of abortions in cases of rape or incest, or where the womans life is in danger). Ten of those extended that ban to prevent insurers from providing abortion coverage in any private insurance plan in the state.Since 1977, the federal Hyde Amendment has prohibited federal money from going to abortions. Under the Affordable Care Act, state officials had to separate out the federal subsidies used to buy health insurance into separate funds so that no federal money would go toward abortions.Representative Kevin McCarthy of California, the leader of the Republican majority in the House, has asked Tom Price, the new secretary of Health and Human Services, to examine whether Californias law violates laws protecting the religious freedom of health care providers who object to abortion.Ms. Borchelt said other language in the proposal also moved to stop insurance companies from covering abortion. Under that language, health insurance plans could not be considered qualified, and therefore eligible to be sold on the individual market, if they covered abortion. Because insurance companies tend to set a lot of the same benefits in plans across their various markets, she said, the language is disincentive and meant to discourage plans from covering abortions.Republicans have argued that women can buy an additional rider on their insurance to cover abortion.But, Ms. Borchelt said: No such plans exist. All those provisions work as a de facto ban on insurance coverage in every state with no real option to get it elsewhere.Most abortions are performed in the first trimester of pregnancy. The Kaiser Family Foundation estimates that an abortion at 10 weeks costs between $400 and $550.The proposed replacement for the Affordable Care Act would mostly affect insurers offering plans in the individual market. But it would also affect employer-sponsored insurance plans in two ways. It would prevent tax credits used by small businesses to buy health insurance, as well as those used by people who have left their jobs to extend employer-sponsored insurance coverage, from being used to buy plans that cover abortion.Employers might decide not to offer abortion coverage, knowing that their employees, if they left, could not use their tax credits to continue that policy.Given the various restrictions across the country, Elizabeth Nash, a state policy analyst at Guttmacher, asked whether insurers might simply reach a point where it is standard not to cover abortion. Have we reached the tipping point where its so complicated and cumbersome to provide it that insurers will simply stop? she asked. You can imagine insurers saying it isnt worth the hassle. | Health | <s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> Credit...Justin Lane/European Pressphoto AgencyMarch 10, 2017The Republican proposal to replace the Affordable Care Act would bar people from using federal tax credits to buy health insurance plans that cover abortion.If the measure is passed, abortion rights advocates fear it could compel insurers to stop offering abortion coverage at all.Theres no reason insurers would sell any plans that cover abortion because everyone would be wanting to use these tax credits, said Adam Sonfield, a senior policy manager for the Guttmacher Institute, a research center that works to promote access to abortion.For now, the proposal would create a big problem for two of the largest and most liberal states: California, where state law requires insurers to cover abortion, and New York, which has long encouraged coverage by including it in its model plan of what insurers have to cover. Massachusetts, too, has long indicated that insurers should cover abortion as medically necessary.The law, if passed, would all but make it impossible for Californians to use the new tax credits to buy health insurance.States would be faced with this choice: Do we get rid of our abortion coverage requirement, or deny state residents all the tax credits? said Gretchen Borchelt, the vice president for reproductive rights and health at the National Womens Law Center. Its putting states in a really terrible position.She and other advocates for abortion rights said they expected legal challenges from California and other states if the law passed. They argued it goes against Republican promises of increased options in health insurance, and their embrace of states rights.The proposal continues a move away from abortion coverage in recent years. Until the Affordable Care Act was passed in 2010, insurers in most states offered plans covering abortion. The A.C.A. allowed states to bar insurers from offering plans through the A.C.A. marketplaces that cover abortion and 25 states did so (except for coverage of abortions in cases of rape or incest, or where the womans life is in danger). Ten of those extended that ban to prevent insurers from providing abortion coverage in any private insurance plan in the state.Since 1977, the federal Hyde Amendment has prohibited federal money from going to abortions. Under the Affordable Care Act, state officials had to separate out the federal subsidies used to buy health insurance into separate funds so that no federal money would go toward abortions.Representative Kevin McCarthy of California, the leader of the Republican majority in the House, has asked Tom Price, the new secretary of Health and Human Services, to examine whether Californias law violates laws protecting the religious freedom of health care providers who object to abortion.Ms. Borchelt said other language in the proposal also moved to stop insurance companies from covering abortion. Under that language, health insurance plans could not be considered qualified, and therefore eligible to be sold on the individual market, if they covered abortion. Because insurance companies tend to set a lot of the same benefits in plans across their various markets, she said, the language is disincentive and meant to discourage plans from covering abortions.Republicans have argued that women can buy an additional rider on their insurance to cover abortion.But, Ms. Borchelt said: No such plans exist. All those provisions work as a de facto ban on insurance coverage in every state with no real option to get it elsewhere.Most abortions are performed in the first trimester of pregnancy. The Kaiser Family Foundation estimates that an abortion at 10 weeks costs between $400 and $550.The proposed replacement for the Affordable Care Act would mostly affect insurers offering plans in the individual market. But it would also affect employer-sponsored insurance plans in two ways. It would prevent tax credits used by small businesses to buy health insurance, as well as those used by people who have left their jobs to extend employer-sponsored insurance coverage, from being used to buy plans that cover abortion.Employers might decide not to offer abortion coverage, knowing that their employees, if they left, could not use their tax credits to continue that policy.Given the various restrictions across the country, Elizabeth Nash, a state policy analyst at Guttmacher, asked whether insurers might simply reach a point where it is standard not to cover abortion. Have we reached the tipping point where its so complicated and cumbersome to provide it that insurers will simply stop? she asked. You can imagine insurers saying it isnt worth the hassle. [/INST] Health </s> |
By studying the relationship among ethnicity, migration history and the digestive systems microbiome, researchers hope to gain insights on health disparities in diverse communities.Credit...Erik Daily/La Crosse Tribune, via Associated PressNov. 8, 2018Bodies that migrate across borders undergo tremendous change. Immediately, feet alight on alien terrain, ears channel novel sounds and noses breathe in unfamiliar scents. More gradually, daily routines fall into new rhythms, cultural norms hybridize and dreams evolve. Another transformation occurs deep within the body, two recent studies from the Netherlands and United States find, as the trillions of microbes that live in the human digestive system shift in composition.While many factors may influence how this change occurs, the studies suggest that scientists should consider individuals migration status and ethnic origin as they aim for clinical interventions based on the gut microbiome. Researchers are trying to understand what governs gut microbial composition, in part because of increasing evidence that the trillions of microorganisms teeming in our guts influence health in myriad ways. Most chronic diseases have been tied to deviations in gut microbiome, though the specifics of cause and effect still need to be parsed out. [Like the Science Times page on Facebook. | Sign up for the Science Times newsletter.]The first study, published in Nature Medicine in August, compared the gut microbiomes of adults from Amsterdams six largest ethnic groups. A team led by Mlanie Deschasaux, an epidemiologist at the Academic Medical Center in Amsterdam, assessed stool samples from 2,084 individuals who were ethnically Dutch, Ghanaian, Moroccan, Turkish, African Surinamese or South Asian Surinamese. Most of the non-Dutch participants had immigrated to the Netherlands as adults. Between ethnic groups, the researchers discovered significant differences in overall gut microbe composition. Of the various factors studied, ethnicity was the strongest determinant of gut microbial makeup.Across the Atlantic, Pajau Vangay and Dan Knights, of the University of Minnesota, worked with two local communities to study how migration alters the human gut microbiome. They published their results in Cell last week. One community, the Hmong, began arriving in Minnesota in the 1970s as refugees from the CIA-backed Secret War and Vietnam War, which ravaged their communities in Laos. The second group, the Karen, arrived in Minnesota in larger numbers in the past decade, fleeing human rights abuses in Myanmar.Stool samples and other data from more than 500 women revealed that immigrants from these groups began losing their native microbes almost immediately after resettling. They picked up American microbes, but not enough to compensate for the loss of native strains, so they end up losing a substantial amount of diversity overall, Dr. Knights said. Furthermore, losses were greater in obese individuals and children of immigrants.Dr. Vangay, a second-generation Hmong immigrant, partnered with Kathie Culhane-Pera, a family doctor, to involve Hmong and Karen community researchers. Together with the academics, the community researchers developed the studys design, recruitment methods and strategies for sharing results.ImageCredit...Pajau VangaySeparately, advisory boards of Hmong and Karen health professionals and community leaders gave input, resulting in a project conducted largely by and for the communities it studied, said Houa Vue-Her, a Hmong advisory board member.The study would not have worked otherwise, she added. Some Hmong with traditional spiritual beliefs might resist giving samples for laboratory testing, for instance, out of fear that it would interfere with reincarnation. Lingering trauma from the wars and the federal governments secrecy might prevent many others from trusting outsiders.The most obvious culprit behind the loss of native gut microbes is diet. Along with native gut flora, immigrants lost enzymes linked to digesting tamarind, palm, coconuts and other plants commonly eaten in Southeast Asia, the study found. The longer immigrants lived in Minnesota, the more their gut microbiomes shifted to one reflective of a typical American diet high in sugars, fats and protein.But diet alone could not explain all of the changes, Dr. Knights said. Other factors might include antibiotic medications, different birthing practices and other lifestyle changes.Dr. Deschasaux noted that her study and Dr. Vangays reach somewhat contrasting findings. While she found that immigrants maintained ethnic-specific microbiome profiles, even after decades in Amsterdam, Dr. Vangay found that the gut microbiomes of Hmong and Karen immigrants steadily assimilated to their new locale.The divergence might relate to differences in typical Dutch and American diets with perhaps less sugar, fat and meat and more raw vegetables in Dutch diets and possibly lower rates of acculturation by the Dutch immigrants compared with Hmong and Karen refugees, Dr. Deschasaux speculated.Yet both studies have implications for health disparities. Obesity, diabetes and metabolic syndrome all have been linked to the gut microbiome, and the ethnic groups Dr. Deschasaux studied in Amsterdam experience varying degrees of these conditions. Compared to the ethnic Dutch, for instance, Dutch Moroccans in her study had a higher prevalence of obesity, and South-Asian Surinamese had a higher prevalence of type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome.Similarly, research has shown that living in the United States increases the risk of obesity among immigrants, and Southeast Asian refugees are particularly vulnerable.It was actually a challenge finding participants who fell in the normal range of body mass index for the study, said Mary Xiong, a second-generation Hmong American and a community researcher in the Minnesota project. That opened my eyes about how much of a concern this is.That urgency in part motivated Dr. Vangay and her collaborators to relay their results back to community members.Many of these communities are not even aware that the gut microbiome exists, Dr. Vangay said.In many ways, she added, our best recommendation to community members was to hold onto their roots. For instance, the researchers partnered with Yia Vang, co-founder of Union Kitchen, a Minnesota-based Hmong pop-up restaurant, to hold cooking workshops for the Hmong community. One of the dishes that participants made was zaub qaub, or fermented mustard greens.In addition to being packed with probiotics, zaub qaub is one of the most iconic Hmong dishes, as kimchi is to Koreans, Mr. Vang said. When I eat it, Im partaking in the history of our people. The flavor Im eating is the same flavor my great-great-grandmother ate on the hills of Laos. | Health | <s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> By studying the relationship among ethnicity, migration history and the digestive systems microbiome, researchers hope to gain insights on health disparities in diverse communities.Credit...Erik Daily/La Crosse Tribune, via Associated PressNov. 8, 2018Bodies that migrate across borders undergo tremendous change. Immediately, feet alight on alien terrain, ears channel novel sounds and noses breathe in unfamiliar scents. More gradually, daily routines fall into new rhythms, cultural norms hybridize and dreams evolve. Another transformation occurs deep within the body, two recent studies from the Netherlands and United States find, as the trillions of microbes that live in the human digestive system shift in composition.While many factors may influence how this change occurs, the studies suggest that scientists should consider individuals migration status and ethnic origin as they aim for clinical interventions based on the gut microbiome. Researchers are trying to understand what governs gut microbial composition, in part because of increasing evidence that the trillions of microorganisms teeming in our guts influence health in myriad ways. Most chronic diseases have been tied to deviations in gut microbiome, though the specifics of cause and effect still need to be parsed out. [Like the Science Times page on Facebook. | Sign up for the Science Times newsletter.]The first study, published in Nature Medicine in August, compared the gut microbiomes of adults from Amsterdams six largest ethnic groups. A team led by Mlanie Deschasaux, an epidemiologist at the Academic Medical Center in Amsterdam, assessed stool samples from 2,084 individuals who were ethnically Dutch, Ghanaian, Moroccan, Turkish, African Surinamese or South Asian Surinamese. Most of the non-Dutch participants had immigrated to the Netherlands as adults. Between ethnic groups, the researchers discovered significant differences in overall gut microbe composition. Of the various factors studied, ethnicity was the strongest determinant of gut microbial makeup.Across the Atlantic, Pajau Vangay and Dan Knights, of the University of Minnesota, worked with two local communities to study how migration alters the human gut microbiome. They published their results in Cell last week. One community, the Hmong, began arriving in Minnesota in the 1970s as refugees from the CIA-backed Secret War and Vietnam War, which ravaged their communities in Laos. The second group, the Karen, arrived in Minnesota in larger numbers in the past decade, fleeing human rights abuses in Myanmar.Stool samples and other data from more than 500 women revealed that immigrants from these groups began losing their native microbes almost immediately after resettling. They picked up American microbes, but not enough to compensate for the loss of native strains, so they end up losing a substantial amount of diversity overall, Dr. Knights said. Furthermore, losses were greater in obese individuals and children of immigrants.Dr. Vangay, a second-generation Hmong immigrant, partnered with Kathie Culhane-Pera, a family doctor, to involve Hmong and Karen community researchers. Together with the academics, the community researchers developed the studys design, recruitment methods and strategies for sharing results.ImageCredit...Pajau VangaySeparately, advisory boards of Hmong and Karen health professionals and community leaders gave input, resulting in a project conducted largely by and for the communities it studied, said Houa Vue-Her, a Hmong advisory board member.The study would not have worked otherwise, she added. Some Hmong with traditional spiritual beliefs might resist giving samples for laboratory testing, for instance, out of fear that it would interfere with reincarnation. Lingering trauma from the wars and the federal governments secrecy might prevent many others from trusting outsiders.The most obvious culprit behind the loss of native gut microbes is diet. Along with native gut flora, immigrants lost enzymes linked to digesting tamarind, palm, coconuts and other plants commonly eaten in Southeast Asia, the study found. The longer immigrants lived in Minnesota, the more their gut microbiomes shifted to one reflective of a typical American diet high in sugars, fats and protein.But diet alone could not explain all of the changes, Dr. Knights said. Other factors might include antibiotic medications, different birthing practices and other lifestyle changes.Dr. Deschasaux noted that her study and Dr. Vangays reach somewhat contrasting findings. While she found that immigrants maintained ethnic-specific microbiome profiles, even after decades in Amsterdam, Dr. Vangay found that the gut microbiomes of Hmong and Karen immigrants steadily assimilated to their new locale.The divergence might relate to differences in typical Dutch and American diets with perhaps less sugar, fat and meat and more raw vegetables in Dutch diets and possibly lower rates of acculturation by the Dutch immigrants compared with Hmong and Karen refugees, Dr. Deschasaux speculated.Yet both studies have implications for health disparities. Obesity, diabetes and metabolic syndrome all have been linked to the gut microbiome, and the ethnic groups Dr. Deschasaux studied in Amsterdam experience varying degrees of these conditions. Compared to the ethnic Dutch, for instance, Dutch Moroccans in her study had a higher prevalence of obesity, and South-Asian Surinamese had a higher prevalence of type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome.Similarly, research has shown that living in the United States increases the risk of obesity among immigrants, and Southeast Asian refugees are particularly vulnerable.It was actually a challenge finding participants who fell in the normal range of body mass index for the study, said Mary Xiong, a second-generation Hmong American and a community researcher in the Minnesota project. That opened my eyes about how much of a concern this is.That urgency in part motivated Dr. Vangay and her collaborators to relay their results back to community members.Many of these communities are not even aware that the gut microbiome exists, Dr. Vangay said.In many ways, she added, our best recommendation to community members was to hold onto their roots. For instance, the researchers partnered with Yia Vang, co-founder of Union Kitchen, a Minnesota-based Hmong pop-up restaurant, to hold cooking workshops for the Hmong community. One of the dishes that participants made was zaub qaub, or fermented mustard greens.In addition to being packed with probiotics, zaub qaub is one of the most iconic Hmong dishes, as kimchi is to Koreans, Mr. Vang said. When I eat it, Im partaking in the history of our people. The flavor Im eating is the same flavor my great-great-grandmother ate on the hills of Laos. [/INST] Health </s> |
VideotranscripttranscriptWhite House Officials Diverge on Immigration PolicyAttorney General Jeff Sessions and the White House press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, offered slightly different views on the enforcement of the zero tolerance policy at the U.S.-Mexico border.Were going to continue to prosecute those adults who enter here illegally. We are going to do everything in our power, however, to avoid separating families. Were not changing the policy, were simply out of resources. This is a temporary solution. This isnt going to last Congress still has to step up. They still have to do their job. This will only last a short amount of time because were going to run out of space. Were going to run out of resources in order to keep people together.Attorney General Jeff Sessions and the White House press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, offered slightly different views on the enforcement of the zero tolerance policy at the U.S.-Mexico border.CreditCredit...Bridget Bennett for The New York TimesJune 25, 2018McALLEN, Tex. The nations top border security official said Monday that his agency has temporarily stopped handing over migrant adults who cross the Mexican border with children for prosecution, undercutting claims by other Trump administration officials that zero tolerance for illegal immigration is still in place.Kevin K. McAleenan, the commissioner of Customs and Border Protection, said his agency and the Justice Department should agree on a policy where adults who bring their kids across the border who violate our laws and risk their lives at the border can be prosecuted without an extended separation from their children.Because Immigration and Customs Enforcement does not have enough detention space for the surge of families crossing the border, many families will be quickly released, with a promise to return for a court hearing. Mr. McAleenan said that the agency would continue to refer single adults for prosecution for illegally crossing the border, and that border agents would also separate children from adults if the child is in danger or if the adult has a criminal record.Mr. McAleenans decision, conveyed to reporters at a processing center here, will at least temporarily revive a catch and release approach used during the Obama administration. President Trump has repeatedly railed against that approach, saying it invited waves of crime and violence into the United States.Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary, said that while there has been no official change in the zero-tolerance policy, the reality is that the government does not have the ability to detain all of the families crossing the border illegally.Were not changing the policy, Ms. Sanders said. Were simply out of resources. She blamed Democrats in Congress for not changing immigration laws in ways that would keep migrant families out of the country in the first place. In fact, it was the Trump administrations choice to impose a zero-tolerance policy that led to families being separated at the border.Were working with Congress, hopefully, to provide more resources and the ability to actually enforce the law, Ms. Sanders said, highlighting the practical challenge in making good on the presidents executive order to avoid separating children from their parents.At the same time, Attorney General Jeff Sessions appeared to contradict Mr. McAleenan and Ms. Sanders, vowing Monday to continue enforcing Mr. Trumps zero-tolerance policy. Mr. Sessions told more than 1,000 school resource officers in Reno, Nev., that refusing to prosecute adults crossing illegally into the United States would be a disservice to the children they bring with them.The president has made this clear: We are going to prosecute those adults who came here illegally, Mr. Sessions insisted, though he added that the government will do everything in our power to comply with the presidents order.Mr. Sessions and Mr. Trump have both ratcheted up their hard-line immigration messaging while promising to keep families together.We want a system where when people come in illegally, they have to go out a nice simple system that works, Mr. Trump said Monday in brief remarks at the White House, mocking again the idea of hiring more immigration judges. We want strong borders, and we want no crime.Prosecutions of adults crossing the Mexican border into the United States without children continued Monday unabated. And administration officials said that it was possible that legal cases against adults arriving at the border with children could resume once facilities to hold the families become available.Mr. Sessions announced the zero-tolerance policy in early April, telling prosecutors on the southwestern border to charge every illegal entry offense to the extent practicable. A month later, Mr. Sessions announced that the Department of Homeland Security would refer 100 percent of illegal southwest border crossings for criminal prosecutions a controversial move that led to families being separated at the border.The decision set off weeks of protests, with Democrats and many Republicans calling on Mr. Trump to end the policy. From May 5 through June 20, the Border Patrol referred 2,262 adults traveling with children to the Justice Department for prosecution, according to an official familiar with the referrals.More than 2,000 children remain in the custody of the Office of Refugee Resettlement, an agency within the Department of Health and Human Services. Federal officials are struggling to reunite children with their parents, some of whom have already been deported.Mr. McAleenan said Monday that 538 children in Border Protections custody who were separated since May have been reunited with their parents. Those children were never sent to facilities run by the Health and Human Services Department.At a shelter in downtown El Paso, Digna Emerita Prez, a factory worker from El Salvador who spent a month in jail after her arrest for crossing the border without documentation, broke into tears when she found out that her son, 9, and daughter, 6, were in the same city.But Nelvin Hernndez, 48, a farm laborer from Honduras, who was released Saturday after a month in jail, was told his 17-year-old son, No, had been taken to Chicago. My objective now is to find my son, regardless of what it takes, he said Monday. Im nothing without my boy.But even before Mondays announcement by Mr. McAleenan, the reality on the ground appeared far less simple than Mr. Trump or Mr. Sessions envisioned.Administration officials said the zero-tolerance policy has been enforced in drastically different ways, depending on whether border communities have the resources to detain and prosecute new waves of immigrants.A shelter in Tucson, Casa Alitas, takes in migrant families once American officials have released them into the country as their cases proceed. On Monday, Teresa Cavendish, who runs the shelter, said that government officials appear to be releasing many families into the United States together as a unit, rather than keeping them in detention even when the families cross at unauthorized border points.These current families are very, very lucky, she said.At the towering federal courthouse in Tucson, the cases of dozens of recent border crossers were underway on Monday just as the Trump administration announced that it would halt the prosecution of people who enter with children.In a hallway, Victoria Trull, 36, a defense lawyer for several of the migrants, described the whiplash of the past few weeks: first, a rise in prosecutions of adult border crossers; then the sudden appearance of adult border crossers who said they had been split from their children; then the Trump administration announcement that adults would no longer be split from their children; and then the suggestion that people might be sent back without a trial.ImageCredit...Tamir Kalifa for The New York TimesIts a little bit scary, she said.Defense Department officials said Monday that the Pentagon is preparing to build temporary housing for migrants at two military bases.Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, who is traveling to China, told reporters with him that the details are still being worked out. But other Defense Department officials said that two bases that will house migrant children and possibly their families are Fort Bliss in El Paso and Goodfellow Air Force Base near San Angelo, Tex.There remained confusion over who would be housed at the bases. One department official said that migrant families with adults charged with crimes would be housed at Fort Bliss, while unaccompanied children would be housed at Goodfellow. But the Pentagon had not officially said who would be housed where.Democratic lawmakers continued to lash out at the presidents border policy, describing the prospect of migrant camps on military bases as akin to internment camps.After visiting the border, two Democratic senators, Tom Udall of New Mexico and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, faulted the Trump administration for lacking any apparent strategy to reunite children with their parents after the presidents executive order last week.Mr. Trump should go see for himself the crisis and chaos he has created, Mr. Udall said on a conference call with reporters. Federal agencies, the senator said, arent communicating with each other or with Congress about how theyre going to fix this.The senators said Congress should hold hearings to provide needed oversight. This nation is heading for a train wreck at the border a moral and legal train wreck, and already a humanitarian train wreck, Mr. Blumenthal said.But Mr. Trump was defiant and said that Democrats should support efforts to secure the border against immigrants who are criminals or who give false reasons for wanting to be in the United States.The Democrats want open borders, and they dont care about crime, and they dont care about our military, Mr. Trump said.Mr. Sessions, who was greeted in Reno by hundreds of protesters outside his speech venue, received a standing ovation from school safety officers in the audience before and after he spoke.In addition to fiercely defending the administrations zero-tolerance policy, the attorney general emphasized the increase in the number of children who are sent across the border by themselves, currently more than 80 percent of the total, often with a paid smuggler.Some of the children, Mr. Sessions said, are targeted by drug cartels, recruited by gangs and fall into a life of drug addiction and crime. He said that in March, Customs and Border Protection agents apprehended five juveniles who he said were smuggling 35 pounds of fentanyl.The compassionate thing to do is to protect our children from drugs and violence, to put criminals in jails, and secure our borders, have an immigration system that has integrity, and consistency, that is right, and just and moral, he said. The alternative is open borders, which is both radical and dangerous. | Politics | <s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> VideotranscripttranscriptWhite House Officials Diverge on Immigration PolicyAttorney General Jeff Sessions and the White House press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, offered slightly different views on the enforcement of the zero tolerance policy at the U.S.-Mexico border.Were going to continue to prosecute those adults who enter here illegally. We are going to do everything in our power, however, to avoid separating families. Were not changing the policy, were simply out of resources. This is a temporary solution. This isnt going to last Congress still has to step up. They still have to do their job. This will only last a short amount of time because were going to run out of space. Were going to run out of resources in order to keep people together.Attorney General Jeff Sessions and the White House press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, offered slightly different views on the enforcement of the zero tolerance policy at the U.S.-Mexico border.CreditCredit...Bridget Bennett for The New York TimesJune 25, 2018McALLEN, Tex. The nations top border security official said Monday that his agency has temporarily stopped handing over migrant adults who cross the Mexican border with children for prosecution, undercutting claims by other Trump administration officials that zero tolerance for illegal immigration is still in place.Kevin K. McAleenan, the commissioner of Customs and Border Protection, said his agency and the Justice Department should agree on a policy where adults who bring their kids across the border who violate our laws and risk their lives at the border can be prosecuted without an extended separation from their children.Because Immigration and Customs Enforcement does not have enough detention space for the surge of families crossing the border, many families will be quickly released, with a promise to return for a court hearing. Mr. McAleenan said that the agency would continue to refer single adults for prosecution for illegally crossing the border, and that border agents would also separate children from adults if the child is in danger or if the adult has a criminal record.Mr. McAleenans decision, conveyed to reporters at a processing center here, will at least temporarily revive a catch and release approach used during the Obama administration. President Trump has repeatedly railed against that approach, saying it invited waves of crime and violence into the United States.Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary, said that while there has been no official change in the zero-tolerance policy, the reality is that the government does not have the ability to detain all of the families crossing the border illegally.Were not changing the policy, Ms. Sanders said. Were simply out of resources. She blamed Democrats in Congress for not changing immigration laws in ways that would keep migrant families out of the country in the first place. In fact, it was the Trump administrations choice to impose a zero-tolerance policy that led to families being separated at the border.Were working with Congress, hopefully, to provide more resources and the ability to actually enforce the law, Ms. Sanders said, highlighting the practical challenge in making good on the presidents executive order to avoid separating children from their parents.At the same time, Attorney General Jeff Sessions appeared to contradict Mr. McAleenan and Ms. Sanders, vowing Monday to continue enforcing Mr. Trumps zero-tolerance policy. Mr. Sessions told more than 1,000 school resource officers in Reno, Nev., that refusing to prosecute adults crossing illegally into the United States would be a disservice to the children they bring with them.The president has made this clear: We are going to prosecute those adults who came here illegally, Mr. Sessions insisted, though he added that the government will do everything in our power to comply with the presidents order.Mr. Sessions and Mr. Trump have both ratcheted up their hard-line immigration messaging while promising to keep families together.We want a system where when people come in illegally, they have to go out a nice simple system that works, Mr. Trump said Monday in brief remarks at the White House, mocking again the idea of hiring more immigration judges. We want strong borders, and we want no crime.Prosecutions of adults crossing the Mexican border into the United States without children continued Monday unabated. And administration officials said that it was possible that legal cases against adults arriving at the border with children could resume once facilities to hold the families become available.Mr. Sessions announced the zero-tolerance policy in early April, telling prosecutors on the southwestern border to charge every illegal entry offense to the extent practicable. A month later, Mr. Sessions announced that the Department of Homeland Security would refer 100 percent of illegal southwest border crossings for criminal prosecutions a controversial move that led to families being separated at the border.The decision set off weeks of protests, with Democrats and many Republicans calling on Mr. Trump to end the policy. From May 5 through June 20, the Border Patrol referred 2,262 adults traveling with children to the Justice Department for prosecution, according to an official familiar with the referrals.More than 2,000 children remain in the custody of the Office of Refugee Resettlement, an agency within the Department of Health and Human Services. Federal officials are struggling to reunite children with their parents, some of whom have already been deported.Mr. McAleenan said Monday that 538 children in Border Protections custody who were separated since May have been reunited with their parents. Those children were never sent to facilities run by the Health and Human Services Department.At a shelter in downtown El Paso, Digna Emerita Prez, a factory worker from El Salvador who spent a month in jail after her arrest for crossing the border without documentation, broke into tears when she found out that her son, 9, and daughter, 6, were in the same city.But Nelvin Hernndez, 48, a farm laborer from Honduras, who was released Saturday after a month in jail, was told his 17-year-old son, No, had been taken to Chicago. My objective now is to find my son, regardless of what it takes, he said Monday. Im nothing without my boy.But even before Mondays announcement by Mr. McAleenan, the reality on the ground appeared far less simple than Mr. Trump or Mr. Sessions envisioned.Administration officials said the zero-tolerance policy has been enforced in drastically different ways, depending on whether border communities have the resources to detain and prosecute new waves of immigrants.A shelter in Tucson, Casa Alitas, takes in migrant families once American officials have released them into the country as their cases proceed. On Monday, Teresa Cavendish, who runs the shelter, said that government officials appear to be releasing many families into the United States together as a unit, rather than keeping them in detention even when the families cross at unauthorized border points.These current families are very, very lucky, she said.At the towering federal courthouse in Tucson, the cases of dozens of recent border crossers were underway on Monday just as the Trump administration announced that it would halt the prosecution of people who enter with children.In a hallway, Victoria Trull, 36, a defense lawyer for several of the migrants, described the whiplash of the past few weeks: first, a rise in prosecutions of adult border crossers; then the sudden appearance of adult border crossers who said they had been split from their children; then the Trump administration announcement that adults would no longer be split from their children; and then the suggestion that people might be sent back without a trial.ImageCredit...Tamir Kalifa for The New York TimesIts a little bit scary, she said.Defense Department officials said Monday that the Pentagon is preparing to build temporary housing for migrants at two military bases.Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, who is traveling to China, told reporters with him that the details are still being worked out. But other Defense Department officials said that two bases that will house migrant children and possibly their families are Fort Bliss in El Paso and Goodfellow Air Force Base near San Angelo, Tex.There remained confusion over who would be housed at the bases. One department official said that migrant families with adults charged with crimes would be housed at Fort Bliss, while unaccompanied children would be housed at Goodfellow. But the Pentagon had not officially said who would be housed where.Democratic lawmakers continued to lash out at the presidents border policy, describing the prospect of migrant camps on military bases as akin to internment camps.After visiting the border, two Democratic senators, Tom Udall of New Mexico and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, faulted the Trump administration for lacking any apparent strategy to reunite children with their parents after the presidents executive order last week.Mr. Trump should go see for himself the crisis and chaos he has created, Mr. Udall said on a conference call with reporters. Federal agencies, the senator said, arent communicating with each other or with Congress about how theyre going to fix this.The senators said Congress should hold hearings to provide needed oversight. This nation is heading for a train wreck at the border a moral and legal train wreck, and already a humanitarian train wreck, Mr. Blumenthal said.But Mr. Trump was defiant and said that Democrats should support efforts to secure the border against immigrants who are criminals or who give false reasons for wanting to be in the United States.The Democrats want open borders, and they dont care about crime, and they dont care about our military, Mr. Trump said.Mr. Sessions, who was greeted in Reno by hundreds of protesters outside his speech venue, received a standing ovation from school safety officers in the audience before and after he spoke.In addition to fiercely defending the administrations zero-tolerance policy, the attorney general emphasized the increase in the number of children who are sent across the border by themselves, currently more than 80 percent of the total, often with a paid smuggler.Some of the children, Mr. Sessions said, are targeted by drug cartels, recruited by gangs and fall into a life of drug addiction and crime. He said that in March, Customs and Border Protection agents apprehended five juveniles who he said were smuggling 35 pounds of fentanyl.The compassionate thing to do is to protect our children from drugs and violence, to put criminals in jails, and secure our borders, have an immigration system that has integrity, and consistency, that is right, and just and moral, he said. The alternative is open borders, which is both radical and dangerous. [/INST] Politics </s> |
Politics|Betsy DeVos, education secretary, is the second cabinet member to resign.https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/07/us/politics/betsy-devos-resigns.htmlCredit...Nicholas Kamm/Agence France-Presse Getty ImagesJan. 7, 2021Education Secretary Betsy DeVos submitted her resignation in a letter to President Trump on Thursday, saying she would step down the next day over the rampage at the Capitol by his supporters.Ms. DeVos joins a growing exodus of administration officials in the final days of the Trump administration. She is the second cabinet-level official to step down; Elaine Chao, the transportation secretary, also resigned on Thursday.We should be highlighting and celebrating your administrations many accomplishments on behalf of the American people, Ms. DeVos wrote in the letter, which was obtained by The New York Times. Instead, we are left to clean up the mess caused by violent protesters overrunning the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to undermine the peoples business.That behavior was unconscionable for our country, she added. There is no mistaking the impact your rhetoric had on the situation, and it is the inflection point for me.Ms. DeVos was one of the first cabinet secretaries to condemn the violent mob on Capitol Hill.The peaceful transfer of power is what separates American representative democracy from banana republics, Ms. DeVos said in a statement posted to Twitter on Wednesday evening, hours after the storming of the Capitol. The work of the people must go on.Ms. DeVos was one of the most effective, polarizing and longest-serving Cabinet members in the Trump administration. She was seen as fiercely loyal to the president, at least publicly.In her resignation letter, Ms. DeVos praised President Trump for championing her school choice agenda, in which she sought to bolster voucher programs that allow students to seek alternatives to public schools. She also saluted one aspect of his coronavirus response, saying that she believed history will show we were correct in our repeated urging of and support for schools reopening this year. But it was loyalty to her constitutional oath, Ms. DeVos said, that had prompted her to resign. Impressionable children are watching all of this, and they are learning from us, she said. They must know from us that America is greater than what transpired yesterday. Ms. DeVoss resignation drew cheers from her opponents, particularly teachers unions and groups that had forcefully opposed her rollbacks of civil rights protections for children of color and transgender students.Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers, issued a two-word statement: Good Riddance. But other critics praised her for protesting the presidents actions. This doesnt make up for all of her bad decisions, and the harm she has done to education reform, but still, she deserves kudos for this one, tweeted Michael J. Petrilli, the president of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, a conservative research organization. | Politics | <s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> Politics|Betsy DeVos, education secretary, is the second cabinet member to resign.https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/07/us/politics/betsy-devos-resigns.htmlCredit...Nicholas Kamm/Agence France-Presse Getty ImagesJan. 7, 2021Education Secretary Betsy DeVos submitted her resignation in a letter to President Trump on Thursday, saying she would step down the next day over the rampage at the Capitol by his supporters.Ms. DeVos joins a growing exodus of administration officials in the final days of the Trump administration. She is the second cabinet-level official to step down; Elaine Chao, the transportation secretary, also resigned on Thursday.We should be highlighting and celebrating your administrations many accomplishments on behalf of the American people, Ms. DeVos wrote in the letter, which was obtained by The New York Times. Instead, we are left to clean up the mess caused by violent protesters overrunning the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to undermine the peoples business.That behavior was unconscionable for our country, she added. There is no mistaking the impact your rhetoric had on the situation, and it is the inflection point for me.Ms. DeVos was one of the first cabinet secretaries to condemn the violent mob on Capitol Hill.The peaceful transfer of power is what separates American representative democracy from banana republics, Ms. DeVos said in a statement posted to Twitter on Wednesday evening, hours after the storming of the Capitol. The work of the people must go on.Ms. DeVos was one of the most effective, polarizing and longest-serving Cabinet members in the Trump administration. She was seen as fiercely loyal to the president, at least publicly.In her resignation letter, Ms. DeVos praised President Trump for championing her school choice agenda, in which she sought to bolster voucher programs that allow students to seek alternatives to public schools. She also saluted one aspect of his coronavirus response, saying that she believed history will show we were correct in our repeated urging of and support for schools reopening this year. But it was loyalty to her constitutional oath, Ms. DeVos said, that had prompted her to resign. Impressionable children are watching all of this, and they are learning from us, she said. They must know from us that America is greater than what transpired yesterday. Ms. DeVoss resignation drew cheers from her opponents, particularly teachers unions and groups that had forcefully opposed her rollbacks of civil rights protections for children of color and transgender students.Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers, issued a two-word statement: Good Riddance. But other critics praised her for protesting the presidents actions. This doesnt make up for all of her bad decisions, and the harm she has done to education reform, but still, she deserves kudos for this one, tweeted Michael J. Petrilli, the president of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, a conservative research organization. [/INST] Politics </s> |
Credit...Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty ImagesDec. 7, 2015Addressing concerns about the health of Sumner M. Redstone, Viacoms 92-year-old executive chairman, its chief executive said on Monday that Mr. Redstone had an incredible will to live and an enjoyment of life with some physical disabilities.Philippe P. Dauman, the chief, said that he talked with Mr. Redstone several times a week and met with him frequently. He said that Mr. Redstone had physical ailments that required him to be under medical supervision, but that he remained in control of decisions related to his health. Contrary to what some people suggested, no one other than Sumner Redstone is making health care decisions for him as it relates to his physical condition, Mr. Dauman said.Speaking at the UBS Global Media and Communications Conference, Mr. Dauman called recent talk on Mr. Redstones condition disturbing. Mr. Dauman added that he was seeking to get away from some of the hyperventilation that has occurred over the last week or so.He was alluding to the attention given to a lawsuit filed nearly two weeks ago by a former companion of Mr. Redstone that challenges the media moguls mental competence. The suit portrays Mr. Redstone as unable to make decisions on his own care and to reliably communicate with others, and it offers embarrassing claims about his physical condition and things like his sexual appetite.Lawyers for Mr. Redstone have asked a judge to dismiss the suit, calling the claims riddled with lies. A Viacom director, meanwhile, has said that Mr. Redstone was mentally capable.In his address Monday, Mr. Dauman also requested a sense of humanity and decency from people talking and writing about Mr. Redstone, calling him someone who has accomplished a whole lot and created a lot of value over his life.Mr. Redstone controls about 80 percent of the voting stock in Viacom and CBS through his private holding company, National Amusements, and is executive chairman of both Viacom and CBS. The lawsuit has prompted broader questions on whether Mr. Redstone should continue at the helm of the media empire, and on the future of the companies. Industry analysts have said that Viacom or CBS could be sold after Mr. Redstone dies.Mr. Dauman also addressed succession plans for the Viacom and CBS, which he said Mr. Redstone put in place more than two decades ago to ensure continuity. If Mr. Redstone dies or is deemed to lack capacity, his stake in National Amusements will be held by a trust, and voting control will go to seven trustees made up of two family members and five nonfamily members.The trustees include Mr. Dauman and Shari Redstone, Mr. Redstones daughter who owns 20 percent of National Amusements. Mr. Dauman has also been designated by Mr. Redstone to be put in charge of his health care decisions, if needed.The group of trustees would have to make fiduciary decisions for the benefit of the trust and the companies it controls, Mr. Dauman said. No one individual will control the trust. It will operate by a majority vote. There is no individual, and its by design.Last week, one of the largest shareholders in the companies raised questions about Mr. Redstones health and his ability to fulfill his duties. Mario Gabelli, whose investment firm, Gamco, is the second-largest voting shareholder in Viacom and CBS, said last week that if Mr. Redstone got paid anything in 2015, it would have a hard time passing any smell test based on the descriptions in the suit.On Monday, Mr. Gabelli said that Mr. Dauman did what he was supposed to do in addressing the structure of what will happen when Mr. Redstone leaves the company.Leslie R. Moonves, the chief executive of CBS, said that the drama surrounding Mr. Redstone was neither distracting the company nor impeding its business. He reiterated Mr. Daumans comments about Mr. Redstones ownership stake going to a trust and said that the company had a strong management team and board of directors.Nothing is going to change, Mr. Moonves said during a session at the UBS conference later in the afternoon. We are very secure.I hope Sumner lives to be 150, he added. | Business | <s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> Credit...Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty ImagesDec. 7, 2015Addressing concerns about the health of Sumner M. Redstone, Viacoms 92-year-old executive chairman, its chief executive said on Monday that Mr. Redstone had an incredible will to live and an enjoyment of life with some physical disabilities.Philippe P. Dauman, the chief, said that he talked with Mr. Redstone several times a week and met with him frequently. He said that Mr. Redstone had physical ailments that required him to be under medical supervision, but that he remained in control of decisions related to his health. Contrary to what some people suggested, no one other than Sumner Redstone is making health care decisions for him as it relates to his physical condition, Mr. Dauman said.Speaking at the UBS Global Media and Communications Conference, Mr. Dauman called recent talk on Mr. Redstones condition disturbing. Mr. Dauman added that he was seeking to get away from some of the hyperventilation that has occurred over the last week or so.He was alluding to the attention given to a lawsuit filed nearly two weeks ago by a former companion of Mr. Redstone that challenges the media moguls mental competence. The suit portrays Mr. Redstone as unable to make decisions on his own care and to reliably communicate with others, and it offers embarrassing claims about his physical condition and things like his sexual appetite.Lawyers for Mr. Redstone have asked a judge to dismiss the suit, calling the claims riddled with lies. A Viacom director, meanwhile, has said that Mr. Redstone was mentally capable.In his address Monday, Mr. Dauman also requested a sense of humanity and decency from people talking and writing about Mr. Redstone, calling him someone who has accomplished a whole lot and created a lot of value over his life.Mr. Redstone controls about 80 percent of the voting stock in Viacom and CBS through his private holding company, National Amusements, and is executive chairman of both Viacom and CBS. The lawsuit has prompted broader questions on whether Mr. Redstone should continue at the helm of the media empire, and on the future of the companies. Industry analysts have said that Viacom or CBS could be sold after Mr. Redstone dies.Mr. Dauman also addressed succession plans for the Viacom and CBS, which he said Mr. Redstone put in place more than two decades ago to ensure continuity. If Mr. Redstone dies or is deemed to lack capacity, his stake in National Amusements will be held by a trust, and voting control will go to seven trustees made up of two family members and five nonfamily members.The trustees include Mr. Dauman and Shari Redstone, Mr. Redstones daughter who owns 20 percent of National Amusements. Mr. Dauman has also been designated by Mr. Redstone to be put in charge of his health care decisions, if needed.The group of trustees would have to make fiduciary decisions for the benefit of the trust and the companies it controls, Mr. Dauman said. No one individual will control the trust. It will operate by a majority vote. There is no individual, and its by design.Last week, one of the largest shareholders in the companies raised questions about Mr. Redstones health and his ability to fulfill his duties. Mario Gabelli, whose investment firm, Gamco, is the second-largest voting shareholder in Viacom and CBS, said last week that if Mr. Redstone got paid anything in 2015, it would have a hard time passing any smell test based on the descriptions in the suit.On Monday, Mr. Gabelli said that Mr. Dauman did what he was supposed to do in addressing the structure of what will happen when Mr. Redstone leaves the company.Leslie R. Moonves, the chief executive of CBS, said that the drama surrounding Mr. Redstone was neither distracting the company nor impeding its business. He reiterated Mr. Daumans comments about Mr. Redstones ownership stake going to a trust and said that the company had a strong management team and board of directors.Nothing is going to change, Mr. Moonves said during a session at the UBS conference later in the afternoon. We are very secure.I hope Sumner lives to be 150, he added. [/INST] Business </s> |
Credit...Alexandros Avramidis/ReutersDec. 14, 2015ATHENS Greeces leftist-led government on Monday signed its first major privatization deal, granting a German company the right to lease and manage more than a dozen regional airports.The contract, worth 1.2 billion euros, or $1.3 billion, is part of an effort to privatize state assets and adopt economic changes demanded by international creditors under Greeces 86 billion bailout program. Some other measures are under debate in the Greek Parliament and are scheduled for a vote Tuesday night.The airport management contract had been under negotiation with the German company, Fraport, when Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and his leftist Syriza party stormed to power in January. The party pledged to end years of austerity and foreign oversight by the countrys creditors: the other nations that use the euro, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund.The airport contract talks were revived only after Mr. Tsipras capitulated to creditors during the summer as Greece teetered on the brink of bankruptcy, accepting the countrys third bailout since 2010.The governments debt problems have for years deprived many Greek airports of sufficient money for maintenance and modernization. One exception is the Athens airport, which has already been partly privatized and generally lives up to its role as a modern international hub.Under the accord, Fraport and its Greek partner, the energy firm Copelouzos, have secured a 40-year lease on 14 provincial airports, including those on the popular tourist islands of Corfu, Mykonos, Rhodes and Santorini.The consortium, which is to assume management of the airports in the fall of 2016, has agreed to pay annual rental fees of 23 million and to spend 330 million over the next four years to revamp the facilities, which in many cases are dilapidated and substandard. The consortium said it planned to invest 1.4 billion over the life of the lease.Commenting after the signing, Stergios Pitsiorlas, the head of Greeces privatization agency, described the deal as a very significant development and a strong message, in all directions, that the Greek economy is winning the trust of markets and entering the road toward growth.Since 2010, when Greece signed its first international bailout, its creditors have pushed it to privatize state assets as a way of raising much-needed revenue and spurring growth. However, several governments displayed little appetite for selling assets, and only around 3 billion in revenue has been raised so far through privatizations.The current bailout program calls for the government to raise an additional 6.2 billion from selling or awarding management contracts for state-owned assets over the next three years, money that is to go toward reducing national debt and increasing sorely needed investment.The latest package of economic measures now under debate by Parliament includes the creation of a new privatization fund that would be jointly supervised by Greek and foreign officials. Other actions on the list include overhauling the Greek energy sector and allowing the sale of delinquent loans held by Greek banks to so-called distressed debt funds. (Greeces creditors are particularly concerned about an estimated 107 billion of nonperforming loans that are sapping the countrys banks.)The new measures are widely expected to pass in Tuesday nights vote because the governments Syriza-led coalition has a majority, albeit by three seats, in the 300-member Parliament. The package must be approved if Greece is to receive its next allotment of 1 billion in bailout money.A series of austerity measures and economic overhauls adopted over the last two months has fueled public anger and prompted two general strikes. Mr. Tsipras, who once railed against austerity, has insisted that Syriza has not forgotten its pledges to restore social justice.The government will face a much tougher test next month when it tries to overhaul Greeces costly and dysfunctional pension system. Greek officials are resisting calls for more cuts to pensions, noting that payments have been cut more than 10 times in the last six years. They are seeking other ways of bolstering the system, notably by imposing higher social security contributions for employers and workers.The idea is said to have been greeted with skepticism by creditors, though, as unemployment remains high and thousands of businesses are struggling to remain afloat.Securing support for an overhaul of the pension system is likely to be the biggest challenge yet for Mr. Tsipras. | Business | <s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> Credit...Alexandros Avramidis/ReutersDec. 14, 2015ATHENS Greeces leftist-led government on Monday signed its first major privatization deal, granting a German company the right to lease and manage more than a dozen regional airports.The contract, worth 1.2 billion euros, or $1.3 billion, is part of an effort to privatize state assets and adopt economic changes demanded by international creditors under Greeces 86 billion bailout program. Some other measures are under debate in the Greek Parliament and are scheduled for a vote Tuesday night.The airport management contract had been under negotiation with the German company, Fraport, when Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and his leftist Syriza party stormed to power in January. The party pledged to end years of austerity and foreign oversight by the countrys creditors: the other nations that use the euro, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund.The airport contract talks were revived only after Mr. Tsipras capitulated to creditors during the summer as Greece teetered on the brink of bankruptcy, accepting the countrys third bailout since 2010.The governments debt problems have for years deprived many Greek airports of sufficient money for maintenance and modernization. One exception is the Athens airport, which has already been partly privatized and generally lives up to its role as a modern international hub.Under the accord, Fraport and its Greek partner, the energy firm Copelouzos, have secured a 40-year lease on 14 provincial airports, including those on the popular tourist islands of Corfu, Mykonos, Rhodes and Santorini.The consortium, which is to assume management of the airports in the fall of 2016, has agreed to pay annual rental fees of 23 million and to spend 330 million over the next four years to revamp the facilities, which in many cases are dilapidated and substandard. The consortium said it planned to invest 1.4 billion over the life of the lease.Commenting after the signing, Stergios Pitsiorlas, the head of Greeces privatization agency, described the deal as a very significant development and a strong message, in all directions, that the Greek economy is winning the trust of markets and entering the road toward growth.Since 2010, when Greece signed its first international bailout, its creditors have pushed it to privatize state assets as a way of raising much-needed revenue and spurring growth. However, several governments displayed little appetite for selling assets, and only around 3 billion in revenue has been raised so far through privatizations.The current bailout program calls for the government to raise an additional 6.2 billion from selling or awarding management contracts for state-owned assets over the next three years, money that is to go toward reducing national debt and increasing sorely needed investment.The latest package of economic measures now under debate by Parliament includes the creation of a new privatization fund that would be jointly supervised by Greek and foreign officials. Other actions on the list include overhauling the Greek energy sector and allowing the sale of delinquent loans held by Greek banks to so-called distressed debt funds. (Greeces creditors are particularly concerned about an estimated 107 billion of nonperforming loans that are sapping the countrys banks.)The new measures are widely expected to pass in Tuesday nights vote because the governments Syriza-led coalition has a majority, albeit by three seats, in the 300-member Parliament. The package must be approved if Greece is to receive its next allotment of 1 billion in bailout money.A series of austerity measures and economic overhauls adopted over the last two months has fueled public anger and prompted two general strikes. Mr. Tsipras, who once railed against austerity, has insisted that Syriza has not forgotten its pledges to restore social justice.The government will face a much tougher test next month when it tries to overhaul Greeces costly and dysfunctional pension system. Greek officials are resisting calls for more cuts to pensions, noting that payments have been cut more than 10 times in the last six years. They are seeking other ways of bolstering the system, notably by imposing higher social security contributions for employers and workers.The idea is said to have been greeted with skepticism by creditors, though, as unemployment remains high and thousands of businesses are struggling to remain afloat.Securing support for an overhaul of the pension system is likely to be the biggest challenge yet for Mr. Tsipras. [/INST] Business </s> |
Olympics|Felix Loch Keeps Hold on Luge, Winning Second Straight Goldhttps://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/10/sports/olympics/felix-loch-keeps-hold-on-luge-winning-second-straight-gold.htmlCredit...Josh Haner/The New York TimesFeb. 9, 2014KRASNAYA POLYANA, Russia There was little drama at the Sanki Sliding Center here Sunday night as Felix Loch of Germany continued his domination of the mens luge event at the Sochi Games and won a second consecutive Olympic gold medal.Many of the other lugers all but conceded to Loch after Saturdays two runs; he was the only rider to record a trip time faster than 52 seconds. Loch then extended his lead in the third run, on Sunday, before officially claiming his prize with a solid final trip that gave him a cumulative time of 3 minutes 27.526 seconds.Its really crazy; its unbelievable, Loch said. Im really overwhelmed.Loch, 24, is the clear future of the sport. It was fitting, then, that he beat two legends with a remarkably consistent performance. Albert Demchenko of Russia, 42, finished 0.476 seconds behind Loch, becoming the oldest man to earn a medal in luge. Armin Zggeler of Italy, 40, was 1.271 seconds slower than Loch and earned bronze. Zggelers medal was his sixth, a total that includes two golds; he became the first man to earn a medal in six different Olympics.I have no words, Zggeler said afterward. It has been good for me to represent Italy. Over all, it has been good for me and good for Italy.The Americans in the event struggled to keep pace with the top riders. Christopher Mazdzer finished 13th, Tucker West 22nd and Aidan Kelly 24th.A bunch of emotions happening right now, Mazdzer, 25, said. Its an experience-based sport, and Im not quite old enough to hang with the big dogs yet. | Sports | <s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> Olympics|Felix Loch Keeps Hold on Luge, Winning Second Straight Goldhttps://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/10/sports/olympics/felix-loch-keeps-hold-on-luge-winning-second-straight-gold.htmlCredit...Josh Haner/The New York TimesFeb. 9, 2014KRASNAYA POLYANA, Russia There was little drama at the Sanki Sliding Center here Sunday night as Felix Loch of Germany continued his domination of the mens luge event at the Sochi Games and won a second consecutive Olympic gold medal.Many of the other lugers all but conceded to Loch after Saturdays two runs; he was the only rider to record a trip time faster than 52 seconds. Loch then extended his lead in the third run, on Sunday, before officially claiming his prize with a solid final trip that gave him a cumulative time of 3 minutes 27.526 seconds.Its really crazy; its unbelievable, Loch said. Im really overwhelmed.Loch, 24, is the clear future of the sport. It was fitting, then, that he beat two legends with a remarkably consistent performance. Albert Demchenko of Russia, 42, finished 0.476 seconds behind Loch, becoming the oldest man to earn a medal in luge. Armin Zggeler of Italy, 40, was 1.271 seconds slower than Loch and earned bronze. Zggelers medal was his sixth, a total that includes two golds; he became the first man to earn a medal in six different Olympics.I have no words, Zggeler said afterward. It has been good for me to represent Italy. Over all, it has been good for me and good for Italy.The Americans in the event struggled to keep pace with the top riders. Christopher Mazdzer finished 13th, Tucker West 22nd and Aidan Kelly 24th.A bunch of emotions happening right now, Mazdzer, 25, said. Its an experience-based sport, and Im not quite old enough to hang with the big dogs yet. [/INST] Sports </s> |
tech fixWe are beholden to a few Big Tech overlords for much of our digital lives. We can be more conscientious about it.Credit...Glenn HarveyJuly 29, 2020In the morning, you check email. At noon, you browse social media and message friends. In the evening, you listen to music while shopping online. Around bedtime, you curl up with an e-book.For all of those activities, you probably used a product made or sold by Google, Amazon, Apple or Facebook. Theres no simple way to avoid those Big Four. Even if you subscribed to Spotify, you would probably still be using a Google Android phone, an Amazon speaker or an Apple iPhone to stream the music. Even if you deleted Facebook, you might still be using the Facebook-owned Instagram or WhatsApp.Being beholden to a small set of companies that touch every corner of our digital lives is precisely why lawmakers have summoned the chief executives of Amazon, Google, Facebook and Apple to testify in an antitrust hearing on Wednesday. Expect the tech titans to be grilled over whether their companies have become so powerful and far-reaching that they harm rivals and all of us, too.So what can we do if we want to break out of the stranglehold of Big Tech?At first glance, there may not seem like much we can do to escape. Its not like you can start shopping at local bookstores and put Amazon out of business, said Jason Fried, the founder of Basecamp, a Chicago-based company that offers productivity apps.But the more I thought about this, the more I realized that there were some steps that we could take to better support techs little guys, too. We would do ourselves and smaller businesses a favor by staying informed on alternatives, for one. We could change our consumption patterns so that we were not just buying new products from the tech giants. And we could show our support for indie developers who make the apps we love.As Mr. Fried put it, We can do things to change our own conscience. Heres how.When possible, find alternativesStep One to becoming a more conscientious consumer is doing some research.While Google Chrome may be the most popular web browser, there are alternatives that collect less data about us. And while all of our friends are on Facebook, there are also smaller apps or methods we can use to stay connected with them. The key is to read news sites and tech blogs to learn about options.You have to read and be informed, said Don Heider, chief executive of the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University. Otherwise, youre not going to have a clue of where to go and what to pick and what the impact is.Mr. Heider pointed to a few examples: Instead of Google Chrome, people can download great browsers, including DuckDuckGo, Brave and Opera, which focus on stronger privacy and security protections. Instead of Facebook, we can tell our friends to hang out with us on social media apps like Vero and Mastodon, which are both ad-free, he said.The same goes for Amazon. Instead of ordering paper towels and hand sanitizer on Amazon, consider picking up those items at a local store. Instead of ordering a new dog collar on Amazon, consider buying a custom-made one from an independent merchant on Etsy.Mr. Fried says he rarely shops on Amazon, takes cabs instead of Ubers and finds books via IndieBound, a resource for buying titles from local bookstores. When the default is just Amazon, Amazon, Amazon, youre just feeding the flame, he said.Why buy new? Buy usedSpeaking of alternatives, theres a different way to buy tech hardware altogether: Purchase gadgets used or refurbished.When you buy a new phone or computer, your dollars go directly to the tech giants who created the products. But when you buy used, you are supporting a broader community of small businesses that repair and resell equipment.Many of us generally shy away from used electronics because we fear the products may be in shoddy condition. The reality is that resellers work with technicians who restore products to their former glory before putting them up on sale and the gadgets are often backed by a warranty. Reputable vendors of used goods include GameStop and Gazelle.Buying used also contributes to a broader mission: the so-called right to repair movement.Unlike car mechanics, small electronics repair shops have limited access to the parts and instructions that they need to service our smartphones, tablets and computers. Public advocacy groups and the repair community have pushed to pass legislation that would require electronics manufacturers to share all of the components and information needed to fix our gadgets.If more people opt to buy used or refurbished goods, that will show that there is demand for repaired products. That, in turn, puts pressure on manufacturers to make repair more accessible to independent technicians and consumers, said Carole Mars, the director of technical development and innovation at the Sustainability Consortium, which studies the sustainability of consumer goods.It comes down to accepting refurbished and demanding refurbished, Dr. Mars said. That will lead you to ask, Why cant I get this product used or fixed? Its because the company locked it down.So try to make this a habit: Whenever you are shopping for an electronic online, check if there is a used or refurbished option. If there is one in good condition, go for it and save some bucks.Support indie developersA lot of what we do with our devices is made possible by smaller companies that produce our apps and games. One way to show our support to David rather than Goliath is to have some patience and empathy for the indie developers.People often get frustrated when an app or game they love gets a big software update and charges another $3 to $10 for the new version, for example. Try not to get irritated these are small outfits trying to survive, not big corporations trying to milk you and be willing to pay. Its the same amount of money as a cup of coffee or a sandwich, and youre polishing a piece of software that you love.If you can pay for software that you like, said Brianna Wu, a game developer, you probably have an ethical responsibility to do so in the same way that youd have the ethical responsibility to tip a waitress. The reality is that most of the time when you play an indie video game, that group of people have bet their entire companys future on you paying for it.Keep in mind also that small app developers lack the huge marketing budgets of our tech overlords. They rely largely on all of us to do grass-roots marketing in the form of written reviews or word of mouth, said David Barnard, founder of the app studio Contrast. So when you love an app, tell your friends about it.Ill close with an example: My favorite piece of indie software for the Mac is Fantastical, a calendar app, which does a better, more reliable job organizing my online calendars than Apples calendar app.It was an expensive calendar app $50 but its kept me punctual, which makes it worth every penny. | Tech | <s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> tech fixWe are beholden to a few Big Tech overlords for much of our digital lives. We can be more conscientious about it.Credit...Glenn HarveyJuly 29, 2020In the morning, you check email. At noon, you browse social media and message friends. In the evening, you listen to music while shopping online. Around bedtime, you curl up with an e-book.For all of those activities, you probably used a product made or sold by Google, Amazon, Apple or Facebook. Theres no simple way to avoid those Big Four. Even if you subscribed to Spotify, you would probably still be using a Google Android phone, an Amazon speaker or an Apple iPhone to stream the music. Even if you deleted Facebook, you might still be using the Facebook-owned Instagram or WhatsApp.Being beholden to a small set of companies that touch every corner of our digital lives is precisely why lawmakers have summoned the chief executives of Amazon, Google, Facebook and Apple to testify in an antitrust hearing on Wednesday. Expect the tech titans to be grilled over whether their companies have become so powerful and far-reaching that they harm rivals and all of us, too.So what can we do if we want to break out of the stranglehold of Big Tech?At first glance, there may not seem like much we can do to escape. Its not like you can start shopping at local bookstores and put Amazon out of business, said Jason Fried, the founder of Basecamp, a Chicago-based company that offers productivity apps.But the more I thought about this, the more I realized that there were some steps that we could take to better support techs little guys, too. We would do ourselves and smaller businesses a favor by staying informed on alternatives, for one. We could change our consumption patterns so that we were not just buying new products from the tech giants. And we could show our support for indie developers who make the apps we love.As Mr. Fried put it, We can do things to change our own conscience. Heres how.When possible, find alternativesStep One to becoming a more conscientious consumer is doing some research.While Google Chrome may be the most popular web browser, there are alternatives that collect less data about us. And while all of our friends are on Facebook, there are also smaller apps or methods we can use to stay connected with them. The key is to read news sites and tech blogs to learn about options.You have to read and be informed, said Don Heider, chief executive of the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University. Otherwise, youre not going to have a clue of where to go and what to pick and what the impact is.Mr. Heider pointed to a few examples: Instead of Google Chrome, people can download great browsers, including DuckDuckGo, Brave and Opera, which focus on stronger privacy and security protections. Instead of Facebook, we can tell our friends to hang out with us on social media apps like Vero and Mastodon, which are both ad-free, he said.The same goes for Amazon. Instead of ordering paper towels and hand sanitizer on Amazon, consider picking up those items at a local store. Instead of ordering a new dog collar on Amazon, consider buying a custom-made one from an independent merchant on Etsy.Mr. Fried says he rarely shops on Amazon, takes cabs instead of Ubers and finds books via IndieBound, a resource for buying titles from local bookstores. When the default is just Amazon, Amazon, Amazon, youre just feeding the flame, he said.Why buy new? Buy usedSpeaking of alternatives, theres a different way to buy tech hardware altogether: Purchase gadgets used or refurbished.When you buy a new phone or computer, your dollars go directly to the tech giants who created the products. But when you buy used, you are supporting a broader community of small businesses that repair and resell equipment.Many of us generally shy away from used electronics because we fear the products may be in shoddy condition. The reality is that resellers work with technicians who restore products to their former glory before putting them up on sale and the gadgets are often backed by a warranty. Reputable vendors of used goods include GameStop and Gazelle.Buying used also contributes to a broader mission: the so-called right to repair movement.Unlike car mechanics, small electronics repair shops have limited access to the parts and instructions that they need to service our smartphones, tablets and computers. Public advocacy groups and the repair community have pushed to pass legislation that would require electronics manufacturers to share all of the components and information needed to fix our gadgets.If more people opt to buy used or refurbished goods, that will show that there is demand for repaired products. That, in turn, puts pressure on manufacturers to make repair more accessible to independent technicians and consumers, said Carole Mars, the director of technical development and innovation at the Sustainability Consortium, which studies the sustainability of consumer goods.It comes down to accepting refurbished and demanding refurbished, Dr. Mars said. That will lead you to ask, Why cant I get this product used or fixed? Its because the company locked it down.So try to make this a habit: Whenever you are shopping for an electronic online, check if there is a used or refurbished option. If there is one in good condition, go for it and save some bucks.Support indie developersA lot of what we do with our devices is made possible by smaller companies that produce our apps and games. One way to show our support to David rather than Goliath is to have some patience and empathy for the indie developers.People often get frustrated when an app or game they love gets a big software update and charges another $3 to $10 for the new version, for example. Try not to get irritated these are small outfits trying to survive, not big corporations trying to milk you and be willing to pay. Its the same amount of money as a cup of coffee or a sandwich, and youre polishing a piece of software that you love.If you can pay for software that you like, said Brianna Wu, a game developer, you probably have an ethical responsibility to do so in the same way that youd have the ethical responsibility to tip a waitress. The reality is that most of the time when you play an indie video game, that group of people have bet their entire companys future on you paying for it.Keep in mind also that small app developers lack the huge marketing budgets of our tech overlords. They rely largely on all of us to do grass-roots marketing in the form of written reviews or word of mouth, said David Barnard, founder of the app studio Contrast. So when you love an app, tell your friends about it.Ill close with an example: My favorite piece of indie software for the Mac is Fantastical, a calendar app, which does a better, more reliable job organizing my online calendars than Apples calendar app.It was an expensive calendar app $50 but its kept me punctual, which makes it worth every penny. [/INST] Tech </s> |
It was 2000, and Bill Clinton was upbeat. The internet, he said, was opening up the world. Theres no question China has been trying to crack down on the internet, he said. Good luck. Thats sort of like trying to nail Jell-O to the wall. The internet would inevitably push China toward democracy, he said. How could any country control something so free-flowing and still hope to be technologically vibrant? Something would surely have to give. He was wrong. Today, China has the worlds only internet companies that can match Americas in ambition and reach. It is years ahead of the United States in replacing paper money with smartphone payments, turning tech giants into vital gatekeepers of the consumer economy. And it is host to a supernova of creative expression in short videos, podcasts, blogs and streaming TV that ought to dispel any notions of Chinese culture as drearily conformist. Karmas a Bitch, a meme All this, on a patch of cyberspace that is walled off from Facebook and Google, policed by tens of thousands of censors and subject to strict controls on how data is collected, stored and shared. Chinas leaders like the internet they have created. And now, they want to direct the nations talent and tech acumen toward an even loftier end: building an innovation-driven economy, one that produces world-leading companies. Not long ago, Chinese tech firms were best known for copying Silicon Valley. Google Baidu YouTube Youku Uber Didi But the flow of inspiration now runs both ways. American social media executives look to Tencent and ByteDance for the latest tricks for keeping users glued to their phones. Tencents WeChat app, an all-in-one hub for socializing, playing games, paying bills, booking train tickets and more, paved the way for the increasingly feature-stuffed chat apps made by Facebook and Apple. Facebook recently took a page from TikTok, a Chinese service that is a sensation among Western tweens, by releasing its own highly similar app for creating goofy short videos. If people in the West didnt see this coming, it was because they mistook Chinas authoritarianism for hostility toward technology. But in some ways Chinese tech firms are less fettered than American ones. Witness the backlash against Big Data in the United States, the calls to break up giants like Facebook and the anxiety about digital addiction. None of those are big problems for Chinese companies. In China, there is pretty much only one rule, and it is simple: Dont undermine the state. So titans like Weibo and Baidu heed censorship orders. Unwanted beliefs and ideologies are kept out. Beyond that, everything is fair game. Start-ups can achieve mammoth scale with astonishing speed; they can also crash brutally. Thanks to weak intellectual property protections, they can rip one another off with abandon not great for rewarding innovation, but O.K. for consumers, who get lots of choices. And the money just keeps flowing in. In another advantage, old-school industries like media, finance and health care have been dominated by lumbering state-run giants. That has allowed internet champions like Alibaba and Tencent to sew themselves into these businesses with ease. With their mobile payment platforms, the two giants have built sprawling ecosystems in which vast amounts of commercial activity now take place. Little remains of daily life that has not been transformed. Shopping. Getting a loan. Renting a bike. Even going to the doctor. This level of clout hasnt gone unnoticed by Chinas leaders. Never in the Communist era have private entities wielded such influence over peoples lives. To keep tech in its place, the government is demanding stakes in companies and influence over management. Regulators have reprimanded online platforms for hosting content they deem distasteful too raunchy, too flirty, too creepy or just too weird. Thats why the best way for tech companies to thrive in China is to make themselves useful to the state. Nearly everyone in China uses WeChat, making the social network a great way for the authorities to police what people say and do. SenseTime, whose facial recognition technology powers those fun filters in video apps, also sells software to law enforcement. Image recognition software by SenseTime Crowd analysis software by SenseTime Identification software by SenseTime labeling people and cars in real time Participants at a Chinese internet conference identified by Face++ software The risk for these companies is that the government demands more, sucking away resources that could be better spent chasing innovations or breaking into new markets. In China, says Lance Noble of the research firm Gavekal Dragonomics, the governments support can be a blessing and a curse. | World | <s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> It was 2000, and Bill Clinton was upbeat. The internet, he said, was opening up the world. Theres no question China has been trying to crack down on the internet, he said. Good luck. Thats sort of like trying to nail Jell-O to the wall. The internet would inevitably push China toward democracy, he said. How could any country control something so free-flowing and still hope to be technologically vibrant? Something would surely have to give. He was wrong. Today, China has the worlds only internet companies that can match Americas in ambition and reach. It is years ahead of the United States in replacing paper money with smartphone payments, turning tech giants into vital gatekeepers of the consumer economy. And it is host to a supernova of creative expression in short videos, podcasts, blogs and streaming TV that ought to dispel any notions of Chinese culture as drearily conformist. Karmas a Bitch, a meme All this, on a patch of cyberspace that is walled off from Facebook and Google, policed by tens of thousands of censors and subject to strict controls on how data is collected, stored and shared. Chinas leaders like the internet they have created. And now, they want to direct the nations talent and tech acumen toward an even loftier end: building an innovation-driven economy, one that produces world-leading companies. Not long ago, Chinese tech firms were best known for copying Silicon Valley. Google Baidu YouTube Youku Uber Didi But the flow of inspiration now runs both ways. American social media executives look to Tencent and ByteDance for the latest tricks for keeping users glued to their phones. Tencents WeChat app, an all-in-one hub for socializing, playing games, paying bills, booking train tickets and more, paved the way for the increasingly feature-stuffed chat apps made by Facebook and Apple. Facebook recently took a page from TikTok, a Chinese service that is a sensation among Western tweens, by releasing its own highly similar app for creating goofy short videos. If people in the West didnt see this coming, it was because they mistook Chinas authoritarianism for hostility toward technology. But in some ways Chinese tech firms are less fettered than American ones. Witness the backlash against Big Data in the United States, the calls to break up giants like Facebook and the anxiety about digital addiction. None of those are big problems for Chinese companies. In China, there is pretty much only one rule, and it is simple: Dont undermine the state. So titans like Weibo and Baidu heed censorship orders. Unwanted beliefs and ideologies are kept out. Beyond that, everything is fair game. Start-ups can achieve mammoth scale with astonishing speed; they can also crash brutally. Thanks to weak intellectual property protections, they can rip one another off with abandon not great for rewarding innovation, but O.K. for consumers, who get lots of choices. And the money just keeps flowing in. In another advantage, old-school industries like media, finance and health care have been dominated by lumbering state-run giants. That has allowed internet champions like Alibaba and Tencent to sew themselves into these businesses with ease. With their mobile payment platforms, the two giants have built sprawling ecosystems in which vast amounts of commercial activity now take place. Little remains of daily life that has not been transformed. Shopping. Getting a loan. Renting a bike. Even going to the doctor. This level of clout hasnt gone unnoticed by Chinas leaders. Never in the Communist era have private entities wielded such influence over peoples lives. To keep tech in its place, the government is demanding stakes in companies and influence over management. Regulators have reprimanded online platforms for hosting content they deem distasteful too raunchy, too flirty, too creepy or just too weird. Thats why the best way for tech companies to thrive in China is to make themselves useful to the state. Nearly everyone in China uses WeChat, making the social network a great way for the authorities to police what people say and do. SenseTime, whose facial recognition technology powers those fun filters in video apps, also sells software to law enforcement. Image recognition software by SenseTime Crowd analysis software by SenseTime Identification software by SenseTime labeling people and cars in real time Participants at a Chinese internet conference identified by Face++ software The risk for these companies is that the government demands more, sucking away resources that could be better spent chasing innovations or breaking into new markets. In China, says Lance Noble of the research firm Gavekal Dragonomics, the governments support can be a blessing and a curse. [/INST] World </s> |
Asia Pacific|Cambodia to Bring Wild Tigers From Abroad in Fight Against Extinctionhttps://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/07/world/asia/cambodia-tigers.htmlCredit...Mark Remissa/European Pressphoto AgencyApril 6, 2016A plan to fight the extinction of wild tigers in Cambodia would require importing the big cats from abroad, in what conservationists say would be the first transnational tiger reintroduction.The last tiger seen in the wild in Cambodia was in its east in 2007, Un Chakrey, communications manager for the conservation group WWF-Cambodia, said on Wednesday. Poaching and the loss of habitat have wiped out tigers in Cambodia, and the species is considered functionally extinct there, with no breeding pairs, WWF-Cambodia said.Under a plan approved last month by the Cambodian government, a small number of tigers will be imported and introduced to the Mondulkiri Protected Forest, the last place in the country a tiger was seen.The first phase of the plan would call for two male tigers and five to six female tigers to be released, Mr. Un Chakrey said.The tigers would most likely come from India, though Thailand and Malaysia are other possibilities, Mr. Un Chakrey said. They could be introduced as soon as 2020, he said.The Cambodia program would learn from the experiences of India, which has had success in reintroducing tigers.Next week, representatives of 13 so-called tiger-range countries across Asia will meet in New Delhi to discuss a plan to double the number of the animals across the region by 2022. The population in 2009 was estimated to be 3,200.Studies in 2006 and 2010 indicated that tigers inhabited less than 6 percent of their historical range, according to the Red List of Threatened Species compiled by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. | World | <s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> Asia Pacific|Cambodia to Bring Wild Tigers From Abroad in Fight Against Extinctionhttps://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/07/world/asia/cambodia-tigers.htmlCredit...Mark Remissa/European Pressphoto AgencyApril 6, 2016A plan to fight the extinction of wild tigers in Cambodia would require importing the big cats from abroad, in what conservationists say would be the first transnational tiger reintroduction.The last tiger seen in the wild in Cambodia was in its east in 2007, Un Chakrey, communications manager for the conservation group WWF-Cambodia, said on Wednesday. Poaching and the loss of habitat have wiped out tigers in Cambodia, and the species is considered functionally extinct there, with no breeding pairs, WWF-Cambodia said.Under a plan approved last month by the Cambodian government, a small number of tigers will be imported and introduced to the Mondulkiri Protected Forest, the last place in the country a tiger was seen.The first phase of the plan would call for two male tigers and five to six female tigers to be released, Mr. Un Chakrey said.The tigers would most likely come from India, though Thailand and Malaysia are other possibilities, Mr. Un Chakrey said. They could be introduced as soon as 2020, he said.The Cambodia program would learn from the experiences of India, which has had success in reintroducing tigers.Next week, representatives of 13 so-called tiger-range countries across Asia will meet in New Delhi to discuss a plan to double the number of the animals across the region by 2022. The population in 2009 was estimated to be 3,200.Studies in 2006 and 2010 indicated that tigers inhabited less than 6 percent of their historical range, according to the Red List of Threatened Species compiled by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. [/INST] World </s> |
GadgetwiseFeb. 5, 2014Lights are no longer just for lighting.With the development of LED lamp technology, the lowly light bulb is doing more than turning on and off. A lamp can be the centerpiece of an environment meant to improve health, moods and even food.LEDs can create light in multiple colors, generate less heat and use a fraction of the energy of older types of bulbs. And LEDs can be controlled remotely from a PC or smartphone app, as programmable as a television.Theres a tremendous potential for LED lighting to go beyond illumination, said John Strainic, General Electrics general manager for consumer lighting. Were asking people to think about lighting as more than just an impulse purchase.Because of the LED manufacturing process, the light that the technology creates is weighted toward the blue end of the spectrum. That is true whether the LED is used in a light bulb, a tablet or a television display.That blue light has its advantages: Blue stimulates a photoreceptor in the eye that reduces melatonin production and helps a person stay awake.You have to start thinking of light as a drug, said Terry K. McGowan, the director of engineering for the American Lighting Association, a trade group. That is why Lighting Science, an LED manufacturer, is now selling Awake and Alert, an LED lamp that keeps people pumped up by pumping up the blue. Conversely, the companys Good Night lighting product reduces the blue output, helping people sleep. This summer, Lighting Science will offer its Rhythm Downlight, a lamp controlled by a smartphone app that adjusts blue light based on a users sleep schedule.The Awake and Alert lamp does not look brighter, but our circadian system sees it as such, said Robert Soler, Lighting Sciences director of lighting research. We always felt that there was so much more you can do with light than just increase vision.Philips sells its own range of energy-enhancing lights, including its Wake-up Light and to combat winter blues the goLITE BLU, a panel of blue LEDs.In Europe, Philips is experimenting with its HealWell system in hospitals. By changing colors based on time of day, it encourages a patient to wake up, feel more relaxed and sleep more easily. At a field study at the Maastricht University Medical Center in the Netherlands, cardiology patients were found to sleep longer and experience reduced depression.In the United States, Lighting Science is working on a similar system, and expects to offer products by the end of this year. Unfortunately, many hospitals have removed solariums, but lots of studies have shown that they improve recovery time, said Mr. Soler of Lighting Science.While the ability to alter an LED lamps color opens up new uses for light, the fact that LEDs can be remotely controlled significantly changes their potential.With Osram Sylvanias ULTRA iQ system, users can program lamps to turn on when a key is put in the lock. Philipss Hue system, on the other hand, allows users to create their own lighting moods and then send those instructions to special lamps via a smartphone app. The lights can also be programmed to respond to specific events, such as by glowing a prescribed color when it is time to remove the roast from the oven.Tabus Lumen TL800lamp uses Bluetooth connectivity to control the lamp from a smartphone, allowing the user to change colors, dim the bulb and synchronize lighting effects to the rhythm of a song played on the phone.But synchronizing lighting to events is much more than a parlor trick. Philips has designed lighting systems that decrease growing times and increase yield for greenhouse vegetables and flowers, by using a lights specific hues.In the Netherlands and Canada, among other places, tomato and vegetable growers are using Philipss LEDs to improve bulk, increase fruit growth and reduce vegetable maturation time while reducing energy costs.We find the optimal light recipe for the grower, said Udo van Slooten, a Philips Lighting general manager for horticulture. Within the next few years, the worlds major lighting companies expect to expand LEDs connected capabilities, particularly with sensors.For example, sensors could tell how many people are in a room and their location, and direct the proper amount of lighting to where it is needed. Medical patients prone to agitation could be calmed once facial recognition technology identifies them and changes the hue of an examining room to more calming tones. When older people enter a room, lighting intensity can be raised to compensate for their decreased ability to see.Today, lighting is becoming an appliance, like a blender, said Mr. McGowan of the American Lighting Association. I tell people when they move, they should take their LED bulbs with them. | Tech | <s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> GadgetwiseFeb. 5, 2014Lights are no longer just for lighting.With the development of LED lamp technology, the lowly light bulb is doing more than turning on and off. A lamp can be the centerpiece of an environment meant to improve health, moods and even food.LEDs can create light in multiple colors, generate less heat and use a fraction of the energy of older types of bulbs. And LEDs can be controlled remotely from a PC or smartphone app, as programmable as a television.Theres a tremendous potential for LED lighting to go beyond illumination, said John Strainic, General Electrics general manager for consumer lighting. Were asking people to think about lighting as more than just an impulse purchase.Because of the LED manufacturing process, the light that the technology creates is weighted toward the blue end of the spectrum. That is true whether the LED is used in a light bulb, a tablet or a television display.That blue light has its advantages: Blue stimulates a photoreceptor in the eye that reduces melatonin production and helps a person stay awake.You have to start thinking of light as a drug, said Terry K. McGowan, the director of engineering for the American Lighting Association, a trade group. That is why Lighting Science, an LED manufacturer, is now selling Awake and Alert, an LED lamp that keeps people pumped up by pumping up the blue. Conversely, the companys Good Night lighting product reduces the blue output, helping people sleep. This summer, Lighting Science will offer its Rhythm Downlight, a lamp controlled by a smartphone app that adjusts blue light based on a users sleep schedule.The Awake and Alert lamp does not look brighter, but our circadian system sees it as such, said Robert Soler, Lighting Sciences director of lighting research. We always felt that there was so much more you can do with light than just increase vision.Philips sells its own range of energy-enhancing lights, including its Wake-up Light and to combat winter blues the goLITE BLU, a panel of blue LEDs.In Europe, Philips is experimenting with its HealWell system in hospitals. By changing colors based on time of day, it encourages a patient to wake up, feel more relaxed and sleep more easily. At a field study at the Maastricht University Medical Center in the Netherlands, cardiology patients were found to sleep longer and experience reduced depression.In the United States, Lighting Science is working on a similar system, and expects to offer products by the end of this year. Unfortunately, many hospitals have removed solariums, but lots of studies have shown that they improve recovery time, said Mr. Soler of Lighting Science.While the ability to alter an LED lamps color opens up new uses for light, the fact that LEDs can be remotely controlled significantly changes their potential.With Osram Sylvanias ULTRA iQ system, users can program lamps to turn on when a key is put in the lock. Philipss Hue system, on the other hand, allows users to create their own lighting moods and then send those instructions to special lamps via a smartphone app. The lights can also be programmed to respond to specific events, such as by glowing a prescribed color when it is time to remove the roast from the oven.Tabus Lumen TL800lamp uses Bluetooth connectivity to control the lamp from a smartphone, allowing the user to change colors, dim the bulb and synchronize lighting effects to the rhythm of a song played on the phone.But synchronizing lighting to events is much more than a parlor trick. Philips has designed lighting systems that decrease growing times and increase yield for greenhouse vegetables and flowers, by using a lights specific hues.In the Netherlands and Canada, among other places, tomato and vegetable growers are using Philipss LEDs to improve bulk, increase fruit growth and reduce vegetable maturation time while reducing energy costs.We find the optimal light recipe for the grower, said Udo van Slooten, a Philips Lighting general manager for horticulture. Within the next few years, the worlds major lighting companies expect to expand LEDs connected capabilities, particularly with sensors.For example, sensors could tell how many people are in a room and their location, and direct the proper amount of lighting to where it is needed. Medical patients prone to agitation could be calmed once facial recognition technology identifies them and changes the hue of an examining room to more calming tones. When older people enter a room, lighting intensity can be raised to compensate for their decreased ability to see.Today, lighting is becoming an appliance, like a blender, said Mr. McGowan of the American Lighting Association. I tell people when they move, they should take their LED bulbs with them. [/INST] Tech </s> |
https://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/01/business/international/imf-sdr-renminbi-china-explainer.htmlCredit...Jens Meyer/Associated PressNov. 30, 2015The United States dollar was once the standard reserve currency for the International Monetary Fund. But in the 1960s and early 70s, as the Vietnam War dragged on and the United States ran persistent trade deficits, the dollar came to be seen as overvalued.A New Means of ExchangeRising trade in the 1960s was putting stress on the supply of two key assets gold and the United States dollar that were needed to support the global monetary standard developed at Bretton Woods after World War II.To ease the strain, the I.M.F. in 1969 created special drawing rights. Each S.D.R. was equivalent to 0.888671 gram of fine gold which, at the time, was the amount of gold one United States dollar could buy. Although an S.D.R. is not a currency as such (it is really just an accounting entry), it can be used by member countries as a reserve asset. S.D.R.s may also be used when the I.M.F. lends money to its member countries or is repaid for loans. A country holding S.D.R.s converts them into one of its component currencies (like dollars or sterling) before they can be spent on goods or services.The Collapse of a StandardThe dollars peg to gold formally ended on Aug. 15, 1971, when President Richard M. Nixon said the government would no longer convert foreign-held dollars into gold. The new policy, announced in a televised speech to the country, was part of a sweeping new economic plan aimed at reducing inflation and unemployment. By 1973, all the major world currencies were floating in value against each other.Responding to the changes, the monetary fund in 1975 based its system on a basket of 16 widely used currencies. Six years later, the basket was simplified to the currencies of the Group of Five industrial nations: the United States dollar, the Japanese yen, the German mark, the British pound and the French franc.The Euro Joins the BasketIn 1999, the collection of reserve currencies was juggled again when the euro was introduced. The euro replaced the French franc and German mark as part of the special drawing rights. The change would be the last until the addition of Chinas renminbi, which will take effect on Oct. 1, 2016.After the change, the weightings of one S.D.R. will be: 41.73 percent for the American dollar, 30.93 percent for the euro, 10.92 percent for the Chinese renminbi, 8.33 percent for the Japanese yen and 8.09 percent for the British pound.Using S.D.R.sAccording to the I.M.F., as of today, 204.1 billion S.D.R.s (equal to about $285 billion) have been created and allocated to member countries.Many central banks use the system in calculating the value of their reserves. By adding the renminbi to this group, the I.M.F. effectively considers the currency to be safe and reliable. Besides the symbolic weight the inclusion carries, there are ways China will gain greater global clout. For example, China will have somewhat more influence in international bailouts, like Greeces debt deal. | Business | <s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> https://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/01/business/international/imf-sdr-renminbi-china-explainer.htmlCredit...Jens Meyer/Associated PressNov. 30, 2015The United States dollar was once the standard reserve currency for the International Monetary Fund. But in the 1960s and early 70s, as the Vietnam War dragged on and the United States ran persistent trade deficits, the dollar came to be seen as overvalued.A New Means of ExchangeRising trade in the 1960s was putting stress on the supply of two key assets gold and the United States dollar that were needed to support the global monetary standard developed at Bretton Woods after World War II.To ease the strain, the I.M.F. in 1969 created special drawing rights. Each S.D.R. was equivalent to 0.888671 gram of fine gold which, at the time, was the amount of gold one United States dollar could buy. Although an S.D.R. is not a currency as such (it is really just an accounting entry), it can be used by member countries as a reserve asset. S.D.R.s may also be used when the I.M.F. lends money to its member countries or is repaid for loans. A country holding S.D.R.s converts them into one of its component currencies (like dollars or sterling) before they can be spent on goods or services.The Collapse of a StandardThe dollars peg to gold formally ended on Aug. 15, 1971, when President Richard M. Nixon said the government would no longer convert foreign-held dollars into gold. The new policy, announced in a televised speech to the country, was part of a sweeping new economic plan aimed at reducing inflation and unemployment. By 1973, all the major world currencies were floating in value against each other.Responding to the changes, the monetary fund in 1975 based its system on a basket of 16 widely used currencies. Six years later, the basket was simplified to the currencies of the Group of Five industrial nations: the United States dollar, the Japanese yen, the German mark, the British pound and the French franc.The Euro Joins the BasketIn 1999, the collection of reserve currencies was juggled again when the euro was introduced. The euro replaced the French franc and German mark as part of the special drawing rights. The change would be the last until the addition of Chinas renminbi, which will take effect on Oct. 1, 2016.After the change, the weightings of one S.D.R. will be: 41.73 percent for the American dollar, 30.93 percent for the euro, 10.92 percent for the Chinese renminbi, 8.33 percent for the Japanese yen and 8.09 percent for the British pound.Using S.D.R.sAccording to the I.M.F., as of today, 204.1 billion S.D.R.s (equal to about $285 billion) have been created and allocated to member countries.Many central banks use the system in calculating the value of their reserves. By adding the renminbi to this group, the I.M.F. effectively considers the currency to be safe and reliable. Besides the symbolic weight the inclusion carries, there are ways China will gain greater global clout. For example, China will have somewhat more influence in international bailouts, like Greeces debt deal. [/INST] Business </s> |
Credit...Eric Francis/Associated PressFeb. 15, 2014CORVALLIS, Ore. In what has become something of a mantra for Oregon State Coach Pat Casey, he opened the baseball season by saying the polls do not matter. One has the perennially ranked Beavers at No. 2, the teams highest spot ever.Ill say the same thing I said last year, Casey said. Im not impressed at all.About 40 miles down the road, Oregon is ranked as high as No. 6 in the national polls, and Coach George Horton is saying essentially the same thing: The Ducks have not proved anything yet.Well just have to let our baseball speak for itself, Horton said.Once again, the state of Oregon has two college baseball teams receiving national attention.The Beavers and the Ducks were picked to finish first and second in the Pacific-12 Conference, which has always been strong in the sport. League teams have won 28 N.C.A.A. baseball titles, more than any other conference.U.C.L.A., last seasons College World Series champion, was picked by the leagues coaches to finish third this year.I like our team, Casey said of the Beavers. We have to stay healthy, and we obviously have to play at a very high level in order to compete in our conference and with the people we play out of conference. So I do like our team, but I think they would tell you weve got a long way to go.For the past decade, college baseball has grown much more popular in Oregon since the Beavers, then underdogs, became the fifth college program to win back-to-back C.W.S. titles in 2006 and in 2007.Casey, who is entering his 20th season in Corvallis, has taken the team to the postseason for the past five years, a team record.The Beavers went 52-13 last season, advancing to the C.W.S. for the fifth time the fourth under Casey. Oregon State went 24-6 in the Pac-12 for the teams third conference title since Casey took over.ImageCredit...Kevin Clark/The Register-Guard, via Associated PressAlthough the Beavers have lost key contributors in pitcher Matt Boyd, shortstop Tyler Smith and catcher Jake Rodriguez, they will have pitchers Ben Wetzler and Andrew Moore and outfielder Michael Conforto returning.In 2009, Oregon reinstated its baseball program after a 28-year hiatus. The Ducks made a splash by hiring Horton, a two-time national coach of the year who led Cal State Fullerton to the C.W.S. six times and the N.C.A.A. title in 2004.After holding open tryouts for the team in Hortons first season, the Ducks surprisingly went to the postseason the next year. But so far, the C.W.S. has eluded them.Last season, Oregon won a team-record 48 games and finished second in the Pac-12. But the nationally seeded Ducks fell to Rice in their regional series.We havent finished yet, Horton said at the teams preseason news media gathering. Weve had expectation years where we fumbled. The last two years, we thought we had a competitive ball club, won our share of one- and two-run games and put ourselves in position to host regionals and super regionals and had national seeds. But weve squandered opportunities.The Ducks have lost a few of the stars from last seasons team. First baseman Ryon Healy and pitcher Jimmie Sherfy graduated, and pitcher Cole Irvin had season-ending Tommy John elbow surgery. But they return infielder Scott Heineman and outfielder Tyler Baumgartner.Oregon and Oregon State opened their seasons this weekend. The Beavers were playing in the Husker Classic in Tempe, Ariz., and the Ducks were visiting Hawaii for a four-game series. The Ducks and the Beavers will play each other five times after splitting last seasons series, 2-2.Ultimately, a combination of factors will determine how their seasons turn out. That is why Casey says he does not have a lot of faith in preseason polls.Team chemistrys always one of the most important things, he said. We have enough people there. We have the people, if they choose to be strong leaders and they choose to have chemistry and hang with each other, that well have the same type of bond as last season.Casey added: Winning fixes a lot of problems. When you come out and you have a lot of success early, you feel good. Its when youre struggling that real leadership and chemistry comes to the top. | Sports | <s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> Credit...Eric Francis/Associated PressFeb. 15, 2014CORVALLIS, Ore. In what has become something of a mantra for Oregon State Coach Pat Casey, he opened the baseball season by saying the polls do not matter. One has the perennially ranked Beavers at No. 2, the teams highest spot ever.Ill say the same thing I said last year, Casey said. Im not impressed at all.About 40 miles down the road, Oregon is ranked as high as No. 6 in the national polls, and Coach George Horton is saying essentially the same thing: The Ducks have not proved anything yet.Well just have to let our baseball speak for itself, Horton said.Once again, the state of Oregon has two college baseball teams receiving national attention.The Beavers and the Ducks were picked to finish first and second in the Pacific-12 Conference, which has always been strong in the sport. League teams have won 28 N.C.A.A. baseball titles, more than any other conference.U.C.L.A., last seasons College World Series champion, was picked by the leagues coaches to finish third this year.I like our team, Casey said of the Beavers. We have to stay healthy, and we obviously have to play at a very high level in order to compete in our conference and with the people we play out of conference. So I do like our team, but I think they would tell you weve got a long way to go.For the past decade, college baseball has grown much more popular in Oregon since the Beavers, then underdogs, became the fifth college program to win back-to-back C.W.S. titles in 2006 and in 2007.Casey, who is entering his 20th season in Corvallis, has taken the team to the postseason for the past five years, a team record.The Beavers went 52-13 last season, advancing to the C.W.S. for the fifth time the fourth under Casey. Oregon State went 24-6 in the Pac-12 for the teams third conference title since Casey took over.ImageCredit...Kevin Clark/The Register-Guard, via Associated PressAlthough the Beavers have lost key contributors in pitcher Matt Boyd, shortstop Tyler Smith and catcher Jake Rodriguez, they will have pitchers Ben Wetzler and Andrew Moore and outfielder Michael Conforto returning.In 2009, Oregon reinstated its baseball program after a 28-year hiatus. The Ducks made a splash by hiring Horton, a two-time national coach of the year who led Cal State Fullerton to the C.W.S. six times and the N.C.A.A. title in 2004.After holding open tryouts for the team in Hortons first season, the Ducks surprisingly went to the postseason the next year. But so far, the C.W.S. has eluded them.Last season, Oregon won a team-record 48 games and finished second in the Pac-12. But the nationally seeded Ducks fell to Rice in their regional series.We havent finished yet, Horton said at the teams preseason news media gathering. Weve had expectation years where we fumbled. The last two years, we thought we had a competitive ball club, won our share of one- and two-run games and put ourselves in position to host regionals and super regionals and had national seeds. But weve squandered opportunities.The Ducks have lost a few of the stars from last seasons team. First baseman Ryon Healy and pitcher Jimmie Sherfy graduated, and pitcher Cole Irvin had season-ending Tommy John elbow surgery. But they return infielder Scott Heineman and outfielder Tyler Baumgartner.Oregon and Oregon State opened their seasons this weekend. The Beavers were playing in the Husker Classic in Tempe, Ariz., and the Ducks were visiting Hawaii for a four-game series. The Ducks and the Beavers will play each other five times after splitting last seasons series, 2-2.Ultimately, a combination of factors will determine how their seasons turn out. That is why Casey says he does not have a lot of faith in preseason polls.Team chemistrys always one of the most important things, he said. We have enough people there. We have the people, if they choose to be strong leaders and they choose to have chemistry and hang with each other, that well have the same type of bond as last season.Casey added: Winning fixes a lot of problems. When you come out and you have a lot of success early, you feel good. Its when youre struggling that real leadership and chemistry comes to the top. [/INST] Sports </s> |
Justin Bieber And Your Latin Grammy Goes to ... Marc Anthony's Producer! 1/30/2018 Justin Bieber came up empty-handed after winning a Latin Grammy for "Despacito" ... because it was sent to Marc Anthony's producer by accident. Carlos Escalona Cruz -- who worked on Marc's Grammy-winning children's album -- "Marc Anthony for Babies" -- tells TMZ he got Bieb's award in the mail this week. Bieber won the accolade back in November for his feature on Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee's "Despacito" remix -- but he wasn't there in person, so didn't get it the day of. Looks like he didn't get it all, actually -- 'cause it showed up on Cruz's doorstep Monday. Cruz tells us he was shocked to have received the Biebs' hardware, and says he reached out to Grammy brass (ha) right away to clear up the confusion. He says they apologized for the mistake and instructed him to send it back right away to get it to the rightful owner. It's unclear whether Bieber got Cruz's Grammy -- but one thing is for sure ... sometimes it's worth showing up to these things in person. Just a thought, JB. | Entertainment | <s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> Justin Bieber And Your Latin Grammy Goes to ... Marc Anthony's Producer! 1/30/2018 Justin Bieber came up empty-handed after winning a Latin Grammy for "Despacito" ... because it was sent to Marc Anthony's producer by accident. Carlos Escalona Cruz -- who worked on Marc's Grammy-winning children's album -- "Marc Anthony for Babies" -- tells TMZ he got Bieb's award in the mail this week. Bieber won the accolade back in November for his feature on Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee's "Despacito" remix -- but he wasn't there in person, so didn't get it the day of. Looks like he didn't get it all, actually -- 'cause it showed up on Cruz's doorstep Monday. Cruz tells us he was shocked to have received the Biebs' hardware, and says he reached out to Grammy brass (ha) right away to clear up the confusion. He says they apologized for the mistake and instructed him to send it back right away to get it to the rightful owner. It's unclear whether Bieber got Cruz's Grammy -- but one thing is for sure ... sometimes it's worth showing up to these things in person. Just a thought, JB. [/INST] Entertainment </s> |
VideotranscripttranscriptWere Stuck in the Middle: How Young Iranians Feel About U.S. SanctionsThe United States was the only country to leave the multilateral nuclear deal with Iran. The Trump administration quickly moved to snap back crippling sanctions on Iran. We spoke with the countrys top diplomat and young Iranians to see how these moves have affected their lives.Arash is one of the many Iranians I spoke with on Telegram to see how theyre dealing with U.S. sanctions. He says hes having trouble buying the bare essentials his family needs. The U.S. was the only country to leave the multilateral nuclear deal, and quickly moved to put pressure on Iran. We will be instituting the highest level of economic sanction. Economic pressure is nothing new for Iranians, but many say this is the most hopeless theyve ever felt. Many Iranians I spoke with seemed exhausted by this back-and-forth with the West and frustrated by the gridlock. One person was against the Iranian government altogether and saw Trumps exit from the nuclear deal as a blessing. And it could get worse: The U.S. imposed a second round of sanctions on Iran on Nov. 5. This round is focused on stopping the sales of Iranian oil and petrochemical products. It could be a big hit to Irans economy because oil generated $50 billion in revenue last year. Irans foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, isnt backing down despite sanctions and tough talk from the U.S. We have, in fact, survived in spite of the U.S. pressure for 40 years. If they try to put pressure on Iran, if they try to threaten Iran, Iranians respond very negatively to pressure and threats. And it will further strengthen the resolve of the Iranian people to resist. International companies started to cut ties with Iran after Trump left the nuclear agreement in May. In the face of U.S. sanctions, many companies got cold feet and got out of the Iranian market. But some countries, like India, China and Turkey, say they are committed to buying Iranian oil despite the threat of U.S. sanctions. And Zarif says the U.S. posturing impacts how Iranians want to interact with the West. Well, the Iranians have lost some hope in engagement. But the international community has failed. So, that has long-term consequences for Irans foreign policy behavior. For now, both countries are steadfast in their positions and people are continuing to be caught in the middle.The United States was the only country to leave the multilateral nuclear deal with Iran. The Trump administration quickly moved to snap back crippling sanctions on Iran. We spoke with the countrys top diplomat and young Iranians to see how these moves have affected their lives.CreditCredit...Arash Khamooshi for The New York TimesNov. 11, 2018The strain was evident in Alireza Karimis voice as he described his struggle to obtain the diazoxide pills his father needs to lower insulin levels and fight pancreatic cancer.The medicine has to be imported, and until recently that was not a problem. But for the past three months, Mr. Karimi has not been able to find it anyplace, and there is now only one bottle left.Now that this medicine isnt here, were forced to give him only one per day, Mr. Karimi said in an interview over Telegram, a popular messaging app for Iranians. The reduced dosage has created complications, like the threat of convulsions and the need to monitor his father 24 hours a day to make sure his insulin levels do not spike, which could send him into a coma.Anxieties over the availability of medicine are mounting in Iran with the reimposition this month of sanctions by the United States after President Trump withdrew from the nuclear deal.Harsh banking restrictions and the threat of secondary sanctions for companies doing business with Iran have made it nearly impossible for foreign pharmaceutical companies to continue working in the country.Trump administration officials say that the sanctions will not affect trade in humanitarian items, but many are skeptical.The fact is that the banks are so terrified by the sanctions that they dont want to do anything with Iran, said Grard Araud, Frances ambassador to the United Nations. So it means that there is a strong risk that in a few months really there will be a shortage of medicine in Iran.The Trump administrations maximum pressure campaign is starting to remove some of the few avenues that Iran had left to conduct banking for humanitarian items.One pharmaceutical importer in Iran, speaking on the condition of anonymity for fear of harassment by the authorities, said the banking sanctions had unnerved many of his European and American clients, who are looking for signals from the Treasury about what banks they can work with without risking penalties.ImageCredit...Agence France-Presse Getty ImagesIt creates a problem where even when you have a European company that wants to sell to Iran, due to the absence of banks being there, payments cant regularly and reliably be made into Europe, said Esfandyar Batmanghelidj, an expert in sanctions and humanitarian trade with Bourse and Bazaar in London.Mr. Batmanghelidj added that the Treasury had been slow or even unwilling to issue licenses authorized by Congress for humanitarian reasons. The licenses allow companies to do business with Iran and other countries that the United States has blacklisted as sponsors of terrorism.The problems are compounded by Irans own economic problems, which have led to a steep decline in the nations currency, the rial, and to steep increases in drug costs, since most are imported. Mr. Karimi said his fathers diazoxide pills used to cost roughly $28 a bottle but the last time he bought any, three months ago, the price had increased to $43.In some cases, shortages have been attributed to patients stockpiling medicines or to the governments efforts to control the supply, knowing that access to hard currency might be difficult in the near future.Recently, nearly 200 mental health professionals wrote an open letter to the authorities about the declining availability of medicines. One of the signatories, Dr. Amir Hossein Jalali, a psychiatrist in Tehran, said in an interview over Telegram that even some domestically produced medicines that need raw materials from outside of the country have also faced a lot of shortages.He said it was hard to change a patients medical routine, especially in mental health and chronic illnesses. Finding an effective treatment can be difficult, and even substituting medicine with something from the same chemical family can lead to a deterioration in the patients condition.Maryam Peyman, who has multiple sclerosis, recently went through her last bottle of Orlept, a German medication. For three months she was unable to find any more, or a replacement drug, making it impossible for her to work or even to concentrate.After three months of extreme discomfort without Orlept, a drug normally used for epilepsy but also prescribed for neurological issues, she finally found a domestically produced alternative, but that is far from ideal.Now that Im using Iranian-made medicine, it gives me headaches and impaired vision, she said. The German medicine didnt give me any headaches. It increased concentration, and it didnt impact my eyesight.Mr. Batmanghelidj said that the Trump administration could improve the situation by issuing clear guidelines for pharmaceutical companies doing business with Iran.Theres been nothing to date other than lip service from Pompeo, he said referring to Mike Pompeo, the American secretary of state. Its either reflective of infighting in the administration or negligence thats taking place. | World | <s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> VideotranscripttranscriptWere Stuck in the Middle: How Young Iranians Feel About U.S. SanctionsThe United States was the only country to leave the multilateral nuclear deal with Iran. The Trump administration quickly moved to snap back crippling sanctions on Iran. We spoke with the countrys top diplomat and young Iranians to see how these moves have affected their lives.Arash is one of the many Iranians I spoke with on Telegram to see how theyre dealing with U.S. sanctions. He says hes having trouble buying the bare essentials his family needs. The U.S. was the only country to leave the multilateral nuclear deal, and quickly moved to put pressure on Iran. We will be instituting the highest level of economic sanction. Economic pressure is nothing new for Iranians, but many say this is the most hopeless theyve ever felt. Many Iranians I spoke with seemed exhausted by this back-and-forth with the West and frustrated by the gridlock. One person was against the Iranian government altogether and saw Trumps exit from the nuclear deal as a blessing. And it could get worse: The U.S. imposed a second round of sanctions on Iran on Nov. 5. This round is focused on stopping the sales of Iranian oil and petrochemical products. It could be a big hit to Irans economy because oil generated $50 billion in revenue last year. Irans foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, isnt backing down despite sanctions and tough talk from the U.S. We have, in fact, survived in spite of the U.S. pressure for 40 years. If they try to put pressure on Iran, if they try to threaten Iran, Iranians respond very negatively to pressure and threats. And it will further strengthen the resolve of the Iranian people to resist. International companies started to cut ties with Iran after Trump left the nuclear agreement in May. In the face of U.S. sanctions, many companies got cold feet and got out of the Iranian market. But some countries, like India, China and Turkey, say they are committed to buying Iranian oil despite the threat of U.S. sanctions. And Zarif says the U.S. posturing impacts how Iranians want to interact with the West. Well, the Iranians have lost some hope in engagement. But the international community has failed. So, that has long-term consequences for Irans foreign policy behavior. For now, both countries are steadfast in their positions and people are continuing to be caught in the middle.The United States was the only country to leave the multilateral nuclear deal with Iran. The Trump administration quickly moved to snap back crippling sanctions on Iran. We spoke with the countrys top diplomat and young Iranians to see how these moves have affected their lives.CreditCredit...Arash Khamooshi for The New York TimesNov. 11, 2018The strain was evident in Alireza Karimis voice as he described his struggle to obtain the diazoxide pills his father needs to lower insulin levels and fight pancreatic cancer.The medicine has to be imported, and until recently that was not a problem. But for the past three months, Mr. Karimi has not been able to find it anyplace, and there is now only one bottle left.Now that this medicine isnt here, were forced to give him only one per day, Mr. Karimi said in an interview over Telegram, a popular messaging app for Iranians. The reduced dosage has created complications, like the threat of convulsions and the need to monitor his father 24 hours a day to make sure his insulin levels do not spike, which could send him into a coma.Anxieties over the availability of medicine are mounting in Iran with the reimposition this month of sanctions by the United States after President Trump withdrew from the nuclear deal.Harsh banking restrictions and the threat of secondary sanctions for companies doing business with Iran have made it nearly impossible for foreign pharmaceutical companies to continue working in the country.Trump administration officials say that the sanctions will not affect trade in humanitarian items, but many are skeptical.The fact is that the banks are so terrified by the sanctions that they dont want to do anything with Iran, said Grard Araud, Frances ambassador to the United Nations. So it means that there is a strong risk that in a few months really there will be a shortage of medicine in Iran.The Trump administrations maximum pressure campaign is starting to remove some of the few avenues that Iran had left to conduct banking for humanitarian items.One pharmaceutical importer in Iran, speaking on the condition of anonymity for fear of harassment by the authorities, said the banking sanctions had unnerved many of his European and American clients, who are looking for signals from the Treasury about what banks they can work with without risking penalties.ImageCredit...Agence France-Presse Getty ImagesIt creates a problem where even when you have a European company that wants to sell to Iran, due to the absence of banks being there, payments cant regularly and reliably be made into Europe, said Esfandyar Batmanghelidj, an expert in sanctions and humanitarian trade with Bourse and Bazaar in London.Mr. Batmanghelidj added that the Treasury had been slow or even unwilling to issue licenses authorized by Congress for humanitarian reasons. The licenses allow companies to do business with Iran and other countries that the United States has blacklisted as sponsors of terrorism.The problems are compounded by Irans own economic problems, which have led to a steep decline in the nations currency, the rial, and to steep increases in drug costs, since most are imported. Mr. Karimi said his fathers diazoxide pills used to cost roughly $28 a bottle but the last time he bought any, three months ago, the price had increased to $43.In some cases, shortages have been attributed to patients stockpiling medicines or to the governments efforts to control the supply, knowing that access to hard currency might be difficult in the near future.Recently, nearly 200 mental health professionals wrote an open letter to the authorities about the declining availability of medicines. One of the signatories, Dr. Amir Hossein Jalali, a psychiatrist in Tehran, said in an interview over Telegram that even some domestically produced medicines that need raw materials from outside of the country have also faced a lot of shortages.He said it was hard to change a patients medical routine, especially in mental health and chronic illnesses. Finding an effective treatment can be difficult, and even substituting medicine with something from the same chemical family can lead to a deterioration in the patients condition.Maryam Peyman, who has multiple sclerosis, recently went through her last bottle of Orlept, a German medication. For three months she was unable to find any more, or a replacement drug, making it impossible for her to work or even to concentrate.After three months of extreme discomfort without Orlept, a drug normally used for epilepsy but also prescribed for neurological issues, she finally found a domestically produced alternative, but that is far from ideal.Now that Im using Iranian-made medicine, it gives me headaches and impaired vision, she said. The German medicine didnt give me any headaches. It increased concentration, and it didnt impact my eyesight.Mr. Batmanghelidj said that the Trump administration could improve the situation by issuing clear guidelines for pharmaceutical companies doing business with Iran.Theres been nothing to date other than lip service from Pompeo, he said referring to Mike Pompeo, the American secretary of state. Its either reflective of infighting in the administration or negligence thats taking place. [/INST] World </s> |
Credit...Sean Gallup/Getty ImagesDec. 1, 2015LONDON Volkswagen successfully lobbied to remove two key parts of Europes forthcoming auto emissions tests, an internal email shows, including a provision to measure the significant pollution released when an engine is started but hasnt yet warmed up.The automaker also argued against requiring special, high-speed tests for cars designed to be driven fast. Volkswagen, which owns the Porsche, Lamborghini and Audi brands, is a leading producer of fast cars. Such topics must be deleted, a Volkswagen executive wrote in an email last year to the European Commission, the European Unions executive branch, referring to the two provisions.The new tests, which still face a battle in the European Parliament, will be the first in Europe to require screening car pollution outside of a laboratory and in road tests meant to more closely reflect real driving. The email was included among documents made public by the commission after a request by Corporate Europe Observatory, a Brussels-based advocacy group.The name of the Volkswagen executive who lobbied on the issue of real-world tests was redacted by the European Commission. The email was written by the VW official on behalf of the European Automobile Manufacturers Association, a trade group. Cara McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the group, could not say whether other automakers had weighed in on the same topics.Regulations set in Europe have far-flung resonance because European emissions standards are followed by many countries beyond Europe, including India and Argentina. The email reflects the strong hand that carmakers have long had in negotiating over Europes auto regulations.The methods used to test cars for emissions of nitrogen oxides and other airborne pollutants have taken on a new urgency. In September, Volkswagen admitted that it had cheated on traditional lab tests by installing in some 11 million diesel vehicles special software that senses when a car is being subjected to testing. Since then, the loopholes in Europes regulations have met scrutiny and criticism.As world leaders and activists gathered in Paris this week for the United Nations climate-change conference, the VW scandal and the European Unions difficulty in agreeing to effective auto emissions tests serve as sobering reminders that goals or agreements can be hard to enforce in practice.In the email, the VW executive wrote that automakers cannot agree to a regulation including undefined topics like cold start or high speed, adding that both must be deleted. Testing cold starts refers to measuring the prodigious emissions that occur during the everyday act of starting and warming up a car when the engine is cool.Lucia Caudet, a spokeswoman for the European Commission, said the commission still intended to develop a plan to measure cold starts in future addendums to the regulation, which is scheduled to take effect in 2017. The commission is developing a specific cold start test, she wrote in an email, which better reflects emissions in real driving scenarios like short city trips.Fred Baerbock, a spokesman for Volkswagen, said in a statement that the email sent by the VW executive to the commission last year was part of the normal exchange of expertise that is part of every lawmaking in the E.U. He said it was sent by the Volkswagen executive on behalf of the automakers trade group during technical discussions and should not qualify as lobbying by Volkswagen.The trade group spokeswoman said that it was fully supporting the development of this test in order to ensure that emissions more closely reflect real-world conditions.The new European road tests will require automakers to meet new emissions targets on the road, in addition to complying with lab tests. Regulators in the United States and Canada recently began their own road tests of diesel car emissions, though the American tests are focused solely on catching automakers cheating on lab tests.Volkswagen has played a major role in shaping automotive testing in Europe. In addition to its lobbying on the real-world tests, executives from its Audi division took the lead in helping shape a second test that is to debut in 2017 a revamping of laboratory procedures that have long been used to measure tailpipe pollution.As far back as 2010, an executive at Audi laid out a template for the new tests. In subsequent years, Audi executives, some of them specialists in emission certification, also played leading roles in two committees that helped draft the fine print for the test. In these meetings, engineers representing manufacturers largely outnumbered regulatory bodies. The group working on emission tests was led by a member of the German transport ministry throughout the development process of the test.VW also this year lobbied to give large passenger vehicles like vans and buses more leeway in meeting existing emission regulations. That proposal was dropped after VWs emissions scandal became public.John German, a former official at the Environmental Protection Agency and a senior fellow at the International Council on Clean Transportation, an environmental group that played a pivotal role in uncovering Volkswagens cheating, has been critical of the exclusion of cold starts from the road tests, calling it a significant shortcoming.Cold starts are a critical aspect of the testing, he wrote in an email. For gasoline vehicles, the majority of emissions occur during the cold start. It is less for diesels, but still significant.Mr. Baerbock of VW said that at the time the objection was raised, cold starts needed to be defined better in order to be included into the regulation, so automakers boiled it down to asking for the deletion of this issue.The Volkswagen executive also wrote that a proposal to conduct special road testing at about 100 miles per hour and higher for particularly speedy vehicles was not acceptable and crossed out the proposed language from an excerpt included in the email.The new road tests, as currently conceived, limit the highest speed at which testing can occur. The industry and regulators negotiated that speed because pollutant emissions worsen at higher speeds. The Volkswagen executive told the commission that automakers were willing to allow testing at speeds as high as around 91 miles per hour, instead of about 81 miles per hour, which the industry had previously insisted upon but only if at the same time the plans for a special test for high-speed vehicles will be deleted.The industry appears to have largely prevailed because the high-speed test is no longer part of the European plan. The road test is capped at about 91 miles per hour, with a cushion that allows for speeds of up to 100 miles per hour no more than 3 percent of the time. Mr. Baerbock said that an extra high-speed test is not representative for E.U. driving because driving at such speeds was rare.Perhaps the most significant difference between the European and American approaches is that regulators in the United States conduct their own tests to check whether manufacturers claims are accurate. By contrast, in Europe, testing is left to automakers and their contractors, which will continue to be the case in the new road and lab tests.It is still the manufacturers themselves testing or testing facilities that are commissioned by the manufacturers, with very little or no oversight by the authorities, Peter Mock, I.C.C.T.s Europe managing director, said.The future of the road tests is in some doubt, however, because they face a difficult fight in the European Parliament. Many members oppose a recent move by the European Commission to change the road tests in a concession to the industry, making them far easier to meet.Bas Eickhout, a Dutch lawmaker who sits on the European Parliaments environment committee, said he expected the committee to vote to reject the road tests as currently drafted. There is a broad majority in favor of objecting, he said. The issue would then go before the Parliament at large, where the outcome is less clear. If rejected, the commission will have to redraft the rules.Gerben-Jan Gerbrandy, another environment committee member who is a member of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe, a centrist bloc, agreed, saying he expected a large majority in the committee to object. He also criticized the commissions handling of the new tests, saying, Its clear this has become an absolutely political decision. | Business | <s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> Credit...Sean Gallup/Getty ImagesDec. 1, 2015LONDON Volkswagen successfully lobbied to remove two key parts of Europes forthcoming auto emissions tests, an internal email shows, including a provision to measure the significant pollution released when an engine is started but hasnt yet warmed up.The automaker also argued against requiring special, high-speed tests for cars designed to be driven fast. Volkswagen, which owns the Porsche, Lamborghini and Audi brands, is a leading producer of fast cars. Such topics must be deleted, a Volkswagen executive wrote in an email last year to the European Commission, the European Unions executive branch, referring to the two provisions.The new tests, which still face a battle in the European Parliament, will be the first in Europe to require screening car pollution outside of a laboratory and in road tests meant to more closely reflect real driving. The email was included among documents made public by the commission after a request by Corporate Europe Observatory, a Brussels-based advocacy group.The name of the Volkswagen executive who lobbied on the issue of real-world tests was redacted by the European Commission. The email was written by the VW official on behalf of the European Automobile Manufacturers Association, a trade group. Cara McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the group, could not say whether other automakers had weighed in on the same topics.Regulations set in Europe have far-flung resonance because European emissions standards are followed by many countries beyond Europe, including India and Argentina. The email reflects the strong hand that carmakers have long had in negotiating over Europes auto regulations.The methods used to test cars for emissions of nitrogen oxides and other airborne pollutants have taken on a new urgency. In September, Volkswagen admitted that it had cheated on traditional lab tests by installing in some 11 million diesel vehicles special software that senses when a car is being subjected to testing. Since then, the loopholes in Europes regulations have met scrutiny and criticism.As world leaders and activists gathered in Paris this week for the United Nations climate-change conference, the VW scandal and the European Unions difficulty in agreeing to effective auto emissions tests serve as sobering reminders that goals or agreements can be hard to enforce in practice.In the email, the VW executive wrote that automakers cannot agree to a regulation including undefined topics like cold start or high speed, adding that both must be deleted. Testing cold starts refers to measuring the prodigious emissions that occur during the everyday act of starting and warming up a car when the engine is cool.Lucia Caudet, a spokeswoman for the European Commission, said the commission still intended to develop a plan to measure cold starts in future addendums to the regulation, which is scheduled to take effect in 2017. The commission is developing a specific cold start test, she wrote in an email, which better reflects emissions in real driving scenarios like short city trips.Fred Baerbock, a spokesman for Volkswagen, said in a statement that the email sent by the VW executive to the commission last year was part of the normal exchange of expertise that is part of every lawmaking in the E.U. He said it was sent by the Volkswagen executive on behalf of the automakers trade group during technical discussions and should not qualify as lobbying by Volkswagen.The trade group spokeswoman said that it was fully supporting the development of this test in order to ensure that emissions more closely reflect real-world conditions.The new European road tests will require automakers to meet new emissions targets on the road, in addition to complying with lab tests. Regulators in the United States and Canada recently began their own road tests of diesel car emissions, though the American tests are focused solely on catching automakers cheating on lab tests.Volkswagen has played a major role in shaping automotive testing in Europe. In addition to its lobbying on the real-world tests, executives from its Audi division took the lead in helping shape a second test that is to debut in 2017 a revamping of laboratory procedures that have long been used to measure tailpipe pollution.As far back as 2010, an executive at Audi laid out a template for the new tests. In subsequent years, Audi executives, some of them specialists in emission certification, also played leading roles in two committees that helped draft the fine print for the test. In these meetings, engineers representing manufacturers largely outnumbered regulatory bodies. The group working on emission tests was led by a member of the German transport ministry throughout the development process of the test.VW also this year lobbied to give large passenger vehicles like vans and buses more leeway in meeting existing emission regulations. That proposal was dropped after VWs emissions scandal became public.John German, a former official at the Environmental Protection Agency and a senior fellow at the International Council on Clean Transportation, an environmental group that played a pivotal role in uncovering Volkswagens cheating, has been critical of the exclusion of cold starts from the road tests, calling it a significant shortcoming.Cold starts are a critical aspect of the testing, he wrote in an email. For gasoline vehicles, the majority of emissions occur during the cold start. It is less for diesels, but still significant.Mr. Baerbock of VW said that at the time the objection was raised, cold starts needed to be defined better in order to be included into the regulation, so automakers boiled it down to asking for the deletion of this issue.The Volkswagen executive also wrote that a proposal to conduct special road testing at about 100 miles per hour and higher for particularly speedy vehicles was not acceptable and crossed out the proposed language from an excerpt included in the email.The new road tests, as currently conceived, limit the highest speed at which testing can occur. The industry and regulators negotiated that speed because pollutant emissions worsen at higher speeds. The Volkswagen executive told the commission that automakers were willing to allow testing at speeds as high as around 91 miles per hour, instead of about 81 miles per hour, which the industry had previously insisted upon but only if at the same time the plans for a special test for high-speed vehicles will be deleted.The industry appears to have largely prevailed because the high-speed test is no longer part of the European plan. The road test is capped at about 91 miles per hour, with a cushion that allows for speeds of up to 100 miles per hour no more than 3 percent of the time. Mr. Baerbock said that an extra high-speed test is not representative for E.U. driving because driving at such speeds was rare.Perhaps the most significant difference between the European and American approaches is that regulators in the United States conduct their own tests to check whether manufacturers claims are accurate. By contrast, in Europe, testing is left to automakers and their contractors, which will continue to be the case in the new road and lab tests.It is still the manufacturers themselves testing or testing facilities that are commissioned by the manufacturers, with very little or no oversight by the authorities, Peter Mock, I.C.C.T.s Europe managing director, said.The future of the road tests is in some doubt, however, because they face a difficult fight in the European Parliament. Many members oppose a recent move by the European Commission to change the road tests in a concession to the industry, making them far easier to meet.Bas Eickhout, a Dutch lawmaker who sits on the European Parliaments environment committee, said he expected the committee to vote to reject the road tests as currently drafted. There is a broad majority in favor of objecting, he said. The issue would then go before the Parliament at large, where the outcome is less clear. If rejected, the commission will have to redraft the rules.Gerben-Jan Gerbrandy, another environment committee member who is a member of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe, a centrist bloc, agreed, saying he expected a large majority in the committee to object. He also criticized the commissions handling of the new tests, saying, Its clear this has become an absolutely political decision. [/INST] Business </s> |
on techDelivery apps promised to connect restaurants with more customers. The dream isnt working.Credit...Pablo RochatPublished June 10, 2020Updated July 2, 2021This article is part of the On Tech newsletter. You can sign up here to receive it weekdays.More people are using food delivery apps like Grubhub and Uber Eats to order from restaurants during the pandemic. But can this trend last if so many restaurants are unhappy? My colleague Nathaniel Popper talked to a restaurant owner in Columbus, Ohio, who was paying fees that averaged more than 40 percent of each sale to one app company. He closed and applied for unemployment. I talked to Nathaniel about his recent article, which highlights the gap between the promise and the reality of technology to generate more customers for restaurants. The stakes couldnt be higher, with many restaurants struggling because of coronavirus-related closings and concerns. Shira: Isnt keeping 60 percent of a sale better than not having that order at all?Nathaniel: Many restaurants are realizing that theyre taking a loss on every order through the delivery apps, so those orders dont make economic sense. Beyond the fees, many restaurants said they felt that delivery apps werent good partners they found it difficult, for example, to reach delivery services to fix problems.If I become a regular after trying a restaurant from a delivery app, doesnt that make up for the loss on one order?There was a hope that delivery apps would generate customers and sales that restaurants wouldnt have gotten otherwise. But it looks like delivery apps pull people away from eating in or ordering directly from those restaurants.Are restaurants angry at apps because theyre worried they wont survive the pandemic?Thats part of it. Some surveys showed that people planned to use delivery more and have concerns about dining in. If restaurants lose money on delivery orders and there are fewer sit-down customers because of local limits on dine-in numbers or coronavirus fears, the math doesnt work for a lot of restaurants.Whats the alternative?Restaurants are trying options to take orders through their own websites, and use their own delivery couriers or contractors from companies that dont take a percentage of each order.Right now, online ordering is a small percentage of restaurant sales, but its growing fast. And many people look first at these big apps when they want to order food. Thats why restaurants feel like they both cant live with these apps and cant ditch them.The app companies mostly lose money, restaurants complain, some couriers say theyre making peanuts and many diners dont like hidden costs or bad delivery experiences. Thats a lot of problems!That list of unhappy parties is something I thought about a lot. In many cases people are getting a broader range of restaurants to deliver for the first time, at what feels like a reasonable price. Sometimes restaurants absorb the cost of that. A lot of the cost is absorbed by investors in these app companies.Do YOU use apps for delivery or takeout?Ive had mostly bad experiences in the handful of times Ive used a delivery app. We mostly order from one Thai restaurant near us that does delivery itself, and that we can call if the food is late.Read more: Brian X. Chen, a personal technology columnist for The New York Times, has tips for ordering delivery or takeout from your favorite local restaurants, while letting them keep most of the money.And The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that Just Eat, a delivery app company in Europe, is close to an agreement to merge with Grubhub. App companies believe theyre better off financially if they combine. This will probably result in higher costs for diners and larger fees for restaurants.W.H.O., dont help the conspiracy peddlersEvery time an important institution stumbles, it lends credibility to dangerous conspiracy theories.Thats what I thought about the communications flub this week by the World Health Organization, which was forced to retract a comment from an official who initially said transmission of the coronavirus by people without symptoms was very rare.A day later, the organization said it didnt mean what it had said. Multiple scientific studies have found that roughly one-third or more of all coronavirus infections were transmitted by people before they ever felt symptoms. Thats why virtually all scientists and governments are recommending that everyone wear face coverings; its hard to tell who might be infectious.This wasnt the first time that public health organizations sent the wrong message. Remember the W.H.O., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and others initially said that the general public didnt benefit from face coverings, and then their guidelines changed. The initial discouragement about masks was so definitive that the U.S. Surgeon General scolded people for buying them even while there were questions from the beginning about whether this guidance was correct.Public officials cant fail like this when they communicate to the public about the coronavirus. When people lose faith in what public officials say, it plays into the hands of people who fan misinformation and conspiracy theories online. A key tactic of baseless online conspiracies like those in the Plandemic video is to prey on peoples concerns that government organizations or public institutions are hiding the truth from us. Charlie Warzel, an Opinion writer for The Times, has written before that health experts should communicate clearly what they know and be up front about what they dont know. That is the essential way to build trust with the public. What weve learned from the coronavirus is that we still dont know very much about this new disease. Bad communication or overconfident proclamations from our leaders is exactly what we dont need.Before we go The office is now your scolding parent: My colleague Natasha Singer has a fascinating look at how one large company, Salesforce, is approaching coronavirus-safety measures in the office like a software engineering challenge. Out are collaborative work spaces and jars of gummy bears. In are timed tickets for elevators, scheduling software to limit the number of people working at each office and daily symptom surveys for employees.What we lose in fights between the U.S. and China: New research shows that scientists educated in China help American firms and schools dominate in artificial intelligence. Industry leaders worry that worsening tensions between the countries may lead the United States to lose that edge, my colleagues Paul Mozur and Cade Metz write.The internet tug of war in India: Bloomberg News writes about the worries in India about TikTok, YouTube and other popular apps from foreign companies. Some Indians believe that TikTok or other apps from companies in China flout local norms by showing vulgar dance moves, and local alternatives to TikTok and YouTube are sprouting up.Hugs to thisI would like to be friends with this baby who is very enthusiastic about her chunk of mango.We want to hear from you. Tell us what you think of this newsletter and what else youd like us to explore. You can reach us at ontech@nytimes.com. Get this newsletter in your inbox every weekday; please sign up here. | Tech | <s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> on techDelivery apps promised to connect restaurants with more customers. The dream isnt working.Credit...Pablo RochatPublished June 10, 2020Updated July 2, 2021This article is part of the On Tech newsletter. You can sign up here to receive it weekdays.More people are using food delivery apps like Grubhub and Uber Eats to order from restaurants during the pandemic. But can this trend last if so many restaurants are unhappy? My colleague Nathaniel Popper talked to a restaurant owner in Columbus, Ohio, who was paying fees that averaged more than 40 percent of each sale to one app company. He closed and applied for unemployment. I talked to Nathaniel about his recent article, which highlights the gap between the promise and the reality of technology to generate more customers for restaurants. The stakes couldnt be higher, with many restaurants struggling because of coronavirus-related closings and concerns. Shira: Isnt keeping 60 percent of a sale better than not having that order at all?Nathaniel: Many restaurants are realizing that theyre taking a loss on every order through the delivery apps, so those orders dont make economic sense. Beyond the fees, many restaurants said they felt that delivery apps werent good partners they found it difficult, for example, to reach delivery services to fix problems.If I become a regular after trying a restaurant from a delivery app, doesnt that make up for the loss on one order?There was a hope that delivery apps would generate customers and sales that restaurants wouldnt have gotten otherwise. But it looks like delivery apps pull people away from eating in or ordering directly from those restaurants.Are restaurants angry at apps because theyre worried they wont survive the pandemic?Thats part of it. Some surveys showed that people planned to use delivery more and have concerns about dining in. If restaurants lose money on delivery orders and there are fewer sit-down customers because of local limits on dine-in numbers or coronavirus fears, the math doesnt work for a lot of restaurants.Whats the alternative?Restaurants are trying options to take orders through their own websites, and use their own delivery couriers or contractors from companies that dont take a percentage of each order.Right now, online ordering is a small percentage of restaurant sales, but its growing fast. And many people look first at these big apps when they want to order food. Thats why restaurants feel like they both cant live with these apps and cant ditch them.The app companies mostly lose money, restaurants complain, some couriers say theyre making peanuts and many diners dont like hidden costs or bad delivery experiences. Thats a lot of problems!That list of unhappy parties is something I thought about a lot. In many cases people are getting a broader range of restaurants to deliver for the first time, at what feels like a reasonable price. Sometimes restaurants absorb the cost of that. A lot of the cost is absorbed by investors in these app companies.Do YOU use apps for delivery or takeout?Ive had mostly bad experiences in the handful of times Ive used a delivery app. We mostly order from one Thai restaurant near us that does delivery itself, and that we can call if the food is late.Read more: Brian X. Chen, a personal technology columnist for The New York Times, has tips for ordering delivery or takeout from your favorite local restaurants, while letting them keep most of the money.And The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that Just Eat, a delivery app company in Europe, is close to an agreement to merge with Grubhub. App companies believe theyre better off financially if they combine. This will probably result in higher costs for diners and larger fees for restaurants.W.H.O., dont help the conspiracy peddlersEvery time an important institution stumbles, it lends credibility to dangerous conspiracy theories.Thats what I thought about the communications flub this week by the World Health Organization, which was forced to retract a comment from an official who initially said transmission of the coronavirus by people without symptoms was very rare.A day later, the organization said it didnt mean what it had said. Multiple scientific studies have found that roughly one-third or more of all coronavirus infections were transmitted by people before they ever felt symptoms. Thats why virtually all scientists and governments are recommending that everyone wear face coverings; its hard to tell who might be infectious.This wasnt the first time that public health organizations sent the wrong message. Remember the W.H.O., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and others initially said that the general public didnt benefit from face coverings, and then their guidelines changed. The initial discouragement about masks was so definitive that the U.S. Surgeon General scolded people for buying them even while there were questions from the beginning about whether this guidance was correct.Public officials cant fail like this when they communicate to the public about the coronavirus. When people lose faith in what public officials say, it plays into the hands of people who fan misinformation and conspiracy theories online. A key tactic of baseless online conspiracies like those in the Plandemic video is to prey on peoples concerns that government organizations or public institutions are hiding the truth from us. Charlie Warzel, an Opinion writer for The Times, has written before that health experts should communicate clearly what they know and be up front about what they dont know. That is the essential way to build trust with the public. What weve learned from the coronavirus is that we still dont know very much about this new disease. Bad communication or overconfident proclamations from our leaders is exactly what we dont need.Before we go The office is now your scolding parent: My colleague Natasha Singer has a fascinating look at how one large company, Salesforce, is approaching coronavirus-safety measures in the office like a software engineering challenge. Out are collaborative work spaces and jars of gummy bears. In are timed tickets for elevators, scheduling software to limit the number of people working at each office and daily symptom surveys for employees.What we lose in fights between the U.S. and China: New research shows that scientists educated in China help American firms and schools dominate in artificial intelligence. Industry leaders worry that worsening tensions between the countries may lead the United States to lose that edge, my colleagues Paul Mozur and Cade Metz write.The internet tug of war in India: Bloomberg News writes about the worries in India about TikTok, YouTube and other popular apps from foreign companies. Some Indians believe that TikTok or other apps from companies in China flout local norms by showing vulgar dance moves, and local alternatives to TikTok and YouTube are sprouting up.Hugs to thisI would like to be friends with this baby who is very enthusiastic about her chunk of mango.We want to hear from you. Tell us what you think of this newsletter and what else youd like us to explore. You can reach us at ontech@nytimes.com. Get this newsletter in your inbox every weekday; please sign up here. [/INST] Tech </s> |
Charles Manson Grandson Shut Down By Judge to Get Remains 1/29/2018 The alleged grandson of Charles Manson has just lost his bid to get the killer's remains. A judge just ruled Jason Freeman does not have a right -- at least not now -- to pick up the remains from the prison where Manson died. Freeman is one of 3 people who have tried to take possession of the remains and Manson's estate. It appears the reason the judge rejected the claim was because Freeman filed his case in Los Angeles and Manson died in Kern County ... in other words, the judge lacked jurisdiction. See also Charles Manson RIP Family Exclusive | Entertainment | <s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> Charles Manson Grandson Shut Down By Judge to Get Remains 1/29/2018 The alleged grandson of Charles Manson has just lost his bid to get the killer's remains. A judge just ruled Jason Freeman does not have a right -- at least not now -- to pick up the remains from the prison where Manson died. Freeman is one of 3 people who have tried to take possession of the remains and Manson's estate. It appears the reason the judge rejected the claim was because Freeman filed his case in Los Angeles and Manson died in Kern County ... in other words, the judge lacked jurisdiction. See also Charles Manson RIP Family Exclusive [/INST] Entertainment </s> |
https://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/06/technology/personaltech/a-case-that-lets-you-be-the-designer.htmlGadgetwiseFeb. 19, 2014With a sea of device accessories designed by other people, one company, Caseable, is turning the tables and letting you be the designer.The company, which has offices in Brooklyn and Berlin, has its eye on urban consumers who like to customize their devices. To meet their desire, Caseable offers easy tools on its website to let customers create their own cases for Apple, Samsung and Kindle devices, among others. The cases incorporate durable recycled products wherever possible; iPhone cases, for instance, are made entirely from recycled plastic bottles.Users can upload their graphics or photos, edit them and add text. To offer ideas to those who might need a little creative inspiration, Caseable has a gallery dedicated to user submissions, which include a lot of selfies and vacation photos, but also a few smart designs.The website also includes a gallery of ready-to-use designs from featured artists. The series, a collaborative effort between Caseable and graphic artists around the world, includes some striking urban artwork this is definitely not Shutterfly. Artists receive about 10 percent of net sales, according to Caseable.To create a case for my iPhone 5, I submitted a high-resolution image of Batman (naturally, because Im a nerd). About a week later, my handmade case arrived in the mail. Caseable says the typical delivery time from click to door is less than 12 days.The case was sturdy, although a little stiff, as you might expect of a product made from recycled plastic. The design looked great, and it has not faded or scratched in the couple of weeks that Ive used it.Caseable offers a fun way to personalize your devices and show off your artistic side. At $35 for an iPhone case, the price is low enough that I can afford to get a Superman case to go with the Dark Knight. | Tech | <s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> https://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/06/technology/personaltech/a-case-that-lets-you-be-the-designer.htmlGadgetwiseFeb. 19, 2014With a sea of device accessories designed by other people, one company, Caseable, is turning the tables and letting you be the designer.The company, which has offices in Brooklyn and Berlin, has its eye on urban consumers who like to customize their devices. To meet their desire, Caseable offers easy tools on its website to let customers create their own cases for Apple, Samsung and Kindle devices, among others. The cases incorporate durable recycled products wherever possible; iPhone cases, for instance, are made entirely from recycled plastic bottles.Users can upload their graphics or photos, edit them and add text. To offer ideas to those who might need a little creative inspiration, Caseable has a gallery dedicated to user submissions, which include a lot of selfies and vacation photos, but also a few smart designs.The website also includes a gallery of ready-to-use designs from featured artists. The series, a collaborative effort between Caseable and graphic artists around the world, includes some striking urban artwork this is definitely not Shutterfly. Artists receive about 10 percent of net sales, according to Caseable.To create a case for my iPhone 5, I submitted a high-resolution image of Batman (naturally, because Im a nerd). About a week later, my handmade case arrived in the mail. Caseable says the typical delivery time from click to door is less than 12 days.The case was sturdy, although a little stiff, as you might expect of a product made from recycled plastic. The design looked great, and it has not faded or scratched in the couple of weeks that Ive used it.Caseable offers a fun way to personalize your devices and show off your artistic side. At $35 for an iPhone case, the price is low enough that I can afford to get a Superman case to go with the Dark Knight. [/INST] Tech </s> |
Sports of The TimesFeb. 12, 2014The relationship between those who consume sports and those who play them is changing, and probably not for the best. Fans are now part of the action as never before. Stadium sound systems exhort them to be as vocal as possible, and social media allow them to have an unfiltered dialogue with athletes in ways that sometimes uncover a raw ambivalence. Two volatile interactions in recent weeks suggest that the longstanding covenant between fans and players needs revision. Last month, Richard Sherman, a Seattle Seahawks defensive back, absorbed two weeks of criticism a good portion of it laced with racist invective for loudly proclaiming his greatness while denigrating the skills of an opponent. On Saturday, Marcus Smart, a talented Oklahoma State basketball player, made headlines by shoving a white Texas Tech fan whom Smart, at least initially, accused of calling him a racial slur. There was not much sympathy for Sherman and even less for Smart, who violated the No. 1 tenetof the arena gladiators do not confront the spectators and was suspended. But the reaction to Sherman and the circumstances that led to Smarts altercation suggest an eroding civility between fans and players. In a statement released a day after Saturdays incident, the Texas Tech fan involved in the altercation with Smartdenied that he had used a racial slur but acknowledged uttering a phrase that was just as personal, and just as unacceptable.And thats the point. The underlying premise of fan boisterousness is that sticks and stones will break an athletes bones, but words will never hurt. The existing covenant allows fans who are so inclined to scream back at Sherman or shout insults at Smart. Their offensive comments, like those of the fan at Texas Tech, fall in the range ofacceptable and in many instances typical fan behavior. The right to verbally abuse players and coaches, to distract the opponents, is a sport within the sport, and that sense of entitlement has long been allowed and even encouraged, as if its included in the price of a ticket.Now into this arena, and into this dynamic, strides Michael Sam, an all-American football player at Missouri who on Sunday made public what his teammates and friends already knew: that he is gay.Heaven only knows what fans will have in store for him.One can make the argument that the publics anger with Sherman and Smart was over their in-your-face-delivery. Sam delivered the news about his sexuality calmly and thoughtfully, and so he has been bathed in the relative light of compassion.But its only February. Fan attention has been divided among the Winter Olympics and college and professional basketball, and we still have a major league baseball season to contemplate before football returns. The true test for Sam will come later, after he is drafted and after he arrives in his new city.How will his teammates react?Some will grumble and growl; some may go out of their way to test and challenge. Linebacker Jonathan Vilma, in an interview with NFL Networklast week, said of the possibility of having a gay teammate:I think he would not be accepted as much as we think he would be accepted. I dont want people to just naturally assume, oh, were all homophobic. Thats really not the case. Imagine if hes the guy next to me, and you know, I get dressed, naked, taking a shower, the whole nine, and it just so happens he looks at me. How am I supposed to respond?Vilmas will become the minority view. (After Sam went public, Vilma went on CNN to clarify his comments, calling his shower remark a poor illustration.) After an embarrassing bullying scandal in Miami last season, the N.F.L. has put every team and every player on notice that it will have zero tolerance for harassment.The N.F.L. surely will not tolerate publicly expressed closed-mindedness around the subject of sexual orientation, just as the N.B.A. has fined star players like Roy Hibbert and Kobe Bryant for using homophobic slurs.Many of us find it easier to convene at the universal intersection ofsexual orientation than to negotiate the complicated streets ofrace. During football and basketball season, gigantic home entertainment systems blast race and ethnicity into Americas living rooms, from Compton-born, dreadlock-wearing, Stanford-educated Richard Sherman to a young star player like Marcus Smart who has had previous blowups. Will the reaction to Sam be different? The early reviews have offered hope. In the wake of Sams announcement, many fans, players and commentators urged the N.F.L. to draft and embrace him. Now that his cards are on the table, team owners, general managers and players will have to put theirs on the table as well. A layer of the onion has been peeled back by a talented player who has shouted: Im proudly gay. Now draft me. Some team will. And many fans will cheer.But others will remind us that there remain dark corners in need of light. | Sports | <s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> Sports of The TimesFeb. 12, 2014The relationship between those who consume sports and those who play them is changing, and probably not for the best. Fans are now part of the action as never before. Stadium sound systems exhort them to be as vocal as possible, and social media allow them to have an unfiltered dialogue with athletes in ways that sometimes uncover a raw ambivalence. Two volatile interactions in recent weeks suggest that the longstanding covenant between fans and players needs revision. Last month, Richard Sherman, a Seattle Seahawks defensive back, absorbed two weeks of criticism a good portion of it laced with racist invective for loudly proclaiming his greatness while denigrating the skills of an opponent. On Saturday, Marcus Smart, a talented Oklahoma State basketball player, made headlines by shoving a white Texas Tech fan whom Smart, at least initially, accused of calling him a racial slur. There was not much sympathy for Sherman and even less for Smart, who violated the No. 1 tenetof the arena gladiators do not confront the spectators and was suspended. But the reaction to Sherman and the circumstances that led to Smarts altercation suggest an eroding civility between fans and players. In a statement released a day after Saturdays incident, the Texas Tech fan involved in the altercation with Smartdenied that he had used a racial slur but acknowledged uttering a phrase that was just as personal, and just as unacceptable.And thats the point. The underlying premise of fan boisterousness is that sticks and stones will break an athletes bones, but words will never hurt. The existing covenant allows fans who are so inclined to scream back at Sherman or shout insults at Smart. Their offensive comments, like those of the fan at Texas Tech, fall in the range ofacceptable and in many instances typical fan behavior. The right to verbally abuse players and coaches, to distract the opponents, is a sport within the sport, and that sense of entitlement has long been allowed and even encouraged, as if its included in the price of a ticket.Now into this arena, and into this dynamic, strides Michael Sam, an all-American football player at Missouri who on Sunday made public what his teammates and friends already knew: that he is gay.Heaven only knows what fans will have in store for him.One can make the argument that the publics anger with Sherman and Smart was over their in-your-face-delivery. Sam delivered the news about his sexuality calmly and thoughtfully, and so he has been bathed in the relative light of compassion.But its only February. Fan attention has been divided among the Winter Olympics and college and professional basketball, and we still have a major league baseball season to contemplate before football returns. The true test for Sam will come later, after he is drafted and after he arrives in his new city.How will his teammates react?Some will grumble and growl; some may go out of their way to test and challenge. Linebacker Jonathan Vilma, in an interview with NFL Networklast week, said of the possibility of having a gay teammate:I think he would not be accepted as much as we think he would be accepted. I dont want people to just naturally assume, oh, were all homophobic. Thats really not the case. Imagine if hes the guy next to me, and you know, I get dressed, naked, taking a shower, the whole nine, and it just so happens he looks at me. How am I supposed to respond?Vilmas will become the minority view. (After Sam went public, Vilma went on CNN to clarify his comments, calling his shower remark a poor illustration.) After an embarrassing bullying scandal in Miami last season, the N.F.L. has put every team and every player on notice that it will have zero tolerance for harassment.The N.F.L. surely will not tolerate publicly expressed closed-mindedness around the subject of sexual orientation, just as the N.B.A. has fined star players like Roy Hibbert and Kobe Bryant for using homophobic slurs.Many of us find it easier to convene at the universal intersection ofsexual orientation than to negotiate the complicated streets ofrace. During football and basketball season, gigantic home entertainment systems blast race and ethnicity into Americas living rooms, from Compton-born, dreadlock-wearing, Stanford-educated Richard Sherman to a young star player like Marcus Smart who has had previous blowups. Will the reaction to Sam be different? The early reviews have offered hope. In the wake of Sams announcement, many fans, players and commentators urged the N.F.L. to draft and embrace him. Now that his cards are on the table, team owners, general managers and players will have to put theirs on the table as well. A layer of the onion has been peeled back by a talented player who has shouted: Im proudly gay. Now draft me. Some team will. And many fans will cheer.But others will remind us that there remain dark corners in need of light. [/INST] Sports </s> |
The first checks could be cut in April. The money from the nations three major pharmaceutical distributors and Johnson & Johnson will be used for addiction treatment and prevention.Credit...Patrick Semansky/Associated PressFeb. 25, 2022The nations three largest drug distributors and a major pharmaceutical manufacturer announced Friday that a supermajority of states and localities had accepted the terms of their $26 billion offer to settle thousands of civil claims related to the deadly opioid crisis. The first checks are expected to go out in early April.Through its pharmaceutical division, Janssen, Johnson & Johnson will pay $5 billion, broken into annual payments over nine years. McKesson, Cardinal Health and AmerisourceBergen, the distributors, will pay a combined $21 billion over 18 years. At least 85 percent of the payments will be dedicated to addiction treatment and prevention services. By signing onto the deal, thousands of local governments as well as states have agreed to drop their opioid lawsuits against the companies and also pledge not to bring any future action.In its sweep and bottom line, the deal is second only to the Big Tobacco settlement of the late 1990s as a multistate agreement.The total amount includes almost $2 billion that will cover fees and costs for the platoons of lawyers nationwide who represented local governments as well as some states and built much of the legal strategy in the cases. Those payments will go out over roughly seven years.There are no separate funds to compensate families and individual victims of the opioid crisis.The announcement is a milestone in the nationwide opioid litigation, which began in 2014 with a few cities and counties filing lawsuits against five drug manufacturers. But as thousands of governmental plaintiffs eventually filed claims, the cases reached across the pharmaceutical industry, to distributors and retailers as well. The actions gelled into a modern legal behemoth that is still far from fully resolved, featuring, most prominently, the cases against Purdue Pharma.The crisis continues to take a terrible toll: More than 500,000 Americans have died from overdoses to prescription and illegal street opioids since 1999, according to federal data.The distributors and Johnson & Johnson released statements Friday morning, noting that the deal is not an admission of wrongdoing and that they strongly dispute the allegations. The distributors said in a joint statement that they believed that the implementation of this settlement is a key milestone toward achieving broad resolution of governmental opioid claims and delivering meaningful relief to communities across the United States that have been impacted by the epidemic.Johnson & Johnson also added that it would continue to defend itself against any litigation that this final settlement agreement does not resolve, noting that it no longer sells prescription opioid medication in the United States.When Johnson & Johnson, the distributors and a smaller group of states announced their proposed settlement in July, the companies said they required an unspecified majority of plaintiffs to sign on, to guarantee an end to litigation. The announcement Friday morning signals that a sufficient threshold has been reached, or at least 90 percent of those governments eligible to participate, and 46 of 49 eligible states for the distributors and 45 for Johnson & Johnson. Courts in each state will now have to sign off on the agreements, a process that is expected to go relatively smoothly and swiftly.According to the agreements, a state will get its full allocation if all its local governments sign on to the deal. For example, all 100 North Carolina counties and 47 municipalities have agreed, and the state will get its allotment of $750 million.North Carolina communities will begin to receive money this year to help people struggling with substance abuse, said Josh Stein, the states attorney general and a leader of a bipartisan coalition of states that negotiated with the companies and local governments for nearly three years. The treatment, recovery, prevention and harm reduction services that will be available across the state will help people regain control over their lives and make North Carolina safer.A few holdout states and localities still remain against either the distributors or Johnson & Johnson, including Washington, Oklahoma and Alabama. But legal experts say that stance could be perilous: The outcomes from a few completed trials point to favorable resolutions for the companies, suggesting that continuing to do battle with those governments who declined the deal is a risk the companies are willing to take.This month, the same companies announced a tentative settlement with Native American tribes that have suffered disproportionately high addiction and death rates during the opioid epidemic. In combination with a $75 million deal that distributors struck with the Cherokee Nation last fall, the 574 federally recognized tribes could receive $665 million in payouts over nine years. An overwhelming majority of tribes are expected to sign on to the proposal.A major theme coursing throughout the opioid litigation has been the aggressive marketing of the drugs, which went all but unchecked for years. Distributors almost never sent up warning flares when pharmacy clients took deliveries of quantities of opioids that were wildly disproportionate to the local population. A central feature of the new deal is that the distributors must set up an independent clearinghouse to track and report one anothers shipments, a mechanism intended to raise red flags immediately when outsize orders are made.During the settlement negotiations, a secondary series of talks between the states and the local governments over the allocation of the funds was also unfolding. By now, about two dozen states have worked up their own distribution plans with local cities and counties that also sued the companies.The executive committee of lawyers, including Joe Rice, Elizabeth Cabraser and Jayne Conroy, who negotiated for local governments, released a statement saying, We arrived at this moment after years of work by community leaders across the country who committed themselves to seeking funds they need to combat the opioid epidemic.They continued, While this is a vital step, it is only one of the many that are necessary to put an end to this crisis. | Health | <s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> The first checks could be cut in April. The money from the nations three major pharmaceutical distributors and Johnson & Johnson will be used for addiction treatment and prevention.Credit...Patrick Semansky/Associated PressFeb. 25, 2022The nations three largest drug distributors and a major pharmaceutical manufacturer announced Friday that a supermajority of states and localities had accepted the terms of their $26 billion offer to settle thousands of civil claims related to the deadly opioid crisis. The first checks are expected to go out in early April.Through its pharmaceutical division, Janssen, Johnson & Johnson will pay $5 billion, broken into annual payments over nine years. McKesson, Cardinal Health and AmerisourceBergen, the distributors, will pay a combined $21 billion over 18 years. At least 85 percent of the payments will be dedicated to addiction treatment and prevention services. By signing onto the deal, thousands of local governments as well as states have agreed to drop their opioid lawsuits against the companies and also pledge not to bring any future action.In its sweep and bottom line, the deal is second only to the Big Tobacco settlement of the late 1990s as a multistate agreement.The total amount includes almost $2 billion that will cover fees and costs for the platoons of lawyers nationwide who represented local governments as well as some states and built much of the legal strategy in the cases. Those payments will go out over roughly seven years.There are no separate funds to compensate families and individual victims of the opioid crisis.The announcement is a milestone in the nationwide opioid litigation, which began in 2014 with a few cities and counties filing lawsuits against five drug manufacturers. But as thousands of governmental plaintiffs eventually filed claims, the cases reached across the pharmaceutical industry, to distributors and retailers as well. The actions gelled into a modern legal behemoth that is still far from fully resolved, featuring, most prominently, the cases against Purdue Pharma.The crisis continues to take a terrible toll: More than 500,000 Americans have died from overdoses to prescription and illegal street opioids since 1999, according to federal data.The distributors and Johnson & Johnson released statements Friday morning, noting that the deal is not an admission of wrongdoing and that they strongly dispute the allegations. The distributors said in a joint statement that they believed that the implementation of this settlement is a key milestone toward achieving broad resolution of governmental opioid claims and delivering meaningful relief to communities across the United States that have been impacted by the epidemic.Johnson & Johnson also added that it would continue to defend itself against any litigation that this final settlement agreement does not resolve, noting that it no longer sells prescription opioid medication in the United States.When Johnson & Johnson, the distributors and a smaller group of states announced their proposed settlement in July, the companies said they required an unspecified majority of plaintiffs to sign on, to guarantee an end to litigation. The announcement Friday morning signals that a sufficient threshold has been reached, or at least 90 percent of those governments eligible to participate, and 46 of 49 eligible states for the distributors and 45 for Johnson & Johnson. Courts in each state will now have to sign off on the agreements, a process that is expected to go relatively smoothly and swiftly.According to the agreements, a state will get its full allocation if all its local governments sign on to the deal. For example, all 100 North Carolina counties and 47 municipalities have agreed, and the state will get its allotment of $750 million.North Carolina communities will begin to receive money this year to help people struggling with substance abuse, said Josh Stein, the states attorney general and a leader of a bipartisan coalition of states that negotiated with the companies and local governments for nearly three years. The treatment, recovery, prevention and harm reduction services that will be available across the state will help people regain control over their lives and make North Carolina safer.A few holdout states and localities still remain against either the distributors or Johnson & Johnson, including Washington, Oklahoma and Alabama. But legal experts say that stance could be perilous: The outcomes from a few completed trials point to favorable resolutions for the companies, suggesting that continuing to do battle with those governments who declined the deal is a risk the companies are willing to take.This month, the same companies announced a tentative settlement with Native American tribes that have suffered disproportionately high addiction and death rates during the opioid epidemic. In combination with a $75 million deal that distributors struck with the Cherokee Nation last fall, the 574 federally recognized tribes could receive $665 million in payouts over nine years. An overwhelming majority of tribes are expected to sign on to the proposal.A major theme coursing throughout the opioid litigation has been the aggressive marketing of the drugs, which went all but unchecked for years. Distributors almost never sent up warning flares when pharmacy clients took deliveries of quantities of opioids that were wildly disproportionate to the local population. A central feature of the new deal is that the distributors must set up an independent clearinghouse to track and report one anothers shipments, a mechanism intended to raise red flags immediately when outsize orders are made.During the settlement negotiations, a secondary series of talks between the states and the local governments over the allocation of the funds was also unfolding. By now, about two dozen states have worked up their own distribution plans with local cities and counties that also sued the companies.The executive committee of lawyers, including Joe Rice, Elizabeth Cabraser and Jayne Conroy, who negotiated for local governments, released a statement saying, We arrived at this moment after years of work by community leaders across the country who committed themselves to seeking funds they need to combat the opioid epidemic.They continued, While this is a vital step, it is only one of the many that are necessary to put an end to this crisis. [/INST] Health </s> |
Science|Your A.T.M. Is Covered in Microbes, but Mostly Harmlesshttps://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/19/science/atm-keypad-microbes.htmlTrilobitesCredit...Timothy A. Clary/Agence France-Presse Getty ImagesNov. 18, 2016Whenever you withdraw money from an automated teller machine, the A.T.M. deposits microbes onto you.That shouldnt be surprising because germs and bacteria are everywhere: on doorknobs, subway seats, staircases, your cat, your dog, your face. You cant avoid them, especially when youre punching in your pin.Researchers in New York City swabbed the keypads of 66 A.T.M.s at banks, bodegas and other places across Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens. They found that A.T.M.s are mostly covered in microbes from human skin, similar to the ones found in bathrooms, on pillowcases and on televisions.They also found that in addition to leaving bits of ourselves behind whenever we touch the keypads, we also litter the machines with leftovers. Traces of chicken, fish and other seafood were among the most commonly found microbes. In Manhattan they found a mold called Xeromyces bisporus, which is associated with spoiled cakes and other baked goods.New Yorkers love their food, its not that surprising, said Jane Carlton, an urban microbiology ecologist from New York University and an author of the study, which was published Wednesday in the journal mSphere. She added that the microbes they found were pretty consistent across boroughs and stressed that the majority of the microbes they found were harmless. Gross, perhaps, but mostly harmless.To researchers like Dr. Carlton, A.T.M.s act like miniature laboratories where they can study the DNA of the city. The machines house a unique microcosm on their keypads that reflects the people who use them every day. The team did not look at touch screen A.T.M.s.The study is part of a larger research project to investigate New York Citys urban microbiome. So far, researchers have already looked at microbes on the subway system, which provide insight into people from all around the city. The A.T.M. findings, Dr. Carlton said, were just another piece in the jigsaw puzzle of microbes in New York City.To complete their portrait they plan to next look at the citys pets and pests. That means swabbing cats, dogs, squirrels, pigeons, rats and cockroaches. | science | <s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> Science|Your A.T.M. Is Covered in Microbes, but Mostly Harmlesshttps://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/19/science/atm-keypad-microbes.htmlTrilobitesCredit...Timothy A. Clary/Agence France-Presse Getty ImagesNov. 18, 2016Whenever you withdraw money from an automated teller machine, the A.T.M. deposits microbes onto you.That shouldnt be surprising because germs and bacteria are everywhere: on doorknobs, subway seats, staircases, your cat, your dog, your face. You cant avoid them, especially when youre punching in your pin.Researchers in New York City swabbed the keypads of 66 A.T.M.s at banks, bodegas and other places across Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens. They found that A.T.M.s are mostly covered in microbes from human skin, similar to the ones found in bathrooms, on pillowcases and on televisions.They also found that in addition to leaving bits of ourselves behind whenever we touch the keypads, we also litter the machines with leftovers. Traces of chicken, fish and other seafood were among the most commonly found microbes. In Manhattan they found a mold called Xeromyces bisporus, which is associated with spoiled cakes and other baked goods.New Yorkers love their food, its not that surprising, said Jane Carlton, an urban microbiology ecologist from New York University and an author of the study, which was published Wednesday in the journal mSphere. She added that the microbes they found were pretty consistent across boroughs and stressed that the majority of the microbes they found were harmless. Gross, perhaps, but mostly harmless.To researchers like Dr. Carlton, A.T.M.s act like miniature laboratories where they can study the DNA of the city. The machines house a unique microcosm on their keypads that reflects the people who use them every day. The team did not look at touch screen A.T.M.s.The study is part of a larger research project to investigate New York Citys urban microbiome. So far, researchers have already looked at microbes on the subway system, which provide insight into people from all around the city. The A.T.M. findings, Dr. Carlton said, were just another piece in the jigsaw puzzle of microbes in New York City.To complete their portrait they plan to next look at the citys pets and pests. That means swabbing cats, dogs, squirrels, pigeons, rats and cockroaches. [/INST] science </s> |
Middle East|3,300 Egyptian Children Hospitalized After Food Poisoninghttps://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/15/world/middleeast/egypt-food-poisoning-3300-children.htmlMarch 15, 2017CAIRO More than 3,300 children were hospitalized in Egypt on Tuesday after an outbreak of food poisoning at several state-run primary schools, state-owned news media said.The mass poisoning, in the impoverished Upper Egypt province of Sohag, north of Luxor, was one of the biggest food-safety cases to hit the country in years.Officials suspect that school lunches may have been contaminated, and they have opened an investigation. Samples from the lunches, consisting of processed cheese cubes, dry sesame paste bars and loaves of bread, were being analyzed, they added.Children, most younger than 12, began vomiting within an hour of eating the lunches, Ahmed Nashaat, a Sohag lawmaker, said in a telephone interview. A total of 3,353 children became ill, and at least 50 ambulances were sent to the schools, state news media said. Since then, all but 17 of the students have recovered and been discharged. No deaths or serious complications were reported.The ordeal revived complaints over the declining quality of Egypts public education and health systems. It is ridiculous how this keeps on happening, Mr. Nashaat said. It is not hard to store biscuits and look at the expiration date.Apparently in an attempt to deflect some of the anger, the governor of Sohag, Ayman Abdel-Moneim, quickly suspended the distribution of government meals and demanded that changes be made to how they were stored and transported to schools.Tuesdays outbreak was one in a long series that have occurred in public schools and universities nationwide recently. Earlier this month, more than 214 students were found to have food poisoning caused by government meals at several schools in the provinces of Minya and Assiut.Outrage over such instances of perceived government neglect was a main cause of the popular uprising in 2011 that toppled the government of President Hosni Mubarak. It was not just the parents who were angry in Sohag, Mr. Nashaat said. Everyone believes that was the result of neglect. This is leading people to conclude that the people in charge dont care about their kids. | World | <s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> Middle East|3,300 Egyptian Children Hospitalized After Food Poisoninghttps://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/15/world/middleeast/egypt-food-poisoning-3300-children.htmlMarch 15, 2017CAIRO More than 3,300 children were hospitalized in Egypt on Tuesday after an outbreak of food poisoning at several state-run primary schools, state-owned news media said.The mass poisoning, in the impoverished Upper Egypt province of Sohag, north of Luxor, was one of the biggest food-safety cases to hit the country in years.Officials suspect that school lunches may have been contaminated, and they have opened an investigation. Samples from the lunches, consisting of processed cheese cubes, dry sesame paste bars and loaves of bread, were being analyzed, they added.Children, most younger than 12, began vomiting within an hour of eating the lunches, Ahmed Nashaat, a Sohag lawmaker, said in a telephone interview. A total of 3,353 children became ill, and at least 50 ambulances were sent to the schools, state news media said. Since then, all but 17 of the students have recovered and been discharged. No deaths or serious complications were reported.The ordeal revived complaints over the declining quality of Egypts public education and health systems. It is ridiculous how this keeps on happening, Mr. Nashaat said. It is not hard to store biscuits and look at the expiration date.Apparently in an attempt to deflect some of the anger, the governor of Sohag, Ayman Abdel-Moneim, quickly suspended the distribution of government meals and demanded that changes be made to how they were stored and transported to schools.Tuesdays outbreak was one in a long series that have occurred in public schools and universities nationwide recently. Earlier this month, more than 214 students were found to have food poisoning caused by government meals at several schools in the provinces of Minya and Assiut.Outrage over such instances of perceived government neglect was a main cause of the popular uprising in 2011 that toppled the government of President Hosni Mubarak. It was not just the parents who were angry in Sohag, Mr. Nashaat said. Everyone believes that was the result of neglect. This is leading people to conclude that the people in charge dont care about their kids. [/INST] World </s> |
Credit...Jessica Chou for The New York TimesThe F.T.C. chairman seems to have the votes to approve a settlement. One of the biggest issues has been whether to hold Mark Zuckerberg liable for future violations.Whether a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission should hold Mark Zuckerberg, Facebooks chief executive, liable for future mishandling of users data has been a point of contention in talks.Credit...Jessica Chou for The New York TimesMay 4, 2019WASHINGTON Facebooks announcement in late April that it had set aside $3 billion to $5 billion to settle claims that it mishandled users personal data suggested a strong consensus by federal regulators that the social media giant needed to be held accountable.But the reality behind the scenes at the Federal Trade Commission is far more complicated, reflecting the politics and give-and-take of the negotiations.The F.T.C.s five commissioners agreed months ago that they wanted to pursue a historic penalty that would show the agencys teeth. But now, the members are split on the size and scope of the tech companys punishment, according to three people with knowledge of the talks who spoke on the condition of anonymity.The division is complicating the final days of the talks.Along with disagreement about the appropriate financial penalty, one of the most contentious undercurrents throughout the negotiations has been the degree to which Mark Zuckerberg, Facebooks chief executive, should be held personally liable for any violation of a 2011 agreement, according to two of the people.Facebook has put up a fierce fight, saying Mr. Zuckerberg should not be held legally responsible for the actions of all 35,000 of his employees.The talks could fall apart, but negotiations are moving forward and are expected to conclude within days, with an announcement made soon after. This account of the F.T.C.s investigation of Facebook is based on interviews with a half dozen people.Joseph J. Simons, the commissions Republican chairman, appeared to have the votes of the other two Republican commissioners, giving him the three needed to approve a deal. But a 3-to-2 decision along party lines, which Mr. Simons has said he wants to avoid, could lead to strong rebukes on Capitol Hill.The stakes are enormous for the agency and Mr. Simons. The case is being closely watched globally as a litmus test on how the United States government will police the countrys tech giants.The commission has a reputation of pulling some punches, particularly in contrast with regulators in Europe, who have pursued forceful action on both privacy and antitrust issues. The largest F.T.C. fine against a tech company was $22.5 million against Google in 2012, for misleading users about how some of its tools were tracking them.ImageCredit...Andr Chung for The New York TimesAny settlement will also be looked at as a measure of the Trump administrations willingness to penalize one of the countrys most valuable and influential companies. The administration has whittled away regulations in many industries, but President Trump has repeatedly said tech giants like Facebook and Amazon have too much power.Many Democrats have led efforts to rein in Silicon Valleys power.This is a hugely important decision because it will be watched by all these big companies to see if there is actually going to be a new day on the enforcement front, said Senator Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat who has pushed for Mr. Zuckerberg to be held personally liable in any settlement.Rohit Chopra, one of the two Democrats on the commission, has publicly urged stronger punishment of repeated offenders of F.T.C. rules.But Mr. Simons has appeared unwilling to force the issue and drag the case to court, which could be a risky move. He has recently intensified his efforts to get at least one of the two Democrats on his side, according to one of the people with knowledge of the talks. But the internal disagreements have held up a final agreement.In addition to the fine, Facebook has agreed, as part of a proposed settlement, to create new positions that would be focused on privacy policies and compliance, two of the people said. The agency, in coordination with the company, would set up an independent committee to oversee Facebooks privacy efforts. That committee and the F.T.C. would appoint an outside assessor to monitor the companys handling of data.The company has also agreed to assign an executive as a privacy compliance officer, making privacy oversight a job within the top ranks, the people said. Mr. Zuckerberg could be given the job, according to one person with knowledge of the talks, although another person expressed doubts.But the settlement probably wont include limits on Facebooks ability to track users and share data with its partners, mandates that privacy advocates have raised as important for regulation in the United States, and that Facebook has fought. Mr. Simons has argued that the settlement proposal sets a new bar for enforcement of privacy violations and wants to avoid litigation that risks losing that opportunity.Five billion dollars is a lot of money, said David Vladeck, a law professor at Georgetown University and a former head of consumer protection for the F.T.C. And at the end of the day, it is not in the commissions interest to go to trial, because there is no guarantee they will get relief beyond whats already on the table.The F.T.C. and Facebook declined to comment for this article.The roots of the investigation stem from a case that Facebook settled with the agency in 2011. The company was accused of deceiving consumers about how it handled their data. As part of the settlement, it said it would overhaul its privacy practices.In March 2018, The New York Times and The Observer of London reported that Cambridge Analytica, a British political consulting firm that had worked for Mr. Trumps presidential campaign, had used a vast trove of Facebook data to compile voter profiles. The agency then opened an investigation into whether the company had violated the 2011 agreement.ImageCredit...Guerin Blask for The New York TimesFacebook has apologized for reacting slowly to the revelations about Cambridge Analytica. But the company has said an academic researcher with access to the data broke its rules by sharing the data with the consulting firm.At the same time, sentiment in Washington was turning against Big Tech. It had become clear that Russia used online services to interfere in the 2016 presidential election. YouTube, Twitter and Facebook were being blamed for the spread of harmful content and fake news. Politicians like Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who is now running for the Democratic presidential nomination, were accusing Amazon of unfair labor practices.Weeks after the investigation started, Mr. Simons, a longtime Republican antitrust lawyer, was sworn in to lead the agency. Two other Republicans, Noah Phillips and Christine Wilson, and two Democrats, Rebecca Slaughter and Mr. Chopra, were confirmed by the Senate as the other commissioners at the same time.All five first met to discuss the Facebook case in December. The commissions staff said they had found several violations of the 2011 agreement and a corporate culture that did not make privacy a priority, according to two people with knowledge of the talks.There was wide agreement among the commissioners that the charges against Facebook appeared strong and that they should respond vigorously, according to the two people.In the days and weeks after that meeting, staff members began to discuss a potential fine and other penalties with the commissioners. A fine far above $7 billion appeared to have strong agreement, according to one of the people.Staff members and commissioners also began talking about making Mr. Zuckerberg personally liable, meaning that he could be named as a defendant in a future case.In an early version of the complaint and proposed settlement, Mr. Zuckerberg was named as a responsible party, the two people said. The focus on Mr. Zuckerberg was first reported by The Washington Post.Facebook pushed back on the inclusion of Mr. Zuckerberg, saying it would not agree to that in a settlement.Democrats in Washington have recently been pushing for more accountability for top executives of companies under scrutiny.Soon after he joined the F.T.C., Mr. Chopra wrote a memo to all staff members saying the agency should address management deficiencies through structural remedies, including the dismissal of senior management.Mr. Simons has also publicly called for stronger enforcement of tech companies. But at a privacy conference in Washington on Thursday, he described the big trade-offs in naming chief executives in complaints.When you get to a position when threatening to name individuals and make them personally liable, companies are less likely to settle and you end up having to litigate a lot more than you would otherwise, Mr. Simons said. You have to think are you getting sufficient relief for consumers without having to name these people as a sufficient deterrent.Republican lawmakers would probably criticize an order that included Mr. Zuckerberg in the complaint.Its one thing if Facebook were an entity that itself couldnt be held liable, Senator Mike Lee, a Utah Republican, said in an interview.To hold a C.E.O. liable is extraordinary and not needed here.A few weeks ago, the commissioners were shown an updated proposed deal. It had a fine of around $5 billion and no mention of liability for Mr. Zuckerberg.The proposal set off a frenzy of discussion among the commissioners and staff members. Soon, details about the discussion began to leak out in the news media.Senior executives at Facebook believed that people within the F.T.C. were divulging details to influence negotiations, according to two people.Facebook, which had $56 billion in revenues in 2018, responded by announcing the expected $3 billion to $5 billion penalty, partly in an effort to set expectations for what the company thought it would finally have to pay, the two people said.Talks between Facebook and agency officials have continued over the past several days. Mr. Simons was trying to persuade Ms. Slaughter, who appeared to side with Mr. Chopra, to see his perspective. The commissioners are expected to vote on the settlement in the coming days.Having a good bipartisan consensus makes a huge difference to the effectiveness of the agency, Mr. Simons said in an interview in February. So I think its very important, and we are trying very hard to do that. | Tech | <s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> Credit...Jessica Chou for The New York TimesThe F.T.C. chairman seems to have the votes to approve a settlement. One of the biggest issues has been whether to hold Mark Zuckerberg liable for future violations.Whether a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission should hold Mark Zuckerberg, Facebooks chief executive, liable for future mishandling of users data has been a point of contention in talks.Credit...Jessica Chou for The New York TimesMay 4, 2019WASHINGTON Facebooks announcement in late April that it had set aside $3 billion to $5 billion to settle claims that it mishandled users personal data suggested a strong consensus by federal regulators that the social media giant needed to be held accountable.But the reality behind the scenes at the Federal Trade Commission is far more complicated, reflecting the politics and give-and-take of the negotiations.The F.T.C.s five commissioners agreed months ago that they wanted to pursue a historic penalty that would show the agencys teeth. But now, the members are split on the size and scope of the tech companys punishment, according to three people with knowledge of the talks who spoke on the condition of anonymity.The division is complicating the final days of the talks.Along with disagreement about the appropriate financial penalty, one of the most contentious undercurrents throughout the negotiations has been the degree to which Mark Zuckerberg, Facebooks chief executive, should be held personally liable for any violation of a 2011 agreement, according to two of the people.Facebook has put up a fierce fight, saying Mr. Zuckerberg should not be held legally responsible for the actions of all 35,000 of his employees.The talks could fall apart, but negotiations are moving forward and are expected to conclude within days, with an announcement made soon after. This account of the F.T.C.s investigation of Facebook is based on interviews with a half dozen people.Joseph J. Simons, the commissions Republican chairman, appeared to have the votes of the other two Republican commissioners, giving him the three needed to approve a deal. But a 3-to-2 decision along party lines, which Mr. Simons has said he wants to avoid, could lead to strong rebukes on Capitol Hill.The stakes are enormous for the agency and Mr. Simons. The case is being closely watched globally as a litmus test on how the United States government will police the countrys tech giants.The commission has a reputation of pulling some punches, particularly in contrast with regulators in Europe, who have pursued forceful action on both privacy and antitrust issues. The largest F.T.C. fine against a tech company was $22.5 million against Google in 2012, for misleading users about how some of its tools were tracking them.ImageCredit...Andr Chung for The New York TimesAny settlement will also be looked at as a measure of the Trump administrations willingness to penalize one of the countrys most valuable and influential companies. The administration has whittled away regulations in many industries, but President Trump has repeatedly said tech giants like Facebook and Amazon have too much power.Many Democrats have led efforts to rein in Silicon Valleys power.This is a hugely important decision because it will be watched by all these big companies to see if there is actually going to be a new day on the enforcement front, said Senator Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat who has pushed for Mr. Zuckerberg to be held personally liable in any settlement.Rohit Chopra, one of the two Democrats on the commission, has publicly urged stronger punishment of repeated offenders of F.T.C. rules.But Mr. Simons has appeared unwilling to force the issue and drag the case to court, which could be a risky move. He has recently intensified his efforts to get at least one of the two Democrats on his side, according to one of the people with knowledge of the talks. But the internal disagreements have held up a final agreement.In addition to the fine, Facebook has agreed, as part of a proposed settlement, to create new positions that would be focused on privacy policies and compliance, two of the people said. The agency, in coordination with the company, would set up an independent committee to oversee Facebooks privacy efforts. That committee and the F.T.C. would appoint an outside assessor to monitor the companys handling of data.The company has also agreed to assign an executive as a privacy compliance officer, making privacy oversight a job within the top ranks, the people said. Mr. Zuckerberg could be given the job, according to one person with knowledge of the talks, although another person expressed doubts.But the settlement probably wont include limits on Facebooks ability to track users and share data with its partners, mandates that privacy advocates have raised as important for regulation in the United States, and that Facebook has fought. Mr. Simons has argued that the settlement proposal sets a new bar for enforcement of privacy violations and wants to avoid litigation that risks losing that opportunity.Five billion dollars is a lot of money, said David Vladeck, a law professor at Georgetown University and a former head of consumer protection for the F.T.C. And at the end of the day, it is not in the commissions interest to go to trial, because there is no guarantee they will get relief beyond whats already on the table.The F.T.C. and Facebook declined to comment for this article.The roots of the investigation stem from a case that Facebook settled with the agency in 2011. The company was accused of deceiving consumers about how it handled their data. As part of the settlement, it said it would overhaul its privacy practices.In March 2018, The New York Times and The Observer of London reported that Cambridge Analytica, a British political consulting firm that had worked for Mr. Trumps presidential campaign, had used a vast trove of Facebook data to compile voter profiles. The agency then opened an investigation into whether the company had violated the 2011 agreement.ImageCredit...Guerin Blask for The New York TimesFacebook has apologized for reacting slowly to the revelations about Cambridge Analytica. But the company has said an academic researcher with access to the data broke its rules by sharing the data with the consulting firm.At the same time, sentiment in Washington was turning against Big Tech. It had become clear that Russia used online services to interfere in the 2016 presidential election. YouTube, Twitter and Facebook were being blamed for the spread of harmful content and fake news. Politicians like Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who is now running for the Democratic presidential nomination, were accusing Amazon of unfair labor practices.Weeks after the investigation started, Mr. Simons, a longtime Republican antitrust lawyer, was sworn in to lead the agency. Two other Republicans, Noah Phillips and Christine Wilson, and two Democrats, Rebecca Slaughter and Mr. Chopra, were confirmed by the Senate as the other commissioners at the same time.All five first met to discuss the Facebook case in December. The commissions staff said they had found several violations of the 2011 agreement and a corporate culture that did not make privacy a priority, according to two people with knowledge of the talks.There was wide agreement among the commissioners that the charges against Facebook appeared strong and that they should respond vigorously, according to the two people.In the days and weeks after that meeting, staff members began to discuss a potential fine and other penalties with the commissioners. A fine far above $7 billion appeared to have strong agreement, according to one of the people.Staff members and commissioners also began talking about making Mr. Zuckerberg personally liable, meaning that he could be named as a defendant in a future case.In an early version of the complaint and proposed settlement, Mr. Zuckerberg was named as a responsible party, the two people said. The focus on Mr. Zuckerberg was first reported by The Washington Post.Facebook pushed back on the inclusion of Mr. Zuckerberg, saying it would not agree to that in a settlement.Democrats in Washington have recently been pushing for more accountability for top executives of companies under scrutiny.Soon after he joined the F.T.C., Mr. Chopra wrote a memo to all staff members saying the agency should address management deficiencies through structural remedies, including the dismissal of senior management.Mr. Simons has also publicly called for stronger enforcement of tech companies. But at a privacy conference in Washington on Thursday, he described the big trade-offs in naming chief executives in complaints.When you get to a position when threatening to name individuals and make them personally liable, companies are less likely to settle and you end up having to litigate a lot more than you would otherwise, Mr. Simons said. You have to think are you getting sufficient relief for consumers without having to name these people as a sufficient deterrent.Republican lawmakers would probably criticize an order that included Mr. Zuckerberg in the complaint.Its one thing if Facebook were an entity that itself couldnt be held liable, Senator Mike Lee, a Utah Republican, said in an interview.To hold a C.E.O. liable is extraordinary and not needed here.A few weeks ago, the commissioners were shown an updated proposed deal. It had a fine of around $5 billion and no mention of liability for Mr. Zuckerberg.The proposal set off a frenzy of discussion among the commissioners and staff members. Soon, details about the discussion began to leak out in the news media.Senior executives at Facebook believed that people within the F.T.C. were divulging details to influence negotiations, according to two people.Facebook, which had $56 billion in revenues in 2018, responded by announcing the expected $3 billion to $5 billion penalty, partly in an effort to set expectations for what the company thought it would finally have to pay, the two people said.Talks between Facebook and agency officials have continued over the past several days. Mr. Simons was trying to persuade Ms. Slaughter, who appeared to side with Mr. Chopra, to see his perspective. The commissioners are expected to vote on the settlement in the coming days.Having a good bipartisan consensus makes a huge difference to the effectiveness of the agency, Mr. Simons said in an interview in February. So I think its very important, and we are trying very hard to do that. [/INST] Tech </s> |
The men might have been among the earliest to be stolen from their homeland and brought to the Americas.Credit...R. Barquera & N. BernalMay 1, 2020The three skulls were unlike hundreds of others in the 16th-century mass grave uncovered at the San Jos de los Naturales Royal Hospital in Mexico City. Their front teeth were filed decoratively, perhaps as a ritual custom, unlike those of los naturales, the Indigenous people who made up the majority of bodies at the colonial burial site. Archaeologists concluded the three individuals were most likely enslaved Africans, but they needed more evidence to be certain.Now, researchers have extracted genetic information from the individuals teeth, confirming they were Africans, perhaps among the earliest to be stolen from their homeland and brought to the Americas.We studied their whole skeletons, and we wanted to know what they were suffering from, not only the diseases but the physical abuse too so we could tell their stories, said Rodrigo Barquera, a graduate student at the Max-Planck Institute for the Science of Human History in Germany. It has implications in the whole story of the colonial period of Mexico.The findings, published Thursday in Current Biology, offer a glimpse into these peoples lives before their forced voyages and add insight into the infectious diseases that the trans-Atlantic slave trade may have brought into the New World.In 1518, King Charles I of Spain, authorized the direct transportation of enslaved people from Africa to the Americas. In 1542, he enacted Las Leyes Nuevas, The New Laws, which prohibited the colonists in the Viceroyalty of New Spain from using Indigenous people as slaves. The law liberated thousands of Indigenous laborers, but increased the demand for enslaved Africans, Creoles, mulattoes and other African-descended people to work as servants, cooks, miners and field workers. Between 1518 and 1650, some 120,000 enslaved Africans arrived in what is now Mexico.Spanish colonists already demanded these groups because they believed they fared well against diseases brought over from Europe such as smallpox, measles and typhoid fever, which along with the brutal European conquest had nearly eliminated the Indigenous population.The San Jos de los Naturales Royal Hospital was created around 1530 to serve exclusively Indigenous patients, many of whom were dying in smallpox outbreaks. The three Africans were also treated there. When they died, they were buried alongside the Indigenous people. Perhaps all were victims of an epidemic, Mr. Barquera said.ImageCredit...R. Barquera & N. BernalThe three individuals remains were recovered in 1992 during construction of a new subway in the city. Archaeologists noticed their teeth had decorative filings, which were observed in enslaved Africans in Portugal, and the practice continues today in some sub-Saharan ethnic groups. That led the researchers to suggest the individuals were Africans.We dont know exactly if they were negros esclavos or negros libre, said Lourdes Mrquez Morfn, an archaeologist at the National School of Anthropology and History in Mexico City, referring to the distinction then made between slaves or freemen. But the trauma etched in their skeletons suggests they were slaves.One had these gunshots, said Mr. Barquera, referring to five pieces of buckshot in the mans chest cavity. You could see that the bone was stained with a copper greenish pigment because the bullets stayed in the body of this individual until he was dead.Some of the men showed signs of nutritional deficiencies, skull and leg fractures and shoulder deformities, suggesting they performed backbreaking work and suffered harsh physical abuse. The men all died between the ages of 25 and 35.Mr. Barquera and his team removed a molar from each of the three skulls to extract and analyze their DNA. The genetic signatures obtained from the molars showed the three men had their origins in Western or Southern Africa. They also found isotopes on the teeth that further indicated they were all born and grew up outside of Mexico.It was hypothesized that maybe they were descendants of Africans and Native Americans or Africans and Europeans, but thats not the case, said Mr. Barquera.The team also sequenced the genome of pathogens recovered from the skeletal remains. One of the men was afflicted with the virus that causes hepatitis B, and another had a bacterium that causes the skin infection yaws, a disease similar to syphilis.The findings provide some of the earliest known examples of those pathogens in human remains in the Americas, as well as the first direct evidence from the early colonial period that pathogens from Africa may have been brought to the Americas, said Johannes Krause of Max-Planck and Mr. Barqueras co-author. Mr. Krause added it is possible the men caught the diseases while on the overcrowded transoceanic voyages.We are always so focused on the introduction of diseases from the Europeans and the Spaniards, Dr. Krause said, that I think we underestimated also how much the slave trade and the forceful migration from Africa to the Americas contributed also to the spread of infectious diseases to the New World.The paper does a really nice job of putting together archaeological, osteological, molecular and isotope data to provide insight into the lives of early colonial likely enslaved Africans, said Anne Stone, an anthropological geneticist at Arizona State University who was not involved in the research.Hannes Schroeder, an archaeologist from the University of Copenhagen said the studys multiple lines of evidence paint a very detailed picture of the lives of these individuals, their origins and experiences in the Americas, that reminds us once again of the cruelty of the trans-Atlantic slave trade and the biological impact it had on individuals and populations in the New World. | science | <s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> The men might have been among the earliest to be stolen from their homeland and brought to the Americas.Credit...R. Barquera & N. BernalMay 1, 2020The three skulls were unlike hundreds of others in the 16th-century mass grave uncovered at the San Jos de los Naturales Royal Hospital in Mexico City. Their front teeth were filed decoratively, perhaps as a ritual custom, unlike those of los naturales, the Indigenous people who made up the majority of bodies at the colonial burial site. Archaeologists concluded the three individuals were most likely enslaved Africans, but they needed more evidence to be certain.Now, researchers have extracted genetic information from the individuals teeth, confirming they were Africans, perhaps among the earliest to be stolen from their homeland and brought to the Americas.We studied their whole skeletons, and we wanted to know what they were suffering from, not only the diseases but the physical abuse too so we could tell their stories, said Rodrigo Barquera, a graduate student at the Max-Planck Institute for the Science of Human History in Germany. It has implications in the whole story of the colonial period of Mexico.The findings, published Thursday in Current Biology, offer a glimpse into these peoples lives before their forced voyages and add insight into the infectious diseases that the trans-Atlantic slave trade may have brought into the New World.In 1518, King Charles I of Spain, authorized the direct transportation of enslaved people from Africa to the Americas. In 1542, he enacted Las Leyes Nuevas, The New Laws, which prohibited the colonists in the Viceroyalty of New Spain from using Indigenous people as slaves. The law liberated thousands of Indigenous laborers, but increased the demand for enslaved Africans, Creoles, mulattoes and other African-descended people to work as servants, cooks, miners and field workers. Between 1518 and 1650, some 120,000 enslaved Africans arrived in what is now Mexico.Spanish colonists already demanded these groups because they believed they fared well against diseases brought over from Europe such as smallpox, measles and typhoid fever, which along with the brutal European conquest had nearly eliminated the Indigenous population.The San Jos de los Naturales Royal Hospital was created around 1530 to serve exclusively Indigenous patients, many of whom were dying in smallpox outbreaks. The three Africans were also treated there. When they died, they were buried alongside the Indigenous people. Perhaps all were victims of an epidemic, Mr. Barquera said.ImageCredit...R. Barquera & N. BernalThe three individuals remains were recovered in 1992 during construction of a new subway in the city. Archaeologists noticed their teeth had decorative filings, which were observed in enslaved Africans in Portugal, and the practice continues today in some sub-Saharan ethnic groups. That led the researchers to suggest the individuals were Africans.We dont know exactly if they were negros esclavos or negros libre, said Lourdes Mrquez Morfn, an archaeologist at the National School of Anthropology and History in Mexico City, referring to the distinction then made between slaves or freemen. But the trauma etched in their skeletons suggests they were slaves.One had these gunshots, said Mr. Barquera, referring to five pieces of buckshot in the mans chest cavity. You could see that the bone was stained with a copper greenish pigment because the bullets stayed in the body of this individual until he was dead.Some of the men showed signs of nutritional deficiencies, skull and leg fractures and shoulder deformities, suggesting they performed backbreaking work and suffered harsh physical abuse. The men all died between the ages of 25 and 35.Mr. Barquera and his team removed a molar from each of the three skulls to extract and analyze their DNA. The genetic signatures obtained from the molars showed the three men had their origins in Western or Southern Africa. They also found isotopes on the teeth that further indicated they were all born and grew up outside of Mexico.It was hypothesized that maybe they were descendants of Africans and Native Americans or Africans and Europeans, but thats not the case, said Mr. Barquera.The team also sequenced the genome of pathogens recovered from the skeletal remains. One of the men was afflicted with the virus that causes hepatitis B, and another had a bacterium that causes the skin infection yaws, a disease similar to syphilis.The findings provide some of the earliest known examples of those pathogens in human remains in the Americas, as well as the first direct evidence from the early colonial period that pathogens from Africa may have been brought to the Americas, said Johannes Krause of Max-Planck and Mr. Barqueras co-author. Mr. Krause added it is possible the men caught the diseases while on the overcrowded transoceanic voyages.We are always so focused on the introduction of diseases from the Europeans and the Spaniards, Dr. Krause said, that I think we underestimated also how much the slave trade and the forceful migration from Africa to the Americas contributed also to the spread of infectious diseases to the New World.The paper does a really nice job of putting together archaeological, osteological, molecular and isotope data to provide insight into the lives of early colonial likely enslaved Africans, said Anne Stone, an anthropological geneticist at Arizona State University who was not involved in the research.Hannes Schroeder, an archaeologist from the University of Copenhagen said the studys multiple lines of evidence paint a very detailed picture of the lives of these individuals, their origins and experiences in the Americas, that reminds us once again of the cruelty of the trans-Atlantic slave trade and the biological impact it had on individuals and populations in the New World. [/INST] science </s> |
Media|Judge Rules Against Petition Seeking Sumner Redstone Interviewhttps://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/22/business/media/judge-rules-against-a-petition-seeking-a-redstone-interview.htmlDec. 21, 2015A California judge on Monday rejected a petition to have the 92-year-old media mogul Sumner M. Redstone interviewed by a geriatric psychiatrist as part of a legal battle over his mental capacity, calling the procedure an unnecessary invasion of his privacy.But the judge, David J. Cowan of the Los Angeles County Superior Court, ruled that lawyers for Mr. Redstones former companion could question two doctors under oath. If relevant, testimony also may be taken from Philippe P. Dauman, the chief of Viacom, who has said in court documents that Mr. Redstone was engaged and attentive.Both sides claimed victory in the rulings concerning Mr. Redstone, whose former companion, Manuela Herzer, has filed a suit challenging his mental competence and describing him as a living ghost. Lawyers for Mr. Redstone have called the suit a meritless action, riddled with lies and have motioned to dismiss the suit.The judge set Feb. 8 as the new date for the hearing on the motion to dismiss.Mr. Redstone is the executive chairman of Viacom and CBS and controls about 80 percent of the voting stock in the two companies. The case concerns his personal life, but also has set off questions on his health and whether he should continue leading two companies with a combined market value of $37 billion.Nobody, including Redstone, who has achieved what he has in life, deserves, through no fault of his own, to have to then suffer the indignity at his great age of being cast in an unfavorable light, against his will, when he may not be at his finest hour in this final chapter, Judge Cowan said in his ruling. Let him live in his home in peace.The lawsuit, filed in November, asks the court to determine whether Mr. Redstone lacked the mental capacity to remove Ms. Herzer from an advanced health care directive, which he did in October, that had put her in charge of his health decisions. Mr. Dauman, who is now designated in the directive, said recently that Mr. Redstone was making his own health care decisions.Earlier this month, a different judge in the courts probate division rejected Ms. Herzers petition to treat the case as urgent. The judge had set a new hearing date for late January to consider the motion from Mr. Redstones lawyers to dismiss the suit, and neither side was to obtain evidence and documents from the other party until then.Mondays ruling now allows lawyers to proceed with obtaining some evidence. | Business | <s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> Media|Judge Rules Against Petition Seeking Sumner Redstone Interviewhttps://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/22/business/media/judge-rules-against-a-petition-seeking-a-redstone-interview.htmlDec. 21, 2015A California judge on Monday rejected a petition to have the 92-year-old media mogul Sumner M. Redstone interviewed by a geriatric psychiatrist as part of a legal battle over his mental capacity, calling the procedure an unnecessary invasion of his privacy.But the judge, David J. Cowan of the Los Angeles County Superior Court, ruled that lawyers for Mr. Redstones former companion could question two doctors under oath. If relevant, testimony also may be taken from Philippe P. Dauman, the chief of Viacom, who has said in court documents that Mr. Redstone was engaged and attentive.Both sides claimed victory in the rulings concerning Mr. Redstone, whose former companion, Manuela Herzer, has filed a suit challenging his mental competence and describing him as a living ghost. Lawyers for Mr. Redstone have called the suit a meritless action, riddled with lies and have motioned to dismiss the suit.The judge set Feb. 8 as the new date for the hearing on the motion to dismiss.Mr. Redstone is the executive chairman of Viacom and CBS and controls about 80 percent of the voting stock in the two companies. The case concerns his personal life, but also has set off questions on his health and whether he should continue leading two companies with a combined market value of $37 billion.Nobody, including Redstone, who has achieved what he has in life, deserves, through no fault of his own, to have to then suffer the indignity at his great age of being cast in an unfavorable light, against his will, when he may not be at his finest hour in this final chapter, Judge Cowan said in his ruling. Let him live in his home in peace.The lawsuit, filed in November, asks the court to determine whether Mr. Redstone lacked the mental capacity to remove Ms. Herzer from an advanced health care directive, which he did in October, that had put her in charge of his health decisions. Mr. Dauman, who is now designated in the directive, said recently that Mr. Redstone was making his own health care decisions.Earlier this month, a different judge in the courts probate division rejected Ms. Herzers petition to treat the case as urgent. The judge had set a new hearing date for late January to consider the motion from Mr. Redstones lawyers to dismiss the suit, and neither side was to obtain evidence and documents from the other party until then.Mondays ruling now allows lawyers to proceed with obtaining some evidence. [/INST] Business </s> |
Credit...Agence France-Presse Getty ImagesJune 27, 2018WASHINGTON President Trump has decided not to impose new investment restrictions on China, and will instead support a congressional effort to expand the powers of an existing federal body that reviews foreign investments in the United States for national security threats.The president is supporting a bipartisan bill, known as the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act, which would broaden the jurisdiction of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, or Cfius. The legislation would give Cfius more power to investigate and potentially block foreign transactions.The House passed a version of the bill on Tuesday night, and the Senate passed its version this month. The bills now must be reconciled between the two congressional bodies before a final version lands on Mr. Trumps desk.On Wednesday, Mr. Trump said an expansion of Cfius would be a powerful national security and economic tool that better protects the crown jewels of American technology and intellectual property from transfers and acquisitions that threaten our national security and future economic prosperity.Here is what an expanded Cfius (pronounced SIFF-ee-yus) would look like:ImageCredit...China Stringer Network/ReutersThe current Cfius is powerful but limitedThe current committee led by the Treasury secretary and made up of members of the State, Defense, Justice, Commerce, Energy and Homeland Security Departments investigates only when a foreign companys attempt to acquire or merge with an American company poses a national security risk.The committee sends its findings and a recommendation to the president, who has the power to suspend or prohibit the deal. But a judgment from the committee is typically enough to kill even the largest multimillion-dollar deals.In March, the committee rejected a proposed takeover of Qualcomm, the San Diego-based chip maker, by Singapore rival Broadcom over concerns that it would pose a national security risk by depriving the United States of a telecom leader.Earlier this year, a $1.2 billion deal between MoneyGram, a money transfer company based in Dallas, and Ant Financial, a Chinese electronic payments company, collapsed after Cfius refused to approve it. And when the Dutch electronics giant Philips had agreed to sell a controlling stake in its California-based automotive lighting and LED business to Asian buyers, Cfius blocked it on security grounds.Cfius would be able to review more transactionsThe Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act would expand the universe of financial and business transactions that Cfius can review, giving it a say in a wider array of deals beyond just mergers and acquisitions.That means proposed joint ventures, minority stakes and real estate transactions near military bases or other sensitive national security facilities all could be reviewed and potentially squashed by Cfius.The current version of the legislation does not expand review powers on overseas joint ventures that involve American technology being transferred to foreign companies of interest. Instead, the law would strengthen the existing export control process run by the Commerce Department to manage such cases.Technology, as well as national security, will be a focusThe legislation would expand the types of risks that Cfius can consider when determining whether to block a deal, expanding it beyond just national security to Americas competitive edge in emerging industries.Under the plan, Cfius would update its definition of critical technologies to include cutting-edge and other technologies that could give the United States an advantage over countries that pose threats, such as China. What that means in practical terms is that Cfius could block a deal if it determined such a relationship would hinder Americas edge in technological and industrial industries, or if it posed a national security risk.The House version would allow Cfius to investigate any transaction, contribution or investment by a United States critical technology company of both intellectual property and associated support to a foreign person through any type of arrangement.China is still the focus, but an expanded Cfius could apply more broadlyMany on Capitol Hill and at the White House are focused on how an expanded Cfius could curb Chinese investments and prevent the countrys growing economic and technological dominance.China exploits loopholes in our existing safeguards to acquire sensitive, cutting-edge technology and then turns this technology against us to undermine our military advantage, Senator John Cornyn, the Texas Republican sponsoring the bill, said in a statement.About 20 percent of deals Cfius reviewed between 2013 and 2015 the latest years for which the committee has made data public involved Chinese investors.But Cfius investigates transactions involving dozens of other countries, and the legislation would give the United States the power to review deals involving a country of special concern. While those countries have yet to be designated, the legislation describes those countries as ones that have a demonstrated or declared strategic goal of acquiring a type of critical technology an American company possesses.Both versions specifically call on Cfius to look into cases that would give foreign governments a technological edge for a possible cybersecurity attack against the United States, such as activities designed to affect the outcome of any election for federal office.Investment in the United States could slowThe legislation has received bipartisan approval, with supporters saying it is a necessary step to prevent foreign investors who are intentionally sidestepping Cfiuss authority. But critics say that some aspects of the bill are troubling, given how easily Cfius could reject a potential transaction.The proposed law would charge Cfius with investigating plans that are likely to reduce the technological and industrial advantage of the United States, which some say would do more economic harm than good, and could chill legitimate investments that boost American jobs and growth.Foreign investment in the United States including foreign investment by way of acquisitions of U.S. firms generates important benefits for U.S. workers and welfare gains for the U.S. economy, wrote Theodore H. Moran, an international economics professor at Georgetown University.This change in approach would open the door to comparably broad protections with a zero-sum rationale of maintaining national economic superiority in vulnerable sectors in Europe and Asia, thereby undermining decades of effort to open domestic markets to competition from external sources, Mr. Moran wrote.Other opponents worry that additional investigations will unfairly constrict American companies and actually help foreign countries, and say that existing export control laws are sufficient to quell national security concerns.Congress still has to pass a final billThe House and the Senate have passed different versions of the Cfius legislation, which means both chambers will need to reconcile their bills and send a version back to their members for a final vote. Lawmakers are expected to fold the final Cfius legislation into a defense authorization bill that both chambers are planning to hammer out in the next few weeks.Mr. Trump said on Wednesday that he would sign the legislation if Congress is able to get it to his desk.If not, Mr. Trump said he remained prepared to act alone and said he would direct my administration to deploy new tools, developed under existing authorities, that will do so globally. | Politics | <s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> Credit...Agence France-Presse Getty ImagesJune 27, 2018WASHINGTON President Trump has decided not to impose new investment restrictions on China, and will instead support a congressional effort to expand the powers of an existing federal body that reviews foreign investments in the United States for national security threats.The president is supporting a bipartisan bill, known as the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act, which would broaden the jurisdiction of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, or Cfius. The legislation would give Cfius more power to investigate and potentially block foreign transactions.The House passed a version of the bill on Tuesday night, and the Senate passed its version this month. The bills now must be reconciled between the two congressional bodies before a final version lands on Mr. Trumps desk.On Wednesday, Mr. Trump said an expansion of Cfius would be a powerful national security and economic tool that better protects the crown jewels of American technology and intellectual property from transfers and acquisitions that threaten our national security and future economic prosperity.Here is what an expanded Cfius (pronounced SIFF-ee-yus) would look like:ImageCredit...China Stringer Network/ReutersThe current Cfius is powerful but limitedThe current committee led by the Treasury secretary and made up of members of the State, Defense, Justice, Commerce, Energy and Homeland Security Departments investigates only when a foreign companys attempt to acquire or merge with an American company poses a national security risk.The committee sends its findings and a recommendation to the president, who has the power to suspend or prohibit the deal. But a judgment from the committee is typically enough to kill even the largest multimillion-dollar deals.In March, the committee rejected a proposed takeover of Qualcomm, the San Diego-based chip maker, by Singapore rival Broadcom over concerns that it would pose a national security risk by depriving the United States of a telecom leader.Earlier this year, a $1.2 billion deal between MoneyGram, a money transfer company based in Dallas, and Ant Financial, a Chinese electronic payments company, collapsed after Cfius refused to approve it. And when the Dutch electronics giant Philips had agreed to sell a controlling stake in its California-based automotive lighting and LED business to Asian buyers, Cfius blocked it on security grounds.Cfius would be able to review more transactionsThe Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act would expand the universe of financial and business transactions that Cfius can review, giving it a say in a wider array of deals beyond just mergers and acquisitions.That means proposed joint ventures, minority stakes and real estate transactions near military bases or other sensitive national security facilities all could be reviewed and potentially squashed by Cfius.The current version of the legislation does not expand review powers on overseas joint ventures that involve American technology being transferred to foreign companies of interest. Instead, the law would strengthen the existing export control process run by the Commerce Department to manage such cases.Technology, as well as national security, will be a focusThe legislation would expand the types of risks that Cfius can consider when determining whether to block a deal, expanding it beyond just national security to Americas competitive edge in emerging industries.Under the plan, Cfius would update its definition of critical technologies to include cutting-edge and other technologies that could give the United States an advantage over countries that pose threats, such as China. What that means in practical terms is that Cfius could block a deal if it determined such a relationship would hinder Americas edge in technological and industrial industries, or if it posed a national security risk.The House version would allow Cfius to investigate any transaction, contribution or investment by a United States critical technology company of both intellectual property and associated support to a foreign person through any type of arrangement.China is still the focus, but an expanded Cfius could apply more broadlyMany on Capitol Hill and at the White House are focused on how an expanded Cfius could curb Chinese investments and prevent the countrys growing economic and technological dominance.China exploits loopholes in our existing safeguards to acquire sensitive, cutting-edge technology and then turns this technology against us to undermine our military advantage, Senator John Cornyn, the Texas Republican sponsoring the bill, said in a statement.About 20 percent of deals Cfius reviewed between 2013 and 2015 the latest years for which the committee has made data public involved Chinese investors.But Cfius investigates transactions involving dozens of other countries, and the legislation would give the United States the power to review deals involving a country of special concern. While those countries have yet to be designated, the legislation describes those countries as ones that have a demonstrated or declared strategic goal of acquiring a type of critical technology an American company possesses.Both versions specifically call on Cfius to look into cases that would give foreign governments a technological edge for a possible cybersecurity attack against the United States, such as activities designed to affect the outcome of any election for federal office.Investment in the United States could slowThe legislation has received bipartisan approval, with supporters saying it is a necessary step to prevent foreign investors who are intentionally sidestepping Cfiuss authority. But critics say that some aspects of the bill are troubling, given how easily Cfius could reject a potential transaction.The proposed law would charge Cfius with investigating plans that are likely to reduce the technological and industrial advantage of the United States, which some say would do more economic harm than good, and could chill legitimate investments that boost American jobs and growth.Foreign investment in the United States including foreign investment by way of acquisitions of U.S. firms generates important benefits for U.S. workers and welfare gains for the U.S. economy, wrote Theodore H. Moran, an international economics professor at Georgetown University.This change in approach would open the door to comparably broad protections with a zero-sum rationale of maintaining national economic superiority in vulnerable sectors in Europe and Asia, thereby undermining decades of effort to open domestic markets to competition from external sources, Mr. Moran wrote.Other opponents worry that additional investigations will unfairly constrict American companies and actually help foreign countries, and say that existing export control laws are sufficient to quell national security concerns.Congress still has to pass a final billThe House and the Senate have passed different versions of the Cfius legislation, which means both chambers will need to reconcile their bills and send a version back to their members for a final vote. Lawmakers are expected to fold the final Cfius legislation into a defense authorization bill that both chambers are planning to hammer out in the next few weeks.Mr. Trump said on Wednesday that he would sign the legislation if Congress is able to get it to his desk.If not, Mr. Trump said he remained prepared to act alone and said he would direct my administration to deploy new tools, developed under existing authorities, that will do so globally. [/INST] Politics </s> |
Yung Berg Wanted Man Again!! ... For Missing Court Yung Berg apparently loves to learn the hard way -- not showing up to court is asking for trouble. The 'Love & Hip Hop' star is a wanted man in Miami after missing ANOTHER court date following a weed bust. TMZ broke the story ... cops were called following an altercation in his hotel room back in October and they found 2 blunts on him. Normally, not a big deal but Berg had a 9-year-old warrant, so they arrested his ass. He was later released, but was supposed to appear in court for his arraignment in the weed case on January 11 but -- you know how Berg's favorite game goes -- he never showed. It's called Google Calendar, Berg. | Entertainment | <s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> Yung Berg Wanted Man Again!! ... For Missing Court Yung Berg apparently loves to learn the hard way -- not showing up to court is asking for trouble. The 'Love & Hip Hop' star is a wanted man in Miami after missing ANOTHER court date following a weed bust. TMZ broke the story ... cops were called following an altercation in his hotel room back in October and they found 2 blunts on him. Normally, not a big deal but Berg had a 9-year-old warrant, so they arrested his ass. He was later released, but was supposed to appear in court for his arraignment in the weed case on January 11 but -- you know how Berg's favorite game goes -- he never showed. It's called Google Calendar, Berg. [/INST] Entertainment </s> |
Credit...Nam Y. Huh/Associated PressMarch 10, 2017First-year doctors in training will now be permitted to work shifts lasting as long as 24 hours, eight hours longer than the current limit, according to a professional organization that sets work rules for graduates from medical schools in the United States.In setting the new standard, which goes into effect on July 1, officials at the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education said on Friday that they hoped to avoid confusion and disruptions in care that can result when a patient is handed off to one doctor from another whose shift is ending.The rules do not change for residents after the first year, who have been permitted to work 24-hour shifts if necessary. The new rules also leave in place a requirement that all residents work no more than 80 hours a week.But the new guidelines roused the ire of critics who say that exhausted and inexperienced residents will be working too many hours to remain alert and focus on the critical decisions they make. The issue has been a focus of controversy for at least 30 years, after a patient named Libby Zion died under the care of residents in a New York hospital.We know sleep-deprived people can have impaired motor skills and their memory can deteriorate, said Dr. Michael A. Carome, director of health research at Public Citizen, an advocacy group.Accreditation officials said they once believed as much, too, and had tried to protect first-year students from working too many hours. In 2011, the council required that first-year residents, unlike more experienced residents, work no longer than 16 hours in one stretch.The hope was that shorter shifts would improve patient care. Those hopes, the group wrote in a new report, have not been realized. Instead, the council said, patient care was disrupted when residents shifts ended after 16 hours.First-year residents do not have to work for 24 hours straight their shifts can be shorter but if needed they may be asked or may choose to continue to work for that length of time.Whether a longer shift can be better for patients, and for the training of young doctors, has been rigorously studied in two randomized trials, the accrediting council noted one involving surgeons in training, and the other involving specialists in internal medicine.The study involving internal medicine residents is still underway, but the study of surgical residents, published last year in the New England Journal of Medicine, found that shorter shifts had no effect on patient care.Continuity of care was also better with the longer shifts. Surgical residents in the study reported that they strongly prefer the option to work longer shifts, the council said.The task force held a meeting last year, about the time the randomized study was published, in which representatives of medical organizations told them what, if anything, they would like to change about the rules for first-year residents.Everyone agreed that the 80-hour maximum was appropriate, but we heard from a large number of organizations that 16 hours was not successful, said Dr. Rowen K. Zetterman, co-chairman of the task force, referring to the maximum shifts for first-year doctors.Such shifts have had a significant negative impact on the professional education of the first-year residents, and effectiveness of care delivery of the team as a whole, the council wrote in its report, which also said that residents physical and mental health should be monitored carefully, as well.Dr. Anai Kothari, a third-year surgical resident at Loyola University Medical Center who served on the task force, said he had had a 16-hour maximum shift when he was a first-year student, and much preferred the 24-hour maximum for residents in subsequent years.Most people want to be there for the patient if the patient needs them, he said. No one, Dr. Kothari added, wants to leave in the middle of an operation.Dr. Stephen Evans, past chairman of the American Board of Surgery and chief medical officer for MedStar Health, a hospital system in the Washington area, also favored giving first-year residents the option to work a longer shift.If you are a pediatric first-year resident taking care of a critically ill patient, and the child dies, do you just walk away from the family because the 16 hours are up? he asked.Dr. Carome, however, said that if the problem is the handoff from a doctor whose shift is ending, then it is the procedure that needs fixing, not residents shifts and sleep. | Health | <s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> Credit...Nam Y. Huh/Associated PressMarch 10, 2017First-year doctors in training will now be permitted to work shifts lasting as long as 24 hours, eight hours longer than the current limit, according to a professional organization that sets work rules for graduates from medical schools in the United States.In setting the new standard, which goes into effect on July 1, officials at the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education said on Friday that they hoped to avoid confusion and disruptions in care that can result when a patient is handed off to one doctor from another whose shift is ending.The rules do not change for residents after the first year, who have been permitted to work 24-hour shifts if necessary. The new rules also leave in place a requirement that all residents work no more than 80 hours a week.But the new guidelines roused the ire of critics who say that exhausted and inexperienced residents will be working too many hours to remain alert and focus on the critical decisions they make. The issue has been a focus of controversy for at least 30 years, after a patient named Libby Zion died under the care of residents in a New York hospital.We know sleep-deprived people can have impaired motor skills and their memory can deteriorate, said Dr. Michael A. Carome, director of health research at Public Citizen, an advocacy group.Accreditation officials said they once believed as much, too, and had tried to protect first-year students from working too many hours. In 2011, the council required that first-year residents, unlike more experienced residents, work no longer than 16 hours in one stretch.The hope was that shorter shifts would improve patient care. Those hopes, the group wrote in a new report, have not been realized. Instead, the council said, patient care was disrupted when residents shifts ended after 16 hours.First-year residents do not have to work for 24 hours straight their shifts can be shorter but if needed they may be asked or may choose to continue to work for that length of time.Whether a longer shift can be better for patients, and for the training of young doctors, has been rigorously studied in two randomized trials, the accrediting council noted one involving surgeons in training, and the other involving specialists in internal medicine.The study involving internal medicine residents is still underway, but the study of surgical residents, published last year in the New England Journal of Medicine, found that shorter shifts had no effect on patient care.Continuity of care was also better with the longer shifts. Surgical residents in the study reported that they strongly prefer the option to work longer shifts, the council said.The task force held a meeting last year, about the time the randomized study was published, in which representatives of medical organizations told them what, if anything, they would like to change about the rules for first-year residents.Everyone agreed that the 80-hour maximum was appropriate, but we heard from a large number of organizations that 16 hours was not successful, said Dr. Rowen K. Zetterman, co-chairman of the task force, referring to the maximum shifts for first-year doctors.Such shifts have had a significant negative impact on the professional education of the first-year residents, and effectiveness of care delivery of the team as a whole, the council wrote in its report, which also said that residents physical and mental health should be monitored carefully, as well.Dr. Anai Kothari, a third-year surgical resident at Loyola University Medical Center who served on the task force, said he had had a 16-hour maximum shift when he was a first-year student, and much preferred the 24-hour maximum for residents in subsequent years.Most people want to be there for the patient if the patient needs them, he said. No one, Dr. Kothari added, wants to leave in the middle of an operation.Dr. Stephen Evans, past chairman of the American Board of Surgery and chief medical officer for MedStar Health, a hospital system in the Washington area, also favored giving first-year residents the option to work a longer shift.If you are a pediatric first-year resident taking care of a critically ill patient, and the child dies, do you just walk away from the family because the 16 hours are up? he asked.Dr. Carome, however, said that if the problem is the handoff from a doctor whose shift is ending, then it is the procedure that needs fixing, not residents shifts and sleep. [/INST] Health </s> |
VideotranscripttranscriptWe Should Return Them Back Home, Trump Says of Detained ChildrenPresident Trump defended his zero tolerance policy on illegal border crossings, claiming that the country would be overrun without it.Im directing H.H.S., D.H.S. and D.O.J. to work together to keep illegal immigrant families together during the immigration process and to reunite these previously separated groups. We have to house these minors and we have to house them safely and frankly, we have to house them, and we should be taking good care of them and then we should return them back home. We have come up with a lot of solutions, but we have Democrats that dont want to approve anything, because thats probably, they think, bad for the election thats coming up. Unfortunately, there are a lot of people suffering, and thats unfortunate. If we took zero tolerance away, you would be overrun as a Youd have millions of people pouring through our border. If you took zero tolerance away, everybody would come right now. Theyd be getting their little belongings, unfortunately, and they would be heading up. You would be You would have a run on this country the likes of which nobodys ever seen.President Trump defended his zero tolerance policy on illegal border crossings, claiming that the country would be overrun without it.CreditCredit...Doug Mills/The New York TimesJune 21, 2018WASHINGTON The United States is preparing to shelter as many as 20,000 migrant children on four American military bases, a Pentagon spokesman said on Thursday, as federal officials struggled to carry out President Trumps order to keep immigrant families together after they are apprehended at the border.The 20,000 beds at bases in Texas and Arkansas would house unaccompanied alien children, said a Pentagon spokesman, Lt. Col. Michael Andrews, although other federal agencies provided conflicting explanations about how the shelters would be used and who would be housed there. There were reports of widespread confusion on the border.It was unclear whether the military housing would also house the parents of children in migrant families that have been detained, and officials at the White House, the Defense Department and the Department of Health and Human Services said on Thursday that they could not provide details.The Pentagon announcement followed Mr. Trumps executive order on Wednesday to keep families together after they illegally cross the Mexican border into the United States. The order called for detaining families at the same location.Democrats questioned the 20,000-bed plan. Is it even feasible? Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the minority leader, asked from the Senate floor.Advocates for the migrants expressed concern about the prospect of vast settlements of families housed on military bases.Theres conflicting instructions being given, said Michelle Bran, the director of Migrant Rights and Justice at the Womens Refugee Commission. Its another example of this administration making these big, bold policy announcements with no plan for how they are going to implement them.Its adding to the chaos on the ground, she said. The tumult echoed the level of confusion among law enforcement agencies at airports after Mr. Trump barred travel for visitors from predominantly Muslim countries a week after he took office last year.The presidents order this week directed Pentagon officials to provide any existing facilities available for the housing and care of alien families and to construct such facilities if necessary and consistent with law.Defense Secretary Jim Mattis sidestepped questions on Wednesday about whether bases might be used as migrant camps, except to say: We have housed refugees. We have housed people thrown out of their homes by earthquakes and hurricanes.On Thursday, the Pentagon did not say which bases would be used for the shelters.According to estimates, more than 2,300 children under 12 many of whom are toddlers and infants are being held in special tender age shelters.A Trump administration spokesman said on Wednesday afternoon that the government would not immediately reunite those children with their parents. But that was contradicted Wednesday night by a more senior official.On Thursday, Justice Department officials denied a report, apparently issued by officials from another agency, that prosecutions of immigrants traveling with families had been suspended.VideotranscripttranscriptMelania Trump Visits Facility Housing Children Near BorderThe first lady traveled to McAllen, Tex., as her husbands administration scrambled to execute his latest executive order aimed at ending the separation of families at the border.Let me begin to recognize each of you. And thanking you for all what you do. For your heroic work that you do every day and what you do for those children. We all know theyre having theyre here without their families. And I want to thank you for your hard work, your compassion, and your kindness youre giving them in these difficult times. Im here to learn about your facility, and which I know you house children on a long-term basis. And Id also like to ask you how I can help to these children to reunite with their families as quickly as possible. So thank you again for all what you do. And thank you as well. Thank you all for what you do thank you very much. And those children, how many times they speak with their relatives or families per week for example? Well, the children are allowed to communicate with their family twice a week. How long is the time, the max time, that somebody spends here that they are not reunited with their family? Right now, we are averaging currently 42 to 45 days.The first lady traveled to McAllen, Tex., as her husbands administration scrambled to execute his latest executive order aimed at ending the separation of families at the border.CreditCredit...Chip Somodevilla/Getty ImagesScrambling to adjust and comply with the presidents order, the Border Patrol temporarily stopped referring immigration cases to the Justice Department for prosecution, setting off rumors that it would be halted altogether.That forced the Justice Department to insist in a statement that there has been no change to the departments zero tolerance policy to prosecute adults who cross our border illegally instead of claiming asylum at any port of entry at the border.Two internal Customs and Border Protection emails supplied to The New York Times showed similar confusion.In one, sent at 9:54 p.m. Wednesday, Chief Patrol Agent Brian Hastings of the Border Patrol told supervisors that they could continue prosecution referrals for one parent who entered the country illegally if there was another adult migrant present.But at 4:09 a.m. Thursday, he followed up, saying that agents should maintain family unity for multi-parent/adult families.Last week, federal officials opened a tent city outside El Paso to house up to 360 immigrant teenagers in custody. The temporary shelter site, at a border station in Tornillo, Tex., was still in use on Thursday, and its capacity remains 360, officials said.In the border city of Del Rio, Tex., American officials continued deporting undocumented immigrants. Luis Alexis Morales, 20, of Veracruz State in eastern Mexico, said he was left in the middle of a bridge that links Del Rio with Ciudad Acua, Mexico.The Border Patrol caught me a week ago crossing the river near Piedras Negras, Mr. Morales said, referring to a city in northern Mexico across from Eagle Pass, Tex. He said American authorities had held him in jail for the past seven days before deporting him.On the legal front, Mr. Trumps lawyers asked Judge Dolly M. Gee of Federal District Court in Los Angeles to modify a 1997 court ruling to allow the indefinite detention of families.The ruling, known as the Flores settlement, requires that children must be released within 20 days. After that, they are to be sent to a family member or placed in the custody of a licensed, government-sponsored shelter.The Justice Department said the only way to prevent migrant children from being separated from their parents would be to detain entire families. It seemed to suggest that the practice of separating families could resume if the judge refused to alter the 1997 ruling.It also echoed a 2016 argument by the Obama administration during a similar migrant surge. The judge and an appeals court denied the requests by the administrations lawyers.In 2014, the Obama administration briefly sheltered migrant children at military bases in Texas, California and Oklahoma, establishing emergency housing for a steep increase in unaccompanied minors crossing the border. Around 7,000 children were housed on the bases for about three months until the number of migrants ebbed.At the time, officials said the government was responding to a rise in the number of unaccompanied children fleeing violence in Central America. The militarys role then was limited to housing the migrants and giving officials from the Department of Health and Human Services access to bases.It was unclear on Thursday whether the military would play a more central role in Mr. Trumps plan.At the White House, the president again lashed out at extremist, open-border Democrats, and he again falsely blamed Democrats for the political crisis that continues to roil his administration and was amplified in recent days by images and recordings of young children crying for their parents.VideotranscripttranscriptHow a Remote Patch of Land Turned Into a Child Migrant ShelterThe tent camp in Texas was built this month to house unaccompanied migrant children between the ages of 13 and 17. Satellite imagery reveals how it sprouted up and whats inside.These tents represent the first camp of its kind: a temporary facility used to house unaccompanied migrant children between the ages of 13 and 17. The tent camp wasnt always here. It was set up in June at this facility, right on the U.S. side of the border with Mexico. No reporters have been inside. A bipartisan group of mayors who gathered at the facility were also denied access. But by looking at aerial imagery, this is what we found out: The small tent camp is located within a port of entry facility in Tornillo, Tex., which opened in 2014. The facility is surrounded by a barbed-wire fence. Beyond that are vast fields. The small town of Tornillo is four miles away. El Paso is 40 miles to the northwest. Its not the first time migrants have been housed here. A temporary holding facility for families was set up here in November 2016 as seen on these satellite images. It was removed in April 2017. New tents first appeared on June 10 this year. There are now 32 tents total. One small tent holds 10 bunk beds 18 of these tents are set up here to house up to 360 teenagers. Temperatures can reach over 100 degrees, so the tents are air-conditioned. There are mobile bathrooms, a food hall, a medical tent and other support structures. By June 20, a soccer field was set up. Otherwise, theres not much for the detainees to do. It costs more than twice as much to care for children at temporary shelters like the one in Tornillo than at permanent shelters. But these makeshift facilities could become more common if a zero tolerance policy continues to be enforced at the border.The tent camp in Texas was built this month to house unaccompanied migrant children between the ages of 13 and 17. Satellite imagery reveals how it sprouted up and whats inside.CreditCredit...Mike Blake, via Reuters; Planet, via Human Rights WatchChoosing hard-edge remarks at a cabinet meeting before the House was scheduled to vote on overhauling immigration laws, Mr. Trump asked for Democratic lawmakers support on the legislation, even as he said they were causing tremendous damage and destruction and lives.He repeated his false claim that Democrats forced family separations. They dont care about the children. They dont care about the injury. They dont care about the problems, Mr. Trump said. They dont care about anything.In a stream-of-consciousness commentary, the president also attacked Mexico for what he claimed was a failure to help stop illegal immigration into the United States. He said the trek through Mexico from Central America was like a walk through Central Park.Mexico is doing nothing for us except taking our money and giving us drugs, he said.Mr. Trump said he has directed his administration to keep illegal immigrant families together and to reunite these previously separated groups. But he offered no details about how the government intends to reunite the families.Melania Trump, the first lady, visited a facility in McAllen, Tex., that is holding 55 children who have been separated from their parents.She took a tour of the Upbring New Hope Childrens Shelter, and in one classroom, she met with a group of children, some of whom spoke to her in English and others in Spanish, which was translated by a teacher.Officials at the shelter said that the children held there were allowed to communicate with their families by phone twice a week.How long are you here? Where are you from? asked Mrs. Trump, who traveled with Alex M. Azar II, the health and human services secretary. As she left, she said, Be kind and nice to others, O.K.? Nice to meet you.Back in Washington, House lawmakers had been scheduled to vote on Thursday on two broad immigration proposals, even as Mr. Trumps executive order relieved some of the pressure to act quickly.The House rejected a hard-line immigration bill in a vote on Thursday afternoon, as had been expected. And Republican leaders delayed the vote on the second bill, which would provide a path to citizenship for young unauthorized immigrants while keeping migrant families together at the border.That bill, a compromise between moderate and conservative Republicans, had been set for a vote early Thursday evening, but the vote will now take place next week, as it appeared destined to fail as Republicans remained at odds over immigration.As Mr. Trump reiterated on Thursday his position that congressional action would be the best way to resolve the border crisis, critics of the president announced that they would not wait for such a measure.A coalition of 10 states filed a lawsuit aimed at making sure that the Trump administration stops separating children from their parents at the border.President Trump yesterday signed an empty and meaningless order that claims to take back policies that he put in place himself as a political stunt, said Xavier Becerra, the California attorney general, who is a plaintiff in the suit. Meanwhile, these children, their parents and people around the world need answers regarding what comes next.The American Civil Liberties Union has already filed a separate lawsuit that demands the government stop separating families and reunite the children who have already been separated with the parents who brought them into the United States. | Politics | <s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> VideotranscripttranscriptWe Should Return Them Back Home, Trump Says of Detained ChildrenPresident Trump defended his zero tolerance policy on illegal border crossings, claiming that the country would be overrun without it.Im directing H.H.S., D.H.S. and D.O.J. to work together to keep illegal immigrant families together during the immigration process and to reunite these previously separated groups. We have to house these minors and we have to house them safely and frankly, we have to house them, and we should be taking good care of them and then we should return them back home. We have come up with a lot of solutions, but we have Democrats that dont want to approve anything, because thats probably, they think, bad for the election thats coming up. Unfortunately, there are a lot of people suffering, and thats unfortunate. If we took zero tolerance away, you would be overrun as a Youd have millions of people pouring through our border. If you took zero tolerance away, everybody would come right now. Theyd be getting their little belongings, unfortunately, and they would be heading up. You would be You would have a run on this country the likes of which nobodys ever seen.President Trump defended his zero tolerance policy on illegal border crossings, claiming that the country would be overrun without it.CreditCredit...Doug Mills/The New York TimesJune 21, 2018WASHINGTON The United States is preparing to shelter as many as 20,000 migrant children on four American military bases, a Pentagon spokesman said on Thursday, as federal officials struggled to carry out President Trumps order to keep immigrant families together after they are apprehended at the border.The 20,000 beds at bases in Texas and Arkansas would house unaccompanied alien children, said a Pentagon spokesman, Lt. Col. Michael Andrews, although other federal agencies provided conflicting explanations about how the shelters would be used and who would be housed there. There were reports of widespread confusion on the border.It was unclear whether the military housing would also house the parents of children in migrant families that have been detained, and officials at the White House, the Defense Department and the Department of Health and Human Services said on Thursday that they could not provide details.The Pentagon announcement followed Mr. Trumps executive order on Wednesday to keep families together after they illegally cross the Mexican border into the United States. The order called for detaining families at the same location.Democrats questioned the 20,000-bed plan. Is it even feasible? Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the minority leader, asked from the Senate floor.Advocates for the migrants expressed concern about the prospect of vast settlements of families housed on military bases.Theres conflicting instructions being given, said Michelle Bran, the director of Migrant Rights and Justice at the Womens Refugee Commission. Its another example of this administration making these big, bold policy announcements with no plan for how they are going to implement them.Its adding to the chaos on the ground, she said. The tumult echoed the level of confusion among law enforcement agencies at airports after Mr. Trump barred travel for visitors from predominantly Muslim countries a week after he took office last year.The presidents order this week directed Pentagon officials to provide any existing facilities available for the housing and care of alien families and to construct such facilities if necessary and consistent with law.Defense Secretary Jim Mattis sidestepped questions on Wednesday about whether bases might be used as migrant camps, except to say: We have housed refugees. We have housed people thrown out of their homes by earthquakes and hurricanes.On Thursday, the Pentagon did not say which bases would be used for the shelters.According to estimates, more than 2,300 children under 12 many of whom are toddlers and infants are being held in special tender age shelters.A Trump administration spokesman said on Wednesday afternoon that the government would not immediately reunite those children with their parents. But that was contradicted Wednesday night by a more senior official.On Thursday, Justice Department officials denied a report, apparently issued by officials from another agency, that prosecutions of immigrants traveling with families had been suspended.VideotranscripttranscriptMelania Trump Visits Facility Housing Children Near BorderThe first lady traveled to McAllen, Tex., as her husbands administration scrambled to execute his latest executive order aimed at ending the separation of families at the border.Let me begin to recognize each of you. And thanking you for all what you do. For your heroic work that you do every day and what you do for those children. We all know theyre having theyre here without their families. And I want to thank you for your hard work, your compassion, and your kindness youre giving them in these difficult times. Im here to learn about your facility, and which I know you house children on a long-term basis. And Id also like to ask you how I can help to these children to reunite with their families as quickly as possible. So thank you again for all what you do. And thank you as well. Thank you all for what you do thank you very much. And those children, how many times they speak with their relatives or families per week for example? Well, the children are allowed to communicate with their family twice a week. How long is the time, the max time, that somebody spends here that they are not reunited with their family? Right now, we are averaging currently 42 to 45 days.The first lady traveled to McAllen, Tex., as her husbands administration scrambled to execute his latest executive order aimed at ending the separation of families at the border.CreditCredit...Chip Somodevilla/Getty ImagesScrambling to adjust and comply with the presidents order, the Border Patrol temporarily stopped referring immigration cases to the Justice Department for prosecution, setting off rumors that it would be halted altogether.That forced the Justice Department to insist in a statement that there has been no change to the departments zero tolerance policy to prosecute adults who cross our border illegally instead of claiming asylum at any port of entry at the border.Two internal Customs and Border Protection emails supplied to The New York Times showed similar confusion.In one, sent at 9:54 p.m. Wednesday, Chief Patrol Agent Brian Hastings of the Border Patrol told supervisors that they could continue prosecution referrals for one parent who entered the country illegally if there was another adult migrant present.But at 4:09 a.m. Thursday, he followed up, saying that agents should maintain family unity for multi-parent/adult families.Last week, federal officials opened a tent city outside El Paso to house up to 360 immigrant teenagers in custody. The temporary shelter site, at a border station in Tornillo, Tex., was still in use on Thursday, and its capacity remains 360, officials said.In the border city of Del Rio, Tex., American officials continued deporting undocumented immigrants. Luis Alexis Morales, 20, of Veracruz State in eastern Mexico, said he was left in the middle of a bridge that links Del Rio with Ciudad Acua, Mexico.The Border Patrol caught me a week ago crossing the river near Piedras Negras, Mr. Morales said, referring to a city in northern Mexico across from Eagle Pass, Tex. He said American authorities had held him in jail for the past seven days before deporting him.On the legal front, Mr. Trumps lawyers asked Judge Dolly M. Gee of Federal District Court in Los Angeles to modify a 1997 court ruling to allow the indefinite detention of families.The ruling, known as the Flores settlement, requires that children must be released within 20 days. After that, they are to be sent to a family member or placed in the custody of a licensed, government-sponsored shelter.The Justice Department said the only way to prevent migrant children from being separated from their parents would be to detain entire families. It seemed to suggest that the practice of separating families could resume if the judge refused to alter the 1997 ruling.It also echoed a 2016 argument by the Obama administration during a similar migrant surge. The judge and an appeals court denied the requests by the administrations lawyers.In 2014, the Obama administration briefly sheltered migrant children at military bases in Texas, California and Oklahoma, establishing emergency housing for a steep increase in unaccompanied minors crossing the border. Around 7,000 children were housed on the bases for about three months until the number of migrants ebbed.At the time, officials said the government was responding to a rise in the number of unaccompanied children fleeing violence in Central America. The militarys role then was limited to housing the migrants and giving officials from the Department of Health and Human Services access to bases.It was unclear on Thursday whether the military would play a more central role in Mr. Trumps plan.At the White House, the president again lashed out at extremist, open-border Democrats, and he again falsely blamed Democrats for the political crisis that continues to roil his administration and was amplified in recent days by images and recordings of young children crying for their parents.VideotranscripttranscriptHow a Remote Patch of Land Turned Into a Child Migrant ShelterThe tent camp in Texas was built this month to house unaccompanied migrant children between the ages of 13 and 17. Satellite imagery reveals how it sprouted up and whats inside.These tents represent the first camp of its kind: a temporary facility used to house unaccompanied migrant children between the ages of 13 and 17. The tent camp wasnt always here. It was set up in June at this facility, right on the U.S. side of the border with Mexico. No reporters have been inside. A bipartisan group of mayors who gathered at the facility were also denied access. But by looking at aerial imagery, this is what we found out: The small tent camp is located within a port of entry facility in Tornillo, Tex., which opened in 2014. The facility is surrounded by a barbed-wire fence. Beyond that are vast fields. The small town of Tornillo is four miles away. El Paso is 40 miles to the northwest. Its not the first time migrants have been housed here. A temporary holding facility for families was set up here in November 2016 as seen on these satellite images. It was removed in April 2017. New tents first appeared on June 10 this year. There are now 32 tents total. One small tent holds 10 bunk beds 18 of these tents are set up here to house up to 360 teenagers. Temperatures can reach over 100 degrees, so the tents are air-conditioned. There are mobile bathrooms, a food hall, a medical tent and other support structures. By June 20, a soccer field was set up. Otherwise, theres not much for the detainees to do. It costs more than twice as much to care for children at temporary shelters like the one in Tornillo than at permanent shelters. But these makeshift facilities could become more common if a zero tolerance policy continues to be enforced at the border.The tent camp in Texas was built this month to house unaccompanied migrant children between the ages of 13 and 17. Satellite imagery reveals how it sprouted up and whats inside.CreditCredit...Mike Blake, via Reuters; Planet, via Human Rights WatchChoosing hard-edge remarks at a cabinet meeting before the House was scheduled to vote on overhauling immigration laws, Mr. Trump asked for Democratic lawmakers support on the legislation, even as he said they were causing tremendous damage and destruction and lives.He repeated his false claim that Democrats forced family separations. They dont care about the children. They dont care about the injury. They dont care about the problems, Mr. Trump said. They dont care about anything.In a stream-of-consciousness commentary, the president also attacked Mexico for what he claimed was a failure to help stop illegal immigration into the United States. He said the trek through Mexico from Central America was like a walk through Central Park.Mexico is doing nothing for us except taking our money and giving us drugs, he said.Mr. Trump said he has directed his administration to keep illegal immigrant families together and to reunite these previously separated groups. But he offered no details about how the government intends to reunite the families.Melania Trump, the first lady, visited a facility in McAllen, Tex., that is holding 55 children who have been separated from their parents.She took a tour of the Upbring New Hope Childrens Shelter, and in one classroom, she met with a group of children, some of whom spoke to her in English and others in Spanish, which was translated by a teacher.Officials at the shelter said that the children held there were allowed to communicate with their families by phone twice a week.How long are you here? Where are you from? asked Mrs. Trump, who traveled with Alex M. Azar II, the health and human services secretary. As she left, she said, Be kind and nice to others, O.K.? Nice to meet you.Back in Washington, House lawmakers had been scheduled to vote on Thursday on two broad immigration proposals, even as Mr. Trumps executive order relieved some of the pressure to act quickly.The House rejected a hard-line immigration bill in a vote on Thursday afternoon, as had been expected. And Republican leaders delayed the vote on the second bill, which would provide a path to citizenship for young unauthorized immigrants while keeping migrant families together at the border.That bill, a compromise between moderate and conservative Republicans, had been set for a vote early Thursday evening, but the vote will now take place next week, as it appeared destined to fail as Republicans remained at odds over immigration.As Mr. Trump reiterated on Thursday his position that congressional action would be the best way to resolve the border crisis, critics of the president announced that they would not wait for such a measure.A coalition of 10 states filed a lawsuit aimed at making sure that the Trump administration stops separating children from their parents at the border.President Trump yesterday signed an empty and meaningless order that claims to take back policies that he put in place himself as a political stunt, said Xavier Becerra, the California attorney general, who is a plaintiff in the suit. Meanwhile, these children, their parents and people around the world need answers regarding what comes next.The American Civil Liberties Union has already filed a separate lawsuit that demands the government stop separating families and reunite the children who have already been separated with the parents who brought them into the United States. [/INST] Politics </s> |
Politics|Agents Seek to Dissolve ICE in Immigration Policy Backlashhttps://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/28/us/politics/ice-immigration-eliminate-agency.htmlCredit...Melissa Lyttle for The New York TimesJune 28, 2018WASHINGTON At least 19 Immigration and Customs Enforcement investigators are seeking to dissolve the agency, concerned that the Trump administrations crackdown on illegal migrants has limited their ability to pursue national security threats, child pornography and transnational crime.In a letter sent last week to Kirstjen Nielsen, the homeland security secretary, the special agents proposed creating a stand-alone investigations unit and another agency to handle immigration detention and deportation. The request was sent as a growing number of Democrats and immigration-rights advocates have called for eliminating ICE.Investigations have been perceived as targeting undocumented aliens, instead of the transnational criminal organizations that facilitate cross border crimes impacting our communities and national security, wrote the agents from Homeland Security Investigations, which is a branch of ICE. The Texas Observer first reported the letter.ImageCredit...Tom Brenner/The New York TimesThe investigators said local law enforcement officials have questioned the independence of their agency, given the Trump administrations aggressive policies against illegal immigration including arresting undocumented workers for minor offenses, such as driving without a license.At least two House Democrats Representatives Mark Pocan of Wisconsin and Pramila Jayapal of Washington are pushing to eliminate ICE. And Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who stunned the Democratic establishment this week with her upstart primary victory against Representative Joe Crowley of New York, made abolishing ICE one of the key planks of her campaign.An agency spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment on Thursday. But a senior ICE official said there were operational challenges raised in that letter that merit some discussion.ImageCredit...Spencer Platt/Getty ImagesHomeland Security Investigations is one of several divisions within ICE the best-known of which is Enforcement and Removal Operations, which arrests, detains and deports undocumented immigrants.The agents letter is rooted in longstanding tensions between the investigative and deportation divisions within ICE.The child of a forced marriage between two defunct federal agencies The United States Customs Service and the Immigration and Naturalization Service ICE has long struggled to balance its dual roles of transnational criminal investigations and deportations.Some agents in the investigations unit have said the Trump administration has prioritized ICEs deportations mission. Thomas D. Homan, the acting director of ICE and former leader of its deportation unit, has been a vocal proponent of the administrations immigration policies.The more than 6,000 special agents assigned to Homeland Security Investigations focus on money laundering, drug trafficking, human smuggling, child exploitation and cybercrimes. The agents have been involved in some of the highest-profile criminal investigations in recent years, including the takedown of the Silk Road website, an online market where illegal drugs and fake identifications were sold.The agency was also involved in the arrest and capture of drug lord Joaqun Guzmn Loera, better known as El Chapo, who led the Sinaloa cartel before he was extradited to the United States last year.H.S.I. is also the lead government agency for counter proliferation investigations, targeting individuals who illegally try to smuggle military and other high-tech equipment out of the country. The division has about 50 offices around the world. | Politics | <s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> Politics|Agents Seek to Dissolve ICE in Immigration Policy Backlashhttps://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/28/us/politics/ice-immigration-eliminate-agency.htmlCredit...Melissa Lyttle for The New York TimesJune 28, 2018WASHINGTON At least 19 Immigration and Customs Enforcement investigators are seeking to dissolve the agency, concerned that the Trump administrations crackdown on illegal migrants has limited their ability to pursue national security threats, child pornography and transnational crime.In a letter sent last week to Kirstjen Nielsen, the homeland security secretary, the special agents proposed creating a stand-alone investigations unit and another agency to handle immigration detention and deportation. The request was sent as a growing number of Democrats and immigration-rights advocates have called for eliminating ICE.Investigations have been perceived as targeting undocumented aliens, instead of the transnational criminal organizations that facilitate cross border crimes impacting our communities and national security, wrote the agents from Homeland Security Investigations, which is a branch of ICE. The Texas Observer first reported the letter.ImageCredit...Tom Brenner/The New York TimesThe investigators said local law enforcement officials have questioned the independence of their agency, given the Trump administrations aggressive policies against illegal immigration including arresting undocumented workers for minor offenses, such as driving without a license.At least two House Democrats Representatives Mark Pocan of Wisconsin and Pramila Jayapal of Washington are pushing to eliminate ICE. And Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who stunned the Democratic establishment this week with her upstart primary victory against Representative Joe Crowley of New York, made abolishing ICE one of the key planks of her campaign.An agency spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment on Thursday. But a senior ICE official said there were operational challenges raised in that letter that merit some discussion.ImageCredit...Spencer Platt/Getty ImagesHomeland Security Investigations is one of several divisions within ICE the best-known of which is Enforcement and Removal Operations, which arrests, detains and deports undocumented immigrants.The agents letter is rooted in longstanding tensions between the investigative and deportation divisions within ICE.The child of a forced marriage between two defunct federal agencies The United States Customs Service and the Immigration and Naturalization Service ICE has long struggled to balance its dual roles of transnational criminal investigations and deportations.Some agents in the investigations unit have said the Trump administration has prioritized ICEs deportations mission. Thomas D. Homan, the acting director of ICE and former leader of its deportation unit, has been a vocal proponent of the administrations immigration policies.The more than 6,000 special agents assigned to Homeland Security Investigations focus on money laundering, drug trafficking, human smuggling, child exploitation and cybercrimes. The agents have been involved in some of the highest-profile criminal investigations in recent years, including the takedown of the Silk Road website, an online market where illegal drugs and fake identifications were sold.The agency was also involved in the arrest and capture of drug lord Joaqun Guzmn Loera, better known as El Chapo, who led the Sinaloa cartel before he was extradited to the United States last year.H.S.I. is also the lead government agency for counter proliferation investigations, targeting individuals who illegally try to smuggle military and other high-tech equipment out of the country. The division has about 50 offices around the world. [/INST] Politics </s> |
Users of major mobile carriers can no longer access a service that detailed the personal information of police officers, a possible sign that the city is turning to tactics used in mainland China.Published Jan. 9, 2021Updated Feb. 26, 2021Hong Kongs biggest mobile telecom companies appear to have severed access to a website that listed the personal information of police officers, setting off fears that the authorities may use a new national security law to adopt censorship tactics widely used in mainland China.Users attempting to access the site, called HKChronicles, on their mobile devices first noticed the disruption on Wednesday evening, according to the sites owner, Naomi Chan, an 18-year-old high school student. Disruption came without any warning or explanation, she said.A New York Times analysis confirmed that the problem accessing the site comes from the telecom service providers. At least some people in Hong Kong were still able to reach the site through their home or office internet connections.The police in Hong Kong declined to comment on the disruption but insisted they had the power under the new national security law to block access to information online. In a statement, the police said they can require service providers to take restrictive actions against messages posted on digital platforms, which likely constitute the offense of endangering national security or incite a national security offense.The disruption raised the prospect that the city, long a bastion of online freedom, could begin to fall under the shadow of the tight censorship system that separates mainland Chinese internet from the rest of the online world. On Hong Kong social media, many people worried that the authorities could eventually bring the citys overall access to the open internet to an end.Their talking point has been the national security law will only target a small group of people, said Lokman Tsui, an assistant professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong who specializes in online communication.Since the law went into effect over the summer, however, the Hong Kong authorities have cited the law to arrest growing numbers of pro-democracy activists and politicians as well as a high-profile newspaper publisher.In practice it hasnt been limited to a small group of people, Mr. Tsui said. My concern is that internet censorship similarly wont be limited to a small group of websites.The national security law, which empowers the police to censor and use invasive surveillance tactics, has already constricted online life in Hong Kong. The police have hung a camera outside the house of one prominent politician, broken into the Facebook account of another and demanded passwords and fingerprints from the people they arrest to get access to their phones.Caught in the middle, major American technology companies like Google said they no longer accept user data requests from the Hong Kong authorities, though the law could punish refusals with jail time for employees. Many in Hong Kong have switched to encrypted chat apps and scrubbed social media accounts of posts they worry could bring new police attention.Today its HKChronicles would it be foreign media or local media tomorrow? said Glacier Kwong, of Keyboard Frontline, a nongovernmental organization that monitors digital rights in Hong Kong. Would Telegram and Signal be the next ones? The government can do whatever they want with the national security law, and Hong Kong can easily become another Chinese city behind the Great Firewall.HKChronicles was inspired by the pro-democracy protests of 2019, which shook Hong Kong and prompted mainland Chinese officials to eventually crack down. As images of violent police tactics began to spread around the world, many officers stopped wearing identifying markers.In response, protesters began to share information online to identify and sometimes harass them. The HKChronicles listed the personal information of about 1,500 police officers and another 1,000 pro-Beijing supporters.The Times attempted to connect to hkchronicles.com on three different Hong Kong internet service providers. Each attempt failed, though in a different way.That suggested to experts that the blockage was deliberate. If it were an error, the disruptions would look the same.None of this is a misconfiguration mistake, said Ben April, the chief technology officer at Farsight Security, an internet security firm that specializes in what is called the domain name system, or D.N.S., which acts as a sort of phone book for the internet. There is no typo that can cause this.At one internet provider, China Mobile Hong Kong, the disconnection of a type known as a drop action indicates direct involvement by the telecom company. A drop action is a specifically configured element of a D.N.S. firewall environment, Mr. April said. This is not something the owner could have configured, intentionally or accidentally.China Mobile Hong Kong, an arm of China Mobile, the Chinese state-run company, declined to comment. Two others tested by The Times, SmarTone and Hutchison Telecommunications, which are controlled by local conglomerates, did not respond to emailed requests for comment.Users of PCCW, another locally owned carrier, told The Times their access to the site was blocked, too. A spokesman declined to comment.While the site blockage resembles mainland Chinese censorship at a quick glance, the methods differ sharply from Chinas sophisticated system.With China Mobile, SmarTone and Hutchison, the process that links a website address to the series of numbers that a computer uses to look it up was disrupted. The practice would be akin to listing an incorrect number under someones name in a phone book. If you know that persons correct number, you could still call them.In mainland China, by contrast, the hardware of the Great Firewall as Beijings system of filters and blocks is known actively severs connections. In the phone book comparison, the call would not go through even if you have the right phone number.The Hong Kong blockages are really easy to circumvent and clumsy, said Mr. Tsui, the professor. Still, he said, the authorities may not want to control the internet as tightly as Beijing for fear of scaring off the global banks and international companies that have made the city their Asian headquarters.They want the city to be one that can make money and have the financial flows, and the internet is important for that, so they have to get the balance of censorship and surveillance right, he said.Ms. Chan, the HKChronicles operator, said she believes the government is testing new approaches to cut off access to websites.Though she is at the center of what could become a historic shift in Hong Kongs internet, Ms. Chan said she was no tech enthusiast. She learned her basic website management skills while at organizational events for the 2019 protests and decided she wanted to put them to use by making an easy-to-search website. As she built her archive, protesters helped with funds and know-how, though she said she now keeps up the site on her own.The number of page views isnt high, and the popularity is not like that of major media or larger sites, she said. Thats why Im a reasonable target.She expects matters to get worse, however.Just as the scope of the national security law has widened, she said, and more and more people are being arrested, I think the police will use it to block more and more websites, until something like the Great Firewall takes shape.Lin Qiqing contributed research. | Tech | <s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> Users of major mobile carriers can no longer access a service that detailed the personal information of police officers, a possible sign that the city is turning to tactics used in mainland China.Published Jan. 9, 2021Updated Feb. 26, 2021Hong Kongs biggest mobile telecom companies appear to have severed access to a website that listed the personal information of police officers, setting off fears that the authorities may use a new national security law to adopt censorship tactics widely used in mainland China.Users attempting to access the site, called HKChronicles, on their mobile devices first noticed the disruption on Wednesday evening, according to the sites owner, Naomi Chan, an 18-year-old high school student. Disruption came without any warning or explanation, she said.A New York Times analysis confirmed that the problem accessing the site comes from the telecom service providers. At least some people in Hong Kong were still able to reach the site through their home or office internet connections.The police in Hong Kong declined to comment on the disruption but insisted they had the power under the new national security law to block access to information online. In a statement, the police said they can require service providers to take restrictive actions against messages posted on digital platforms, which likely constitute the offense of endangering national security or incite a national security offense.The disruption raised the prospect that the city, long a bastion of online freedom, could begin to fall under the shadow of the tight censorship system that separates mainland Chinese internet from the rest of the online world. On Hong Kong social media, many people worried that the authorities could eventually bring the citys overall access to the open internet to an end.Their talking point has been the national security law will only target a small group of people, said Lokman Tsui, an assistant professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong who specializes in online communication.Since the law went into effect over the summer, however, the Hong Kong authorities have cited the law to arrest growing numbers of pro-democracy activists and politicians as well as a high-profile newspaper publisher.In practice it hasnt been limited to a small group of people, Mr. Tsui said. My concern is that internet censorship similarly wont be limited to a small group of websites.The national security law, which empowers the police to censor and use invasive surveillance tactics, has already constricted online life in Hong Kong. The police have hung a camera outside the house of one prominent politician, broken into the Facebook account of another and demanded passwords and fingerprints from the people they arrest to get access to their phones.Caught in the middle, major American technology companies like Google said they no longer accept user data requests from the Hong Kong authorities, though the law could punish refusals with jail time for employees. Many in Hong Kong have switched to encrypted chat apps and scrubbed social media accounts of posts they worry could bring new police attention.Today its HKChronicles would it be foreign media or local media tomorrow? said Glacier Kwong, of Keyboard Frontline, a nongovernmental organization that monitors digital rights in Hong Kong. Would Telegram and Signal be the next ones? The government can do whatever they want with the national security law, and Hong Kong can easily become another Chinese city behind the Great Firewall.HKChronicles was inspired by the pro-democracy protests of 2019, which shook Hong Kong and prompted mainland Chinese officials to eventually crack down. As images of violent police tactics began to spread around the world, many officers stopped wearing identifying markers.In response, protesters began to share information online to identify and sometimes harass them. The HKChronicles listed the personal information of about 1,500 police officers and another 1,000 pro-Beijing supporters.The Times attempted to connect to hkchronicles.com on three different Hong Kong internet service providers. Each attempt failed, though in a different way.That suggested to experts that the blockage was deliberate. If it were an error, the disruptions would look the same.None of this is a misconfiguration mistake, said Ben April, the chief technology officer at Farsight Security, an internet security firm that specializes in what is called the domain name system, or D.N.S., which acts as a sort of phone book for the internet. There is no typo that can cause this.At one internet provider, China Mobile Hong Kong, the disconnection of a type known as a drop action indicates direct involvement by the telecom company. A drop action is a specifically configured element of a D.N.S. firewall environment, Mr. April said. This is not something the owner could have configured, intentionally or accidentally.China Mobile Hong Kong, an arm of China Mobile, the Chinese state-run company, declined to comment. Two others tested by The Times, SmarTone and Hutchison Telecommunications, which are controlled by local conglomerates, did not respond to emailed requests for comment.Users of PCCW, another locally owned carrier, told The Times their access to the site was blocked, too. A spokesman declined to comment.While the site blockage resembles mainland Chinese censorship at a quick glance, the methods differ sharply from Chinas sophisticated system.With China Mobile, SmarTone and Hutchison, the process that links a website address to the series of numbers that a computer uses to look it up was disrupted. The practice would be akin to listing an incorrect number under someones name in a phone book. If you know that persons correct number, you could still call them.In mainland China, by contrast, the hardware of the Great Firewall as Beijings system of filters and blocks is known actively severs connections. In the phone book comparison, the call would not go through even if you have the right phone number.The Hong Kong blockages are really easy to circumvent and clumsy, said Mr. Tsui, the professor. Still, he said, the authorities may not want to control the internet as tightly as Beijing for fear of scaring off the global banks and international companies that have made the city their Asian headquarters.They want the city to be one that can make money and have the financial flows, and the internet is important for that, so they have to get the balance of censorship and surveillance right, he said.Ms. Chan, the HKChronicles operator, said she believes the government is testing new approaches to cut off access to websites.Though she is at the center of what could become a historic shift in Hong Kongs internet, Ms. Chan said she was no tech enthusiast. She learned her basic website management skills while at organizational events for the 2019 protests and decided she wanted to put them to use by making an easy-to-search website. As she built her archive, protesters helped with funds and know-how, though she said she now keeps up the site on her own.The number of page views isnt high, and the popularity is not like that of major media or larger sites, she said. Thats why Im a reasonable target.She expects matters to get worse, however.Just as the scope of the national security law has widened, she said, and more and more people are being arrested, I think the police will use it to block more and more websites, until something like the Great Firewall takes shape.Lin Qiqing contributed research. [/INST] Tech </s> |
VideotranscripttranscriptSyrian Refugee Discusses E.U. MeasuresA Syrian refugee, who said he did not know of the European Unions deal to turn back migrants landing in Greece, said that he and fellow refugees have suffered in Turkey, and did not want to return.I have not heard that they are sending Syrians back to Turkey. I heard that maybe Iranians, Persians, Afghanis but I didnt heard they are taking Syrians back to Turkey. // We just want to get here and we get rid of Turkey because we dont want to go to Turkey anymore. We have suffered there a lot. We dont want to go there anymore. Anywhere is better than Turkey. We are done of it.A Syrian refugee, who said he did not know of the European Unions deal to turn back migrants landing in Greece, said that he and fellow refugees have suffered in Turkey, and did not want to return.CreditCredit...Tyler Hicks/The New York TimesApril 4, 2016MYTILENE, Greece They had braved risks and hardships to get to Greece, having crossed the narrow strait from Turkey in flimsy rafts like nearly a million others last year with hundreds dying along the way.But on Monday, Greek and European Union officials sent them back 202 migrants beginning a central part of a deal worked out with Turkey last month to stem the flow of people making the perilous journey to European shores.In this port on the island of Lesbos, as the sun rose over the Aegean Sea, more than 100 officers from the European border agency, Frontex, marched 136 migrants onto two ferries bound for the Turkish town of Dikili. Once there, the migrants were taken into tents for processing and then loaded onto buses to where, Turkish officials would not say.An additional 66 migrants were deported from the island of Chios, where riots broke out last week among asylum seekers fearing deportation. In all, Greek officials said those deported were mostly Pakistanis and Afghans, though they also included two Syrians, who had not asked for asylum, the officials said.The deportations were a significant step for the European Union in its effort to curb the migrant crisis. The deal with Turkey means that those landing here illegally will now be returned to Turkey.Since the deal with Turkey was struck, the number of people attempting the crossing has slowed to a relative trickle though it has not ended.Even as the 202 migrants were landing in Turkey on Monday, others were taking off, despite the fact that the Turks had pledged to cut off the route in exchange for 6 billion euros, or about $6.8 billion, and other inducements.ImageCredit...Tyler Hicks/The New York TimesIn Greece, the deportations have perils of their own, enough to make it unclear whether they can be scaled up quickly and sharply.Though the deportations on Monday did not meet any resistance, they sent new waves of anxiety through the overcrowded military-style camp where migrants are detained in Moria, on Lesbos.Migrants in the camp shouted to journalists, complaining about their detention and the camps conditions from behind a chain-link fence topped with three rows of razor wire. Some yelled that they were being treated inhumanely and as criminals. Others defiantly said that they would not go home. Police officers then moved in and forced journalists to leave and broke up the crowd gathered at the fence.In the past week, riots have broken out in several places, especially between Afghans and Syrians, many of whom have little idea of how the asylum process works and have grown increasingly fearful that, having made it this far, they will be sent home.More than 800 migrants broke out of a camp in Chios on Friday to protest what humanitarian groups said were prisonlike conditions.Greece is still waiting for thousands of police officers and specialists on asylum from other European Union countries to arrive to help with the process of sifting who will stay and who will go from among those who had already arrived in Greece before March 20, when the deal with Turkey went into effect.Those who have arrived since March 20 have been put in holding centers, and will be deported. Turkey and the European Union agreed that the Syrians and Iraqis among them who are judged to be refugees fleeing war can then apply from Turkey for asylum in Europe.For each new person Turkey takes in, one Syrian refugee already in Turkey will be sent to Europe. Those returned to Turkey and judged by the authorities there to be non-refugees will sent back to their home countries, Turkish officials have said.The main objective is to stick a blow to the business model of human trafficking from the Turkish coasts to the Greek islands, said Giorgos Kyritsis, the Greek governments spokesman on migration.The deal aims to convince people that until now were victims of the smugglers, that it is against their interests to risk their lives and pay all this money in order to make it to the Greek islands, he said, and that the shortest and the only legal way to get to Europe is to be included in the resettlement program underway in Turkey.Yet even as the Turkish officials carried out a series of raids to crack down on smugglers in recent days, some migrants have been undeterred by or unaware of the new regulations.On Monday, dozens of migrants set off for Greece in rubber dinghies and were intercepted by the Greek and Turkish coast guards.Less than two hours after the ferries took the 202 migrants back from the Greek islands to Turkey, an additional 59 migrants from Syria were picked up by the Greek coast guard in a Zodiac rubber raft.The Greeks brought them to port in Lesbos, and later the police ushered the group to the migrant camp in Moria, where nearly 3,600 migrants who arrived after March 20 are detained.Inshallah, I will get to Germany, said one migrant, Mohamed Zaki, 22, after he was brought ashore. Were lucky we are in Europe, he said, adding that the smugglers did not inform them that deportations were now taking place.The processing of asylum applications on the Greek islands is expected to start on Thursday and could take weeks if not months, if migrants appeal a rejection.Mr. Kyritsis, the Greek migration official, said no one who applies for asylum would be sent back to Turkey before receiving a definite answer from the authorities.As the expulsions got underway on Monday, several European countries said they were working to fulfill their end of the bargain with Turkey.Germany announced that it was accepting 32 Syrians from Turkey in the state of Lower Saxony, and Finland said it would take in 11 Syrians. The numbers were still far shy of commitments to distribute about 160,000 asylum seekers among European Union countries.In Lesbos, two German tourists shouted messages of support to the migrants from outside the fence at the holding camp in Moria.We dont agree with these deportations, said Adrian Ils, a retiree from Cologne. I can assure you there are many people in Germany who dont agree with the policy of closed borders.Its a shame the E.U. cannot find a common policy to share the problem, he added. We need to show our solidarity with desperate people isnt that what Europe is about? | World | <s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> VideotranscripttranscriptSyrian Refugee Discusses E.U. MeasuresA Syrian refugee, who said he did not know of the European Unions deal to turn back migrants landing in Greece, said that he and fellow refugees have suffered in Turkey, and did not want to return.I have not heard that they are sending Syrians back to Turkey. I heard that maybe Iranians, Persians, Afghanis but I didnt heard they are taking Syrians back to Turkey. // We just want to get here and we get rid of Turkey because we dont want to go to Turkey anymore. We have suffered there a lot. We dont want to go there anymore. Anywhere is better than Turkey. We are done of it.A Syrian refugee, who said he did not know of the European Unions deal to turn back migrants landing in Greece, said that he and fellow refugees have suffered in Turkey, and did not want to return.CreditCredit...Tyler Hicks/The New York TimesApril 4, 2016MYTILENE, Greece They had braved risks and hardships to get to Greece, having crossed the narrow strait from Turkey in flimsy rafts like nearly a million others last year with hundreds dying along the way.But on Monday, Greek and European Union officials sent them back 202 migrants beginning a central part of a deal worked out with Turkey last month to stem the flow of people making the perilous journey to European shores.In this port on the island of Lesbos, as the sun rose over the Aegean Sea, more than 100 officers from the European border agency, Frontex, marched 136 migrants onto two ferries bound for the Turkish town of Dikili. Once there, the migrants were taken into tents for processing and then loaded onto buses to where, Turkish officials would not say.An additional 66 migrants were deported from the island of Chios, where riots broke out last week among asylum seekers fearing deportation. In all, Greek officials said those deported were mostly Pakistanis and Afghans, though they also included two Syrians, who had not asked for asylum, the officials said.The deportations were a significant step for the European Union in its effort to curb the migrant crisis. The deal with Turkey means that those landing here illegally will now be returned to Turkey.Since the deal with Turkey was struck, the number of people attempting the crossing has slowed to a relative trickle though it has not ended.Even as the 202 migrants were landing in Turkey on Monday, others were taking off, despite the fact that the Turks had pledged to cut off the route in exchange for 6 billion euros, or about $6.8 billion, and other inducements.ImageCredit...Tyler Hicks/The New York TimesIn Greece, the deportations have perils of their own, enough to make it unclear whether they can be scaled up quickly and sharply.Though the deportations on Monday did not meet any resistance, they sent new waves of anxiety through the overcrowded military-style camp where migrants are detained in Moria, on Lesbos.Migrants in the camp shouted to journalists, complaining about their detention and the camps conditions from behind a chain-link fence topped with three rows of razor wire. Some yelled that they were being treated inhumanely and as criminals. Others defiantly said that they would not go home. Police officers then moved in and forced journalists to leave and broke up the crowd gathered at the fence.In the past week, riots have broken out in several places, especially between Afghans and Syrians, many of whom have little idea of how the asylum process works and have grown increasingly fearful that, having made it this far, they will be sent home.More than 800 migrants broke out of a camp in Chios on Friday to protest what humanitarian groups said were prisonlike conditions.Greece is still waiting for thousands of police officers and specialists on asylum from other European Union countries to arrive to help with the process of sifting who will stay and who will go from among those who had already arrived in Greece before March 20, when the deal with Turkey went into effect.Those who have arrived since March 20 have been put in holding centers, and will be deported. Turkey and the European Union agreed that the Syrians and Iraqis among them who are judged to be refugees fleeing war can then apply from Turkey for asylum in Europe.For each new person Turkey takes in, one Syrian refugee already in Turkey will be sent to Europe. Those returned to Turkey and judged by the authorities there to be non-refugees will sent back to their home countries, Turkish officials have said.The main objective is to stick a blow to the business model of human trafficking from the Turkish coasts to the Greek islands, said Giorgos Kyritsis, the Greek governments spokesman on migration.The deal aims to convince people that until now were victims of the smugglers, that it is against their interests to risk their lives and pay all this money in order to make it to the Greek islands, he said, and that the shortest and the only legal way to get to Europe is to be included in the resettlement program underway in Turkey.Yet even as the Turkish officials carried out a series of raids to crack down on smugglers in recent days, some migrants have been undeterred by or unaware of the new regulations.On Monday, dozens of migrants set off for Greece in rubber dinghies and were intercepted by the Greek and Turkish coast guards.Less than two hours after the ferries took the 202 migrants back from the Greek islands to Turkey, an additional 59 migrants from Syria were picked up by the Greek coast guard in a Zodiac rubber raft.The Greeks brought them to port in Lesbos, and later the police ushered the group to the migrant camp in Moria, where nearly 3,600 migrants who arrived after March 20 are detained.Inshallah, I will get to Germany, said one migrant, Mohamed Zaki, 22, after he was brought ashore. Were lucky we are in Europe, he said, adding that the smugglers did not inform them that deportations were now taking place.The processing of asylum applications on the Greek islands is expected to start on Thursday and could take weeks if not months, if migrants appeal a rejection.Mr. Kyritsis, the Greek migration official, said no one who applies for asylum would be sent back to Turkey before receiving a definite answer from the authorities.As the expulsions got underway on Monday, several European countries said they were working to fulfill their end of the bargain with Turkey.Germany announced that it was accepting 32 Syrians from Turkey in the state of Lower Saxony, and Finland said it would take in 11 Syrians. The numbers were still far shy of commitments to distribute about 160,000 asylum seekers among European Union countries.In Lesbos, two German tourists shouted messages of support to the migrants from outside the fence at the holding camp in Moria.We dont agree with these deportations, said Adrian Ils, a retiree from Cologne. I can assure you there are many people in Germany who dont agree with the policy of closed borders.Its a shame the E.U. cannot find a common policy to share the problem, he added. We need to show our solidarity with desperate people isnt that what Europe is about? [/INST] World </s> |
Credit...Illustration by Lizzie Gill; photos by the U.S. Department of JusticeThe Great ReadA Fire in Minnesota. An Arrest in Mexico. Cameras Everywhere.One night in the Twin Cities, shortly after the killing of George Floyd, someone set a fire in a Goodwill. That led to an international search for the culprits and it exposed a growing system of global surveillance.Credit...Illustration by Lizzie Gill; photos by the U.S. Department of JusticePublished Aug. 1, 2021Updated Sept. 28, 2021Listen to This ArticleMena Yousif wore dark clothing to the protest, with white sneakers and a blue hijab that she could pull over her face, perfect gear during a pandemic. Jose Felan, stocky and tall, wore a baseball cap and a gray T-shirt that showed off a distinctive tattoo on his forearm: Mena, with a crown above the a.The couple had driven an hour north from Rochester to Minneapolis to join a crowd down the street from the State Capitol. It was three days after George Floyd had been killed by a white police officer; the couple was part of a growing protest movement that would send people into the streets across America to express their anger, frustration and pain over Mr. Floyds death.Ms. Yousif, 22, had moved to Minnesota as a child, after her parents fled war-torn Iraq. She worked a series of retail jobs, including a stint at Chipotle, and was earning a business degree at a community college. Mr. Felan, 34, had bounced between Texas and Minnesota for most of his life, and had run afoul of the law in both places.The unrest in Minneapolis had started to get destructive that night, the National Guard would be called in and the authorities would later allege in court filings that Mr. Felan was one of those to blame. He was carrying a thin white bag, sheer enough that, according to a criminal complaint, three canisters of diesel fuel were visible inside after he walked into a Napa Auto Parts store on University Avenue in St. Paul. Around 6 p.m., as captured on surveillance footage, he and Ms. Yousif entered a Goodwill next door and made their way into a back storage room where Mr. Felan allegedly took one of the diesel fuel canisters out of his bag, poured its contents onto a stack of cardboard boxes, and set them on fire.Federal authorities assert that Mr. Felan also helped set fires at a school across the street and at a gas station, which were among over 1,500 buildings damaged that week. The surveillance footage from that day set off a nearly yearlong, international manhunt for the couple, involving multiple federal agencies and Mexican police. The pursuit also involved a facial recognition system made by a Chinese company that has been blacklisted by the U.S. government.Ms. Yousif gave birth while on the run, and was separated from her baby for four months by the authorities. To prosecutors, the pursuit of Mr. Felan, who was charged with arson, and Ms. Yousif, who was charged with helping him flee, was a routine response to a case of property destruction. To fellow protesters, its part of an extreme crackdown on those who most fervently demonstrated against Americas criminal justice system.But beyond the prosecutorial aftermath of the racial justice protests, the eight-month saga of a young Minnesota couple exposed an emerging global surveillance system that might one day find anyone, anywhere, the technology traveling easily over borders while civil liberties struggle to keep pace.The PursuitImageCredit...Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, St. Paul Field DivisionAs the political and corporate worlds wrestled with addressing racial injustice in America, and the events in Minneapolis overtook the Covid-19 crisis and the presidential campaign, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, or A.T.F., got to work trying to find the people who set fires.The A.T.F., which is tasked with investigating arson cases, released photos of suspects, offering $5,000 for helpful tips from the public. A video of Mr. Felan went viral, leading to several tips, including from individuals who wish to remain anonymous, an A.T.F. agent said in a court document. (The A.T.F. has also used facial recognition technology, including the app Clearview AI, to identify unknown people, according to reporting from the Government Accountability Office and BuzzFeed.)Mr. Felan and Ms. Yousif could not be reached for comment. Mr. Felans lawyer declined to comment as the case is pending, and Ms. Yousifs lawyer did not respond to multiple attempts to reach him. This report is largely drawn from government documents and sources, and based on the account of their lives there, they were likely panicked. Mr. Felan had previous legal troubles.And Ms. Yousif was approximately seven months pregnant.So they drove, heading south on Interstate 35, a highway that runs down the middle of the country, stretching from Duluth, Minn., on Lake Superior, to Laredo, Texas, on the Mexican border. They had made their way through Iowa and just hit the northern part of Missouri, 300 miles from Rochester, when police first caught up with them.A warrant had been issued for Mr. Felans arrest, allowing the authorities to ping his cellphone to locate him. According to a court document, late on a Monday night, more than a week after the events in St. Paul, local police in rural western Missouri, who were asked to go where the phone was pinging, stopped a black S.U.V. registered to Mr. Felan. Ms. Yousif was driving, and said she didnt know where Mr. Felan was. The police let her go.Ms. Yousif was then charged with helping Mr. Felan flee, and the A.T.F. put out a new request for help, setting the reward at $10,000: Were asking the public to be on the lookout for the couple along the Interstate 35 corridor.Over the next week, police kept pinging the location of Mr. Felans phone but kept missing him. According to a court document, he sent a message to his brother in Texas saying he was turning it off between messages, worried about being tracked; the couple eventually bought new phones.They bore west, through Kansas and Oklahoma, making their way toward Mr. Felans family. His mother and brothers had heard about the manhunt and were sending one another worried Facebook messages. At some point, the couple exchanged cars with Mr. Felans mother.Ms. Yousifs family declined to speak in detail about what this experience has been like, and her life before she and Mr. Felan met in Minnesota and fell in love. Those who encountered Ms. Yousif as a college sophomore find the events of the past 14 months difficult to reconcile with the young woman they met in 2019. She had earned a scholarship from the American Business Womens Association of Rochester and the woman who administered it remembered Ms. Yousif as mature and ambitious, wearing funky high heels, and chatting about her work as a bookkeeper for her father.ImageCredit...Brooke BurchMs. Yousif had dreams of starting her own business. She was on the deans list at Rochester Community and Technical College.And then she was on the run.On a Friday night in mid-June 2020, a surveillance camera at a Holiday Inn outside San Antonio captured Ms. Yousif and Mr. Felan driving his mothers brown Toyota Camry into the hotels parking lot. They got out of the car, walked outside the view of the camera and then disappeared.The A.T.F. increased its reward to $20,000 $10,000 each for Mr. Felan, describing him as a felon with multiple convictions, and for Ms. Yousif, his accomplice. Mr. Felan faced a drug possession charge when he was 18 that led to an almost seven year prison sentence, and more recently, convictions for assault and for transporting undocumented immigrants near the Mexican border, for which he also spent time in prison.The agency also released more images of them, including what appear to be their wedding photos, and warned that Ms. Yousif, who appears to be noticeably pregnant, is known to have worn disguises while on the run, including wigs, hair extensions, hats and the absence of a hijab.Michael German, a former F.B.I. agent who is now a fellow at the Brennan Center for Justice, said the Justice Department under Attorney General William P. Barr was very aggressively seeking to make prosecutions from the George Floyd protests. It wouldnt surprise me that this case would have been a high-priority one, he said.Two weeks after officials lost track of the couple, a deputy U.S. marshal told a Texas news station that the authorities suspected they were trying to get to Mexico.Mena is, we believe to be, between six to eight months pregnant. Were also taking that into consideration in our investigation, he said. The fact that there is an unborn child, an innocent child here involved, as well, at this point, the quicker all of this ends, for everybodys sake, the better.That innocent child would later be separated from his parents or any family member for more than four months.Blacklisted TechnologyImageCredit...Illustration by Lizzie Gill; photos by the U.S. Department of JusticeThe photo projected on the screen in the conference room leapt out at him, of a woman against a pale blue background, wearing bright red lipstick and a beige hijab. Her name was next to the photo: Mena Yousif. Federico Prez Villoro, an investigative journalist and artist based in Mexico City, wrote the name down so he could figure out who she was.Mr. Prez Villoro was meeting with law enforcement officials in Coahuila, Mexico last year; they were demonstrating their new equipment: facial recognition software and nearly 1,300 cameras from a Chinese company called Dahua Technology.A group of police officers and a government employee in charge of Mexicos first large-scale facial recognition system, Luis Campos, were explaining how the new $30 million system could flag a face so that police would get an alert in real-time if a camera spotted that person.The authorities in Coahuila, a state that borders Texas, had bought the system in 2019; in the months since it was installed, they had searched for only about 100 people, said Mr. Campos, and he projected a few of their faces on the screen, including those of Ms. Yousif and Mr. Felan.Mr. Campos told Mr. Prez Villoro that the F.B.I. had learned about Coahuilas system and asked for help finding people accused of terrorism. Mr. Prez Villoro did his own research after the meeting.They were anti-racist protesters and not being searched for terrorism in the U.S. but for acts of vandalism, Mr. Prez Villoro said. He was disturbed to see the technology being used that way, and mentioned it in an article he wrote with Paloma Robles. They just said that the F.B.I. had called Sonia Villarreal, Coahuilas secretary of public security, with the request, a sort of informal favor, it seemed.Mr. German, the former F.B.I. agent who now studies civil liberty issues, said that the F.B.I. had a long history of categorizing civil disobedience as terrorism, and that the agency would likely view arson during a protest as a terrorism case. Lighting any kind of fire at a protest is not something thats going to be helpful to you in the eyes of the law, he said. Mr. German also said it would not be unusual for the agency to seek help from Mexican authorities to find the couple. There is a tremendous amount of cooperation with Mexican law enforcement on a host of law enforcement issues, he said.Part of what bothered Mr. Prez Villoro was that the company that made the surveillance system, Dahua, had been blacklisted by the U.S. government in 2019. Dahua, based in Hangzhou, is one of the largest video surveillance companies in the world; it is partly state-owned, but also publicly traded, with revenues of $27 billion last year. Under the Trump administration, both the Commerce and Defense departments put Dahua on blacklists as the trade war with China escalated, and as scrutiny increased on human rights abuses against Muslims in Chinas Xinjiang region.According to a notice in the Federal Register, Dahuas products were used in Chinas campaign of repression, mass arbitrary detention and high-technology surveillance against Uighurs and other Muslim minority groups. As a result, the U.S. government cannot use its products and Dahua cannot buy American goods. (American individuals and businesses still can though; Amazon bought its thermal cameras last year to help detect Covid-19 symptoms at its warehouses.)Dahua Technology flatly denies the allegations, the company said in a statement about the blacklist. Ultimately, no security solutions company can fully control how its technologies are used by end users.Federal authorities declined to comment on the use of facial recognition technology in the pursuit of Mr. Felan and Ms. Yousif. We ask for assistance with fugitive investigations from other countries every day and cannot direct which sources and methodologies they may employ to assist in fugitive investigations, said Lynzey Donahue, spokeswoman for the U.S. Marshals.I have not heard of a story like this before where our government asked another government to do face recognition for it, said Adam Schwartz, a surveillance lawyer at the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Its very upsetting.The cutting-edge system was in use, searching for signs of the couple in Mexico, but it does not appear to be what led authorities to them. A spokeswoman for the ATF said the agency paid the $20,000 to someone who had information on the couple. That was then used to locate Felan and Yousif while in Mexico, directly leading to their apprehension, said Ashlee J. L. Sherrill, the spokeswoman. In his article, Mr. Prez Villoro deemed the real-time facial recognition system both an abuse of civil liberties and a technological failure that hadnt lived up to its promise. But the technology is spreading globally, in part because China is aggressively marketing it abroad as part of the countrys Belt and Road initiative, said Marc Rotenberg, president of the Center for A.I. and Digital Policy, a nonprofit in Washington.China is marketing mass surveillance technology to its trading partners in Africa, Asia and South America, he explained, pitching it as a way to minimize crime and promote public order in major metropolitan areas.I dont think they particularly see it as evil, Mr. Rotenberg said.In the United States, facial recognition technology is widely used by law enforcement officials, though poorly regulated. During a congressional hearing in July, lawmakers expressed surprise that 20 federal agencies were using it without having fully assessed the risks of misuse or bias some algorithms have been found to work less accurately on women and people of color, and it has led to mistaken arrests. The technology can be a powerful and effective crime-solving tool, though, placing it, for now, at a tipping point.At the start of the hearing, Representative Sheila Jackson Lee, Democrat of Texas, highlighted the challenge for Congress or anyone in determining the benefits and downsides to using facial recognition: Its not clear how well it works or how widely its used. As Ms. Jackson Lee said, Information on how law enforcement agencies have adopted facial recognition technology remains underreported or nonexistent.The ArrestAfter crossing into Mexico last summer, Mr. Felan and Ms. Yousif evaded capture for months, long enough for their son to be born there.This February, however, the day after Valentines Day, they were arrested in Puerto Vallarta, a tourist destination on the Pacific coast, 800 miles south of the U.S. border.Thanks to the skilled investigative work of the A.T.F. and the tireless apprehension efforts of the U.S. Marshals Service, these two defendants, who have been on the run for more than eight months, will be returned to Minnesota to face justice, U.S. Attorney Erica H. MacDonald said in a statement.Mr. Felan and Mr. Yousif were transported to San Diego, where they were charged in federal court three counts of arson for Mr. Felan, which carries a possible prison sentence of 20 years, and two counts of accessory after the fact for Ms. Yousif, with a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.They are now back in Minnesota, forbidden from talking to each other while they await federal prosecution.But their six-month-old son did not travel to the United States with them; he was taken into custody by Mexican authorities when the couple was arrested and placed in an international orphanage, according to Youser Yousif, Menas sister, because he was not considered a U.S. citizen. When a child is born abroad, the birth has to be registered with a U.S. embassy or consulate, but that is hard to do when on the run from the law. Youser Yousif said her sister had been filling out paperwork for months trying to secure the return of her son.In June, four months after the child was taken from his parents, Mena Yousifs family traveled to Mexico to try to retrieve him. Ms. Yousifs lawyer filed a request for the release of her passport, which had been seized by the authorities, so it could be sent to her parents in Mexico to prove that the mother of the child is a U.S. citizen.The judge agreed to the request and ordered Ms. Yousifs probation officer to mail the passport to Mexico.The U.S. Marshals went to great lengths to ensure that the apprehension of this couple was handled in such a way that the child could be placed in the custody of family members, said Ms. Donahue, spokeswoman for the U.S. Marshals.The FalloutImageCredit...Mike Blake/ReutersSurveillance footage and smartphone cameras provided the evidence that investigators needed to look into over 100 cases of arson from the three days of unrest in Minneapolis. A handful of people who have been convicted so far face up to four years in prison, and have been ordered to pay millions of dollars in restitution.Video evidence was crucial, too, in the event that set off the unrest, the murder of George Floyd. Its how the world knew what had happened to Mr. Floyd, and why Derek Chauvin, the officer who knelt on his neck, was sentenced to 22 years in prison for killing him.We are living in a world where tracking technologies, from surveillance cameras to our smartphones, are recording more and more of our lives, raising urgent questions about the extent to which those recordings should feed into surveillance systems, and how easy we want it to be for governments and companies to track us in real time.In a 2019 report on video analytics, the American Civil Liberties Union argued that millions of surveillance cameras installed in recent decades are waking up thanks to automation, such as facial recognition technology, which allows them to not just record, but to analyze what is happening and flag what they see: That will usher in something entirely new in the history of humanity: a society where everyones public movements and behavior are subject to constant and comprehensive evaluation and judgment by agents of authority in short, a society where everyone is watched.In this case, U.S. citizens were subject to a real-time tracking system that the U.S. government itself had deemed abusive in China.Real-time face recognition systems are dangerous now and threaten to become even more pervasive and all-encompassing, said Ashley Gorski, a lawyer at the A.C.L.U. The claimed benefits to law enforcement should not obscure the privacy harms for millions of people subject to these proliferating systems and government monitoring of their everyday movements.Mr. Felan is awaiting trial in Sherburne County jail on the outskirts of Minneapolis, while Ms. Yousif is on house arrest at her parents home in Rochester. A community group assisting people arrested as a result of the protests posted a message from Mr. Felan on its Facebook page: This is the most difficult time Ive ever had to go through in my entire life.Natalie Kitroeff, Oscar Lopez and Paul Mozur contributed reporting. Susan C. Beachy contributed research. | Tech | <s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> Credit...Illustration by Lizzie Gill; photos by the U.S. Department of JusticeThe Great ReadA Fire in Minnesota. An Arrest in Mexico. Cameras Everywhere.One night in the Twin Cities, shortly after the killing of George Floyd, someone set a fire in a Goodwill. That led to an international search for the culprits and it exposed a growing system of global surveillance.Credit...Illustration by Lizzie Gill; photos by the U.S. Department of JusticePublished Aug. 1, 2021Updated Sept. 28, 2021Listen to This ArticleMena Yousif wore dark clothing to the protest, with white sneakers and a blue hijab that she could pull over her face, perfect gear during a pandemic. Jose Felan, stocky and tall, wore a baseball cap and a gray T-shirt that showed off a distinctive tattoo on his forearm: Mena, with a crown above the a.The couple had driven an hour north from Rochester to Minneapolis to join a crowd down the street from the State Capitol. It was three days after George Floyd had been killed by a white police officer; the couple was part of a growing protest movement that would send people into the streets across America to express their anger, frustration and pain over Mr. Floyds death.Ms. Yousif, 22, had moved to Minnesota as a child, after her parents fled war-torn Iraq. She worked a series of retail jobs, including a stint at Chipotle, and was earning a business degree at a community college. Mr. Felan, 34, had bounced between Texas and Minnesota for most of his life, and had run afoul of the law in both places.The unrest in Minneapolis had started to get destructive that night, the National Guard would be called in and the authorities would later allege in court filings that Mr. Felan was one of those to blame. He was carrying a thin white bag, sheer enough that, according to a criminal complaint, three canisters of diesel fuel were visible inside after he walked into a Napa Auto Parts store on University Avenue in St. Paul. Around 6 p.m., as captured on surveillance footage, he and Ms. Yousif entered a Goodwill next door and made their way into a back storage room where Mr. Felan allegedly took one of the diesel fuel canisters out of his bag, poured its contents onto a stack of cardboard boxes, and set them on fire.Federal authorities assert that Mr. Felan also helped set fires at a school across the street and at a gas station, which were among over 1,500 buildings damaged that week. The surveillance footage from that day set off a nearly yearlong, international manhunt for the couple, involving multiple federal agencies and Mexican police. The pursuit also involved a facial recognition system made by a Chinese company that has been blacklisted by the U.S. government.Ms. Yousif gave birth while on the run, and was separated from her baby for four months by the authorities. To prosecutors, the pursuit of Mr. Felan, who was charged with arson, and Ms. Yousif, who was charged with helping him flee, was a routine response to a case of property destruction. To fellow protesters, its part of an extreme crackdown on those who most fervently demonstrated against Americas criminal justice system.But beyond the prosecutorial aftermath of the racial justice protests, the eight-month saga of a young Minnesota couple exposed an emerging global surveillance system that might one day find anyone, anywhere, the technology traveling easily over borders while civil liberties struggle to keep pace.The PursuitImageCredit...Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, St. Paul Field DivisionAs the political and corporate worlds wrestled with addressing racial injustice in America, and the events in Minneapolis overtook the Covid-19 crisis and the presidential campaign, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, or A.T.F., got to work trying to find the people who set fires.The A.T.F., which is tasked with investigating arson cases, released photos of suspects, offering $5,000 for helpful tips from the public. A video of Mr. Felan went viral, leading to several tips, including from individuals who wish to remain anonymous, an A.T.F. agent said in a court document. (The A.T.F. has also used facial recognition technology, including the app Clearview AI, to identify unknown people, according to reporting from the Government Accountability Office and BuzzFeed.)Mr. Felan and Ms. Yousif could not be reached for comment. Mr. Felans lawyer declined to comment as the case is pending, and Ms. Yousifs lawyer did not respond to multiple attempts to reach him. This report is largely drawn from government documents and sources, and based on the account of their lives there, they were likely panicked. Mr. Felan had previous legal troubles.And Ms. Yousif was approximately seven months pregnant.So they drove, heading south on Interstate 35, a highway that runs down the middle of the country, stretching from Duluth, Minn., on Lake Superior, to Laredo, Texas, on the Mexican border. They had made their way through Iowa and just hit the northern part of Missouri, 300 miles from Rochester, when police first caught up with them.A warrant had been issued for Mr. Felans arrest, allowing the authorities to ping his cellphone to locate him. According to a court document, late on a Monday night, more than a week after the events in St. Paul, local police in rural western Missouri, who were asked to go where the phone was pinging, stopped a black S.U.V. registered to Mr. Felan. Ms. Yousif was driving, and said she didnt know where Mr. Felan was. The police let her go.Ms. Yousif was then charged with helping Mr. Felan flee, and the A.T.F. put out a new request for help, setting the reward at $10,000: Were asking the public to be on the lookout for the couple along the Interstate 35 corridor.Over the next week, police kept pinging the location of Mr. Felans phone but kept missing him. According to a court document, he sent a message to his brother in Texas saying he was turning it off between messages, worried about being tracked; the couple eventually bought new phones.They bore west, through Kansas and Oklahoma, making their way toward Mr. Felans family. His mother and brothers had heard about the manhunt and were sending one another worried Facebook messages. At some point, the couple exchanged cars with Mr. Felans mother.Ms. Yousifs family declined to speak in detail about what this experience has been like, and her life before she and Mr. Felan met in Minnesota and fell in love. Those who encountered Ms. Yousif as a college sophomore find the events of the past 14 months difficult to reconcile with the young woman they met in 2019. She had earned a scholarship from the American Business Womens Association of Rochester and the woman who administered it remembered Ms. Yousif as mature and ambitious, wearing funky high heels, and chatting about her work as a bookkeeper for her father.ImageCredit...Brooke BurchMs. Yousif had dreams of starting her own business. She was on the deans list at Rochester Community and Technical College.And then she was on the run.On a Friday night in mid-June 2020, a surveillance camera at a Holiday Inn outside San Antonio captured Ms. Yousif and Mr. Felan driving his mothers brown Toyota Camry into the hotels parking lot. They got out of the car, walked outside the view of the camera and then disappeared.The A.T.F. increased its reward to $20,000 $10,000 each for Mr. Felan, describing him as a felon with multiple convictions, and for Ms. Yousif, his accomplice. Mr. Felan faced a drug possession charge when he was 18 that led to an almost seven year prison sentence, and more recently, convictions for assault and for transporting undocumented immigrants near the Mexican border, for which he also spent time in prison.The agency also released more images of them, including what appear to be their wedding photos, and warned that Ms. Yousif, who appears to be noticeably pregnant, is known to have worn disguises while on the run, including wigs, hair extensions, hats and the absence of a hijab.Michael German, a former F.B.I. agent who is now a fellow at the Brennan Center for Justice, said the Justice Department under Attorney General William P. Barr was very aggressively seeking to make prosecutions from the George Floyd protests. It wouldnt surprise me that this case would have been a high-priority one, he said.Two weeks after officials lost track of the couple, a deputy U.S. marshal told a Texas news station that the authorities suspected they were trying to get to Mexico.Mena is, we believe to be, between six to eight months pregnant. Were also taking that into consideration in our investigation, he said. The fact that there is an unborn child, an innocent child here involved, as well, at this point, the quicker all of this ends, for everybodys sake, the better.That innocent child would later be separated from his parents or any family member for more than four months.Blacklisted TechnologyImageCredit...Illustration by Lizzie Gill; photos by the U.S. Department of JusticeThe photo projected on the screen in the conference room leapt out at him, of a woman against a pale blue background, wearing bright red lipstick and a beige hijab. Her name was next to the photo: Mena Yousif. Federico Prez Villoro, an investigative journalist and artist based in Mexico City, wrote the name down so he could figure out who she was.Mr. Prez Villoro was meeting with law enforcement officials in Coahuila, Mexico last year; they were demonstrating their new equipment: facial recognition software and nearly 1,300 cameras from a Chinese company called Dahua Technology.A group of police officers and a government employee in charge of Mexicos first large-scale facial recognition system, Luis Campos, were explaining how the new $30 million system could flag a face so that police would get an alert in real-time if a camera spotted that person.The authorities in Coahuila, a state that borders Texas, had bought the system in 2019; in the months since it was installed, they had searched for only about 100 people, said Mr. Campos, and he projected a few of their faces on the screen, including those of Ms. Yousif and Mr. Felan.Mr. Campos told Mr. Prez Villoro that the F.B.I. had learned about Coahuilas system and asked for help finding people accused of terrorism. Mr. Prez Villoro did his own research after the meeting.They were anti-racist protesters and not being searched for terrorism in the U.S. but for acts of vandalism, Mr. Prez Villoro said. He was disturbed to see the technology being used that way, and mentioned it in an article he wrote with Paloma Robles. They just said that the F.B.I. had called Sonia Villarreal, Coahuilas secretary of public security, with the request, a sort of informal favor, it seemed.Mr. German, the former F.B.I. agent who now studies civil liberty issues, said that the F.B.I. had a long history of categorizing civil disobedience as terrorism, and that the agency would likely view arson during a protest as a terrorism case. Lighting any kind of fire at a protest is not something thats going to be helpful to you in the eyes of the law, he said. Mr. German also said it would not be unusual for the agency to seek help from Mexican authorities to find the couple. There is a tremendous amount of cooperation with Mexican law enforcement on a host of law enforcement issues, he said.Part of what bothered Mr. Prez Villoro was that the company that made the surveillance system, Dahua, had been blacklisted by the U.S. government in 2019. Dahua, based in Hangzhou, is one of the largest video surveillance companies in the world; it is partly state-owned, but also publicly traded, with revenues of $27 billion last year. Under the Trump administration, both the Commerce and Defense departments put Dahua on blacklists as the trade war with China escalated, and as scrutiny increased on human rights abuses against Muslims in Chinas Xinjiang region.According to a notice in the Federal Register, Dahuas products were used in Chinas campaign of repression, mass arbitrary detention and high-technology surveillance against Uighurs and other Muslim minority groups. As a result, the U.S. government cannot use its products and Dahua cannot buy American goods. (American individuals and businesses still can though; Amazon bought its thermal cameras last year to help detect Covid-19 symptoms at its warehouses.)Dahua Technology flatly denies the allegations, the company said in a statement about the blacklist. Ultimately, no security solutions company can fully control how its technologies are used by end users.Federal authorities declined to comment on the use of facial recognition technology in the pursuit of Mr. Felan and Ms. Yousif. We ask for assistance with fugitive investigations from other countries every day and cannot direct which sources and methodologies they may employ to assist in fugitive investigations, said Lynzey Donahue, spokeswoman for the U.S. Marshals.I have not heard of a story like this before where our government asked another government to do face recognition for it, said Adam Schwartz, a surveillance lawyer at the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Its very upsetting.The cutting-edge system was in use, searching for signs of the couple in Mexico, but it does not appear to be what led authorities to them. A spokeswoman for the ATF said the agency paid the $20,000 to someone who had information on the couple. That was then used to locate Felan and Yousif while in Mexico, directly leading to their apprehension, said Ashlee J. L. Sherrill, the spokeswoman. In his article, Mr. Prez Villoro deemed the real-time facial recognition system both an abuse of civil liberties and a technological failure that hadnt lived up to its promise. But the technology is spreading globally, in part because China is aggressively marketing it abroad as part of the countrys Belt and Road initiative, said Marc Rotenberg, president of the Center for A.I. and Digital Policy, a nonprofit in Washington.China is marketing mass surveillance technology to its trading partners in Africa, Asia and South America, he explained, pitching it as a way to minimize crime and promote public order in major metropolitan areas.I dont think they particularly see it as evil, Mr. Rotenberg said.In the United States, facial recognition technology is widely used by law enforcement officials, though poorly regulated. During a congressional hearing in July, lawmakers expressed surprise that 20 federal agencies were using it without having fully assessed the risks of misuse or bias some algorithms have been found to work less accurately on women and people of color, and it has led to mistaken arrests. The technology can be a powerful and effective crime-solving tool, though, placing it, for now, at a tipping point.At the start of the hearing, Representative Sheila Jackson Lee, Democrat of Texas, highlighted the challenge for Congress or anyone in determining the benefits and downsides to using facial recognition: Its not clear how well it works or how widely its used. As Ms. Jackson Lee said, Information on how law enforcement agencies have adopted facial recognition technology remains underreported or nonexistent.The ArrestAfter crossing into Mexico last summer, Mr. Felan and Ms. Yousif evaded capture for months, long enough for their son to be born there.This February, however, the day after Valentines Day, they were arrested in Puerto Vallarta, a tourist destination on the Pacific coast, 800 miles south of the U.S. border.Thanks to the skilled investigative work of the A.T.F. and the tireless apprehension efforts of the U.S. Marshals Service, these two defendants, who have been on the run for more than eight months, will be returned to Minnesota to face justice, U.S. Attorney Erica H. MacDonald said in a statement.Mr. Felan and Mr. Yousif were transported to San Diego, where they were charged in federal court three counts of arson for Mr. Felan, which carries a possible prison sentence of 20 years, and two counts of accessory after the fact for Ms. Yousif, with a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.They are now back in Minnesota, forbidden from talking to each other while they await federal prosecution.But their six-month-old son did not travel to the United States with them; he was taken into custody by Mexican authorities when the couple was arrested and placed in an international orphanage, according to Youser Yousif, Menas sister, because he was not considered a U.S. citizen. When a child is born abroad, the birth has to be registered with a U.S. embassy or consulate, but that is hard to do when on the run from the law. Youser Yousif said her sister had been filling out paperwork for months trying to secure the return of her son.In June, four months after the child was taken from his parents, Mena Yousifs family traveled to Mexico to try to retrieve him. Ms. Yousifs lawyer filed a request for the release of her passport, which had been seized by the authorities, so it could be sent to her parents in Mexico to prove that the mother of the child is a U.S. citizen.The judge agreed to the request and ordered Ms. Yousifs probation officer to mail the passport to Mexico.The U.S. Marshals went to great lengths to ensure that the apprehension of this couple was handled in such a way that the child could be placed in the custody of family members, said Ms. Donahue, spokeswoman for the U.S. Marshals.The FalloutImageCredit...Mike Blake/ReutersSurveillance footage and smartphone cameras provided the evidence that investigators needed to look into over 100 cases of arson from the three days of unrest in Minneapolis. A handful of people who have been convicted so far face up to four years in prison, and have been ordered to pay millions of dollars in restitution.Video evidence was crucial, too, in the event that set off the unrest, the murder of George Floyd. Its how the world knew what had happened to Mr. Floyd, and why Derek Chauvin, the officer who knelt on his neck, was sentenced to 22 years in prison for killing him.We are living in a world where tracking technologies, from surveillance cameras to our smartphones, are recording more and more of our lives, raising urgent questions about the extent to which those recordings should feed into surveillance systems, and how easy we want it to be for governments and companies to track us in real time.In a 2019 report on video analytics, the American Civil Liberties Union argued that millions of surveillance cameras installed in recent decades are waking up thanks to automation, such as facial recognition technology, which allows them to not just record, but to analyze what is happening and flag what they see: That will usher in something entirely new in the history of humanity: a society where everyones public movements and behavior are subject to constant and comprehensive evaluation and judgment by agents of authority in short, a society where everyone is watched.In this case, U.S. citizens were subject to a real-time tracking system that the U.S. government itself had deemed abusive in China.Real-time face recognition systems are dangerous now and threaten to become even more pervasive and all-encompassing, said Ashley Gorski, a lawyer at the A.C.L.U. The claimed benefits to law enforcement should not obscure the privacy harms for millions of people subject to these proliferating systems and government monitoring of their everyday movements.Mr. Felan is awaiting trial in Sherburne County jail on the outskirts of Minneapolis, while Ms. Yousif is on house arrest at her parents home in Rochester. A community group assisting people arrested as a result of the protests posted a message from Mr. Felan on its Facebook page: This is the most difficult time Ive ever had to go through in my entire life.Natalie Kitroeff, Oscar Lopez and Paul Mozur contributed reporting. Susan C. Beachy contributed research. [/INST] Tech </s> |
Credit...Tom Brenner/The New York TimesJune 6, 2018WASHINGTON President Trump commuted the sentence on Wednesday of a 63-year-old woman serving life in prison for a nonviolent drug conviction after her case was brought to his attention by the reality television star Kim Kardashian West.Although short of a full pardon, the decision will free Alice Marie Johnson, who has been locked up in federal prison in Alabama since 1996 on charges related to cocaine distribution and money laundering. Ms. Kardashian West, who learned of the case through a video that went viral on social media, visited Mr. Trump at the White House last week to lobby on Ms. Johnsons behalf.While this administration will always be very tough on crime, it believes that those who have paid their debt to society and worked hard to better themselves while in prison deserve a second chance, the White House said in a statement announcing the commutation.Ms. Kardashian West celebrated the decision on Twitter. BEST NEWS EVER!!!! she wrote.In an emailed statement, she thanked Mr. Trump and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, for showing mercy to Ms. Johnson. Her commutation and forthcoming release is inspirational and gives hope to so many others who are also deserving of a second chance, Ms. Kardashian West said.The presidents intervention was contrary to the policies his own Justice Department has enacted since he took office. Attorney General Jeff Sessions last year ordered federal prosecutors to pursue the toughest possible charges and sentences against criminal defendants, reversing President Barack Obamas efforts to ease penalties in nonviolent drug cases.The arguments advanced on Ms. Johnsons behalf were essentially the same that were made for thousands of other nonviolent drug convicts whose petitions for presidential clemency have been languishing at the Justice Department without action. While Mr. Obama pardoned 212 people and commuted the sentences of 1,715 prisoners, including 568 serving life sentences, Mr. Trump has acted mainly on a few high-profile cases brought to him by associates and allies.Im grateful to the president for allowing Alice to go home after 21.5 years in prison and to Kim Kardashian for her advocacy on Alices behalf, said Jennifer Turner, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union, which has championed Ms. Johnsons case. I urge the president to do the same for other federal prisoners serving extreme sentences that dont match the offenses, while reforming our draconian sentencing laws that produce these senseless punishments.Mr. Kushner has been advocating changes to harsh criminal justice policies against the resistance of Mr. Sessions and the Justice Department. He invited Ms. Kardashian West to the White House last week to make the case for Ms. Johnson and Mr. Trump then invited his guest to come to the Oval Office to talk to him about her.Not everyone in the White House shared the view that Ms. Johnsons sentence was too harsh. John F. Kelly, the White House chief of staff, and Donald F. McGahn II, the White House counsel, resisted clemency, according to an administration official, confirming a report in The Washington Post. The two advisers were concerned because the drug ring that Ms. Johnson was part of moved substantial amounts of cocaine to the streets of Memphis over a period of years.The Justice Department declined to comment on the presidents decision on Wednesday. According to its website, Ms. Johnson did not have a pending application for clemency registered with the department; a previous application was denied.Mr. Trump last week pardoned Dinesh DSouza, a prominent conservative author and filmmaker convicted of campaign finance violations, and suggested that he might use his clemency power on behalf of former Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich of Illinois and Martha Stewart, the lifestyle guru.He has also pardoned four others whose cases were championed by conservatives or celebrities, including Joe Arpaio, the former Arizona sheriff known for his tough approach to immigration; I. Lewis Libby Jr., the chief of staff to former Vice President Dick Cheney; Jack Johnson, the black boxing legend; and Kristian Saucier, a former Navy sailor.Ms. Johnson had no fame or fortune, but her situation became a symbol for activists pushing for sentencing overhaul, an example of a system that in their view has taken punishment too far and disproportionately affected African-Americans like her. She was singled out by the A.C.L.U. as well as by Mic, a news website that seeks to give voice to the underrepresented and interviewed Ms. Johnson about her plight.Its like an unexecuted sentence of death, she told Mic about her life sentence. Her family, she added, told me that coming to visit me in prison is like visiting a grave site.They said that they could see the place where my body lay but they can never take me home again, she said.A single mother of five in Memphis, she struggled with gambling, unemployment, bankruptcy and foreclosure before becoming involved in a drug ring. She was arrested in 1993 as part of an operation that transported cocaine from Houston to Memphis, relaying coded messages between conspirators. She also purchased a house with a down payment that she structured with three separate money orders under the $10,000 reporting limit.Ms. Johnson was convicted of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine, attempted possession of cocaine with intent to distribute and deliver, money laundering, conspiracy to commit money laundering and structuring a monetary transaction, according to the A.C.L.U. Under mandatory sentencing rules, she was given a life term without parole. Several co-defendants who testified against her were sentenced to probation or terms up to 10 years.While in prison, where she became a grandmother and great-grandmother, Ms. Johnson took educational and vocational programs, volunteered to help sick and dying prisoners, and helped coordinate the prisons Special Olympics.Ms. Kardashian West said she broke the news to Ms. Johnson in a telephone call to her prison in Aliceville, Ala. The phone call I just had with Alice will forever be one of my best memories, she wrote on Twitter. Telling her for the first time and hearing her screams while crying together is a moment I will never forget. | Politics | <s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> Credit...Tom Brenner/The New York TimesJune 6, 2018WASHINGTON President Trump commuted the sentence on Wednesday of a 63-year-old woman serving life in prison for a nonviolent drug conviction after her case was brought to his attention by the reality television star Kim Kardashian West.Although short of a full pardon, the decision will free Alice Marie Johnson, who has been locked up in federal prison in Alabama since 1996 on charges related to cocaine distribution and money laundering. Ms. Kardashian West, who learned of the case through a video that went viral on social media, visited Mr. Trump at the White House last week to lobby on Ms. Johnsons behalf.While this administration will always be very tough on crime, it believes that those who have paid their debt to society and worked hard to better themselves while in prison deserve a second chance, the White House said in a statement announcing the commutation.Ms. Kardashian West celebrated the decision on Twitter. BEST NEWS EVER!!!! she wrote.In an emailed statement, she thanked Mr. Trump and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, for showing mercy to Ms. Johnson. Her commutation and forthcoming release is inspirational and gives hope to so many others who are also deserving of a second chance, Ms. Kardashian West said.The presidents intervention was contrary to the policies his own Justice Department has enacted since he took office. Attorney General Jeff Sessions last year ordered federal prosecutors to pursue the toughest possible charges and sentences against criminal defendants, reversing President Barack Obamas efforts to ease penalties in nonviolent drug cases.The arguments advanced on Ms. Johnsons behalf were essentially the same that were made for thousands of other nonviolent drug convicts whose petitions for presidential clemency have been languishing at the Justice Department without action. While Mr. Obama pardoned 212 people and commuted the sentences of 1,715 prisoners, including 568 serving life sentences, Mr. Trump has acted mainly on a few high-profile cases brought to him by associates and allies.Im grateful to the president for allowing Alice to go home after 21.5 years in prison and to Kim Kardashian for her advocacy on Alices behalf, said Jennifer Turner, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union, which has championed Ms. Johnsons case. I urge the president to do the same for other federal prisoners serving extreme sentences that dont match the offenses, while reforming our draconian sentencing laws that produce these senseless punishments.Mr. Kushner has been advocating changes to harsh criminal justice policies against the resistance of Mr. Sessions and the Justice Department. He invited Ms. Kardashian West to the White House last week to make the case for Ms. Johnson and Mr. Trump then invited his guest to come to the Oval Office to talk to him about her.Not everyone in the White House shared the view that Ms. Johnsons sentence was too harsh. John F. Kelly, the White House chief of staff, and Donald F. McGahn II, the White House counsel, resisted clemency, according to an administration official, confirming a report in The Washington Post. The two advisers were concerned because the drug ring that Ms. Johnson was part of moved substantial amounts of cocaine to the streets of Memphis over a period of years.The Justice Department declined to comment on the presidents decision on Wednesday. According to its website, Ms. Johnson did not have a pending application for clemency registered with the department; a previous application was denied.Mr. Trump last week pardoned Dinesh DSouza, a prominent conservative author and filmmaker convicted of campaign finance violations, and suggested that he might use his clemency power on behalf of former Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich of Illinois and Martha Stewart, the lifestyle guru.He has also pardoned four others whose cases were championed by conservatives or celebrities, including Joe Arpaio, the former Arizona sheriff known for his tough approach to immigration; I. Lewis Libby Jr., the chief of staff to former Vice President Dick Cheney; Jack Johnson, the black boxing legend; and Kristian Saucier, a former Navy sailor.Ms. Johnson had no fame or fortune, but her situation became a symbol for activists pushing for sentencing overhaul, an example of a system that in their view has taken punishment too far and disproportionately affected African-Americans like her. She was singled out by the A.C.L.U. as well as by Mic, a news website that seeks to give voice to the underrepresented and interviewed Ms. Johnson about her plight.Its like an unexecuted sentence of death, she told Mic about her life sentence. Her family, she added, told me that coming to visit me in prison is like visiting a grave site.They said that they could see the place where my body lay but they can never take me home again, she said.A single mother of five in Memphis, she struggled with gambling, unemployment, bankruptcy and foreclosure before becoming involved in a drug ring. She was arrested in 1993 as part of an operation that transported cocaine from Houston to Memphis, relaying coded messages between conspirators. She also purchased a house with a down payment that she structured with three separate money orders under the $10,000 reporting limit.Ms. Johnson was convicted of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine, attempted possession of cocaine with intent to distribute and deliver, money laundering, conspiracy to commit money laundering and structuring a monetary transaction, according to the A.C.L.U. Under mandatory sentencing rules, she was given a life term without parole. Several co-defendants who testified against her were sentenced to probation or terms up to 10 years.While in prison, where she became a grandmother and great-grandmother, Ms. Johnson took educational and vocational programs, volunteered to help sick and dying prisoners, and helped coordinate the prisons Special Olympics.Ms. Kardashian West said she broke the news to Ms. Johnson in a telephone call to her prison in Aliceville, Ala. The phone call I just had with Alice will forever be one of my best memories, she wrote on Twitter. Telling her for the first time and hearing her screams while crying together is a moment I will never forget. [/INST] Politics </s> |
VideotranscripttranscriptFrom Gay Rights to Bush v. Gore: Anthony Kennedys LegacyThe Timess Supreme Court correspondent, Adam Liptak, looks at many of Justice Anthony Kennedys most consequential votes.Justice Anthony Kennedy announced his retirement, effective July 31. Justice Kennedys greatest judicial legacy was his championship of gay rights. He wrote every major gay rights decision, including one called Obergefell, which established a constitutional right to same-sex marriage, and it will be what he is most remembered for. Justice Kennedy was a moderate conservative; voted more often with the courts conservative wing; was the author of Citizens United, which amplified the role of money in politics; cast a vote with the five-justice majority in Bush v. Gore in 2000, which handed the presidency to President George W. Bush I George Walker Bush, do solemnly swear. joined the five-justice majority in District of Columbia against Heller, which revolutionized Second Amendment law and established a personal right to keep and bear arms. He was often prepared to cut back on the death penalty, whether it involved people with intellectual disabilities, people who committed crimes when they were younger than 18 or people who committed crimes other than murder. He joined the controlling opinion and in a 1992 decision, Planned Parenthood against Casey, which re-established and saved Roe v. Wade, the decision that guarantees a constitutional right to abortion. And in recent years, he has joined the courts liberals in cases on affirmative action and abortion. And those cases in which Justice Kennedy joined the courts four more liberal members are almost certainly at risk if President Trump appoints a conservative to the court.The Timess Supreme Court correspondent, Adam Liptak, looks at many of Justice Anthony Kennedys most consequential votes.CreditCredit...Eric Thayer/Getty ImagesJune 27, 2018WASHINGTON Justice Anthony M. Kennedy announced on Wednesday that he would retire this summer, setting in motion a furious fight over the future of the Supreme Court and giving President Trump the chance to put a conservative stamp on the American legal system for generations.Justice Kennedy, 81, has been a critical swing vote on the sharply polarized court for nearly three decades as he embraced liberal views on gay rights, abortion and the death penalty but helped conservatives trim voting rights, block gun control measures and unleash campaign spending by corporations.His replacement by a conservative justice something Mr. Trump has vowed to his supporters could imperil a variety of landmark Supreme Court precedents on social issues where Justice Kennedy frequently sided with his liberal colleagues, particularly on abortion.Mr. Trump and his Republican allies have hoped for months that Justice Kennedy might retire, clearing a way for a new, more conservative jurist before Democrats had an opportunity to capture the Senate and block future Republican nominees. In contrast to his frequent criticisms of Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., a generally reliable conservative, Mr. Trump has frequently heaped praise on Justice Kennedy and even has suggested that he might nominate one of his former clerks to the bench subtle nudges the president hoped would make Justice Kennedy more comfortable with the idea of stepping down.ImageJustice Kennedy hand-delivered a short letter of resignation to Mr. Trump on Wednesday afternoon, shortly after a half-hour meeting at the White House, where the president called him a jurist with tremendous vision and tremendous heart.Please permit me by this letter to express my profound gratitude for having had the privilege to seek in each case how best to know, interpret and defend the Constitution and the laws that must always conform to its mandates and promises, Justice Kennedy wrote to Mr. Trump.The president called Justice Kennedy a special guy and a star during a Wednesday night rally in Fargo, N.D., and said that he would find a replacement with intellect who would last for several decades on the bench.Earlier in the day, Mr. Trump promised to begin an immediate search for a replacement and to pick from a list of 25 conservative jurists he had previously identified as candidates for the courts next vacancy. In comments to reporters, Mr. Trump said he would nominate somebody who will be just as outstanding as Justice Kennedy.Potential nominees include Brett M. Kavanaugh, a federal appellate judge for the District of Columbia Circuit who clerked for Justice Kennedy at the Supreme Court. Another possibility is Judge Thomas M. Hardiman of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, whom Mr. Trump seriously considered last year to replace Justice Antonin Scalia, who died in 2016. The president chose Judge Neil M. Gorsuch instead.The Senate, which must confirm the presidents pick for the court, is under Republican control, which gives Mr. Trump the opportunity to win approval of his choice without any Democratic support. But the Senates makeup could change after congressional elections this fall, putting immense pressure on the president and his party to nominate and confirm a justice before November.Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the majority leader, called on senators to make sure the presidents nominee would be considered fairly without being subjected to personal or character attacks.We will vote to confirm Justice Kennedys successor this fall, Mr. McConnell vowed in brief remarks on Wednesday.But Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader, demanded that the Senate wait to confirm Justice Kennedys replacement until after the midterm elections. Mr. Schumer noted that Republicans delayed consideration of President Barack Obamas court nominee in 2016, Judge Merrick B. Garland, citing the presidential election that year.The Republicans prevented even a hearing for Mr. Obamas nominee, which effectively handed Mr. Trump the chance to fill the vacancy created by the death of Justice Scalia. The move infuriated Democrats, who accused Republicans of stealing Mr. Obamas right to fill a seat on the court.Mr. Schumer said senators should not consider a Supreme Court justice in an election year, saying that anything but that would be the absolute height of hypocrisy.People are just months away from determining the senators who should vote to confirm or reject the presidents nominee, Mr. Schumer said on the floor of the Senate, and their voices deserve to be heard now, as Senator McConnell thought that they deserved to be heard then.Justice Kennedy, a Californian and graduate of Harvard Law School, was appointed to the Supreme Court by President Ronald Reagan in 1987. But he was never a reliable conservative and evolved into one of the courts most unpredictable jurists.He wrote some of the countrys most important gay rights decisions and helped to drastically shift the United States legal treatment of gays, lesbians and transgender people. In 2015, he wrote the courts opinion that established the right for gay people to marry each other.Their hope is not to be condemned to live in loneliness, excluded from one of civilizations oldest institutions, Justice Kennedy wrote of gay Americans. They ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law. The Constitution grants them that right.Justice Kennedy has also served as the linchpin of the judicial defense of abortion rights, frequently siding with the courts liberals in turning back conservative challenges to Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 case that established a constitutional right to abortion.But Justice Kennedy has also been a decisive vote for rulings that cemented conservative principles in some of the most contentious issues in American political life.He wrote the opinion in Citizens United, which gave corporations the right to make unlimited campaign contributions. He joined the courts conservatives in 2008 in declaring that the Constitution protects a persons right to keep a loaded gun at home for self-defense.After the 2000 election, Justice Kennedy also joined the majority in Bush v. Gore, handing the presidency to Mr. Bush and drawing the ire of Democrats who believed the election was stolen from Vice President Al Gore.In leaving this year, Justice Kennedy gives Mr. Trump and the Republican Party the opportunity to undermine the permanence of the liberal cases that he shaped. His retirement will have far more effect than Mr. Trumps selection of Justice Gorsuch, a conservative who replaced another conservative, Justice Scalia.During the presidential campaign, Mr. Trump promised voters that he would choose a Supreme Court nominee should he get the opportunity from a list of mostly conservative judges that he made public.ImageCredit...Chip Somodevilla/Getty ImagesHe first offered 11 names, then added 10 more, compiled by Donald F. McGahn II, Mr. Trumps longtime election lawyer and now the White House counsel, with input from the Federalist Society and the Heritage Foundation, two conservative legal organizations. Since last year, the list which is published at whitehouse.gov has grown to 25 names.We have a very excellent list of great, talented, highly educated, highly intelligent hopefully, tremendous people. I think the list is very outstanding, Mr. Trump said Wednesday. So it will be somebody from that list.In addition to Judge Kavanaugh and Judge Hardiman, Mr. Trump is expected to seriously consider William H. Pryor Jr. and Amul R. Thapar, both appeals courts judges. Mr. Trump interviewed Judges Hardiman, Pryor and Thapar in 2017 before picking Judge Gorsuch.The White House is likely to conduct a similar process this year, with Mr. Trump meeting personally with several candidates and discussing the issue with advisers inside and outside the administration.Because Mr. Trump is unpredictable, it is possible that he might pick someone like Senator Mike Lee, Republican of Utah, a conservative lawmaker who appears on the presidents list of 25 possible nominees. Mr. Trump could also, despite his pledge, veer from the list and pick someone else.In his remarks to reporters shortly after meeting with Justice Kennedy, the president appeared to appreciate the gravity of the choice before him.In our country, the selection of a justice of the United States Supreme Court is considered, I think we can all say, one of the most important events one of the most important things for our country, he said. I mean, you see the decisions that just came down, how big they are, how vital they are.Some people think, the president added, outside of, obviously, war and peace, its the most important thing that you could have. | Politics | <s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> VideotranscripttranscriptFrom Gay Rights to Bush v. Gore: Anthony Kennedys LegacyThe Timess Supreme Court correspondent, Adam Liptak, looks at many of Justice Anthony Kennedys most consequential votes.Justice Anthony Kennedy announced his retirement, effective July 31. Justice Kennedys greatest judicial legacy was his championship of gay rights. He wrote every major gay rights decision, including one called Obergefell, which established a constitutional right to same-sex marriage, and it will be what he is most remembered for. Justice Kennedy was a moderate conservative; voted more often with the courts conservative wing; was the author of Citizens United, which amplified the role of money in politics; cast a vote with the five-justice majority in Bush v. Gore in 2000, which handed the presidency to President George W. Bush I George Walker Bush, do solemnly swear. joined the five-justice majority in District of Columbia against Heller, which revolutionized Second Amendment law and established a personal right to keep and bear arms. He was often prepared to cut back on the death penalty, whether it involved people with intellectual disabilities, people who committed crimes when they were younger than 18 or people who committed crimes other than murder. He joined the controlling opinion and in a 1992 decision, Planned Parenthood against Casey, which re-established and saved Roe v. Wade, the decision that guarantees a constitutional right to abortion. And in recent years, he has joined the courts liberals in cases on affirmative action and abortion. And those cases in which Justice Kennedy joined the courts four more liberal members are almost certainly at risk if President Trump appoints a conservative to the court.The Timess Supreme Court correspondent, Adam Liptak, looks at many of Justice Anthony Kennedys most consequential votes.CreditCredit...Eric Thayer/Getty ImagesJune 27, 2018WASHINGTON Justice Anthony M. Kennedy announced on Wednesday that he would retire this summer, setting in motion a furious fight over the future of the Supreme Court and giving President Trump the chance to put a conservative stamp on the American legal system for generations.Justice Kennedy, 81, has been a critical swing vote on the sharply polarized court for nearly three decades as he embraced liberal views on gay rights, abortion and the death penalty but helped conservatives trim voting rights, block gun control measures and unleash campaign spending by corporations.His replacement by a conservative justice something Mr. Trump has vowed to his supporters could imperil a variety of landmark Supreme Court precedents on social issues where Justice Kennedy frequently sided with his liberal colleagues, particularly on abortion.Mr. Trump and his Republican allies have hoped for months that Justice Kennedy might retire, clearing a way for a new, more conservative jurist before Democrats had an opportunity to capture the Senate and block future Republican nominees. In contrast to his frequent criticisms of Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., a generally reliable conservative, Mr. Trump has frequently heaped praise on Justice Kennedy and even has suggested that he might nominate one of his former clerks to the bench subtle nudges the president hoped would make Justice Kennedy more comfortable with the idea of stepping down.ImageJustice Kennedy hand-delivered a short letter of resignation to Mr. Trump on Wednesday afternoon, shortly after a half-hour meeting at the White House, where the president called him a jurist with tremendous vision and tremendous heart.Please permit me by this letter to express my profound gratitude for having had the privilege to seek in each case how best to know, interpret and defend the Constitution and the laws that must always conform to its mandates and promises, Justice Kennedy wrote to Mr. Trump.The president called Justice Kennedy a special guy and a star during a Wednesday night rally in Fargo, N.D., and said that he would find a replacement with intellect who would last for several decades on the bench.Earlier in the day, Mr. Trump promised to begin an immediate search for a replacement and to pick from a list of 25 conservative jurists he had previously identified as candidates for the courts next vacancy. In comments to reporters, Mr. Trump said he would nominate somebody who will be just as outstanding as Justice Kennedy.Potential nominees include Brett M. Kavanaugh, a federal appellate judge for the District of Columbia Circuit who clerked for Justice Kennedy at the Supreme Court. Another possibility is Judge Thomas M. Hardiman of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, whom Mr. Trump seriously considered last year to replace Justice Antonin Scalia, who died in 2016. The president chose Judge Neil M. Gorsuch instead.The Senate, which must confirm the presidents pick for the court, is under Republican control, which gives Mr. Trump the opportunity to win approval of his choice without any Democratic support. But the Senates makeup could change after congressional elections this fall, putting immense pressure on the president and his party to nominate and confirm a justice before November.Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the majority leader, called on senators to make sure the presidents nominee would be considered fairly without being subjected to personal or character attacks.We will vote to confirm Justice Kennedys successor this fall, Mr. McConnell vowed in brief remarks on Wednesday.But Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader, demanded that the Senate wait to confirm Justice Kennedys replacement until after the midterm elections. Mr. Schumer noted that Republicans delayed consideration of President Barack Obamas court nominee in 2016, Judge Merrick B. Garland, citing the presidential election that year.The Republicans prevented even a hearing for Mr. Obamas nominee, which effectively handed Mr. Trump the chance to fill the vacancy created by the death of Justice Scalia. The move infuriated Democrats, who accused Republicans of stealing Mr. Obamas right to fill a seat on the court.Mr. Schumer said senators should not consider a Supreme Court justice in an election year, saying that anything but that would be the absolute height of hypocrisy.People are just months away from determining the senators who should vote to confirm or reject the presidents nominee, Mr. Schumer said on the floor of the Senate, and their voices deserve to be heard now, as Senator McConnell thought that they deserved to be heard then.Justice Kennedy, a Californian and graduate of Harvard Law School, was appointed to the Supreme Court by President Ronald Reagan in 1987. But he was never a reliable conservative and evolved into one of the courts most unpredictable jurists.He wrote some of the countrys most important gay rights decisions and helped to drastically shift the United States legal treatment of gays, lesbians and transgender people. In 2015, he wrote the courts opinion that established the right for gay people to marry each other.Their hope is not to be condemned to live in loneliness, excluded from one of civilizations oldest institutions, Justice Kennedy wrote of gay Americans. They ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law. The Constitution grants them that right.Justice Kennedy has also served as the linchpin of the judicial defense of abortion rights, frequently siding with the courts liberals in turning back conservative challenges to Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 case that established a constitutional right to abortion.But Justice Kennedy has also been a decisive vote for rulings that cemented conservative principles in some of the most contentious issues in American political life.He wrote the opinion in Citizens United, which gave corporations the right to make unlimited campaign contributions. He joined the courts conservatives in 2008 in declaring that the Constitution protects a persons right to keep a loaded gun at home for self-defense.After the 2000 election, Justice Kennedy also joined the majority in Bush v. Gore, handing the presidency to Mr. Bush and drawing the ire of Democrats who believed the election was stolen from Vice President Al Gore.In leaving this year, Justice Kennedy gives Mr. Trump and the Republican Party the opportunity to undermine the permanence of the liberal cases that he shaped. His retirement will have far more effect than Mr. Trumps selection of Justice Gorsuch, a conservative who replaced another conservative, Justice Scalia.During the presidential campaign, Mr. Trump promised voters that he would choose a Supreme Court nominee should he get the opportunity from a list of mostly conservative judges that he made public.ImageCredit...Chip Somodevilla/Getty ImagesHe first offered 11 names, then added 10 more, compiled by Donald F. McGahn II, Mr. Trumps longtime election lawyer and now the White House counsel, with input from the Federalist Society and the Heritage Foundation, two conservative legal organizations. Since last year, the list which is published at whitehouse.gov has grown to 25 names.We have a very excellent list of great, talented, highly educated, highly intelligent hopefully, tremendous people. I think the list is very outstanding, Mr. Trump said Wednesday. So it will be somebody from that list.In addition to Judge Kavanaugh and Judge Hardiman, Mr. Trump is expected to seriously consider William H. Pryor Jr. and Amul R. Thapar, both appeals courts judges. Mr. Trump interviewed Judges Hardiman, Pryor and Thapar in 2017 before picking Judge Gorsuch.The White House is likely to conduct a similar process this year, with Mr. Trump meeting personally with several candidates and discussing the issue with advisers inside and outside the administration.Because Mr. Trump is unpredictable, it is possible that he might pick someone like Senator Mike Lee, Republican of Utah, a conservative lawmaker who appears on the presidents list of 25 possible nominees. Mr. Trump could also, despite his pledge, veer from the list and pick someone else.In his remarks to reporters shortly after meeting with Justice Kennedy, the president appeared to appreciate the gravity of the choice before him.In our country, the selection of a justice of the United States Supreme Court is considered, I think we can all say, one of the most important events one of the most important things for our country, he said. I mean, you see the decisions that just came down, how big they are, how vital they are.Some people think, the president added, outside of, obviously, war and peace, its the most important thing that you could have. [/INST] Politics </s> |
Health|C.D.C.s Pandemic Team Will Surrender Some Responsibilitieshttps://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/20/health/covid-cdc-reorganization.htmlMay 20, 2022, 6:15 p.m. ETMay 20, 2022, 6:15 p.m. ETCredit...Ron Harris/Associated PressJust weeks after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention began a comprehensive internal review with an eye toward restructuring, the agencys director announced on Friday that the team that coordinated the national response to the Covid-19 pandemic would return some of its functions to other departments.But the so-called Incident Management Structure, initially brought together to respond to the public health emergency, is not being dissolved and will continue to meet the demands of this evolving pandemic, according to a letter sent to employees on Friday by the agencys director, Dr. Rochelle Walensky.The move signals the beginning of efforts to put in place comprehensive changes at the agency, whose public standing and reputation have suffered in recent years. Some 60 percent of Americans, for example, say they are confused by changes in official pandemic recommendations, according to a recent Pew Research Center survey.But Dr. Walenskys letter was short on details regarding the changes. A statement in response to questions from The New York Times said only that the reviews initial data collection phase is complete, and now the director will synthesize the information, identify themes, and prioritize next steps to formalize approaches and find new ways to adapt the agency to the changing environment.Dr. Walensky told employees last month that the C.D.C., which has faced an onslaught of criticism over its recent handling of the pandemic, would undergo a review and evaluation by Jim Macrae, a federal official who has held several senior positions within the Department of Health and Human Services. That review started on April 11.The review is also looking at how to modernize ways in which the agency develops scientific research and deploys it, and what other strategic improvements can be made to better serve public health, like better surveillance systems.To those ends, the reviewers have conducted more than 100 interviews and held nearly 50 one-on-one conversations with public health leaders both inside and outside the agency, Dr. Walensky said.The C.D.C. has long been admired for its scientific approach to improving public health. Many scientists from around the world were trained by its experts and have emulated the agencys standards and methods.But the C.D.C.s infrastructure was neglected for decades, along with the public health system generally. Agency scientists stumbled early in the pandemic with the flawed design of a diagnostic test, and went on to make some recommendations about masking, isolation and quarantine that critics charged were based on insufficient evidence.On Friday, Dr. Walensky indicated that health equity would be a priority for the agency in the future. The pandemic laid bare the stark racial and ethnic health disparities in the United States. Black, Hispanic and American Indian/Alaska Native adults were hospitalized with Covid and died at higher rates than white Americans.The roots of the inequities are myriad, and include difficulties gaining access to care, mistrust in the medical system, higher rates of existing health problems like obesity and diabetes, and socioeconomic circumstances, like crowded housing and consumer-facing jobs, that increased the odds of exposure to the virus.Dr. Walensky said that lessons learned from the pandemic and feedback she has received made clear that it is time to take a step back and strategically position C.D.C. to facilitate and support the future of public health with a keen focus on health equity and the agencys core capabilities. | Health | <s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> Health|C.D.C.s Pandemic Team Will Surrender Some Responsibilitieshttps://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/20/health/covid-cdc-reorganization.htmlMay 20, 2022, 6:15 p.m. ETMay 20, 2022, 6:15 p.m. ETCredit...Ron Harris/Associated PressJust weeks after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention began a comprehensive internal review with an eye toward restructuring, the agencys director announced on Friday that the team that coordinated the national response to the Covid-19 pandemic would return some of its functions to other departments.But the so-called Incident Management Structure, initially brought together to respond to the public health emergency, is not being dissolved and will continue to meet the demands of this evolving pandemic, according to a letter sent to employees on Friday by the agencys director, Dr. Rochelle Walensky.The move signals the beginning of efforts to put in place comprehensive changes at the agency, whose public standing and reputation have suffered in recent years. Some 60 percent of Americans, for example, say they are confused by changes in official pandemic recommendations, according to a recent Pew Research Center survey.But Dr. Walenskys letter was short on details regarding the changes. A statement in response to questions from The New York Times said only that the reviews initial data collection phase is complete, and now the director will synthesize the information, identify themes, and prioritize next steps to formalize approaches and find new ways to adapt the agency to the changing environment.Dr. Walensky told employees last month that the C.D.C., which has faced an onslaught of criticism over its recent handling of the pandemic, would undergo a review and evaluation by Jim Macrae, a federal official who has held several senior positions within the Department of Health and Human Services. That review started on April 11.The review is also looking at how to modernize ways in which the agency develops scientific research and deploys it, and what other strategic improvements can be made to better serve public health, like better surveillance systems.To those ends, the reviewers have conducted more than 100 interviews and held nearly 50 one-on-one conversations with public health leaders both inside and outside the agency, Dr. Walensky said.The C.D.C. has long been admired for its scientific approach to improving public health. Many scientists from around the world were trained by its experts and have emulated the agencys standards and methods.But the C.D.C.s infrastructure was neglected for decades, along with the public health system generally. Agency scientists stumbled early in the pandemic with the flawed design of a diagnostic test, and went on to make some recommendations about masking, isolation and quarantine that critics charged were based on insufficient evidence.On Friday, Dr. Walensky indicated that health equity would be a priority for the agency in the future. The pandemic laid bare the stark racial and ethnic health disparities in the United States. Black, Hispanic and American Indian/Alaska Native adults were hospitalized with Covid and died at higher rates than white Americans.The roots of the inequities are myriad, and include difficulties gaining access to care, mistrust in the medical system, higher rates of existing health problems like obesity and diabetes, and socioeconomic circumstances, like crowded housing and consumer-facing jobs, that increased the odds of exposure to the virus.Dr. Walensky said that lessons learned from the pandemic and feedback she has received made clear that it is time to take a step back and strategically position C.D.C. to facilitate and support the future of public health with a keen focus on health equity and the agencys core capabilities. [/INST] Health </s> |
Nicole Eggert Headed to L.A. I'm Filing a Police Report Against Scott Baio 1/31/2018 TMZ.com Nicole Eggert is on her way back to L.A. and she's beelining it for the police department to file a sexual battery report against Scott Baio. Nicole was leaving the Peninsula Hotel in NYC Wednesday when our photog asked if she was going to pull the trigger and go to cops. She wouldn't comment on Scott's appearance on GMA Wednesday, where he essentially called her a liar and invited her to call cops, because he says he never had sexual contact with her until she was 18. Nicole and her lawyer Lisa Bloom also said they were considering filing a lawsuit against Scott. We asked her if she was going to follow through with that, and she somewhat coyly suggested that was in the cards. | Entertainment | <s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> Nicole Eggert Headed to L.A. I'm Filing a Police Report Against Scott Baio 1/31/2018 TMZ.com Nicole Eggert is on her way back to L.A. and she's beelining it for the police department to file a sexual battery report against Scott Baio. Nicole was leaving the Peninsula Hotel in NYC Wednesday when our photog asked if she was going to pull the trigger and go to cops. She wouldn't comment on Scott's appearance on GMA Wednesday, where he essentially called her a liar and invited her to call cops, because he says he never had sexual contact with her until she was 18. Nicole and her lawyer Lisa Bloom also said they were considering filing a lawsuit against Scott. We asked her if she was going to follow through with that, and she somewhat coyly suggested that was in the cards. [/INST] Entertainment </s> |
Tennis|Murray Propels Britain to a Rare Win Over the U.S.https://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/03/sports/tennis/davis-cup-roundup.htmlDavis Cup RoundupFeb. 2, 2014The Wimbledon champion Andy Murray beat Sam Querrey, 7-6 (5), 6-7 (3), 6-1, 6-3, to clinch Britains opening-round Davis Cup victory, 3-1, against the United States on Sunday in San Diego. The fourth singles match was canceled.Murray won his 18th straight Davis Cup singles match, and Britain beat the Americans for the first time since 1935.Britain advanced to the World Group quarterfinals, which will be held April 4-6, for the first time since 1986. It will face Italy. The United States will face a playoff to remain in the elite World Group.CZECH REPUBLIC ADVANCES The Czech Republic, the defending champion, reached the quarterfinals after TomasBerdychwon the first reverse singles to clinch the first-round series against the Netherlands in Ostrava, Czech Republic.Seeking their third straight title, the Czechs will face Japan in the quarterfinals.HOME CROWD BOOS GERMANY Daniel Brands defeated Roberto Bautista Agut, 7-6 (5), 6-4, to wrap up a 4-1 win for Germany over Spain in the first round.Germany reached the quarterfinals for the first time in three years, but home supporters in Frankfurt were angered by the no-show of three German players for the other reverse singles match with the result already decided.Germany, which last won the trophy in 1993, will play France in the quarterfinals, while Spain, a five-time champion, faces a World Group playoff in September after its second successive first-round exit.A POINT FOR SERBIA Dusan Lajovic and Filip Krajinovic won the reverse singles to take some of the sting out of Switzerlands 3-2 triumph over Serbia in their first round World Group matchup in Novi Sad, Serbia.Switzerland will face Kazakhstan in the quarterfinals. Kazakhstan won, 3-2, over Belgium in Astana, Kazakhstan.FRANCE DEFEATS AUSTRALIA Gal Monfils completed Frances 5-0 rout of Australia in the first round by defeating, Nick Kyrgios 7-6 (5), 6-4, in La Roche-Sur-Yon, France.ITALY BEATS ARGENTINA Italy reached the quarterfinals when Fabio Fognini defeated Carlos Berlocq of Argentina to give Italy an unassailable 3-1 lead in Mar Del Plata, Argentina. It was Italys first victory over Argentina in Davis Cup play, and the loss ended Argentinas 12-year streak of reaching the quarterfinals.A FIRST FOR JAPAN Japan sailed into the quarterfinals for the first time with a 4-1 victory after Frank Dancevic of Canada retired with an injury. (REUTERS) | Sports | <s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> Tennis|Murray Propels Britain to a Rare Win Over the U.S.https://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/03/sports/tennis/davis-cup-roundup.htmlDavis Cup RoundupFeb. 2, 2014The Wimbledon champion Andy Murray beat Sam Querrey, 7-6 (5), 6-7 (3), 6-1, 6-3, to clinch Britains opening-round Davis Cup victory, 3-1, against the United States on Sunday in San Diego. The fourth singles match was canceled.Murray won his 18th straight Davis Cup singles match, and Britain beat the Americans for the first time since 1935.Britain advanced to the World Group quarterfinals, which will be held April 4-6, for the first time since 1986. It will face Italy. The United States will face a playoff to remain in the elite World Group.CZECH REPUBLIC ADVANCES The Czech Republic, the defending champion, reached the quarterfinals after TomasBerdychwon the first reverse singles to clinch the first-round series against the Netherlands in Ostrava, Czech Republic.Seeking their third straight title, the Czechs will face Japan in the quarterfinals.HOME CROWD BOOS GERMANY Daniel Brands defeated Roberto Bautista Agut, 7-6 (5), 6-4, to wrap up a 4-1 win for Germany over Spain in the first round.Germany reached the quarterfinals for the first time in three years, but home supporters in Frankfurt were angered by the no-show of three German players for the other reverse singles match with the result already decided.Germany, which last won the trophy in 1993, will play France in the quarterfinals, while Spain, a five-time champion, faces a World Group playoff in September after its second successive first-round exit.A POINT FOR SERBIA Dusan Lajovic and Filip Krajinovic won the reverse singles to take some of the sting out of Switzerlands 3-2 triumph over Serbia in their first round World Group matchup in Novi Sad, Serbia.Switzerland will face Kazakhstan in the quarterfinals. Kazakhstan won, 3-2, over Belgium in Astana, Kazakhstan.FRANCE DEFEATS AUSTRALIA Gal Monfils completed Frances 5-0 rout of Australia in the first round by defeating, Nick Kyrgios 7-6 (5), 6-4, in La Roche-Sur-Yon, France.ITALY BEATS ARGENTINA Italy reached the quarterfinals when Fabio Fognini defeated Carlos Berlocq of Argentina to give Italy an unassailable 3-1 lead in Mar Del Plata, Argentina. It was Italys first victory over Argentina in Davis Cup play, and the loss ended Argentinas 12-year streak of reaching the quarterfinals.A FIRST FOR JAPAN Japan sailed into the quarterfinals for the first time with a 4-1 victory after Frank Dancevic of Canada retired with an injury. (REUTERS) [/INST] Sports </s> |
Credit...Jung Yeon-Je/Agence France-Presse Getty ImagesMarch 8, 2017SEOUL, South Korea The son of Kim Jong-nam the slain half brother of North Koreas leader appears to have emerged in a YouTube clip indicating that his family has gone into hiding after his fathers killing last month.My father has been killed a few days ago, the young man, who called himself Kim Han-sol, said in the video posted on Tuesday. Im currently with my mother and my sister.In the 39-second video, the man shows what appears to be his North Korean passport as proof of his identity, but the particulars are blacked out.We hope this gets better soon, he says before signing off.The man was indeed Kim Han-sol, said Do Hee-youn, head of the Citizens Coalition for the Human Rights of Abductees and North Korean Refugees, based in Seoul, who added that he had been monitoring Mr. Kims whereabouts for years.Jeong Joon-hee, a spokesman of the Souths Unification Ministry, said the government was trying to identify the man but noted, its clear to everyone that the person closely resembles Kim Han-sol. He declined to comment on Mr. Kims location.The emergence of the video added an intriguing twist to the killing of Kim Jong-nam on Feb. 13. The Malaysian police have arrested two women who are accused of smearing Mr. Kims face with the nerve agent VX. Malaysia said the women were most likely recruited by several North Korean suspects.North Korea has repeatedly denied involvement. On Tuesday, it said it was barring all Malaysians from leaving the country until there was a fair settlement of the dispute. Malaysia responded in kind, preventing all North Koreans from leaving Malaysia until the safety of Malaysians in North Korea could be assured.Shortly after Mr. Kim was killed, South Korean intelligence officials said they believed that his family, which has lived in Macau in recent years, was under Chinese government protection. But Kim Han-sol did not show up in Kuala Lumpur after the Malaysian authorities looked for the next of kin to formally identify his fathers body.The video was posted by a group called Cheollima Civil Defense, which said it focused on rescuing North Korean defectors and refugees.On its website, the group said it had responded last month to an emergency request by survivors of the family of Kim Jong-nam for extraction and protection.The three family members were met quickly and relocated to safety, the group said. This will be the first and last statement on this particular matter, and the present whereabouts of this family will not be addressed.Mr. Jeong and Mr. Do said they had not previously heard of the group.This video means that Kim Han-sols family is in safety and working together with this group, whoever they are, to attack the North Korean government, said Mr. Do, an activist who has helped North Korean refugees for years.The group thanked the countries that it said had provided emergency humanitarian assistance in its efforts to protect the Kim family: China, the Netherlands, the United States and another nation it did not identify. In particular, it thanked A.J.A. Embrechts, the Dutch ambassador to South Korea, for his timely and strong response to our sudden request for assistance.The Dutch Embassy did not immediately comment. The United States Embassy also did not comment.Kim Han-sol was born in Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, in 1995 but has spent most of his life abroad, living with his father in Macau, the Chinese gambling enclave, and attending schools in Bosnia and France.Speaking to a European broadcaster in 2012, Kim Han-sol said he had never met his uncle Kim Jong-un, the current leader of North Korea, or his grandfather Kim Jong-il, who ruled the North until his death in 2011. In the same interview, Kim Han-sol said he did not know how his uncle had become a dictator.His father, Kim Jong-nam, had been sidelined from the center of power in North Korea for years as his influential stepmother, Ko Young-hee, the mother of Kim Jong-un, saw him as a potential threat.Analysts say that Kim Jong-un may have ordered the assassination of his half brother for fear that China might try to install Kim Jong-nam as a figurehead in Pyongyang should his own regime implode.North Korea remains in a standoff with Malaysia over the handling of the killing and the tit-for-tat bans on Tuesday that prohibit the departure of Malaysians from North Korea and North Koreans from Malaysia.In Kuala Lumpur, Prime Minister Najib Razak of Malaysia said on Wednesday that he did not intend to break off diplomatic relations with North Korea despite its decision on Tuesday to bar Malaysians from leaving.ImageCredit...Vincent Thian/Associated PressMr. Najib said that it was important to maintain communication with the North and that he was trying to determine what the reclusive country wanted in exchange for the release of Malaysians in North Korea.You need to have a channel to talk to them, to negotiate with them, he said, according to the Malaysian news site The Star Online. In the meantime, we need to examine what is the need of the North Korean government. That is what we have to be sure of.Officials in Malaysia have said 11 of its citizens, including embassy staff, family members and United Nations workers, are in North Korea.About 1,000 North Koreans are now in Malaysia.Mr. Najib said in remarks to Parliament that the Malaysians who were stuck in North Korea did not face any threat and were allowed to go about their daily lives.North Korea has denied that Mr. Kim was killed by VX and demanded that his body be turned over to its representatives. It has also accused Malaysia of colluding with the Norths enemies to blame Pyongyang for the killing.We didnt pick a quarrel with them, but when a crime has been committed, especially when chemical weapons have been used in Malaysia, we are duty bound to protect the interest of Malaysians, Mr. Najib told Parliament, according to Reuters.He noted that Malaysia had in the past been on good terms with North Korea, which has been shunned by many other nations for its development of nuclear weapons and the brutal mistreatment of its people. Until Monday, North Koreans could enter Malaysia without a visa.We are a country thats friendly to them, Mr. Najib said.A top official at the State Department in Washington praised Malaysias handling of the investigation into the Kim killing on Tuesday. The official, Daniel R. Russel, the departing assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, said that the police had conducted an impressive investigation and worked from the facts in a quick and professional and sophisticated manner.Speaking to reporters during a conference call, Mr. Russel said that he understood the need for Malaysia to expel North Koreas ambassador, Kang Chol, after the diplomat questioned the finding that Mr. Kim had been poisoned with VX.The hijacking of the territory of a country by a foreign power for the purpose of murder, for the purpose of political assassination, is reprehensible, Mr. Russel said, and my sympathies go to Malaysia on that account. | World | <s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> Credit...Jung Yeon-Je/Agence France-Presse Getty ImagesMarch 8, 2017SEOUL, South Korea The son of Kim Jong-nam the slain half brother of North Koreas leader appears to have emerged in a YouTube clip indicating that his family has gone into hiding after his fathers killing last month.My father has been killed a few days ago, the young man, who called himself Kim Han-sol, said in the video posted on Tuesday. Im currently with my mother and my sister.In the 39-second video, the man shows what appears to be his North Korean passport as proof of his identity, but the particulars are blacked out.We hope this gets better soon, he says before signing off.The man was indeed Kim Han-sol, said Do Hee-youn, head of the Citizens Coalition for the Human Rights of Abductees and North Korean Refugees, based in Seoul, who added that he had been monitoring Mr. Kims whereabouts for years.Jeong Joon-hee, a spokesman of the Souths Unification Ministry, said the government was trying to identify the man but noted, its clear to everyone that the person closely resembles Kim Han-sol. He declined to comment on Mr. Kims location.The emergence of the video added an intriguing twist to the killing of Kim Jong-nam on Feb. 13. The Malaysian police have arrested two women who are accused of smearing Mr. Kims face with the nerve agent VX. Malaysia said the women were most likely recruited by several North Korean suspects.North Korea has repeatedly denied involvement. On Tuesday, it said it was barring all Malaysians from leaving the country until there was a fair settlement of the dispute. Malaysia responded in kind, preventing all North Koreans from leaving Malaysia until the safety of Malaysians in North Korea could be assured.Shortly after Mr. Kim was killed, South Korean intelligence officials said they believed that his family, which has lived in Macau in recent years, was under Chinese government protection. But Kim Han-sol did not show up in Kuala Lumpur after the Malaysian authorities looked for the next of kin to formally identify his fathers body.The video was posted by a group called Cheollima Civil Defense, which said it focused on rescuing North Korean defectors and refugees.On its website, the group said it had responded last month to an emergency request by survivors of the family of Kim Jong-nam for extraction and protection.The three family members were met quickly and relocated to safety, the group said. This will be the first and last statement on this particular matter, and the present whereabouts of this family will not be addressed.Mr. Jeong and Mr. Do said they had not previously heard of the group.This video means that Kim Han-sols family is in safety and working together with this group, whoever they are, to attack the North Korean government, said Mr. Do, an activist who has helped North Korean refugees for years.The group thanked the countries that it said had provided emergency humanitarian assistance in its efforts to protect the Kim family: China, the Netherlands, the United States and another nation it did not identify. In particular, it thanked A.J.A. Embrechts, the Dutch ambassador to South Korea, for his timely and strong response to our sudden request for assistance.The Dutch Embassy did not immediately comment. The United States Embassy also did not comment.Kim Han-sol was born in Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, in 1995 but has spent most of his life abroad, living with his father in Macau, the Chinese gambling enclave, and attending schools in Bosnia and France.Speaking to a European broadcaster in 2012, Kim Han-sol said he had never met his uncle Kim Jong-un, the current leader of North Korea, or his grandfather Kim Jong-il, who ruled the North until his death in 2011. In the same interview, Kim Han-sol said he did not know how his uncle had become a dictator.His father, Kim Jong-nam, had been sidelined from the center of power in North Korea for years as his influential stepmother, Ko Young-hee, the mother of Kim Jong-un, saw him as a potential threat.Analysts say that Kim Jong-un may have ordered the assassination of his half brother for fear that China might try to install Kim Jong-nam as a figurehead in Pyongyang should his own regime implode.North Korea remains in a standoff with Malaysia over the handling of the killing and the tit-for-tat bans on Tuesday that prohibit the departure of Malaysians from North Korea and North Koreans from Malaysia.In Kuala Lumpur, Prime Minister Najib Razak of Malaysia said on Wednesday that he did not intend to break off diplomatic relations with North Korea despite its decision on Tuesday to bar Malaysians from leaving.ImageCredit...Vincent Thian/Associated PressMr. Najib said that it was important to maintain communication with the North and that he was trying to determine what the reclusive country wanted in exchange for the release of Malaysians in North Korea.You need to have a channel to talk to them, to negotiate with them, he said, according to the Malaysian news site The Star Online. In the meantime, we need to examine what is the need of the North Korean government. That is what we have to be sure of.Officials in Malaysia have said 11 of its citizens, including embassy staff, family members and United Nations workers, are in North Korea.About 1,000 North Koreans are now in Malaysia.Mr. Najib said in remarks to Parliament that the Malaysians who were stuck in North Korea did not face any threat and were allowed to go about their daily lives.North Korea has denied that Mr. Kim was killed by VX and demanded that his body be turned over to its representatives. It has also accused Malaysia of colluding with the Norths enemies to blame Pyongyang for the killing.We didnt pick a quarrel with them, but when a crime has been committed, especially when chemical weapons have been used in Malaysia, we are duty bound to protect the interest of Malaysians, Mr. Najib told Parliament, according to Reuters.He noted that Malaysia had in the past been on good terms with North Korea, which has been shunned by many other nations for its development of nuclear weapons and the brutal mistreatment of its people. Until Monday, North Koreans could enter Malaysia without a visa.We are a country thats friendly to them, Mr. Najib said.A top official at the State Department in Washington praised Malaysias handling of the investigation into the Kim killing on Tuesday. The official, Daniel R. Russel, the departing assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, said that the police had conducted an impressive investigation and worked from the facts in a quick and professional and sophisticated manner.Speaking to reporters during a conference call, Mr. Russel said that he understood the need for Malaysia to expel North Koreas ambassador, Kang Chol, after the diplomat questioned the finding that Mr. Kim had been poisoned with VX.The hijacking of the territory of a country by a foreign power for the purpose of murder, for the purpose of political assassination, is reprehensible, Mr. Russel said, and my sympathies go to Malaysia on that account. [/INST] World </s> |
Some U.S. governors defend their mask policy changes to get back to normal.Credit...Kena Betancur/Agence France-Presse Getty ImagesFeb. 13, 2022The governors of Maryland and New Jersey defended their moves to ease Covid restrictions, saying on Sunday that falling coronavirus cases in their states justified a change even as new cases and deaths remain fairly high in some regions of the United States.As best we can tell right now this thing is going from pandemic to endemic, and we feel it is the responsible step to take, Gov. Phil Murphy of New Jersey said on CBSs Face the Nation, referring to the stage when the virus will become a manageable part of daily life. He is one of several Democratic governors who announced plans to lift statewide mask mandates last week, as the highly transmissible Omicron variant loosens its grip on the United States.According to many health experts, the pandemics next phase may depend on the emergence of new variants, vaccination rates and risk tolerance. Herd immunity to Covid, public health specialists say, is unlikely to be achieved. And scientists have cautioned that protection may wane over time, and future variants may be better able to sidestep our defenses.Still, known coronavirus infections are falling across the United States, though case numbers nationwide have not dropped to pre-Omicron levels and remain high in states like Alaska, Mississippi and West Virginia. Hospitalizations and deaths are also on the decline, but remain elevated.Governor Murphys optimistic tone echoed that of Larry Hogan, Marylands Republican governor, who has called on his states Board of Education to lift its school mask mandate. Governor Hogan removed Marylands state masking requirement last May, but the schools are governed independently. I think its safe enough for our kids to just try to get back to normal, he said on CNNs State of the Union. Cases Hospitalizations Deaths About this data Sources: State and local health agencies (cases, deaths); U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (hospitalizations). This week, the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Rochelle P. Walensky, reiterated her agencys position that masks should not be removed when gathering indoors. We are not there yet, she said at a White House briefing on Wednesday.As cases drop and restrictions lift, Dr. Scott Gottlieb, the former head of the Food and Drug Administration, said he thought the country seemed to be shifting away from a period of collective actions to protect vulnerable groups, and toward one where individuals must protect themselves based on their own risk assessments.I think theres portions of the population that are going to be in a very difficult spot right now because they remain vulnerable, Dr. Gottlieb said on Face the Nation.Young children, he said, are one of those groups, referring to the F.D.A.s announcement on Friday to postpone its decision about whether to authorize Pfizer-BioNTechs vaccine for children under 5 until more data becomes available. Studies so far have found that two doses are not sufficient to protect children ages 2 to 4, though in April the company expects to have data on the efficacy of a third dose.Dr. Gottlieb, who serves on Pfizers board, said the latest delay, which affects nearly 18 million children and their families, was frustrating. But he said the F.D.A.s decision was prudent. By waiting, theyll have a very firm picture of what level of effectiveness the vaccine is delivering, he said. That is important for patients and pediatricians to make fully informed decisions. | Health | <s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> Some U.S. governors defend their mask policy changes to get back to normal.Credit...Kena Betancur/Agence France-Presse Getty ImagesFeb. 13, 2022The governors of Maryland and New Jersey defended their moves to ease Covid restrictions, saying on Sunday that falling coronavirus cases in their states justified a change even as new cases and deaths remain fairly high in some regions of the United States.As best we can tell right now this thing is going from pandemic to endemic, and we feel it is the responsible step to take, Gov. Phil Murphy of New Jersey said on CBSs Face the Nation, referring to the stage when the virus will become a manageable part of daily life. He is one of several Democratic governors who announced plans to lift statewide mask mandates last week, as the highly transmissible Omicron variant loosens its grip on the United States.According to many health experts, the pandemics next phase may depend on the emergence of new variants, vaccination rates and risk tolerance. Herd immunity to Covid, public health specialists say, is unlikely to be achieved. And scientists have cautioned that protection may wane over time, and future variants may be better able to sidestep our defenses.Still, known coronavirus infections are falling across the United States, though case numbers nationwide have not dropped to pre-Omicron levels and remain high in states like Alaska, Mississippi and West Virginia. Hospitalizations and deaths are also on the decline, but remain elevated.Governor Murphys optimistic tone echoed that of Larry Hogan, Marylands Republican governor, who has called on his states Board of Education to lift its school mask mandate. Governor Hogan removed Marylands state masking requirement last May, but the schools are governed independently. I think its safe enough for our kids to just try to get back to normal, he said on CNNs State of the Union. Cases Hospitalizations Deaths About this data Sources: State and local health agencies (cases, deaths); U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (hospitalizations). This week, the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Rochelle P. Walensky, reiterated her agencys position that masks should not be removed when gathering indoors. We are not there yet, she said at a White House briefing on Wednesday.As cases drop and restrictions lift, Dr. Scott Gottlieb, the former head of the Food and Drug Administration, said he thought the country seemed to be shifting away from a period of collective actions to protect vulnerable groups, and toward one where individuals must protect themselves based on their own risk assessments.I think theres portions of the population that are going to be in a very difficult spot right now because they remain vulnerable, Dr. Gottlieb said on Face the Nation.Young children, he said, are one of those groups, referring to the F.D.A.s announcement on Friday to postpone its decision about whether to authorize Pfizer-BioNTechs vaccine for children under 5 until more data becomes available. Studies so far have found that two doses are not sufficient to protect children ages 2 to 4, though in April the company expects to have data on the efficacy of a third dose.Dr. Gottlieb, who serves on Pfizers board, said the latest delay, which affects nearly 18 million children and their families, was frustrating. But he said the F.D.A.s decision was prudent. By waiting, theyll have a very firm picture of what level of effectiveness the vaccine is delivering, he said. That is important for patients and pediatricians to make fully informed decisions. [/INST] Health </s> |
TrilobitesCredit...Levi Stroud/Michigan NewsNov. 8, 2016Seth Colling, who teaches children with developmental disabilities at an outdoor learning center in Michigan, was walking along a creek looking for fish with his students in 2014 when they saw something odd sticking out from the water.It looked really strange, Mr. Colling said. I said to my student, Hey what is that?As Mr. Colling and his students would find out, what they had discovered was a leg bone belonging to the most complete mastodon skeleton found in Michigan in more than 70 years. After a full excavation last month, paleontologists uncovered 75 bones, including ribs, a pelvis, shoulder bones and a skull with five gleaming molars that looked as if they were made of quartz.The teeth may hold the keys to figuring out how the beast died some 13,000 years ago: Was it butchered by hungry prehistoric hunters, did it succumb to starvation in the harsh environment, or was it the loser in a mating-season death match?ImageCredit...The Fowler CenterMastodons are ice age relatives of the elephant that once roamed across much of North America and went extinct 10,000 years ago. Like mammoths, they were herbivores, but unlike their grazing behemoth brethren, they had sharp, pointed teeth, which they used to eat twigs and shear trees.Although the teachers and students at the Fowler Center for Outdoor Learning first found the bones at the site in 2014, it was not until this October that a large-scale excavation took place. A small army of schoolteachers, volunteers and researchers uncovered the beasts skull as well as 70 percent of its skeleton. It is the most complete find in the state since the discovery of the Owosso mastodon in 1944.Not only was it complete, it was mostly undisturbed, said Daniel Fisher, a paleontologist at the University of Michigan who helped excavate the Fowler Center mastodon. This is the way it was left for around 12,000 to 13,000 years.ImageCredit...The Fowler CenterThey found the bones buried in distinct piles, which Dr. Fisher has seen in other mammoth finds in Michigan. One clump contained the skull, and about nine feet away there was a pile that had a shoulder blade, some vertebrae, a rib and parts of the forelimbs and hindlimbs. They also found a third pile, which contained a lower back vertebra, part of the pelvis, some more bones from the forelimbs and a lot of ribs.The pattern we see is not what you would expect under any natural or nonhuman scenario, Dr. Fisher said. If its a crime scene and you found a forelimb nestled to a pelvis, you would say Hmm, something happened here.Dr. Fisher is not yet arguing that humans were involved in the mastodons death, but he said the findings pointed in that direction. The evidence that could potentially answer how the mastodon died lies within its mouth, he said.Paleontologists can tell a lot from mastodon teeth. In this case, the team members uncovered the top portion of the skull, which included five molars. Based on the conditions of the molars, they concluded that the mastodon had been around 30 years old. But to solve the cold case, they need to look beneath the surface.Mastodon teeth grew layers incrementally in a way that roughly corresponded with the changing seasons. Using a microCT scan, researchers can examine the insides of a tooth to determine what time of year the mastodon died, according to Dr. Fisher.If the analysis shows that the mastodon died in the winter, then its death was most likely because it starved or was sick. If it died in the spring or summer and was a male, then it most likely lost a battle with another male during mating season.ImageCredit...The Fowler CenterIt is the deaths in autumn that humans most likely had a hand in, Dr. Fisher said. The mastodons that he has found in Michigan that died in the fall all showed signs that they had been butchered, he said.We dont have an exception to that yet, Dr. Fisher said. It suggests that humans were on the scene and probably part of the cause of death.What most likely happened, he said, is that human hunters or scavengers butchered the carcass and submerged it in a pond for refrigeration. Last year, he and his team identified a mammoth that they believe was processed this way; it is now on display at the University of Michigan Museum of Natural History.ImageCredit...The Fowler CenterRoss MacPhee, a curator at the American Museum of Natural Historys department of mammalogy, praised Dr. Fishers methods but said he did not think there was enough evidence to say whether humans had been involved in the mastodons death. He said he was unsure whether the teeth would hold many answers.Its an interesting argument, but whether or not the animal was actually hunted to me is unclear, he said. There are no arrowheads, no actual signs of butchery.For Mr. Colling, who found the tibia in 2014, just excavating the mastodon with his students was exciting enough.It was amazing that I got to do this, he said. When I was a kid I wanted to be a paleontologist, so it was like a childhood dream come true. | science | <s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> TrilobitesCredit...Levi Stroud/Michigan NewsNov. 8, 2016Seth Colling, who teaches children with developmental disabilities at an outdoor learning center in Michigan, was walking along a creek looking for fish with his students in 2014 when they saw something odd sticking out from the water.It looked really strange, Mr. Colling said. I said to my student, Hey what is that?As Mr. Colling and his students would find out, what they had discovered was a leg bone belonging to the most complete mastodon skeleton found in Michigan in more than 70 years. After a full excavation last month, paleontologists uncovered 75 bones, including ribs, a pelvis, shoulder bones and a skull with five gleaming molars that looked as if they were made of quartz.The teeth may hold the keys to figuring out how the beast died some 13,000 years ago: Was it butchered by hungry prehistoric hunters, did it succumb to starvation in the harsh environment, or was it the loser in a mating-season death match?ImageCredit...The Fowler CenterMastodons are ice age relatives of the elephant that once roamed across much of North America and went extinct 10,000 years ago. Like mammoths, they were herbivores, but unlike their grazing behemoth brethren, they had sharp, pointed teeth, which they used to eat twigs and shear trees.Although the teachers and students at the Fowler Center for Outdoor Learning first found the bones at the site in 2014, it was not until this October that a large-scale excavation took place. A small army of schoolteachers, volunteers and researchers uncovered the beasts skull as well as 70 percent of its skeleton. It is the most complete find in the state since the discovery of the Owosso mastodon in 1944.Not only was it complete, it was mostly undisturbed, said Daniel Fisher, a paleontologist at the University of Michigan who helped excavate the Fowler Center mastodon. This is the way it was left for around 12,000 to 13,000 years.ImageCredit...The Fowler CenterThey found the bones buried in distinct piles, which Dr. Fisher has seen in other mammoth finds in Michigan. One clump contained the skull, and about nine feet away there was a pile that had a shoulder blade, some vertebrae, a rib and parts of the forelimbs and hindlimbs. They also found a third pile, which contained a lower back vertebra, part of the pelvis, some more bones from the forelimbs and a lot of ribs.The pattern we see is not what you would expect under any natural or nonhuman scenario, Dr. Fisher said. If its a crime scene and you found a forelimb nestled to a pelvis, you would say Hmm, something happened here.Dr. Fisher is not yet arguing that humans were involved in the mastodons death, but he said the findings pointed in that direction. The evidence that could potentially answer how the mastodon died lies within its mouth, he said.Paleontologists can tell a lot from mastodon teeth. In this case, the team members uncovered the top portion of the skull, which included five molars. Based on the conditions of the molars, they concluded that the mastodon had been around 30 years old. But to solve the cold case, they need to look beneath the surface.Mastodon teeth grew layers incrementally in a way that roughly corresponded with the changing seasons. Using a microCT scan, researchers can examine the insides of a tooth to determine what time of year the mastodon died, according to Dr. Fisher.If the analysis shows that the mastodon died in the winter, then its death was most likely because it starved or was sick. If it died in the spring or summer and was a male, then it most likely lost a battle with another male during mating season.ImageCredit...The Fowler CenterIt is the deaths in autumn that humans most likely had a hand in, Dr. Fisher said. The mastodons that he has found in Michigan that died in the fall all showed signs that they had been butchered, he said.We dont have an exception to that yet, Dr. Fisher said. It suggests that humans were on the scene and probably part of the cause of death.What most likely happened, he said, is that human hunters or scavengers butchered the carcass and submerged it in a pond for refrigeration. Last year, he and his team identified a mammoth that they believe was processed this way; it is now on display at the University of Michigan Museum of Natural History.ImageCredit...The Fowler CenterRoss MacPhee, a curator at the American Museum of Natural Historys department of mammalogy, praised Dr. Fishers methods but said he did not think there was enough evidence to say whether humans had been involved in the mastodons death. He said he was unsure whether the teeth would hold many answers.Its an interesting argument, but whether or not the animal was actually hunted to me is unclear, he said. There are no arrowheads, no actual signs of butchery.For Mr. Colling, who found the tibia in 2014, just excavating the mastodon with his students was exciting enough.It was amazing that I got to do this, he said. When I was a kid I wanted to be a paleontologist, so it was like a childhood dream come true. [/INST] science </s> |
Pro-Trump Mob Livestreamed Its Rampage, and Made Money Doing ItA site called Dlive, where rioters broadcast from the Capitol, is benefiting from the growing exodus of right-wing users from Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.Credit...Erin Schaff/The New York TimesJan. 8, 2021When the white nationalist Tim Gionet stormed the U.S. Capitol with a mob of Trump loyalists on Wednesday, entering congressional offices and putting his feet up on lawmakers furniture, he also chatted live with more than 16,000 of his fans.Using a livestreaming site called Dlive, Mr. Gionet known by the online alias Baked Alaska broadcast his actions inside the Capitol. Through Dlive, his fans then sent him messages telling him where to go to avoid capture by the police. They also tipped him with lemons, a Dlive currency that can be converted into real money, through which Mr. Gionet made more than $2,000 on Wednesday, according to online estimates.Mr. Gionet operates one of at least nine channels that used Dlive to share real-time footage from the front lines of Wednesdays rampage. He and hundreds of other members of the far right have turned to the platform after mainstream services removed them. In 2017, Mr. Gionet was kicked off Twitter; last year, he was barred from YouTube.Dlives increasing popularity shows how an online exodus of far-right figures on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube since the November election has now moved beyond alternative social-networking, news and video sites like Rumble, Gab and Parler. Livestreaming is also benefiting especially as a way to communicate live with followers and to earn money by spreading hate.That shift gained further momentum this week after Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitch limited President Trumps accounts for inciting Wednesdays violence and clamped down on other right-wing personalities.On Friday, Dan Bongino, a right-wing podcaster, tweeted that he was leaving Twitter for good because it was an anti-American platform and that he would be on Parler instead. Twitter later said it had permanently suspended the accounts of several prominent Trump supporters who used the platform to spread conspiracy theories, including the lawyer Sidney Powell and Mr. Trumps former national security adviser Michael T. Flynn.Dlive said in a statement on Friday that it had zero tolerance toward any forms of violence and illegal activities. It added that it had suspended, forced offline or limited 10 accounts and deleted 100 broadcasts. Dlive also said it was freezing the earnings of streamers who had broken into the Capitol.But streamers and misinformation researchers said Dlives emergence as a haven for white nationalists was unlikely to change. Thats because the site, which was founded in 2017 and is similar to Twitch, the Amazon-owned platform where video gamers livestream their play, helps streamers make tens of thousands of dollars and benefits by taking a cut of that revenue.Jo-dell Brodhagen, a Dlive streamer and comedian from Ontario, said she had increasingly seen the site cater to far-right members by quickly addressing their questions and complaints while silencing longtime streamers who raised questions about their racist statements. She said Dlive favored white supremacists because it saw the numbers and the money thats being spent on these streamers. She said she planned to leave the site.Dlives growth has been stark, analysts said. The site reported five million active users in April 2019. On Wednesday, more than 150,000 people watched Dlive streams at the same time, one of the sites busiest days ever, and more than 95 percent of those views went to the far-right streamers, according to Genevieve Oh, a livestreaming analyst.Dlive was started by Charles Wayn and Cole Chen, young entrepreneurs who studied at the University of California, Berkeley. Mr. Wayn leads the company; Mr. Chen left it a long time ago, said Dlive, which is based in Silicon Valley.The site was built on so-called blockchain technology created by another start-up, Lino, which raised $20 million from investors in 2018. Dlive initially positioned itself as a video game streaming platform that would not take a cut of its streamers incomes, as Twitch and others do. That policy changed this year.In April 2019, Dlive scored a top-tier streamer when Felix Kjellberg, a YouTube star better known as PewDiePie, said he would stream his play on Dlive. (He returned to YouTube last year.)But by late 2019, Dlive was on its last legs, according to a longtime streamer, Nikola Jovanovic. That was when BitTorrent, the peer-to-peer file sharing service, stepped in to buy Dlive. BitTorrents parent company, Tron, is owned by Justin Sun, a Chinese cryptocurrency multimillionaire.By then, far-right provocateurs had started joining Dlive, drawn by its loose enforcement of prohibited speech, which essentially allowed streamers to say whatever they wanted.In 2019, for instance, Nick Fuentes, who attended the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va., and has argued for Christian nationalism, was barred from Twitch and started streaming on Dlive. Reddit and YouTube later barred him for violating hate-speech policies.Mr. Fuentess first Dlive stream attracted just a few hundred viewers, but his audience has grown over time. Last year, some of his Dlive streams had more than 50,000 viewers at the same time, according to data compiled by Ms. Oh.Dlive has struggled with the right-wing influx. In messages obtained by The New York Times, Mr. Wayn told employees last year that he wanted to suspend some of the white supremacists and neo-Nazis who streamed on his site. But, he added, if today we ban everyone controversial on DLive, the difficulties we will encounter on the growth will be 10x more than having them.The strategy, Mr. Wayn said, was to tolerate them while amassing more legitimate video game players who would eventually dilute the right-wing community.Dlive said in a statement on Friday that interpreting Mr. Wayns comments as trying to grow with a tolerance of violence and illegal activities is misleading.A cursory glance at DLive shows an innocuous site. On Thursday night, 33 viewers watched a man livestream a sunset and 144 discussed cryptocurrency.But when a user changes the settings to allow x-tagged content to be viewed, streams with thousands of viewers discussing the riot at the Capitol quickly dominate the home page. In his stream on Thursday night, Mr. Fuentes, who had attracted 20,000 viewers, called Wednesdays events a flicker of hope that showed what is possible.Neither Mr. Gionet nor Mr. Fuentes responded to requests for comment.Everything about this platform is fake, said Mr. Jovanovic, 34, the longtime streamer. Its like a cardboard building that shows Disneyland. As soon as you press on it, its death and carnage.Mr. Jovanovic said he was suspended from the site in December after being accused of harassing a fellow streamer an accusation he denies and later permanently barred after complaining about Dlive on Twitter.Other far-right users who joined Dlive last year include at least half a dozen believers of the QAnon conspiracy theory, some of whom were barred from YouTube when the platform cracked down on QAnon accounts in October.On Wednesday, apart from Mr. Gionet, far-right-affiliated channels called Woozuh, Gloomtube and Loulz also streamed from the Capitol attack, as did an account called Murder the Media, which is affiliated with the Proud Boys, a far-right, neofascist organization. The words Murder the Media were scrawled on a Capitol doorway.Are they going to arrest us? a Dlive streamer named Zykotik wondered aloud while discussing his plans to ignore the citywide curfew in Washington. A man who identified himself as Clifford approached in Zykotiks stream. Are you Dliving? Zykotik asked. The man said he was.Because Parler, Gab and other sites dont offer ways to make money, streaming on Dlive has become a key piece of many far-right activists strategies, said Megan Squire, a professor of computer science at Elon University.Most donations are small amounts of money, but some donors give very, very large amounts, she said. Some users are giving $10,000 to $20,000 a month to streamers on Dlive. Top streamers on the platform earned six-figure incomes in 2019, according to Ms. Squires research.Shannon McGregor, a social media scholar and professor at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, said Dlives growth was another step in the fracture of the social media ecosystem that could make it harder to follow the movements of extremists.This makes it way harder for people to track for journalists, for researchers, for people like the F.B.I., she said. Because theyre migrating from site to site, its sort of like theyre playing Whac-A-Mole.Kate Conger contributed reporting. | Tech | <s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> Pro-Trump Mob Livestreamed Its Rampage, and Made Money Doing ItA site called Dlive, where rioters broadcast from the Capitol, is benefiting from the growing exodus of right-wing users from Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.Credit...Erin Schaff/The New York TimesJan. 8, 2021When the white nationalist Tim Gionet stormed the U.S. Capitol with a mob of Trump loyalists on Wednesday, entering congressional offices and putting his feet up on lawmakers furniture, he also chatted live with more than 16,000 of his fans.Using a livestreaming site called Dlive, Mr. Gionet known by the online alias Baked Alaska broadcast his actions inside the Capitol. Through Dlive, his fans then sent him messages telling him where to go to avoid capture by the police. They also tipped him with lemons, a Dlive currency that can be converted into real money, through which Mr. Gionet made more than $2,000 on Wednesday, according to online estimates.Mr. Gionet operates one of at least nine channels that used Dlive to share real-time footage from the front lines of Wednesdays rampage. He and hundreds of other members of the far right have turned to the platform after mainstream services removed them. In 2017, Mr. Gionet was kicked off Twitter; last year, he was barred from YouTube.Dlives increasing popularity shows how an online exodus of far-right figures on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube since the November election has now moved beyond alternative social-networking, news and video sites like Rumble, Gab and Parler. Livestreaming is also benefiting especially as a way to communicate live with followers and to earn money by spreading hate.That shift gained further momentum this week after Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitch limited President Trumps accounts for inciting Wednesdays violence and clamped down on other right-wing personalities.On Friday, Dan Bongino, a right-wing podcaster, tweeted that he was leaving Twitter for good because it was an anti-American platform and that he would be on Parler instead. Twitter later said it had permanently suspended the accounts of several prominent Trump supporters who used the platform to spread conspiracy theories, including the lawyer Sidney Powell and Mr. Trumps former national security adviser Michael T. Flynn.Dlive said in a statement on Friday that it had zero tolerance toward any forms of violence and illegal activities. It added that it had suspended, forced offline or limited 10 accounts and deleted 100 broadcasts. Dlive also said it was freezing the earnings of streamers who had broken into the Capitol.But streamers and misinformation researchers said Dlives emergence as a haven for white nationalists was unlikely to change. Thats because the site, which was founded in 2017 and is similar to Twitch, the Amazon-owned platform where video gamers livestream their play, helps streamers make tens of thousands of dollars and benefits by taking a cut of that revenue.Jo-dell Brodhagen, a Dlive streamer and comedian from Ontario, said she had increasingly seen the site cater to far-right members by quickly addressing their questions and complaints while silencing longtime streamers who raised questions about their racist statements. She said Dlive favored white supremacists because it saw the numbers and the money thats being spent on these streamers. She said she planned to leave the site.Dlives growth has been stark, analysts said. The site reported five million active users in April 2019. On Wednesday, more than 150,000 people watched Dlive streams at the same time, one of the sites busiest days ever, and more than 95 percent of those views went to the far-right streamers, according to Genevieve Oh, a livestreaming analyst.Dlive was started by Charles Wayn and Cole Chen, young entrepreneurs who studied at the University of California, Berkeley. Mr. Wayn leads the company; Mr. Chen left it a long time ago, said Dlive, which is based in Silicon Valley.The site was built on so-called blockchain technology created by another start-up, Lino, which raised $20 million from investors in 2018. Dlive initially positioned itself as a video game streaming platform that would not take a cut of its streamers incomes, as Twitch and others do. That policy changed this year.In April 2019, Dlive scored a top-tier streamer when Felix Kjellberg, a YouTube star better known as PewDiePie, said he would stream his play on Dlive. (He returned to YouTube last year.)But by late 2019, Dlive was on its last legs, according to a longtime streamer, Nikola Jovanovic. That was when BitTorrent, the peer-to-peer file sharing service, stepped in to buy Dlive. BitTorrents parent company, Tron, is owned by Justin Sun, a Chinese cryptocurrency multimillionaire.By then, far-right provocateurs had started joining Dlive, drawn by its loose enforcement of prohibited speech, which essentially allowed streamers to say whatever they wanted.In 2019, for instance, Nick Fuentes, who attended the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va., and has argued for Christian nationalism, was barred from Twitch and started streaming on Dlive. Reddit and YouTube later barred him for violating hate-speech policies.Mr. Fuentess first Dlive stream attracted just a few hundred viewers, but his audience has grown over time. Last year, some of his Dlive streams had more than 50,000 viewers at the same time, according to data compiled by Ms. Oh.Dlive has struggled with the right-wing influx. In messages obtained by The New York Times, Mr. Wayn told employees last year that he wanted to suspend some of the white supremacists and neo-Nazis who streamed on his site. But, he added, if today we ban everyone controversial on DLive, the difficulties we will encounter on the growth will be 10x more than having them.The strategy, Mr. Wayn said, was to tolerate them while amassing more legitimate video game players who would eventually dilute the right-wing community.Dlive said in a statement on Friday that interpreting Mr. Wayns comments as trying to grow with a tolerance of violence and illegal activities is misleading.A cursory glance at DLive shows an innocuous site. On Thursday night, 33 viewers watched a man livestream a sunset and 144 discussed cryptocurrency.But when a user changes the settings to allow x-tagged content to be viewed, streams with thousands of viewers discussing the riot at the Capitol quickly dominate the home page. In his stream on Thursday night, Mr. Fuentes, who had attracted 20,000 viewers, called Wednesdays events a flicker of hope that showed what is possible.Neither Mr. Gionet nor Mr. Fuentes responded to requests for comment.Everything about this platform is fake, said Mr. Jovanovic, 34, the longtime streamer. Its like a cardboard building that shows Disneyland. As soon as you press on it, its death and carnage.Mr. Jovanovic said he was suspended from the site in December after being accused of harassing a fellow streamer an accusation he denies and later permanently barred after complaining about Dlive on Twitter.Other far-right users who joined Dlive last year include at least half a dozen believers of the QAnon conspiracy theory, some of whom were barred from YouTube when the platform cracked down on QAnon accounts in October.On Wednesday, apart from Mr. Gionet, far-right-affiliated channels called Woozuh, Gloomtube and Loulz also streamed from the Capitol attack, as did an account called Murder the Media, which is affiliated with the Proud Boys, a far-right, neofascist organization. The words Murder the Media were scrawled on a Capitol doorway.Are they going to arrest us? a Dlive streamer named Zykotik wondered aloud while discussing his plans to ignore the citywide curfew in Washington. A man who identified himself as Clifford approached in Zykotiks stream. Are you Dliving? Zykotik asked. The man said he was.Because Parler, Gab and other sites dont offer ways to make money, streaming on Dlive has become a key piece of many far-right activists strategies, said Megan Squire, a professor of computer science at Elon University.Most donations are small amounts of money, but some donors give very, very large amounts, she said. Some users are giving $10,000 to $20,000 a month to streamers on Dlive. Top streamers on the platform earned six-figure incomes in 2019, according to Ms. Squires research.Shannon McGregor, a social media scholar and professor at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, said Dlives growth was another step in the fracture of the social media ecosystem that could make it harder to follow the movements of extremists.This makes it way harder for people to track for journalists, for researchers, for people like the F.B.I., she said. Because theyre migrating from site to site, its sort of like theyre playing Whac-A-Mole.Kate Conger contributed reporting. [/INST] Tech </s> |
A group backed by undisclosed donors is targeting three Democratic prosecutors in Northern Virginia for recall campaigns in a test of what could be a national strategy in 2022.Credit...Eric Baradat/Agence France-Presse Getty ImagesAug. 2, 2021WASHINGTON A Republican-linked group said on Monday that it was beginning a recall campaign backed by undisclosed donors to brand Democrats and their allies as soft on crime by targeting progressive prosecutors.The initial focus is three prosecutors who were elected in the affluent Northern Virginia suburbs of Washington in 2019 amid a national wave of pledges by Democrats to make law enforcement fairer and more humane.The group, Virginians for Safe Communities, said the targets of the recall effort were Buta Biberaj of Loudoun County, Parisa Dehghani-Tafti of Arlington County and Steve Descano of Fairfax County, all of whom hold the position of commonwealths attorney.The campaign faces uncertain prospects, starting with clearing signature-gathering requirements and legal hurdles.But the organizers described it as part of a broader national push to harness voters concerns about rising crime rates in cities and a backlash to anti-police sentiment.All things in politics have their time, and now is the moment that people who are for law enforcement have woken up, said Sean D. Kennedy, a Republican operative who is the president of Virginians for Safe Communities. He called the recall efforts in Northern Virginia a test case to launch nationwide.He said the group had raised more than $250,000, and had received pledges of nearly another $500,000. He would not reveal the identities of donors to the group, which is registered under a section of the tax code that allows nonprofit groups to shield their donors from public disclosure.Mr. Kennedy, who has worked for Republican campaigns and committees, is an official at the Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund, but he said the new group was independent from that one. Others involved in the new group include the former F.B.I. official Steven L. Pomerantz and Ian D. Prior, who was an appointee at the Justice Department during the Trump administration and before that worked for well-funded Republican political committees.Mr. Prior also is leading a petition drive to recall school board members in Loudoun County over critical race theory, another issue conservatives have made into a political flash point. (The school district had called for mandatory teacher training in systemic oppression and implicit bias, but its superintendent has denied that critical race theory was part of the curriculum or teacher training.)Mr. Kennedy cast Virginians for Safe Communities as something of an antidote to a political committee funded by the billionaire investor George Soros, a leading donor to Democratic causes. His group, Justice and Public Safety PAC, has spent millions of dollars in recent years backing candidates in local district attorney elections who supported decriminalizing marijuana, loosening bail rules and other changes favored by progressives.The spending upended many of the races, which had previously attracted relatively little funding and attention from major national interests.Mr. Soross representatives did not respond to a request for comment.His PAC spent hundreds of thousands of dollars each supporting the campaigns of Ms. Dehghani-Tafti, Mr. Descano and Ms. Biberaj in 2019, when they swept into office promising a new approach to criminal justice.Their victories came at a time when politicians from both parties were re-examining tough-on-crime policies that enacted harsh sentences for drug crimes and laid the groundwork for the mass incarceration that disproportionately affected Black communities. In late 2018, President Donald J. Trump signed into law the most consequential reduction of sentencing laws in a generation. The next month, Joseph R. Biden Jr., then preparing to run against Mr. Trump, apologized for portions of the anti-crime legislation he championed as a senator in the 1990s.The skepticism of law enforcement and the criminal justice system was further catalyzed by the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis in 2020, after which calls to defund law enforcement echoed from racial justice marches to the halls of Congress. Many Democrats, including President Biden, have rejected the defund the police movement.But, a year and a half after Mr. Floyds death, American cities are facing a surge in gun violence and homicides that began during the throes of the pandemic and has continued into this year.Republicans have sought to pin the blame on Democrats and their allies, and have tried to reclaim the law-and-order mantle that politicians of both parties had embraced in the 1980s and 1990s, but later downplayed amid concern about police misconduct and disparities in the criminal justice system.Conservatives have basically sat on the sidelines of this issue, Mr. Kennedy said. It has been dominated by one side, and our side had basically unilaterally disarmed.He accused the three Northern Virginia prosecutors of enacting dangerous policies that are undermining the publics faith in our justice system. He cited an increase in the homicide rate between the end of last month and the same time last year in Fairfax County.Ms. Dehghani-Tafti, the head prosecutor for Arlington County and the City of Falls Church, said in an email that she was doing exactly what I promised my community I would do what I was elected to do and doing it well: making the system more fair, more responsive and more rehabilitative, while keeping us safe.Some of the more progressive planks in her campaign platform and those of Ms. Biberaj and Mr. Descano ending prosecutions for marijuana possession and not seeking the death penalty were at least partially codified statewide this year. Gov. Ralph Northam of Virginia signed legislation abolishing the death penalty and legalizing the possession of small amounts of marijuana.Ms. Dehghani-Tafti accused Mr. Kennedys group of using undisclosed dark money and relying on misinformation to overturn a valid election through a nondemocratic recall.Recalls are rare in Virginia, requiring the collection of signatures from a group of voters equal to 10 percent of the number who voted in the last election for the office in question, followed by a court trial in which it must be proved that the official acted in a way that constitutes incompetence, negligence or abuse of office. In the case of the prosecutors, the signature requirement would range from about 5,500 in Arlington to 29,000 in Fairfax.Mr. Kennedy said his group intended to pay people to gather signatures starting as soon as this week, with the goal of reaching the thresholds by Labor Day.Recent efforts to defeat or recall progressive prosecutors have so far not been successful in other jurisdictions, including Philadelphia and Los Angeles, and a pending grass-roots effort to recall the three Virginia prosecutors has not gained much apparent traction. | Politics | <s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> A group backed by undisclosed donors is targeting three Democratic prosecutors in Northern Virginia for recall campaigns in a test of what could be a national strategy in 2022.Credit...Eric Baradat/Agence France-Presse Getty ImagesAug. 2, 2021WASHINGTON A Republican-linked group said on Monday that it was beginning a recall campaign backed by undisclosed donors to brand Democrats and their allies as soft on crime by targeting progressive prosecutors.The initial focus is three prosecutors who were elected in the affluent Northern Virginia suburbs of Washington in 2019 amid a national wave of pledges by Democrats to make law enforcement fairer and more humane.The group, Virginians for Safe Communities, said the targets of the recall effort were Buta Biberaj of Loudoun County, Parisa Dehghani-Tafti of Arlington County and Steve Descano of Fairfax County, all of whom hold the position of commonwealths attorney.The campaign faces uncertain prospects, starting with clearing signature-gathering requirements and legal hurdles.But the organizers described it as part of a broader national push to harness voters concerns about rising crime rates in cities and a backlash to anti-police sentiment.All things in politics have their time, and now is the moment that people who are for law enforcement have woken up, said Sean D. Kennedy, a Republican operative who is the president of Virginians for Safe Communities. He called the recall efforts in Northern Virginia a test case to launch nationwide.He said the group had raised more than $250,000, and had received pledges of nearly another $500,000. He would not reveal the identities of donors to the group, which is registered under a section of the tax code that allows nonprofit groups to shield their donors from public disclosure.Mr. Kennedy, who has worked for Republican campaigns and committees, is an official at the Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund, but he said the new group was independent from that one. Others involved in the new group include the former F.B.I. official Steven L. Pomerantz and Ian D. Prior, who was an appointee at the Justice Department during the Trump administration and before that worked for well-funded Republican political committees.Mr. Prior also is leading a petition drive to recall school board members in Loudoun County over critical race theory, another issue conservatives have made into a political flash point. (The school district had called for mandatory teacher training in systemic oppression and implicit bias, but its superintendent has denied that critical race theory was part of the curriculum or teacher training.)Mr. Kennedy cast Virginians for Safe Communities as something of an antidote to a political committee funded by the billionaire investor George Soros, a leading donor to Democratic causes. His group, Justice and Public Safety PAC, has spent millions of dollars in recent years backing candidates in local district attorney elections who supported decriminalizing marijuana, loosening bail rules and other changes favored by progressives.The spending upended many of the races, which had previously attracted relatively little funding and attention from major national interests.Mr. Soross representatives did not respond to a request for comment.His PAC spent hundreds of thousands of dollars each supporting the campaigns of Ms. Dehghani-Tafti, Mr. Descano and Ms. Biberaj in 2019, when they swept into office promising a new approach to criminal justice.Their victories came at a time when politicians from both parties were re-examining tough-on-crime policies that enacted harsh sentences for drug crimes and laid the groundwork for the mass incarceration that disproportionately affected Black communities. In late 2018, President Donald J. Trump signed into law the most consequential reduction of sentencing laws in a generation. The next month, Joseph R. Biden Jr., then preparing to run against Mr. Trump, apologized for portions of the anti-crime legislation he championed as a senator in the 1990s.The skepticism of law enforcement and the criminal justice system was further catalyzed by the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis in 2020, after which calls to defund law enforcement echoed from racial justice marches to the halls of Congress. Many Democrats, including President Biden, have rejected the defund the police movement.But, a year and a half after Mr. Floyds death, American cities are facing a surge in gun violence and homicides that began during the throes of the pandemic and has continued into this year.Republicans have sought to pin the blame on Democrats and their allies, and have tried to reclaim the law-and-order mantle that politicians of both parties had embraced in the 1980s and 1990s, but later downplayed amid concern about police misconduct and disparities in the criminal justice system.Conservatives have basically sat on the sidelines of this issue, Mr. Kennedy said. It has been dominated by one side, and our side had basically unilaterally disarmed.He accused the three Northern Virginia prosecutors of enacting dangerous policies that are undermining the publics faith in our justice system. He cited an increase in the homicide rate between the end of last month and the same time last year in Fairfax County.Ms. Dehghani-Tafti, the head prosecutor for Arlington County and the City of Falls Church, said in an email that she was doing exactly what I promised my community I would do what I was elected to do and doing it well: making the system more fair, more responsive and more rehabilitative, while keeping us safe.Some of the more progressive planks in her campaign platform and those of Ms. Biberaj and Mr. Descano ending prosecutions for marijuana possession and not seeking the death penalty were at least partially codified statewide this year. Gov. Ralph Northam of Virginia signed legislation abolishing the death penalty and legalizing the possession of small amounts of marijuana.Ms. Dehghani-Tafti accused Mr. Kennedys group of using undisclosed dark money and relying on misinformation to overturn a valid election through a nondemocratic recall.Recalls are rare in Virginia, requiring the collection of signatures from a group of voters equal to 10 percent of the number who voted in the last election for the office in question, followed by a court trial in which it must be proved that the official acted in a way that constitutes incompetence, negligence or abuse of office. In the case of the prosecutors, the signature requirement would range from about 5,500 in Arlington to 29,000 in Fairfax.Mr. Kennedy said his group intended to pay people to gather signatures starting as soon as this week, with the goal of reaching the thresholds by Labor Day.Recent efforts to defeat or recall progressive prosecutors have so far not been successful in other jurisdictions, including Philadelphia and Los Angeles, and a pending grass-roots effort to recall the three Virginia prosecutors has not gained much apparent traction. [/INST] Politics </s> |
Credit...Kiril Cachovski of the Lithuanian Mummy Project, 2015June 2, 2017Hundreds of skeletons have lain scattered around a crypt beneath a church in Vilnius, Lithuania, for centuries. But 23 of these remains are unlike the rest: Flesh wraps their bones, clothes cover their skin, and organs still fill their insides.They are mummies, and since they were recovered about five years ago, scientists have investigated their secrets, seeking insights into the lives of people in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries and the diseases they suffered.They are so well preserved that they almost look alive, said Dario Piombino-Mascali, an anthropologist from Italy who has studied the mummies since 2011.Recently, Dr. Piombino-Mascali and his colleagues have uncovered remnants of the smallpox virus in one of the mummies, gaining new insights into the origins of a deadly scourge that killed an estimated 300 million people in the 20th century alone.ImageCredit...Kiril Cachovski of the Lithuanian Mummy Project, 2015The work follows on their earlier discoveries: signs of rickets, osteoarthritis and intestinal parasites in the mummies. And they are not the only researchers unearthing new findings from the bodies of the long dead but well preserved.The study of mummified remains in other parts of the world has yielded historical perspective on the spread of deadly diseases and damaging medical conditions, from heart disease in pre-Columbian Americans to various strains of tuberculosis in 19th-century Europeans.By understanding how long these diseases have been around and mapping them historically, scientists can better tackle them today.Most people dont realize you can learn about modern medicine from ancient mummies, said Dr. Frank Rhli, head of the Swiss Mummy Project at the University of Zurich in Switzerland, who is studying the internal organs of Iranian and Egyptian mummies.These historic patient records are like a box of candy for us.A crypt in the heart of a capitalIn the heart of Vilnius, Lithuanias Dominican Church of the Holy Spirit is a bright masterpiece of Late Baroque architecture. But it hides something darker.ImageCredit...Kiril Cachovski of the Lithuanian Mummy Project, 2015Inside, an altar stands behind a large wooden platform where people kneel and pray. Beneath this is a stone staircase so narrow it can admit only one person at a time. Researchers liken it to an entrance to a secret lair: The steps descend to a dark and dusty underworld.A black metal gate leads to the labyrinthine chambers that house the corpses. Once, there were body parts piled into a pyramid on the floor and stacked on shelves that reached to the ceiling.For most of their history, the corpses were preserved intact: Cool temperatures and ventilation in the underground chamber had caused them to undergo spontaneous mummification. (Read more about how bodies spontaneously mummify.) Though they faced disturbances over the centuries as the city and church were occupied by Napoleon, then the Nazis, it was the Soviet occupation of Lithuania that brought about a drastic change in the mummies fate.In the 1960s, a forensic scientist named Juozas Albinas Markulis became one of the first to study the mummies. He wanted to know whether there were victims from World War II mixed in among the 17th-, 18th- and 19th-century corpses. (Oddly, Dr. Markulis is better known to Lithuanians not as a scientist but as a former spy who, while posing as a leader of the Lithuanian resistance, lured others into Soviet ambushes.)Dr. Markulis and his students at Vilnius University identified 500 bodies in the crypt, of which about 200 had been mummified. In 1962, government officials inspected the crypt and ordered that the mummies be sealed behind glass, fearful that infected bodies might start an epidemic. They called it the Chamber of Death.ImageCredit...Kiril Cachovski of the Lithuanian Mummy Project, 2015Soon a glass wall was erected, but it stopped the airflow and made the environment too humid and caused the mummies to decay. Dr. Markulis tried to save them, but his pleas were ignored by the Lithuanian government. The site was soon closed and remained unstudied until anthropologists returned to the chamber in 2004.From 2008 to 2011, researchers began inspecting and extracting the mummies from the crypt. Of the 200 studied by Dr. Markulis, who died in 1987, only 23 remained intact.But while Dr. Markulis sought to uncover the identities of the mummies, Dr. Piombino-Mascali and his colleagues focused on how they lived.Mummified medical mysteriesLooking at the remains, Dr. Piombino-Mascali identified several with dental decay and gum disease, as well as arthritis and bone deformities. To further investigate their health issues, he performed C.T. scans on the seven best-preserved mummies.One obese man once had arthritis in his spine, pelvis and both knees, a fractured rib on his right side and an enlarged thyroid gland, which might have been caused by goiter. An obese woman had a benign tumor in her lower back. Both had suffered from clogged arteries, a health problem usually associated with modern diets.ImageCredit...Kiril Cachovski of the Lithuanian Mummy Project, 2015It was very strange, Dr. Piombino-Mascali said of the examinations, because we were not feeling as if they were just objects of cultural and archaeological interest. It was a feeling like they were with us willing to do a checkup for their medical conditions.The researchers sent samples from a 17th century mummified child to a colleague in Canada, who uncovered remnants of variola virus that causes smallpox, which once ravaged most of the world. By sequencing the virus, the team has gained insight into the origins of the deadly scourge.There was no evidence on any remains that would suggest a smallpox infection, so the presence of variola virus was very surprising, said Ana Duggan, a biologist from McMaster University who worked with Dr. Piombino-Mascali. Its the oldest complete genome that we have of variola virus.She said the ancient DNA has helped them map out the timeline of smallpox. Historical accounts from Egypt, China and India had suggested that smallpox had infected humans for thousands of years. But by comparing the 17th century strain with modern variola samples, they found the strains shared a common ancestor that emerged between 1530 and 1654. Their finding suggests that the deadliest kinds of smallpox may have evolved much more recently than previously thought.Contemporary health and ancient remainsThe discovery in the Lithuanian crypt is one of the latest in a long line of important medical findings that have used intensive analysis of mummified to show how diseases connect modern humans to the experiences of our forebears.In 2013 a team led by Dr. Randall C. Thompson, a cardiologist at St. Lukes Mid America Heart Institute in Kansas City, Mo., performed C.T. scans on 130 mummies from ancient Egypt and pre-Columbian Peru, as well as those of Native Americans in the Southwest and the Unangan people of the Aleutian Islands.He and his colleagues discovered that more than a third of the mummies had some form of atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries, which can lead to heart disease. The affected mummies came from various geographical regions and lived over a span of more than 4,000 years a reminder that heart troubles have long been prevalent and are not simply the result of modern diets.We found that heart disease is older than Moses, he said. This disease was present and not hard to find all over the world covering a wide swath of human history.Using burial markings on the tombs, they identified their oldest case of coronary heart disease in Ahmose-Meritamun, an Egyptian princess who lived from 1550 to 1580 B.C. and was in her 40s when she died. The oldest example of clogged arteries they found belonged to an Egyptian mummy from around 2,000 B.C.Dr. Mark Pallen, a professor of microbial genomics at the University of Warwick, made similar findings in 2015 while studying tuberculosis in mummies found in a Hungarian crypt with more than 200 bodies.ImageCredit...Kiril Cachovski of the Lithuanian Mummy Project, 2015He and his team had extracted tuberculosis bacteria DNA from the lungs of eight 200-year-old mummies, discovering that ancient people could get multiple strains of the bacteria throughout their lifetimes.They used a technique known as metagenomics sequencing, which had not been previously used on mummified corpses. It allowed the researchers to extract microbial DNA directly rather than having to grow the bacteria on a plate.Because of its success in mummies, he had used the technique with mucus samples from people to get DNA from tuberculosis bacteria. In this case, the dead did instruct the living, Dr. Pallen said.Back in Lithuania, Dr. Piombino-Mascali said cases of both atherosclerosis and tuberculosis had been found among mummies in the church crypt. The findings offered evidence that even the upper class in 18th- and 19th-century Vilnius experienced chronic health problems, including those related to poor nutrition.But most important to Dr. Piombino-Mascali, the mummies now are sharing their stories.That crypt was a witness to all of the historical faces of Vilnius, Dr. Piombino-Mascali said. But now its finally given back to the city. The stories belong to Lithuania and especially the Lithuanian people. | science | <s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> Credit...Kiril Cachovski of the Lithuanian Mummy Project, 2015June 2, 2017Hundreds of skeletons have lain scattered around a crypt beneath a church in Vilnius, Lithuania, for centuries. But 23 of these remains are unlike the rest: Flesh wraps their bones, clothes cover their skin, and organs still fill their insides.They are mummies, and since they were recovered about five years ago, scientists have investigated their secrets, seeking insights into the lives of people in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries and the diseases they suffered.They are so well preserved that they almost look alive, said Dario Piombino-Mascali, an anthropologist from Italy who has studied the mummies since 2011.Recently, Dr. Piombino-Mascali and his colleagues have uncovered remnants of the smallpox virus in one of the mummies, gaining new insights into the origins of a deadly scourge that killed an estimated 300 million people in the 20th century alone.ImageCredit...Kiril Cachovski of the Lithuanian Mummy Project, 2015The work follows on their earlier discoveries: signs of rickets, osteoarthritis and intestinal parasites in the mummies. And they are not the only researchers unearthing new findings from the bodies of the long dead but well preserved.The study of mummified remains in other parts of the world has yielded historical perspective on the spread of deadly diseases and damaging medical conditions, from heart disease in pre-Columbian Americans to various strains of tuberculosis in 19th-century Europeans.By understanding how long these diseases have been around and mapping them historically, scientists can better tackle them today.Most people dont realize you can learn about modern medicine from ancient mummies, said Dr. Frank Rhli, head of the Swiss Mummy Project at the University of Zurich in Switzerland, who is studying the internal organs of Iranian and Egyptian mummies.These historic patient records are like a box of candy for us.A crypt in the heart of a capitalIn the heart of Vilnius, Lithuanias Dominican Church of the Holy Spirit is a bright masterpiece of Late Baroque architecture. But it hides something darker.ImageCredit...Kiril Cachovski of the Lithuanian Mummy Project, 2015Inside, an altar stands behind a large wooden platform where people kneel and pray. Beneath this is a stone staircase so narrow it can admit only one person at a time. Researchers liken it to an entrance to a secret lair: The steps descend to a dark and dusty underworld.A black metal gate leads to the labyrinthine chambers that house the corpses. Once, there were body parts piled into a pyramid on the floor and stacked on shelves that reached to the ceiling.For most of their history, the corpses were preserved intact: Cool temperatures and ventilation in the underground chamber had caused them to undergo spontaneous mummification. (Read more about how bodies spontaneously mummify.) Though they faced disturbances over the centuries as the city and church were occupied by Napoleon, then the Nazis, it was the Soviet occupation of Lithuania that brought about a drastic change in the mummies fate.In the 1960s, a forensic scientist named Juozas Albinas Markulis became one of the first to study the mummies. He wanted to know whether there were victims from World War II mixed in among the 17th-, 18th- and 19th-century corpses. (Oddly, Dr. Markulis is better known to Lithuanians not as a scientist but as a former spy who, while posing as a leader of the Lithuanian resistance, lured others into Soviet ambushes.)Dr. Markulis and his students at Vilnius University identified 500 bodies in the crypt, of which about 200 had been mummified. In 1962, government officials inspected the crypt and ordered that the mummies be sealed behind glass, fearful that infected bodies might start an epidemic. They called it the Chamber of Death.ImageCredit...Kiril Cachovski of the Lithuanian Mummy Project, 2015Soon a glass wall was erected, but it stopped the airflow and made the environment too humid and caused the mummies to decay. Dr. Markulis tried to save them, but his pleas were ignored by the Lithuanian government. The site was soon closed and remained unstudied until anthropologists returned to the chamber in 2004.From 2008 to 2011, researchers began inspecting and extracting the mummies from the crypt. Of the 200 studied by Dr. Markulis, who died in 1987, only 23 remained intact.But while Dr. Markulis sought to uncover the identities of the mummies, Dr. Piombino-Mascali and his colleagues focused on how they lived.Mummified medical mysteriesLooking at the remains, Dr. Piombino-Mascali identified several with dental decay and gum disease, as well as arthritis and bone deformities. To further investigate their health issues, he performed C.T. scans on the seven best-preserved mummies.One obese man once had arthritis in his spine, pelvis and both knees, a fractured rib on his right side and an enlarged thyroid gland, which might have been caused by goiter. An obese woman had a benign tumor in her lower back. Both had suffered from clogged arteries, a health problem usually associated with modern diets.ImageCredit...Kiril Cachovski of the Lithuanian Mummy Project, 2015It was very strange, Dr. Piombino-Mascali said of the examinations, because we were not feeling as if they were just objects of cultural and archaeological interest. It was a feeling like they were with us willing to do a checkup for their medical conditions.The researchers sent samples from a 17th century mummified child to a colleague in Canada, who uncovered remnants of variola virus that causes smallpox, which once ravaged most of the world. By sequencing the virus, the team has gained insight into the origins of the deadly scourge.There was no evidence on any remains that would suggest a smallpox infection, so the presence of variola virus was very surprising, said Ana Duggan, a biologist from McMaster University who worked with Dr. Piombino-Mascali. Its the oldest complete genome that we have of variola virus.She said the ancient DNA has helped them map out the timeline of smallpox. Historical accounts from Egypt, China and India had suggested that smallpox had infected humans for thousands of years. But by comparing the 17th century strain with modern variola samples, they found the strains shared a common ancestor that emerged between 1530 and 1654. Their finding suggests that the deadliest kinds of smallpox may have evolved much more recently than previously thought.Contemporary health and ancient remainsThe discovery in the Lithuanian crypt is one of the latest in a long line of important medical findings that have used intensive analysis of mummified to show how diseases connect modern humans to the experiences of our forebears.In 2013 a team led by Dr. Randall C. Thompson, a cardiologist at St. Lukes Mid America Heart Institute in Kansas City, Mo., performed C.T. scans on 130 mummies from ancient Egypt and pre-Columbian Peru, as well as those of Native Americans in the Southwest and the Unangan people of the Aleutian Islands.He and his colleagues discovered that more than a third of the mummies had some form of atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries, which can lead to heart disease. The affected mummies came from various geographical regions and lived over a span of more than 4,000 years a reminder that heart troubles have long been prevalent and are not simply the result of modern diets.We found that heart disease is older than Moses, he said. This disease was present and not hard to find all over the world covering a wide swath of human history.Using burial markings on the tombs, they identified their oldest case of coronary heart disease in Ahmose-Meritamun, an Egyptian princess who lived from 1550 to 1580 B.C. and was in her 40s when she died. The oldest example of clogged arteries they found belonged to an Egyptian mummy from around 2,000 B.C.Dr. Mark Pallen, a professor of microbial genomics at the University of Warwick, made similar findings in 2015 while studying tuberculosis in mummies found in a Hungarian crypt with more than 200 bodies.ImageCredit...Kiril Cachovski of the Lithuanian Mummy Project, 2015He and his team had extracted tuberculosis bacteria DNA from the lungs of eight 200-year-old mummies, discovering that ancient people could get multiple strains of the bacteria throughout their lifetimes.They used a technique known as metagenomics sequencing, which had not been previously used on mummified corpses. It allowed the researchers to extract microbial DNA directly rather than having to grow the bacteria on a plate.Because of its success in mummies, he had used the technique with mucus samples from people to get DNA from tuberculosis bacteria. In this case, the dead did instruct the living, Dr. Pallen said.Back in Lithuania, Dr. Piombino-Mascali said cases of both atherosclerosis and tuberculosis had been found among mummies in the church crypt. The findings offered evidence that even the upper class in 18th- and 19th-century Vilnius experienced chronic health problems, including those related to poor nutrition.But most important to Dr. Piombino-Mascali, the mummies now are sharing their stories.That crypt was a witness to all of the historical faces of Vilnius, Dr. Piombino-Mascali said. But now its finally given back to the city. The stories belong to Lithuania and especially the Lithuanian people. [/INST] science </s> |
Americas|At Least 38 Are Killed by Driver Fleeing an Accident in Haitihttps://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/12/world/dozens-killed-by-driver-fleeing-an-accident-in-haiti.htmlCredit...Dieulivens Jules/Haiti Press Image, via Associated PressMarch 12, 2017PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti A bus driver fleeing the scene of an accident drove into crowds of people in northern Haiti early on Sunday, killing at least 38 and injuring about a dozen more, the authorities said.The bus, which was traveling from Cap Haitien to Port-au-Prince, the capital, initially hit two people at a bus stop outside Gonaives in the northern part of the country, according to Joseph Faustin, the head of civil protection for the Artibonite department. One of the two pedestrians was killed, he said.The bus driver then tried to drive away, but when he reached Mapou, about three miles away, he crashed the bus into three rara parades, Mr. Faustin said.The parades, which usually take place around Easter, involve groups of musicians playing traditional instruments in the street, often joined by crowds of passers-by.Haitian roads are dangerous and chaotic, and pedestrians, drivers and motorcyclists observe few if any traffic rules.In total, 34 people were killed at the scene and four people died later of their injuries, according to Fred Henry, the areas deputy representative, who added that the episode had occurred around 4 a.m.Usually the drivers involved in such accidents dont stop, because they are afraid they might be killed in reprisal, Mr. Henry said.It was not immediately clear what caused the accident.The driver and passengers on the bus were taken to a police station, said Patrick Cherilus, a civil protection spokesman. They were later released, and the bus driver has fled, said Jean Bazlais Bornelus, the police chief for the area.After the accident, other musicians and people in the rara parade began hurling rocks at the bus and at passing vehicles, injuring other people, said Albert Moulion, the spokesman for the Interior Ministry.President Jovenel Mose expressed condolences on Sunday for the victims and their families, and called for an investigation. | World | <s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> Americas|At Least 38 Are Killed by Driver Fleeing an Accident in Haitihttps://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/12/world/dozens-killed-by-driver-fleeing-an-accident-in-haiti.htmlCredit...Dieulivens Jules/Haiti Press Image, via Associated PressMarch 12, 2017PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti A bus driver fleeing the scene of an accident drove into crowds of people in northern Haiti early on Sunday, killing at least 38 and injuring about a dozen more, the authorities said.The bus, which was traveling from Cap Haitien to Port-au-Prince, the capital, initially hit two people at a bus stop outside Gonaives in the northern part of the country, according to Joseph Faustin, the head of civil protection for the Artibonite department. One of the two pedestrians was killed, he said.The bus driver then tried to drive away, but when he reached Mapou, about three miles away, he crashed the bus into three rara parades, Mr. Faustin said.The parades, which usually take place around Easter, involve groups of musicians playing traditional instruments in the street, often joined by crowds of passers-by.Haitian roads are dangerous and chaotic, and pedestrians, drivers and motorcyclists observe few if any traffic rules.In total, 34 people were killed at the scene and four people died later of their injuries, according to Fred Henry, the areas deputy representative, who added that the episode had occurred around 4 a.m.Usually the drivers involved in such accidents dont stop, because they are afraid they might be killed in reprisal, Mr. Henry said.It was not immediately clear what caused the accident.The driver and passengers on the bus were taken to a police station, said Patrick Cherilus, a civil protection spokesman. They were later released, and the bus driver has fled, said Jean Bazlais Bornelus, the police chief for the area.After the accident, other musicians and people in the rara parade began hurling rocks at the bus and at passing vehicles, injuring other people, said Albert Moulion, the spokesman for the Interior Ministry.President Jovenel Mose expressed condolences on Sunday for the victims and their families, and called for an investigation. [/INST] World </s> |
Credit...Max Ortiz/The Detroit News, via Associated PressNov. 5, 2018WASHINGTON A top official of the American Cancer Society has resigned in part because of concern over some of the organizations fund-raising partnerships.The official, Dr. Otis W. Brawley, an executive vice president and chief medical officer, resigned his post late last week after 11 years at the society. His departure was largely attributed to his dismay over some commercial partnerships, including with Herbalife International, the controversial supplements company, people close to him said.While he would not comment publicly, others said that he had become uncomfortable with the societys growing reliance on donations from businesses with questionable health credentials that he and others suspect are seeking to burnish their images.Dr. J. Leonard Lichtenfeld, deputy chief medical officer at the society, said Dr. Brawleys resignation had hit his colleagues hard.Its personally difficult and certainly for many in the organization its difficult as well, Dr. Lichtenfeld said.Such donations and fund-raising partnerships have become more important in recent years as the organizations fund-raising has declined. Fund-raising income has gone down every year since its peak of just over $1 billion in 2007. In 2017, donations reached only $736 million, although the society made up for some of the loss by selling properties.Critics in and outside the 105-year-old organization have also protested its recent partnerships with Long John Silvers, a seafood chain best known for its batter-fried fish; and Tilted Kilt, a sports pub showcasing Kilt Girls in skimpy red plaid.And Herbalife International has had a troubled history. The company donated $250,000 directly to the cancer society, and in October, started selling pink water bottles, that are co-branded with both the American Cancer Society and the Herbalife logo. Proceeds from the sales all go to the cancer society.These water bottles are really a good way for people to show their support, said Sharon Byers, the societys chief marketing officer. Our intent with all of our partnerships is to generate as much revenue as we can to achieve our mission.In 2014, the Food and Drug Administration told Herbalife to take down a YouTube video that featured a former F.D.A. official implying that the agency approved weight loss shakes and other supplements.And in a 2016 settlement with the Federal Trade Commission, Herbalife agreed to pay $200 million and was forced to restructure the business to settle charges that it deceived customers into thinking they could make substantial money selling the product.Herbalife did not respond to numerous requests for comment.The company is too controversial historically, said Arthur Caplan, director of medical ethics at the New York University School of Medicine. It has a very non-illustrious history with regulatory bodies, association with a product of controversial and most likely dubious merit, and is not where the cancer society wants or ought to be.The Herbalife Facebook page shows both the cancer society and the companys logo, with the phrase, Working Together to Make the World Healthier and Happier and Free from Breast Cancer. It does carry a disclaimer noting the cancer society does not endorse Herbalife products.Dr. Caplan said the disclaimer isnt enough. Some people are going to think that theres an implicit endorsement, he said, either because they dont look at the website or they just see the bottle and presume a partnership.Historically, the cancer societys revenue was heavily reliant on walks, including Relay for Life and Making Strides Against Breast Cancer, said Michael Reich, a spokesman for the organization. But during the past decade, he said, donations patterns have changed and walks, in particular, have become less popular.Because A.C.S.s walks generated so much revenue and were such a large part of our portfolio, our declines were much more pronounced than some other organizations, Mr. Reich said. We have been re-engineering and diversifying our revenue portfolio, and partnerships are playing a key role. This takes time to build, but we are making tremendous progress.Ms. Byers, the cancer societys chief marketing officer, said the organization does not form alliances with tobacco companies, but other than that, assesses each company individually.Mr. Reich also defended the arrangement with the Tilted Kilt.I can tell you that A.C.S. is proud of the partnership with Tilted Kilt, too, Mr. Reich said. We do not yet have a plan for 2019, but we would certainly work with them again.Responding to internal criticism about the Tilted Kilt, Mr. Reich said, We know were taking some risks. Not every partnership or initiative is for everyone.Janet Wilt, marketing director for the restaurant chain, said she was proud the company was a donor.Cancer is a disease that has touched all of our lives and it does not discriminate based on who you are or where you work, she said in an email. Frankly, we are disappointed people are offended by any organization supporting efforts toward finding a cure.The cancer society is not the only patient advocacy group struggling to expand its donor base without becoming tainted by associations with other groups.A Boston University study two years ago identified scores of patient advocacy groups and other health organizations, including the American Heart Association and the American Diabetes Association, that accepted research funding from soda companies.One of the cancer societys new donors, Long John Silvers, was the subject of criticism for its use of trans fats, which it has since dropped. James P. OReilly, the companys chief executive, notes that the restaurant now offers healthier choices, among them baked shrimp and cod and grilled salmon, and is expanding its grilled selections on the menu.Long John Silvers and its franchisees are proud to stand with the many millions of American families who battle cancer every day, Mr. OReilly said in an email.Jonathan H. Marks, associate professor of bioethics, humanities and law at Pennsylvania State University, pointed to the partnerships conflicting messages.The partnership with Long John Silvers undermines the integrity of the American Cancer Society, Dr. Marks said. The American Cancer Societys website encourages readers to prepare fish and poultry by baking, broiling or poaching rather than by frying or charbroiling. But the society is partnering with a fast food company whose leading menu items are fried. Integrity requires consistency.Dr. Brawley, 59, said he was not able to discuss the terms of his departure. Members of the society said he also had concerns about the administration of its landmark program to make cancer drugs available at lower cost in Africa. | Health | <s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> Credit...Max Ortiz/The Detroit News, via Associated PressNov. 5, 2018WASHINGTON A top official of the American Cancer Society has resigned in part because of concern over some of the organizations fund-raising partnerships.The official, Dr. Otis W. Brawley, an executive vice president and chief medical officer, resigned his post late last week after 11 years at the society. His departure was largely attributed to his dismay over some commercial partnerships, including with Herbalife International, the controversial supplements company, people close to him said.While he would not comment publicly, others said that he had become uncomfortable with the societys growing reliance on donations from businesses with questionable health credentials that he and others suspect are seeking to burnish their images.Dr. J. Leonard Lichtenfeld, deputy chief medical officer at the society, said Dr. Brawleys resignation had hit his colleagues hard.Its personally difficult and certainly for many in the organization its difficult as well, Dr. Lichtenfeld said.Such donations and fund-raising partnerships have become more important in recent years as the organizations fund-raising has declined. Fund-raising income has gone down every year since its peak of just over $1 billion in 2007. In 2017, donations reached only $736 million, although the society made up for some of the loss by selling properties.Critics in and outside the 105-year-old organization have also protested its recent partnerships with Long John Silvers, a seafood chain best known for its batter-fried fish; and Tilted Kilt, a sports pub showcasing Kilt Girls in skimpy red plaid.And Herbalife International has had a troubled history. The company donated $250,000 directly to the cancer society, and in October, started selling pink water bottles, that are co-branded with both the American Cancer Society and the Herbalife logo. Proceeds from the sales all go to the cancer society.These water bottles are really a good way for people to show their support, said Sharon Byers, the societys chief marketing officer. Our intent with all of our partnerships is to generate as much revenue as we can to achieve our mission.In 2014, the Food and Drug Administration told Herbalife to take down a YouTube video that featured a former F.D.A. official implying that the agency approved weight loss shakes and other supplements.And in a 2016 settlement with the Federal Trade Commission, Herbalife agreed to pay $200 million and was forced to restructure the business to settle charges that it deceived customers into thinking they could make substantial money selling the product.Herbalife did not respond to numerous requests for comment.The company is too controversial historically, said Arthur Caplan, director of medical ethics at the New York University School of Medicine. It has a very non-illustrious history with regulatory bodies, association with a product of controversial and most likely dubious merit, and is not where the cancer society wants or ought to be.The Herbalife Facebook page shows both the cancer society and the companys logo, with the phrase, Working Together to Make the World Healthier and Happier and Free from Breast Cancer. It does carry a disclaimer noting the cancer society does not endorse Herbalife products.Dr. Caplan said the disclaimer isnt enough. Some people are going to think that theres an implicit endorsement, he said, either because they dont look at the website or they just see the bottle and presume a partnership.Historically, the cancer societys revenue was heavily reliant on walks, including Relay for Life and Making Strides Against Breast Cancer, said Michael Reich, a spokesman for the organization. But during the past decade, he said, donations patterns have changed and walks, in particular, have become less popular.Because A.C.S.s walks generated so much revenue and were such a large part of our portfolio, our declines were much more pronounced than some other organizations, Mr. Reich said. We have been re-engineering and diversifying our revenue portfolio, and partnerships are playing a key role. This takes time to build, but we are making tremendous progress.Ms. Byers, the cancer societys chief marketing officer, said the organization does not form alliances with tobacco companies, but other than that, assesses each company individually.Mr. Reich also defended the arrangement with the Tilted Kilt.I can tell you that A.C.S. is proud of the partnership with Tilted Kilt, too, Mr. Reich said. We do not yet have a plan for 2019, but we would certainly work with them again.Responding to internal criticism about the Tilted Kilt, Mr. Reich said, We know were taking some risks. Not every partnership or initiative is for everyone.Janet Wilt, marketing director for the restaurant chain, said she was proud the company was a donor.Cancer is a disease that has touched all of our lives and it does not discriminate based on who you are or where you work, she said in an email. Frankly, we are disappointed people are offended by any organization supporting efforts toward finding a cure.The cancer society is not the only patient advocacy group struggling to expand its donor base without becoming tainted by associations with other groups.A Boston University study two years ago identified scores of patient advocacy groups and other health organizations, including the American Heart Association and the American Diabetes Association, that accepted research funding from soda companies.One of the cancer societys new donors, Long John Silvers, was the subject of criticism for its use of trans fats, which it has since dropped. James P. OReilly, the companys chief executive, notes that the restaurant now offers healthier choices, among them baked shrimp and cod and grilled salmon, and is expanding its grilled selections on the menu.Long John Silvers and its franchisees are proud to stand with the many millions of American families who battle cancer every day, Mr. OReilly said in an email.Jonathan H. Marks, associate professor of bioethics, humanities and law at Pennsylvania State University, pointed to the partnerships conflicting messages.The partnership with Long John Silvers undermines the integrity of the American Cancer Society, Dr. Marks said. The American Cancer Societys website encourages readers to prepare fish and poultry by baking, broiling or poaching rather than by frying or charbroiling. But the society is partnering with a fast food company whose leading menu items are fried. Integrity requires consistency.Dr. Brawley, 59, said he was not able to discuss the terms of his departure. Members of the society said he also had concerns about the administration of its landmark program to make cancer drugs available at lower cost in Africa. [/INST] Health </s> |
Vincent Herbert on Laura Govan You Knock Her Up? No, Siree!!!! 12/31/2017 Backgrid.com Vincent Herbert did not get Laura Govan pregnant and did not commit spousal abuse on Tamar Braxton ... this according to Vince himself. A pap got Tamar's estranged hubby Sunday out in Bev Hills where the denials came straight from the horse's mouth. Vince says it clear as day on the Govan rumor ... not true at all. He also backs up what Tamar said herself about his Christmas day arrest -- there was no spousal abuse ... even though he was, in fact, arrested for spousal assault. We broke the stories ... Tamar unleashed her fury on a woman claiming to have gotten pregnant by Vincent, and people were quick to assume she was referring to Laura. Laura denies it's her, and says her own ex, Gilbert Arenas, is the one fueling the rumor. Gilbert's got his own thoughts on the matter. But it looks like Vince wants to clear his name. | Entertainment | <s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> Vincent Herbert on Laura Govan You Knock Her Up? No, Siree!!!! 12/31/2017 Backgrid.com Vincent Herbert did not get Laura Govan pregnant and did not commit spousal abuse on Tamar Braxton ... this according to Vince himself. A pap got Tamar's estranged hubby Sunday out in Bev Hills where the denials came straight from the horse's mouth. Vince says it clear as day on the Govan rumor ... not true at all. He also backs up what Tamar said herself about his Christmas day arrest -- there was no spousal abuse ... even though he was, in fact, arrested for spousal assault. We broke the stories ... Tamar unleashed her fury on a woman claiming to have gotten pregnant by Vincent, and people were quick to assume she was referring to Laura. Laura denies it's her, and says her own ex, Gilbert Arenas, is the one fueling the rumor. Gilbert's got his own thoughts on the matter. But it looks like Vince wants to clear his name. [/INST] Entertainment </s> |
Lonzo Ball Announces First Rap Concert ... In Lithuania! 1/26/2018 Lonzo Ball wants to put the "lit" in Lithuania ... announcing he's coming to the Eastern European country to perform his very first rap concert! Lonzo's dad, LaVar Ball, was reportedly presenting the Hip-Hop Act of the Year trophy at the M.A.M.A. Awards (like the Lithuanian Grammys) ... when he introduced Lonzo via a prerecorded video. Lonzo says the plan is to fly in over the summer and perform a show for the locals -- obviously capitalizing on the publicity splash his brothers are making as pro baller on Vytautus. Lonzo raps under the name Zo -- and has already dropped a couple of singles, including "BBB" and "Super Saiyan." Most rappers don't go to Europe to catapult their careers ... but Lonzo ain't most rappers. Good luck! | Entertainment | <s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> Lonzo Ball Announces First Rap Concert ... In Lithuania! 1/26/2018 Lonzo Ball wants to put the "lit" in Lithuania ... announcing he's coming to the Eastern European country to perform his very first rap concert! Lonzo's dad, LaVar Ball, was reportedly presenting the Hip-Hop Act of the Year trophy at the M.A.M.A. Awards (like the Lithuanian Grammys) ... when he introduced Lonzo via a prerecorded video. Lonzo says the plan is to fly in over the summer and perform a show for the locals -- obviously capitalizing on the publicity splash his brothers are making as pro baller on Vytautus. Lonzo raps under the name Zo -- and has already dropped a couple of singles, including "BBB" and "Super Saiyan." Most rappers don't go to Europe to catapult their careers ... but Lonzo ain't most rappers. Good luck! [/INST] Entertainment </s> |
Credit...Andrew Harnik/Associated PressJune 27, 2018WASHINGTON The Supreme Court dealt a major blow on Wednesday to organized labor. By a 5-to-4 vote, with the more conservative justices in the majority, the court ruled that government workers who choose not to join unions may not be required to help pay for collective bargaining.Forcing those workers to finance union activity violated the First Amendment, Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. wrote for the majority. We conclude that this arrangement violates the free speech rights of nonmembers by compelling them to subsidize private speech on matters of substantial public concern, he wrote.The ruling means that public-sector unions across the nation, already under political pressure, could lose tens of millions of dollars and see their effectiveness diminished.We recognize that the loss of payments from nonmembers may cause unions to experience unpleasant transition costs in the short term, and may require unions to make adjustments in order to attract and retain members, Justice Alito wrote. But we must weigh these disadvantages against the considerable windfall that unions have received over the years.Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justices Anthony M. Kennedy, Clarence Thomas and Neil M. Gorsuch joined the majority opinion, which overruled a four-decade-old precedent.Justice Elena Kagan summarized her dissent from the bench, a sign of profound disagreement.There is no sugarcoating todays opinion, she wrote. The majority overthrows a decision entrenched in this nations law and in its economic life for over 40 years.As a result, she wrote, it prevents the American people, acting through their state and local officials, from making important choices about workplace governance. And it does so by weaponizing the First Amendment, in a way that unleashes judges, now and in the future, to intervene in economic and regulatory policy.Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen G. Breyer and Sonia Sotomayor joined the dissent.The majority based its ruling on the First Amendment, saying that requiring payments to unions that negotiate with the government forces workers to endorse political messages that may be at odds with their beliefs.Unions say that reasoning is flawed. Nonmembers are already entitled to refunds of payments spent on political activities, like advertising to support a political candidate.Collective bargaining is different, the unions say, and workers should not be free to reap the benefits of such bargaining without paying their fair share of the costs.The decision could encourage many workers perfectly happy with their unions work to make the economically rational decision to opt out of paying for it.[Read more about the rulings effects on organized labor.]President Trump took to Twitter to praise the decision, saying it would be a big loss for the coffers of the Democrats!Limiting the power of public unions has long been a goal of conservative groups. They seemed poised to succeed in the Supreme Court in 2016, when a majority of the justices looked ready to rule that the fees were unconstitutional.[Read more about the web of conservative donors that fueled the case.]But Justice Antonin Scalia died not long after the earlier case was argued, and it ended in a 4-to-4 deadlock. The new case, which had been filed in 2015, was waiting in the wings and soon reached the Supreme Court. Justice Neil M. Gorsuch, President Trumps Supreme Court appointee, voted with the majority.The new case, Janus v. American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, No. 16-1466, was brought by Mark Janus, a child support specialist who works for the state government in Illinois. He sued the union, saying he did not agree with its positions and should not be forced to pay fees to support its work.Wednesdays ruling overruled the courts 1977 decision in Abood v. Detroit Board of Education, which had made a distinction between two kinds of compelled payments. Forcing nonmembers to pay for a unions political activities violated the First Amendment, the court said. But it was constitutional, the court added, to require nonmembers to help pay for the unions collective bargaining efforts to prevent freeloading and ensure labor peace.The new decision struck down an Illinois law that required government workers who chose not to join a union to pay their proportionate share of the costs of the collective bargaining process, contract administration and pursuing matters affecting wages, hours and other conditions of employment. More than 20 states have laws that require such agency fees.According to Justice Alito, workers like Mr. Janus were charged about 78 percent of the dues paid by members of the union.Abood was poorly reasoned, Justice Alito wrote. It has led to practical problems and abuse. It is inconsistent with other First Amendment cases and has been undermined by more recent decisions.The distinction drawn in the Abood case between a unions political spending and other activities is untenable and unworkable, Justice Alito added. Taken together, he said, these factors justified a departure from the principle of stare decisis, Latin for to stand by things decided.Justice Alito wrote that labor peace did not justify the compelled payments allowed by the Abood decision, saying that there was no evidence that the pandemonium it imagined would result if agency fees were not allowed.Free riding may be the wrong metaphor, Justice Alito added. Mr. Janus strenuously objects to this free-rider label, Justice Alito wrote. He argues that he is not a free rider on a bus headed for a destination that he wishes to reach but is more like a person shanghaied for an unwanted voyage.In dissent, Justice Kagan wrote that the majority subverts all known principles of stare decisis.Citing earlier majority opinions from Justice Alito that paved the way for Wednesdays ruling, she said the supposed erosion of legal support for Abood was a bootstrapping.Dont like a decision? Justice Kagan wrote. Just throw some gratuitous criticisms into a couple of opinions and a few years later point to them as special justifications for overruling a precedent.The majority, Justice Kagan wrote, has overruled Abood for no exceptional or special reason, but because it never liked the decision. It has overruled Abood because it wanted to.More broadly, she wrote, the decision was one of several in which conservatives have misused the Constitutions free speech protections to achieve political ends. The First Amendment was meant for better things, she wrote. It was meant not to undermine but to protect democratic governance including over the role of public-sector unions.Justice Alito wrote that unions have survived in settings where compelled payments from nonmembers are not required. Only 27 percent of federal workers, for instance are members of a union, he wrote.Justice Kagan responded that the analogy to Illinois and other states was inapt. First, she wrote, many fewer federal employees pay dues than have voted for a union to represent them, indicating that free-riding in fact pervades the federal sector. And second, that sector is not typical of other public workforces. Bargaining in the federal sphere is limited; most notably, it does not extend to wages and benefits.Wednesdays ruling was not likely to be particularly disruptive, Justice Alito wrote, because public-sector collective-bargaining agreements are generally of rather short duration.Justice Kagan disputed that. The majority undoes bargains reached all over the country, Justice Kagan wrote, adding that the decision wreaks havoc on entrenched legislative and contractual arrangements.In New York City alone, she wrote, 144 contracts with 97 public-sector unions call for agency fees and will have to be renegotiated.The decision is unlikely to have a direct effect on unionized employees of private businesses, because the First Amendment restricts government action and not private conduct. But unions now represent only 6.5 percent of private sector employees, down from the upper teens in the early 1980s, and most of the labor movements strength these days is in the public sector.Wednesdays ruling contained a final blow for public unions, saying that workers must affirmatively agree to support them.Neither an agency fee nor any other payment to the union may be deducted from a nonmembers wages, nor may any other attempt be made to collect such a payment, unless the employee affirmatively consents to pay, Justice Alito wrote. | Politics | <s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> Credit...Andrew Harnik/Associated PressJune 27, 2018WASHINGTON The Supreme Court dealt a major blow on Wednesday to organized labor. By a 5-to-4 vote, with the more conservative justices in the majority, the court ruled that government workers who choose not to join unions may not be required to help pay for collective bargaining.Forcing those workers to finance union activity violated the First Amendment, Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. wrote for the majority. We conclude that this arrangement violates the free speech rights of nonmembers by compelling them to subsidize private speech on matters of substantial public concern, he wrote.The ruling means that public-sector unions across the nation, already under political pressure, could lose tens of millions of dollars and see their effectiveness diminished.We recognize that the loss of payments from nonmembers may cause unions to experience unpleasant transition costs in the short term, and may require unions to make adjustments in order to attract and retain members, Justice Alito wrote. But we must weigh these disadvantages against the considerable windfall that unions have received over the years.Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justices Anthony M. Kennedy, Clarence Thomas and Neil M. Gorsuch joined the majority opinion, which overruled a four-decade-old precedent.Justice Elena Kagan summarized her dissent from the bench, a sign of profound disagreement.There is no sugarcoating todays opinion, she wrote. The majority overthrows a decision entrenched in this nations law and in its economic life for over 40 years.As a result, she wrote, it prevents the American people, acting through their state and local officials, from making important choices about workplace governance. And it does so by weaponizing the First Amendment, in a way that unleashes judges, now and in the future, to intervene in economic and regulatory policy.Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen G. Breyer and Sonia Sotomayor joined the dissent.The majority based its ruling on the First Amendment, saying that requiring payments to unions that negotiate with the government forces workers to endorse political messages that may be at odds with their beliefs.Unions say that reasoning is flawed. Nonmembers are already entitled to refunds of payments spent on political activities, like advertising to support a political candidate.Collective bargaining is different, the unions say, and workers should not be free to reap the benefits of such bargaining without paying their fair share of the costs.The decision could encourage many workers perfectly happy with their unions work to make the economically rational decision to opt out of paying for it.[Read more about the rulings effects on organized labor.]President Trump took to Twitter to praise the decision, saying it would be a big loss for the coffers of the Democrats!Limiting the power of public unions has long been a goal of conservative groups. They seemed poised to succeed in the Supreme Court in 2016, when a majority of the justices looked ready to rule that the fees were unconstitutional.[Read more about the web of conservative donors that fueled the case.]But Justice Antonin Scalia died not long after the earlier case was argued, and it ended in a 4-to-4 deadlock. The new case, which had been filed in 2015, was waiting in the wings and soon reached the Supreme Court. Justice Neil M. Gorsuch, President Trumps Supreme Court appointee, voted with the majority.The new case, Janus v. American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, No. 16-1466, was brought by Mark Janus, a child support specialist who works for the state government in Illinois. He sued the union, saying he did not agree with its positions and should not be forced to pay fees to support its work.Wednesdays ruling overruled the courts 1977 decision in Abood v. Detroit Board of Education, which had made a distinction between two kinds of compelled payments. Forcing nonmembers to pay for a unions political activities violated the First Amendment, the court said. But it was constitutional, the court added, to require nonmembers to help pay for the unions collective bargaining efforts to prevent freeloading and ensure labor peace.The new decision struck down an Illinois law that required government workers who chose not to join a union to pay their proportionate share of the costs of the collective bargaining process, contract administration and pursuing matters affecting wages, hours and other conditions of employment. More than 20 states have laws that require such agency fees.According to Justice Alito, workers like Mr. Janus were charged about 78 percent of the dues paid by members of the union.Abood was poorly reasoned, Justice Alito wrote. It has led to practical problems and abuse. It is inconsistent with other First Amendment cases and has been undermined by more recent decisions.The distinction drawn in the Abood case between a unions political spending and other activities is untenable and unworkable, Justice Alito added. Taken together, he said, these factors justified a departure from the principle of stare decisis, Latin for to stand by things decided.Justice Alito wrote that labor peace did not justify the compelled payments allowed by the Abood decision, saying that there was no evidence that the pandemonium it imagined would result if agency fees were not allowed.Free riding may be the wrong metaphor, Justice Alito added. Mr. Janus strenuously objects to this free-rider label, Justice Alito wrote. He argues that he is not a free rider on a bus headed for a destination that he wishes to reach but is more like a person shanghaied for an unwanted voyage.In dissent, Justice Kagan wrote that the majority subverts all known principles of stare decisis.Citing earlier majority opinions from Justice Alito that paved the way for Wednesdays ruling, she said the supposed erosion of legal support for Abood was a bootstrapping.Dont like a decision? Justice Kagan wrote. Just throw some gratuitous criticisms into a couple of opinions and a few years later point to them as special justifications for overruling a precedent.The majority, Justice Kagan wrote, has overruled Abood for no exceptional or special reason, but because it never liked the decision. It has overruled Abood because it wanted to.More broadly, she wrote, the decision was one of several in which conservatives have misused the Constitutions free speech protections to achieve political ends. The First Amendment was meant for better things, she wrote. It was meant not to undermine but to protect democratic governance including over the role of public-sector unions.Justice Alito wrote that unions have survived in settings where compelled payments from nonmembers are not required. Only 27 percent of federal workers, for instance are members of a union, he wrote.Justice Kagan responded that the analogy to Illinois and other states was inapt. First, she wrote, many fewer federal employees pay dues than have voted for a union to represent them, indicating that free-riding in fact pervades the federal sector. And second, that sector is not typical of other public workforces. Bargaining in the federal sphere is limited; most notably, it does not extend to wages and benefits.Wednesdays ruling was not likely to be particularly disruptive, Justice Alito wrote, because public-sector collective-bargaining agreements are generally of rather short duration.Justice Kagan disputed that. The majority undoes bargains reached all over the country, Justice Kagan wrote, adding that the decision wreaks havoc on entrenched legislative and contractual arrangements.In New York City alone, she wrote, 144 contracts with 97 public-sector unions call for agency fees and will have to be renegotiated.The decision is unlikely to have a direct effect on unionized employees of private businesses, because the First Amendment restricts government action and not private conduct. But unions now represent only 6.5 percent of private sector employees, down from the upper teens in the early 1980s, and most of the labor movements strength these days is in the public sector.Wednesdays ruling contained a final blow for public unions, saying that workers must affirmatively agree to support them.Neither an agency fee nor any other payment to the union may be deducted from a nonmembers wages, nor may any other attempt be made to collect such a payment, unless the employee affirmatively consents to pay, Justice Alito wrote. [/INST] Politics </s> |
Saints' Alvin Kamara No, We Don't Hate Marcus Williams Yes, I Look Like Lil Uzi Vert 1/31/2018 TMZSports.com Saints' record-breaking rookie Alvin Kamara says the team is already over Marcus Williams' historic missed tackle against the Vikings ... telling TMZ Sports the team is 100% behind their guy. Kamara also admits he looks almost exactly like rap superstar Lil Uzi Vert. We got Alvin out at MinneapolisSaint Paul International Airport and asked him how the team responded to Williams after he missed Stefon Diggs with no time left on the clock, allowing the Vikings to pull off the Minnesota Miracle. "Obviously he was down on himself, but we have a supportive locker room and we all picked him up and let him know that it's not just on you." Now to the important news ... Kamara looks like Uzi, it's a thing. We asked him about it, and he addressed it, cooly and calmly just like Uzi would've. It's pretty uncanny. | Entertainment | <s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> Saints' Alvin Kamara No, We Don't Hate Marcus Williams Yes, I Look Like Lil Uzi Vert 1/31/2018 TMZSports.com Saints' record-breaking rookie Alvin Kamara says the team is already over Marcus Williams' historic missed tackle against the Vikings ... telling TMZ Sports the team is 100% behind their guy. Kamara also admits he looks almost exactly like rap superstar Lil Uzi Vert. We got Alvin out at MinneapolisSaint Paul International Airport and asked him how the team responded to Williams after he missed Stefon Diggs with no time left on the clock, allowing the Vikings to pull off the Minnesota Miracle. "Obviously he was down on himself, but we have a supportive locker room and we all picked him up and let him know that it's not just on you." Now to the important news ... Kamara looks like Uzi, it's a thing. We asked him about it, and he addressed it, cooly and calmly just like Uzi would've. It's pretty uncanny. [/INST] Entertainment </s> |
Greg Hardy I Can Fight & Play Football ... Signs w/ Jim Jones' Arena Team 1/26/2018 TMZSports.com Greg Hardy will take a pro MMA fight in February and take the field for Jim Jones' arena league football team in March. And that's why Jim says Greg could be the modern-day Bo Jackson -- a "beast" in TWO pro sports. As we previously reported, Greg is pursuing a career as a pro MMA fighter -- he beat the hell out of his first 2 opponents. But he also wants to play pro football again -- and with Jim owning the Richmond Roughriders in the American Arena League, the rap star saw a great opportunity to get the ex-NFL star back in the field. "That man is a BEAST," Jones said on the "TMZ Sports" TV show ... "He's not one of the regular players. He's one of the best in his craft." Hardy is set to take the field for the Roughriders on March 17 ... one month after his next MMA fight -- and he says he's ready to "handle business" in both sports. | Entertainment | <s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> Greg Hardy I Can Fight & Play Football ... Signs w/ Jim Jones' Arena Team 1/26/2018 TMZSports.com Greg Hardy will take a pro MMA fight in February and take the field for Jim Jones' arena league football team in March. And that's why Jim says Greg could be the modern-day Bo Jackson -- a "beast" in TWO pro sports. As we previously reported, Greg is pursuing a career as a pro MMA fighter -- he beat the hell out of his first 2 opponents. But he also wants to play pro football again -- and with Jim owning the Richmond Roughriders in the American Arena League, the rap star saw a great opportunity to get the ex-NFL star back in the field. "That man is a BEAST," Jones said on the "TMZ Sports" TV show ... "He's not one of the regular players. He's one of the best in his craft." Hardy is set to take the field for the Roughriders on March 17 ... one month after his next MMA fight -- and he says he's ready to "handle business" in both sports. [/INST] Entertainment </s> |
TrilobitesThey dont eat the bugs, and theyre definitely applying them to wounds, so some scientists think the primates may be treating one anothers injuries.VideoA chimp, Suzee, catches an insect and puts it on a wound on the foot of her son, Sia. Video by Alessandra Mascaro.CreditCredit...Tobias DeschnerFeb. 7, 2022Chimpanzees design and use tools. That is well known. But is it possible that they also use medicines to treat their own and others injuries? A new report suggests they do.Since 2005, researchers have been studying a community of 45 chimpanzees in the Loango National Park in Gabon, on the west coast of Africa. Over a period of 15 months, from November 2019 to February 2021, the researchers saw 76 open wounds on 22 different chimpanzees. In 19 instances they watched a chimp performing what looked like self-treatment of the wound using an insect as a salve. In a few instances, one chimp appeared to treat another. The scientists published their observations in the journal Current Biology on Monday.The procedure was similar each time. First, the chimps caught a flying insect; then they immobilized it by squeezing it between their lips. They placed the insect on the wound, moving it around with their fingertips. Finally, they took the insect out, using either their mouths or their fingers. Often, they put the insect in the wound and took it out several times.The researchers do not know what insect the chimps were using, or precisely how it may help heal a wound. They do know that the bugs are small flying insects, dark in color. Theres no evidence that the chimps are eating the insects they are definitely squeezing them with their lips and then applying them to the wounds.There have been other reports of self-medication in animals, including dogs and cats that eat grass or plants, probably to help them vomit, and bears and deer that consume medicinal plants, apparently to self-medicate. Orangutans have been seen applying plant material to soothe muscle injuries. But the researchers know of no previous report of nonhuman mammals using insects for a medicinal purpose.In three instances, the researchers saw chimps using the technique on another chimp. In one case, they saw an adult female named Carol grooming around a flesh wound on the leg of an adult male, Littlegrey. She grabbed an insect, and gave it to Littlegrey, who put it between his lips, and transferred it to his wound. Later, Carol and another adult male were seen moving the insect around on Littlegreys wound. Another adult male approached, took the insect out of the wound, put it between his own lips, then reapplied it to Littlegreys leg.One chimp, an adult male named Freddy, was a particularly enthusiastic user of insect medicine, treating himself numerous times for injuries of his head, both arms, his lower back, his left wrist and his penis. One day, the researchers watched him treat himself twice for the same arm wound. The researchers dont know how Freddy got these injuries, but some of them probably involved fighting with other males.There are some animals that cooperate with others in similar ways, said Simone Pika, who leads an animal cognition lab at the University of Osnabrck in Germany and is an author of the study. But we dont know of any other instances in mammals, she said. This may be a learned behavior that exists only in this group. We dont know if our chimps are special in this regard.Aaron Sandel, an anthropologist at the University of Texas, Austin, found the work valuable, but at the same time expressed some doubts. They dont offer an alternative explanation for the behavior, and they make no connection to what insect it might be, he said. The jump to a potential medical function? Thats a stretch at this point.Still, he said, attending to their own wounds or the wounds of others using a tool, another object thats very rare. Their documentation of chimps paying such attention to other chimps is, he added, an important contribution to the study of social behavior in apes. And its still interesting to ask whether there is empathy involved in this, as it is in humans.In some forms of ape social behavior, it is clear that there is an exchange of value. For example, grooming another chimp provides relief from parasites for the groomed animal, but also an insect snack for the groomer. But in the instances she observed, Dr. Pika said, the chimp gets nothing tangible in return. To her, this shows the apes are engaging in an act that increases the welfare of another being, and teaches us more about the primates social relationships.With every field site we learn more about chimps, she said. They really surprise us. | science | <s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> TrilobitesThey dont eat the bugs, and theyre definitely applying them to wounds, so some scientists think the primates may be treating one anothers injuries.VideoA chimp, Suzee, catches an insect and puts it on a wound on the foot of her son, Sia. Video by Alessandra Mascaro.CreditCredit...Tobias DeschnerFeb. 7, 2022Chimpanzees design and use tools. That is well known. But is it possible that they also use medicines to treat their own and others injuries? A new report suggests they do.Since 2005, researchers have been studying a community of 45 chimpanzees in the Loango National Park in Gabon, on the west coast of Africa. Over a period of 15 months, from November 2019 to February 2021, the researchers saw 76 open wounds on 22 different chimpanzees. In 19 instances they watched a chimp performing what looked like self-treatment of the wound using an insect as a salve. In a few instances, one chimp appeared to treat another. The scientists published their observations in the journal Current Biology on Monday.The procedure was similar each time. First, the chimps caught a flying insect; then they immobilized it by squeezing it between their lips. They placed the insect on the wound, moving it around with their fingertips. Finally, they took the insect out, using either their mouths or their fingers. Often, they put the insect in the wound and took it out several times.The researchers do not know what insect the chimps were using, or precisely how it may help heal a wound. They do know that the bugs are small flying insects, dark in color. Theres no evidence that the chimps are eating the insects they are definitely squeezing them with their lips and then applying them to the wounds.There have been other reports of self-medication in animals, including dogs and cats that eat grass or plants, probably to help them vomit, and bears and deer that consume medicinal plants, apparently to self-medicate. Orangutans have been seen applying plant material to soothe muscle injuries. But the researchers know of no previous report of nonhuman mammals using insects for a medicinal purpose.In three instances, the researchers saw chimps using the technique on another chimp. In one case, they saw an adult female named Carol grooming around a flesh wound on the leg of an adult male, Littlegrey. She grabbed an insect, and gave it to Littlegrey, who put it between his lips, and transferred it to his wound. Later, Carol and another adult male were seen moving the insect around on Littlegreys wound. Another adult male approached, took the insect out of the wound, put it between his own lips, then reapplied it to Littlegreys leg.One chimp, an adult male named Freddy, was a particularly enthusiastic user of insect medicine, treating himself numerous times for injuries of his head, both arms, his lower back, his left wrist and his penis. One day, the researchers watched him treat himself twice for the same arm wound. The researchers dont know how Freddy got these injuries, but some of them probably involved fighting with other males.There are some animals that cooperate with others in similar ways, said Simone Pika, who leads an animal cognition lab at the University of Osnabrck in Germany and is an author of the study. But we dont know of any other instances in mammals, she said. This may be a learned behavior that exists only in this group. We dont know if our chimps are special in this regard.Aaron Sandel, an anthropologist at the University of Texas, Austin, found the work valuable, but at the same time expressed some doubts. They dont offer an alternative explanation for the behavior, and they make no connection to what insect it might be, he said. The jump to a potential medical function? Thats a stretch at this point.Still, he said, attending to their own wounds or the wounds of others using a tool, another object thats very rare. Their documentation of chimps paying such attention to other chimps is, he added, an important contribution to the study of social behavior in apes. And its still interesting to ask whether there is empathy involved in this, as it is in humans.In some forms of ape social behavior, it is clear that there is an exchange of value. For example, grooming another chimp provides relief from parasites for the groomed animal, but also an insect snack for the groomer. But in the instances she observed, Dr. Pika said, the chimp gets nothing tangible in return. To her, this shows the apes are engaging in an act that increases the welfare of another being, and teaches us more about the primates social relationships.With every field site we learn more about chimps, she said. They really surprise us. [/INST] science </s> |
Canada 3, United States 2Credit...Jonathan Nackstrand/Agence France-Presse Getty ImagesFeb. 12, 2014SOCHI, Russia Since 2010, the United States womens hockey team got younger and faster while Canadas Hayley Wickenheiser, the games gold standard, merely grew older. That was the running narrative, anyway, as the Canadians, the three-time defending Olympic champions, lost four consecutive games to the speedy, streaking Americans in the lead-up to the Sochi Games.Wickenheiser did not have a point at the 2013 world championships in Canada, won by the United States, and as she battled injuries, her spot on the Olympic team, a given since 1998, no longer seemed automatic.When Wickenheiser made her fifth Winter Olympics team but lost her captaincy at age 35, the symbolism was easier to read than the Cyrillic alphabet. The time had come for somebody else to lead Canada.If the Sochi Games are Wickenheisers bell lap, starting with her turn as her countrys flag-bearer in last Fridays opening ceremony, she is summoning a wicked finishing kick. On Wednesday, she was the difference maker in Canadas 3-2 victory over the United States in a preliminary game at Shayba Arena.The United States struck first, scoring in the 38th minute on a power-play goal by Hilary Knight, who beat Charline Labont, who finished with 25 saves. The American goaltender Jessie Vetter stopped 19 shots in the first two periods, but in the third minute of the third, with Canada on the power play, Wickenheiser sent a crisp pass to Meghan Agosta, who beat Vetter. Less than two minutes later, Wickenheiser added an even-strength goal on a shot that dribbled off Vetters glove and trickled across the goal line.The Americans protested that the whistle had sounded to stop play before the puck crossed the line, but after a review, the goal stood. Agosta, who turned 27 Wednesday, scored on a breakaway with less than six minutes left for what proved to be the game-winning goal after the United States Anne Schleper scored with 65 seconds left.The United States has eight skaters younger than 24. On the two goals in which Wickenheiser worked her wizardry, the average age of the skaters on the ice for the American team was under 22 years.Wickenheiser, old legs and all, played 21 minutes 38 seconds. Only one Canadian, 26-year-old Catherine Ward, and two American players, the 24-year-old Knight and the 26-year-old Gigi Marvin, spent more time on the ice.I dont think Im old, thats probably the most important thing, Wickenheiser said. I think it comes down to making the plays out there when theyre there, keeping your head about you and knowing that no matter what a pressure cooker it is, its ultimately another game against another really good team.In the record bin of life, Wickenheiser sees experience as the B side of age.I think our team has the experience and composure, she said. When the chips are down, we know how to win.It has become like a broken record, the United States losing to Canada in the Olympics. Since beating Canada for the gold in 1998 in womens hockeys Olympic debut, the United States has lost to Canada in the finals in 2002 and 2010 by a combined score of 5-2. Canada has won 18 straight games at the Olympics.With both teams guaranteed a spot in the semifinals, Wednesdays game was psychological warfare. The Canadians were out to show they are the same old juggernaut. They look looser and more cohesive under their new coach, Kevin Dineen, than they did under Dan Church, who stepped down in December.The United States wanted to show they are nobodys bridesmaids, which is why Wednesdays result was hardly meaningless.Not happy with tonight, said Amanda Kessel, who had two goals in the Americans victory Monday against Switzerland. I dont think we came out with the same fire.Kessel, 22, added: It hurts. Every game matters and you want to win every one.Asked to assess her teams performance, United States Coach Katey Stone said, I feel a little indifferent about how our team played today.Stone and Dineen sat side by side for their postgame news conference. When it was over, they rose to leave and Dineen said to Stone, See you down the road.Both hope their next showdown will be in next weeks gold medal game. Their rivalry almost demands it. During his N.H.L. playing career, Dineen got an up-close view of the Boston Red Sox-Yankees rivalry while playing in Hartford and the Michigan State-Ohio State rivalry while playing in Columbus.I think this one is the real deal, he said. | Sports | <s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> Canada 3, United States 2Credit...Jonathan Nackstrand/Agence France-Presse Getty ImagesFeb. 12, 2014SOCHI, Russia Since 2010, the United States womens hockey team got younger and faster while Canadas Hayley Wickenheiser, the games gold standard, merely grew older. That was the running narrative, anyway, as the Canadians, the three-time defending Olympic champions, lost four consecutive games to the speedy, streaking Americans in the lead-up to the Sochi Games.Wickenheiser did not have a point at the 2013 world championships in Canada, won by the United States, and as she battled injuries, her spot on the Olympic team, a given since 1998, no longer seemed automatic.When Wickenheiser made her fifth Winter Olympics team but lost her captaincy at age 35, the symbolism was easier to read than the Cyrillic alphabet. The time had come for somebody else to lead Canada.If the Sochi Games are Wickenheisers bell lap, starting with her turn as her countrys flag-bearer in last Fridays opening ceremony, she is summoning a wicked finishing kick. On Wednesday, she was the difference maker in Canadas 3-2 victory over the United States in a preliminary game at Shayba Arena.The United States struck first, scoring in the 38th minute on a power-play goal by Hilary Knight, who beat Charline Labont, who finished with 25 saves. The American goaltender Jessie Vetter stopped 19 shots in the first two periods, but in the third minute of the third, with Canada on the power play, Wickenheiser sent a crisp pass to Meghan Agosta, who beat Vetter. Less than two minutes later, Wickenheiser added an even-strength goal on a shot that dribbled off Vetters glove and trickled across the goal line.The Americans protested that the whistle had sounded to stop play before the puck crossed the line, but after a review, the goal stood. Agosta, who turned 27 Wednesday, scored on a breakaway with less than six minutes left for what proved to be the game-winning goal after the United States Anne Schleper scored with 65 seconds left.The United States has eight skaters younger than 24. On the two goals in which Wickenheiser worked her wizardry, the average age of the skaters on the ice for the American team was under 22 years.Wickenheiser, old legs and all, played 21 minutes 38 seconds. Only one Canadian, 26-year-old Catherine Ward, and two American players, the 24-year-old Knight and the 26-year-old Gigi Marvin, spent more time on the ice.I dont think Im old, thats probably the most important thing, Wickenheiser said. I think it comes down to making the plays out there when theyre there, keeping your head about you and knowing that no matter what a pressure cooker it is, its ultimately another game against another really good team.In the record bin of life, Wickenheiser sees experience as the B side of age.I think our team has the experience and composure, she said. When the chips are down, we know how to win.It has become like a broken record, the United States losing to Canada in the Olympics. Since beating Canada for the gold in 1998 in womens hockeys Olympic debut, the United States has lost to Canada in the finals in 2002 and 2010 by a combined score of 5-2. Canada has won 18 straight games at the Olympics.With both teams guaranteed a spot in the semifinals, Wednesdays game was psychological warfare. The Canadians were out to show they are the same old juggernaut. They look looser and more cohesive under their new coach, Kevin Dineen, than they did under Dan Church, who stepped down in December.The United States wanted to show they are nobodys bridesmaids, which is why Wednesdays result was hardly meaningless.Not happy with tonight, said Amanda Kessel, who had two goals in the Americans victory Monday against Switzerland. I dont think we came out with the same fire.Kessel, 22, added: It hurts. Every game matters and you want to win every one.Asked to assess her teams performance, United States Coach Katey Stone said, I feel a little indifferent about how our team played today.Stone and Dineen sat side by side for their postgame news conference. When it was over, they rose to leave and Dineen said to Stone, See you down the road.Both hope their next showdown will be in next weeks gold medal game. Their rivalry almost demands it. During his N.H.L. playing career, Dineen got an up-close view of the Boston Red Sox-Yankees rivalry while playing in Hartford and the Michigan State-Ohio State rivalry while playing in Columbus.I think this one is the real deal, he said. [/INST] Sports </s> |
June 23, 2017One of the biggest flash points in the debate over Republican legislation to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act is the future of Medicaid. Here are some basic facts about the 52-year-old program.What is Medicaid? Its a public health insurance program largely for low-income people, though some middle-class disabled and elderly people also qualify. States and the federal government share the cost.Whom does Medicaid cover? Nearly one in five Americans, 74 million people, are on Medicaid. Federal law guarantees Medicaid coverage to pregnant women, children, elderly and disabled people under certain income levels. It covers more than a third of the nations children and pays for half of all births. It also covers almost two-thirds of nursing home residents, including many who are middle class and spent of all their savings on care before becoming eligible. States also have the option of covering other groups, like children and pregnant women whose household incomes are higher than the federal thresholds, or young adults up to age 26 who were once in foster care. The Affordable Care Act allowed a new optional group: any adults with income up to 138 percent of the poverty level, which would be $16,643 for an individual this year. Thirty-one states now offer Medicaid to this group.When was it created? In 1965, as part of President Lyndon B. Johnsons Great Society. There was little political debate; the bigger fight was over creating Medicare, the program to cover the elderly, which Medicaid is often confused with.Is Medicaid an entitlement program?Yes. Anyone who meets the eligibility rules has a right to Medicaid coverage, and for now, states are guaranteed open-ended financial support from the federal government.How much does it cost? Medicaid cost $553 billion in fiscal year 2016. Of that amount, $348.9 billion came from the federal government; the states paid $204.5 billion. Medicaid accounts for 9 percent of federal domestic spending. For states, it is the biggest source of federal funding and the second-largest budget item, behind education. The biggest costs in Medicaid are for the elderly and the disabled, often because of long-term care in nursing homes. Washington pays 50 to 75 percent of Medicaid costs for most eligible groups, with poor states receiving more money. Under the Affordable Care Act, the federal government initially covered all of the costs for the roughly 11 million people insured under the laws expansion of Medicaid, who are largely adults without disabilities. Under the law, Washington picks up 95 percent of state costs for the expansion of Medicaid this year, whittling down to 90 percent in 2020.What changes are in store? Both the House and Senate health bills would fundamentally change the way the federal government pays its share of Medicaid costs, setting a per-person limit on spending that would adjust annually for inflation. The bills would also effectively end the Medicaid expansion, by sharply reducing how much the federal government pays for that population starting in 2020. The result of these changes, according to independent analyses, would be major reductions in federal Medicaid spending over time. Enrollment would drop, too, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, with states making it harder to qualify for the program and getting rid of certain benefits to make up for tightened federal spending. | Health | <s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> June 23, 2017One of the biggest flash points in the debate over Republican legislation to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act is the future of Medicaid. Here are some basic facts about the 52-year-old program.What is Medicaid? Its a public health insurance program largely for low-income people, though some middle-class disabled and elderly people also qualify. States and the federal government share the cost.Whom does Medicaid cover? Nearly one in five Americans, 74 million people, are on Medicaid. Federal law guarantees Medicaid coverage to pregnant women, children, elderly and disabled people under certain income levels. It covers more than a third of the nations children and pays for half of all births. It also covers almost two-thirds of nursing home residents, including many who are middle class and spent of all their savings on care before becoming eligible. States also have the option of covering other groups, like children and pregnant women whose household incomes are higher than the federal thresholds, or young adults up to age 26 who were once in foster care. The Affordable Care Act allowed a new optional group: any adults with income up to 138 percent of the poverty level, which would be $16,643 for an individual this year. Thirty-one states now offer Medicaid to this group.When was it created? In 1965, as part of President Lyndon B. Johnsons Great Society. There was little political debate; the bigger fight was over creating Medicare, the program to cover the elderly, which Medicaid is often confused with.Is Medicaid an entitlement program?Yes. Anyone who meets the eligibility rules has a right to Medicaid coverage, and for now, states are guaranteed open-ended financial support from the federal government.How much does it cost? Medicaid cost $553 billion in fiscal year 2016. Of that amount, $348.9 billion came from the federal government; the states paid $204.5 billion. Medicaid accounts for 9 percent of federal domestic spending. For states, it is the biggest source of federal funding and the second-largest budget item, behind education. The biggest costs in Medicaid are for the elderly and the disabled, often because of long-term care in nursing homes. Washington pays 50 to 75 percent of Medicaid costs for most eligible groups, with poor states receiving more money. Under the Affordable Care Act, the federal government initially covered all of the costs for the roughly 11 million people insured under the laws expansion of Medicaid, who are largely adults without disabilities. Under the law, Washington picks up 95 percent of state costs for the expansion of Medicaid this year, whittling down to 90 percent in 2020.What changes are in store? Both the House and Senate health bills would fundamentally change the way the federal government pays its share of Medicaid costs, setting a per-person limit on spending that would adjust annually for inflation. The bills would also effectively end the Medicaid expansion, by sharply reducing how much the federal government pays for that population starting in 2020. The result of these changes, according to independent analyses, would be major reductions in federal Medicaid spending over time. Enrollment would drop, too, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, with states making it harder to qualify for the program and getting rid of certain benefits to make up for tightened federal spending. [/INST] Health </s> |
The state security ministry is recruiting from a vast pool of private-sector hackers who often have their own agendas and sometimes use their access for commercial cybercrime, experts say.Credit...Alex Plavevski/EPA, via ShutterstockAug. 26, 2021Chinas buzzy high-tech companies dont usually recruit Cambodian speakers, so the job ads for three well-paid positions with those language skills stood out. The ad, seeking writers of research reports, was placed by an internet security start-up in Chinas tropical island-province of Hainan.That start-up was more than it seemed, according to American law enforcement. Hainan Xiandun Technology was part of a web of front companies controlled by Chinas secretive state security ministry, according to a federal indictment from May. They hacked computers from the United States to Cambodia to Saudi Arabia, seeking sensitive government data as well as less-obvious spy stuff, like details of a New Jersey companys fire-suppression system, according to prosecutors.The accusations appear to reflect an increasingly aggressive campaign by Chinese government hackers and a pronounced shift in their tactics: Chinas premier spy agency is increasingly reaching beyond its own ranks to recruit from a vast pool of private-sector talent.This new group of hackers has made Chinas state cyberspying machine stronger, more sophisticated and for its growing array of government and private-sector targets more dangerously unpredictable. Sponsored but not necessarily micromanaged by Beijing, this new breed of hacker attacks government targets and private companies alike, mixing traditional espionage with outright fraud and other crimes for profit.Chinas new approach borrows from the tactics of Russia and Iran, which have tormented public and commercial targets for years. Chinese hackers with links to state security demanded ransom in return for not releasing a companys computer source code, according to an indictment released by the U.S. Department of Justice last year. Another group of hackers in southwest China mixed cyber raids on Hong Kong democracy activists with fraud on gaming websites, another indictment asserted. One member of the group boasted about having official protection, provided that they avoid targets in China.The upside is they can cover more targets, spur competition. The downside is the level of control, said Robert Potter, the head of Internet 2.0, an Australian cybersecurity firm. Ive seen them do some really boneheaded things, like try and steal $70,000 during an espionage op.Investigators believe these groups have been responsible for some big recent data breaches, including hacks targeting the personal details of 500 million guests at the Marriott hotel chain, information on roughly 20 million U.S. government employees and, this year, a Microsoft email system used by many of the worlds largest companies and governments.The Microsoft breach was unlike Chinas previously disciplined strategy, said Dmitri Alperovitch, the chairman of Silverado Policy Accelerator, a nonprofit geopolitical think tank.They went after organizations they had zero interest in and exploited those organizations with ransomware and other attacks, Mr. Alperovitch said.Chinas tactics changed after Xi Jinping, the countrys top leader, transferred more cyberhacking responsibility to the Ministry of State Security from the Peoples Liberation Army following a slew of sloppy attacks and a reorganization of the military. The ministry, a mix of spy agency and Communist Party inquisitor, has used more sophisticated hacking tools, like security flaws known as zero days, to target companies, activists and governments.ImageCredit...Ng Han Guan/Associated PressWhile the ministry projects an image of remorseless loyalty to the Communist Party in Beijing, its hacking operations can act like local franchises. Groups often act on their own agendas, sometimes including sidelines in commercial cybercrime, experts said.The message: Were paying you to do work from 9 to 5 for the national security of China, Mr. Alperovitch said. What you do with the rest of your time, and with the tools and access you have, is really your business.A grand jury indictment released last year charged that two former classmates from an electrical engineering college in Chengdu, in southwest China, marauded through foreign computer servers and stole information from dissidents and engineering diagrams from an Australian defense contractor. On the side, the indictment said, the two tried extortion: demanding payment in return for not revealing an unidentified companys source code on the internet.Under this system, Chinese hackers have become increasingly aggressive. The rate of global attacks linked to the Chinese government has nearly tripled since last year compared with the four previous years, according to Recorded Future, a Somerville, Mass., company that studies the use of internet by state-linked actors. That number now averages more than 1,000 per three-month period, it said.Considering the volume thats going on, how many times has the F.B.I. gotten them? Precious few, said Nicholas Eftimiades, a retired senior American intelligence officer who writes about Chinas espionage operations. Theres no way you can staff up to be able to contend with this type of onslaught.Though their numbers make them hard to stop, the hackers dont always try hard to cover their tracks. They sometimes leave clues strewn online, including wedding photos of agents in state security uniforms, telltale job ads and boasts of their feats.Hainan Xiandun was set up to recruit young talent and create a veneer of deniability, prosectors said. It posted job ads on the message boards of Chinese universities and sponsored a cybersecurity competition.The operations from Hainan an island jutting into the South China Sea sometimes reflected local priorities, like stealing marine research from a university in California and hacking governments in nearby Southeast Asian countries, according to the May indictment. Its job ad for Cambodian speakers was placed three months before Cambodian elections.While some targets had clear espionage goals, others appeared less focused. The hackers tried to steal Ebola vaccine data from one institution, prosecutors said, and secrets about self-driving cars from another.ImageCredit...Stefani Reynolds for The New York TimesIn January 2020, a mysterious blog with a track record of exposing Chinese state security hackers picked up the scent. The blog, Intrusion Truth, was already known in Washington cybersecurity circles for naming Chinese intelligence officers well before they appeared in U.S. indictments.The operators of Intrusion Truth scoured job boards for Hainan companies advertising for penetration testing engineers, who secure networks by exploring how they could be hacked.One posting from Hainan Xiandun stood out. The ad, on a Sichuan University computer science hiring board from 2018, boasted that Xiandun had received a considerable number of government-secret-related business.The company, based in Hainans capital, Haikou, paid monthly salaries of $1,200 to $3,000 solid middle-class wages for Chinese tech workers fresh out of college with bonuses as high as $15,000. Xianduns ads listed an email address used by other firms looking for cybersecurity experts and linguists, suggesting they were part of a network.Chinese hacking groups are increasingly sharing malware, exploits and coordinating their efforts, the operators of Intrusion Truth wrote in an email. The operators have not disclosed their identities, citing the sensitivity of their work.Xianduns registered address was the library of Hainan University. Its phone number matched that of a computer science professor and Peoples Liberation Army veteran who ran a website offering payments for students with novel ideas about cracking passwords. The professor has not been charged.Other records and phone numbers led the blog authors to an email address and a frequent-flier account owned by Ding Xiaoyang, one of the managers of the company.The indictment asserted that Mr. Ding was a state security officer who ran the hackers working at Hainan Xiandun. It included details the blog did not find, like an award Mr. Ding received from the Ministry of State Security for young leaders in the organization.Mr. Ding and others named in the indictment couldnt be reached.Though trackable for now, Chinas state security apparatus may be learning how to better hide its footprints, said Matthew Brazil, a former China specialist for the Department of Commerces Office of Export Enforcement who has co-written a study of Chinese espionage.The abilities of the Chinese services are uneven, he said. Their game is getting better, and in five or 10 years its going to be a different story.Nicole Perlroth contributed reporting. | Tech | <s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> The state security ministry is recruiting from a vast pool of private-sector hackers who often have their own agendas and sometimes use their access for commercial cybercrime, experts say.Credit...Alex Plavevski/EPA, via ShutterstockAug. 26, 2021Chinas buzzy high-tech companies dont usually recruit Cambodian speakers, so the job ads for three well-paid positions with those language skills stood out. The ad, seeking writers of research reports, was placed by an internet security start-up in Chinas tropical island-province of Hainan.That start-up was more than it seemed, according to American law enforcement. Hainan Xiandun Technology was part of a web of front companies controlled by Chinas secretive state security ministry, according to a federal indictment from May. They hacked computers from the United States to Cambodia to Saudi Arabia, seeking sensitive government data as well as less-obvious spy stuff, like details of a New Jersey companys fire-suppression system, according to prosecutors.The accusations appear to reflect an increasingly aggressive campaign by Chinese government hackers and a pronounced shift in their tactics: Chinas premier spy agency is increasingly reaching beyond its own ranks to recruit from a vast pool of private-sector talent.This new group of hackers has made Chinas state cyberspying machine stronger, more sophisticated and for its growing array of government and private-sector targets more dangerously unpredictable. Sponsored but not necessarily micromanaged by Beijing, this new breed of hacker attacks government targets and private companies alike, mixing traditional espionage with outright fraud and other crimes for profit.Chinas new approach borrows from the tactics of Russia and Iran, which have tormented public and commercial targets for years. Chinese hackers with links to state security demanded ransom in return for not releasing a companys computer source code, according to an indictment released by the U.S. Department of Justice last year. Another group of hackers in southwest China mixed cyber raids on Hong Kong democracy activists with fraud on gaming websites, another indictment asserted. One member of the group boasted about having official protection, provided that they avoid targets in China.The upside is they can cover more targets, spur competition. The downside is the level of control, said Robert Potter, the head of Internet 2.0, an Australian cybersecurity firm. Ive seen them do some really boneheaded things, like try and steal $70,000 during an espionage op.Investigators believe these groups have been responsible for some big recent data breaches, including hacks targeting the personal details of 500 million guests at the Marriott hotel chain, information on roughly 20 million U.S. government employees and, this year, a Microsoft email system used by many of the worlds largest companies and governments.The Microsoft breach was unlike Chinas previously disciplined strategy, said Dmitri Alperovitch, the chairman of Silverado Policy Accelerator, a nonprofit geopolitical think tank.They went after organizations they had zero interest in and exploited those organizations with ransomware and other attacks, Mr. Alperovitch said.Chinas tactics changed after Xi Jinping, the countrys top leader, transferred more cyberhacking responsibility to the Ministry of State Security from the Peoples Liberation Army following a slew of sloppy attacks and a reorganization of the military. The ministry, a mix of spy agency and Communist Party inquisitor, has used more sophisticated hacking tools, like security flaws known as zero days, to target companies, activists and governments.ImageCredit...Ng Han Guan/Associated PressWhile the ministry projects an image of remorseless loyalty to the Communist Party in Beijing, its hacking operations can act like local franchises. Groups often act on their own agendas, sometimes including sidelines in commercial cybercrime, experts said.The message: Were paying you to do work from 9 to 5 for the national security of China, Mr. Alperovitch said. What you do with the rest of your time, and with the tools and access you have, is really your business.A grand jury indictment released last year charged that two former classmates from an electrical engineering college in Chengdu, in southwest China, marauded through foreign computer servers and stole information from dissidents and engineering diagrams from an Australian defense contractor. On the side, the indictment said, the two tried extortion: demanding payment in return for not revealing an unidentified companys source code on the internet.Under this system, Chinese hackers have become increasingly aggressive. The rate of global attacks linked to the Chinese government has nearly tripled since last year compared with the four previous years, according to Recorded Future, a Somerville, Mass., company that studies the use of internet by state-linked actors. That number now averages more than 1,000 per three-month period, it said.Considering the volume thats going on, how many times has the F.B.I. gotten them? Precious few, said Nicholas Eftimiades, a retired senior American intelligence officer who writes about Chinas espionage operations. Theres no way you can staff up to be able to contend with this type of onslaught.Though their numbers make them hard to stop, the hackers dont always try hard to cover their tracks. They sometimes leave clues strewn online, including wedding photos of agents in state security uniforms, telltale job ads and boasts of their feats.Hainan Xiandun was set up to recruit young talent and create a veneer of deniability, prosectors said. It posted job ads on the message boards of Chinese universities and sponsored a cybersecurity competition.The operations from Hainan an island jutting into the South China Sea sometimes reflected local priorities, like stealing marine research from a university in California and hacking governments in nearby Southeast Asian countries, according to the May indictment. Its job ad for Cambodian speakers was placed three months before Cambodian elections.While some targets had clear espionage goals, others appeared less focused. The hackers tried to steal Ebola vaccine data from one institution, prosecutors said, and secrets about self-driving cars from another.ImageCredit...Stefani Reynolds for The New York TimesIn January 2020, a mysterious blog with a track record of exposing Chinese state security hackers picked up the scent. The blog, Intrusion Truth, was already known in Washington cybersecurity circles for naming Chinese intelligence officers well before they appeared in U.S. indictments.The operators of Intrusion Truth scoured job boards for Hainan companies advertising for penetration testing engineers, who secure networks by exploring how they could be hacked.One posting from Hainan Xiandun stood out. The ad, on a Sichuan University computer science hiring board from 2018, boasted that Xiandun had received a considerable number of government-secret-related business.The company, based in Hainans capital, Haikou, paid monthly salaries of $1,200 to $3,000 solid middle-class wages for Chinese tech workers fresh out of college with bonuses as high as $15,000. Xianduns ads listed an email address used by other firms looking for cybersecurity experts and linguists, suggesting they were part of a network.Chinese hacking groups are increasingly sharing malware, exploits and coordinating their efforts, the operators of Intrusion Truth wrote in an email. The operators have not disclosed their identities, citing the sensitivity of their work.Xianduns registered address was the library of Hainan University. Its phone number matched that of a computer science professor and Peoples Liberation Army veteran who ran a website offering payments for students with novel ideas about cracking passwords. The professor has not been charged.Other records and phone numbers led the blog authors to an email address and a frequent-flier account owned by Ding Xiaoyang, one of the managers of the company.The indictment asserted that Mr. Ding was a state security officer who ran the hackers working at Hainan Xiandun. It included details the blog did not find, like an award Mr. Ding received from the Ministry of State Security for young leaders in the organization.Mr. Ding and others named in the indictment couldnt be reached.Though trackable for now, Chinas state security apparatus may be learning how to better hide its footprints, said Matthew Brazil, a former China specialist for the Department of Commerces Office of Export Enforcement who has co-written a study of Chinese espionage.The abilities of the Chinese services are uneven, he said. Their game is getting better, and in five or 10 years its going to be a different story.Nicole Perlroth contributed reporting. [/INST] Tech </s> |
Credit...Sbusisiwe Magwaza/Government Communication & Info System, via European Pressphoto AgencyApril 6, 2016JOHANNESBURG In his first public appearance after South Africas highest court found that he had breached the Constitution, President Jacob G. Zuma visited one of his rural strongholds, where he received a heros welcome.Even as urban South Africans were calling for his resignation, thousands of supporters in Melmoth, a small town in the countrys southeast, many wearing T-shirts emblazoned with his face, cheered and chanted for him on Sunday.As your shepherd, let me lead you, Mr. Zuma told the crowd, according to news reports of his appearance.At the event, officially about the nations drought, organizers handed out food and Mr. Zuma spoke of the importance of black South Africans voting as a bloc. That was the only way, he said, to make gains, like the recovery of land seized from their ancestors.Mr. Zuma has defied South Africas political gravity for more than a decade, surviving scandals that would have long ago felled a lesser strategist: corruption charges related to arms purchases; accusations that he raped the daughter of a family friend; his acknowledgment that he fathered a child, his 20th, with the daughter of a close friend; and the use of millions of dollars in public funds to upgrade his home.He has succeeded thanks to the backing of rural communities like Melmoth, where his party, the African National Congress, has established a vast network of patronage that is expected to yield electoral victories for years, and perhaps decades. More than any of his predecessors, Mr. Zuma, himself a product of rural South Africa, has championed towns and villages.The A.N.C.s dependence on the rural vote helps explain why the party has continued to rally behind Mr. Zuma, most recently on Tuesday when it used its overwhelming majority in the National Assembly to quash an opposition motion to impeach the president. National and provincial officials, even those who have criticized Mr. Zumas conduct, have closed ranks behind the president.But behind this unified front, something is building within the A.N.C., said Somadoda Fikeni, a political analyst. The mood is far more fractured than what you hear in the partys public statements.On Thursday, the Constitutional Court ruled that Mr. Zuma had violated the Constitution in his handling of a long-running corruption scandal involving expensive upgrades to his home in Nkandla, a town in the southeast. For years, Mr. Zuma waved away criticism and then findings by the nations public protector that he had misused public money on the home improvements, totaling more than $16 million at current exchange rates.After failing to impeach the president, opposition leaders said they would use street protests and other means to keep the pressure on Mr. Zuma. On Wednesday, in a sign of widening popular discontent, an umbrella group of leaders from churches, unions, academia and other institutions said they would begin a campaign to press Mr. Zuma to step down.But within the A.N.C., there has been only a trickle of calls for Mr. Zumas resignation, coming from a few retired, though prominent, officials.In comments widely interpreted as being directed against Mr. Zuma, David Makhura, a party member and the premier of Gauteng, the province that includes Johannesburg and is the nations richest and most urban, said this week that loyalty to the country was more important than loyalty to the party. In November, Mr. Zuma said the A.N.C. was more important than South Africa, refusing to retract his statement after it elicited widespread criticism.When the A.N.C. was going to consider what next to do, we knew that the A.N.C. would act in the best interest of the people and the country, Mr. Makhura said at a memorial service for a party veteran. We should ask ourselves whether we can still say that today.The A.N.C. chapter in Gauteng Province has not backed Mr. Zuma as the partys presidential candidate in the past. Voters, especially in Johannesburg, the provincial capital and the countrys largest city, have gravitated to opposition parties in recent elections. For the first time since the end of apartheid in 1994, the A.N.C. is expected to face serious challenges in Johannesburg and some other cities in local elections scheduled for August.The split inside the A.N.C. reflects wider cleavages inside South Africa itself, said Steven Friedman, a political analyst at the University of Johannesburg.In urban pockets, a growing black middle class, participating in the formal economy, looks to politicians for good government, Mr. Friedman said. These include A.N.C. members who are opposed to Mr. Zuma and his politics.If you imagine the South Africa of 1994 as a country run by an exclusive club consisting of white people, what has happened over the last 21 years is that new members have been admitted to the club, Mr. Friedman said. Thats not trivial, but it still means its an exclusive club.The vast majority of South Africans are excluded from this club, with many living in rural areas like Melmoth, the town Mr. Zuma visited. In those areas, there is often little beyond the jobs and money provided by the A.N.C.For a lot of the A.N.C. members, supporters and even leaders there, outside the party government, there isnt really much they can do, said William Gumede, a political scientist at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg and the executive chairman of the Democracy Works Foundation, a good-government group. Theyre not professionals who can go back to teaching or being medical doctors after being kicked out of power. The party and the party patronage system is the only place for them.For now, the partys rural and urban factions have united behind Mr. Zuma for the coming local elections, Mr. Friedman said. After the elections, the factional fighting is likely to emerge and intensify before a 2017 party conference when delegates will choose a successor to Mr. Zuma, who is limited to two terms as president.But until then, the A.N.C. could face growing popular discontent in the cities for continuing to stand behind Mr. Zuma. At a news conference announcing their anti-Zuma campaign on Wednesday, civil society leaders called on the president to step down.The formal political process has failed, said Prince Mashele, the executive director of the Center for Politics and Research, a private group participating in the campaign. The only thing that remains now is for ordinary South Africans to organize themselves under the banner of civil society to put pressure on the A.N.C. to make Jacob Zuma resign or to pressure Jacob Zuma himself to throw in the towel. | World | <s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> Credit...Sbusisiwe Magwaza/Government Communication & Info System, via European Pressphoto AgencyApril 6, 2016JOHANNESBURG In his first public appearance after South Africas highest court found that he had breached the Constitution, President Jacob G. Zuma visited one of his rural strongholds, where he received a heros welcome.Even as urban South Africans were calling for his resignation, thousands of supporters in Melmoth, a small town in the countrys southeast, many wearing T-shirts emblazoned with his face, cheered and chanted for him on Sunday.As your shepherd, let me lead you, Mr. Zuma told the crowd, according to news reports of his appearance.At the event, officially about the nations drought, organizers handed out food and Mr. Zuma spoke of the importance of black South Africans voting as a bloc. That was the only way, he said, to make gains, like the recovery of land seized from their ancestors.Mr. Zuma has defied South Africas political gravity for more than a decade, surviving scandals that would have long ago felled a lesser strategist: corruption charges related to arms purchases; accusations that he raped the daughter of a family friend; his acknowledgment that he fathered a child, his 20th, with the daughter of a close friend; and the use of millions of dollars in public funds to upgrade his home.He has succeeded thanks to the backing of rural communities like Melmoth, where his party, the African National Congress, has established a vast network of patronage that is expected to yield electoral victories for years, and perhaps decades. More than any of his predecessors, Mr. Zuma, himself a product of rural South Africa, has championed towns and villages.The A.N.C.s dependence on the rural vote helps explain why the party has continued to rally behind Mr. Zuma, most recently on Tuesday when it used its overwhelming majority in the National Assembly to quash an opposition motion to impeach the president. National and provincial officials, even those who have criticized Mr. Zumas conduct, have closed ranks behind the president.But behind this unified front, something is building within the A.N.C., said Somadoda Fikeni, a political analyst. The mood is far more fractured than what you hear in the partys public statements.On Thursday, the Constitutional Court ruled that Mr. Zuma had violated the Constitution in his handling of a long-running corruption scandal involving expensive upgrades to his home in Nkandla, a town in the southeast. For years, Mr. Zuma waved away criticism and then findings by the nations public protector that he had misused public money on the home improvements, totaling more than $16 million at current exchange rates.After failing to impeach the president, opposition leaders said they would use street protests and other means to keep the pressure on Mr. Zuma. On Wednesday, in a sign of widening popular discontent, an umbrella group of leaders from churches, unions, academia and other institutions said they would begin a campaign to press Mr. Zuma to step down.But within the A.N.C., there has been only a trickle of calls for Mr. Zumas resignation, coming from a few retired, though prominent, officials.In comments widely interpreted as being directed against Mr. Zuma, David Makhura, a party member and the premier of Gauteng, the province that includes Johannesburg and is the nations richest and most urban, said this week that loyalty to the country was more important than loyalty to the party. In November, Mr. Zuma said the A.N.C. was more important than South Africa, refusing to retract his statement after it elicited widespread criticism.When the A.N.C. was going to consider what next to do, we knew that the A.N.C. would act in the best interest of the people and the country, Mr. Makhura said at a memorial service for a party veteran. We should ask ourselves whether we can still say that today.The A.N.C. chapter in Gauteng Province has not backed Mr. Zuma as the partys presidential candidate in the past. Voters, especially in Johannesburg, the provincial capital and the countrys largest city, have gravitated to opposition parties in recent elections. For the first time since the end of apartheid in 1994, the A.N.C. is expected to face serious challenges in Johannesburg and some other cities in local elections scheduled for August.The split inside the A.N.C. reflects wider cleavages inside South Africa itself, said Steven Friedman, a political analyst at the University of Johannesburg.In urban pockets, a growing black middle class, participating in the formal economy, looks to politicians for good government, Mr. Friedman said. These include A.N.C. members who are opposed to Mr. Zuma and his politics.If you imagine the South Africa of 1994 as a country run by an exclusive club consisting of white people, what has happened over the last 21 years is that new members have been admitted to the club, Mr. Friedman said. Thats not trivial, but it still means its an exclusive club.The vast majority of South Africans are excluded from this club, with many living in rural areas like Melmoth, the town Mr. Zuma visited. In those areas, there is often little beyond the jobs and money provided by the A.N.C.For a lot of the A.N.C. members, supporters and even leaders there, outside the party government, there isnt really much they can do, said William Gumede, a political scientist at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg and the executive chairman of the Democracy Works Foundation, a good-government group. Theyre not professionals who can go back to teaching or being medical doctors after being kicked out of power. The party and the party patronage system is the only place for them.For now, the partys rural and urban factions have united behind Mr. Zuma for the coming local elections, Mr. Friedman said. After the elections, the factional fighting is likely to emerge and intensify before a 2017 party conference when delegates will choose a successor to Mr. Zuma, who is limited to two terms as president.But until then, the A.N.C. could face growing popular discontent in the cities for continuing to stand behind Mr. Zuma. At a news conference announcing their anti-Zuma campaign on Wednesday, civil society leaders called on the president to step down.The formal political process has failed, said Prince Mashele, the executive director of the Center for Politics and Research, a private group participating in the campaign. The only thing that remains now is for ordinary South Africans to organize themselves under the banner of civil society to put pressure on the A.N.C. to make Jacob Zuma resign or to pressure Jacob Zuma himself to throw in the towel. [/INST] World </s> |
Credit...From left: David Zalubowski/Associated Press; Mark Lennihan/Associated PressPublished Oct. 21, 2021Updated Oct. 27, 2021In a sweeping victory for the Biden administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday endorsed booster shots of the Moderna and the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccines for tens of millions of Americans.The decision follows an agency endorsement last month of booster shots of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and opens the door for many Americans to seek out a booster shot as early as Friday.The coronavirus vaccines are all highly effective in reducing the risk of severe disease, hospitalization, and death, even in the midst of the widely circulating Delta variant, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the C.D.C. said in a statement on Thursday night. Her approval brings the country closer to fulfilling President Bidens promise in August to offer boosters to all adults. The pandemic is now retreating in most parts of the country, but there are still about 75,000 new cases every day and about 1,500 Covid deaths.That pledge angered many experts, including some advising the Food and Drug Administration and the C.D.C., who said that scientists had not yet had a chance to determine whether boosters were actually necessary.Studies showed that the vaccines remained very effective against severe disease and death, although their effectiveness might have waned against milder infections, particularly as the Delta variant spread across the nation this summer.The purpose of the vaccines is to prevent illness severe enough to require medical attention, not to prevent infection, Dr. Wilbur Chen, an infectious disease physician at the University of Maryland and a member of the C.D.C. panel, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, said during the deliberations on Thursday.It might be too much to ask for a vaccine, either a primary series or the booster, to prevent all forms of infections, Dr. Chen said.The C.D.C.s advisers last month tried to narrow the number of Americans who should receive a booster dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, saying that research did not support boosters for people whose jobs exposed them to the coronavirus, as the F.D.A. had indicated.But in a highly unusual move, Dr. Walensky overturned their decision, aligning the agencys advice with the criteria laid out by the F.D.A.On Wednesday, the Food and Drug Administration authorized booster shots for millions of people who received the Moderna and the Johnson & Johnson vaccines, just as it did for recipients of Pfizer-BioNTech shots last month. The F.D.A. also gave the green light for people eligible for booster shots to get a dose of a different brand.But in practice, who will get the shots and when depends greatly on the C.D.C.s final guidance. Though the agencys recommendations do not bind state and local officials, they hold great sway in the medical community.On Thursday, members of the C.D.C.s panel endorsed the so-called mix-and-match strategy, saying people fully immunized with one companys vaccine should be allowed to receive a different vaccine for their booster shot.Limited evidence strongly suggests that booster doses of one of the two mRNA vaccines Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech more effectively raise antibody levels than a booster dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.The committee advised that recipients of the single-dose Johnson & Johnson Covid vaccine should receive a booster shot at least two months after their first dose.Among Americans initially immunized with an mRNA vaccine, adults over 65, adults who are 50 to 65 with certain medical conditions, and those who reside in long-term care settings should receive a single booster dose six months or longer after their second dose, the committee decided.For adults ages 18 to 49 with certain medical conditions and adults whose jobs regularly expose them to the virus, the panel opted for softer language, saying they may choose to get a booster after considering their individual risk.The experts emphasized that people who have received two mRNA vaccine doses or a single Johnson & Johnson dose should still consider themselves fully vaccinated. Federal health officials said they would continue to study whether those who had weak immune systems and had already received a third dose of a vaccine should go on to get a fourth dose.Some advisers were concerned that young and healthy Americans who dont need a booster might choose to get one anyway. Side effects are uncommon, but in younger Americans they may outweigh the potential benefits of booster doses, the scientists said.Those that are not at high risk should really be thoughtful about getting that dose, said Dr. Helen Talbot, an infectious disease expert at Vanderbilt University. | Health | <s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> Credit...From left: David Zalubowski/Associated Press; Mark Lennihan/Associated PressPublished Oct. 21, 2021Updated Oct. 27, 2021In a sweeping victory for the Biden administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday endorsed booster shots of the Moderna and the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccines for tens of millions of Americans.The decision follows an agency endorsement last month of booster shots of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and opens the door for many Americans to seek out a booster shot as early as Friday.The coronavirus vaccines are all highly effective in reducing the risk of severe disease, hospitalization, and death, even in the midst of the widely circulating Delta variant, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the C.D.C. said in a statement on Thursday night. Her approval brings the country closer to fulfilling President Bidens promise in August to offer boosters to all adults. The pandemic is now retreating in most parts of the country, but there are still about 75,000 new cases every day and about 1,500 Covid deaths.That pledge angered many experts, including some advising the Food and Drug Administration and the C.D.C., who said that scientists had not yet had a chance to determine whether boosters were actually necessary.Studies showed that the vaccines remained very effective against severe disease and death, although their effectiveness might have waned against milder infections, particularly as the Delta variant spread across the nation this summer.The purpose of the vaccines is to prevent illness severe enough to require medical attention, not to prevent infection, Dr. Wilbur Chen, an infectious disease physician at the University of Maryland and a member of the C.D.C. panel, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, said during the deliberations on Thursday.It might be too much to ask for a vaccine, either a primary series or the booster, to prevent all forms of infections, Dr. Chen said.The C.D.C.s advisers last month tried to narrow the number of Americans who should receive a booster dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, saying that research did not support boosters for people whose jobs exposed them to the coronavirus, as the F.D.A. had indicated.But in a highly unusual move, Dr. Walensky overturned their decision, aligning the agencys advice with the criteria laid out by the F.D.A.On Wednesday, the Food and Drug Administration authorized booster shots for millions of people who received the Moderna and the Johnson & Johnson vaccines, just as it did for recipients of Pfizer-BioNTech shots last month. The F.D.A. also gave the green light for people eligible for booster shots to get a dose of a different brand.But in practice, who will get the shots and when depends greatly on the C.D.C.s final guidance. Though the agencys recommendations do not bind state and local officials, they hold great sway in the medical community.On Thursday, members of the C.D.C.s panel endorsed the so-called mix-and-match strategy, saying people fully immunized with one companys vaccine should be allowed to receive a different vaccine for their booster shot.Limited evidence strongly suggests that booster doses of one of the two mRNA vaccines Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech more effectively raise antibody levels than a booster dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.The committee advised that recipients of the single-dose Johnson & Johnson Covid vaccine should receive a booster shot at least two months after their first dose.Among Americans initially immunized with an mRNA vaccine, adults over 65, adults who are 50 to 65 with certain medical conditions, and those who reside in long-term care settings should receive a single booster dose six months or longer after their second dose, the committee decided.For adults ages 18 to 49 with certain medical conditions and adults whose jobs regularly expose them to the virus, the panel opted for softer language, saying they may choose to get a booster after considering their individual risk.The experts emphasized that people who have received two mRNA vaccine doses or a single Johnson & Johnson dose should still consider themselves fully vaccinated. Federal health officials said they would continue to study whether those who had weak immune systems and had already received a third dose of a vaccine should go on to get a fourth dose.Some advisers were concerned that young and healthy Americans who dont need a booster might choose to get one anyway. Side effects are uncommon, but in younger Americans they may outweigh the potential benefits of booster doses, the scientists said.Those that are not at high risk should really be thoughtful about getting that dose, said Dr. Helen Talbot, an infectious disease expert at Vanderbilt University. [/INST] Health </s> |
Guess Who This Top Hat Tot Turned Into! 1/30/2018 Before this dressed-up Disney star was singing about the summertime, he was just another fancy fella growing up in Hollywood, Florida. Can you guess who he is? Share on Facebook TWEET This See also celebrity kids Photo Galleries | Entertainment | <s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> Guess Who This Top Hat Tot Turned Into! 1/30/2018 Before this dressed-up Disney star was singing about the summertime, he was just another fancy fella growing up in Hollywood, Florida. Can you guess who he is? Share on Facebook TWEET This See also celebrity kids Photo Galleries [/INST] Entertainment </s> |
Hospital staff members looked the other way while Ricardo Cruciani addicted vulnerable women to pain medications and assaulted them, according to a new lawsuit.Credit...Colleen Long/Associated PressOct. 11, 2021All Tanisha Johnson wanted was for the pain to go away.Doctors had offered little hope for her intractable migraines. But at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York, Ricardo Cruciani, who had a reputation as a brilliant pain physician, was warm and charming and prescribed powerful opioids, Ms. Johnson recalled in an interview.When he put his arm around her, she thought, Finally, a doctor who cares.Over the next few months, the doctor increased the doses and added medications. As Ms. Johnson became dependent on the drugs, he became more aggressive, groping her and masturbating in front of her, she said. Then he forced her to perform oral sex.When she resisted, he withheld refills of her prescriptions. The first week of opioid withdrawal feels like death, Ms. Johnson said.She was not Mr. Crucianis only victim. But even as complaints from patients mounted, the doctor was able to move from job to job, securing positions at hospitals in three states over the course of a decade. He was finally charged with sexual assault in Pennsylvania, registering as a sex offender and surrendering his medical license in a plea agreement in 2017.He still faces criminal charges in New York and New Jersey. At the moment, Mr. Cruciani is free on $1 million bail.His case illustrates failures that permeate oversight of the medical profession, in which physicians wield enormous power within hospitals, misconduct is underreported and often glossed over, and institutional employers are seldom held to account.At least 150 young women have said they were abused over the course of nearly two decades by Lawrence Nassar, the doctor for the U.S. womens gymnastics team. Gynecologists like Robert Hadden, the former Columbia University physician, and George Tyndall of the University of Southern California are accused of abusing women under the guise of physical exams.Dr. Robert Anderson, a physician at the University of Michigan for almost four decades, sexually assaulted numerous patients and frequently conducted unnecessary rectal, breast and pelvic exams, according to a report in May 13 years after Dr. Andersons death.One of the biggest scandals is just how often a person who offends, offends repeatedly, said James DuBois, a bioethicist at Washington University in St. Louis who helped develop recommendations for improving physician training and oversight.In many cases, physicians manage to continue practicing, Dr. DuBois said. Sometimes they move states to keep their license. Sometimes they just move institutions.Some of the problems, in my opinion, are peers who have suspicions but dont speak up, he added.Mr. Crucianis former patients say he used his prescription pad to manipulate women in pain, pave the way to addiction and exploit their dependency for sex.Some of his patients took such high doses of narcotics that other pain doctors refused to see them. At one point, Ms. Johnson said, she was prescribed a concoction of more than 1,300 pain pills a month.Now a lawsuit filed in New Jersey on behalf of Ms. Johnson and six other former patients, along with civil suits in New York and Pennsylvania, seeks to hold liable both the former physician and the hospitals that employed him.The suits claim that hospital administrators and staff members ignored reports that Mr. Cruciani was sexually assaulting patients until they could no longer look the other way. They allowed him to quietly change jobs never warning other hospitals, state authorities or the police about the allegations and enabled him to continue his predatory behavior, the plaintiffs claim.There is a web of protections in place within the profession and within the law so that this type of behavior can be detected and acted upon, and we allege that they have failed in every regard, said Jeffrey Fritz, a lawyer who represents dozens of former patients who are suing Mr. Cruciani.Mr. Crucianis lawyer, Robert E. Lytle, declined to comment. A spokeswoman for Mount Sinai Health System, which includes Beth Israel, said the hospital does not comment on pending litigation.A statement issued by Drexel University said that Mr. Cruciani was terminated in March 2017, after complaints from patients prompted an internal investigation that substantiated their claims. The university notified licensing authorities in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York, and cooperated with police investigations, the statement said.But Drexel officials pointed the finger at other hospitals for failing to take action or to warn them. Drexel hired Cruciani after conducting a thorough background check, as is done with all potential employees, that did not reveal any improper or illegal conduct, the statement said.Mr. Cruciani had practiced medicine for more than 35 years at several other hospitals, the statement continued. None of these hospitals ever notified Drexel about Crucianis conduct.ImageCredit...Brittainy Newman for The New York TimesSexual contact between a physician and a patient is expressly prohibited by the American Medical Association. Its code of ethics requires all licensed medical professionals and nurses, as well as physicians, to report unethical behavior.Throughout Mr. Crucianis tenures at Beth Israel, Capital Health System in New Jersey and Drexel University in Pennsylvania, there were red flags, according to several civil lawsuits and interviews with six former patients who are suing him.Mr. Cruciani did not have a chaperone in the room when he saw female patients, and he resisted their entreaties to have a nurse or companion present. At times, he would take the patient into the room with him and lock the door, former patients claim.The one-on-one visits could stretch for an hour or more. Patients said their appointments were often scheduled at the end of the day, when there were few other people in the office.Several patients said they repeatedly asked nurses or other staff members to stay in the room with them during consultations, but the requests were usually turned down.If a nurse knocked on the door, hed open the door and peek around it, one former patient said in an interview. I felt like they had to know.A number of patients informed other staff members at hospitals where Mr. Cruciani worked about his sexual assaults, according to the lawsuits. Several patients said they dropped complaint letters in hospital comments boxes in an effort to alert the administrators.The husband of one patient, identified as Jane Doe 8 in lawsuits, said in an interview that he called the patient advocates office at Capital Health and described the assaults, but he never got a response.Representatives of Capital Health denied that numerous members of its staff were alerted to the abuse, and said that the hospital received no complaints from patients about Mr. Cruciani while he worked there.We were shocked and saddened when these allegations came to light, a statement issued by Capital Healths press office said.One of the earliest reports was made in 2005 by a longtime patient, Hillary Tullin, who had been treated by Mr. Cruciani for three years at that time.ImageCredit...Brittainy Newman for The New York TimesLike many of the women treated by Mr. Cruciani at Beth Israel Medical Center (now Mount Sinai Beth Israel), Ms. Tullin experienced severe, chronic pain, and her condition baffled other doctors.I had been to 15 or 18 different doctors who had no idea what was wrong with me and dismissed me as crazy, Ms. Tullin said in an interview. Mr. Cruciani diagnosed her with full-body complex regional pain syndrome, which is poorly understood.The doctor prescribed opioids, but Ms. Tullin did not respond to them, and he tried other treatments.He also started calling her at home on nearly a daily basis, telling her about his personal and family life, that she was beautiful and that he was thinking of her. Brief embraces during office visits turned into extended hugs and eventually into assaults, she said.Ms. Tullin told a Beth Israel psychologist that Mr. Cruciani had forcibly kissed her, according to the latest lawsuit. The psychologist asked Ms. Tullin if she had wanted the doctor to kiss her and then asked what she wanted her to do about it.I told her, I want you to report it, Ms. Tullin recalled. The psychologist did not.It was a culture of silence, Ms. Tullin said. I never spoke about it again.Like Mr. Crucianis other patients, Ms. Tullin was unable to find another physician who would treat her, and she continued seeing Mr. Cruciani for medical care. Though she tried to stop the assaults, they intensified.On Jan. 8, 2013, a patient named Nella Vince told New York City police officers that Mr. Cruciani had sexually assaulted her several times over the years, and offered evidence: a shirt with his semen on it.The police report, which has been reviewed by The New York Times, said that Ms. Vince was taking multiple medications, including methadone, and that she had discussed with police officers the possibility of her wearing a wire to her next doctors appointment.What happened after that is unclear. The police report said Ms. Vince stopped responding to their calls, and officers closed the case in June, saying that the complainant was uncooperative.Ms. Vince said in an interview that the police did not take her seriously because, they said, the doctor had no criminal record.ImageCredit...Jackie Molloy for The New York TimesLater in 2013, Mr. Cruciani abruptly resigned from the hospital and went to work at Capital Institute for Neurosciences in Hopewell Township, N.J. Unable to find other physicians to take over their care, many of Mr. Crucianis patients followed him to Capital, where, they said, he became even more aggressive.Several patients said they told nurses at Capital about the abuse. On at least one occasion, Ms. Johnson said she begged a nurse to stay in the room with her, but the nurse refused.In November 2015, Mr. Cruciani announced he was resigning to take a position in Philadelphia at Drexel University, as chair of the neurology department.Mr. Cruciani began working at Drexel in February 2016, where plaintiffs in one civil suit claim he continued to prescribe large doses of narcotics and to sexually assault patients.Little action was taken after the first complaints were made in August 2016. But by Feb. 1, 2017, at least five patients and at least three staff members had come forward, and Drexel initiated an investigation into the doctors behavior, according to the lawsuits filed in Philadelphia.A month later, Mr. Cruciani left Drexel. Additional former patients, alerted to the investigation, reported his assaults to the police in Pennsylvania.In September 2017, Mr. Cruciani was arrested on charges of multiple counts of indecent assault and a single count of indecent exposure. But he reached a plea agreement that allowed him to serve no jail time as long as he gave up his medical license and registered as a low-level sex offender.The coronavirus pandemic has delayed the other criminal and civil cases. A trial on charges including predatory sexual assault had been scheduled for next month in Manhattan, but it has been postponed because of the pandemic.Consumer advocates say that Mr. Crucianis ability to continue seeing patients despite a long trail of misconduct and complaints is not unusual.Weve been calling for zero tolerance for sexual abuse by health care providers against patients, said Azza AbuDagga, a researcher with Public Citizens Health Research Group. If that standard isnt adopted, were not going to be anywhere close to solving the problem. | Health | <s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> Hospital staff members looked the other way while Ricardo Cruciani addicted vulnerable women to pain medications and assaulted them, according to a new lawsuit.Credit...Colleen Long/Associated PressOct. 11, 2021All Tanisha Johnson wanted was for the pain to go away.Doctors had offered little hope for her intractable migraines. But at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York, Ricardo Cruciani, who had a reputation as a brilliant pain physician, was warm and charming and prescribed powerful opioids, Ms. Johnson recalled in an interview.When he put his arm around her, she thought, Finally, a doctor who cares.Over the next few months, the doctor increased the doses and added medications. As Ms. Johnson became dependent on the drugs, he became more aggressive, groping her and masturbating in front of her, she said. Then he forced her to perform oral sex.When she resisted, he withheld refills of her prescriptions. The first week of opioid withdrawal feels like death, Ms. Johnson said.She was not Mr. Crucianis only victim. But even as complaints from patients mounted, the doctor was able to move from job to job, securing positions at hospitals in three states over the course of a decade. He was finally charged with sexual assault in Pennsylvania, registering as a sex offender and surrendering his medical license in a plea agreement in 2017.He still faces criminal charges in New York and New Jersey. At the moment, Mr. Cruciani is free on $1 million bail.His case illustrates failures that permeate oversight of the medical profession, in which physicians wield enormous power within hospitals, misconduct is underreported and often glossed over, and institutional employers are seldom held to account.At least 150 young women have said they were abused over the course of nearly two decades by Lawrence Nassar, the doctor for the U.S. womens gymnastics team. Gynecologists like Robert Hadden, the former Columbia University physician, and George Tyndall of the University of Southern California are accused of abusing women under the guise of physical exams.Dr. Robert Anderson, a physician at the University of Michigan for almost four decades, sexually assaulted numerous patients and frequently conducted unnecessary rectal, breast and pelvic exams, according to a report in May 13 years after Dr. Andersons death.One of the biggest scandals is just how often a person who offends, offends repeatedly, said James DuBois, a bioethicist at Washington University in St. Louis who helped develop recommendations for improving physician training and oversight.In many cases, physicians manage to continue practicing, Dr. DuBois said. Sometimes they move states to keep their license. Sometimes they just move institutions.Some of the problems, in my opinion, are peers who have suspicions but dont speak up, he added.Mr. Crucianis former patients say he used his prescription pad to manipulate women in pain, pave the way to addiction and exploit their dependency for sex.Some of his patients took such high doses of narcotics that other pain doctors refused to see them. At one point, Ms. Johnson said, she was prescribed a concoction of more than 1,300 pain pills a month.Now a lawsuit filed in New Jersey on behalf of Ms. Johnson and six other former patients, along with civil suits in New York and Pennsylvania, seeks to hold liable both the former physician and the hospitals that employed him.The suits claim that hospital administrators and staff members ignored reports that Mr. Cruciani was sexually assaulting patients until they could no longer look the other way. They allowed him to quietly change jobs never warning other hospitals, state authorities or the police about the allegations and enabled him to continue his predatory behavior, the plaintiffs claim.There is a web of protections in place within the profession and within the law so that this type of behavior can be detected and acted upon, and we allege that they have failed in every regard, said Jeffrey Fritz, a lawyer who represents dozens of former patients who are suing Mr. Cruciani.Mr. Crucianis lawyer, Robert E. Lytle, declined to comment. A spokeswoman for Mount Sinai Health System, which includes Beth Israel, said the hospital does not comment on pending litigation.A statement issued by Drexel University said that Mr. Cruciani was terminated in March 2017, after complaints from patients prompted an internal investigation that substantiated their claims. The university notified licensing authorities in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York, and cooperated with police investigations, the statement said.But Drexel officials pointed the finger at other hospitals for failing to take action or to warn them. Drexel hired Cruciani after conducting a thorough background check, as is done with all potential employees, that did not reveal any improper or illegal conduct, the statement said.Mr. Cruciani had practiced medicine for more than 35 years at several other hospitals, the statement continued. None of these hospitals ever notified Drexel about Crucianis conduct.ImageCredit...Brittainy Newman for The New York TimesSexual contact between a physician and a patient is expressly prohibited by the American Medical Association. Its code of ethics requires all licensed medical professionals and nurses, as well as physicians, to report unethical behavior.Throughout Mr. Crucianis tenures at Beth Israel, Capital Health System in New Jersey and Drexel University in Pennsylvania, there were red flags, according to several civil lawsuits and interviews with six former patients who are suing him.Mr. Cruciani did not have a chaperone in the room when he saw female patients, and he resisted their entreaties to have a nurse or companion present. At times, he would take the patient into the room with him and lock the door, former patients claim.The one-on-one visits could stretch for an hour or more. Patients said their appointments were often scheduled at the end of the day, when there were few other people in the office.Several patients said they repeatedly asked nurses or other staff members to stay in the room with them during consultations, but the requests were usually turned down.If a nurse knocked on the door, hed open the door and peek around it, one former patient said in an interview. I felt like they had to know.A number of patients informed other staff members at hospitals where Mr. Cruciani worked about his sexual assaults, according to the lawsuits. Several patients said they dropped complaint letters in hospital comments boxes in an effort to alert the administrators.The husband of one patient, identified as Jane Doe 8 in lawsuits, said in an interview that he called the patient advocates office at Capital Health and described the assaults, but he never got a response.Representatives of Capital Health denied that numerous members of its staff were alerted to the abuse, and said that the hospital received no complaints from patients about Mr. Cruciani while he worked there.We were shocked and saddened when these allegations came to light, a statement issued by Capital Healths press office said.One of the earliest reports was made in 2005 by a longtime patient, Hillary Tullin, who had been treated by Mr. Cruciani for three years at that time.ImageCredit...Brittainy Newman for The New York TimesLike many of the women treated by Mr. Cruciani at Beth Israel Medical Center (now Mount Sinai Beth Israel), Ms. Tullin experienced severe, chronic pain, and her condition baffled other doctors.I had been to 15 or 18 different doctors who had no idea what was wrong with me and dismissed me as crazy, Ms. Tullin said in an interview. Mr. Cruciani diagnosed her with full-body complex regional pain syndrome, which is poorly understood.The doctor prescribed opioids, but Ms. Tullin did not respond to them, and he tried other treatments.He also started calling her at home on nearly a daily basis, telling her about his personal and family life, that she was beautiful and that he was thinking of her. Brief embraces during office visits turned into extended hugs and eventually into assaults, she said.Ms. Tullin told a Beth Israel psychologist that Mr. Cruciani had forcibly kissed her, according to the latest lawsuit. The psychologist asked Ms. Tullin if she had wanted the doctor to kiss her and then asked what she wanted her to do about it.I told her, I want you to report it, Ms. Tullin recalled. The psychologist did not.It was a culture of silence, Ms. Tullin said. I never spoke about it again.Like Mr. Crucianis other patients, Ms. Tullin was unable to find another physician who would treat her, and she continued seeing Mr. Cruciani for medical care. Though she tried to stop the assaults, they intensified.On Jan. 8, 2013, a patient named Nella Vince told New York City police officers that Mr. Cruciani had sexually assaulted her several times over the years, and offered evidence: a shirt with his semen on it.The police report, which has been reviewed by The New York Times, said that Ms. Vince was taking multiple medications, including methadone, and that she had discussed with police officers the possibility of her wearing a wire to her next doctors appointment.What happened after that is unclear. The police report said Ms. Vince stopped responding to their calls, and officers closed the case in June, saying that the complainant was uncooperative.Ms. Vince said in an interview that the police did not take her seriously because, they said, the doctor had no criminal record.ImageCredit...Jackie Molloy for The New York TimesLater in 2013, Mr. Cruciani abruptly resigned from the hospital and went to work at Capital Institute for Neurosciences in Hopewell Township, N.J. Unable to find other physicians to take over their care, many of Mr. Crucianis patients followed him to Capital, where, they said, he became even more aggressive.Several patients said they told nurses at Capital about the abuse. On at least one occasion, Ms. Johnson said she begged a nurse to stay in the room with her, but the nurse refused.In November 2015, Mr. Cruciani announced he was resigning to take a position in Philadelphia at Drexel University, as chair of the neurology department.Mr. Cruciani began working at Drexel in February 2016, where plaintiffs in one civil suit claim he continued to prescribe large doses of narcotics and to sexually assault patients.Little action was taken after the first complaints were made in August 2016. But by Feb. 1, 2017, at least five patients and at least three staff members had come forward, and Drexel initiated an investigation into the doctors behavior, according to the lawsuits filed in Philadelphia.A month later, Mr. Cruciani left Drexel. Additional former patients, alerted to the investigation, reported his assaults to the police in Pennsylvania.In September 2017, Mr. Cruciani was arrested on charges of multiple counts of indecent assault and a single count of indecent exposure. But he reached a plea agreement that allowed him to serve no jail time as long as he gave up his medical license and registered as a low-level sex offender.The coronavirus pandemic has delayed the other criminal and civil cases. A trial on charges including predatory sexual assault had been scheduled for next month in Manhattan, but it has been postponed because of the pandemic.Consumer advocates say that Mr. Crucianis ability to continue seeing patients despite a long trail of misconduct and complaints is not unusual.Weve been calling for zero tolerance for sexual abuse by health care providers against patients, said Azza AbuDagga, a researcher with Public Citizens Health Research Group. If that standard isnt adopted, were not going to be anywhere close to solving the problem. [/INST] Health </s> |
Health|A second booster helped protect older people from Omicron infection, but waned quickly, an Israeli study says.https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/05/health/a-second-booster-helped-protect-older-people-from-omicron-infection-but-waned-quickly-an-israeli-study-says.htmlCredit...Jack Guez/Agence France-Presse Getty ImagesApril 5, 2022A second booster shot of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid vaccine provides additional short-term protection against Omicron infections and severe illness among older adults, according to a large new study from Israel.But the boosters effectiveness against infection in particular wanes after just four weeks and almost disappears after eight weeks. Protection against severe illness did not ebb in the six weeks after the extra dose, but the follow-up period was too short to determine whether a second booster provided better long-term protection against severe disease than a single booster.The study focused on adults ages 60 and older, and did not provide data on the effectiveness of a second booster in younger populations.The findings, published on Tuesday in the New England Journal of Medicine, suggest that additional boosters are likely to provide fleeting protection against Omicron infections in older recipients, and are consistent with evidence that vaccine effectiveness against infection wanes faster than against severe disease.For confirmed infection, a fourth dose appeared to provide only short-term protection and a modest absolute benefit, the researchers wrote.The results come in the midst of a debate over whether and when Americans might need additional boosters. The Food and Drug Administration is convening a panel of outside advisers on Wednesday for discussion on the broader U.S. booster strategy.The rapid spread of the highly transmissible Omicron variant, which can evade some of the bodys immune defenses, has intensified the discussion of whether second boosters are broadly necessary.Last month, the F.D.A. authorized second booster shots of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines for adults ages 50 and older, as well as immunocompromised people ages 12 and older. The agency also authorized an mRNA booster for adults who have already received two doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.Its likely to be a tough sell: While 66 percent of Americans have been vaccinated, just 30 percent have received a booster shot.It is clear that the Omicron variant has blunted the effectiveness of Covid vaccines, but data on the benefits of a second booster remains limited. A previous study from Israel, which has not yet been published in a scientific journal, found that older adults who received a second booster were 78 percent less likely to die of Covid-19 than those who had received just one booster shot.But scientists criticized the studys methodology, and the benefits of a second booster for young, healthy adults are less clear. Some experts note that most adults who have been vaccinated and boosted once are already likely to be protected from severe illness and death.On Jan. 2, Israel authorized a fourth dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for adults ages 60 and older and members of other high-risk populations who had received their third shots at least four months earlier. Israels vaccination campaign has relied heavily on the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.The new study is based on records from the Israeli Ministry of Health on more than 1.2 million older adults who were eligible for the fourth shot between Jan. 10 and March 2, when Omicron was the dominant variant in the country.The researchers compared the rate of confirmed virus infections and cases of severe Covid-19 among those who had received a fourth dose to those who had received just three doses.Protection against infection appeared to peak four weeks after the fourth shot: the rate of confirmed infections was twice as high in the three-dose group as in the four-dose group. By eight weeks after the fourth shot, however, the additional protection against infection had almost disappeared, the researchers found.Rates of severe disease were 3.5 times higher in the three-dose group than the four-dose group four weeks after the booster shot, the researchers found. That protection did not appear to wane and actually ticked up slightly by the sixth week after the shot, when rates of severe disease were 4.3 times higher in the three-dose group.But the study covered a relatively short period, and whether the benefits against illness hold up over the longer term remains unknown. The study did not report data on deaths. | Health | <s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> Health|A second booster helped protect older people from Omicron infection, but waned quickly, an Israeli study says.https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/05/health/a-second-booster-helped-protect-older-people-from-omicron-infection-but-waned-quickly-an-israeli-study-says.htmlCredit...Jack Guez/Agence France-Presse Getty ImagesApril 5, 2022A second booster shot of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid vaccine provides additional short-term protection against Omicron infections and severe illness among older adults, according to a large new study from Israel.But the boosters effectiveness against infection in particular wanes after just four weeks and almost disappears after eight weeks. Protection against severe illness did not ebb in the six weeks after the extra dose, but the follow-up period was too short to determine whether a second booster provided better long-term protection against severe disease than a single booster.The study focused on adults ages 60 and older, and did not provide data on the effectiveness of a second booster in younger populations.The findings, published on Tuesday in the New England Journal of Medicine, suggest that additional boosters are likely to provide fleeting protection against Omicron infections in older recipients, and are consistent with evidence that vaccine effectiveness against infection wanes faster than against severe disease.For confirmed infection, a fourth dose appeared to provide only short-term protection and a modest absolute benefit, the researchers wrote.The results come in the midst of a debate over whether and when Americans might need additional boosters. The Food and Drug Administration is convening a panel of outside advisers on Wednesday for discussion on the broader U.S. booster strategy.The rapid spread of the highly transmissible Omicron variant, which can evade some of the bodys immune defenses, has intensified the discussion of whether second boosters are broadly necessary.Last month, the F.D.A. authorized second booster shots of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines for adults ages 50 and older, as well as immunocompromised people ages 12 and older. The agency also authorized an mRNA booster for adults who have already received two doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.Its likely to be a tough sell: While 66 percent of Americans have been vaccinated, just 30 percent have received a booster shot.It is clear that the Omicron variant has blunted the effectiveness of Covid vaccines, but data on the benefits of a second booster remains limited. A previous study from Israel, which has not yet been published in a scientific journal, found that older adults who received a second booster were 78 percent less likely to die of Covid-19 than those who had received just one booster shot.But scientists criticized the studys methodology, and the benefits of a second booster for young, healthy adults are less clear. Some experts note that most adults who have been vaccinated and boosted once are already likely to be protected from severe illness and death.On Jan. 2, Israel authorized a fourth dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for adults ages 60 and older and members of other high-risk populations who had received their third shots at least four months earlier. Israels vaccination campaign has relied heavily on the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.The new study is based on records from the Israeli Ministry of Health on more than 1.2 million older adults who were eligible for the fourth shot between Jan. 10 and March 2, when Omicron was the dominant variant in the country.The researchers compared the rate of confirmed virus infections and cases of severe Covid-19 among those who had received a fourth dose to those who had received just three doses.Protection against infection appeared to peak four weeks after the fourth shot: the rate of confirmed infections was twice as high in the three-dose group as in the four-dose group. By eight weeks after the fourth shot, however, the additional protection against infection had almost disappeared, the researchers found.Rates of severe disease were 3.5 times higher in the three-dose group than the four-dose group four weeks after the booster shot, the researchers found. That protection did not appear to wane and actually ticked up slightly by the sixth week after the shot, when rates of severe disease were 4.3 times higher in the three-dose group.But the study covered a relatively short period, and whether the benefits against illness hold up over the longer term remains unknown. The study did not report data on deaths. [/INST] Health </s> |
Europe|Boaty McBoatface, From Internet Joke to Polar Explorerhttps://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/13/world/europe/boaty-mcboatface-mission-antarctica.htmlCredit...National Oceanography CenterMarch 13, 2017LONDON Boaty McBoatface is back, but this time its serious.The high-tech remotely operated yellow submarine, bearing a name that began as a joke, will begin its first mission this week through a deep current that starts in Antarctica and goes through the Southern Ocean.Boaty will navigate through underwater waterfalls and rapids on a two-month mission, collecting data to help scientists understand how global warming affects oceans. It will depart on Friday aboard the James Clark Ross, a British polar research ship, from Punta Arenas, Chile, and will head to the Southern Ocean.The scientists involved can only hope that Boaty McBoatface will find something that draws as much attention to climate change as the odd story of how the vessel got its name.That story started a year ago, when the Natural Environment Research Council, a British government agency, opened a public campaign to name a ship to replace the James Clark Ross.That plan backfired in spectacular fashion, with voters overwhelmingly supporting a name that failed to capture the grandeur that officials were probably looking for: Boaty McBoatface.To the dismay of many, the Science Ministry ignored the results of the poll and announced that the ship would be named after the naturalist David Attenborough.In an attempt to soothe hurt feelings, British officials acknowledged the Boaty McBoatface phenomenon by bestowing the name on a remotely operated submarine that would accompany the David Attenborough in collecting data and samples.Enthusiasm for Boaty McBoatface continued to run high on Monday, even though, as one Twitter user noted, its not a boat, and it doesnt have a face.The robot submarines missions can last for several months and include traveling thousands of miles under ice while reaching depths of about three and a half miles to measure seabed properties on an oceanic scale. The submarine can then rise to the surface to transmit data to oceanographers via a radio link.The British National Oceanography Center says it hopes Boaty will be able to make the first under-ice crossing of the Arctic Ocean.Construction of the David Attenborough, a project expected to cost 200 million pounds, or about $240 million, continues at a shipyard in Liverpool, in northern England. The vessel is expected to become operational in 2019. | World | <s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> Europe|Boaty McBoatface, From Internet Joke to Polar Explorerhttps://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/13/world/europe/boaty-mcboatface-mission-antarctica.htmlCredit...National Oceanography CenterMarch 13, 2017LONDON Boaty McBoatface is back, but this time its serious.The high-tech remotely operated yellow submarine, bearing a name that began as a joke, will begin its first mission this week through a deep current that starts in Antarctica and goes through the Southern Ocean.Boaty will navigate through underwater waterfalls and rapids on a two-month mission, collecting data to help scientists understand how global warming affects oceans. It will depart on Friday aboard the James Clark Ross, a British polar research ship, from Punta Arenas, Chile, and will head to the Southern Ocean.The scientists involved can only hope that Boaty McBoatface will find something that draws as much attention to climate change as the odd story of how the vessel got its name.That story started a year ago, when the Natural Environment Research Council, a British government agency, opened a public campaign to name a ship to replace the James Clark Ross.That plan backfired in spectacular fashion, with voters overwhelmingly supporting a name that failed to capture the grandeur that officials were probably looking for: Boaty McBoatface.To the dismay of many, the Science Ministry ignored the results of the poll and announced that the ship would be named after the naturalist David Attenborough.In an attempt to soothe hurt feelings, British officials acknowledged the Boaty McBoatface phenomenon by bestowing the name on a remotely operated submarine that would accompany the David Attenborough in collecting data and samples.Enthusiasm for Boaty McBoatface continued to run high on Monday, even though, as one Twitter user noted, its not a boat, and it doesnt have a face.The robot submarines missions can last for several months and include traveling thousands of miles under ice while reaching depths of about three and a half miles to measure seabed properties on an oceanic scale. The submarine can then rise to the surface to transmit data to oceanographers via a radio link.The British National Oceanography Center says it hopes Boaty will be able to make the first under-ice crossing of the Arctic Ocean.Construction of the David Attenborough, a project expected to cost 200 million pounds, or about $240 million, continues at a shipyard in Liverpool, in northern England. The vessel is expected to become operational in 2019. [/INST] World </s> |
Dec. 3, 2015BRACKENRIDGE, Pa. For two years, Chris Cummings, a maintenance mechanic, worked 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. six days a week to help prepare for the opening of a gigantic $1.2 billion steel rolling mill that was supposed to bring hundreds of secure, well-paying jobs to the Allegheny River Valley.But then Mr. Cummingss employer, Allegheny Technologies, locked him and his co-workers out after their union, the United Steelworkers, balked at accepting the far-reaching concessions that the company said were essential to help compete against domestic rivals and Chinese imports.Since Aug. 15, Allegheny has locked out 2,200 workers at 12 plants in six states in what has become one of the nations largest and longest work stoppages in years.As unions have weakened in recent decades, more corporations have turned to lockouts to wring givebacks from their workers. In this latest showdown, Allegheny has taken on the nations biggest, most combative industrial union. If the steelworkers lose, it could prompt another wave of me-too concessions and represent a further humbling of organized labor just as it was starting to gain ground on other fronts.The employer is playing hardball, theres no doubt about it, said Richard Hurd, a professor of industrial and labor relations at Cornell University. It puts a lot of pressure on the workers and the union.Already, Alleghenys three-and-a-half-month lockout has dealt a painful blow to this aging, blue-collar town, 22 miles upstream from Pittsburgh, raising doubts about whether the new rolling mill, with its bright blue walls soaring 40 feet above the river, will ever provide the big economic lift it had promised.Company executives say that they need lower labor costs and that no one will gain if the new plant cant thrive in the global economy.But many steelworkers say Allegheny is seeking to enhance its own prosperity at their expense. They contend the company is undermining the middle class in the nations industrial heartland by demanding a two-tier contract with lesser benefits for future hires, insisting upon a four-year wage freeze and requiring many employees to pay at least $2,000 more a year for health coverage.This is our reward for putting in all this overtime to help open the new mill? asked Mr. Cummings. I do think its absolutely necessary for the company to stay competitive. But theyre asking too much.During his 70-hour workweeks, Mr. Cummings said he often returned home after his son, now 6, and his daughter, now 20 months, were in bed. My wife was telling me she felt like a single mom, he said.After locking out its workers, the company brought in hundreds of temporary replacements. The unionized workers have been picketing outside the plant around the clock, with signs mocking the replacement workers, saying things like Danger: Scabs Trying to Run Mill and Scabs Equal Dishonor.Instead of picketing, Fran Arabia, president of the steelworkers local here, said, we should be cutting a ribbon right now.Week by week, the locked-out workers are growing more anxious. The company terminated their health coverage on Nov. 30. Christmas and freezing weather are approaching, and their six months of unemployment insurance will run out in February.Robert S. Wetherbee, the president of Alleghenys Flat-Rolled Products division, said the company needed to drive a hard bargain because the market had shifted significantly. Stainless steel prices are down 30 percent since April and Chinese producers are gaining a greater share of the business. The companys flat-rolled division, he said, lost money in 10 of the last 11 quarters.Mr. Wetherbee said Alleghenys workers were very well paid, averaging $70 an hour in compensation, including pensions, health coverage, overtime and paid time off, some $20 higher per hour than its competitors. The union called those numbers vastly exaggerated.It became a competitiveness issue and to some degree a survival issue for the stainless steel portion of our business, Mr. Wetherbee said. With this mill, we invested close to $400,000 per job in the Allegheny Valley. Now we have the obligation to keep the business competitive.The new rolling mill four football fields long is a marvel of automation. Workers hunch over control panels that monitor six powerful milling machines that press, squeeze and flatten two-foot-thick red-hot slabs into nearly mile-long coils of thin steel sheet in a matter of seconds.With one-third of Alleghenys blue-collar employees eligible to retire before 2020, Mr. Wetherbee said it made sense to seek a two-tier contract.Were faced with a once-in-a-generation opportunity to bend the cost curve on a major part of our costs, he said. If were going to be competitive, we have to be in a position where we have a different benefit structure for the next generation we hire.Like many unions, the United Steelworkers abhor two-tier contracts, convinced that they sell out future generations and sow tensions between older and younger workers.The steelworkers complain that Allegheny wants to replace traditional pensions with less generous 401(k)s for new workers and to give them a health plan that is not as good as the one current workers have. Under the two-tier proposal, future workers, upon retiring, would have a more meager health plan and no life insurance.The China crisis of today doesnt mean that people who go to work for this company and retire 35 years from now shouldnt have anything in retirement, said Tom Conway, the steelworkers vice president overseeing the negotiations. Weve made major moves in this bargaining, to share more of the health costs, and its just not enough for them.Not long ago, when the company was called Allegheny-Ludlum, workers endearingly called it Uncle Al because of its generosity. But the steelworkers say Mr. Wetherbee, who joined Allegheny in 2010 after 30 years at Alcoa, has brought a more confrontational approach.He told us that they couldnt be this paternalistic, Mr. Conway said. If this is paternalistic, Id hate to see what an abusive parent is like.Analysts are divided over the concessions the company is seeking.Paul Clark, director of Penn States School of Labor and Employment Relations, said Allegheny was seeking to exploit the temporary fall in prices and profits to extract deep permanent cuts. Theyre using the excuse of the industry downturn, he said, not just to adjust to the new situation; they want to go well beyond whats justified by the downturn.But John Tumazos, a steel industry analyst in Holmdel, N.J., criticized the unions approach. Leo Gerard, the unions president, is thinking of the century-old model, holding rallies in downtown Pittsburgh and mill towns, when this company is between a rock and a hard place, Mr. Tumazos said. The union isnt making things better. They should be holding their protest rallies in Beijing.According to Allegheny Technologies, the steelworkers averaged $94,000 in pay last year, including incentive pay and overtime. Thats not middle class, thats upper middle class, said Dan Greenfield, the companys vice president for investor relations.Todd Barbiaux, an overhead crane operator, derided that figure, saying it failed to take account of last years unusual situation.In reality were $60,000-a-year guys, he said, even when incentive pay and Sunday differential are added to the steelworkers base wage of $24.99 an hour. With the push to build the new mill, he made over $100,000 last year only because of a lot of 80-hour weeks, with more than 600 hours overtime. But thats not normal, he said. Youre working one and a half years in a year.The steelworkers are further angered because theyre being pressed for major concessions after Alleghenys chief executive, Richard Harshman, received $8 million in compensation last year, up 70 percent from the previous year. His 2014 pay jumped because of a larger base salary, a $1.4 million bonus, more stock awards and a pension that was valued higher.Mr. Harshman told analysts in October that the companys production was meeting expectations notwithstanding the lockout. But the steelworkers dispute that. As they spend their days picketing, they say they see far fewer trucks carrying steel coil out of the plant.The union, asserting that the company has violated labor laws, has asked the National Labor Relations Board to declare the lockout illegal and order the company to pay more than $30 million in back wages. Company officials insist the lockout is lawful.Scott Laliberte, who fixes brick linings in Alleghenys steel furnaces, said he sometimes worked 30 days in a row last year, allowing him to save extra money. But the physical strain was too much. You feel you dont have a life, he said.The lockout is taking a further toll on his family, he said. If this goes on, he said, Ill probably find another job and not go back. Theyre going to lose a lot of good people.The union wants to return to regular workdays, after having agreed to extra-long workweeks to get the new rolling mill running. Mr. Laliberte and other steelworkers are fuming that the companys proposal would allow it to require such schedules as it sees fit, including 16-hour days and 70-hour weeks.Mr. Wetherbee said Allegheny would never have another opportunity like this to bring down costs and assure profitability. We decided we couldnt kick the can down the road any further, he said. | Business | <s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> Dec. 3, 2015BRACKENRIDGE, Pa. For two years, Chris Cummings, a maintenance mechanic, worked 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. six days a week to help prepare for the opening of a gigantic $1.2 billion steel rolling mill that was supposed to bring hundreds of secure, well-paying jobs to the Allegheny River Valley.But then Mr. Cummingss employer, Allegheny Technologies, locked him and his co-workers out after their union, the United Steelworkers, balked at accepting the far-reaching concessions that the company said were essential to help compete against domestic rivals and Chinese imports.Since Aug. 15, Allegheny has locked out 2,200 workers at 12 plants in six states in what has become one of the nations largest and longest work stoppages in years.As unions have weakened in recent decades, more corporations have turned to lockouts to wring givebacks from their workers. In this latest showdown, Allegheny has taken on the nations biggest, most combative industrial union. If the steelworkers lose, it could prompt another wave of me-too concessions and represent a further humbling of organized labor just as it was starting to gain ground on other fronts.The employer is playing hardball, theres no doubt about it, said Richard Hurd, a professor of industrial and labor relations at Cornell University. It puts a lot of pressure on the workers and the union.Already, Alleghenys three-and-a-half-month lockout has dealt a painful blow to this aging, blue-collar town, 22 miles upstream from Pittsburgh, raising doubts about whether the new rolling mill, with its bright blue walls soaring 40 feet above the river, will ever provide the big economic lift it had promised.Company executives say that they need lower labor costs and that no one will gain if the new plant cant thrive in the global economy.But many steelworkers say Allegheny is seeking to enhance its own prosperity at their expense. They contend the company is undermining the middle class in the nations industrial heartland by demanding a two-tier contract with lesser benefits for future hires, insisting upon a four-year wage freeze and requiring many employees to pay at least $2,000 more a year for health coverage.This is our reward for putting in all this overtime to help open the new mill? asked Mr. Cummings. I do think its absolutely necessary for the company to stay competitive. But theyre asking too much.During his 70-hour workweeks, Mr. Cummings said he often returned home after his son, now 6, and his daughter, now 20 months, were in bed. My wife was telling me she felt like a single mom, he said.After locking out its workers, the company brought in hundreds of temporary replacements. The unionized workers have been picketing outside the plant around the clock, with signs mocking the replacement workers, saying things like Danger: Scabs Trying to Run Mill and Scabs Equal Dishonor.Instead of picketing, Fran Arabia, president of the steelworkers local here, said, we should be cutting a ribbon right now.Week by week, the locked-out workers are growing more anxious. The company terminated their health coverage on Nov. 30. Christmas and freezing weather are approaching, and their six months of unemployment insurance will run out in February.Robert S. Wetherbee, the president of Alleghenys Flat-Rolled Products division, said the company needed to drive a hard bargain because the market had shifted significantly. Stainless steel prices are down 30 percent since April and Chinese producers are gaining a greater share of the business. The companys flat-rolled division, he said, lost money in 10 of the last 11 quarters.Mr. Wetherbee said Alleghenys workers were very well paid, averaging $70 an hour in compensation, including pensions, health coverage, overtime and paid time off, some $20 higher per hour than its competitors. The union called those numbers vastly exaggerated.It became a competitiveness issue and to some degree a survival issue for the stainless steel portion of our business, Mr. Wetherbee said. With this mill, we invested close to $400,000 per job in the Allegheny Valley. Now we have the obligation to keep the business competitive.The new rolling mill four football fields long is a marvel of automation. Workers hunch over control panels that monitor six powerful milling machines that press, squeeze and flatten two-foot-thick red-hot slabs into nearly mile-long coils of thin steel sheet in a matter of seconds.With one-third of Alleghenys blue-collar employees eligible to retire before 2020, Mr. Wetherbee said it made sense to seek a two-tier contract.Were faced with a once-in-a-generation opportunity to bend the cost curve on a major part of our costs, he said. If were going to be competitive, we have to be in a position where we have a different benefit structure for the next generation we hire.Like many unions, the United Steelworkers abhor two-tier contracts, convinced that they sell out future generations and sow tensions between older and younger workers.The steelworkers complain that Allegheny wants to replace traditional pensions with less generous 401(k)s for new workers and to give them a health plan that is not as good as the one current workers have. Under the two-tier proposal, future workers, upon retiring, would have a more meager health plan and no life insurance.The China crisis of today doesnt mean that people who go to work for this company and retire 35 years from now shouldnt have anything in retirement, said Tom Conway, the steelworkers vice president overseeing the negotiations. Weve made major moves in this bargaining, to share more of the health costs, and its just not enough for them.Not long ago, when the company was called Allegheny-Ludlum, workers endearingly called it Uncle Al because of its generosity. But the steelworkers say Mr. Wetherbee, who joined Allegheny in 2010 after 30 years at Alcoa, has brought a more confrontational approach.He told us that they couldnt be this paternalistic, Mr. Conway said. If this is paternalistic, Id hate to see what an abusive parent is like.Analysts are divided over the concessions the company is seeking.Paul Clark, director of Penn States School of Labor and Employment Relations, said Allegheny was seeking to exploit the temporary fall in prices and profits to extract deep permanent cuts. Theyre using the excuse of the industry downturn, he said, not just to adjust to the new situation; they want to go well beyond whats justified by the downturn.But John Tumazos, a steel industry analyst in Holmdel, N.J., criticized the unions approach. Leo Gerard, the unions president, is thinking of the century-old model, holding rallies in downtown Pittsburgh and mill towns, when this company is between a rock and a hard place, Mr. Tumazos said. The union isnt making things better. They should be holding their protest rallies in Beijing.According to Allegheny Technologies, the steelworkers averaged $94,000 in pay last year, including incentive pay and overtime. Thats not middle class, thats upper middle class, said Dan Greenfield, the companys vice president for investor relations.Todd Barbiaux, an overhead crane operator, derided that figure, saying it failed to take account of last years unusual situation.In reality were $60,000-a-year guys, he said, even when incentive pay and Sunday differential are added to the steelworkers base wage of $24.99 an hour. With the push to build the new mill, he made over $100,000 last year only because of a lot of 80-hour weeks, with more than 600 hours overtime. But thats not normal, he said. Youre working one and a half years in a year.The steelworkers are further angered because theyre being pressed for major concessions after Alleghenys chief executive, Richard Harshman, received $8 million in compensation last year, up 70 percent from the previous year. His 2014 pay jumped because of a larger base salary, a $1.4 million bonus, more stock awards and a pension that was valued higher.Mr. Harshman told analysts in October that the companys production was meeting expectations notwithstanding the lockout. But the steelworkers dispute that. As they spend their days picketing, they say they see far fewer trucks carrying steel coil out of the plant.The union, asserting that the company has violated labor laws, has asked the National Labor Relations Board to declare the lockout illegal and order the company to pay more than $30 million in back wages. Company officials insist the lockout is lawful.Scott Laliberte, who fixes brick linings in Alleghenys steel furnaces, said he sometimes worked 30 days in a row last year, allowing him to save extra money. But the physical strain was too much. You feel you dont have a life, he said.The lockout is taking a further toll on his family, he said. If this goes on, he said, Ill probably find another job and not go back. Theyre going to lose a lot of good people.The union wants to return to regular workdays, after having agreed to extra-long workweeks to get the new rolling mill running. Mr. Laliberte and other steelworkers are fuming that the companys proposal would allow it to require such schedules as it sees fit, including 16-hour days and 70-hour weeks.Mr. Wetherbee said Allegheny would never have another opportunity like this to bring down costs and assure profitability. We decided we couldnt kick the can down the road any further, he said. [/INST] Business </s> |
Feb. 9, 2014Credit...Sara Krulwich/The New York TimesThe central character in the new Broadway play Bronx Bombers is Yogi Berra. And why not? Yogi has been a Yankee, even when he was a Met, for nearly 70 years.Creating a character like Yogi would be unlikely: a Hall of Fame catcher without an all-star physique, a beloved sage, a pitchman and the winning protagonist in a 14-year struggle for his dignity against George Steinbrenner. As a player, coach, manager or yogi-in-residence, he has been the human bridge to virtually every meaningful Yankee from Joe DiMaggio to Derek Jeter.I knew he was going to be an automatically empathetic character, said Eric Simonson, the playwright and director. Hes rich and dimensional, and he says all these great things, some of which he actually said, and hes the face of the Yankees. It seemed like the right place to go. Hes lived through all that Yankee history, and hes really a great place to get into it.The play opened Thursday at Circle in the Square, where the lobby is filled with oversize photographs of Yankees and steeply priced signed memorabilia. The theater in the round is ringed by a fiber-wood copy of the Yankee Stadium facade. And some fans came dressed as if to a game, in Yankees jerseys and jackets, sat in old Yankee Stadium chairs and posed in front of replica lockers.The YES Network announcer Michael Kay cautions the audience to turn off cellphones before the lights go down.The real Berra, now 88, has not seen the new production, but he and his wife, Carmen, attended its Off Broadway version last year.He laughed his butt off watching it, said Lindsay Berra, the oldest of his 11 grandchildren. Grandpa likes to laugh, and he can laugh at himself. And my grandmother loved the choice of clothing for her and her glasses.The play centers on Berras distress over the feud that erupted when Yankees Manager Billy Martin yanked Reggie Jackson out of right field for apparently loafing for a fly ball in a game against the Red Sox in Fenway Park in June 1977. Before a full brawl between them could begin in the dugout, Berra and Elston Howard, two of Martins coaches, held the combatants apart.A lot of people remembered it, and it was a moment in baseball history when things were changing in the game, Simonson said, explaining why he chose that incident. I didnt consider many other possibilities.Simonson portrays Berras anxiety over the nationally televised incident as so profound that he believes the Yankees may be damaged forever. As played by Peter Scolari, Berra tries to broker a cease-fire between the two in his hotel room, where Martin is agitated and weepy, and Jackson is full of swagger and the immensity of himself. Still unsettled, Berra hallucinates that Babe Ruth is speaking to him.There is, of course, considerable dramatic license in all this, especially in Berras dream that he and Carmen are the hosts of a dinner party of pinstriped royalty with Ruth, Howard, DiMaggio, Jeter, Lou Gehrig and Mickey Mantle. It is an opportunity to look back at Yankees history with a big dose of Ruths rowdiness and to hear some of the bitterness between Mantle and DiMaggio and Gehrig and Ruth.It is a Field of Dreams-like encounter in the Berras home in Montclair, N.J., without the cornfield, with gestures of mortality by Gehrig (John Wernke) that are directly out of Pride of the Yankees.VideoA scene from the new Broadway play about the New York Yankees.Among the missing Yankees stars are Phil Rizzuto and Whitey Ford. The budget allowed only a certain number of immortals, Simonson said.And no Steinbrenner, either.I could have had Steinbrenner, but then the play would have been about him, not the Yankees, Simonson said. Hes a fascinating character, but if youre going to honor the history of the Yankees, you have to honor the players. Perhaps Larry David, who gave voice to the wacko version of Steinbrenner on Seinfeld, was unavailable.Bronx Bombers is the third Broadway play in a sports cycle written by Simonson and produced by Fran Kirmser and Tony Ponturo.Lombardi, the first one, had a run of 244 performances that began in 2010. The second, Magic/Bird, closed in 2012 after only 37 performances.Bronx Bombers is the first of the plays that is about a New York team and players. Opening just before spring training and produced in partnership with the Yankees and Major League Baseball, the play is designed to rope in people who want to bathe in Yankees nostalgia, whether or not they are Broadway habitus.The way Yogi tried to keep the team together, I got teary-eyed, Maurice Rothenberg, a Bronx-born Yankees fan who lives in Bayside, Queens, said after Wednesday nights performance.The Yankees are not nafs on the New York stage, but there are not many sports plays. The Yankees served as the unseen evil empire in the musical Damn Yankees in two long runs in the 1950s and 90s. Paul Dooley played Casey Stengel looking back at his life, including his seasons as Yankees manager at the American Place Theater in 1981.And in 2003, Ben Gazzara played Berra in a one-man Off Broadway show, Nobody Dont Like Yogi, that used Steinbrenners firing of Berra as the Yankees manager in 1985 as its pivot point. Gazzara was a Yankees fan who admired DiMaggio and recalled thinking that no one with a stocky body like Berras could be a great player.He was ungainly, but he got things done gracefully, he said then to The New York Times. I had to root for him.That ungainliness is reprised in Bronx Bombers. Scolari moves in a hunched stance, reminiscent of how he portrayed Red Auerbach in Magic/Bird.Lindsay Berra said that her grandfather was only 52 in 1977, with stronger, straighter posture. I think most people know Grandpa as an older man, and Peters probably playing the man he met, whos 88, she said. But if youre acting, do you do the spitting image or what works for you? She added that her grandfather wore nightshirts, not the pajamas and bathrobe of the stage Yogi.But she said that the play captured the spirit of the characters, the sweetness of her grandparents love story and the look of Carmen Berra.When Tracy comes out in the little tweed suit with the straight blond bob, I burst out in tears, she looked so much like Grammy, she said, referring to Tracy Shayne. At one point, she put her hands on her chest, and with her nude-colored manicure, it was so Grammy the hairs on my back stood up. | Sports | <s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> Feb. 9, 2014Credit...Sara Krulwich/The New York TimesThe central character in the new Broadway play Bronx Bombers is Yogi Berra. And why not? Yogi has been a Yankee, even when he was a Met, for nearly 70 years.Creating a character like Yogi would be unlikely: a Hall of Fame catcher without an all-star physique, a beloved sage, a pitchman and the winning protagonist in a 14-year struggle for his dignity against George Steinbrenner. As a player, coach, manager or yogi-in-residence, he has been the human bridge to virtually every meaningful Yankee from Joe DiMaggio to Derek Jeter.I knew he was going to be an automatically empathetic character, said Eric Simonson, the playwright and director. Hes rich and dimensional, and he says all these great things, some of which he actually said, and hes the face of the Yankees. It seemed like the right place to go. Hes lived through all that Yankee history, and hes really a great place to get into it.The play opened Thursday at Circle in the Square, where the lobby is filled with oversize photographs of Yankees and steeply priced signed memorabilia. The theater in the round is ringed by a fiber-wood copy of the Yankee Stadium facade. And some fans came dressed as if to a game, in Yankees jerseys and jackets, sat in old Yankee Stadium chairs and posed in front of replica lockers.The YES Network announcer Michael Kay cautions the audience to turn off cellphones before the lights go down.The real Berra, now 88, has not seen the new production, but he and his wife, Carmen, attended its Off Broadway version last year.He laughed his butt off watching it, said Lindsay Berra, the oldest of his 11 grandchildren. Grandpa likes to laugh, and he can laugh at himself. And my grandmother loved the choice of clothing for her and her glasses.The play centers on Berras distress over the feud that erupted when Yankees Manager Billy Martin yanked Reggie Jackson out of right field for apparently loafing for a fly ball in a game against the Red Sox in Fenway Park in June 1977. Before a full brawl between them could begin in the dugout, Berra and Elston Howard, two of Martins coaches, held the combatants apart.A lot of people remembered it, and it was a moment in baseball history when things were changing in the game, Simonson said, explaining why he chose that incident. I didnt consider many other possibilities.Simonson portrays Berras anxiety over the nationally televised incident as so profound that he believes the Yankees may be damaged forever. As played by Peter Scolari, Berra tries to broker a cease-fire between the two in his hotel room, where Martin is agitated and weepy, and Jackson is full of swagger and the immensity of himself. Still unsettled, Berra hallucinates that Babe Ruth is speaking to him.There is, of course, considerable dramatic license in all this, especially in Berras dream that he and Carmen are the hosts of a dinner party of pinstriped royalty with Ruth, Howard, DiMaggio, Jeter, Lou Gehrig and Mickey Mantle. It is an opportunity to look back at Yankees history with a big dose of Ruths rowdiness and to hear some of the bitterness between Mantle and DiMaggio and Gehrig and Ruth.It is a Field of Dreams-like encounter in the Berras home in Montclair, N.J., without the cornfield, with gestures of mortality by Gehrig (John Wernke) that are directly out of Pride of the Yankees.VideoA scene from the new Broadway play about the New York Yankees.Among the missing Yankees stars are Phil Rizzuto and Whitey Ford. The budget allowed only a certain number of immortals, Simonson said.And no Steinbrenner, either.I could have had Steinbrenner, but then the play would have been about him, not the Yankees, Simonson said. Hes a fascinating character, but if youre going to honor the history of the Yankees, you have to honor the players. Perhaps Larry David, who gave voice to the wacko version of Steinbrenner on Seinfeld, was unavailable.Bronx Bombers is the third Broadway play in a sports cycle written by Simonson and produced by Fran Kirmser and Tony Ponturo.Lombardi, the first one, had a run of 244 performances that began in 2010. The second, Magic/Bird, closed in 2012 after only 37 performances.Bronx Bombers is the first of the plays that is about a New York team and players. Opening just before spring training and produced in partnership with the Yankees and Major League Baseball, the play is designed to rope in people who want to bathe in Yankees nostalgia, whether or not they are Broadway habitus.The way Yogi tried to keep the team together, I got teary-eyed, Maurice Rothenberg, a Bronx-born Yankees fan who lives in Bayside, Queens, said after Wednesday nights performance.The Yankees are not nafs on the New York stage, but there are not many sports plays. The Yankees served as the unseen evil empire in the musical Damn Yankees in two long runs in the 1950s and 90s. Paul Dooley played Casey Stengel looking back at his life, including his seasons as Yankees manager at the American Place Theater in 1981.And in 2003, Ben Gazzara played Berra in a one-man Off Broadway show, Nobody Dont Like Yogi, that used Steinbrenners firing of Berra as the Yankees manager in 1985 as its pivot point. Gazzara was a Yankees fan who admired DiMaggio and recalled thinking that no one with a stocky body like Berras could be a great player.He was ungainly, but he got things done gracefully, he said then to The New York Times. I had to root for him.That ungainliness is reprised in Bronx Bombers. Scolari moves in a hunched stance, reminiscent of how he portrayed Red Auerbach in Magic/Bird.Lindsay Berra said that her grandfather was only 52 in 1977, with stronger, straighter posture. I think most people know Grandpa as an older man, and Peters probably playing the man he met, whos 88, she said. But if youre acting, do you do the spitting image or what works for you? She added that her grandfather wore nightshirts, not the pajamas and bathrobe of the stage Yogi.But she said that the play captured the spirit of the characters, the sweetness of her grandparents love story and the look of Carmen Berra.When Tracy comes out in the little tweed suit with the straight blond bob, I burst out in tears, she looked so much like Grammy, she said, referring to Tracy Shayne. At one point, she put her hands on her chest, and with her nude-colored manicure, it was so Grammy the hairs on my back stood up. [/INST] Sports </s> |
Credit...Aly Song/ReutersMay 15, 2019One of the worlds leading internet giants appears to be feeling the effects of Chinas economic slowdown and the trade war with the United States.The Alibaba Group, Chinas largest e-commerce company, said on Wednesday that revenue increased by 51 percent in the March quarter from the same period last year. That topped Wall Streets expectations, and was a pickup from the quarter before. But it was still the companys second-slowest pace of revenue expansion since early 2016.For the full year that ended March 31, revenue also grew by more than half. The company said, however, that the increase was partly the result of adding several recently acquired businesses, such as the takeout delivery service Ele.me, to its sales computations. Without those, it said, full-year sales would have increased by just under two-fifths, the slowest growth in three years.Alibaba also said the number of customers on its Chinese retail marketplaces for the full year that ended in March had grown to more than 650 million, an increase of over 100 million.Chinas economy has slowed since the tariff fight with the United States began last year. Diplomacy with Washington has frayed. Alibabas enormous size makes the company a closely watched bellwether for consumer and business sentiment in China, even if its an obstacle to finding new ways to make money.Alibabas scale and breadth may also put it in a better position than many other Chinese businesses to weather the present choppiness.With services from commerce and food delivery to payments and travel booking now under its umbrella, Alibaba has built such a vast ecosystem of interconnected products and platforms that its hold on Chinese consumers and merchants is almost unassailable, said David Dai, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein in Hong Kong.Alibaba is over all in a much stronger position as compared to any other internet or e-commerce company in China, Mr. Dai said.During a conference call on Wednesday, the companys executive vice chairman, Joseph C. Tsai, urged analysts to look beyond what he called the elephant in the room: Chinas economic confrontation with the United States.More important for Alibaba, Mr. Tsai said, is the long-term increase in consumer spending by Chinas middle class. The company would also benefit, he said, if China agreed to import more American goods as part of a trade settlement, because Alibaba is already a partner to global brands that cater to Chinas growing ranks of shopaholics.Those are the more significant drivers of our business, as opposed to quarter-to-quarter G.D.P. or industrial production, Mr. Tsai said.Yet in a season of high anxiety about the trade war and the global economy, Chinas entire tech sector is feeling the pressure.Leading companies have laid off workers. Start-ups, including some that Alibaba has invested in, are struggling. Coders are protesting long hours and unpaid overtime a sign, industry observers say, that the years of breakneck growth and boundless optimism for Chinese tech companies are past.Alibaba has said it will not lay off any employees this year. But the company has not been immune to strain. On Wednesday, Alibabas chief executive, Daniel Zhang, said the company would continue to hold off on charging merchants more to advertise on its shopping sites, despite the harm it would cause to revenue growth.Such ads, along with other services that help merchants reach customers, represent the biggest part of Alibabas sales, and nearly all of its profit. Unlike Amazon, Alibaba does not pocket proceeds from merchandise sales on its platforms. It makes money by charging third-party sellers to use its digital shelves and signboards.Alibaba has said it will avoid ramping up ad sales until it has collected more data about whether new personalized ads in its shopping app are successfully persuading customers to hand over more of their money.But Alibaba executives have also said the company does not want to add to its merchants expenses at a time when many of them are already jittery about the economy.Instead of trying to make more money by charging more for ads, Mr. Zhang said Wednesday, the company plans to invest in enticing more people, particularly those who live in Chinas smaller cities and towns, into conducting their lives within Alibabas consumer universe. More than two-thirds of the new users on Alibabas Chinese shopping platforms this past year lived outside the countrys megacities, the company said. | Tech | <s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> Credit...Aly Song/ReutersMay 15, 2019One of the worlds leading internet giants appears to be feeling the effects of Chinas economic slowdown and the trade war with the United States.The Alibaba Group, Chinas largest e-commerce company, said on Wednesday that revenue increased by 51 percent in the March quarter from the same period last year. That topped Wall Streets expectations, and was a pickup from the quarter before. But it was still the companys second-slowest pace of revenue expansion since early 2016.For the full year that ended March 31, revenue also grew by more than half. The company said, however, that the increase was partly the result of adding several recently acquired businesses, such as the takeout delivery service Ele.me, to its sales computations. Without those, it said, full-year sales would have increased by just under two-fifths, the slowest growth in three years.Alibaba also said the number of customers on its Chinese retail marketplaces for the full year that ended in March had grown to more than 650 million, an increase of over 100 million.Chinas economy has slowed since the tariff fight with the United States began last year. Diplomacy with Washington has frayed. Alibabas enormous size makes the company a closely watched bellwether for consumer and business sentiment in China, even if its an obstacle to finding new ways to make money.Alibabas scale and breadth may also put it in a better position than many other Chinese businesses to weather the present choppiness.With services from commerce and food delivery to payments and travel booking now under its umbrella, Alibaba has built such a vast ecosystem of interconnected products and platforms that its hold on Chinese consumers and merchants is almost unassailable, said David Dai, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein in Hong Kong.Alibaba is over all in a much stronger position as compared to any other internet or e-commerce company in China, Mr. Dai said.During a conference call on Wednesday, the companys executive vice chairman, Joseph C. Tsai, urged analysts to look beyond what he called the elephant in the room: Chinas economic confrontation with the United States.More important for Alibaba, Mr. Tsai said, is the long-term increase in consumer spending by Chinas middle class. The company would also benefit, he said, if China agreed to import more American goods as part of a trade settlement, because Alibaba is already a partner to global brands that cater to Chinas growing ranks of shopaholics.Those are the more significant drivers of our business, as opposed to quarter-to-quarter G.D.P. or industrial production, Mr. Tsai said.Yet in a season of high anxiety about the trade war and the global economy, Chinas entire tech sector is feeling the pressure.Leading companies have laid off workers. Start-ups, including some that Alibaba has invested in, are struggling. Coders are protesting long hours and unpaid overtime a sign, industry observers say, that the years of breakneck growth and boundless optimism for Chinese tech companies are past.Alibaba has said it will not lay off any employees this year. But the company has not been immune to strain. On Wednesday, Alibabas chief executive, Daniel Zhang, said the company would continue to hold off on charging merchants more to advertise on its shopping sites, despite the harm it would cause to revenue growth.Such ads, along with other services that help merchants reach customers, represent the biggest part of Alibabas sales, and nearly all of its profit. Unlike Amazon, Alibaba does not pocket proceeds from merchandise sales on its platforms. It makes money by charging third-party sellers to use its digital shelves and signboards.Alibaba has said it will avoid ramping up ad sales until it has collected more data about whether new personalized ads in its shopping app are successfully persuading customers to hand over more of their money.But Alibaba executives have also said the company does not want to add to its merchants expenses at a time when many of them are already jittery about the economy.Instead of trying to make more money by charging more for ads, Mr. Zhang said Wednesday, the company plans to invest in enticing more people, particularly those who live in Chinas smaller cities and towns, into conducting their lives within Alibabas consumer universe. More than two-thirds of the new users on Alibabas Chinese shopping platforms this past year lived outside the countrys megacities, the company said. [/INST] Tech </s> |
SidebarCredit...Tom Brenner/The New York TimesJune 25, 2018WASHINGTON Tyson Timbs would like his Land Rover back.The State of Indiana took it, using a law that lets it seize vehicles used to transport illegal drugs. Last week, the Supreme Court agreed to decide whether the Constitution has anything to say about such civil forfeiture laws, which allow states and localities to take and keep private property used to commit crimes.Mr. Timbs bought the Land Rover after his father died. The life insurance money amounted to around $73,000, and he spent $42,000 of it on the vehicle. He blew most of the rest on drugs.Unfortunately, I had a whole bunch of money, which isnt a good idea for a drug addict to have, Mr. Timbs recalled the other day. I used a lot, and eventually the money ran out. It was an addicts life.Mr. Timbss habit started with an opioid addiction and progressed to heroin. He used his Land Rover to get drugs and, on at least two occasions, to sell them. The buyers were undercover police officers.Mr. Timbs pleaded guilty to one of the drug sales, in which $225 had changed hands, and he was sentenced to a year of house arrest followed by five years of probation. He also agreed to pay an array of fees and fines adding up to about $1,200.But Indiana wanted more. Using the civil forfeiture law, it took the Land Rover.Mr. Timbs, 37, has put his life back together, but it has not been easy. I have to go to meetings, to counseling, to probation appointments, he said, making clear that he was not complaining.They want you to get a job, he said. Its hard to do without a vehicle. Plus, I was a felon, which makes it even harder to find a job.He found work as a machinist in a factory some 40 minutes from his home in Marion, Ind., where he lives with his aunt. He borrows her car to get to work, and he feels guilty about that.She has to take a bus back and forth to her kidney dialysis appointments, he said.As Justice Clarence Thomas explained last year in an opinion urging the Supreme Court to examine civil forfeiture laws, government seizures of property used to commit crimes have become worrisomely popular.Forfeiture has in recent decades become widespread and highly profitable, Justice Thomas wrote. And because the law enforcement entity responsible for seizing the property often keeps it, these entities have strong incentives to pursue forfeiture.ImageCredit...Jonathan Ernst/ReutersThis system where police can seize property with limited judicial oversight and retain it for their own use has led to egregious and well-chronicled abuses, he wrote, citing excellent reporting from The Washington Post and The New Yorker.The burdens of civil forfeiture fall disproportionately on the poor, said Wesley P. Hottot, a lawyer with the Institute for Justice, which represents Mr. Timbs.Tysons case illustrates how civil forfeiture makes it harder for people who have made mistakes to correct those mistakes and re-enter society, Mr. Hottot said. It shouldnt take the United States Supreme Court to make clear that you dont take everything from a person whos facing the kinds of challenges Tyson is.Mr. Timbs won the early rounds in Indianas lawsuit seeking to take his vehicle, based on the Eighth Amendment, which says that excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.Judge Jeffrey D. Todd, of the Grant County Superior Court, said the amendments second clause the one barring excessive fines protected Mr. Timbs. The Land Rover, the judge wrote, was worth about four times the maximum fine Mr. Timbs could have been ordered to pay, which was $10,000. It was also worth more than 30 times the fines that were actually imposed.The amount of the forfeiture sought is excessive and is grossly disproportional to the gravity of the defendants offense, Judge Todd wrote.An appeals court agreed. In dissent, Judge Michael P. Barnes wrote that civil forfeiture laws can be abused but that Mr. Timbs should lose the vehicle.I am keenly aware of the overreach some law enforcement agencies have exercised in some of these cases, Judge Barnes wrote. Entire family farms are sometimes forfeited based on one family members conduct, or exorbitant amounts of money are seized. However, it seems to me that one who deals heroin, and there is no doubt from the record we are talking about a dealer, must and should suffer the legal consequences to which he exposes himself.The Indiana Supreme Court ruled against Mr. Timbs, on interesting grounds. It said the Eighth Amendments prohibition of excessive fines did not apply to ones imposed by states.This is, surprisingly, an open question. The Bill of Rights originally restricted the power of only the federal government, but the Supreme Court has ruled that most of its protections apply to the states under the due process clause of the 14th Amendment, one of the post-Civil War amendments.But there are a few exceptions, and the Supreme Court has been inconsistent about where it stands on the excessive fines clause. Mr. Timbss case is poised to resolve the question. It will be argued in the fall.In the meantime, Mr. Timbs sometimes lapses into frustration and bitterness.I dont deserve this, he said. Nobody does. Its an unnecessary stressor. I struggle with more than addiction. I struggle with anxiety and depression. I dont feel like much of a man, because I dont have a vehicle. | Politics | <s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> SidebarCredit...Tom Brenner/The New York TimesJune 25, 2018WASHINGTON Tyson Timbs would like his Land Rover back.The State of Indiana took it, using a law that lets it seize vehicles used to transport illegal drugs. Last week, the Supreme Court agreed to decide whether the Constitution has anything to say about such civil forfeiture laws, which allow states and localities to take and keep private property used to commit crimes.Mr. Timbs bought the Land Rover after his father died. The life insurance money amounted to around $73,000, and he spent $42,000 of it on the vehicle. He blew most of the rest on drugs.Unfortunately, I had a whole bunch of money, which isnt a good idea for a drug addict to have, Mr. Timbs recalled the other day. I used a lot, and eventually the money ran out. It was an addicts life.Mr. Timbss habit started with an opioid addiction and progressed to heroin. He used his Land Rover to get drugs and, on at least two occasions, to sell them. The buyers were undercover police officers.Mr. Timbs pleaded guilty to one of the drug sales, in which $225 had changed hands, and he was sentenced to a year of house arrest followed by five years of probation. He also agreed to pay an array of fees and fines adding up to about $1,200.But Indiana wanted more. Using the civil forfeiture law, it took the Land Rover.Mr. Timbs, 37, has put his life back together, but it has not been easy. I have to go to meetings, to counseling, to probation appointments, he said, making clear that he was not complaining.They want you to get a job, he said. Its hard to do without a vehicle. Plus, I was a felon, which makes it even harder to find a job.He found work as a machinist in a factory some 40 minutes from his home in Marion, Ind., where he lives with his aunt. He borrows her car to get to work, and he feels guilty about that.She has to take a bus back and forth to her kidney dialysis appointments, he said.As Justice Clarence Thomas explained last year in an opinion urging the Supreme Court to examine civil forfeiture laws, government seizures of property used to commit crimes have become worrisomely popular.Forfeiture has in recent decades become widespread and highly profitable, Justice Thomas wrote. And because the law enforcement entity responsible for seizing the property often keeps it, these entities have strong incentives to pursue forfeiture.ImageCredit...Jonathan Ernst/ReutersThis system where police can seize property with limited judicial oversight and retain it for their own use has led to egregious and well-chronicled abuses, he wrote, citing excellent reporting from The Washington Post and The New Yorker.The burdens of civil forfeiture fall disproportionately on the poor, said Wesley P. Hottot, a lawyer with the Institute for Justice, which represents Mr. Timbs.Tysons case illustrates how civil forfeiture makes it harder for people who have made mistakes to correct those mistakes and re-enter society, Mr. Hottot said. It shouldnt take the United States Supreme Court to make clear that you dont take everything from a person whos facing the kinds of challenges Tyson is.Mr. Timbs won the early rounds in Indianas lawsuit seeking to take his vehicle, based on the Eighth Amendment, which says that excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.Judge Jeffrey D. Todd, of the Grant County Superior Court, said the amendments second clause the one barring excessive fines protected Mr. Timbs. The Land Rover, the judge wrote, was worth about four times the maximum fine Mr. Timbs could have been ordered to pay, which was $10,000. It was also worth more than 30 times the fines that were actually imposed.The amount of the forfeiture sought is excessive and is grossly disproportional to the gravity of the defendants offense, Judge Todd wrote.An appeals court agreed. In dissent, Judge Michael P. Barnes wrote that civil forfeiture laws can be abused but that Mr. Timbs should lose the vehicle.I am keenly aware of the overreach some law enforcement agencies have exercised in some of these cases, Judge Barnes wrote. Entire family farms are sometimes forfeited based on one family members conduct, or exorbitant amounts of money are seized. However, it seems to me that one who deals heroin, and there is no doubt from the record we are talking about a dealer, must and should suffer the legal consequences to which he exposes himself.The Indiana Supreme Court ruled against Mr. Timbs, on interesting grounds. It said the Eighth Amendments prohibition of excessive fines did not apply to ones imposed by states.This is, surprisingly, an open question. The Bill of Rights originally restricted the power of only the federal government, but the Supreme Court has ruled that most of its protections apply to the states under the due process clause of the 14th Amendment, one of the post-Civil War amendments.But there are a few exceptions, and the Supreme Court has been inconsistent about where it stands on the excessive fines clause. Mr. Timbss case is poised to resolve the question. It will be argued in the fall.In the meantime, Mr. Timbs sometimes lapses into frustration and bitterness.I dont deserve this, he said. Nobody does. Its an unnecessary stressor. I struggle with more than addiction. I struggle with anxiety and depression. I dont feel like much of a man, because I dont have a vehicle. [/INST] Politics </s> |
Credit...Andrew Medichini/Associated PressMarch 10, 2017Pope Francis this week signaled receptiveness to appeals from bishops in the remote and overwhelmed corners of the Roman Catholic Church to combat a deepening shortage of priests by ordaining married men who are already committed to the church.In an interview with a German newspaper, the pope made clear that he was not advocating an end to celibacy for current priests or those aspiring to join the clergy. But his seeming openness about the prospect of ordaining married men in places hardest hit by a dearth of priests was unusually explicit and brought the issue to the forefront.We need to think about whether viri probati could be a possibility, Francis, using the Latin phrase for such tested men, said in an interview with the newspaper, Die Zeit. If so, we would need to determine what duties they could undertake, for example, in remote communities.For years, the pope has noted that an element of married clergy already exists in the church. Eastern Rite priests in union with Rome have married for centuries. In 1980, John Paul II created a provision by which some married Protestant ministers who converted to Catholicism could maintain their ministry. And historically, priests in the first centuries of the church were free to marryBut monastic influences at the turn of the millennium led to the adoption of a celibacy requirement at the First Lateran Council of 1123, and that tradition has held ever since. It is not doctrine or dogma, but instead a code of canon law that essentially reasons that priests unburdened by spouses or children are both more reflective of Christ and devoted to pastoral demands.Francis, who has made clear that he sees little possibility for allowing women to be priests, called the vocation crisis an enormous problem.The issue is less a question of theology than arithmetic.In the United States, there are now about 2,500 Catholics per priest, compared with 851 per priest in 1972, according to the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate, which is affiliated with Georgetown University.The chasms are far wider in Africa, Asia and Latin America, where the faithful can go months without access to a priest and married deacons are increasingly called on to conduct the business of parishes. In Brazil, according to the center, there are roughly 8,000 Catholics per priest.The Rev. Thomas J. Reese, a Jesuit priest and senior analyst for The National Catholic Reporter, said that in the face of such a crisis, the church had to decide whether upholding the celibacy rule was worth depriving the faithful of Mass and confession, which can only be performed by priests. He said that while the pontiffs most recent predecessors had hoped for a turnaround in the diminishing numbers of priests, Francis seemed eager to push the issue.This is now an open topic in the church today, Father Reese said, whereas under John Paul II or Benedict, you could not talk about this.Before being chosen as pope in 2013, Francis who was then Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio said in remarks included in the book On Heaven and Earth that clerical celibacy was a matter of discipline, not of faith. It can change.In 2014, as pope, he took a step that made it easier for married men to serve as priests, when he lifted a ban imposed in 1929 that had prohibited Eastern Catholic bishops from ordaining married men to the priesthood in Australia, Canada and the United States.Until Francis made that change, the Eastern Rite churches could ordain married men only in their own territories.Also in 2014, Bishop Erwin Krautler, of Xingu, Brazil, a territory where only 27 priests served 700,000 Catholics, brought up the issue with Francis. The bishop told an Austrian newspaper at the time that the pope had told him such a change could not be done by Francis in Rome, but that local bishops, who are best acquainted with the needs of our faithful, should be corajudos, that is courageous in Spanish, and make concrete suggestions.Soon after, in 2015, Bishop Leo OReilly of Kilmore, Ireland, said that the popes message to be creative in confronting priest shortages had led him to establish a commission on the possibility of ordaining married men. I think the other bishops would be open to the idea, he told the Catholic Herald newspaper.Veteran observers of Francis have noted that the pope appears especially willing to broach the issue.In August, the papal biographer Austen Ivereigh wrote on the Catholic news website Crux that Francis has given many signals of his willingness to open up the question of ordaining married men, even encouraging local Churches to put forward proposals.Any formal discussion of changing the rule would surely engender opposition among a small but intense group of canon lawyers and traditionalists upset about Francis flexibility on issues of church law. In the meantime, the 80-year-old pope seems to be using the media to plant the idea directly with the faithful.The glacier is moving forward, but there are forces that want to move it back, said Paul Bumbar, a former priest and the co-secretary of Corpus, an organization founded more than 40 years ago by men who had left the priesthood to marry. And Francis has made it clear that he does not want to stop. I just pray his health holds out. | World | <s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> Credit...Andrew Medichini/Associated PressMarch 10, 2017Pope Francis this week signaled receptiveness to appeals from bishops in the remote and overwhelmed corners of the Roman Catholic Church to combat a deepening shortage of priests by ordaining married men who are already committed to the church.In an interview with a German newspaper, the pope made clear that he was not advocating an end to celibacy for current priests or those aspiring to join the clergy. But his seeming openness about the prospect of ordaining married men in places hardest hit by a dearth of priests was unusually explicit and brought the issue to the forefront.We need to think about whether viri probati could be a possibility, Francis, using the Latin phrase for such tested men, said in an interview with the newspaper, Die Zeit. If so, we would need to determine what duties they could undertake, for example, in remote communities.For years, the pope has noted that an element of married clergy already exists in the church. Eastern Rite priests in union with Rome have married for centuries. In 1980, John Paul II created a provision by which some married Protestant ministers who converted to Catholicism could maintain their ministry. And historically, priests in the first centuries of the church were free to marryBut monastic influences at the turn of the millennium led to the adoption of a celibacy requirement at the First Lateran Council of 1123, and that tradition has held ever since. It is not doctrine or dogma, but instead a code of canon law that essentially reasons that priests unburdened by spouses or children are both more reflective of Christ and devoted to pastoral demands.Francis, who has made clear that he sees little possibility for allowing women to be priests, called the vocation crisis an enormous problem.The issue is less a question of theology than arithmetic.In the United States, there are now about 2,500 Catholics per priest, compared with 851 per priest in 1972, according to the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate, which is affiliated with Georgetown University.The chasms are far wider in Africa, Asia and Latin America, where the faithful can go months without access to a priest and married deacons are increasingly called on to conduct the business of parishes. In Brazil, according to the center, there are roughly 8,000 Catholics per priest.The Rev. Thomas J. Reese, a Jesuit priest and senior analyst for The National Catholic Reporter, said that in the face of such a crisis, the church had to decide whether upholding the celibacy rule was worth depriving the faithful of Mass and confession, which can only be performed by priests. He said that while the pontiffs most recent predecessors had hoped for a turnaround in the diminishing numbers of priests, Francis seemed eager to push the issue.This is now an open topic in the church today, Father Reese said, whereas under John Paul II or Benedict, you could not talk about this.Before being chosen as pope in 2013, Francis who was then Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio said in remarks included in the book On Heaven and Earth that clerical celibacy was a matter of discipline, not of faith. It can change.In 2014, as pope, he took a step that made it easier for married men to serve as priests, when he lifted a ban imposed in 1929 that had prohibited Eastern Catholic bishops from ordaining married men to the priesthood in Australia, Canada and the United States.Until Francis made that change, the Eastern Rite churches could ordain married men only in their own territories.Also in 2014, Bishop Erwin Krautler, of Xingu, Brazil, a territory where only 27 priests served 700,000 Catholics, brought up the issue with Francis. The bishop told an Austrian newspaper at the time that the pope had told him such a change could not be done by Francis in Rome, but that local bishops, who are best acquainted with the needs of our faithful, should be corajudos, that is courageous in Spanish, and make concrete suggestions.Soon after, in 2015, Bishop Leo OReilly of Kilmore, Ireland, said that the popes message to be creative in confronting priest shortages had led him to establish a commission on the possibility of ordaining married men. I think the other bishops would be open to the idea, he told the Catholic Herald newspaper.Veteran observers of Francis have noted that the pope appears especially willing to broach the issue.In August, the papal biographer Austen Ivereigh wrote on the Catholic news website Crux that Francis has given many signals of his willingness to open up the question of ordaining married men, even encouraging local Churches to put forward proposals.Any formal discussion of changing the rule would surely engender opposition among a small but intense group of canon lawyers and traditionalists upset about Francis flexibility on issues of church law. In the meantime, the 80-year-old pope seems to be using the media to plant the idea directly with the faithful.The glacier is moving forward, but there are forces that want to move it back, said Paul Bumbar, a former priest and the co-secretary of Corpus, an organization founded more than 40 years ago by men who had left the priesthood to marry. And Francis has made it clear that he does not want to stop. I just pray his health holds out. [/INST] World </s> |
Politics|South Carolina Democrat Who Admitted to Domestic Abuse Wins House Primaryhttps://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/13/us/politics/archie-parnell-south-carolina.htmlCredit...Sean Rayford/Getty ImagesJune 13, 2018Archie Parnell, a Democratic House candidate who lost the support of his party after he admitted to physically abusing his ex-wife in the 1970s, handily won a primary in South Carolina on Tuesday.Mr. Parnell rose to national attention last year when he came within a hairs breadth of winning a special election to replace Representative Mick Mulvaney in the states deep red Fifth District. Mr. Mulvaney left Congress in 2017 to serve as President Trumps director of the Office of Management and Budget.On Tuesday, Mr. Parnell won 60 percent of the vote according to The Associated Press, easily beating three lesser known primary opponents with not as much name recognition. He will now mount another campaign against Representative Ralph Norman, the Republican who beat him in the special election last year.[Here are three key takeaways from Tuesday nights primaries.]Mr. Normans campaign did not respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.In a statement posted to Facebook on Wednesday morning, Mr. Parnell said the result had left him deeply honored and humbled.Tonight, the people sent a clear message to everyone, he wrote. You dont have to be defined by your worst mistake. You dont have to be cast aside. You are not alone. You can be better. And, together, we can be better.Mr. Parnells campaign for the Democratic nomination nearly went off the rails in May when The Post and Courier, the Charleston newspaper, published divorce records that alleged he had beaten Kathleen Parnell, his wife at the time, in October 1973 after using a tire iron to break into an apartment where she was staying. Their divorce was finalized the following year.The revelation quickly prompted the resignation of Mr. Parnells campaign manager, Yates Baroody, and a call from the chairman of the South Carolina Democratic Party, Trav Robertson, for him to drop out of the race.Michael Wukela, a spokesman for Mr. Parnells campaign, said they had not been contacted by the state or national Democratic Party since the primary victory. He also said they were receiving no financial support from the party.We have always felt that this election was never about the state party or the national party or the D.C.C.C., Mr. Wukela said, referring to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. It is about the voters of the district, and that is who spoke last night.This month, Mr. Parnell admitted to the physical abuse in a campaign video and said he had not told his campaign staff about the episode. He also said he would not drop out of the race.If I withdraw, I would not be fully facing my past, he said. If I withdraw, I would be telling anyone who makes a terrible mistake that that one terrible mistake will define them for the rest of their lives.It is the voters of the Fifth district who should decide the outcome of this election, and not me or certain Democratic Party officers, he said. We all have the capacity to change and be better.The South Carolina Democratic Party did not respond to a phone message seeking comment on Wednesday. | Politics | <s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> Politics|South Carolina Democrat Who Admitted to Domestic Abuse Wins House Primaryhttps://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/13/us/politics/archie-parnell-south-carolina.htmlCredit...Sean Rayford/Getty ImagesJune 13, 2018Archie Parnell, a Democratic House candidate who lost the support of his party after he admitted to physically abusing his ex-wife in the 1970s, handily won a primary in South Carolina on Tuesday.Mr. Parnell rose to national attention last year when he came within a hairs breadth of winning a special election to replace Representative Mick Mulvaney in the states deep red Fifth District. Mr. Mulvaney left Congress in 2017 to serve as President Trumps director of the Office of Management and Budget.On Tuesday, Mr. Parnell won 60 percent of the vote according to The Associated Press, easily beating three lesser known primary opponents with not as much name recognition. He will now mount another campaign against Representative Ralph Norman, the Republican who beat him in the special election last year.[Here are three key takeaways from Tuesday nights primaries.]Mr. Normans campaign did not respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.In a statement posted to Facebook on Wednesday morning, Mr. Parnell said the result had left him deeply honored and humbled.Tonight, the people sent a clear message to everyone, he wrote. You dont have to be defined by your worst mistake. You dont have to be cast aside. You are not alone. You can be better. And, together, we can be better.Mr. Parnells campaign for the Democratic nomination nearly went off the rails in May when The Post and Courier, the Charleston newspaper, published divorce records that alleged he had beaten Kathleen Parnell, his wife at the time, in October 1973 after using a tire iron to break into an apartment where she was staying. Their divorce was finalized the following year.The revelation quickly prompted the resignation of Mr. Parnells campaign manager, Yates Baroody, and a call from the chairman of the South Carolina Democratic Party, Trav Robertson, for him to drop out of the race.Michael Wukela, a spokesman for Mr. Parnells campaign, said they had not been contacted by the state or national Democratic Party since the primary victory. He also said they were receiving no financial support from the party.We have always felt that this election was never about the state party or the national party or the D.C.C.C., Mr. Wukela said, referring to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. It is about the voters of the district, and that is who spoke last night.This month, Mr. Parnell admitted to the physical abuse in a campaign video and said he had not told his campaign staff about the episode. He also said he would not drop out of the race.If I withdraw, I would not be fully facing my past, he said. If I withdraw, I would be telling anyone who makes a terrible mistake that that one terrible mistake will define them for the rest of their lives.It is the voters of the Fifth district who should decide the outcome of this election, and not me or certain Democratic Party officers, he said. We all have the capacity to change and be better.The South Carolina Democratic Party did not respond to a phone message seeking comment on Wednesday. [/INST] Politics </s> |
https://nyti.ms/1jJtsYK Moving back and forth between private practice and public service, several people had central roles inside the Obama administration in developing a new housing finance policy that would phase out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the huge government-backed mortgage firms. After leaving office, three of these former officials, now with connections to various large financial institutions, met several times with government officials to discuss issues related to Fannie and Freddie. Related Article Key Housing Finance Policy Makers Government job Private sector job Meetings with government representatives Long & Foster, nations largest privately held real estate company CWCapital, a leading commercial real estate lender from 1985 until ending his association with the company in Sept. 2012 Smith, Anderson, Blount, Dorsett, Mitchell & Jernigan L.L.P. 07 08 Mortgage Bankers Association 09 HUD HUD 10 National Economic Council, The White House 11 Mortgage Bankers Association, the leading lobbying organization for the mortgage industry CWCapital 12 HUD 13 Michael Berman Consulting 14 15 Key Housing Finance Policy Makers Government job Switch from government to private sector, or vice versa Private sector job Meetings with government representatives POSITION HELD 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 PRESIDENT OF AFFILIATED BUSINESSES ASST SECRETARY OF HOUSING and FEDERAL HOUSING COMMISSIONER PRESIDENT and CHIEF EXECUTIVE Long & Foster, the nations largest privately held real estate company Mortgage Bankers Association, Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) the leading lobbying organization for the mortgage industry PRESIDENT SENIOR ADVISER FOR HOUSING FINANCE CHAIRMAN FOUNDER and CHIEF EXECUTIVE, from 1985 until ending his association with the company in September 2012 Mortgage Bankers Association HUD Bermans priority here was to lead the battle to restructure Fannie and Freddie OWNER Michael Berman Consulting, a private consulting firm to real estate lenders Here, he focused on the future of Fannie and Freddie CWCapital, a leading commercial real estate lender VICE CHAIRMAN Mortgage Bankers Association SENIOR FELLOW SENIOR ADVISER National Economic Council, The White House Urban Institute OWNER LAWYER Falling Creek Advisors, a consulting firm to financial services companies HUD Smith, Anderson, Blount, Dorsett, Mitchell & Jernigan LLP Advised on housing finance Advised on housing finance The Humbling of the Housing Giants Congress passes the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008. The law creates the Federal Housing Finance Agency, a new and tougher regulator for Fannie and Freddie, and increases capital requirements at the companies. Bipartisan legislation to wind down Fannie and Freddie is introduced by Senators Bob Corker (Republican of Tennessee) and Mark Warner (Democrat of Virginia). The bill would distribute their assets and create a new housing finance system. It does not pass. The Obama administration issues its white paper on housing finance reform. Officials recommend winding down Fannie and Freddie. The Treasury Department and F.H.F.A. announce a change to the government bailout terms, which sweeps all future profits from Fannie and Freddie into the Treasurys general fund. The F.H.F.A. places Fannie and Freddie into conservatorship. Key Housing Finance Policy Makers Government job Switch from government to private sector, or vice versa Private sector job Meetings with government representatives POSITION HELD 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 ASST SECRETARY OF HOUSING and FEDERAL HOUSING COMMISSIONER PRESIDENT OF AFFILIATED BUSINESSES PRESIDENT and CHIEF EXECUTIVE Mortgage Bankers Association, Long & Foster, the nations largest privately held real estate company Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) the leading lobbying organization for the mortgage industry PRESIDENT CHAIRMAN Mortgage Bankers Association SENIOR ADVISER FOR HOUSING FINANCE FOUNDER and CHIEF EXECUTIVE, from 1985 until ending his association with the company in September 2012 OWNER HUD Michael Berman Consulting, a private consulting firm to real estate lenders Bermans priority here was to lead the battle to restructure Fannie and Freddie CWCapital, a leading commercial real estate lender Here, he focused on the future of Fannie and Freddie VICE CHAIRMAN Mortgage Bankers Association SENIOR FELLOW Urban Institute SENIOR ADVISER National Economic Council, The White House OWNER LAWYER Falling Creek Advisors, a consulting firm to financial services companies HUD Smith, Anderson, Blount, Dorsett, Mitchell & Jernigan L.L.P. Advised on housing finance Advised on housing finance The Humbling of the Housing Giants Bipartisan legislation to wind down Fannie and Freddie is introduced by Senators Bob Corker (Republican of Tennessee) and Mark Warner (Democrat of Virginia). The bill would distribute their assets and create a new housing finance system. It does not pass. Congress passes the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008. The law creates the Federal Housing Finance Agency, a new and tougher regulator for Fannie and Freddie, and increases capital requirements at the companies. The F.H.F.A. places Fannie and Freddie into conservatorship. The Obama administration issues its white paper on housing finance reform. Officials recommend winding down Fannie and Freddie. The Treasury Department and F.H.F.A. announce a change to the government bailout terms, sweeping all future profits from Fannie and Freddie into the Treasurys general fund. Key Housing Finance Policy Makers Government job Switch from government to private sector, or vice versa Private sector job Meetings with government representatives POSITION HELD 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 PRESIDENT OF AFFILIATED BUSINESSES ASST SECRETARY OF HOUSING and FEDERAL HOUSING COMMISSIONER Long & Foster, the nations largest privately held real estate company PRESIDENT and CHIEF EXECUTIVE Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Mortgage Bankers Association, the leading lobbying organization for the mortgage industry PRESIDENT SENIOR ADVISER FOR HOUSING FINANCE FOUNDER and CHIEF EXECUTIVE, from 1985 until ending his association with the company in September 2012 CHAIRMAN Mortgage Bankers Association HUD OWNER Michael Berman Consulting, a private consulting firm to real estate lenders Here, he focused on the future of Fannie and Freddie Bermans priority here was to lead the battle to restructure Fannie and Freddie CWCapital, a leading commercial real estate lender VICE CHAIRMAN Mortgage Bankers Association SENIOR FELLOW SENIOR ADVISER Urban Institute National Economic Council, The White House OWNER ATTORNEY HUD Falling Creek Advisors, a consulting firm to financial services companies Smith, Anderson, Blount, Dorsett, Mitchell & Jernigan LLP Advised on housing finance Advised on housing finance The Humbling of the Housing Giants Bipartisan legislation to wind down Fannie and Freddie is introduced by Senators Bob Corker (Republican of Tennessee) and Mark Warner (Democrat of Virginia). The bill would distribute their assets and create a new housing finance system. It does not pass. Congress passes the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008. The law creates the Federal Housing Finance Agency, a new and tougher regulator for Fannie and Freddie, and increases capital requirements at the companies. The F.H.F.A. places Fannie and Freddie into conservatorship. The Obama administration issues its white paper on housing finance reform. Officials recommend winding down Fannie and Freddie. The Treasury Department and FHFA announce a change to the government bailout terms, which sweeps all future profits from Fannie and Freddie into the Treasurys general fund. | Business | <s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> https://nyti.ms/1jJtsYK Moving back and forth between private practice and public service, several people had central roles inside the Obama administration in developing a new housing finance policy that would phase out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the huge government-backed mortgage firms. After leaving office, three of these former officials, now with connections to various large financial institutions, met several times with government officials to discuss issues related to Fannie and Freddie. Related Article Key Housing Finance Policy Makers Government job Private sector job Meetings with government representatives Long & Foster, nations largest privately held real estate company CWCapital, a leading commercial real estate lender from 1985 until ending his association with the company in Sept. 2012 Smith, Anderson, Blount, Dorsett, Mitchell & Jernigan L.L.P. 07 08 Mortgage Bankers Association 09 HUD HUD 10 National Economic Council, The White House 11 Mortgage Bankers Association, the leading lobbying organization for the mortgage industry CWCapital 12 HUD 13 Michael Berman Consulting 14 15 Key Housing Finance Policy Makers Government job Switch from government to private sector, or vice versa Private sector job Meetings with government representatives POSITION HELD 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 PRESIDENT OF AFFILIATED BUSINESSES ASST SECRETARY OF HOUSING and FEDERAL HOUSING COMMISSIONER PRESIDENT and CHIEF EXECUTIVE Long & Foster, the nations largest privately held real estate company Mortgage Bankers Association, Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) the leading lobbying organization for the mortgage industry PRESIDENT SENIOR ADVISER FOR HOUSING FINANCE CHAIRMAN FOUNDER and CHIEF EXECUTIVE, from 1985 until ending his association with the company in September 2012 Mortgage Bankers Association HUD Bermans priority here was to lead the battle to restructure Fannie and Freddie OWNER Michael Berman Consulting, a private consulting firm to real estate lenders Here, he focused on the future of Fannie and Freddie CWCapital, a leading commercial real estate lender VICE CHAIRMAN Mortgage Bankers Association SENIOR FELLOW SENIOR ADVISER National Economic Council, The White House Urban Institute OWNER LAWYER Falling Creek Advisors, a consulting firm to financial services companies HUD Smith, Anderson, Blount, Dorsett, Mitchell & Jernigan LLP Advised on housing finance Advised on housing finance The Humbling of the Housing Giants Congress passes the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008. The law creates the Federal Housing Finance Agency, a new and tougher regulator for Fannie and Freddie, and increases capital requirements at the companies. Bipartisan legislation to wind down Fannie and Freddie is introduced by Senators Bob Corker (Republican of Tennessee) and Mark Warner (Democrat of Virginia). The bill would distribute their assets and create a new housing finance system. It does not pass. The Obama administration issues its white paper on housing finance reform. Officials recommend winding down Fannie and Freddie. The Treasury Department and F.H.F.A. announce a change to the government bailout terms, which sweeps all future profits from Fannie and Freddie into the Treasurys general fund. The F.H.F.A. places Fannie and Freddie into conservatorship. Key Housing Finance Policy Makers Government job Switch from government to private sector, or vice versa Private sector job Meetings with government representatives POSITION HELD 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 ASST SECRETARY OF HOUSING and FEDERAL HOUSING COMMISSIONER PRESIDENT OF AFFILIATED BUSINESSES PRESIDENT and CHIEF EXECUTIVE Mortgage Bankers Association, Long & Foster, the nations largest privately held real estate company Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) the leading lobbying organization for the mortgage industry PRESIDENT CHAIRMAN Mortgage Bankers Association SENIOR ADVISER FOR HOUSING FINANCE FOUNDER and CHIEF EXECUTIVE, from 1985 until ending his association with the company in September 2012 OWNER HUD Michael Berman Consulting, a private consulting firm to real estate lenders Bermans priority here was to lead the battle to restructure Fannie and Freddie CWCapital, a leading commercial real estate lender Here, he focused on the future of Fannie and Freddie VICE CHAIRMAN Mortgage Bankers Association SENIOR FELLOW Urban Institute SENIOR ADVISER National Economic Council, The White House OWNER LAWYER Falling Creek Advisors, a consulting firm to financial services companies HUD Smith, Anderson, Blount, Dorsett, Mitchell & Jernigan L.L.P. Advised on housing finance Advised on housing finance The Humbling of the Housing Giants Bipartisan legislation to wind down Fannie and Freddie is introduced by Senators Bob Corker (Republican of Tennessee) and Mark Warner (Democrat of Virginia). The bill would distribute their assets and create a new housing finance system. It does not pass. Congress passes the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008. The law creates the Federal Housing Finance Agency, a new and tougher regulator for Fannie and Freddie, and increases capital requirements at the companies. The F.H.F.A. places Fannie and Freddie into conservatorship. The Obama administration issues its white paper on housing finance reform. Officials recommend winding down Fannie and Freddie. The Treasury Department and F.H.F.A. announce a change to the government bailout terms, sweeping all future profits from Fannie and Freddie into the Treasurys general fund. Key Housing Finance Policy Makers Government job Switch from government to private sector, or vice versa Private sector job Meetings with government representatives POSITION HELD 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 PRESIDENT OF AFFILIATED BUSINESSES ASST SECRETARY OF HOUSING and FEDERAL HOUSING COMMISSIONER Long & Foster, the nations largest privately held real estate company PRESIDENT and CHIEF EXECUTIVE Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Mortgage Bankers Association, the leading lobbying organization for the mortgage industry PRESIDENT SENIOR ADVISER FOR HOUSING FINANCE FOUNDER and CHIEF EXECUTIVE, from 1985 until ending his association with the company in September 2012 CHAIRMAN Mortgage Bankers Association HUD OWNER Michael Berman Consulting, a private consulting firm to real estate lenders Here, he focused on the future of Fannie and Freddie Bermans priority here was to lead the battle to restructure Fannie and Freddie CWCapital, a leading commercial real estate lender VICE CHAIRMAN Mortgage Bankers Association SENIOR FELLOW SENIOR ADVISER Urban Institute National Economic Council, The White House OWNER ATTORNEY HUD Falling Creek Advisors, a consulting firm to financial services companies Smith, Anderson, Blount, Dorsett, Mitchell & Jernigan LLP Advised on housing finance Advised on housing finance The Humbling of the Housing Giants Bipartisan legislation to wind down Fannie and Freddie is introduced by Senators Bob Corker (Republican of Tennessee) and Mark Warner (Democrat of Virginia). The bill would distribute their assets and create a new housing finance system. It does not pass. Congress passes the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008. The law creates the Federal Housing Finance Agency, a new and tougher regulator for Fannie and Freddie, and increases capital requirements at the companies. The F.H.F.A. places Fannie and Freddie into conservatorship. The Obama administration issues its white paper on housing finance reform. Officials recommend winding down Fannie and Freddie. The Treasury Department and FHFA announce a change to the government bailout terms, which sweeps all future profits from Fannie and Freddie into the Treasurys general fund. [/INST] Business </s> |
State of the ArtFeb. 19, 2014If the tech business were fair, you would be considering the Nokia Icon for your next smartphone.The Icon, which goes on sale this week for $199 with a two-year Verizon contract, has a lot to like: a graceful design, a brilliant display, a remarkable camera and an innovative set of microphones to make better-sounding home videos. The Icon runs Microsofts Windows Phone operating system, which has a cleaner and more coherent user interface than Googles Android, and a more flexible and more informative home screen than Apples iOS.But the tech business isnt fair.While the Icon is nice, you should not make it your next phone if you expect to be able to do everything with your phone that you can do on Android or iOS. Like any Windows Phone, the Icon is a fundamentally hobbled device, all but locked out of the teeming ecosystem of new apps and smartphone-powered gadgets that are expanding techs frontiers.While this disadvantage might not be apparent in your day-to-day use of the Icon youll have no problem making calls and sending texts the phones shortcomings will haunt you whenever you want to try the next great thing. If you want to use your phone to play the latest games, to experiment with new social-networking apps, to try the newest ways to pay for merchandise or to control the newest smartphone-connected devices (say, a smart thermostat), Windows Phone isnt for you, at least not now. If you do choose a Windows Phone, go into it with your eyes open to the fact that you are most likely volunteering for a second-class digital existence.The Nokia Icon illustrates the tragedy of Windows Phone and, in a larger sense, the tragedy of Microsoft and Nokia, two companies of once-legendary prowess that have struggled to find a foothold in the market for smartphones and tablets. Two years ago, the two entered into a strategic partnership, and last year, Microsoft announced a plan to acquire Nokias mobile phone division.Judged by their products alone, the partnership has been a staggering success. The Icon is just the latest in a series of fantastic Nokia Windows Phones, which have combined deep technical innovations (like the 41-megapixel camera in Nokias Lumia 1020) with a striking design sensibility. Nokia is making just about the best phones on the market today. Its lineup beats Samsung, HTC, and Motorola, and it is nearly on par with Apple.ImageCredit...Stuart GoldenbergThe tragedy is that the technology industry is not a meritocracy. Making great products is often not sufficient for success, and sometimes its not even required. In tech, marketing, branding, partnerships and timing can be as important as how well your product works.Whats more, how a companys product works is largely dependent on the companys position in the market. Microsoft and Nokias consumer businesses are governed by the vicious rules of network effects the economic idea that products get better as more people use them. The more people who use a particular operating system, the more likely an app developer is to build for that system. And the more apps that are developed, the more the operating system appeals to consumers. The cycle builds on itself.For more than a decade, Microsoft rode a network-effects engine to great success; you used Windows and Office because everyone else used them. But in the smartphone business, Microsoft and Nokia were caught flat-footed by the popularity of the iPhone and its Android imitators, and they were far too late in creating similarly powerful touch-screen smartphones.Now, despite their daring efforts to catch up, Microsoft and Nokia find themselves on the wrong side of the Android and iOS network-effects steamroller. Figuring out how to avoid getting crushed in the smartphone business is one of the first problems that Satya Nadella, Microsofts incoming chief executive, needs to solve. He doesnt have many great options ahead of him.Microsoft loyalists will argue that Im exaggerating the downsides of choosing a Windows Phone. In the last few years, Microsoft has aggressively courted developers including sometimes offering payments and the store is now growing quickly, with about 500 apps added every day. And Windows Phone has managed to attract many of the worlds most popular mobile apps. There are apps for Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Netflix, Vine and Pandora.I sympathize with the position, too, that apps are overrated that right out of the box, modern smartphones perform most functions that most people need, and lots of people can get by just fine without filling up their phones with extras.And Microsofts market position is on the upswing. According to ABI Research, which tracks global mobile phone sales, shipments of Windows Phone devices in the last quarter of 2013 were up 104 percent over the last quarter of 2012, a higher growth rate than all other mobile operating systems. Yes, Windows Phones market share is still tiny ABI says that only 4 percent of the smartphones shipped for the holidays ran Windows, compared with 18 percent for Apple and 77 percent for Android. But at least Windows Phone isnt a dying platform like BlackBerry. Its more accurate to call Windows Phone a long-shot platform, a system that could still catch a lucky break and take off, as sometimes happens in that unpredictable business.But thats small comfort to any potential customer. Even if you dont crave every new app, youre bound to run into situations where your phones limitations will stand in the way.Google, for instance, doesnt make any apps for Windows Phone. You can still use some of Googles services on the device, including Gmail, but youll be shut out of Googles most innovative features, like the predictive personal assistant Google Now (which is available on both Android and iOS). Yes, this is Googles fault, not Microsofts, but its still a headache. Like I said this business isnt fair.Other Google services, including YouTube, are available through so-called unofficial apps created by programmers who arent associated with Google. The Windows Phone Store is clogged with these unofficial apps, and many arent quite up to snuff. The YouTube app created by Microsoft is barely worthy of the name. It simply opens up the video site in your Windows web browser; I found it mostly worked, though slower and without much of the design polish of the official YouTube apps found on iOS and Android. Other unsanctioned apps are disastrous. The unofficial app for the house-sharing service Airbnb the only Airbnb app I could find is in French.But wait, theres less. Windows Phone doesnt have access to almost all the latest games that crowd the most-popular list on the iOS App Store and it lacks some of the most creative and useful apps by start-ups (like the credit-card reader Square). And Windows isnt supported by many of the companies making intelligent devices that are controlled by your phone, like health-tracking devices or smart home appliances. There are no official Windows Phone apps to support the Fitbit health tracker, the Withings bathroom scale, the Nest home thermostat or Sonos multiroom speaker system.Android doesnt have some of the latest apps, either. But almost every app developer I talk to thinks of Android as an eventual priority, the second platform to aim for after iOS. Windows apps arent considered a similar necessity among developers. Often, they arent even considered.This month, Charles Arthur, of the British newspaper The Guardian, published a persuasive column calling on Microsoft to throw out Windows Phone and instead create a custom or forked version of Android, much like Amazon has done for its Kindle Fire tablets. Microsofts forked Android might carry the look and feel of the current Windows Phone, but it would be optimized for Bing, Outlook, OneDrive and other Microsoft services, rather than Googles. Because it would share Androids guts, current Android developers might need to adjust only a few lines of code to let their apps run on Microsofts Android almost instantly solving Microsofts app shortage. (Microsoft declined to comment on that possibility.)I was skeptical of the Android plan until I began using the Icon and bumped up against the phones shortcomings again and again ugh, theres no app for the ride-sharing service Uber, and, ugh, there are no plans for a Windows Phone version of the addictive trivia game QuizUp.Ben Thompson, who runs the insightful tech blog Stratechery and who also supports the plan to fork Android, argues that until Microsoft has a more robust app store, none of its other smartphone ideas are going to matter. The problem for Microsoft and Nokia is that innovations like a great camera just arent enough to overcome the holes in their app store you cant get past the app store to even consider things like the great camera, he said.Thats the feeling I got while using the Icon: Heres another fantastic Nokia device that has been hamstrung by Windows Phone. | Tech | <s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> State of the ArtFeb. 19, 2014If the tech business were fair, you would be considering the Nokia Icon for your next smartphone.The Icon, which goes on sale this week for $199 with a two-year Verizon contract, has a lot to like: a graceful design, a brilliant display, a remarkable camera and an innovative set of microphones to make better-sounding home videos. The Icon runs Microsofts Windows Phone operating system, which has a cleaner and more coherent user interface than Googles Android, and a more flexible and more informative home screen than Apples iOS.But the tech business isnt fair.While the Icon is nice, you should not make it your next phone if you expect to be able to do everything with your phone that you can do on Android or iOS. Like any Windows Phone, the Icon is a fundamentally hobbled device, all but locked out of the teeming ecosystem of new apps and smartphone-powered gadgets that are expanding techs frontiers.While this disadvantage might not be apparent in your day-to-day use of the Icon youll have no problem making calls and sending texts the phones shortcomings will haunt you whenever you want to try the next great thing. If you want to use your phone to play the latest games, to experiment with new social-networking apps, to try the newest ways to pay for merchandise or to control the newest smartphone-connected devices (say, a smart thermostat), Windows Phone isnt for you, at least not now. If you do choose a Windows Phone, go into it with your eyes open to the fact that you are most likely volunteering for a second-class digital existence.The Nokia Icon illustrates the tragedy of Windows Phone and, in a larger sense, the tragedy of Microsoft and Nokia, two companies of once-legendary prowess that have struggled to find a foothold in the market for smartphones and tablets. Two years ago, the two entered into a strategic partnership, and last year, Microsoft announced a plan to acquire Nokias mobile phone division.Judged by their products alone, the partnership has been a staggering success. The Icon is just the latest in a series of fantastic Nokia Windows Phones, which have combined deep technical innovations (like the 41-megapixel camera in Nokias Lumia 1020) with a striking design sensibility. Nokia is making just about the best phones on the market today. Its lineup beats Samsung, HTC, and Motorola, and it is nearly on par with Apple.ImageCredit...Stuart GoldenbergThe tragedy is that the technology industry is not a meritocracy. Making great products is often not sufficient for success, and sometimes its not even required. In tech, marketing, branding, partnerships and timing can be as important as how well your product works.Whats more, how a companys product works is largely dependent on the companys position in the market. Microsoft and Nokias consumer businesses are governed by the vicious rules of network effects the economic idea that products get better as more people use them. The more people who use a particular operating system, the more likely an app developer is to build for that system. And the more apps that are developed, the more the operating system appeals to consumers. The cycle builds on itself.For more than a decade, Microsoft rode a network-effects engine to great success; you used Windows and Office because everyone else used them. But in the smartphone business, Microsoft and Nokia were caught flat-footed by the popularity of the iPhone and its Android imitators, and they were far too late in creating similarly powerful touch-screen smartphones.Now, despite their daring efforts to catch up, Microsoft and Nokia find themselves on the wrong side of the Android and iOS network-effects steamroller. Figuring out how to avoid getting crushed in the smartphone business is one of the first problems that Satya Nadella, Microsofts incoming chief executive, needs to solve. He doesnt have many great options ahead of him.Microsoft loyalists will argue that Im exaggerating the downsides of choosing a Windows Phone. In the last few years, Microsoft has aggressively courted developers including sometimes offering payments and the store is now growing quickly, with about 500 apps added every day. And Windows Phone has managed to attract many of the worlds most popular mobile apps. There are apps for Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Netflix, Vine and Pandora.I sympathize with the position, too, that apps are overrated that right out of the box, modern smartphones perform most functions that most people need, and lots of people can get by just fine without filling up their phones with extras.And Microsofts market position is on the upswing. According to ABI Research, which tracks global mobile phone sales, shipments of Windows Phone devices in the last quarter of 2013 were up 104 percent over the last quarter of 2012, a higher growth rate than all other mobile operating systems. Yes, Windows Phones market share is still tiny ABI says that only 4 percent of the smartphones shipped for the holidays ran Windows, compared with 18 percent for Apple and 77 percent for Android. But at least Windows Phone isnt a dying platform like BlackBerry. Its more accurate to call Windows Phone a long-shot platform, a system that could still catch a lucky break and take off, as sometimes happens in that unpredictable business.But thats small comfort to any potential customer. Even if you dont crave every new app, youre bound to run into situations where your phones limitations will stand in the way.Google, for instance, doesnt make any apps for Windows Phone. You can still use some of Googles services on the device, including Gmail, but youll be shut out of Googles most innovative features, like the predictive personal assistant Google Now (which is available on both Android and iOS). Yes, this is Googles fault, not Microsofts, but its still a headache. Like I said this business isnt fair.Other Google services, including YouTube, are available through so-called unofficial apps created by programmers who arent associated with Google. The Windows Phone Store is clogged with these unofficial apps, and many arent quite up to snuff. The YouTube app created by Microsoft is barely worthy of the name. It simply opens up the video site in your Windows web browser; I found it mostly worked, though slower and without much of the design polish of the official YouTube apps found on iOS and Android. Other unsanctioned apps are disastrous. The unofficial app for the house-sharing service Airbnb the only Airbnb app I could find is in French.But wait, theres less. Windows Phone doesnt have access to almost all the latest games that crowd the most-popular list on the iOS App Store and it lacks some of the most creative and useful apps by start-ups (like the credit-card reader Square). And Windows isnt supported by many of the companies making intelligent devices that are controlled by your phone, like health-tracking devices or smart home appliances. There are no official Windows Phone apps to support the Fitbit health tracker, the Withings bathroom scale, the Nest home thermostat or Sonos multiroom speaker system.Android doesnt have some of the latest apps, either. But almost every app developer I talk to thinks of Android as an eventual priority, the second platform to aim for after iOS. Windows apps arent considered a similar necessity among developers. Often, they arent even considered.This month, Charles Arthur, of the British newspaper The Guardian, published a persuasive column calling on Microsoft to throw out Windows Phone and instead create a custom or forked version of Android, much like Amazon has done for its Kindle Fire tablets. Microsofts forked Android might carry the look and feel of the current Windows Phone, but it would be optimized for Bing, Outlook, OneDrive and other Microsoft services, rather than Googles. Because it would share Androids guts, current Android developers might need to adjust only a few lines of code to let their apps run on Microsofts Android almost instantly solving Microsofts app shortage. (Microsoft declined to comment on that possibility.)I was skeptical of the Android plan until I began using the Icon and bumped up against the phones shortcomings again and again ugh, theres no app for the ride-sharing service Uber, and, ugh, there are no plans for a Windows Phone version of the addictive trivia game QuizUp.Ben Thompson, who runs the insightful tech blog Stratechery and who also supports the plan to fork Android, argues that until Microsoft has a more robust app store, none of its other smartphone ideas are going to matter. The problem for Microsoft and Nokia is that innovations like a great camera just arent enough to overcome the holes in their app store you cant get past the app store to even consider things like the great camera, he said.Thats the feeling I got while using the Icon: Heres another fantastic Nokia device that has been hamstrung by Windows Phone. [/INST] Tech </s> |
Politics|Just in Time for Hurricane Season, a New Leader at the Coast Guards Helmhttps://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/01/us/politics/coast-guard-commandant-schultz-.htmlCredit...Tom Brenner/The New York TimesJune 1, 2018WASHINGTON Adm. Karl L. Schultz was named the 26th commandant of the Coast Guard on Friday, taking over a military service that is in the midst of a fleet modernization as it juggles homeland security priorities like intercepting drugs and migrants and responding to disasters.President Trump attended Admiral Schultzs change of command ceremony, held on the first day of the annual hurricane season.I envision our heading remaining generally steady, Admiral Schultz said.It was a compliment to his predecessor Adm. Paul F. Zukunft, who had directed the fleet modernizing effort and steered the first budget increase in years to the Coast Guard, the 227-year-old military branch that is overseen by the Department of Homeland Security.Admiral Schultz had commanded the Coast Guards Atlantic area and last year oversaw the fleets response to Hurricanes Irma, Maria and Harvey. The service rescued nearly 12,000 people along the East Coast and in Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands during the deadly 2017 hurricane season.Admiral Schultz had also previously served as director of operations for United States Southern Command, where he directed joint military operations in the Caribbean and Central and South America. The Coast Guard plays a crucial role in protecting the southwest border by intercepting drugs and migrants before they can reach the United States.In 2017, the Coast Guard seized a record 455,000 pounds of cocaine, some by patrolling waters off the coasts of Colombia and Peru, worth over $7.2 billion wholesale. It also arrested more than 600 drug traffickers and captured nearly 3,500 people trying to enter the United States illegally.Mr. Trump praised Admiral Schultz and the Coast Guard for keeping drugs and criminals out of our country.I have complete confidence that Karl will carry out his new mission with the talents and devotion that has characterized his entire career, Mr. Trump said. The president also briefly boasted about a new Labor Department jobs report that showed record low unemployment.A number of cabinet members, including Vice President Mike Pence and Kirstjen Nielsen, the homeland security secretary, also attended the change of command ceremony.Admiral Zukunft, the Coast Guards top official since 2014, called Admiral Schultz a franchise player and said he would be able to build on the recent successes of the service.Admiral Zukunft had led the Coast Guard through a gradual modernization of its aging fleet of ships and its greater role in combating international drug trafficking. After years of cuts, the service received a budget increase.The Trump administration has requested nearly $11 billion in funding for the 2019 fiscal year for the Coast Guard, a 2 percent increase over last years request.Mr. Trump nominated Admiral Schultz, a 1983 graduate of the Coast Guard Academy, in March. He was confirmed by the Senate last month. | Politics | <s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> Politics|Just in Time for Hurricane Season, a New Leader at the Coast Guards Helmhttps://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/01/us/politics/coast-guard-commandant-schultz-.htmlCredit...Tom Brenner/The New York TimesJune 1, 2018WASHINGTON Adm. Karl L. Schultz was named the 26th commandant of the Coast Guard on Friday, taking over a military service that is in the midst of a fleet modernization as it juggles homeland security priorities like intercepting drugs and migrants and responding to disasters.President Trump attended Admiral Schultzs change of command ceremony, held on the first day of the annual hurricane season.I envision our heading remaining generally steady, Admiral Schultz said.It was a compliment to his predecessor Adm. Paul F. Zukunft, who had directed the fleet modernizing effort and steered the first budget increase in years to the Coast Guard, the 227-year-old military branch that is overseen by the Department of Homeland Security.Admiral Schultz had commanded the Coast Guards Atlantic area and last year oversaw the fleets response to Hurricanes Irma, Maria and Harvey. The service rescued nearly 12,000 people along the East Coast and in Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands during the deadly 2017 hurricane season.Admiral Schultz had also previously served as director of operations for United States Southern Command, where he directed joint military operations in the Caribbean and Central and South America. The Coast Guard plays a crucial role in protecting the southwest border by intercepting drugs and migrants before they can reach the United States.In 2017, the Coast Guard seized a record 455,000 pounds of cocaine, some by patrolling waters off the coasts of Colombia and Peru, worth over $7.2 billion wholesale. It also arrested more than 600 drug traffickers and captured nearly 3,500 people trying to enter the United States illegally.Mr. Trump praised Admiral Schultz and the Coast Guard for keeping drugs and criminals out of our country.I have complete confidence that Karl will carry out his new mission with the talents and devotion that has characterized his entire career, Mr. Trump said. The president also briefly boasted about a new Labor Department jobs report that showed record low unemployment.A number of cabinet members, including Vice President Mike Pence and Kirstjen Nielsen, the homeland security secretary, also attended the change of command ceremony.Admiral Zukunft, the Coast Guards top official since 2014, called Admiral Schultz a franchise player and said he would be able to build on the recent successes of the service.Admiral Zukunft had led the Coast Guard through a gradual modernization of its aging fleet of ships and its greater role in combating international drug trafficking. After years of cuts, the service received a budget increase.The Trump administration has requested nearly $11 billion in funding for the 2019 fiscal year for the Coast Guard, a 2 percent increase over last years request.Mr. Trump nominated Admiral Schultz, a 1983 graduate of the Coast Guard Academy, in March. He was confirmed by the Senate last month. [/INST] Politics </s> |
Credit...Dina Litovsky for The New York TimesDec. 22, 2015The government revised its estimate of economic growth in the third quarter down slightly on Tuesday, as consumer spending helped sustain a modest growth rate despite a dip in net exports caused in part by the stronger dollar.The Achilles heels of the second half of 2015 are inventories and trade, which remain a drag on growth, said Diane Swonk, chief economist at Mesirow Financial in Chicago. The good news is that consumers are showing a willingness to carry the economy into the new year.At an annualized rate of 2 percent, the pace of expansion in the third quarter was not far out of line with the slow but steady gains registered since the recovery began in mid-2009. Last year, the United States economy as measured by changes in gross domestic product adjusted to eliminate the effects of inflation grew by 2.4 percent. In 2013, it expanded at a 1.5 percent rate.After a big buildup of goods in warehouses and on shelves in the first half of 2015, inventories proved to be a headwind in the third quarter.Businesses have been cautious about spending, while plunging oil prices have prompted energy companies to cut back on new investments. A weaker trade balance also exerted pressure, reducing growth by 0.3 percentage point.In a separate report on Tuesday, the National Association of Realtors reported that sales of existing homes fell by 10.5 percent in November, an unexpected plunge that the group and private economists attributed to the start of new government rules that may have slowed down mortgage closings.We expect delayed sales activity to be recouped in coming months as the real estate industry adjusts to these new regulations, Barclays said in a note to clients on Tuesday.For all the blows the economy has absorbed in recent years, it has maintained a remarkably even keel.Consumer demand, which accounts for nearly 70 percent of economic activity, has been rising at a rate of roughly 3 percent. Similarly, employers continue to hire at a steady pace and average hourly earnings are showing signs of life after years of stagnation.Nariman Behravesh, chief economist at IHS, said he was struck by a seemingly obscure but telling data point in the third quarter report: a 2.9 percent increase in final sales to domestic purchasers, which strips out the negative impact of inventory changes and net exports.Thats a very respectable top line figure, he said. The economys underlying growth rate is more in the neighborhood of 3 percent than 2 percent.Economists expect the growth rate in the current fourth quarter to be similar to that of the third quarter, with the economys rate of expansion for 2015 expected to be just over 2 percent.One major source of weakness recently has been the strong dollar, said Torsten Slok, chief international economist for Deutsche Bank Securities in New York. The dollars rise hurts American companies by making American exports more expensive for overseas buyers. At the same time, the picture for growth in both Asia and Europe remains cloudy.Employment has been holding up but the big economic story has been downward pressure from a strong dollar, Mr. Slok said. And the rest of the world, unfortunately, is still weak.Indeed, last weeks interest rate increase by the Federal Reserve, which came as some other central banks overseas were maintaining more accommodative monetary policies, could push the dollar even higher.The negative effect from inventories is temporary, Mr. Behravesh said, but weak exports will be part of the U.S. picture for at least another year or two.Tuesdays revision is the last of three estimates by the Commerce Department of economic growth in July, August and September. The downward adjustment had been expected, with economists predicting before the report that growth would be revised down to 1.9 percent.The first estimate, in October, showed growth of 1.5 percent. That was revised upward to 2.1 percent last month.A fresher take on the economys prospects will come on Wednesday, when the Commerce Department reports data for consumer spending and income in November. Economists are forecasting a pickup in spending, with incomes growing more modestly. | Business | <s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> Credit...Dina Litovsky for The New York TimesDec. 22, 2015The government revised its estimate of economic growth in the third quarter down slightly on Tuesday, as consumer spending helped sustain a modest growth rate despite a dip in net exports caused in part by the stronger dollar.The Achilles heels of the second half of 2015 are inventories and trade, which remain a drag on growth, said Diane Swonk, chief economist at Mesirow Financial in Chicago. The good news is that consumers are showing a willingness to carry the economy into the new year.At an annualized rate of 2 percent, the pace of expansion in the third quarter was not far out of line with the slow but steady gains registered since the recovery began in mid-2009. Last year, the United States economy as measured by changes in gross domestic product adjusted to eliminate the effects of inflation grew by 2.4 percent. In 2013, it expanded at a 1.5 percent rate.After a big buildup of goods in warehouses and on shelves in the first half of 2015, inventories proved to be a headwind in the third quarter.Businesses have been cautious about spending, while plunging oil prices have prompted energy companies to cut back on new investments. A weaker trade balance also exerted pressure, reducing growth by 0.3 percentage point.In a separate report on Tuesday, the National Association of Realtors reported that sales of existing homes fell by 10.5 percent in November, an unexpected plunge that the group and private economists attributed to the start of new government rules that may have slowed down mortgage closings.We expect delayed sales activity to be recouped in coming months as the real estate industry adjusts to these new regulations, Barclays said in a note to clients on Tuesday.For all the blows the economy has absorbed in recent years, it has maintained a remarkably even keel.Consumer demand, which accounts for nearly 70 percent of economic activity, has been rising at a rate of roughly 3 percent. Similarly, employers continue to hire at a steady pace and average hourly earnings are showing signs of life after years of stagnation.Nariman Behravesh, chief economist at IHS, said he was struck by a seemingly obscure but telling data point in the third quarter report: a 2.9 percent increase in final sales to domestic purchasers, which strips out the negative impact of inventory changes and net exports.Thats a very respectable top line figure, he said. The economys underlying growth rate is more in the neighborhood of 3 percent than 2 percent.Economists expect the growth rate in the current fourth quarter to be similar to that of the third quarter, with the economys rate of expansion for 2015 expected to be just over 2 percent.One major source of weakness recently has been the strong dollar, said Torsten Slok, chief international economist for Deutsche Bank Securities in New York. The dollars rise hurts American companies by making American exports more expensive for overseas buyers. At the same time, the picture for growth in both Asia and Europe remains cloudy.Employment has been holding up but the big economic story has been downward pressure from a strong dollar, Mr. Slok said. And the rest of the world, unfortunately, is still weak.Indeed, last weeks interest rate increase by the Federal Reserve, which came as some other central banks overseas were maintaining more accommodative monetary policies, could push the dollar even higher.The negative effect from inventories is temporary, Mr. Behravesh said, but weak exports will be part of the U.S. picture for at least another year or two.Tuesdays revision is the last of three estimates by the Commerce Department of economic growth in July, August and September. The downward adjustment had been expected, with economists predicting before the report that growth would be revised down to 1.9 percent.The first estimate, in October, showed growth of 1.5 percent. That was revised upward to 2.1 percent last month.A fresher take on the economys prospects will come on Wednesday, when the Commerce Department reports data for consumer spending and income in November. Economists are forecasting a pickup in spending, with incomes growing more modestly. [/INST] Business </s> |
Credit...John Taggart for The New York Times.June 21, 2018WASHINGTON Americans have done more and more of their shopping online in recent years, drawn by the promise of low prices, wide selection and buy-from-home convenience. But e-commerce has also had another edge: Many of those sales were, in effect, tax-free.The Supreme Court on Thursday moved to close that loophole, ruling that internet retailers can be required to collect sales taxes even in states where they have no physical presence.The decision, in South Dakota v. Wayfair Inc., was a victory for brick-and-mortar businesses that have long complained they are put at a disadvantage by having to charge sales taxes while many online competitors do not. And it was also a victory for states that have said that they are missing out on tens of billions of dollars in annual revenue.State and local governments have really been dealing with a nightmare scenario for several years now, said Carl Davis, research director at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a Washington think tank. This is going to allow state and local governments to improve their tax enforcement and to put local business on a more level playing field.In Thursdays ruling, the court effectively overturned a system that it created. In 1992, the court ruled in Quill Corporation v. North Dakota that the Constitution bars states from requiring businesses to collect sales tax unless they have a substantial connection to the state. The Quill decision helped pave the way for the growth of online retail by letting companies sell nationwide without navigating the complex patchwork of state and local tax codes.But as online retailing has grown, the dynamics have shifted. Online sellers are no longer scrappy upstarts competing with more established businesses. Amazon had $119 billion in revenue from product sales last year, making it bigger than all but the largest traditional retailers.And state budgets are increasingly feeling the pinch. Writing for the majority in the 5-to-4 ruling, Justice Anthony M. Kennedy said the Quill decision caused states to lose annual tax revenues of up to $33 billion.Quill puts both local businesses and many interstate businesses with physical presence at a competitive disadvantage relative to remote sellers, he wrote. Remote sellers can avoid the regulatory burdens of tax collection and can offer de facto lower prices caused by the widespread failure of consumers to pay the tax on their own.Justices Clarence Thomas, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Samuel A. Alito Jr. and Neil M. Gorsuch joined the majority opinion.In dissent, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. agreed that the courts rulings in this area had been wrongly decided, but said there were insufficient reasons to overrule the precedents. Any alteration to those rules with the potential to disrupt the development of such a critical segment of the economy should be undertaken by Congress, he wrote.Justices Stephen G. Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan joined the dissent.In the years since 1992, three members of the court had indicated that they might be ready to reconsider the Quill decision. In a 2015 concurring opinion, for instance, Justice Kennedy seemed to call for a fresh challenge.South Dakota responded by enacting a law that required all merchants to collect a 4.5 percent sales tax if they had more than $100,000 in annual sales or more than 200 transactions in the state. State officials sued three large online retailers Wayfair, Overstock.com and Newegg for violating the law. Lower courts ruled for the online retailers, citing the Quill decision.Marty Jackley, South Dakotas attorney general, called Thursdays ruling a big win for South Dakota and Main Streets across America. He said the decision could be particularly significant for rural areas where local businesses have been hit hard by competition from online retailers.Mr. Jackley is a Republican. But South Dakotas appeal drew bipartisan support, including from attorneys general in 35 states and the District of Columbia.Mr. Jackley estimated that South Dakota would be able to begin collecting sales tax on online purchases in 30 to 90 days. Other states may be close behind: Anticipating Thursdays ruling, several states, including North Dakota, have passed laws modeled on South Dakotas.President Trump, who has previously accused Amazon of avoiding taxes, wrote on Twitter that the decision was a great victory for consumers and retailers.Other states will have to change their laws if they want to take advantage of the decision, said Hayes Holderness, a law professor at the University of Richmond. He predicted a flurry of activity in legislatures.Many of those laws could face their own legal challenges. Justice Kennedys decision left open the possibility that some transactions were so small and scattered that no taxes should be collected. The court also did not decide whether states may seek sales taxes retroactively, which South Dakotas law does not.Thursdays ruling should benefit local coffers as well, at least where local sales taxes are collected at the state level. But it wont help municipal governments in states such as Pennsylvania and New Mexico where quirks in tax codes prevent local jurisdictions from taxing remote sellers.For consumers, the reversal of Quill could mean paying more for products bought online. In theory, most states already require consumers to pay a use tax equivalent to the state sales tax when buying online. But in practice, few consumers do so.Owners of brick-and-mortar stores welcomed the ruling.I firmly believe that its a huge stride in leveling the playing field, said Jason Patton, owner of Oz Music in Tuscaloosa, Ala. In my record store, the average price point is around $20. Im not going to say I continually lost customers because of the sales tax, but on higher-ticket items, that tax absolutely matters.Shares in Amazon fell 1.1 percent on Thursday, and other online retailers took a bigger hit. Overstock.com shares were down more than 7 percent.Today, the U.S. Supreme Court has reshaped the interstate commerce landscape in a move that could impact small business innovation on the internet, which has been a driving force behind our nations economy for the last 15 years, said Jonathan E. Johnson III, a member of Overstock.coms board.Overstock said the decision would have little impact on its business but argued that with more than 12,000 different state and local taxing districts, the ruling would present a compliance challenge for internet start-ups. Chief Justice Roberts made a similar argument in his dissent.Many experts, however, played down that problem. When the Supreme Court decided the Quill case in 1992, complying with various state and local tax laws would have been a major hurdle for small businesses. But today, many companies offer software that helps small businesses navigate local laws.The digital and internet revolution contributed to the problem, but those same factors contributed to the solution, which is easy-to-use tax-automation software, said Daniel Hemel, a University of Chicago law professor.Wayfair, in a statement, said it already collected sales tax on approximately 80 percent of its orders in the United States. As a result, we do not expect todays decision to have any noticeable impact on our business, the company said.The impact on Amazon could be even smaller: As of last year, the company collected sales tax in the 45 states that have one.But about half of Amazons total online sales come from independent merchants who simply post their inventory on the online store. In most states, those merchants are responsible for calculating and paying the various state taxes if they are owed. In the past year, Washington State and Pennsylvania have enacted laws requiring internet retailers to collect taxes on third-party sales. More states are expected to follow suit.Amazon declined to comment on the ruling.In his ruling on Thursday, Justice Kennedy wrote that world had changed since 1992, when mail-order sales totaled $180 million. Last year, remote sellers racked up sales exceeding half a trillion dollars, he noted.That growth seems unlikely to slow. Stacy Mitchell, co-director of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, a group that supports independent businesses, said the tax-free nature of online retail had given Amazon and other internet sellers a big advantage when they needed it most.Its hard to overstate how much not having to collect sales tax mattered in the first 15 years of Amazons growth, Ms. Mitchell said. | Politics | <s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> Credit...John Taggart for The New York Times.June 21, 2018WASHINGTON Americans have done more and more of their shopping online in recent years, drawn by the promise of low prices, wide selection and buy-from-home convenience. But e-commerce has also had another edge: Many of those sales were, in effect, tax-free.The Supreme Court on Thursday moved to close that loophole, ruling that internet retailers can be required to collect sales taxes even in states where they have no physical presence.The decision, in South Dakota v. Wayfair Inc., was a victory for brick-and-mortar businesses that have long complained they are put at a disadvantage by having to charge sales taxes while many online competitors do not. And it was also a victory for states that have said that they are missing out on tens of billions of dollars in annual revenue.State and local governments have really been dealing with a nightmare scenario for several years now, said Carl Davis, research director at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a Washington think tank. This is going to allow state and local governments to improve their tax enforcement and to put local business on a more level playing field.In Thursdays ruling, the court effectively overturned a system that it created. In 1992, the court ruled in Quill Corporation v. North Dakota that the Constitution bars states from requiring businesses to collect sales tax unless they have a substantial connection to the state. The Quill decision helped pave the way for the growth of online retail by letting companies sell nationwide without navigating the complex patchwork of state and local tax codes.But as online retailing has grown, the dynamics have shifted. Online sellers are no longer scrappy upstarts competing with more established businesses. Amazon had $119 billion in revenue from product sales last year, making it bigger than all but the largest traditional retailers.And state budgets are increasingly feeling the pinch. Writing for the majority in the 5-to-4 ruling, Justice Anthony M. Kennedy said the Quill decision caused states to lose annual tax revenues of up to $33 billion.Quill puts both local businesses and many interstate businesses with physical presence at a competitive disadvantage relative to remote sellers, he wrote. Remote sellers can avoid the regulatory burdens of tax collection and can offer de facto lower prices caused by the widespread failure of consumers to pay the tax on their own.Justices Clarence Thomas, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Samuel A. Alito Jr. and Neil M. Gorsuch joined the majority opinion.In dissent, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. agreed that the courts rulings in this area had been wrongly decided, but said there were insufficient reasons to overrule the precedents. Any alteration to those rules with the potential to disrupt the development of such a critical segment of the economy should be undertaken by Congress, he wrote.Justices Stephen G. Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan joined the dissent.In the years since 1992, three members of the court had indicated that they might be ready to reconsider the Quill decision. In a 2015 concurring opinion, for instance, Justice Kennedy seemed to call for a fresh challenge.South Dakota responded by enacting a law that required all merchants to collect a 4.5 percent sales tax if they had more than $100,000 in annual sales or more than 200 transactions in the state. State officials sued three large online retailers Wayfair, Overstock.com and Newegg for violating the law. Lower courts ruled for the online retailers, citing the Quill decision.Marty Jackley, South Dakotas attorney general, called Thursdays ruling a big win for South Dakota and Main Streets across America. He said the decision could be particularly significant for rural areas where local businesses have been hit hard by competition from online retailers.Mr. Jackley is a Republican. But South Dakotas appeal drew bipartisan support, including from attorneys general in 35 states and the District of Columbia.Mr. Jackley estimated that South Dakota would be able to begin collecting sales tax on online purchases in 30 to 90 days. Other states may be close behind: Anticipating Thursdays ruling, several states, including North Dakota, have passed laws modeled on South Dakotas.President Trump, who has previously accused Amazon of avoiding taxes, wrote on Twitter that the decision was a great victory for consumers and retailers.Other states will have to change their laws if they want to take advantage of the decision, said Hayes Holderness, a law professor at the University of Richmond. He predicted a flurry of activity in legislatures.Many of those laws could face their own legal challenges. Justice Kennedys decision left open the possibility that some transactions were so small and scattered that no taxes should be collected. The court also did not decide whether states may seek sales taxes retroactively, which South Dakotas law does not.Thursdays ruling should benefit local coffers as well, at least where local sales taxes are collected at the state level. But it wont help municipal governments in states such as Pennsylvania and New Mexico where quirks in tax codes prevent local jurisdictions from taxing remote sellers.For consumers, the reversal of Quill could mean paying more for products bought online. In theory, most states already require consumers to pay a use tax equivalent to the state sales tax when buying online. But in practice, few consumers do so.Owners of brick-and-mortar stores welcomed the ruling.I firmly believe that its a huge stride in leveling the playing field, said Jason Patton, owner of Oz Music in Tuscaloosa, Ala. In my record store, the average price point is around $20. Im not going to say I continually lost customers because of the sales tax, but on higher-ticket items, that tax absolutely matters.Shares in Amazon fell 1.1 percent on Thursday, and other online retailers took a bigger hit. Overstock.com shares were down more than 7 percent.Today, the U.S. Supreme Court has reshaped the interstate commerce landscape in a move that could impact small business innovation on the internet, which has been a driving force behind our nations economy for the last 15 years, said Jonathan E. Johnson III, a member of Overstock.coms board.Overstock said the decision would have little impact on its business but argued that with more than 12,000 different state and local taxing districts, the ruling would present a compliance challenge for internet start-ups. Chief Justice Roberts made a similar argument in his dissent.Many experts, however, played down that problem. When the Supreme Court decided the Quill case in 1992, complying with various state and local tax laws would have been a major hurdle for small businesses. But today, many companies offer software that helps small businesses navigate local laws.The digital and internet revolution contributed to the problem, but those same factors contributed to the solution, which is easy-to-use tax-automation software, said Daniel Hemel, a University of Chicago law professor.Wayfair, in a statement, said it already collected sales tax on approximately 80 percent of its orders in the United States. As a result, we do not expect todays decision to have any noticeable impact on our business, the company said.The impact on Amazon could be even smaller: As of last year, the company collected sales tax in the 45 states that have one.But about half of Amazons total online sales come from independent merchants who simply post their inventory on the online store. In most states, those merchants are responsible for calculating and paying the various state taxes if they are owed. In the past year, Washington State and Pennsylvania have enacted laws requiring internet retailers to collect taxes on third-party sales. More states are expected to follow suit.Amazon declined to comment on the ruling.In his ruling on Thursday, Justice Kennedy wrote that world had changed since 1992, when mail-order sales totaled $180 million. Last year, remote sellers racked up sales exceeding half a trillion dollars, he noted.That growth seems unlikely to slow. Stacy Mitchell, co-director of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, a group that supports independent businesses, said the tax-free nature of online retail had given Amazon and other internet sellers a big advantage when they needed it most.Its hard to overstate how much not having to collect sales tax mattered in the first 15 years of Amazons growth, Ms. Mitchell said. [/INST] Politics </s> |
Credit...Rozette Rago for The New York TimesJune 20, 2018WASHINGTON Long one of President Trumps most ardent defenders, the evangelist Franklin Graham voiced strenuous dissent this week about the practice of separating families at the border, even calling it disgraceful. His comments, along with other criticism from the evangelical community, raised the possibility that the presidents support from conservative Christians might erode as outrage mounted over the Trump administrations zero-tolerance immigration policy.But if evangelical leaders were pained by the sight of children being taken from their parents, they did not directly fault Mr. Trump.Instead, many blamed Congress and past administrations, Republican and Democrat, and emphasized that Mr. Trump called family separation horrible in a tweet and that he wanted a legislative fix for immigration. And though it is too early to know the electoral consequences of the policy, few conservative Christian political leaders have been concerned that Mr. Trump will lose support among their ranks, which represent one of his most important voting blocs.This is not the administrations fault, Mr. Graham said in an interview on Monday, while reiterating his stance against family separation. I dont point the finger at Trump..But even Mr. Trump, after weeks of pushing his administrations policy and asserting, wrongly, that current law required family separation, retreated on Wednesday afternoon. He signed an executive order to end his administrations policy of separating families and instead said they could be detained together indefinitely. The order said that officials would continue to criminally prosecute all who cross the border illegally, and it may face a legal challenge.Mr. Graham had also accused lawmakers of visiting detention centers for political gain, after recent high-profile trips by Democrats. This administration is extremely concerned, Mr. Graham said before votes in Congress on two immigration proposals expected this week. Theyve got to have some Democrats cross the aisle.ImageCredit...Sandy Huffaker for The New York TimesRobert Jeffress, the pastor of First Baptist Dallas, who gave a controversial prayer at the opening of the United States Embassy in Jerusalem last month, said he fully supported the presidents policy. He called the separation of families gut-wrenching and the optics of the situation horrible. But he said it was more gut-wrenching to see immigrants enter the country illegally and harm or kill Americans, echoing one of the presidents prime arguments for zero tolerance.Their stances underscored the delicate path evangelical leaders had to tread as they expressed deep unease about border separations, while still maintaining staunch opposition to illegal immigration and showing loyalty to a president who has consistently delivered on their policy goals.There were some schisms beneath the unified front, however, as frustration mountedamong Hispanic evangelicals, one of the fastest-growing religious groups in the United States. Wilfredo De Jess, who leads the largest Assemblies of God church in the country, New Life Covenant in Chicago, said that the close ties between the conservative evangelical leadership and Mr. Trump are part of the problem.The white evangelicals need to stand up to him and say, Hey we voted for you, but you need to do something about this, Mr. De Jess said in an interview on Monday. I feel disappointed in them.Randall Balmer, professor of religion at Dartmouth College, echoed that sentiment. The persistence of evangelical support for Trump, both his personal behavior and now his immigrations policies, finally lays to rest the illusion that the religious right was ever concerned about family values, he wrote in a text.The highest-level religious criticism of the border separations to date came Wednesday morning from Pope Francis, who called the Trump administrations policy immoral in an interview with Reuters. Populism is not the solution, he said.In another sign of dissent, more than 600 members of the United Methodist Church signed a statement this week accusing Attorney General Jeff Sessions whose department was charged with enforcing the separation policy with child abuse, immorality and racial discrimination. They recommended that Mr. Sessions reclaim his values and repair the damage he is currently causing to immigrants, particularly children and families.But some evangelical leaders, like Mr. Graham, have straddled the line. Jentezen Franklin, the pastor of the Free Chapel in Gainesville, Ga., another informal evangelical adviser to Mr. Trump, said he disagreed with Attorney General Jeff Sessionss decision to cite a passage from the Bible to defend the administrations policy. And he called separating families deplorable and bordering on abuse for the children.But he did not blame Mr. Trump for separating families, either. He inherited the problem, but he is trying to fix it, he said in an interview. Its on the Congress.The Faith and Freedom Coalition, the conservative religious group led by Ralph Reed, sent a letter to House lawmakers on Tuesday urging them to vote in favor of both immigration bills. Mr. Reed, the groups chairman, said that ending the family-separation component was a part of larger immigration priorities, including the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program and border security.In language that reframed the logic of family separation for evangelical voters, who have long supported anti-trafficking measures, he said that human traffickers often posed as parents to bring children across the border illegally.The Democrats are so busy playing politics with the separation issue that they are ignoring the bigger problem, which is the exploitation of minor children by traffickers, Mr. Reed said in an interview between meetings on Capitol Hill on Monday.As the political fight plays out in Washington, it has revealed competing priorities in conservative evangelical America, the pull between political and pastoral. Immigration is not one of the core issues for Concerned Women of America, a conservative Christian political organization that campaigns against abortion and in support of Israel and religious liberty. But Penny Nance, the groups president, called the family-separation problem heartbreaking and issued a statement on Tuesday calling on Congress to act.The whole base is suddenly involved, she said in an interview. People who dont normally pay attention, you have our attention.ImageCredit...Joshua Lott for The New York TimesThe debate is also a further sign of demographic tensions in evangelical communities as the movement changes. White evangelicals have long been among the presidents most loyal supporters, while nonwhite evangelicals have often expressed frustration with his stance on matters of race and immigration.In May, eight evangelical women from Chicago piled into a passenger van and took turns driving through the night to visit hundreds of immigrant women detained at the T. Don Hutto Residential Center in Taylor, Tex. They brought the women tamales and Puerto Rican rice, gave them Bibles and prayed.Many of the detained women had left their children with relatives, while others had children who were already in the United States. They were struggling with guilt and confusion, said Brenda Bravatty, the pastor of an evangelical church in Chicago, Casa de Misericordia, who was on the trip.We encouraged them that they were going to see their children again, she said, adding that some women had been there for more than a year. What happens at the border, everything is destroyed for them. We have to rebuild their self confidence and trust.Last week, Mr. De Jess, the Chicago pastor who has also visited the center in Texas, prayed at the National Hispanic Prayer Breakfast in Washington, where Vice President Mike Pence; Speaker Paul D. Ryan; the House Democratic leader, Nancy Pelosi; and the Senate Democratic leader, Chuck Schumer, all spoke on immigration.Mr. De Jess said he viewed it all as political posturing, especially before the midterms, and expressed frustration that Democrats did not overhaul immigration laws when they controlled Congress under President Barack Obama, as the Republicans do now under Mr. Trump. Hispanic evangelical pastors, he said, are fed up.Im dissatisfied at how the Republicans and Democrats are using family, an institution God created, as pawns for their benefit, Mr. De Jess said. This is going to continue to deteriorate, get worse before it gets better. | Politics | <s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> Credit...Rozette Rago for The New York TimesJune 20, 2018WASHINGTON Long one of President Trumps most ardent defenders, the evangelist Franklin Graham voiced strenuous dissent this week about the practice of separating families at the border, even calling it disgraceful. His comments, along with other criticism from the evangelical community, raised the possibility that the presidents support from conservative Christians might erode as outrage mounted over the Trump administrations zero-tolerance immigration policy.But if evangelical leaders were pained by the sight of children being taken from their parents, they did not directly fault Mr. Trump.Instead, many blamed Congress and past administrations, Republican and Democrat, and emphasized that Mr. Trump called family separation horrible in a tweet and that he wanted a legislative fix for immigration. And though it is too early to know the electoral consequences of the policy, few conservative Christian political leaders have been concerned that Mr. Trump will lose support among their ranks, which represent one of his most important voting blocs.This is not the administrations fault, Mr. Graham said in an interview on Monday, while reiterating his stance against family separation. I dont point the finger at Trump..But even Mr. Trump, after weeks of pushing his administrations policy and asserting, wrongly, that current law required family separation, retreated on Wednesday afternoon. He signed an executive order to end his administrations policy of separating families and instead said they could be detained together indefinitely. The order said that officials would continue to criminally prosecute all who cross the border illegally, and it may face a legal challenge.Mr. Graham had also accused lawmakers of visiting detention centers for political gain, after recent high-profile trips by Democrats. This administration is extremely concerned, Mr. Graham said before votes in Congress on two immigration proposals expected this week. Theyve got to have some Democrats cross the aisle.ImageCredit...Sandy Huffaker for The New York TimesRobert Jeffress, the pastor of First Baptist Dallas, who gave a controversial prayer at the opening of the United States Embassy in Jerusalem last month, said he fully supported the presidents policy. He called the separation of families gut-wrenching and the optics of the situation horrible. But he said it was more gut-wrenching to see immigrants enter the country illegally and harm or kill Americans, echoing one of the presidents prime arguments for zero tolerance.Their stances underscored the delicate path evangelical leaders had to tread as they expressed deep unease about border separations, while still maintaining staunch opposition to illegal immigration and showing loyalty to a president who has consistently delivered on their policy goals.There were some schisms beneath the unified front, however, as frustration mountedamong Hispanic evangelicals, one of the fastest-growing religious groups in the United States. Wilfredo De Jess, who leads the largest Assemblies of God church in the country, New Life Covenant in Chicago, said that the close ties between the conservative evangelical leadership and Mr. Trump are part of the problem.The white evangelicals need to stand up to him and say, Hey we voted for you, but you need to do something about this, Mr. De Jess said in an interview on Monday. I feel disappointed in them.Randall Balmer, professor of religion at Dartmouth College, echoed that sentiment. The persistence of evangelical support for Trump, both his personal behavior and now his immigrations policies, finally lays to rest the illusion that the religious right was ever concerned about family values, he wrote in a text.The highest-level religious criticism of the border separations to date came Wednesday morning from Pope Francis, who called the Trump administrations policy immoral in an interview with Reuters. Populism is not the solution, he said.In another sign of dissent, more than 600 members of the United Methodist Church signed a statement this week accusing Attorney General Jeff Sessions whose department was charged with enforcing the separation policy with child abuse, immorality and racial discrimination. They recommended that Mr. Sessions reclaim his values and repair the damage he is currently causing to immigrants, particularly children and families.But some evangelical leaders, like Mr. Graham, have straddled the line. Jentezen Franklin, the pastor of the Free Chapel in Gainesville, Ga., another informal evangelical adviser to Mr. Trump, said he disagreed with Attorney General Jeff Sessionss decision to cite a passage from the Bible to defend the administrations policy. And he called separating families deplorable and bordering on abuse for the children.But he did not blame Mr. Trump for separating families, either. He inherited the problem, but he is trying to fix it, he said in an interview. Its on the Congress.The Faith and Freedom Coalition, the conservative religious group led by Ralph Reed, sent a letter to House lawmakers on Tuesday urging them to vote in favor of both immigration bills. Mr. Reed, the groups chairman, said that ending the family-separation component was a part of larger immigration priorities, including the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program and border security.In language that reframed the logic of family separation for evangelical voters, who have long supported anti-trafficking measures, he said that human traffickers often posed as parents to bring children across the border illegally.The Democrats are so busy playing politics with the separation issue that they are ignoring the bigger problem, which is the exploitation of minor children by traffickers, Mr. Reed said in an interview between meetings on Capitol Hill on Monday.As the political fight plays out in Washington, it has revealed competing priorities in conservative evangelical America, the pull between political and pastoral. Immigration is not one of the core issues for Concerned Women of America, a conservative Christian political organization that campaigns against abortion and in support of Israel and religious liberty. But Penny Nance, the groups president, called the family-separation problem heartbreaking and issued a statement on Tuesday calling on Congress to act.The whole base is suddenly involved, she said in an interview. People who dont normally pay attention, you have our attention.ImageCredit...Joshua Lott for The New York TimesThe debate is also a further sign of demographic tensions in evangelical communities as the movement changes. White evangelicals have long been among the presidents most loyal supporters, while nonwhite evangelicals have often expressed frustration with his stance on matters of race and immigration.In May, eight evangelical women from Chicago piled into a passenger van and took turns driving through the night to visit hundreds of immigrant women detained at the T. Don Hutto Residential Center in Taylor, Tex. They brought the women tamales and Puerto Rican rice, gave them Bibles and prayed.Many of the detained women had left their children with relatives, while others had children who were already in the United States. They were struggling with guilt and confusion, said Brenda Bravatty, the pastor of an evangelical church in Chicago, Casa de Misericordia, who was on the trip.We encouraged them that they were going to see their children again, she said, adding that some women had been there for more than a year. What happens at the border, everything is destroyed for them. We have to rebuild their self confidence and trust.Last week, Mr. De Jess, the Chicago pastor who has also visited the center in Texas, prayed at the National Hispanic Prayer Breakfast in Washington, where Vice President Mike Pence; Speaker Paul D. Ryan; the House Democratic leader, Nancy Pelosi; and the Senate Democratic leader, Chuck Schumer, all spoke on immigration.Mr. De Jess said he viewed it all as political posturing, especially before the midterms, and expressed frustration that Democrats did not overhaul immigration laws when they controlled Congress under President Barack Obama, as the Republicans do now under Mr. Trump. Hispanic evangelical pastors, he said, are fed up.Im dissatisfied at how the Republicans and Democrats are using family, an institution God created, as pawns for their benefit, Mr. De Jess said. This is going to continue to deteriorate, get worse before it gets better. [/INST] Politics </s> |
Credit...Jason Henry for The New York TimesJune 4, 2018 Apple is adding tools to help get your information addiction under control. The company revealed new software for the Apple Watch. A new feature in Apples web browser will make it harder for sites to track you. The company previewed iOS 12, the new version of the iPhone and iPad operating system, including improved speed, bug fixes and other improvements. Apple revealed Siri and photo updates that catches up to competitors.Features to help manage time spent on devices.The most notable new feature in iOS 12 is called Screen Time, a tool to help iPhone customers manage the time they spend on their devices.The feature shows you a dashboard of apps you regularly use and the amount of time you tend to spend with them. You can also add limits to how much you use certain apps: For example, you can give yourself an hour a day to spend inside Instagram, Facebooks photo-sharing app. Parents will also be able to use Screen Time to place limits on how their children use their iPhones.ImageCredit...Jason Henry for The New York TimesApples software chief, Craig Federighi, said Apple felt it was time to address smartphones oversize impact on everyday life. For some of us, its become such a habit we might not even recognize how distracted weve become, he said.The announcement was a bizarre one: A company using one of its biggest events of the year to showcase new tools that help customers use its products less.But the move is most likely shrewd. Apple depends on customers buying its devices, not spending lots of time on them. Apple is pitching the tools as evidence that it is putting its customers interests first and that if people are worried they are addicted to their smartphone, the iPhone is the device that will help them.The new tools are also a shot across the bow to Silicon Valleys other big tech companies, like Google, Twitter and particularly Facebook, that depend on users spending more time with their services.Apples move is also not happening in a vacuum. Silicon Valley has faced early signs of a reckoning over tech addiction, including an open letter to Apple from investment firm Jana Partners and the California State Teachers Retirement System. The letter urged Apple to research the health effects of its products, particularly on children.Will this be enough to help people curb their addiction? Presumably, if you set a limit for yourself you will be able to easily remove the restriction and continue using an app like Instagram when you run out of time.ImageCredit...Jason Henry for The New York TimesIf anything, the feature will certainly make people more mindful (and perhaps ashamed) of how often they use certain apps and encourage them to put their phones down. Brian X. Chen and Jack NicasApple says it is different about your privacy, too.Apple took another swing at its rivals Google and Facebook with tools that sharply diminish their ability to track users as they surf across the web.Apple said that by default its Safari browser would disable tracking software that advertising companies like Facebook and Google embed in websites to track users activity across the internet. The software is often embedded in tools to share, comment or like content on third-party sites.To share an article directly to Facebook from a news site, for instance, users of Safari will need to manually allow the software to track them. Apple said it would also make it more difficult for companies that track users using a different technology, known as fingerprinting.As the world wakes up to the sheer amount of user data tech companies have collected over the years, Apple is doubling down on its bid to be the privacy-focused tech firm. Unlike Google and Facebook, which rely on user data to sell ads, Apples main business is selling devices to consumers, so its focus on privacy has become a central selling point.Apple said it would also restrict third-party developers access to more data on Mac computers, a nod to the scandal over how a Facebook developer enabled the political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica to improperly harvest the data of millions of Facebook users. Jack NicasThe Apple Watch gets a throwback feature.The Apple Watchs latest operating system has a nifty throwback to an old technology: walkie-talkie. You press to talk, and your friend can hear your voice just like a walkie-talkie, said Kevin Lynch, Apples head of Watch software.The feature works only with users who opt in I need your approval to send you a walkie-talkie message but its striking for the way it improves the Watchs best feature, letting users stay in touch without having to use a phone.ImageCredit...Jason Henry for The New York TimesThere were also a few new features for activity monitoring. The new software will automatically start tracking a workout even if you didnt let tell it you were working out. And it has a new way to let you compete with friends. For instance, you can set up a weeklong exercise-off between you and a friend.But all this requires waiting. The new OS will be available for the Watch later this year, through a software update. Farhad ManjooChanges to address software speed issue.Apples head of software, Craig Federighi, opened the event with the introduction of a new mobile operating system, iOS 12, an update that he said was focused on speed.For iOS 12, we are doubling down on performance, he said. The update increases the speed for many important features of iOS, like the camera app and keyboard. In Apples testing, apps launched two times faster in iOS 12 compared with the last system.By highlighting speed, Apple is addressing a common complaint among owners of iPhones who feel that their devices seem to slow down after every new upgrade. Keep in mind that last year, Apple came under scrutiny amid revelations that it slowed performance of older iPhones with aging batteries.The new operating system will work with devices as far back as the iPhone 5S from 2013.Heres something Apple should fix at the event: its Wi-Fi. None of us are able to get on the internet. Im barely hanging on to a connection on my iPhone hot spot. Wireless has always been spotty at these events with so many devices in the audience fighting for a connection, but this is exceptionally bad. Brian X. ChenImageCredit...Jason Henry for The New York TimesA focus on the little things.Its crystal clear that iOS 12 is focused on improving on existing features rather than bombarding users with brand-new features.In addition to updating the Photos app and expanding Siri, Apple made minor updates to its Apple News, Stocks, Messages and FaceTime apps. The Apple News app now lets you discover articles through topics, and the Stocks app now loads Apple News stories that are related to stocks that you follow.The Messages app was updated to let you create some custom emojis with the camera. And the FaceTime app lets you do a video call between multiple people, similar to Google Hangouts.Again, Apple is responding to some negative feedback. Over the last few years, app developers and users have complained that iOS was getting increasingly bloated and confusing to use.This is a good time for Apple to slow down on adding new features, especially after the introduction of the iPhone X, which fundamentally changes how the iPhone works by removing the home button. Brian X. ChenApples new update strategy is on display.This software conference illuminates Apples revised software strategy. In the past, Apple updated each new version of iOS on an annual basis with a long list of new features.But recently, the company announced to employees that it would revise its strategy to a two-year cycle. In other words, next year, you can expect iOS 13 to have a barrage of new features. In the following year, iOS 14 will focus on improving those features. Rinse and repeat.However, Apple doesnt appear to be slowing down the pace of upgrades for the Apple Watch, a much younger product. Each version of Watch OS has introduced significant changes to the way the watch works. Apples allocation of resources to the watch shows that the company is treating the wearable computer as the post-smartphone device.In a decade, will we all be wearing our phones? Brian X. Chen | Tech | <s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> Credit...Jason Henry for The New York TimesJune 4, 2018 Apple is adding tools to help get your information addiction under control. The company revealed new software for the Apple Watch. A new feature in Apples web browser will make it harder for sites to track you. The company previewed iOS 12, the new version of the iPhone and iPad operating system, including improved speed, bug fixes and other improvements. Apple revealed Siri and photo updates that catches up to competitors.Features to help manage time spent on devices.The most notable new feature in iOS 12 is called Screen Time, a tool to help iPhone customers manage the time they spend on their devices.The feature shows you a dashboard of apps you regularly use and the amount of time you tend to spend with them. You can also add limits to how much you use certain apps: For example, you can give yourself an hour a day to spend inside Instagram, Facebooks photo-sharing app. Parents will also be able to use Screen Time to place limits on how their children use their iPhones.ImageCredit...Jason Henry for The New York TimesApples software chief, Craig Federighi, said Apple felt it was time to address smartphones oversize impact on everyday life. For some of us, its become such a habit we might not even recognize how distracted weve become, he said.The announcement was a bizarre one: A company using one of its biggest events of the year to showcase new tools that help customers use its products less.But the move is most likely shrewd. Apple depends on customers buying its devices, not spending lots of time on them. Apple is pitching the tools as evidence that it is putting its customers interests first and that if people are worried they are addicted to their smartphone, the iPhone is the device that will help them.The new tools are also a shot across the bow to Silicon Valleys other big tech companies, like Google, Twitter and particularly Facebook, that depend on users spending more time with their services.Apples move is also not happening in a vacuum. Silicon Valley has faced early signs of a reckoning over tech addiction, including an open letter to Apple from investment firm Jana Partners and the California State Teachers Retirement System. The letter urged Apple to research the health effects of its products, particularly on children.Will this be enough to help people curb their addiction? Presumably, if you set a limit for yourself you will be able to easily remove the restriction and continue using an app like Instagram when you run out of time.ImageCredit...Jason Henry for The New York TimesIf anything, the feature will certainly make people more mindful (and perhaps ashamed) of how often they use certain apps and encourage them to put their phones down. Brian X. Chen and Jack NicasApple says it is different about your privacy, too.Apple took another swing at its rivals Google and Facebook with tools that sharply diminish their ability to track users as they surf across the web.Apple said that by default its Safari browser would disable tracking software that advertising companies like Facebook and Google embed in websites to track users activity across the internet. The software is often embedded in tools to share, comment or like content on third-party sites.To share an article directly to Facebook from a news site, for instance, users of Safari will need to manually allow the software to track them. Apple said it would also make it more difficult for companies that track users using a different technology, known as fingerprinting.As the world wakes up to the sheer amount of user data tech companies have collected over the years, Apple is doubling down on its bid to be the privacy-focused tech firm. Unlike Google and Facebook, which rely on user data to sell ads, Apples main business is selling devices to consumers, so its focus on privacy has become a central selling point.Apple said it would also restrict third-party developers access to more data on Mac computers, a nod to the scandal over how a Facebook developer enabled the political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica to improperly harvest the data of millions of Facebook users. Jack NicasThe Apple Watch gets a throwback feature.The Apple Watchs latest operating system has a nifty throwback to an old technology: walkie-talkie. You press to talk, and your friend can hear your voice just like a walkie-talkie, said Kevin Lynch, Apples head of Watch software.The feature works only with users who opt in I need your approval to send you a walkie-talkie message but its striking for the way it improves the Watchs best feature, letting users stay in touch without having to use a phone.ImageCredit...Jason Henry for The New York TimesThere were also a few new features for activity monitoring. The new software will automatically start tracking a workout even if you didnt let tell it you were working out. And it has a new way to let you compete with friends. For instance, you can set up a weeklong exercise-off between you and a friend.But all this requires waiting. The new OS will be available for the Watch later this year, through a software update. Farhad ManjooChanges to address software speed issue.Apples head of software, Craig Federighi, opened the event with the introduction of a new mobile operating system, iOS 12, an update that he said was focused on speed.For iOS 12, we are doubling down on performance, he said. The update increases the speed for many important features of iOS, like the camera app and keyboard. In Apples testing, apps launched two times faster in iOS 12 compared with the last system.By highlighting speed, Apple is addressing a common complaint among owners of iPhones who feel that their devices seem to slow down after every new upgrade. Keep in mind that last year, Apple came under scrutiny amid revelations that it slowed performance of older iPhones with aging batteries.The new operating system will work with devices as far back as the iPhone 5S from 2013.Heres something Apple should fix at the event: its Wi-Fi. None of us are able to get on the internet. Im barely hanging on to a connection on my iPhone hot spot. Wireless has always been spotty at these events with so many devices in the audience fighting for a connection, but this is exceptionally bad. Brian X. ChenImageCredit...Jason Henry for The New York TimesA focus on the little things.Its crystal clear that iOS 12 is focused on improving on existing features rather than bombarding users with brand-new features.In addition to updating the Photos app and expanding Siri, Apple made minor updates to its Apple News, Stocks, Messages and FaceTime apps. The Apple News app now lets you discover articles through topics, and the Stocks app now loads Apple News stories that are related to stocks that you follow.The Messages app was updated to let you create some custom emojis with the camera. And the FaceTime app lets you do a video call between multiple people, similar to Google Hangouts.Again, Apple is responding to some negative feedback. Over the last few years, app developers and users have complained that iOS was getting increasingly bloated and confusing to use.This is a good time for Apple to slow down on adding new features, especially after the introduction of the iPhone X, which fundamentally changes how the iPhone works by removing the home button. Brian X. ChenApples new update strategy is on display.This software conference illuminates Apples revised software strategy. In the past, Apple updated each new version of iOS on an annual basis with a long list of new features.But recently, the company announced to employees that it would revise its strategy to a two-year cycle. In other words, next year, you can expect iOS 13 to have a barrage of new features. In the following year, iOS 14 will focus on improving those features. Rinse and repeat.However, Apple doesnt appear to be slowing down the pace of upgrades for the Apple Watch, a much younger product. Each version of Watch OS has introduced significant changes to the way the watch works. Apples allocation of resources to the watch shows that the company is treating the wearable computer as the post-smartphone device.In a decade, will we all be wearing our phones? Brian X. Chen [/INST] Tech </s> |
On BaseballCredit...Barton Silverman/The New York TimesFeb. 19, 2014TAMPA, Fla. Control was the defining issue. If he could ward off distractions, if he could make it all about the ball, the glove and his opportunistic bat, baseball would forever be the little boys game even when it was being played for riches once beyond his imagination.For most of his 19 years as a Yankee, Derek Jeter succeeded at that, and given his standing shortstop in New York City it was all rather extraordinary. He constructed a bubble around himself that was almost impenetrable. He avoided public controversies, shielded his personal life as most would their wallet and pretended that baseballs steroid scourge for better or worse was happening in an alternative universe.But there comes a time when the forces of nature must burst even the strongest of bubbles, when the most freakish of circumstances will bedevil the control freak. That happened for Jeter in October 2012 when his left ankle buckled and broke in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series against Detroit.Id never had a major injury, he said. The ankle had been sore for weeks, not that he advertised it because as much as he was a team-first guy, he was also playing by his own rules. From the day he arrived, he showed us only what he wanted us to see, and that was part of the plan.Yeah, I have feelings, he said Wednesday without revealing any. Im not emotionally stunted.Not yet retired, still fighting the good fight, Jeter remained in character as he addressed the world for the first time since announcing last week on Facebook in an article he made sure to say that he, alone, had written that the 2014 season would be his last. Large news media contingent notwithstanding, he began by trying to have the event downgraded to something it certainly was not, a mere availability.I really didnt want this to be a press conference, he said. I tried to do this under the radar.Fifteen minutes in, he turned to Manager Joe Girardi, who was seated in a section that included the players and members of the organization, including the Steinbrenner family. Joe, if the guys got to go work, dont feel that theyve got to be here, Jeter said.Works over, Girardi said with an incredulous look. Was Jeter kidding? No, that was just him trying to redirect the radar, Jeter-ize the moment. But while he has taken control of his exit from the game, having a farewell tour means being put on public display. I dont know if hes asking for that, General Manager Brian Cashman said. But its certainly coming.One last season for the masses to say goodbye, as it was with Mariano Rivera in 2013. Jeters ankle and ensuing complications deprived him of the chance to participate until the end of that season and made him see the baseball life as he hadnt seen it before.VideoThe New York Yankees Derek Jeter held a news conference Wednesday to discuss his retirement at the end of the 2014 season.CreditCredit...Barton Silverman/The New York TimesThis is a difficult job, he said. Its a 12-month job. The point was this: Without control of his environment, baseball could no longer be that little boys game. It was work and, as he said of his decision to pinpoint his departure, the time is right.He mentioned that the retirement of Jorge Posada his steady lunch partner on the road in 2011 had made him consider, however briefly, career mortality. Surely not lost on Jeter was that Posadas last season with the Yankees was a fairly acrimonious one. Jeter endured a nasty contract negotiation that wounded and angered him after the 2010 season, a poor one by his standards. Before the ankle injury, his 2012 season when he led the majors in hits was exceedingly redemptive, but it was no last word or laugh. If it ever came to a war of wills on when Jeter should go, the Yankees were destined to win that one.I dont think any of us are afraid of those circumstances if they come our way, Cashman said. Its our nature to do whats best for the organization.The argument could be made that Jeters last big-picture act as the ultimate team player was to spare the Yankees such an ordeal. The narrative will soon switch to what the Yankees can do for him as they write the final chapter to his Hall of Fame career, and not on Facebook. The best thing, of course, would be for Derek to finish with another World Series, said Gene Michael, the longtime Yankees executive and scout who was instrumental in the early-to-mid-90s youth movement that ushered in the Jeter era.Its a lovely thought for all those who love Jeter and the Yankees, but the truth is that such perfect endings are rare in any profession, much less one as competitive as pro sports. For all we know, Brendan Ryan could wind up playing more shortstop than Jeter, or Jeter may have to accept being subbed in late innings for Ryans superior defensive range.Whatever happens this season will merely be the wrapping on the gift that Jeter has been to fans of any team and sport. Like Bill Russells, his history is etched in stone.Assuming Joe Torres No. 6 is destined for retirement, Jeter, No. 2, will be the final single-digit Yankee in pinstripes. His most lasting images the flip play in the 2001 division series against Oakland, the dive into the stands against Boston, the sweet slides into second followed by the clapping of his hands will not change.But Jeter has changed, or at least his view of a world he always kept simple has changed. Facing 40 in June, he talked about wanting to start a family, about furthering his foundation work and his new publishing venture. More controllable things than baseball has become.Predictably, he didnt bite on the question of legacy because that would be based on other peoples opinions, not his.Being remembered as a Yankee, he said. Being a Yankee will be enough.To his right, the owner Hal Steinbrenners face lit up with a smile. His sister, Jennifer, looked as if she were going to cry. Jeter, conversely, shared this news with the feeling of someone just awakened from a nap.His emotions will be the last thing wrested from his command. On this particular issue, see you in September. | Sports | <s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> On BaseballCredit...Barton Silverman/The New York TimesFeb. 19, 2014TAMPA, Fla. Control was the defining issue. If he could ward off distractions, if he could make it all about the ball, the glove and his opportunistic bat, baseball would forever be the little boys game even when it was being played for riches once beyond his imagination.For most of his 19 years as a Yankee, Derek Jeter succeeded at that, and given his standing shortstop in New York City it was all rather extraordinary. He constructed a bubble around himself that was almost impenetrable. He avoided public controversies, shielded his personal life as most would their wallet and pretended that baseballs steroid scourge for better or worse was happening in an alternative universe.But there comes a time when the forces of nature must burst even the strongest of bubbles, when the most freakish of circumstances will bedevil the control freak. That happened for Jeter in October 2012 when his left ankle buckled and broke in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series against Detroit.Id never had a major injury, he said. The ankle had been sore for weeks, not that he advertised it because as much as he was a team-first guy, he was also playing by his own rules. From the day he arrived, he showed us only what he wanted us to see, and that was part of the plan.Yeah, I have feelings, he said Wednesday without revealing any. Im not emotionally stunted.Not yet retired, still fighting the good fight, Jeter remained in character as he addressed the world for the first time since announcing last week on Facebook in an article he made sure to say that he, alone, had written that the 2014 season would be his last. Large news media contingent notwithstanding, he began by trying to have the event downgraded to something it certainly was not, a mere availability.I really didnt want this to be a press conference, he said. I tried to do this under the radar.Fifteen minutes in, he turned to Manager Joe Girardi, who was seated in a section that included the players and members of the organization, including the Steinbrenner family. Joe, if the guys got to go work, dont feel that theyve got to be here, Jeter said.Works over, Girardi said with an incredulous look. Was Jeter kidding? No, that was just him trying to redirect the radar, Jeter-ize the moment. But while he has taken control of his exit from the game, having a farewell tour means being put on public display. I dont know if hes asking for that, General Manager Brian Cashman said. But its certainly coming.One last season for the masses to say goodbye, as it was with Mariano Rivera in 2013. Jeters ankle and ensuing complications deprived him of the chance to participate until the end of that season and made him see the baseball life as he hadnt seen it before.VideoThe New York Yankees Derek Jeter held a news conference Wednesday to discuss his retirement at the end of the 2014 season.CreditCredit...Barton Silverman/The New York TimesThis is a difficult job, he said. Its a 12-month job. The point was this: Without control of his environment, baseball could no longer be that little boys game. It was work and, as he said of his decision to pinpoint his departure, the time is right.He mentioned that the retirement of Jorge Posada his steady lunch partner on the road in 2011 had made him consider, however briefly, career mortality. Surely not lost on Jeter was that Posadas last season with the Yankees was a fairly acrimonious one. Jeter endured a nasty contract negotiation that wounded and angered him after the 2010 season, a poor one by his standards. Before the ankle injury, his 2012 season when he led the majors in hits was exceedingly redemptive, but it was no last word or laugh. If it ever came to a war of wills on when Jeter should go, the Yankees were destined to win that one.I dont think any of us are afraid of those circumstances if they come our way, Cashman said. Its our nature to do whats best for the organization.The argument could be made that Jeters last big-picture act as the ultimate team player was to spare the Yankees such an ordeal. The narrative will soon switch to what the Yankees can do for him as they write the final chapter to his Hall of Fame career, and not on Facebook. The best thing, of course, would be for Derek to finish with another World Series, said Gene Michael, the longtime Yankees executive and scout who was instrumental in the early-to-mid-90s youth movement that ushered in the Jeter era.Its a lovely thought for all those who love Jeter and the Yankees, but the truth is that such perfect endings are rare in any profession, much less one as competitive as pro sports. For all we know, Brendan Ryan could wind up playing more shortstop than Jeter, or Jeter may have to accept being subbed in late innings for Ryans superior defensive range.Whatever happens this season will merely be the wrapping on the gift that Jeter has been to fans of any team and sport. Like Bill Russells, his history is etched in stone.Assuming Joe Torres No. 6 is destined for retirement, Jeter, No. 2, will be the final single-digit Yankee in pinstripes. His most lasting images the flip play in the 2001 division series against Oakland, the dive into the stands against Boston, the sweet slides into second followed by the clapping of his hands will not change.But Jeter has changed, or at least his view of a world he always kept simple has changed. Facing 40 in June, he talked about wanting to start a family, about furthering his foundation work and his new publishing venture. More controllable things than baseball has become.Predictably, he didnt bite on the question of legacy because that would be based on other peoples opinions, not his.Being remembered as a Yankee, he said. Being a Yankee will be enough.To his right, the owner Hal Steinbrenners face lit up with a smile. His sister, Jennifer, looked as if she were going to cry. Jeter, conversely, shared this news with the feeling of someone just awakened from a nap.His emotions will be the last thing wrested from his command. On this particular issue, see you in September. [/INST] Sports </s> |
Credit...Jonathan Nackstrand/Agence France-Presse Getty ImagesFeb. 18, 2014SOCHI, Russia The Swedish defenseman Erik Karlsson moves like an ice dancer, his feet a blur of motion. He has a quick first step that allows him to jump into rushes like a 500-meter speedskater bursting off the starting line. Through the first three games of the Olympics, Karlssons feet did not fail him.He was tied for third in ice hockey tournament scoring with 5 points as Sweden posted a 3-0 record in preliminary play and gained the top seed. In the quarterfinals Wednesday, Sweden will face Slovenia, a first-time Olympic participant, which shut out Austria, 4-0, on Tuesday.Karlssons participation in the Sochi Games was jeopardized last year when his footwear foundered. In a game at Pittsburgh on Feb. 13, his left Achilles tendon was sliced by the skate blade of the Penguins Matt Cooke as they battled for the puck along the boards. Karlsson, then the leagues reigning Norris Trophy winner as the top defenseman, was wearing knit socks, which offered little resistance to a skate blade.When he returned to the ice, he was wearing cut-resistant socks.Unfortunately, I didnt wear it from the beginning, said Karlsson, 23, whose freakish injury led to a run in the N.H.L. of socks made out of materials like Kevlar and copper to protect the calves.Jimmy Howard, a goaltender on the United States Olympic team who plays for the Red Wings, was among the N.H.L. players who started wearing them. He said Detroits equipment manager had encouraged all of the players to switch to socks offering more protection. Howard was happy to comply, he said, given that around the net, you see skates going everywhere.Another American Olympic team member, James van Riemsdyk, a forward for the Toronto Maple Leafs, said he planned to start wearing the new socks next season. His decision was clinched, oddly, by a tendon injury his teammate Dave Bolland sustained in November while wearing the high-tech socks.ImageCredit...Gene J. Puskar/Associated PressIf not for the socks, perhaps Bollands injury would have been far worse. But that is not why van Riemsdyk said, Everything about it makes me a little queasy.He meant the equipment change, which is a scarier prospect than a freakish injury for players who are creatures of habit.In November, Karlsson signed with Stable 26, a company that sells footgear developed by a chiropractor, Daryl Sherman, who treats athletes including runners, hockey players, skiers and golfers. In addition to Karlsson, athletes at the Sochi Games wearing the companys socks include the downhill skier Jan Hudec, who won a bronze medal in the super-G, and Mikal Kingsbury, the silver medalist in freestyle skiing mens moguls.Karlsson says he likes that the socks are lightweight and comfortable, but he is working with the company to develop a more cut-resistant model, using a new material that could be available to the public by the end of the year.Hopefully within a couple of months, well have something thats going to be good enough for players to want to wear it all over the world, said Karlsson, who believes cut-resistant socks, like helmets, will eventually be mandatory in the N.H.L.It could be a tough sell. The Red Wings Daniel Alfredsson, 41, who played with Karlsson in Ottawa and has been reunited with him on the Swedish team here, played in the game when Karlsson was hurt. The image of Karlsson writhing in pain is seared in his memory.And yet, after experimenting with high-tech socks in practice, Alfredsson decided he was more comfortable risking injury than discomfort.I find them too hot, he said.Karlsson did not sweat making the switch. Its very rare that someone gets cut, he said. But Ive been cut twice now, and its not a fun thing to go through.Karlsson was told by his doctors last year that the tendon, which was 70 percent ruptured, would take six to eight months to heal. As usual, Karlsson was in a rush. He returned after 10 weeks, for three games in late April and the playoffs. When the league broke for the Olympics this month, he was the top-scoring defenseman with 55 points in 59 games.It wasnt until this year he could perform at the level hes capable of, Alfredsson said.Last Thursday, on the first anniversary of his injury, Karlsson practiced with his teammates and later attended a figure skating competition with Alfredsson.Its not something I put any focus on whatsoever, Karlsson said. Just moving forward.On Sunday, Karlsson gave his teammate Henrik Lundqvist, the Rangers goaltender, a lift around the Olympic Park on one of the bicycles made available to the athletes. He delivered Lundqvist back to the village safely, but the next day at practice gave the whole team a scare when he crashed into Lundqvist while trying to stop Loui Eriksson from scoring in a breakaway drill. The Bolshoi training rink grew deathly quiet for several seconds while Lundqvist got up.I think it looked worse than it was, Karlsson said, adding, I told him I was sorry about 500 times.Earlier in the same drill, Alfredsson fell while trying to catch Karlsson.He has one speed that most of us dont have, Alfredsson said. Thats probably his biggest asset is his skating and his ability as a defenseman to join the rush.The Swedish coach, Par Marts, smiled Monday when asked about Karlssons antics. Either hes on or off, thats it, he said. Nothing in between. | Sports | <s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> Credit...Jonathan Nackstrand/Agence France-Presse Getty ImagesFeb. 18, 2014SOCHI, Russia The Swedish defenseman Erik Karlsson moves like an ice dancer, his feet a blur of motion. He has a quick first step that allows him to jump into rushes like a 500-meter speedskater bursting off the starting line. Through the first three games of the Olympics, Karlssons feet did not fail him.He was tied for third in ice hockey tournament scoring with 5 points as Sweden posted a 3-0 record in preliminary play and gained the top seed. In the quarterfinals Wednesday, Sweden will face Slovenia, a first-time Olympic participant, which shut out Austria, 4-0, on Tuesday.Karlssons participation in the Sochi Games was jeopardized last year when his footwear foundered. In a game at Pittsburgh on Feb. 13, his left Achilles tendon was sliced by the skate blade of the Penguins Matt Cooke as they battled for the puck along the boards. Karlsson, then the leagues reigning Norris Trophy winner as the top defenseman, was wearing knit socks, which offered little resistance to a skate blade.When he returned to the ice, he was wearing cut-resistant socks.Unfortunately, I didnt wear it from the beginning, said Karlsson, 23, whose freakish injury led to a run in the N.H.L. of socks made out of materials like Kevlar and copper to protect the calves.Jimmy Howard, a goaltender on the United States Olympic team who plays for the Red Wings, was among the N.H.L. players who started wearing them. He said Detroits equipment manager had encouraged all of the players to switch to socks offering more protection. Howard was happy to comply, he said, given that around the net, you see skates going everywhere.Another American Olympic team member, James van Riemsdyk, a forward for the Toronto Maple Leafs, said he planned to start wearing the new socks next season. His decision was clinched, oddly, by a tendon injury his teammate Dave Bolland sustained in November while wearing the high-tech socks.ImageCredit...Gene J. Puskar/Associated PressIf not for the socks, perhaps Bollands injury would have been far worse. But that is not why van Riemsdyk said, Everything about it makes me a little queasy.He meant the equipment change, which is a scarier prospect than a freakish injury for players who are creatures of habit.In November, Karlsson signed with Stable 26, a company that sells footgear developed by a chiropractor, Daryl Sherman, who treats athletes including runners, hockey players, skiers and golfers. In addition to Karlsson, athletes at the Sochi Games wearing the companys socks include the downhill skier Jan Hudec, who won a bronze medal in the super-G, and Mikal Kingsbury, the silver medalist in freestyle skiing mens moguls.Karlsson says he likes that the socks are lightweight and comfortable, but he is working with the company to develop a more cut-resistant model, using a new material that could be available to the public by the end of the year.Hopefully within a couple of months, well have something thats going to be good enough for players to want to wear it all over the world, said Karlsson, who believes cut-resistant socks, like helmets, will eventually be mandatory in the N.H.L.It could be a tough sell. The Red Wings Daniel Alfredsson, 41, who played with Karlsson in Ottawa and has been reunited with him on the Swedish team here, played in the game when Karlsson was hurt. The image of Karlsson writhing in pain is seared in his memory.And yet, after experimenting with high-tech socks in practice, Alfredsson decided he was more comfortable risking injury than discomfort.I find them too hot, he said.Karlsson did not sweat making the switch. Its very rare that someone gets cut, he said. But Ive been cut twice now, and its not a fun thing to go through.Karlsson was told by his doctors last year that the tendon, which was 70 percent ruptured, would take six to eight months to heal. As usual, Karlsson was in a rush. He returned after 10 weeks, for three games in late April and the playoffs. When the league broke for the Olympics this month, he was the top-scoring defenseman with 55 points in 59 games.It wasnt until this year he could perform at the level hes capable of, Alfredsson said.Last Thursday, on the first anniversary of his injury, Karlsson practiced with his teammates and later attended a figure skating competition with Alfredsson.Its not something I put any focus on whatsoever, Karlsson said. Just moving forward.On Sunday, Karlsson gave his teammate Henrik Lundqvist, the Rangers goaltender, a lift around the Olympic Park on one of the bicycles made available to the athletes. He delivered Lundqvist back to the village safely, but the next day at practice gave the whole team a scare when he crashed into Lundqvist while trying to stop Loui Eriksson from scoring in a breakaway drill. The Bolshoi training rink grew deathly quiet for several seconds while Lundqvist got up.I think it looked worse than it was, Karlsson said, adding, I told him I was sorry about 500 times.Earlier in the same drill, Alfredsson fell while trying to catch Karlsson.He has one speed that most of us dont have, Alfredsson said. Thats probably his biggest asset is his skating and his ability as a defenseman to join the rush.The Swedish coach, Par Marts, smiled Monday when asked about Karlssons antics. Either hes on or off, thats it, he said. Nothing in between. [/INST] Sports </s> |
The agreement would end thousands of lawsuits against the three largest distributors and Johnson & Johnson and require them to pay billions for addiction treatment and prevention.Credit...U.S. Attorneys Office for Utah, via Associated PressPublished July 20, 2021Updated Nov. 9, 2021The three largest pharmaceutical distributors and Johnson & Johnson are on the verge of a $26 billion deal with states and municipalities that would settle thousands of lawsuits over their role in the opioid epidemic and pay for addiction and prevention services nationwide.An agreement could be announced later this week, although several people with direct knowledge of the talks cautioned that there were still details being negotiated.The settlement would not conclude all of the multifaceted nationwide opioid litigation but would end legal action against some of the companies with the deepest pockets in the pharmaceutical supply chain: the countrys major medical distributors, Cardinal Health, McKesson and AmerisourceBergen, along with the pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson.The distributors, which by law are supposed to monitor quantities of prescription drug shipments, have been accused of turning a blind eye for two decades while pharmacies across the country ordered millions of pills for their communities. Plaintiffs also allege that Johnson & Johnson, which used to contract with poppy growers in Tasmania to supply opioid materials to manufacturers and made its own fentanyl patches for pain patients, downplayed addictive properties to doctors as well as patients.Negotiations, which began more than two years ago, intensified this summer as trials opened in several states and overdose rates reached record levels.Unlike earlier settlement proposals, this one appears to have the critical backing of more than 40 states and a sweetener of $2 billion for plaintiffs attorneys. In recent weeks, many terms were nailed down and the fees for private lawyers in the cases a previous sticking point bumped up, prompting enthusiasm that an announcement was imminent, lawyers involved in the talks said.In a briefing with several reporters on Tuesday morning, lawyers for thousands of cities and counties were careful to use words like optimistic to describe the talks, saying that states had to agree first before local governments could even vote on the settlement. A statement from attorneys general of 10 states, including Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Tennessee, said the negotiations were progressing well and potentially nearing their completion.Cardinal Health declined to discuss the negotiations. The other distributors did not reply to requests for comment.Johnson & Johnson said in a statement, There continues to be progress toward finalizing this agreement and we remain committed to providing certainty for involved parties and critical assistance for families and communities in need.The company said the agreement would not be an admission of liability or wrongdoing and that it would continue to defend in cases brought by plaintiffs who were not part of the settlement.In court proceedings, the distributors have repeatedly argued that they were participants in the supply chain for drugs that were federally approved.A separate agreement between Native American tribes and the companies is still being negotiated.Even if the negotiators reach a deal, numerous steps are required before formal agreement, including voting by all of the thousands of plaintiffs. It includes carrot-stick incentives to induce more parties to come on board.The deal is contingent on agreement by a large majority of states. People involved in the talks say that eight or so states are still not on board, because they believe the amount of money the companies would pay is insufficient.Their proposal can be described in three words not good enough, said Bob Ferguson, the attorney general of Washington, which has a September trial scheduled against the distributors. It does not represent real accountability, and will not provide a transformative amount of money to help communities respond to the crisis they helped cause.Another contentious issue in the proposed deal is what is known as global peace the companies want assurance that a settlement would mean that plaintiffs would put down their litigating swords for good. They are asking that states ensure that local governments that have not brought cases against the companies, as well as those that have cases pending, refrain from future legal action against the companies over opioids.Once a state agrees to the deal, it would ask all of its local governments even municipalities that have not filed lawsuits to back it. Reimbursement would work on a tier: full payment is conditional on a states local governments signing on.For example, said Mr. Ferguson, most of the money that would be apportioned to his state would be contingent on Washingtons 39 counties and 281 cities signing on a very high bar.Many major players in the prescription opioid industry have yet to settle cases against them. Some manufacturers, like Purdue Pharma and Mallinckrodt, have sought bankruptcy protection. Teva, Allergan and Endo are on trial. Cases against pharmaceutical chains, such as CVS Health, Walgreens and Walmart, are even further from resolution.According to lawyers familiar with negotiations, Johnson & Johnson, which ended its relationship with poppy growers and stopped making its fentanyl patch and other opioids, would pay $3.7 billion in the first three years and $1.3 billion over the next six years.Collectively the distributors would pay $21 billion over 17 years. The fees of lawyers, who pursued and financed the costly litigation for years, would be deducted from the total figure and are expected to be paid more quickly than some funds for addiction treatment.The distributors would establish a third-party monitor to track their own and their competitors drug shipments, intended to quickly alert red-flag pill sales.It will provide an entirely new method of tracking narcotic drugs at a national level and will make data instantaneously available, said Joe Rice, a lawyer for many local governments who is on the negotiating team.The negotiations for the states have been led by New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Florida, Texas and California, among others.The negotiations were stalled for months over attorneys fees. Innumerable lawyers have contributed different amounts of work and have fought over who should get paid how much. Now, about $1.6 billion in fees and costs would be paid to private lawyers representing thousands of counties and municipalities, $50 million in costs and about $350 million to private lawyers who worked for states. (Many states are represented by their own salaried, government lawyers.)Another critical lever in advancing settlement terms has been the high-stakes gamble of a trial. The distributors have been locked in trial in a West Virginia federal court and in a New York state court. The West Virginia case is ongoing but on Tuesday, Letitia James, the attorney general for New York, announced a $1.179 billion settlement with the distributors that releases them from the case. That money would be deducted from the overall $26 billion settlement. Payments to New York could begin in two months, Ms. James said.A persistent tension in the talks has been over the division of funds among states and small governments, including cities and counties.The new settlement envisions a national formula for disbursing money to states and flexibility within each state to broker a deal with localities, so that the bulk of the funds is aimed at alleviating the opioid epidemic and preventing its recurrence.For months, states and counties elbowed each other, even as they fought with defendants. The distribution to each state now relies on extensive federal data and includes metrics like a states population, overdose deaths, opioid pill sales and disorders related to pain pill abuse.Most states will most likely work up their own disbursement plans. Ohio, North Carolina, Arizona, Texas, Florida and others have already brokered internal, state-specific formulas. Last month, the New York legislature passed bills that would ensure that all funds from the opioid litigation settlement would go into a locked box, to be used only to address the crisis.Johnson & Johnson is widely known as a company willing to try cases rather than settle, but it has faced rivers of adverse publicity recently: litigation over asbestos deaths related to its talcum powder, a recall of some sunscreens, and reports of rare adverse neurological events associated with its single-dose Covid vaccine. The company remains on trial in California state court but settled with the state of New York and two New York counties last month, on the eve of trial.The money for the New York settlement, $230 million, will be paid over nine years with an additional $33 million for lawyers costs and fees, and will be deducted from the national amount. | Health | <s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> The agreement would end thousands of lawsuits against the three largest distributors and Johnson & Johnson and require them to pay billions for addiction treatment and prevention.Credit...U.S. Attorneys Office for Utah, via Associated PressPublished July 20, 2021Updated Nov. 9, 2021The three largest pharmaceutical distributors and Johnson & Johnson are on the verge of a $26 billion deal with states and municipalities that would settle thousands of lawsuits over their role in the opioid epidemic and pay for addiction and prevention services nationwide.An agreement could be announced later this week, although several people with direct knowledge of the talks cautioned that there were still details being negotiated.The settlement would not conclude all of the multifaceted nationwide opioid litigation but would end legal action against some of the companies with the deepest pockets in the pharmaceutical supply chain: the countrys major medical distributors, Cardinal Health, McKesson and AmerisourceBergen, along with the pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson.The distributors, which by law are supposed to monitor quantities of prescription drug shipments, have been accused of turning a blind eye for two decades while pharmacies across the country ordered millions of pills for their communities. Plaintiffs also allege that Johnson & Johnson, which used to contract with poppy growers in Tasmania to supply opioid materials to manufacturers and made its own fentanyl patches for pain patients, downplayed addictive properties to doctors as well as patients.Negotiations, which began more than two years ago, intensified this summer as trials opened in several states and overdose rates reached record levels.Unlike earlier settlement proposals, this one appears to have the critical backing of more than 40 states and a sweetener of $2 billion for plaintiffs attorneys. In recent weeks, many terms were nailed down and the fees for private lawyers in the cases a previous sticking point bumped up, prompting enthusiasm that an announcement was imminent, lawyers involved in the talks said.In a briefing with several reporters on Tuesday morning, lawyers for thousands of cities and counties were careful to use words like optimistic to describe the talks, saying that states had to agree first before local governments could even vote on the settlement. A statement from attorneys general of 10 states, including Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Tennessee, said the negotiations were progressing well and potentially nearing their completion.Cardinal Health declined to discuss the negotiations. The other distributors did not reply to requests for comment.Johnson & Johnson said in a statement, There continues to be progress toward finalizing this agreement and we remain committed to providing certainty for involved parties and critical assistance for families and communities in need.The company said the agreement would not be an admission of liability or wrongdoing and that it would continue to defend in cases brought by plaintiffs who were not part of the settlement.In court proceedings, the distributors have repeatedly argued that they were participants in the supply chain for drugs that were federally approved.A separate agreement between Native American tribes and the companies is still being negotiated.Even if the negotiators reach a deal, numerous steps are required before formal agreement, including voting by all of the thousands of plaintiffs. It includes carrot-stick incentives to induce more parties to come on board.The deal is contingent on agreement by a large majority of states. People involved in the talks say that eight or so states are still not on board, because they believe the amount of money the companies would pay is insufficient.Their proposal can be described in three words not good enough, said Bob Ferguson, the attorney general of Washington, which has a September trial scheduled against the distributors. It does not represent real accountability, and will not provide a transformative amount of money to help communities respond to the crisis they helped cause.Another contentious issue in the proposed deal is what is known as global peace the companies want assurance that a settlement would mean that plaintiffs would put down their litigating swords for good. They are asking that states ensure that local governments that have not brought cases against the companies, as well as those that have cases pending, refrain from future legal action against the companies over opioids.Once a state agrees to the deal, it would ask all of its local governments even municipalities that have not filed lawsuits to back it. Reimbursement would work on a tier: full payment is conditional on a states local governments signing on.For example, said Mr. Ferguson, most of the money that would be apportioned to his state would be contingent on Washingtons 39 counties and 281 cities signing on a very high bar.Many major players in the prescription opioid industry have yet to settle cases against them. Some manufacturers, like Purdue Pharma and Mallinckrodt, have sought bankruptcy protection. Teva, Allergan and Endo are on trial. Cases against pharmaceutical chains, such as CVS Health, Walgreens and Walmart, are even further from resolution.According to lawyers familiar with negotiations, Johnson & Johnson, which ended its relationship with poppy growers and stopped making its fentanyl patch and other opioids, would pay $3.7 billion in the first three years and $1.3 billion over the next six years.Collectively the distributors would pay $21 billion over 17 years. The fees of lawyers, who pursued and financed the costly litigation for years, would be deducted from the total figure and are expected to be paid more quickly than some funds for addiction treatment.The distributors would establish a third-party monitor to track their own and their competitors drug shipments, intended to quickly alert red-flag pill sales.It will provide an entirely new method of tracking narcotic drugs at a national level and will make data instantaneously available, said Joe Rice, a lawyer for many local governments who is on the negotiating team.The negotiations for the states have been led by New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Florida, Texas and California, among others.The negotiations were stalled for months over attorneys fees. Innumerable lawyers have contributed different amounts of work and have fought over who should get paid how much. Now, about $1.6 billion in fees and costs would be paid to private lawyers representing thousands of counties and municipalities, $50 million in costs and about $350 million to private lawyers who worked for states. (Many states are represented by their own salaried, government lawyers.)Another critical lever in advancing settlement terms has been the high-stakes gamble of a trial. The distributors have been locked in trial in a West Virginia federal court and in a New York state court. The West Virginia case is ongoing but on Tuesday, Letitia James, the attorney general for New York, announced a $1.179 billion settlement with the distributors that releases them from the case. That money would be deducted from the overall $26 billion settlement. Payments to New York could begin in two months, Ms. James said.A persistent tension in the talks has been over the division of funds among states and small governments, including cities and counties.The new settlement envisions a national formula for disbursing money to states and flexibility within each state to broker a deal with localities, so that the bulk of the funds is aimed at alleviating the opioid epidemic and preventing its recurrence.For months, states and counties elbowed each other, even as they fought with defendants. The distribution to each state now relies on extensive federal data and includes metrics like a states population, overdose deaths, opioid pill sales and disorders related to pain pill abuse.Most states will most likely work up their own disbursement plans. Ohio, North Carolina, Arizona, Texas, Florida and others have already brokered internal, state-specific formulas. Last month, the New York legislature passed bills that would ensure that all funds from the opioid litigation settlement would go into a locked box, to be used only to address the crisis.Johnson & Johnson is widely known as a company willing to try cases rather than settle, but it has faced rivers of adverse publicity recently: litigation over asbestos deaths related to its talcum powder, a recall of some sunscreens, and reports of rare adverse neurological events associated with its single-dose Covid vaccine. The company remains on trial in California state court but settled with the state of New York and two New York counties last month, on the eve of trial.The money for the New York settlement, $230 million, will be paid over nine years with an additional $33 million for lawyers costs and fees, and will be deducted from the national amount. [/INST] Health </s> |
Roy Jones Jr. Close to Fighting Anderson Silva ... Just Needs Dana's OK 1/22/2018 TMZSports.com Roy Jones Jr. says a super-fight between him and Anderson Silva is ON ... as soon as they get Dana White's blessing. RJJ tells TMZ Sports he's already met with Anderson, and has a group of investors prepared to hammer out the details ... and the only thing holding up the scrap is Dana giving Silva the green light to fight outside the UFC. "Anderson wants it, I want it, so the only obstacle is Dana giving him the OK," Roy said. Roy says that since Conor McGregor was allowed to have a one-off boxing match with Floyd Mayweather, Silva -- one of the sport's all-time greats -- should get to also. FYI, we asked Silva if he'd take a non-UFC fight earlier this week ... and he didn't say no. 1/18/17 TMZSports.com | Entertainment | <s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> Roy Jones Jr. Close to Fighting Anderson Silva ... Just Needs Dana's OK 1/22/2018 TMZSports.com Roy Jones Jr. says a super-fight between him and Anderson Silva is ON ... as soon as they get Dana White's blessing. RJJ tells TMZ Sports he's already met with Anderson, and has a group of investors prepared to hammer out the details ... and the only thing holding up the scrap is Dana giving Silva the green light to fight outside the UFC. "Anderson wants it, I want it, so the only obstacle is Dana giving him the OK," Roy said. Roy says that since Conor McGregor was allowed to have a one-off boxing match with Floyd Mayweather, Silva -- one of the sport's all-time greats -- should get to also. FYI, we asked Silva if he'd take a non-UFC fight earlier this week ... and he didn't say no. 1/18/17 TMZSports.com [/INST] Entertainment </s> |
Credit...Clemens Bilan/EPA, via ShutterstockNov. 18, 2018BERLIN With three weeks until German conservatives vote on a new party leader, a race that has long been a back-room affair has been making headlines across Germany and beyond.As the Christian Democratic Union seeks to replace Angela Merkel, who is stepping down after 18 years, the party, and the country, is keenly aware that whoever succeeds her as party leader could well become the next chancellor of Germany.The three leading contenders started their campaigns in the northern Germany city of Lbeck on Thursday, the first of eight regional party conferences before delegates vote at a party congress on Dec. 7.At the moment, it is just about the party leader, said Ursula Mnch, director of the Academy for Political Education in Tutzing, but that person will potentially be the chancellor candidate, so it is actually about much more.Ms. Merkel has risen to become Europes most powerful leader over her 13 years as chancellor. She surprised Germany when she announced last month that she would step down as party chief in December and would not seek re-election as chancellor in 2021, when her term ends.Among the leading contenders are a traditionalist struggling to distance herself from the chancellor, a former rival of Ms. Merkels seeking to burnish his political credentials after a nine-year hiatus in finance, and a 38-year-old upstart who argues that the party needs to appeal to a new generation.The Christian Democrats bled support to the left and the far right in two state elections last month, and recent polls have shown them with the support of 26 percent of voters, down from nearly 33 percent in last years general election. Winning back disaffected voters and coming to terms with Ms. Merkels decision to allow more than one million migrants into the country in 2015 are among the major issues the partys next leader will have to face.ImageCredit...Wolfgang Kumm/DPA, via Agence France-Presse Getty ImagesPolitical analysts say the race will ultimately come down to two candidates, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer and Friedrich Merz. They earned the strongest applause at Thursdays meeting in Lbeck.Ms. Kramp-Karrenbauer, 56, has followed a traditional path among Christian Democrats, rising through the party ranks to win three state election campaigns on the way to a seven-year run as governor of Saarland. This year, she left regional politics for a stint as party general secretary in Berlin, a move Ms. Merkel had encouraged.But Ms. Kramp-Karrenbauers association with the chancellor may prove to be her biggest liability. She has been seeking to distance herself from Ms. Merkel recently, and on Thursday she called for increased domestic security and for a rejuvenation of conservative values.She also emphasized her history of winning difficult races in Saarland, Germanys smallest state, on the border with France. At the end of the day, what matters is whether you can win elections and in all honesty, I have made it through a lot of elections, against a lot of opposition, she told the public broadcaster ZDF last week. You can be rhetorically very gifted, but at the end of the day, you need something to show for it.That remark was clearly a jab aimed at Mr. Merz, 62, a charismatic speaker who is remembered for his approachability during a brief term as conservative floor leader that ended when Ms. Merkel ousted him in 2002.On Thursday, he laid out a five-point plan to attract more voters to the party, including winning back the roughly one million voters lost to the far-right party Alternative for Germany, or AfD, in the 2017 general election.Those are not nationalists or anti-Semites, those are voters who are disappointed with the conservatives, Mr. Merz said in an interview with the newspaper Bild that was published online on Wednesday. In the short term, we wont get rid of the AfD, but we can halve it.Yet in the same interview, he refused to answer a question about the size of the personal fortune he had amassed since leaving politics nine years ago, going on to lead the Germany office of BlackRock, considered the worlds largest private fund manager, and to become senior counsel at an international law firm.ImageCredit...Tobias Schwarz/Agence France-Presse Getty ImagesPressed on whether he was a millionaire many Germans are skeptical of extreme wealth, believing that social equality helps to ensure public peace he said only that his net worth was not below that.The third candidate, Jens Spahn, the current minister of public health, is calling for more open debate in the party, and an effort to attract more younger voters, who are increasingly heading to the Greens.I am offering a generational change, Mr. Spahn told party delegates gathered in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia on Nov. 7. Though he comes from the more conservative wing of the Christian Democratic Union, as an openly gay man who married his partner months after Germany changed the law to allow same-sex marriage, he brings a socially progressive face to the party.Although the candidates appeared largely to agree with one another during the debate on Thursday, that it even took place is part of an unusually democratic process for the Christian Democratic Union.The party was born out of the chaos in the immediate aftermath of World War II, intent on binding together people from disparate social backgrounds under an umbrella of shared Christian values. For decades, party leaders there have been only seven since 1950 were largely decided behind closed doors, rendering congress votes little more than a formality.There is no official crown prince or princess the race is truly open, said Stefan Marschall, a professor of politics at the Heinrich-Heine-University of Dsseldorf. Its as if a window had been thrown open and stirred up discussions and debates, including about the direction of the party, that were previously not taking place.Whoever emerges as the winner after Dec. 7 may determine whether the country faces a snap election. While Ms. Merkel has shown in the past year that she can work with Ms. Kramp-Karrenbauer, it would be hard to see her upholding her promise to serve out her term until the end of 2021 if Mr. Merz becomes the next party leader.And the center-left Social Democrats, who make up the other part of Ms. Merkels government, have indicated that they view Mr. Merz as unacceptably right-leaning, making their departure from the governing coalition more likely. | World | <s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> Credit...Clemens Bilan/EPA, via ShutterstockNov. 18, 2018BERLIN With three weeks until German conservatives vote on a new party leader, a race that has long been a back-room affair has been making headlines across Germany and beyond.As the Christian Democratic Union seeks to replace Angela Merkel, who is stepping down after 18 years, the party, and the country, is keenly aware that whoever succeeds her as party leader could well become the next chancellor of Germany.The three leading contenders started their campaigns in the northern Germany city of Lbeck on Thursday, the first of eight regional party conferences before delegates vote at a party congress on Dec. 7.At the moment, it is just about the party leader, said Ursula Mnch, director of the Academy for Political Education in Tutzing, but that person will potentially be the chancellor candidate, so it is actually about much more.Ms. Merkel has risen to become Europes most powerful leader over her 13 years as chancellor. She surprised Germany when she announced last month that she would step down as party chief in December and would not seek re-election as chancellor in 2021, when her term ends.Among the leading contenders are a traditionalist struggling to distance herself from the chancellor, a former rival of Ms. Merkels seeking to burnish his political credentials after a nine-year hiatus in finance, and a 38-year-old upstart who argues that the party needs to appeal to a new generation.The Christian Democrats bled support to the left and the far right in two state elections last month, and recent polls have shown them with the support of 26 percent of voters, down from nearly 33 percent in last years general election. Winning back disaffected voters and coming to terms with Ms. Merkels decision to allow more than one million migrants into the country in 2015 are among the major issues the partys next leader will have to face.ImageCredit...Wolfgang Kumm/DPA, via Agence France-Presse Getty ImagesPolitical analysts say the race will ultimately come down to two candidates, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer and Friedrich Merz. They earned the strongest applause at Thursdays meeting in Lbeck.Ms. Kramp-Karrenbauer, 56, has followed a traditional path among Christian Democrats, rising through the party ranks to win three state election campaigns on the way to a seven-year run as governor of Saarland. This year, she left regional politics for a stint as party general secretary in Berlin, a move Ms. Merkel had encouraged.But Ms. Kramp-Karrenbauers association with the chancellor may prove to be her biggest liability. She has been seeking to distance herself from Ms. Merkel recently, and on Thursday she called for increased domestic security and for a rejuvenation of conservative values.She also emphasized her history of winning difficult races in Saarland, Germanys smallest state, on the border with France. At the end of the day, what matters is whether you can win elections and in all honesty, I have made it through a lot of elections, against a lot of opposition, she told the public broadcaster ZDF last week. You can be rhetorically very gifted, but at the end of the day, you need something to show for it.That remark was clearly a jab aimed at Mr. Merz, 62, a charismatic speaker who is remembered for his approachability during a brief term as conservative floor leader that ended when Ms. Merkel ousted him in 2002.On Thursday, he laid out a five-point plan to attract more voters to the party, including winning back the roughly one million voters lost to the far-right party Alternative for Germany, or AfD, in the 2017 general election.Those are not nationalists or anti-Semites, those are voters who are disappointed with the conservatives, Mr. Merz said in an interview with the newspaper Bild that was published online on Wednesday. In the short term, we wont get rid of the AfD, but we can halve it.Yet in the same interview, he refused to answer a question about the size of the personal fortune he had amassed since leaving politics nine years ago, going on to lead the Germany office of BlackRock, considered the worlds largest private fund manager, and to become senior counsel at an international law firm.ImageCredit...Tobias Schwarz/Agence France-Presse Getty ImagesPressed on whether he was a millionaire many Germans are skeptical of extreme wealth, believing that social equality helps to ensure public peace he said only that his net worth was not below that.The third candidate, Jens Spahn, the current minister of public health, is calling for more open debate in the party, and an effort to attract more younger voters, who are increasingly heading to the Greens.I am offering a generational change, Mr. Spahn told party delegates gathered in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia on Nov. 7. Though he comes from the more conservative wing of the Christian Democratic Union, as an openly gay man who married his partner months after Germany changed the law to allow same-sex marriage, he brings a socially progressive face to the party.Although the candidates appeared largely to agree with one another during the debate on Thursday, that it even took place is part of an unusually democratic process for the Christian Democratic Union.The party was born out of the chaos in the immediate aftermath of World War II, intent on binding together people from disparate social backgrounds under an umbrella of shared Christian values. For decades, party leaders there have been only seven since 1950 were largely decided behind closed doors, rendering congress votes little more than a formality.There is no official crown prince or princess the race is truly open, said Stefan Marschall, a professor of politics at the Heinrich-Heine-University of Dsseldorf. Its as if a window had been thrown open and stirred up discussions and debates, including about the direction of the party, that were previously not taking place.Whoever emerges as the winner after Dec. 7 may determine whether the country faces a snap election. While Ms. Merkel has shown in the past year that she can work with Ms. Kramp-Karrenbauer, it would be hard to see her upholding her promise to serve out her term until the end of 2021 if Mr. Merz becomes the next party leader.And the center-left Social Democrats, who make up the other part of Ms. Merkels government, have indicated that they view Mr. Merz as unacceptably right-leaning, making their departure from the governing coalition more likely. [/INST] World </s> |
matterWastewater could provide early, painless and localized data about the rise or fall of coronavirus levels.Credit...Douglas Magno/Agence France-Presse Getty ImagesPublished May 1, 2020Updated May 13, 2020The world is eager to come out of lockdown. But if countries simply return to business as usual, new outbreaks of Covid-19 will follow. The only solution that public health experts see is to keep careful track of the coronavirus and clamp down on new flare-ups.The trouble is that the most obvious way to monitor the virus testing person by person has already proved to be a huge, expensive challenge. Experts say were nowhere near the scale we need to get a good picture of the pandemic.Now some scientists are looking for the virus not in our noses, blood or spit, but somewhere else: in our sewers.Its the signature of a whole community, said Krista Wigginton, an environmental engineer at the University of Michigan who has been finding the coronavirus in wastewater around the Bay Area in California.Water authorities and governments are in discussions with scientists and companies about tracking the pandemic through the detection of viruses in the sewer. Wastewater monitoring could provide early warnings of outbreaks. It could potentially give governments some of the data they need about when to end lockdowns and when to ratchet them back up.Measuring viruses in wastewater in effect tests an entire city or region at once. While only some people may get tested for the coronavirus on a given day, everyone uses the toilet.Its a great leveler, said Christobel Ferguson, chief innovation officer of the Water Research Foundation.This week, the foundation sponsored a virtual research summit, during which Dr. Wigginton and other experts shared their early results and developed a road map for improving their surveillance.For decades, public health workers have looked in sewage for signs of viral outbreaks. The World Health Organization has monitored polio viruses this way, to assess how well its vaccination campaigns have worked.In the early days, researchers had to run painstaking tests to find viruses in wastewater. They had to mix the water with cells so that the viruses could infect them. Then the researchers had to wait for the new viruses to emerge.Later, researchers were able to skip these experiments. They could simply fish out genetic material from the water, read its sequence, and determine what kind of virus they were dealing with. Even newer technology has made it possible to estimate the number of viruses by counting up the viral genes in a water sample.ImageCredit...Justin Sullivan/Getty ImagesIrene Xagoraraki, an environmental engineer at Michigan State University, uses this method to detect viruses in wastewater in Detroit. In a recent outbreak of hepatitis A, she found that the virus increased in the water about a week ahead of the rise in confirmed cases. You can predict the outbreak, she said.When the coronavirus began spreading from China, Dr. Xagoraraki and other experts began wondering if they might see it turn up in wastewater.The early reports about the coronavirus made the idea seemed plausible. Although the virus infects peoples airways first, it can eventually get into the intestines.The coronavirus has been detected in some infected peoples feces. Some early studies suggest that the virus becomes inactive by the time it gets to the sewer system. But it still carries genes that researchers can detect.We started before the virus entered our country, said Gertjan Medema of the KWR Water Research Institute in the Netherlands. He and his colleagues created a test for the coronavirus and began using it in wastewater in early February.They didnt get any positive results, which was reassuring. They could be confident that their test was specific enough not to be fooled by other viruses.After the Netherlands saw its first confirmed case on Feb. 27, Dr. Medema and his colleagues went back out to run more tests. They found the virus in the sewers of cities like Amsterdam and Utrecht.The researchers then went to remote towns without any known cases of Covid-19. They discovered the coronavirus up to six days before the first confirmed cases were found there.Since then, Dr. Medema and his colleagues have continued to track the viruses in the sewer systems. As the confirmed cases of Covid-19 have gone up in Amsterdam and Utrecht, they have found more virus genes in the wastewater.Researchers have reported similar results from countries including Australia, France, Spain and the United States.At the meeting, the consensus of experts was that its not yet possible to use viruses in wastewater to estimate how many people are infected.For one thing, researchers are still trying to figure out the average number of viruses that infected people shed in their feces. For another, its not clear how many viral genes survive the journey from a toilet to a wastewater treatment plant.I dont feel like were at a point where we can say, This is the concentration in the wastewater and this is the number of people with illness, Dr. Wigginton said.Nevertheless, the experts who attended the meeting agreed that sewers have a lot to tell us about the pandemic.The studies of Dr. Medema and others suggest that a weekly test of wastewater could serve as an early warning system for outbreaks.When cities or states come out of lockdown, they could check the sewers to follow the virus trend. An increase would tell them that people were infecting each other. Then you need to go back into quarantine, said Eric Alm, a M.I.T. microbiologist and the scientific director of BioBot, a company that tracks pathogens in wastewater.Previous experience with other viruses has taught researchers to be careful about making sense of these apparent trends. If a huge crowd comes into a city to watch a football game, for example, the wastewater system may see a spike of viruses that has nothing to do with a new outbreak.It requires good information, Dr. Medema said, but its a doable thing.As their testing becomes more reliable and precise, Dr. Medema and other researchers hope to zoom in on future outbreaks. Instead of looking at a wastewater treatment plant that handles an entire city or county, they may go down into manholes to monitor changes in individual neighborhoods.Conceivably, they might be able to zero in on nursing homes, factories and other places that have seen intense outbreaks.If we see a hot spot arising, Dr. Xagoraraki said, we can close down a particular area for a while, so you dont kill the whole economy of a whole state.[Like the Science Times page on Facebook. | Sign up for the Science Times newsletter.] | science | <s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> matterWastewater could provide early, painless and localized data about the rise or fall of coronavirus levels.Credit...Douglas Magno/Agence France-Presse Getty ImagesPublished May 1, 2020Updated May 13, 2020The world is eager to come out of lockdown. But if countries simply return to business as usual, new outbreaks of Covid-19 will follow. The only solution that public health experts see is to keep careful track of the coronavirus and clamp down on new flare-ups.The trouble is that the most obvious way to monitor the virus testing person by person has already proved to be a huge, expensive challenge. Experts say were nowhere near the scale we need to get a good picture of the pandemic.Now some scientists are looking for the virus not in our noses, blood or spit, but somewhere else: in our sewers.Its the signature of a whole community, said Krista Wigginton, an environmental engineer at the University of Michigan who has been finding the coronavirus in wastewater around the Bay Area in California.Water authorities and governments are in discussions with scientists and companies about tracking the pandemic through the detection of viruses in the sewer. Wastewater monitoring could provide early warnings of outbreaks. It could potentially give governments some of the data they need about when to end lockdowns and when to ratchet them back up.Measuring viruses in wastewater in effect tests an entire city or region at once. While only some people may get tested for the coronavirus on a given day, everyone uses the toilet.Its a great leveler, said Christobel Ferguson, chief innovation officer of the Water Research Foundation.This week, the foundation sponsored a virtual research summit, during which Dr. Wigginton and other experts shared their early results and developed a road map for improving their surveillance.For decades, public health workers have looked in sewage for signs of viral outbreaks. The World Health Organization has monitored polio viruses this way, to assess how well its vaccination campaigns have worked.In the early days, researchers had to run painstaking tests to find viruses in wastewater. They had to mix the water with cells so that the viruses could infect them. Then the researchers had to wait for the new viruses to emerge.Later, researchers were able to skip these experiments. They could simply fish out genetic material from the water, read its sequence, and determine what kind of virus they were dealing with. Even newer technology has made it possible to estimate the number of viruses by counting up the viral genes in a water sample.ImageCredit...Justin Sullivan/Getty ImagesIrene Xagoraraki, an environmental engineer at Michigan State University, uses this method to detect viruses in wastewater in Detroit. In a recent outbreak of hepatitis A, she found that the virus increased in the water about a week ahead of the rise in confirmed cases. You can predict the outbreak, she said.When the coronavirus began spreading from China, Dr. Xagoraraki and other experts began wondering if they might see it turn up in wastewater.The early reports about the coronavirus made the idea seemed plausible. Although the virus infects peoples airways first, it can eventually get into the intestines.The coronavirus has been detected in some infected peoples feces. Some early studies suggest that the virus becomes inactive by the time it gets to the sewer system. But it still carries genes that researchers can detect.We started before the virus entered our country, said Gertjan Medema of the KWR Water Research Institute in the Netherlands. He and his colleagues created a test for the coronavirus and began using it in wastewater in early February.They didnt get any positive results, which was reassuring. They could be confident that their test was specific enough not to be fooled by other viruses.After the Netherlands saw its first confirmed case on Feb. 27, Dr. Medema and his colleagues went back out to run more tests. They found the virus in the sewers of cities like Amsterdam and Utrecht.The researchers then went to remote towns without any known cases of Covid-19. They discovered the coronavirus up to six days before the first confirmed cases were found there.Since then, Dr. Medema and his colleagues have continued to track the viruses in the sewer systems. As the confirmed cases of Covid-19 have gone up in Amsterdam and Utrecht, they have found more virus genes in the wastewater.Researchers have reported similar results from countries including Australia, France, Spain and the United States.At the meeting, the consensus of experts was that its not yet possible to use viruses in wastewater to estimate how many people are infected.For one thing, researchers are still trying to figure out the average number of viruses that infected people shed in their feces. For another, its not clear how many viral genes survive the journey from a toilet to a wastewater treatment plant.I dont feel like were at a point where we can say, This is the concentration in the wastewater and this is the number of people with illness, Dr. Wigginton said.Nevertheless, the experts who attended the meeting agreed that sewers have a lot to tell us about the pandemic.The studies of Dr. Medema and others suggest that a weekly test of wastewater could serve as an early warning system for outbreaks.When cities or states come out of lockdown, they could check the sewers to follow the virus trend. An increase would tell them that people were infecting each other. Then you need to go back into quarantine, said Eric Alm, a M.I.T. microbiologist and the scientific director of BioBot, a company that tracks pathogens in wastewater.Previous experience with other viruses has taught researchers to be careful about making sense of these apparent trends. If a huge crowd comes into a city to watch a football game, for example, the wastewater system may see a spike of viruses that has nothing to do with a new outbreak.It requires good information, Dr. Medema said, but its a doable thing.As their testing becomes more reliable and precise, Dr. Medema and other researchers hope to zoom in on future outbreaks. Instead of looking at a wastewater treatment plant that handles an entire city or county, they may go down into manholes to monitor changes in individual neighborhoods.Conceivably, they might be able to zero in on nursing homes, factories and other places that have seen intense outbreaks.If we see a hot spot arising, Dr. Xagoraraki said, we can close down a particular area for a while, so you dont kill the whole economy of a whole state.[Like the Science Times page on Facebook. | Sign up for the Science Times newsletter.] [/INST] science </s> |
Technology|Google Sets Limit on How Long It Will Store Some Datahttps://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/24/technology/google-data-storage.htmlThe internet company has long been criticized about how much information it keeps on users. The change applies only to new accounts.Credit...Jason Henry for The New York TimesJune 24, 2020OAKLAND, Calif. After years of criticism about how it keeps a record of what people do online, Google said it would start automatically deleting location history and records of web and app activity as well as voice recordings on new accounts after 18 months.The limited change, announced on Wednesday, comes after Google introduced an option last year to allow users to automatically delete data related to their web searches, requests made with the companys virtual assistant and their location history. At the time, it offered users the ability to erase the data after three months or 18 months.The policy sets Google accounts to delete that data by default on new accounts, instead of requiring users to go into the products settings to change to an option to delete. The settings on existing accounts will remain unchanged.Google, which boasts that it has more than one billion monthly users for seven of its services, said it did not alter the settings for existing accounts because it did not want to upset users with an unexpected change. However, the company said it planned to alert users to the ability to change the deletion settings in emails and promotions on its products.The shift addresses the power of defaults, or predetermined choices made for the user, to guide peoples behavior in how they use online services. Some users never tinker with the settings, which means they do not exercise choice in the level of privacy or data collection that they prefer.While critics have argued that Google collects an abundance of data to improve the targeting of advertisement to make more money, the company has said that user data is important to personalize products and make it more useful.In the announcement on Wednesday, Sundar Pichai, chief executive of Googles parent company, Alphabet, said the company was challenging ourselves to make helpful products with less data.Google said it would also change the default setting on new YouTube accounts to erase viewing history after three years, although users can choose to delete that record after three months, 18 months or choose not to delete it at all.The company also announced other efforts aimed at making it easier to manage online privacy, including new features to make it easier to enable incognito mode a more private form of browsing in several of its products. Google said it would also add a feature to help users learn their privacy settings from its search engine by typing in a query like Google Privacy Checkup. | Tech | <s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> Technology|Google Sets Limit on How Long It Will Store Some Datahttps://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/24/technology/google-data-storage.htmlThe internet company has long been criticized about how much information it keeps on users. The change applies only to new accounts.Credit...Jason Henry for The New York TimesJune 24, 2020OAKLAND, Calif. After years of criticism about how it keeps a record of what people do online, Google said it would start automatically deleting location history and records of web and app activity as well as voice recordings on new accounts after 18 months.The limited change, announced on Wednesday, comes after Google introduced an option last year to allow users to automatically delete data related to their web searches, requests made with the companys virtual assistant and their location history. At the time, it offered users the ability to erase the data after three months or 18 months.The policy sets Google accounts to delete that data by default on new accounts, instead of requiring users to go into the products settings to change to an option to delete. The settings on existing accounts will remain unchanged.Google, which boasts that it has more than one billion monthly users for seven of its services, said it did not alter the settings for existing accounts because it did not want to upset users with an unexpected change. However, the company said it planned to alert users to the ability to change the deletion settings in emails and promotions on its products.The shift addresses the power of defaults, or predetermined choices made for the user, to guide peoples behavior in how they use online services. Some users never tinker with the settings, which means they do not exercise choice in the level of privacy or data collection that they prefer.While critics have argued that Google collects an abundance of data to improve the targeting of advertisement to make more money, the company has said that user data is important to personalize products and make it more useful.In the announcement on Wednesday, Sundar Pichai, chief executive of Googles parent company, Alphabet, said the company was challenging ourselves to make helpful products with less data.Google said it would also change the default setting on new YouTube accounts to erase viewing history after three years, although users can choose to delete that record after three months, 18 months or choose not to delete it at all.The company also announced other efforts aimed at making it easier to manage online privacy, including new features to make it easier to enable incognito mode a more private form of browsing in several of its products. Google said it would also add a feature to help users learn their privacy settings from its search engine by typing in a query like Google Privacy Checkup. [/INST] Tech </s> |
DealBook|Wall Streets Debt Restructuring Fight Heads to Washingtonhttps://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/08/business/dealbook/wall-streets-debt-restructuring-fight-heads-to-washington.htmlDec. 7, 2015Credit...Julie Jacobson/Associated PressProposed changes to an obscure Depression-era law are causing a ruckus among the Wall Street investment funds that are battling over the debt restructuring at Caesars Entertainment and other companies.Tucked away in the omnibus spending bill in Washington is an amendment to that law, the Trust Indenture Act of 1939, that critics say would hand a victory to Apollo Global Management, which owns the casino company, at the expense of some bondholders.Hedge funds and other bondholders have been at odds in the Caesars restructuring, which concerns about $10 billion in bond indentures. Six other restructurings could also be affected if the amendment is approved, including that of for-profit college operator Education Management Corporation, which is backed by the private equity giant Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Company. Andrew Milgram, the managing partner of Marblegate Asset Management, a bondholder in the Education Management case, said in a statement, It is a great concern to us that a 79-year-old law would be amended retroactively, without legislative review or public debate, by the back-room lobbying efforts of one or two special interest groups.Bondholders often work with companies to negotiate out-of-court debt restructurings that help the companies avoid bankruptcy. But not all bondholders are involved in those talks, and not all bondholders necessarily agree to deals uniformly.In the case of Caesars and other restructurings, some bondholders have battled over the guarantees they had on their debt and the transfer of certain assets, citing the Trust Indenture Act, which protects creditors from transactions that limit their ability to collect principal or interest payments.ImageCredit...John Locher/Associated PressThe amendment that made its way into the omnibus spending bill aims to make it harder for some bondholders to challenge restructuring arrangements.Just before Thanksgiving, an earlier version of the amendment appeared in highway spending legislation. But that version was not in the highway bill Congress approved last week.Another version of the Trust Indenture amendment was added to the omnibus spending legislation last weekend. Congress must vote on the spending bill by the end of this week. Several people said support for the amendment is coming from the office of Senator Harry Reid, the Nevada Democrat. Calls to Mr. Reids office seeking comment were not returned. The current amendment makes the changes retroactive to Dec. 1. The earlier version made them retroactive to any restructuring that had not been approved and completed in court.Several restructurings are still in play that would be affected by the amendments fate. It has incited debate on each side of the issue.Courts recently have favored the dissenting bondholders. The cases are being appealed, but passage of the amendment to the Trust Indenture Act would bypass the court proceedings. That has led the funds to complain that powerful private equity interests are trying to alter important aspects of the restructuring process without public debate.Mark J. Roe, a professor at Harvard Law School, said he agreed that the Trust Indenture Act could use changes, like adding a provision that says bondholders should be able to vote on whether to accept a debt modification deal. But, he said, the proposed amendment isnt a good result for the bond market in general.Others say the recent court decisions give bondholders too much leverage in the form of veto power over debt negotiations, which is bound to complicate restructuring efforts and could force more companies into costly Chapter 11 bankruptcy. | Business | <s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> DealBook|Wall Streets Debt Restructuring Fight Heads to Washingtonhttps://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/08/business/dealbook/wall-streets-debt-restructuring-fight-heads-to-washington.htmlDec. 7, 2015Credit...Julie Jacobson/Associated PressProposed changes to an obscure Depression-era law are causing a ruckus among the Wall Street investment funds that are battling over the debt restructuring at Caesars Entertainment and other companies.Tucked away in the omnibus spending bill in Washington is an amendment to that law, the Trust Indenture Act of 1939, that critics say would hand a victory to Apollo Global Management, which owns the casino company, at the expense of some bondholders.Hedge funds and other bondholders have been at odds in the Caesars restructuring, which concerns about $10 billion in bond indentures. Six other restructurings could also be affected if the amendment is approved, including that of for-profit college operator Education Management Corporation, which is backed by the private equity giant Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Company. Andrew Milgram, the managing partner of Marblegate Asset Management, a bondholder in the Education Management case, said in a statement, It is a great concern to us that a 79-year-old law would be amended retroactively, without legislative review or public debate, by the back-room lobbying efforts of one or two special interest groups.Bondholders often work with companies to negotiate out-of-court debt restructurings that help the companies avoid bankruptcy. But not all bondholders are involved in those talks, and not all bondholders necessarily agree to deals uniformly.In the case of Caesars and other restructurings, some bondholders have battled over the guarantees they had on their debt and the transfer of certain assets, citing the Trust Indenture Act, which protects creditors from transactions that limit their ability to collect principal or interest payments.ImageCredit...John Locher/Associated PressThe amendment that made its way into the omnibus spending bill aims to make it harder for some bondholders to challenge restructuring arrangements.Just before Thanksgiving, an earlier version of the amendment appeared in highway spending legislation. But that version was not in the highway bill Congress approved last week.Another version of the Trust Indenture amendment was added to the omnibus spending legislation last weekend. Congress must vote on the spending bill by the end of this week. Several people said support for the amendment is coming from the office of Senator Harry Reid, the Nevada Democrat. Calls to Mr. Reids office seeking comment were not returned. The current amendment makes the changes retroactive to Dec. 1. The earlier version made them retroactive to any restructuring that had not been approved and completed in court.Several restructurings are still in play that would be affected by the amendments fate. It has incited debate on each side of the issue.Courts recently have favored the dissenting bondholders. The cases are being appealed, but passage of the amendment to the Trust Indenture Act would bypass the court proceedings. That has led the funds to complain that powerful private equity interests are trying to alter important aspects of the restructuring process without public debate.Mark J. Roe, a professor at Harvard Law School, said he agreed that the Trust Indenture Act could use changes, like adding a provision that says bondholders should be able to vote on whether to accept a debt modification deal. But, he said, the proposed amendment isnt a good result for the bond market in general.Others say the recent court decisions give bondholders too much leverage in the form of veto power over debt negotiations, which is bound to complicate restructuring efforts and could force more companies into costly Chapter 11 bankruptcy. [/INST] Business </s> |
Credit...Reginald Stuart/The New York TimesDec. 9, 2015C. Gerald Fraser, who covered the aftermath of the bloody Attica prison uprising in upstate New York and the pioneering presidential campaign of Shirley Chisholm in his 24 years as a reporter for The New York Times, died on Tuesday in the Bronx. He was 90.His partner, M. Phyllis Cunningham, said the cause was complications of cancer.Before joining The Times in 1967, Mr. Fraser reported for The Daily News in New York, covering riots in Harlem and civil rights marches in Alabama.The Times hired him as a metropolitan reporter; one of his beats was covering the courts. He also wrote about the condition of black prisoners, including those involved in the 1971 Attica rebellion. His reporting on the Chisholm campaign, in 1972, traced the making of political history: Ms. Chisholm, the first black woman to serve in Congress, was the first woman to seek the Democratic presidential nomination.He later worked in The Timess cultural news department and wrote columns for the weekly television guide and the Sunday Book Review.When Mr. Fraser joined the paper, he became one of only two black reporters on the staff at that time. The other, Thomas A. Johnson, had been hired a year earlier. Mr. Fraser became a vocal advocate for improving coverage of issues important to blacks and expanding opportunities for black journalists.When he was hired by The Times in 1967, it was the summer in which Newark exploded, he recalled in an interview with the Robert C. Maynard Institute for Journalism Education, adding that many blacks in and out of newsrooms across the country were stirred by appeals for black power.We wanted to identify with a community and people who were calling themselves black, he said.Charles Gerald Fraser Jr. was born in Boston on July 30, 1925, the son of Caribbean immigrants. His father, a cook, came from Guyana. His mother, the former Bernice Love, was a seamstress from Jamaica. A great-grandfather had founded the newspaper The Jamaica Advocate, and Mr. Fraser recalled that his family subscribed to three newspapers, which he read cover to cover.Attending the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Mr. Fraser worked on the student newspaper and earned a bachelors degree in economics in 1949. He later earned a masters degree at what was then the New School for Social Research in New York.In another interview with the Maynard Institute, Mr. Fraser recalled that most mainstream newspapers were not hiring blacks in the 1950s. But the Urban League, he said, managed to arrange an interview for him at The Boston Globe, where he had worked as a copy boy in high school.Arriving for the interview, he said, he was met by a man who asked him, in a rich Irish brogue, his purpose for being there.I want to get a job, he told the man. The man replied: Oh, you cant get a job here. Youre not in the janitors union. After nearly three years of washing pots and pans and working in a post office, Mr. Fraser landed a job in 1952 as a reporter for The Amsterdam News, the Harlem-based weekly, whose editor was also a Wisconsin alumnus. He worked there until 1956.Mr. Fraser later edited a hotel workers union newspaper and covered the United Nations for West Indian periodicals before being hired by The Daily News.He left The Times in 1991 and joined Earth Times, a monthly that reported on environmental and development issues at the United Nations. He became a senior editor there.Mr. Fraser also taught at Columbia Universitys Graduate School of Journalism and at John Jay College of Criminal Justice of the City University of New York.Mr. Fraser, who died at Calvary Hospital, lived in Manhattan.He married Geraldine McCarthy, who died in 1981. They had two children, who survive him: Charles Gerald Fraser III and Jetta Christine Fraser. Besides Ms. Cunningham, he is survived by their daughter, Maurella Cunningham-Fraser; three grandchildren; and a brother, Walter. | Business | <s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> Credit...Reginald Stuart/The New York TimesDec. 9, 2015C. Gerald Fraser, who covered the aftermath of the bloody Attica prison uprising in upstate New York and the pioneering presidential campaign of Shirley Chisholm in his 24 years as a reporter for The New York Times, died on Tuesday in the Bronx. He was 90.His partner, M. Phyllis Cunningham, said the cause was complications of cancer.Before joining The Times in 1967, Mr. Fraser reported for The Daily News in New York, covering riots in Harlem and civil rights marches in Alabama.The Times hired him as a metropolitan reporter; one of his beats was covering the courts. He also wrote about the condition of black prisoners, including those involved in the 1971 Attica rebellion. His reporting on the Chisholm campaign, in 1972, traced the making of political history: Ms. Chisholm, the first black woman to serve in Congress, was the first woman to seek the Democratic presidential nomination.He later worked in The Timess cultural news department and wrote columns for the weekly television guide and the Sunday Book Review.When Mr. Fraser joined the paper, he became one of only two black reporters on the staff at that time. The other, Thomas A. Johnson, had been hired a year earlier. Mr. Fraser became a vocal advocate for improving coverage of issues important to blacks and expanding opportunities for black journalists.When he was hired by The Times in 1967, it was the summer in which Newark exploded, he recalled in an interview with the Robert C. Maynard Institute for Journalism Education, adding that many blacks in and out of newsrooms across the country were stirred by appeals for black power.We wanted to identify with a community and people who were calling themselves black, he said.Charles Gerald Fraser Jr. was born in Boston on July 30, 1925, the son of Caribbean immigrants. His father, a cook, came from Guyana. His mother, the former Bernice Love, was a seamstress from Jamaica. A great-grandfather had founded the newspaper The Jamaica Advocate, and Mr. Fraser recalled that his family subscribed to three newspapers, which he read cover to cover.Attending the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Mr. Fraser worked on the student newspaper and earned a bachelors degree in economics in 1949. He later earned a masters degree at what was then the New School for Social Research in New York.In another interview with the Maynard Institute, Mr. Fraser recalled that most mainstream newspapers were not hiring blacks in the 1950s. But the Urban League, he said, managed to arrange an interview for him at The Boston Globe, where he had worked as a copy boy in high school.Arriving for the interview, he said, he was met by a man who asked him, in a rich Irish brogue, his purpose for being there.I want to get a job, he told the man. The man replied: Oh, you cant get a job here. Youre not in the janitors union. After nearly three years of washing pots and pans and working in a post office, Mr. Fraser landed a job in 1952 as a reporter for The Amsterdam News, the Harlem-based weekly, whose editor was also a Wisconsin alumnus. He worked there until 1956.Mr. Fraser later edited a hotel workers union newspaper and covered the United Nations for West Indian periodicals before being hired by The Daily News.He left The Times in 1991 and joined Earth Times, a monthly that reported on environmental and development issues at the United Nations. He became a senior editor there.Mr. Fraser also taught at Columbia Universitys Graduate School of Journalism and at John Jay College of Criminal Justice of the City University of New York.Mr. Fraser, who died at Calvary Hospital, lived in Manhattan.He married Geraldine McCarthy, who died in 1981. They had two children, who survive him: Charles Gerald Fraser III and Jetta Christine Fraser. Besides Ms. Cunningham, he is survived by their daughter, Maurella Cunningham-Fraser; three grandchildren; and a brother, Walter. [/INST] Business </s> |
N.B.A.|Knicks Return Seeking a Revival and, Maybe, Helphttps://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/18/sports/basketball/knicks-return-seeking-a-revival-and-maybe-help.htmlCredit...Ben Solomon for The New York TimesFeb. 17, 2014The All-Star break did not erase the fact that the Knicks have lost five of their last six games. But they reconvened for practice Monday in Memphis, hopeful that the time off had put them in a better frame of mind entering Tuesdays game against the Grizzlies.The Knicks (20-32) are two and a half games behind the Charlotte Bobcats for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. At the start of the season, the Knicks sounded determined to repeat as Atlantic Division champions. Now, they merely want to qualify for the postseason, their struggles only fueling speculation about Coach Mike Woodsons job security.While Woodson made the trip to Memphis, Kenyon Martin did not because of chronic ankle problems. In addition, Woodson told reporters that Iman Shumpert was questionable to play with an injured hip flexor. J. R. Smith, who fractured his cheekbone against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Feb. 9, said that he would play after sitting out last Wednesdays loss to the Sacramento Kings because of an ill-fitted face mask.The Knicks could also be searching for help particularly at the point guard position, given Raymond Feltons woes before Thursdays trade deadline.While most of the Knicks were able to decompress over the break, two players stayed busy. On Friday, Tim Hardaway Jr. scored a game-high 36 points in the Rising Stars challenge. On Sunday, Carmelo Anthony set an All-Star Game record with eight 3-pointers in the Easts 163-155 victory over the West.It was a great feeling, he said after the game. Youre up there in New York, and Ive been telling you that it was going to be hard for me to try and enjoy the weekend, but I did. I found a way. The guys who were part of the weekend did a great job of just getting me through it and keeping me positive.He added, And now its back to the grind. | Sports | <s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> N.B.A.|Knicks Return Seeking a Revival and, Maybe, Helphttps://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/18/sports/basketball/knicks-return-seeking-a-revival-and-maybe-help.htmlCredit...Ben Solomon for The New York TimesFeb. 17, 2014The All-Star break did not erase the fact that the Knicks have lost five of their last six games. But they reconvened for practice Monday in Memphis, hopeful that the time off had put them in a better frame of mind entering Tuesdays game against the Grizzlies.The Knicks (20-32) are two and a half games behind the Charlotte Bobcats for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. At the start of the season, the Knicks sounded determined to repeat as Atlantic Division champions. Now, they merely want to qualify for the postseason, their struggles only fueling speculation about Coach Mike Woodsons job security.While Woodson made the trip to Memphis, Kenyon Martin did not because of chronic ankle problems. In addition, Woodson told reporters that Iman Shumpert was questionable to play with an injured hip flexor. J. R. Smith, who fractured his cheekbone against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Feb. 9, said that he would play after sitting out last Wednesdays loss to the Sacramento Kings because of an ill-fitted face mask.The Knicks could also be searching for help particularly at the point guard position, given Raymond Feltons woes before Thursdays trade deadline.While most of the Knicks were able to decompress over the break, two players stayed busy. On Friday, Tim Hardaway Jr. scored a game-high 36 points in the Rising Stars challenge. On Sunday, Carmelo Anthony set an All-Star Game record with eight 3-pointers in the Easts 163-155 victory over the West.It was a great feeling, he said after the game. Youre up there in New York, and Ive been telling you that it was going to be hard for me to try and enjoy the weekend, but I did. I found a way. The guys who were part of the weekend did a great job of just getting me through it and keeping me positive.He added, And now its back to the grind. [/INST] Sports </s> |
In swimmings finale, the U.S. men keep their unbeaten streak alive, and Emma McKeon gets her 7th medal.Credit...Doug Mills/The New York TimesJuly 31, 2021TOKYO The medals, dozens of them, arrived in singles and in bunches, in short races and long ones, in medleys and relays. But every day, it seemed, the United States and Australia tossed a few more on the pile. Sunday was no different.Emma McKeon of Australia became the second woman to win seven medals in a single Olympics, and Caeleb Dressel and Bobby Finke of the United States added more gold medals to the American haul on a frantic final day of the swimming competition at the Tokyo Aquatics Center. Mens 50m Freestyle Womens 50m Freestyle Mens 1,500m Freestyle Womens 4100m Medley Relay Mens 4100m Medley Relay The United States finished the meet by winning the mens 4x100-meter medley relay in world-record time, extending an American unbeaten streak in the event. The victory also gave Dressel, who won the mens 50 freestyle in Sundays opening race, his fifth gold medal of the Games.Dressel, 24, became only the fifth American to win five golds in a single Games, joining a list that includes some of the greatest Olympians in the countrys history: the speedskater Eric Heiden and the swimmers Mark Spitz, Matt Biondi and Michael Phelps. (Phelps accomplished the feat three times.)ImageCredit...Doug Mills/The New York TimesIm proud of myself, Dressel said afterward. I feel like I reached what my potential was at these Games, and it was really fun racing.The American swimmers finished the Olympic meet with 30 total medals, down from the 33 they won in Rio de Janeiro in 2016. And their final total of 11 gold medals fell short of the 16 they took home from the last Games.In some ways, then, the team has looked like a group in transition. Afterward, the coaches said they hoped their young athletes had gained valuable experience for the next Olympics, now only three years away.Of course wed love to have more golds here, just like wed love to have more medals in general, said Greg Meehan, the womens team coach. I think we had four fourth places.ImageCredit...Doug Mills/The New York TimesMcKeon, 27, had started the day knowing that a top-three finish in her two races the 50 free and the 4x100 medley relay would make her only the second woman, after the Soviet gymnast Maria Gorokhovskaya in 1952, to win seven medals at a single Olympics. By days end, she had won gold in both.In her first race, McKeon emerged from a highly competitive field to take gold in the womens 50 freestyle, finishing with a time of 23.81 seconds, an Olympic record. Sarah Sjostrom of Sweden was second (24.07 seconds) and Pernille Blume of Denmark, who won gold in 2016, took third (24.21). Abbey Weitzeil, the only American in the final, finished last.Later, in the womens 4x100 medley relay, Australia won the gold medal with a time of 3:51.60. The American women, who won gold in the event at the 2016 Games, settled for the silver. Canada took the bronze.McKeon erased a small U.S. lead with her butterfly leg, and Cate Campbell delivered the final touch after a powerful closing freestyle. While McKeon picked up her seventh medal and her fourth gold in the race, Campbell collected her fourth. She finished the Games with three golds and a bronze.ImageCredit...Doug Mills/The New York TimesMcKeon said the day had felt surreal. To be in that kind of company, its an honor, she said of tying a record for medals at a single Games. And I know Ive worked hard for it.Her total ran Australias medal count to 20, with nine golds, meaning that the Aussies and the Americans together had won nearly half of the medals available (50, of 105) and more than half the golds.ImageCredit...Doug Mills/The New York TimesWedged between some of the superstars of the sport, Finke, 21, had been a relative unknown before this month. On Sunday, he won his second gold medal by prevailing in the mens 1,500-meter freestyle after an intense three-man showdown with Mykhailo Romanchuk of Ukraine and Florian Wellbrock of Germany.Finke hung close for most of the race and then propelled himself into the lead with his final turn. Finding a new gear after 29 relentlessly steady laps, he beat his rivals to the wall. He finished in 14 minutes 39.65 seconds, a body length ahead of Romanchuk (14:40.66) and Wellbrock (14:40.91).His victory, and Katie Ledeckys in the womens event, gave the United States a sweep of the grueling 30-lap swimming marathons, the longest races in the competition.I dont know how Im going to be able to process things, Finke said afterward. I came into to this meet not really expecting to medal for anything.Dressel had entered the meet with much higher expectations. He opened the session by winning his fourth gold medal of the Games with a lung-busting sprint to victory in the 50 free. Diving off the blocks, he surfaced in the lead and never gave it up or took a breath as he finished in 21.07 seconds, an Olympic record. Florent Manaudou of France finished second in 21.55 seconds, and Bruno Fratus of Brazil (21.57) came in third.When Dressel learned that he had won, he flexed his left bicep and then hustled out of the pool to prepare for the days final race, the 4x100 medley relay.Dressel had entered the pool Sunday having already won three gold medals at the Games, in the 4x100 freestyle relay, the 100 free and the 100 butterfly. His time in the 100 butterfly, 49.45 seconds, was also a world record.ImageCredit...Doug Mills/The New York TimesHistory was on the line in the final event, the mens 4x100 medley relay. The American men entered the competition having won gold in every Olympics they had competed in they did not participate in 1980, when the United States boycotted the Moscow Olympics and kept the streak alive with a world record, winning easily in 3:26.78.Despite their dominance, the Americans had entered the race as underdogs. The Americans had nearly missed the final, in fact, qualifying seventh with a different set of swimmers. That left the group that strode onto the deck for the final Ryan Murphy, Michael Andrew, Dressel and Zach Apple in an outside position, in Lane 1, but with a better-than-outside shot.Dave Durden, the head coach of the mens team, said he knew the team had a shot when he looked at splits from the previous world-record time and saw that each of the American men was individually capable of beating them.All we wanted them to do was swim at their level, said Durden, who added that Dressels earlier swim had freed him mentally to perform well in the relay.Murphy, the world-record holder in the 100 backstroke, staked the Americans to an early lead, before Adam Peaty of Britain, the worlds fastest man in the breaststroke, immediately erased the advantage by the races halfway mark.But the Americans were just too deep. Dressel powered back in the butterfly, and Apple kept the United States streak alive with a strong closing freestyle leg. Britain won the silver and Italy took the bronze.After a grueling week and a half of swimming, and an Olympic cycle that lasted five years instead of four, Dressel joked that he was ready to go home.Im going to take a little break here, he said, laughing. Im pretty over swimming, guys. | Sports | <s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> In swimmings finale, the U.S. men keep their unbeaten streak alive, and Emma McKeon gets her 7th medal.Credit...Doug Mills/The New York TimesJuly 31, 2021TOKYO The medals, dozens of them, arrived in singles and in bunches, in short races and long ones, in medleys and relays. But every day, it seemed, the United States and Australia tossed a few more on the pile. Sunday was no different.Emma McKeon of Australia became the second woman to win seven medals in a single Olympics, and Caeleb Dressel and Bobby Finke of the United States added more gold medals to the American haul on a frantic final day of the swimming competition at the Tokyo Aquatics Center. Mens 50m Freestyle Womens 50m Freestyle Mens 1,500m Freestyle Womens 4100m Medley Relay Mens 4100m Medley Relay The United States finished the meet by winning the mens 4x100-meter medley relay in world-record time, extending an American unbeaten streak in the event. The victory also gave Dressel, who won the mens 50 freestyle in Sundays opening race, his fifth gold medal of the Games.Dressel, 24, became only the fifth American to win five golds in a single Games, joining a list that includes some of the greatest Olympians in the countrys history: the speedskater Eric Heiden and the swimmers Mark Spitz, Matt Biondi and Michael Phelps. (Phelps accomplished the feat three times.)ImageCredit...Doug Mills/The New York TimesIm proud of myself, Dressel said afterward. I feel like I reached what my potential was at these Games, and it was really fun racing.The American swimmers finished the Olympic meet with 30 total medals, down from the 33 they won in Rio de Janeiro in 2016. And their final total of 11 gold medals fell short of the 16 they took home from the last Games.In some ways, then, the team has looked like a group in transition. Afterward, the coaches said they hoped their young athletes had gained valuable experience for the next Olympics, now only three years away.Of course wed love to have more golds here, just like wed love to have more medals in general, said Greg Meehan, the womens team coach. I think we had four fourth places.ImageCredit...Doug Mills/The New York TimesMcKeon, 27, had started the day knowing that a top-three finish in her two races the 50 free and the 4x100 medley relay would make her only the second woman, after the Soviet gymnast Maria Gorokhovskaya in 1952, to win seven medals at a single Olympics. By days end, she had won gold in both.In her first race, McKeon emerged from a highly competitive field to take gold in the womens 50 freestyle, finishing with a time of 23.81 seconds, an Olympic record. Sarah Sjostrom of Sweden was second (24.07 seconds) and Pernille Blume of Denmark, who won gold in 2016, took third (24.21). Abbey Weitzeil, the only American in the final, finished last.Later, in the womens 4x100 medley relay, Australia won the gold medal with a time of 3:51.60. The American women, who won gold in the event at the 2016 Games, settled for the silver. Canada took the bronze.McKeon erased a small U.S. lead with her butterfly leg, and Cate Campbell delivered the final touch after a powerful closing freestyle. While McKeon picked up her seventh medal and her fourth gold in the race, Campbell collected her fourth. She finished the Games with three golds and a bronze.ImageCredit...Doug Mills/The New York TimesMcKeon said the day had felt surreal. To be in that kind of company, its an honor, she said of tying a record for medals at a single Games. And I know Ive worked hard for it.Her total ran Australias medal count to 20, with nine golds, meaning that the Aussies and the Americans together had won nearly half of the medals available (50, of 105) and more than half the golds.ImageCredit...Doug Mills/The New York TimesWedged between some of the superstars of the sport, Finke, 21, had been a relative unknown before this month. On Sunday, he won his second gold medal by prevailing in the mens 1,500-meter freestyle after an intense three-man showdown with Mykhailo Romanchuk of Ukraine and Florian Wellbrock of Germany.Finke hung close for most of the race and then propelled himself into the lead with his final turn. Finding a new gear after 29 relentlessly steady laps, he beat his rivals to the wall. He finished in 14 minutes 39.65 seconds, a body length ahead of Romanchuk (14:40.66) and Wellbrock (14:40.91).His victory, and Katie Ledeckys in the womens event, gave the United States a sweep of the grueling 30-lap swimming marathons, the longest races in the competition.I dont know how Im going to be able to process things, Finke said afterward. I came into to this meet not really expecting to medal for anything.Dressel had entered the meet with much higher expectations. He opened the session by winning his fourth gold medal of the Games with a lung-busting sprint to victory in the 50 free. Diving off the blocks, he surfaced in the lead and never gave it up or took a breath as he finished in 21.07 seconds, an Olympic record. Florent Manaudou of France finished second in 21.55 seconds, and Bruno Fratus of Brazil (21.57) came in third.When Dressel learned that he had won, he flexed his left bicep and then hustled out of the pool to prepare for the days final race, the 4x100 medley relay.Dressel had entered the pool Sunday having already won three gold medals at the Games, in the 4x100 freestyle relay, the 100 free and the 100 butterfly. His time in the 100 butterfly, 49.45 seconds, was also a world record.ImageCredit...Doug Mills/The New York TimesHistory was on the line in the final event, the mens 4x100 medley relay. The American men entered the competition having won gold in every Olympics they had competed in they did not participate in 1980, when the United States boycotted the Moscow Olympics and kept the streak alive with a world record, winning easily in 3:26.78.Despite their dominance, the Americans had entered the race as underdogs. The Americans had nearly missed the final, in fact, qualifying seventh with a different set of swimmers. That left the group that strode onto the deck for the final Ryan Murphy, Michael Andrew, Dressel and Zach Apple in an outside position, in Lane 1, but with a better-than-outside shot.Dave Durden, the head coach of the mens team, said he knew the team had a shot when he looked at splits from the previous world-record time and saw that each of the American men was individually capable of beating them.All we wanted them to do was swim at their level, said Durden, who added that Dressels earlier swim had freed him mentally to perform well in the relay.Murphy, the world-record holder in the 100 backstroke, staked the Americans to an early lead, before Adam Peaty of Britain, the worlds fastest man in the breaststroke, immediately erased the advantage by the races halfway mark.But the Americans were just too deep. Dressel powered back in the butterfly, and Apple kept the United States streak alive with a strong closing freestyle leg. Britain won the silver and Italy took the bronze.After a grueling week and a half of swimming, and an Olympic cycle that lasted five years instead of four, Dressel joked that he was ready to go home.Im going to take a little break here, he said, laughing. Im pretty over swimming, guys. [/INST] Sports </s> |
"I Am Woman" Singer Helen Reddy 'Memba Her?! 1/29/2018 Helen Reddy gained fame with hits like "I Am Woman" and "Angie Baby" ... but she made news at the 15th Annual Grammy Awards when she thanked God "because she makes everything possible" during her acceptance speech for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance back in 1973. Guess what she looks like now! Share on Facebook TWEET This See also Memba Them Photo Galleries | Entertainment | <s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> "I Am Woman" Singer Helen Reddy 'Memba Her?! 1/29/2018 Helen Reddy gained fame with hits like "I Am Woman" and "Angie Baby" ... but she made news at the 15th Annual Grammy Awards when she thanked God "because she makes everything possible" during her acceptance speech for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance back in 1973. Guess what she looks like now! Share on Facebook TWEET This See also Memba Them Photo Galleries [/INST] Entertainment </s> |
Middle East|Iran Plans Visit to Rival Saudis to Discuss Hajj Pilgrimagehttps://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/07/world/middleeast/iran-plans-visit-to-rival-saudis-to-discuss-hajj-pilgrimage.htmlCredit...Associated PressApril 6, 2016BEIRUT, Lebanon Iran announced on Wednesday that it intended to send a delegation to Saudi Arabia this month to discuss the hajj pilgrimage, a rare official meeting between the Middle Eastern rivals at a time of deep regional tensions.The delegation wants to discuss arrangements for Iranians to attend this years pilgrimage as well as compensation for the relatives of 461 Iranians who died in a human crush during the event last year, said Saeed Ohadi, the head of Irans pilgrimage organization, according to the official Islamic Republic News Agency.The pilgrims were killed during the rite last year when large crowds ran into each other in the narrow alleys of a pilgrims camp, crushing many people who had no way to escape.More than 2,400 pilgrims from three dozen countries died, according to a count by The Associated Press, a toll that would make the crush the deadliest event in the history of the hajj.The Saudi government announced soon after the event that 769 people had been killed, but it has not updated the number since. Top Saudi officials at the time promised a thorough investigation, but no results have been made public.The deaths exacerbated already tense relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran, which had more pilgrims among the dead than any other country. The two powers follow different sects of Islam Saudi Arabia is Sunni and Iran is Shiite and are facing off in proxy struggles across the region.In January, Saudi Arabia broke off diplomatic relations with Iran after protesters burned the Saudi Embassy in Tehran after the Saudi governments execution of an outspoken Shiite cleric.The hajj is one of the most important obligations in Islam, and all Muslims who can afford to are supposed to perform it once in their lives. Saudi Arabia takes great pride in hosting the event, and the Saudi monarch bears the title of the custodian of the two holy mosques, emphasizing his personal responsibility for the holy cities of Mecca and Medina.Mr. Ohadi, of Irans pilgrimage organization, said the visit of the Iranian delegation was scheduled for April 14 but would only proceed if its members received their visas on time.He said there was a contradiction in the words and deeds of Saudi officials about admitting Iranian pilgrims this year that needed to be resolved. He added that the Saudi government had not yet taken any move to pay compensation to the families of those who died last year.Saudi officials have not spoken publicly about the Iranian visit, and there was no mention of it Wednesday by the official Saudi Press Agency. | World | <s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> Middle East|Iran Plans Visit to Rival Saudis to Discuss Hajj Pilgrimagehttps://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/07/world/middleeast/iran-plans-visit-to-rival-saudis-to-discuss-hajj-pilgrimage.htmlCredit...Associated PressApril 6, 2016BEIRUT, Lebanon Iran announced on Wednesday that it intended to send a delegation to Saudi Arabia this month to discuss the hajj pilgrimage, a rare official meeting between the Middle Eastern rivals at a time of deep regional tensions.The delegation wants to discuss arrangements for Iranians to attend this years pilgrimage as well as compensation for the relatives of 461 Iranians who died in a human crush during the event last year, said Saeed Ohadi, the head of Irans pilgrimage organization, according to the official Islamic Republic News Agency.The pilgrims were killed during the rite last year when large crowds ran into each other in the narrow alleys of a pilgrims camp, crushing many people who had no way to escape.More than 2,400 pilgrims from three dozen countries died, according to a count by The Associated Press, a toll that would make the crush the deadliest event in the history of the hajj.The Saudi government announced soon after the event that 769 people had been killed, but it has not updated the number since. Top Saudi officials at the time promised a thorough investigation, but no results have been made public.The deaths exacerbated already tense relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran, which had more pilgrims among the dead than any other country. The two powers follow different sects of Islam Saudi Arabia is Sunni and Iran is Shiite and are facing off in proxy struggles across the region.In January, Saudi Arabia broke off diplomatic relations with Iran after protesters burned the Saudi Embassy in Tehran after the Saudi governments execution of an outspoken Shiite cleric.The hajj is one of the most important obligations in Islam, and all Muslims who can afford to are supposed to perform it once in their lives. Saudi Arabia takes great pride in hosting the event, and the Saudi monarch bears the title of the custodian of the two holy mosques, emphasizing his personal responsibility for the holy cities of Mecca and Medina.Mr. Ohadi, of Irans pilgrimage organization, said the visit of the Iranian delegation was scheduled for April 14 but would only proceed if its members received their visas on time.He said there was a contradiction in the words and deeds of Saudi officials about admitting Iranian pilgrims this year that needed to be resolved. He added that the Saudi government had not yet taken any move to pay compensation to the families of those who died last year.Saudi officials have not spoken publicly about the Iranian visit, and there was no mention of it Wednesday by the official Saudi Press Agency. [/INST] World </s> |
Politics|Trump Falsely Claims to Be First Republican to Win Wisconsin Since Eisenhowerhttps://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/28/us/politics/fast-check-trump-wisconsin-republican-election-.htmlFact Check of the DayFollowing Eisenhowers two Badger State victories in 1952 and 1956, Wisconsin voted for Republican presidential candidates in 1960, 1968, 1972, 1980 and 1984 before Mr. Trumps win in 2016. June 28, 2018what was saidWhen we won the state of Wisconsin, it hadnt been won by a Republican since Dwight D. Eisenhower. President Trump, at an event in Mount Pleasant, Wis., on Thursdaythe factsFalse. Two other Republican presidents won Wisconsin after Dwight D. Eisenhower twice swept the state in 1952 and 1956, and Mr. Trump took it in 2016.Richard M. Nixon first won Wisconsin in the 1960 presidential election, but lost the nationwide vote to John F. Kennedy. Nixon won Wisconsin again in 1968 and in 1972. A decade later, Ronald Reagan also won Wisconsin in 1980 and 1984. Mr. Trump often recalls his Electoral College wins in speeches, and previously has claimed to be the first Republican to win the Badger State in many, many years or in decades. Occasionally, he has specified the amount of time elapsed since a Republican last won Wisconsin. But the time frame has increased with each telling. In December 2016, he said it had been 38 years since a Republican candidate took the state; at a speech in South Carolina on Monday it was 44 years. On Thursday, Mr. Trump said he was the first Republican to win there in a half century. Source: UCSBs American Presidency Project | Politics | <s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> Politics|Trump Falsely Claims to Be First Republican to Win Wisconsin Since Eisenhowerhttps://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/28/us/politics/fast-check-trump-wisconsin-republican-election-.htmlFact Check of the DayFollowing Eisenhowers two Badger State victories in 1952 and 1956, Wisconsin voted for Republican presidential candidates in 1960, 1968, 1972, 1980 and 1984 before Mr. Trumps win in 2016. June 28, 2018what was saidWhen we won the state of Wisconsin, it hadnt been won by a Republican since Dwight D. Eisenhower. President Trump, at an event in Mount Pleasant, Wis., on Thursdaythe factsFalse. Two other Republican presidents won Wisconsin after Dwight D. Eisenhower twice swept the state in 1952 and 1956, and Mr. Trump took it in 2016.Richard M. Nixon first won Wisconsin in the 1960 presidential election, but lost the nationwide vote to John F. Kennedy. Nixon won Wisconsin again in 1968 and in 1972. A decade later, Ronald Reagan also won Wisconsin in 1980 and 1984. Mr. Trump often recalls his Electoral College wins in speeches, and previously has claimed to be the first Republican to win the Badger State in many, many years or in decades. Occasionally, he has specified the amount of time elapsed since a Republican last won Wisconsin. But the time frame has increased with each telling. In December 2016, he said it had been 38 years since a Republican candidate took the state; at a speech in South Carolina on Monday it was 44 years. On Thursday, Mr. Trump said he was the first Republican to win there in a half century. Source: UCSBs American Presidency Project [/INST] Politics </s> |
Politics|Senators Ask White House Economists to Turn Over Tariff Findingshttps://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/14/us/politics/senators-ask-white-house-economists-to-turn-over-tariff-findings.htmlCredit...Doug Mills/The New York TimesJune 14, 2018WASHINGTON Two senators have asked President Trumps Council of Economic Advisers to turn over an analysis that shows the administrations tariffs would slow economic growth.The internal analysis, which was first reported by The New York Times last week, contradicts the public statements of several Trump administration officials who have said that Mr. Trumps plan to impose tariffs on aluminum, steel and a broad array of Chinese products will not dampen economic growth. The existence of such a study has raised questions about whether the Trump administration is pursuing policies that its own experts know is at odds with economic reality.Senator Ron Johnson, a Republican from Wisconsin, and Senator Claire McCaskill, a Democrat from Missouri, sent a letter to Kevin Hassett, chairman of the council, asking him to hand over any research on tariffs by June 27. The two senators, who sent the letter on Wednesday, lead the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.To better understand the potential consequences of the administrations trade policies, we respectfully request that you produce the C.E.A. economic analysis relating to the administrations steel and aluminum tariffs and all supporting data and documents, they wrote.The council does not publicly release all of its research and it is not clear how much damage it estimates the tariffs and potential retaliation from other countries would do to the administrations economic growth projections. Mr. Trump has made achieving sustainable 3 percent economic growth a centerpiece of his agenda.Mr. Hassett has dodged the question when asked about it in public settings, suggesting that the threat of tariffs will encourage other countries to lower their trade barriers and therefore boost global economic growth.If you model a future where everybody else reduces their trade barriers to ours, then thats massively good for the global economy and massively good for the U.S. economy, Mr. Hassett said last week.Gary D. Cohn, the former director of Mr. Trumps National Economic Council, said at an event hosted by The Washington Post on Thursday that he was already seeing signs that companies were holding back on investment out of fears of a trade war. He said that tit-for-tat tariffs could negate the economic benefits of Mr. Trumps tax cuts.If you end up with a tariff battle, you will end up with price inflation, you could end up with more consumer debt, those are all historic ingredients for an economic slowdown, Mr. Cohn said.On Wednesday, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome H. Powell acknowledged anecdotal concern about business investment slowing as a result of the tariffs but said, so far, the Fed had no data to support that.We really dont see it in the numbers, he said. I would put it down as more of a risk.A C.E.A. spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the Senate request. | Politics | <s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> Politics|Senators Ask White House Economists to Turn Over Tariff Findingshttps://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/14/us/politics/senators-ask-white-house-economists-to-turn-over-tariff-findings.htmlCredit...Doug Mills/The New York TimesJune 14, 2018WASHINGTON Two senators have asked President Trumps Council of Economic Advisers to turn over an analysis that shows the administrations tariffs would slow economic growth.The internal analysis, which was first reported by The New York Times last week, contradicts the public statements of several Trump administration officials who have said that Mr. Trumps plan to impose tariffs on aluminum, steel and a broad array of Chinese products will not dampen economic growth. The existence of such a study has raised questions about whether the Trump administration is pursuing policies that its own experts know is at odds with economic reality.Senator Ron Johnson, a Republican from Wisconsin, and Senator Claire McCaskill, a Democrat from Missouri, sent a letter to Kevin Hassett, chairman of the council, asking him to hand over any research on tariffs by June 27. The two senators, who sent the letter on Wednesday, lead the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.To better understand the potential consequences of the administrations trade policies, we respectfully request that you produce the C.E.A. economic analysis relating to the administrations steel and aluminum tariffs and all supporting data and documents, they wrote.The council does not publicly release all of its research and it is not clear how much damage it estimates the tariffs and potential retaliation from other countries would do to the administrations economic growth projections. Mr. Trump has made achieving sustainable 3 percent economic growth a centerpiece of his agenda.Mr. Hassett has dodged the question when asked about it in public settings, suggesting that the threat of tariffs will encourage other countries to lower their trade barriers and therefore boost global economic growth.If you model a future where everybody else reduces their trade barriers to ours, then thats massively good for the global economy and massively good for the U.S. economy, Mr. Hassett said last week.Gary D. Cohn, the former director of Mr. Trumps National Economic Council, said at an event hosted by The Washington Post on Thursday that he was already seeing signs that companies were holding back on investment out of fears of a trade war. He said that tit-for-tat tariffs could negate the economic benefits of Mr. Trumps tax cuts.If you end up with a tariff battle, you will end up with price inflation, you could end up with more consumer debt, those are all historic ingredients for an economic slowdown, Mr. Cohn said.On Wednesday, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome H. Powell acknowledged anecdotal concern about business investment slowing as a result of the tariffs but said, so far, the Fed had no data to support that.We really dont see it in the numbers, he said. I would put it down as more of a risk.A C.E.A. spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the Senate request. [/INST] Politics </s> |
A Covid Test as Easy as BreathingScientists have been dreaming of disease-detecting breathalyzers for years. Has the time for the technology finally come?Credit...Maddie McGarvey for The New York TimesJuly 11, 2021In May, musicians from dozens of countries descended on Rotterdam, the Netherlands, for the Eurovision Song Contest. Over the course of the competition, the performers clad in sequined dresses, ornate crowns or, in one case, an enormous pair of angel wings belted and battled it out for their chance at the title.But before they were even allowed onstage, they had to pass another test: a breath test.When they arrived at the venue, the musicians were asked to exhale into a water-bottle-sized device called the SpiroNose, which analyzed the chemical compounds in their breath to detect signatures of a coronavirus infection. If the results came back negative, the performers were cleared to compete.The SpiroNose, made by the Dutch company Breathomix, is just one of many breath-based Covid-19 tests under development across the world. In May, Singapores health agency granted provisional authorization to two such tests, made by the domestic companies Breathonix and Silver Factory Technology. And researchers at Ohio State University say they have applied to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for an emergency authorization of their Covid-19 breathalyzer.Its clear now, I think, that you can detect this disease with a breath test, said Paul Thomas, a chemist at Loughborough University in England. This isnt science fiction.Scientists have long been interested in creating portable devices that can quickly and painlessly screen a person for disease simply by taking a whiff of their breath. But delivering on this dream has proved to be a challenge. Different diseases may cause similar breath changes. Diet can affect the chemicals someone exhales, as can smoking and alcohol consumption, potentially complicating disease detection.Still, scientists say, advances in sensor technology and machine learning, combined with new research and investment spurred by the pandemic, mean that the moment for disease-detecting breathalyzers may have finally arrived.Ive been working in the area of breath research for almost 20 years now, said Cristina Davis, an engineer at the University of California, Davis. And during that time, weve seen it progress from a nascent stage to really being something that I think is close to being deployed.The biology of breathImageCredit...Salgu Wissmath for The New York TimesHuman breath is complex. Whenever we exhale, we release hundreds of gases known as volatile organic compounds, or V.O.C.s., byproducts of respiration, digestion, cellular metabolism and other physiological processes. Disease can disrupt these processes, altering the mix of V.O.C.s that the body emits.People with diabetes, for instance, may have breath that smells fruity or sweet. The odor is caused by ketones, chemicals produced when the body begins to burn fat instead of glucose for energy, a metabolic state known as ketosis.The idea that exhaled breath could hold diagnostic potential has been around for some time, Dr. Davis said. There are reports in ancient Greek and also ancient Chinese medical training texts that reference a physicians use of smell as a way to help guide their clinical practice.Modern technologies can detect more subtle chemical changes, and machine learning algorithms can identify patterns in breath samples from people with certain diseases. In recent years, scientists have used these methods to identify unique breathprints for lung cancer, liver disease, tuberculosis, asthma, inflammatory bowel disease and other conditions. (Dr. Davis and her colleagues have even used V.O.C. profiles to distinguish among cells that had been infected with different strains of flu.)Before Covid hit, Breathomix had been developing an electronic nose to detect several other respiratory diseases. We train our system, OK, this is how asthma smells, this how lung cancer smells, said Rianne de Vries, the companys chief technology and scientific officer. So its building a big database and finding patterns in big data.Last year, the company and many other researchers in the field pivoted and began trying to identify a breathprint for Covid-19. During the viruss initial surge in the spring of 2020, for instance, researchers in Britain and Germany collected breath samples from 98 people who showed up at hospitals with respiratory symptoms. (Participants were asked to exhale into a disposable tube; the researchers then used a syringe to extract a sample of their breath.)Thirty-one of the patients turned out to have Covid, while the remainder had a variety of diagnoses, including asthma, bacterial pneumonia or heart failure, the researchers reported. The breath samples from people with Covid-19 had higher levels of aldehydes, compounds produced when cells or tissues are damaged by inflammation, and ketones, which fits with research suggesting that the virus may damage the pancreas and cause ketosis.The Covid patients also had lower levels of methanol, which could be a sign that the virus had inflamed the gastrointestinal system or killed the methanol-producing bacteria that live there. Those breath changes combined give us a Covid-19 signal, said Dr. Thomas, a co-author of the study.Waiting to exhaleSeveral other studies have also detected unique chemical patterns in the breath of patients with Covid-19, and some devices claim impressive results. In one study of the SpiroNose, which included 4,510 participants, a team of Dutch researchers reported that the device correctly identified at least 98 percent of people who were infected with the virus, even in a group of asymptomatic participants. (The study, which included researchers from Breathomix, has not yet been peer-reviewed.)But the SpiroNose had a relatively high rate of false positives, the study found. Because of this problem, the device does not provide consumers with a definitive diagnosis; the results either come back negative or inconclusive, in which case a standard P.C.R. test is administered.Dozens of testing sites in the Netherlands are now using the machine, Ms. de Vries said, but there have been some hiccups. In May, Science reported that Amsterdams public health authorities suspended use of the SpiroNose after 25 false negatives. Officials later determined that user error was largely responsible, and SpiroNose screening has resumed, Ms. de Vries said.Other groups are working on their own breathalyzers. Researchers at the Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia, who have identified a breathprint of Covid in children, are now trying to identify breath markers of a rare but dangerous complication of the disease, known as multi-system inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C).The clinicians on the front line, theyre really struggling with which children we need to worry most about, said Dr. Audrey Odom John, an infectious disease specialist at Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia, who is leading the research.In addition to studying the V.O.C.s emitted by Covid patients, Dr. Davis and her colleagues are analyzing what is known as exhaled breath condensate, a concentrated solution of the tiny droplets of fluid, or aerosols, that are present in breath. These aerosols contain all sorts of complex biological molecules, including proteins, peptides, antibodies and inflammatory markers.They hope to find biomarkers to help doctors predict which Covid-19 patients are most likely to become severely ill. I think that that will be a part of a clinical arsenal, where clinicians cannot only do rapid diagnostics, but then they could try to understand whats the trajectory for that particular patient, she said.Other teams are working to create breath tests that look for the virus itself. Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis, for instance, are developing a biosensor that is coated in tiny antibody fragments, or nanobodies, that bind to SARS-CoV-2. If someone is exhaling viral particles, they should attach to the nanobodies, activating the sensor.Passing the smell testImageCredit...Maddie McGarvey for The New York TimesInterest in the technology is fierce. Perena Gouma, a materials scientist at Ohio State who has applied for F.D.A. authorization for her Covid-19 breathalyzer, said she has already heard from colleges, theaters, sports leagues, travel authorities and others who want to get their hands on the device.I dont think that there has been anyone who has been affected by this pandemic that hasnt been excited about the prospect of having a breath test, she said.But the approach still needs to be validated in larger studies, and basic scientific questions remain unanswered.If we take a blood test for example, its well established that there is a normal range for, lets say, hemoglobin levels or white blood cell count, said Oliver Gould, an analytical chemist at the University of the West of England. So of course, then its very easy to see when something is abnormal. Those reference ranges dont yet exist for breath, he noted.Researchers said that they do not expect breath-based tests to completely replace other diagnostic tests. Do I think that a breathalyzer is going to be used in your pediatricians office? Probably not, said Dr. John. Where I really see breath testing being useful is where you need to screen a whole bunch of people quickly. Could you screen every child in a school on a Monday? Could you do it before people enter a mall or a bounce house?And once the technology has been developed and validated, it could theoretically be used to screen for a wide variety of different diseases. The thing about a breath test is, if you have the technology in place, you can learn the signal for a new disease very fast, Dr. Thomas said.So the research being done now could pay long-term dividends.Were developing the tools necessary to hopefully help us in the fight for the next disease, said Edward DeMauro, an engineer at Rutgers University who is working on a Covid breathalyzer. There is a very big value in, even if the pandemics over, not sitting back. Thats not the time to catch our breath. | Health | <s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> A Covid Test as Easy as BreathingScientists have been dreaming of disease-detecting breathalyzers for years. Has the time for the technology finally come?Credit...Maddie McGarvey for The New York TimesJuly 11, 2021In May, musicians from dozens of countries descended on Rotterdam, the Netherlands, for the Eurovision Song Contest. Over the course of the competition, the performers clad in sequined dresses, ornate crowns or, in one case, an enormous pair of angel wings belted and battled it out for their chance at the title.But before they were even allowed onstage, they had to pass another test: a breath test.When they arrived at the venue, the musicians were asked to exhale into a water-bottle-sized device called the SpiroNose, which analyzed the chemical compounds in their breath to detect signatures of a coronavirus infection. If the results came back negative, the performers were cleared to compete.The SpiroNose, made by the Dutch company Breathomix, is just one of many breath-based Covid-19 tests under development across the world. In May, Singapores health agency granted provisional authorization to two such tests, made by the domestic companies Breathonix and Silver Factory Technology. And researchers at Ohio State University say they have applied to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for an emergency authorization of their Covid-19 breathalyzer.Its clear now, I think, that you can detect this disease with a breath test, said Paul Thomas, a chemist at Loughborough University in England. This isnt science fiction.Scientists have long been interested in creating portable devices that can quickly and painlessly screen a person for disease simply by taking a whiff of their breath. But delivering on this dream has proved to be a challenge. Different diseases may cause similar breath changes. Diet can affect the chemicals someone exhales, as can smoking and alcohol consumption, potentially complicating disease detection.Still, scientists say, advances in sensor technology and machine learning, combined with new research and investment spurred by the pandemic, mean that the moment for disease-detecting breathalyzers may have finally arrived.Ive been working in the area of breath research for almost 20 years now, said Cristina Davis, an engineer at the University of California, Davis. And during that time, weve seen it progress from a nascent stage to really being something that I think is close to being deployed.The biology of breathImageCredit...Salgu Wissmath for The New York TimesHuman breath is complex. Whenever we exhale, we release hundreds of gases known as volatile organic compounds, or V.O.C.s., byproducts of respiration, digestion, cellular metabolism and other physiological processes. Disease can disrupt these processes, altering the mix of V.O.C.s that the body emits.People with diabetes, for instance, may have breath that smells fruity or sweet. The odor is caused by ketones, chemicals produced when the body begins to burn fat instead of glucose for energy, a metabolic state known as ketosis.The idea that exhaled breath could hold diagnostic potential has been around for some time, Dr. Davis said. There are reports in ancient Greek and also ancient Chinese medical training texts that reference a physicians use of smell as a way to help guide their clinical practice.Modern technologies can detect more subtle chemical changes, and machine learning algorithms can identify patterns in breath samples from people with certain diseases. In recent years, scientists have used these methods to identify unique breathprints for lung cancer, liver disease, tuberculosis, asthma, inflammatory bowel disease and other conditions. (Dr. Davis and her colleagues have even used V.O.C. profiles to distinguish among cells that had been infected with different strains of flu.)Before Covid hit, Breathomix had been developing an electronic nose to detect several other respiratory diseases. We train our system, OK, this is how asthma smells, this how lung cancer smells, said Rianne de Vries, the companys chief technology and scientific officer. So its building a big database and finding patterns in big data.Last year, the company and many other researchers in the field pivoted and began trying to identify a breathprint for Covid-19. During the viruss initial surge in the spring of 2020, for instance, researchers in Britain and Germany collected breath samples from 98 people who showed up at hospitals with respiratory symptoms. (Participants were asked to exhale into a disposable tube; the researchers then used a syringe to extract a sample of their breath.)Thirty-one of the patients turned out to have Covid, while the remainder had a variety of diagnoses, including asthma, bacterial pneumonia or heart failure, the researchers reported. The breath samples from people with Covid-19 had higher levels of aldehydes, compounds produced when cells or tissues are damaged by inflammation, and ketones, which fits with research suggesting that the virus may damage the pancreas and cause ketosis.The Covid patients also had lower levels of methanol, which could be a sign that the virus had inflamed the gastrointestinal system or killed the methanol-producing bacteria that live there. Those breath changes combined give us a Covid-19 signal, said Dr. Thomas, a co-author of the study.Waiting to exhaleSeveral other studies have also detected unique chemical patterns in the breath of patients with Covid-19, and some devices claim impressive results. In one study of the SpiroNose, which included 4,510 participants, a team of Dutch researchers reported that the device correctly identified at least 98 percent of people who were infected with the virus, even in a group of asymptomatic participants. (The study, which included researchers from Breathomix, has not yet been peer-reviewed.)But the SpiroNose had a relatively high rate of false positives, the study found. Because of this problem, the device does not provide consumers with a definitive diagnosis; the results either come back negative or inconclusive, in which case a standard P.C.R. test is administered.Dozens of testing sites in the Netherlands are now using the machine, Ms. de Vries said, but there have been some hiccups. In May, Science reported that Amsterdams public health authorities suspended use of the SpiroNose after 25 false negatives. Officials later determined that user error was largely responsible, and SpiroNose screening has resumed, Ms. de Vries said.Other groups are working on their own breathalyzers. Researchers at the Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia, who have identified a breathprint of Covid in children, are now trying to identify breath markers of a rare but dangerous complication of the disease, known as multi-system inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C).The clinicians on the front line, theyre really struggling with which children we need to worry most about, said Dr. Audrey Odom John, an infectious disease specialist at Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia, who is leading the research.In addition to studying the V.O.C.s emitted by Covid patients, Dr. Davis and her colleagues are analyzing what is known as exhaled breath condensate, a concentrated solution of the tiny droplets of fluid, or aerosols, that are present in breath. These aerosols contain all sorts of complex biological molecules, including proteins, peptides, antibodies and inflammatory markers.They hope to find biomarkers to help doctors predict which Covid-19 patients are most likely to become severely ill. I think that that will be a part of a clinical arsenal, where clinicians cannot only do rapid diagnostics, but then they could try to understand whats the trajectory for that particular patient, she said.Other teams are working to create breath tests that look for the virus itself. Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis, for instance, are developing a biosensor that is coated in tiny antibody fragments, or nanobodies, that bind to SARS-CoV-2. If someone is exhaling viral particles, they should attach to the nanobodies, activating the sensor.Passing the smell testImageCredit...Maddie McGarvey for The New York TimesInterest in the technology is fierce. Perena Gouma, a materials scientist at Ohio State who has applied for F.D.A. authorization for her Covid-19 breathalyzer, said she has already heard from colleges, theaters, sports leagues, travel authorities and others who want to get their hands on the device.I dont think that there has been anyone who has been affected by this pandemic that hasnt been excited about the prospect of having a breath test, she said.But the approach still needs to be validated in larger studies, and basic scientific questions remain unanswered.If we take a blood test for example, its well established that there is a normal range for, lets say, hemoglobin levels or white blood cell count, said Oliver Gould, an analytical chemist at the University of the West of England. So of course, then its very easy to see when something is abnormal. Those reference ranges dont yet exist for breath, he noted.Researchers said that they do not expect breath-based tests to completely replace other diagnostic tests. Do I think that a breathalyzer is going to be used in your pediatricians office? Probably not, said Dr. John. Where I really see breath testing being useful is where you need to screen a whole bunch of people quickly. Could you screen every child in a school on a Monday? Could you do it before people enter a mall or a bounce house?And once the technology has been developed and validated, it could theoretically be used to screen for a wide variety of different diseases. The thing about a breath test is, if you have the technology in place, you can learn the signal for a new disease very fast, Dr. Thomas said.So the research being done now could pay long-term dividends.Were developing the tools necessary to hopefully help us in the fight for the next disease, said Edward DeMauro, an engineer at Rutgers University who is working on a Covid breathalyzer. There is a very big value in, even if the pandemics over, not sitting back. Thats not the time to catch our breath. [/INST] Health </s> |
A firm started by a group of Trump lawyers highlights the campaigns connections to the false conspiracy theory and reinforces how deeply it has taken hold in the Republican Party. Credit...C.B. Schmelter/Chattanooga Times Free Press, via Associated PressOct. 16, 2020Senior lawyers for the Trump campaign set up a small law firm last year that is working for Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Republican House candidate in Georgia with a history of promoting QAnon, a pro-Trump conspiracy theory.While federal filings show that the firm, Elections L.L.C., principally collects fees from the presidents campaign and the Republican National Committee, it also does work for a number of congressional candidates, and none more so than Ms. Greene, underscoring the connections between QAnon and Mr. Trump and his inner circle. The latest example came Thursday night, when President Trump repeatedly declined to disavow QAnon at a televised town hall.Ms. Greene is one of several Republican candidates who openly espouse the collection of bogus and bizarre theories embraced by followers of QAnon, who have been labeled a potential domestic terror threat by the F.B.I. and who former President Barack Obama warned Wednesday were infiltrating the mainstream of the Republican Party. QAnon imagines, falsely, that a Satanic cabal of pedophile Democrats are plotting against Mr. Trump, plays on anti-Semitic tropes and stokes real world violence and has been expounded on at length by Ms. Greene in videos.Elections L.L.C. was founded last year by Justin Clark, Mr. Trumps deputy campaign manager, and Stefan Passantino, a former top ethics lawyer in the Trump White House. Matthew Morgan, the Trump campaigns counsel, is also a partner at the firm. Ms. Greenes campaign has made 14 payments to the firm since last year, worth nearly $70,000 in total, the most of any congressional campaign.Mr. Passantino appears in records filed with the Georgia secretary of state as the lawyer who incorporated Ms. Greenes campaign committee, though the full scope of his work for the candidate is unclear. He also does legal work for a Georgia political operative, Jason D. Boles, who is a personal friend of Ms. Greenes and who helped set up her campaign. (Mr. Boles has been a recent subject of controversy, after it emerged that he had helped bankroll an effort to infiltrate and discredit voting rights groups in North Carolina.)Mr. Passantino worked in the White House as a deputy counsel in charge of ethics policy until 2018, and among other things, he dealt with personal financial disclosures related to the presidents eldest daughter and adviser, Ivanka Trump. Last year, he was hired by the Trump Organization to handle investigations by Democrats in the House of Representatives. Some of the money that the Trump campaign has paid to Elections L.L.C. has also been directed to him, federal filings show, though it is not clear for what work.Neither Mr. Clark, Mr. Morgan nor Mr. Passantino commented for this story. In a statement, the Trump campaign said, Elections L.L.C. is a law firm like many others that do campaign work. Just like any other law firm, its lawyers have clients that have no relationship to other lawyers of the firm or their clients.The campaign did not elaborate further, nor did it say whether Mr. Passantino was the only lawyer who had performed work on Ms. Greenes behalf. Ms. Greenes campaign did not reply to requests for comment, but earlier this year she told Open Secrets, a site run by the Center for Responsive Politics, that Mr. Passantino worked as her lawyer and Elections L.L.C. did compliance work related to elections filings.The fact that a law firm with close ties to the White House is doing work for one of the most prominent proponents of QAnon shows how quickly the conspiracy theory has moved from the far-right fringe to the center of Republican politics, presenting a significant challenge to the party at a time when it is already being rejected by many moderate voters.Ms. Greene has said, without evidence, that after the 2018 elections there was an Islamic invasion into our government offices, once questioned whether a plane had actually crashed into the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001, and has said we have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take this global cabal of Satan-worshiping pedophiles out. She has also suggested that Saudi Arabia, the Rothschilds, and Soros referring to George Soros, the financier and supporter of progressive causes are the puppet masters that fund this global evil.While some of her comments have been condemned by House Republicans, Mr. Trump has embraced her candidacy and called her a future Republican star and a real WINNER! He has also frequently retweeted postings by QAnon followers. During a contentious exchange at the televised town hall Thursday over his promotion of false conspiracy theories, he said of QAnon: I know nothing about it. I do know they are very much against pedophilia. They fight it very hard. His campaign has presented an uneven response to QAnon. It canceled the appearance of a QAnon-connected speaker at the Republican National Convention this summer, and last month, Vice President Mike Pence canceled an appearance hosted by QAnon supporters. But campaign officials have struggled to explain their support for Ms. Greene.QAnon is not something that we focus on, Tim Murtaugh, a spokesman for the Trump campaign, told MSNBC in August when asked about Ms. Greene. We have a lot of things that we work on here in the campaign, he added. And chasing down various conspiracy theories is not one of them.Ms. Greene, for her part, said in a Fox News interview published in August that QAnon was not a focus of her campaign, adding, My campaign message the entire time was save America, stop Socialism.ImageCredit...Jessica Hill/Associated PressThe creation of Elections L.L.C. reflects an ongoing pattern by Trump campaign officials of collecting payments through new businesses they set up around the campaign, a practice honed by the former campaign manager, Brad Parscale, before his ouster this summer. Mr. Clark also set up a firm called National Public Affairs last year with Bill Stepien, who replaced Mr. Parscale as campaign manager in July. The founders of Elections L.L.C., Mr. Clark and Mr. Passantino, are also both prominent partners at Michael Best, a Wisconsin-based law firm that has an affiliated lobbying and government relations firm chaired by Reince Priebus, the former R.N.C. chairman, who worked with both men while he served as Mr. Trumps first White House chief of staff. Mr. Clark is on leave from Michael Best, while Mr. Passantino chairs its government regulations and public policy practice. The firms managing partner, David Krutz, said that Elections L.L.C. had no affiliation with his firm and said Mr. Passantino maintained a clear division of work between the two firms. (An associate at Michael Best, Nathan Groth, has also done work for Elections L.L.C.) With Election Day approaching, Ms. Greene appears to be assured of victory. Her primary opponent, a conservative neurosurgeon named John Cowan, used the slogan All of the conservative, none of the embarrassment, and once told Politico, She deserves a YouTube channel, not a seat in Congress. Shes a circus act. But Ms. Greene handily prevailed in her heavily Republican district, and her Democratic opponent has dropped out of the race. The Republican establishment was against me, Ms. Greene said in her victory speech after a runoff in August. The D.C. swamp is against me. And the lying fake news media hates my guts. Its a badge of honor.Stephanie Saul contributed reporting and Rachel Shorey contributed research. | Politics | <s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> A firm started by a group of Trump lawyers highlights the campaigns connections to the false conspiracy theory and reinforces how deeply it has taken hold in the Republican Party. Credit...C.B. Schmelter/Chattanooga Times Free Press, via Associated PressOct. 16, 2020Senior lawyers for the Trump campaign set up a small law firm last year that is working for Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Republican House candidate in Georgia with a history of promoting QAnon, a pro-Trump conspiracy theory.While federal filings show that the firm, Elections L.L.C., principally collects fees from the presidents campaign and the Republican National Committee, it also does work for a number of congressional candidates, and none more so than Ms. Greene, underscoring the connections between QAnon and Mr. Trump and his inner circle. The latest example came Thursday night, when President Trump repeatedly declined to disavow QAnon at a televised town hall.Ms. Greene is one of several Republican candidates who openly espouse the collection of bogus and bizarre theories embraced by followers of QAnon, who have been labeled a potential domestic terror threat by the F.B.I. and who former President Barack Obama warned Wednesday were infiltrating the mainstream of the Republican Party. QAnon imagines, falsely, that a Satanic cabal of pedophile Democrats are plotting against Mr. Trump, plays on anti-Semitic tropes and stokes real world violence and has been expounded on at length by Ms. Greene in videos.Elections L.L.C. was founded last year by Justin Clark, Mr. Trumps deputy campaign manager, and Stefan Passantino, a former top ethics lawyer in the Trump White House. Matthew Morgan, the Trump campaigns counsel, is also a partner at the firm. Ms. Greenes campaign has made 14 payments to the firm since last year, worth nearly $70,000 in total, the most of any congressional campaign.Mr. Passantino appears in records filed with the Georgia secretary of state as the lawyer who incorporated Ms. Greenes campaign committee, though the full scope of his work for the candidate is unclear. He also does legal work for a Georgia political operative, Jason D. Boles, who is a personal friend of Ms. Greenes and who helped set up her campaign. (Mr. Boles has been a recent subject of controversy, after it emerged that he had helped bankroll an effort to infiltrate and discredit voting rights groups in North Carolina.)Mr. Passantino worked in the White House as a deputy counsel in charge of ethics policy until 2018, and among other things, he dealt with personal financial disclosures related to the presidents eldest daughter and adviser, Ivanka Trump. Last year, he was hired by the Trump Organization to handle investigations by Democrats in the House of Representatives. Some of the money that the Trump campaign has paid to Elections L.L.C. has also been directed to him, federal filings show, though it is not clear for what work.Neither Mr. Clark, Mr. Morgan nor Mr. Passantino commented for this story. In a statement, the Trump campaign said, Elections L.L.C. is a law firm like many others that do campaign work. Just like any other law firm, its lawyers have clients that have no relationship to other lawyers of the firm or their clients.The campaign did not elaborate further, nor did it say whether Mr. Passantino was the only lawyer who had performed work on Ms. Greenes behalf. Ms. Greenes campaign did not reply to requests for comment, but earlier this year she told Open Secrets, a site run by the Center for Responsive Politics, that Mr. Passantino worked as her lawyer and Elections L.L.C. did compliance work related to elections filings.The fact that a law firm with close ties to the White House is doing work for one of the most prominent proponents of QAnon shows how quickly the conspiracy theory has moved from the far-right fringe to the center of Republican politics, presenting a significant challenge to the party at a time when it is already being rejected by many moderate voters.Ms. Greene has said, without evidence, that after the 2018 elections there was an Islamic invasion into our government offices, once questioned whether a plane had actually crashed into the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001, and has said we have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take this global cabal of Satan-worshiping pedophiles out. She has also suggested that Saudi Arabia, the Rothschilds, and Soros referring to George Soros, the financier and supporter of progressive causes are the puppet masters that fund this global evil.While some of her comments have been condemned by House Republicans, Mr. Trump has embraced her candidacy and called her a future Republican star and a real WINNER! He has also frequently retweeted postings by QAnon followers. During a contentious exchange at the televised town hall Thursday over his promotion of false conspiracy theories, he said of QAnon: I know nothing about it. I do know they are very much against pedophilia. They fight it very hard. His campaign has presented an uneven response to QAnon. It canceled the appearance of a QAnon-connected speaker at the Republican National Convention this summer, and last month, Vice President Mike Pence canceled an appearance hosted by QAnon supporters. But campaign officials have struggled to explain their support for Ms. Greene.QAnon is not something that we focus on, Tim Murtaugh, a spokesman for the Trump campaign, told MSNBC in August when asked about Ms. Greene. We have a lot of things that we work on here in the campaign, he added. And chasing down various conspiracy theories is not one of them.Ms. Greene, for her part, said in a Fox News interview published in August that QAnon was not a focus of her campaign, adding, My campaign message the entire time was save America, stop Socialism.ImageCredit...Jessica Hill/Associated PressThe creation of Elections L.L.C. reflects an ongoing pattern by Trump campaign officials of collecting payments through new businesses they set up around the campaign, a practice honed by the former campaign manager, Brad Parscale, before his ouster this summer. Mr. Clark also set up a firm called National Public Affairs last year with Bill Stepien, who replaced Mr. Parscale as campaign manager in July. The founders of Elections L.L.C., Mr. Clark and Mr. Passantino, are also both prominent partners at Michael Best, a Wisconsin-based law firm that has an affiliated lobbying and government relations firm chaired by Reince Priebus, the former R.N.C. chairman, who worked with both men while he served as Mr. Trumps first White House chief of staff. Mr. Clark is on leave from Michael Best, while Mr. Passantino chairs its government regulations and public policy practice. The firms managing partner, David Krutz, said that Elections L.L.C. had no affiliation with his firm and said Mr. Passantino maintained a clear division of work between the two firms. (An associate at Michael Best, Nathan Groth, has also done work for Elections L.L.C.) With Election Day approaching, Ms. Greene appears to be assured of victory. Her primary opponent, a conservative neurosurgeon named John Cowan, used the slogan All of the conservative, none of the embarrassment, and once told Politico, She deserves a YouTube channel, not a seat in Congress. Shes a circus act. But Ms. Greene handily prevailed in her heavily Republican district, and her Democratic opponent has dropped out of the race. The Republican establishment was against me, Ms. Greene said in her victory speech after a runoff in August. The D.C. swamp is against me. And the lying fake news media hates my guts. Its a badge of honor.Stephanie Saul contributed reporting and Rachel Shorey contributed research. [/INST] Politics </s> |
Politics|The F.B.I. arrests two men who had carried plastic restraints into the Capitol.https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/10/us/politics/capitol-zip-ties-arrest.htmlThe F.B.I. arrests two men who had carried plastic restraints into the Capitol.Credit...Win Mcnamee/Getty ImagesJan. 10, 2021The F.B.I. arrested two men on Sunday who were photographed in the Senate chamber clad in military-style clothing and holding zip ties, according to a statement issued by the Justice Department.One of the men, Eric Gavelek Munchel, 30, was taken into custody in Nashville on one count of unlawfully entering a restricted building and one count of violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds, the department said. One of the officials involved in the case said authorities also recovered several weapons at the time of his arrest.The department also said that photographs of a person who appeared to be Mr. Munchel showed him carrying plastic restraints, an item in a holster on his right hip, and a cell phone mounted on his chest with the camera facing outward, ostensibly to record events that day.Efforts to reach Mr. Munchel before his arrest were unsuccessful.The other man, Larry Rendell Brock, was arrested in Texas on the same charges after he was allegedly identified as one of the people who broke into the Capitol. The department said in its statement that images of a person who appeared to be him showed Mr. Brock clad in a green helmet, green tactical vest with patches, black and camo jacket, and beige pants holding a white flex cuff, which is used by law enforcement to restrain and/or detain subjects.Mr. Brocks ex-wife contacted the F.B.I. on Friday to say that she recognized him in a photograph taken inside the Capitol building during the riot, according to an F.B.I. affidavit.When I saw this was happening, I was afraid he would be there, she told investigators, according to the affidavit. It is such a good picture of him and I recognize his patch.A second witness who identified Mr. Brock in photographs taken inside the building noted that the suspect had pilot wings on his chest in the picture, and that Mr. Brock was an Air Force pilot, the affidavit said. The witness also said that Mr. Brock worked at L3 Technologies, a defense contractor, and that his contacts at the company knew he was flying to Washington, D.C., the witness told investigators.The two men are among the more than a dozen people charged by federal authorities in connection with the attack on Congress. Internet researchers pieced together what was thought to be their identities in the days after the siege. Investigators in Washington, Tennessee and Texas are working on the cases; and the cases will be prosecuted by the U.S. Attorneys Office in Washington and the counterterrorism section of the Justice Departments National Security Division.Mr. Munchel traveled to Washington with his mother, Lisa Eisenhart, and the pair said in an interview with The Times of London that they broke into the Capitol to observe the action, and that they left after rioters talked about stealing electronics and government papers.But Mr. Munchel also said that he and his mother wanted to show that were willing to rise up, band together and fight if necessary, and he compared himself and his mother to the Founding Fathers.Id rather die as a 57-year-old woman than live under oppression, Ms. Eisenhart told The Times of London. Id rather die and would rather fight. | Politics | <s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> Politics|The F.B.I. arrests two men who had carried plastic restraints into the Capitol.https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/10/us/politics/capitol-zip-ties-arrest.htmlThe F.B.I. arrests two men who had carried plastic restraints into the Capitol.Credit...Win Mcnamee/Getty ImagesJan. 10, 2021The F.B.I. arrested two men on Sunday who were photographed in the Senate chamber clad in military-style clothing and holding zip ties, according to a statement issued by the Justice Department.One of the men, Eric Gavelek Munchel, 30, was taken into custody in Nashville on one count of unlawfully entering a restricted building and one count of violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds, the department said. One of the officials involved in the case said authorities also recovered several weapons at the time of his arrest.The department also said that photographs of a person who appeared to be Mr. Munchel showed him carrying plastic restraints, an item in a holster on his right hip, and a cell phone mounted on his chest with the camera facing outward, ostensibly to record events that day.Efforts to reach Mr. Munchel before his arrest were unsuccessful.The other man, Larry Rendell Brock, was arrested in Texas on the same charges after he was allegedly identified as one of the people who broke into the Capitol. The department said in its statement that images of a person who appeared to be him showed Mr. Brock clad in a green helmet, green tactical vest with patches, black and camo jacket, and beige pants holding a white flex cuff, which is used by law enforcement to restrain and/or detain subjects.Mr. Brocks ex-wife contacted the F.B.I. on Friday to say that she recognized him in a photograph taken inside the Capitol building during the riot, according to an F.B.I. affidavit.When I saw this was happening, I was afraid he would be there, she told investigators, according to the affidavit. It is such a good picture of him and I recognize his patch.A second witness who identified Mr. Brock in photographs taken inside the building noted that the suspect had pilot wings on his chest in the picture, and that Mr. Brock was an Air Force pilot, the affidavit said. The witness also said that Mr. Brock worked at L3 Technologies, a defense contractor, and that his contacts at the company knew he was flying to Washington, D.C., the witness told investigators.The two men are among the more than a dozen people charged by federal authorities in connection with the attack on Congress. Internet researchers pieced together what was thought to be their identities in the days after the siege. Investigators in Washington, Tennessee and Texas are working on the cases; and the cases will be prosecuted by the U.S. Attorneys Office in Washington and the counterterrorism section of the Justice Departments National Security Division.Mr. Munchel traveled to Washington with his mother, Lisa Eisenhart, and the pair said in an interview with The Times of London that they broke into the Capitol to observe the action, and that they left after rioters talked about stealing electronics and government papers.But Mr. Munchel also said that he and his mother wanted to show that were willing to rise up, band together and fight if necessary, and he compared himself and his mother to the Founding Fathers.Id rather die as a 57-year-old woman than live under oppression, Ms. Eisenhart told The Times of London. Id rather die and would rather fight. [/INST] Politics </s> |
Health|Cardiovascular Deaths Linked to Poor Dietary Choiceshttps://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/13/health/number-of-cardiovascular-deaths-each-year-diet.htmlTake a NumberMarch 13, 2017Cardiovascular disease claims 610,000 lives in the United States each year. It is the leading cause of mortality nationwide, accounting for one in every four deaths.A new analysis, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, shows that a substantial portion of these deaths could be prevented by healthier eating.In 2015, more than 400,000 deaths from cardiovascular causes were linked to unhealthy diets, according to the research, presented at a meeting of the American Heart Association last week in Portland, Ore.The biggest factors were a deficit of nuts and seeds, vegetables, whole grains and fruits, and an excess of salt. Diets low in omega-3 fatty acids, found in seafood, and high in trans-fat, processed meat or sugary beverages also played a role.Internationally and nationally, the focus is on the consumption of unhealthy foods, like sugar-sweetened beverages, said Ashkan Afshin, an acting assistant professor at the University of Washingtons Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation and co-author of the study.But when it comes to the burden of disease, he added, some of the leading risk factors are not high intake of unhealthy foods, but low intake of healthy foods.The results suggest that an integrated approach to healthy eating is possible, said Linda Van Horn, a spokeswoman for the American Heart Association and a professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern University, who was not involved in the study.Typically, the higher the diet is in natural not processed plant-based foods, the lower the sodium intake is, she said. So by eating more of the favored foods, the detrimental intakes of sodium, as well as trans-fat and saturated fat and sugar, are lower.Low-quality diets contributed to the deaths of 222,100 men and 193,400 women, the new study estimated. Mens higher consumption of sodium is one driver of this difference, Dr. Afshin said. Over all, the results of the study were consistent with global patterns. | Health | <s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> Health|Cardiovascular Deaths Linked to Poor Dietary Choiceshttps://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/13/health/number-of-cardiovascular-deaths-each-year-diet.htmlTake a NumberMarch 13, 2017Cardiovascular disease claims 610,000 lives in the United States each year. It is the leading cause of mortality nationwide, accounting for one in every four deaths.A new analysis, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, shows that a substantial portion of these deaths could be prevented by healthier eating.In 2015, more than 400,000 deaths from cardiovascular causes were linked to unhealthy diets, according to the research, presented at a meeting of the American Heart Association last week in Portland, Ore.The biggest factors were a deficit of nuts and seeds, vegetables, whole grains and fruits, and an excess of salt. Diets low in omega-3 fatty acids, found in seafood, and high in trans-fat, processed meat or sugary beverages also played a role.Internationally and nationally, the focus is on the consumption of unhealthy foods, like sugar-sweetened beverages, said Ashkan Afshin, an acting assistant professor at the University of Washingtons Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation and co-author of the study.But when it comes to the burden of disease, he added, some of the leading risk factors are not high intake of unhealthy foods, but low intake of healthy foods.The results suggest that an integrated approach to healthy eating is possible, said Linda Van Horn, a spokeswoman for the American Heart Association and a professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern University, who was not involved in the study.Typically, the higher the diet is in natural not processed plant-based foods, the lower the sodium intake is, she said. So by eating more of the favored foods, the detrimental intakes of sodium, as well as trans-fat and saturated fat and sugar, are lower.Low-quality diets contributed to the deaths of 222,100 men and 193,400 women, the new study estimated. Mens higher consumption of sodium is one driver of this difference, Dr. Afshin said. Over all, the results of the study were consistent with global patterns. [/INST] Health </s> |
Credit...David Scharf/Science SourceAn enormous new analysis of the wiring of the fruit fly brain is a milestone for the young field of modern connectomics, researchers say.Color-enhanced scanning electron micrograph of Drosophila melanogaster, the common fruit fly. For years, scientists have been mapping the flys neurons and synapses in an effort to create a comprehensive wiring diagram, or connectome, of its brain.Credit...David Scharf/Science SourcePublished Oct. 26, 2021Updated Oct. 27, 2021The brain of a fruit fly is the size of a poppy seed and about as easy to overlook.Most people, I think, dont even think of the fly as having a brain, said Vivek Jayaraman, a neuroscientist at the Janelia Research Campus of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in Virginia. But, of course, flies lead quite rich lives.Flies are capable of sophisticated behaviors, including navigating diverse landscapes, tussling with rivals and serenading potential mates. And their speck-size brains are tremendously complex, containing some 100,000 neurons and tens of millions of connections, or synapses, between them.Since 2014, a team of scientists at Janelia, in collaboration with researchers at Google, have been mapping these neurons and synapses in an effort to create a comprehensive wiring diagram, also known as a connectome, of the fruit fly brain.The work, which is continuing, is time-consuming and expensive, even with the help of state-of-the-art machine-learning algorithms. But the data they have released so far is stunning in its detail, composing an atlas of tens of thousands of gnarled neurons in many crucial areas of the fly brain.And now, in an enormous new paper, being published on Tuesday in the journal eLife, neuroscientists are beginning to show what they can do with it.By analyzing the connectome of just a small part of the fly brain the central complex, which plays an important role in navigation Dr. Jayaraman and his colleagues identified dozens of new neuron types and pinpointed neural circuits that appear to help flies make their way through the world. The work could ultimately help provide insight into how all kinds of animal brains, including our own, process a flood of sensory information and translate it into appropriate action.It is also a proof of principle for the young field of modern connectomics, which was built on the promise that constructing detailed diagrams of the brains wiring would pay scientific dividends.Its really extraordinary, Dr. Clay Reid, a senior investigator at the Allen Institute for Brain Science in Seattle, said of the new paper. I think anyone who looks at it will say connectomics is a tool that we need in neuroscience full stop.ImageCredit...Matt Staley, Janelia Research CampusYour fly brain is cookedThe only complete connectome in the animal kingdom belongs to the humble roundworm, C. elegans. The pioneering biologist Sydney Brenner, who would later go on to win a Nobel Prize, started the project in the 1960s. His small team spent years on it, using colored pens to trace all 302 neurons by hand.Brenner realized that to understand the nervous system you had to know its structure, said Scott Emmons, a neuroscientist and geneticist at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, who later used digital techniques to create new C. elegans connectomes. And thats true across biology. Structure is so important.Brenner and his colleagues published their landmark paper, which clocked in at 340 pages, in 1986.But the field of modern connectomics did not take off until the 2000s, when advances in imaging and computing finally made it feasible to map the connections in larger brains. In recent years, research teams around the world have started assembling connectomes of zebrafish, songbirds, mice, humans and more.When the Janelia Research Campus opened in 2006, Gerald Rubin, its founding director, set his sights on the fruit fly. I dont want to offend any of my worm colleagues, but I think flies are the simplest brain that actually does interesting, complex behavior, Dr. Rubin said.Several different teams at Janelia have embarked on fly connectome projects in the years since, but the work that led to the new paper began in 2014, with the brain of a single, five-day-old female fruit fly.Researchers cut the fly brain into slabs and then used a technique known as focused-ion beam scanning electron microscopy to image them, layer by painstaking layer. The microscope essentially functioned like a very tiny, very precise nail file, filing away an exceedingly thin layer of the brain, snapping a picture of the exposed tissue and then repeating the process until nothing remained.VideoResearchers cut a fly brain into exceptionally thin slabs, imaged each with an electron microscope, then stitched the images together to allow scientists to trace each neurons path through the brain.CreditCredit...FlyEM/Janelia Research CampusYoure simultaneously imaging and cutting off little slices of the fly brain, so they dont exist after youre done, Dr. Jayaraman said. So if you screw something up, youre done. Your goose is cooked or your fly brain is cooked.The team then used computer vision software to stitch the millions of resulting images back together into a single, three-dimensional volume and sent it off to Google. There, researchers used advanced machine-learning algorithms to identify each individual neuron and trace its twisting branches.Finally, the Janelia team used additional computational tools to pinpoint the synapses, and human researchers proofread the computers work, correcting errors and refining the wiring diagrams.Last year, the researchers published the connectome for what they called the hemibrain, a large portion of the central fly brain, which includes regions and structures that are crucial for sleep, learning and navigation.The connectome, which is accessible free online, includes about 25,000 neurons and 20 million synapses, far more than the C. elegans connectome.Its a dramatic scaling up, said Cori Bargmann, a neuroscientist at the Rockefeller University in New York. This is a tremendous step toward the goal of working out the connectivity of the brain.Welcome to orientationImageCredit...FlyEM/Janelia Research CampusOnce the hemibrain connectome was ready, Dr. Jayaraman, an expert on the neuroscience of fly navigation, was eager to dive into the data on the central complex.The brain region, which contains nearly 3,000 neurons and is present in all insects, helps flies build an internal model of their spatial relationship to the world and then select and execute behaviors appropriate for their circumstances, such as searching for food when they are hungry.Youre telling me you can give me the wiring diagram for something like this? Dr. Jayaraman said. This is better industrial espionage than you could get by getting insights into the Apple iPhone.He and his colleagues pored over the connectome data, studying how the regions neural circuits were put together.For instance, Hannah Haberkern, a postdoctoral associate in Dr. Jayaramans lab, analyzed the neurons that send sensory information to the ellipsoid body, a doughnut-shape structure that acts as the flys internal compass.Dr. Haberkern found that neurons that are known to transmit information about the polarization of light a global environmental cue that many animals use for navigation made more connections to the compass neurons than did neurons that transmit information about other visual features and landmarks.The neurons dedicated to polarization of light also connect to and are capable of strongly inhibiting brain cells that provide information about other navigational cues.The researchers hypothesize that fly brains may be wired to prioritize information about the global environment when they are navigating but also that these circuits are flexible, so that when such information is inadequate, they can pay more attention to local features of the landscape. They have all these fallback strategies, Dr. Haberkern said.Fruit fly phone homeOther members of the research team identified specific neural pathways that seem well suited to helping the fly keep track of its head and body orientation, anticipate its future orientation and traveling direction, calculate its current orientation relative to another desired location and then move in that direction.Imagine, for instance, that a hungry fly temporarily abandons a rotting banana to see whether it can rustle up something better. But after a (literally) fruitless few minutes of exploration, it wants to return to its previous meal.The connectome data suggests that certain brain cells, technically known as PFL3 neurons, help the fly pull off this maneuver. These neurons receive two critical inputs: They get signals from neurons that track the direction the fly is facing as well as from neurons that may be keeping tabs on the direction of the banana.After receiving those signals, the PFL3 neurons then send out their own message to a set of turning neurons that prompt the fly to veer off in the correct direction. Dinner is served, again.VideoCompass neurons, which help flies stay oriented, are part of a neural pathway that may help modulate the insects turning actions.CreditCredit...FlyEM/Janelia Research CampusBeing able to trace that activity through that circuit from sensory back to motor through this complex intermediate circuit is really amazing, said Brad Hulse, a research scientist in Dr. Jayaramans lab who led this part of the analysis. The connectome, he added, showed us a lot more than we thought it was going to.And the groups paper a draft of which includes 75 figures and stretches to 360 pages is just the beginning.It just really provides this ground truth for exploring this brain region further, said Stanley Heinze, an expert on insect neuroscience at Lund University in Sweden. Its just enormously impressive.And just plain enormous. I wouldnt really treat it as a paper but more as a book, Dr. Heinze said.In fact, the paper is so large that the preprint server bioRxiv initially declined to publish it, perhaps because the administrators understandably thought it actually was a book, Dr. Jayaraman said. (The server ultimately did post the study, after a few extra days of processing, he noted.)The papers publication in the journal eLife required some special permissions and back-and-forth with editorial staff, Dr. Jayaraman added.Fly-ing lessonsThere are limitations to what a snapshot of a single brain at a single moment in time can reveal, and connectomes do not capture everything of interest in an animal brain. (Janelias hemibrain connectome omits glial cells, for instance, which perform all sorts of important tasks in the brain.)Dr. Jayaraman and his colleagues stressed that they would not have been able to infer so much from the connectome if not for decades of prior research, by many other scientists, into fruit fly behavior and basic neuron physiology and function, as well as theoretical neuroscience work.But the wiring diagrams can help researchers investigate existing theories and generate better hypotheses, figuring out what questions to ask and which experiments to conduct.ImageCredit...Peter Yeeles/Alamy Now what were really excited about is taking those ideas that the connectome inspired and going back to the microscope, going back to our electrodes and actually recording the brain and seeing if those ideas are true, Dr. Hulse said.Of course, one could and some have asked why a fruit flys brain circuitry matters.I get asked this at the holidays a lot, Dr. Hulse said.Flies are not mice or chimps or humans, but their brains perform some of the same basic tasks. Understanding the basic neural circuitry in an insect could provide important clues to how other animal brains approach similar problems, said David Van Essen, a neuroscientist at Washington University in St. Louis.Gaining a deep understanding of the flys brain also gives us insights that are very relevant to the understanding of mammalian, and even human, brains and behavior, he said.Creating connectomes of larger, more complex brains will be enormously challenging. The mouse brain contains roughly 70 million neurons, the human brain a whopping 86 billion.But the central complex paper is decidedly not a one-off; detailed studies of regional mouse and human connectomes are currently in the pipeline, Dr. Reid said: Theres a lot more to come.Journal editors, consider yourselves warned. | science | <s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> Credit...David Scharf/Science SourceAn enormous new analysis of the wiring of the fruit fly brain is a milestone for the young field of modern connectomics, researchers say.Color-enhanced scanning electron micrograph of Drosophila melanogaster, the common fruit fly. For years, scientists have been mapping the flys neurons and synapses in an effort to create a comprehensive wiring diagram, or connectome, of its brain.Credit...David Scharf/Science SourcePublished Oct. 26, 2021Updated Oct. 27, 2021The brain of a fruit fly is the size of a poppy seed and about as easy to overlook.Most people, I think, dont even think of the fly as having a brain, said Vivek Jayaraman, a neuroscientist at the Janelia Research Campus of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in Virginia. But, of course, flies lead quite rich lives.Flies are capable of sophisticated behaviors, including navigating diverse landscapes, tussling with rivals and serenading potential mates. And their speck-size brains are tremendously complex, containing some 100,000 neurons and tens of millions of connections, or synapses, between them.Since 2014, a team of scientists at Janelia, in collaboration with researchers at Google, have been mapping these neurons and synapses in an effort to create a comprehensive wiring diagram, also known as a connectome, of the fruit fly brain.The work, which is continuing, is time-consuming and expensive, even with the help of state-of-the-art machine-learning algorithms. But the data they have released so far is stunning in its detail, composing an atlas of tens of thousands of gnarled neurons in many crucial areas of the fly brain.And now, in an enormous new paper, being published on Tuesday in the journal eLife, neuroscientists are beginning to show what they can do with it.By analyzing the connectome of just a small part of the fly brain the central complex, which plays an important role in navigation Dr. Jayaraman and his colleagues identified dozens of new neuron types and pinpointed neural circuits that appear to help flies make their way through the world. The work could ultimately help provide insight into how all kinds of animal brains, including our own, process a flood of sensory information and translate it into appropriate action.It is also a proof of principle for the young field of modern connectomics, which was built on the promise that constructing detailed diagrams of the brains wiring would pay scientific dividends.Its really extraordinary, Dr. Clay Reid, a senior investigator at the Allen Institute for Brain Science in Seattle, said of the new paper. I think anyone who looks at it will say connectomics is a tool that we need in neuroscience full stop.ImageCredit...Matt Staley, Janelia Research CampusYour fly brain is cookedThe only complete connectome in the animal kingdom belongs to the humble roundworm, C. elegans. The pioneering biologist Sydney Brenner, who would later go on to win a Nobel Prize, started the project in the 1960s. His small team spent years on it, using colored pens to trace all 302 neurons by hand.Brenner realized that to understand the nervous system you had to know its structure, said Scott Emmons, a neuroscientist and geneticist at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, who later used digital techniques to create new C. elegans connectomes. And thats true across biology. Structure is so important.Brenner and his colleagues published their landmark paper, which clocked in at 340 pages, in 1986.But the field of modern connectomics did not take off until the 2000s, when advances in imaging and computing finally made it feasible to map the connections in larger brains. In recent years, research teams around the world have started assembling connectomes of zebrafish, songbirds, mice, humans and more.When the Janelia Research Campus opened in 2006, Gerald Rubin, its founding director, set his sights on the fruit fly. I dont want to offend any of my worm colleagues, but I think flies are the simplest brain that actually does interesting, complex behavior, Dr. Rubin said.Several different teams at Janelia have embarked on fly connectome projects in the years since, but the work that led to the new paper began in 2014, with the brain of a single, five-day-old female fruit fly.Researchers cut the fly brain into slabs and then used a technique known as focused-ion beam scanning electron microscopy to image them, layer by painstaking layer. The microscope essentially functioned like a very tiny, very precise nail file, filing away an exceedingly thin layer of the brain, snapping a picture of the exposed tissue and then repeating the process until nothing remained.VideoResearchers cut a fly brain into exceptionally thin slabs, imaged each with an electron microscope, then stitched the images together to allow scientists to trace each neurons path through the brain.CreditCredit...FlyEM/Janelia Research CampusYoure simultaneously imaging and cutting off little slices of the fly brain, so they dont exist after youre done, Dr. Jayaraman said. So if you screw something up, youre done. Your goose is cooked or your fly brain is cooked.The team then used computer vision software to stitch the millions of resulting images back together into a single, three-dimensional volume and sent it off to Google. There, researchers used advanced machine-learning algorithms to identify each individual neuron and trace its twisting branches.Finally, the Janelia team used additional computational tools to pinpoint the synapses, and human researchers proofread the computers work, correcting errors and refining the wiring diagrams.Last year, the researchers published the connectome for what they called the hemibrain, a large portion of the central fly brain, which includes regions and structures that are crucial for sleep, learning and navigation.The connectome, which is accessible free online, includes about 25,000 neurons and 20 million synapses, far more than the C. elegans connectome.Its a dramatic scaling up, said Cori Bargmann, a neuroscientist at the Rockefeller University in New York. This is a tremendous step toward the goal of working out the connectivity of the brain.Welcome to orientationImageCredit...FlyEM/Janelia Research CampusOnce the hemibrain connectome was ready, Dr. Jayaraman, an expert on the neuroscience of fly navigation, was eager to dive into the data on the central complex.The brain region, which contains nearly 3,000 neurons and is present in all insects, helps flies build an internal model of their spatial relationship to the world and then select and execute behaviors appropriate for their circumstances, such as searching for food when they are hungry.Youre telling me you can give me the wiring diagram for something like this? Dr. Jayaraman said. This is better industrial espionage than you could get by getting insights into the Apple iPhone.He and his colleagues pored over the connectome data, studying how the regions neural circuits were put together.For instance, Hannah Haberkern, a postdoctoral associate in Dr. Jayaramans lab, analyzed the neurons that send sensory information to the ellipsoid body, a doughnut-shape structure that acts as the flys internal compass.Dr. Haberkern found that neurons that are known to transmit information about the polarization of light a global environmental cue that many animals use for navigation made more connections to the compass neurons than did neurons that transmit information about other visual features and landmarks.The neurons dedicated to polarization of light also connect to and are capable of strongly inhibiting brain cells that provide information about other navigational cues.The researchers hypothesize that fly brains may be wired to prioritize information about the global environment when they are navigating but also that these circuits are flexible, so that when such information is inadequate, they can pay more attention to local features of the landscape. They have all these fallback strategies, Dr. Haberkern said.Fruit fly phone homeOther members of the research team identified specific neural pathways that seem well suited to helping the fly keep track of its head and body orientation, anticipate its future orientation and traveling direction, calculate its current orientation relative to another desired location and then move in that direction.Imagine, for instance, that a hungry fly temporarily abandons a rotting banana to see whether it can rustle up something better. But after a (literally) fruitless few minutes of exploration, it wants to return to its previous meal.The connectome data suggests that certain brain cells, technically known as PFL3 neurons, help the fly pull off this maneuver. These neurons receive two critical inputs: They get signals from neurons that track the direction the fly is facing as well as from neurons that may be keeping tabs on the direction of the banana.After receiving those signals, the PFL3 neurons then send out their own message to a set of turning neurons that prompt the fly to veer off in the correct direction. Dinner is served, again.VideoCompass neurons, which help flies stay oriented, are part of a neural pathway that may help modulate the insects turning actions.CreditCredit...FlyEM/Janelia Research CampusBeing able to trace that activity through that circuit from sensory back to motor through this complex intermediate circuit is really amazing, said Brad Hulse, a research scientist in Dr. Jayaramans lab who led this part of the analysis. The connectome, he added, showed us a lot more than we thought it was going to.And the groups paper a draft of which includes 75 figures and stretches to 360 pages is just the beginning.It just really provides this ground truth for exploring this brain region further, said Stanley Heinze, an expert on insect neuroscience at Lund University in Sweden. Its just enormously impressive.And just plain enormous. I wouldnt really treat it as a paper but more as a book, Dr. Heinze said.In fact, the paper is so large that the preprint server bioRxiv initially declined to publish it, perhaps because the administrators understandably thought it actually was a book, Dr. Jayaraman said. (The server ultimately did post the study, after a few extra days of processing, he noted.)The papers publication in the journal eLife required some special permissions and back-and-forth with editorial staff, Dr. Jayaraman added.Fly-ing lessonsThere are limitations to what a snapshot of a single brain at a single moment in time can reveal, and connectomes do not capture everything of interest in an animal brain. (Janelias hemibrain connectome omits glial cells, for instance, which perform all sorts of important tasks in the brain.)Dr. Jayaraman and his colleagues stressed that they would not have been able to infer so much from the connectome if not for decades of prior research, by many other scientists, into fruit fly behavior and basic neuron physiology and function, as well as theoretical neuroscience work.But the wiring diagrams can help researchers investigate existing theories and generate better hypotheses, figuring out what questions to ask and which experiments to conduct.ImageCredit...Peter Yeeles/Alamy Now what were really excited about is taking those ideas that the connectome inspired and going back to the microscope, going back to our electrodes and actually recording the brain and seeing if those ideas are true, Dr. Hulse said.Of course, one could and some have asked why a fruit flys brain circuitry matters.I get asked this at the holidays a lot, Dr. Hulse said.Flies are not mice or chimps or humans, but their brains perform some of the same basic tasks. Understanding the basic neural circuitry in an insect could provide important clues to how other animal brains approach similar problems, said David Van Essen, a neuroscientist at Washington University in St. Louis.Gaining a deep understanding of the flys brain also gives us insights that are very relevant to the understanding of mammalian, and even human, brains and behavior, he said.Creating connectomes of larger, more complex brains will be enormously challenging. The mouse brain contains roughly 70 million neurons, the human brain a whopping 86 billion.But the central complex paper is decidedly not a one-off; detailed studies of regional mouse and human connectomes are currently in the pipeline, Dr. Reid said: Theres a lot more to come.Journal editors, consider yourselves warned. [/INST] science </s> |
Politics|Trump has not lowered flags in honor of an officer who died from injuries sustained amid the riot.https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/09/us/politics/flag-lowering-trump-sicknick.htmlTrump has not lowered flags in honor of an officer who died from injuries sustained amid the riot.Credit...Todd Heisler/The New York TimesJan. 9, 2021President Trump has not ordered the flags on federal buildings to fly at half-staff in honor of Brian D. Sicknick, a police officer who was killed after trying to fend off pro-Trump loyalists during the siege at the Capitol on Wednesday.While the flags at the Capitol have been lowered, Mr. Trump has not issued a similar order for federal buildings under his control. A White House spokeswoman did not respond to a request for comment.Mr. Sicknick, 42, an officer for the Capitol Police, died on Thursday from brain injuries he sustained after Trump loyalists who overtook the complex struck him in the head with a fire extinguisher, according to two law enforcement officials. Hours earlier, addressing supporters at a rally steps from the White House, Mr. Trump denounced the 2020 election as stolen from him and instructed them to march peacefully to the Capitol while also repeatedly noting that his side needed to fight.Mr. Trump has not reached out to Mr. Sicknicks family, although Vice President Mike Pence called to offer condolences, an aide to Mr. Pence said.Some of the calls for violence during the riot on Wednesday were directed at Mr. Pence, who had made clear to the president that he did not believe he had the power to change the election result, and suggested that the vice president be hanged. Mr. Pence was whisked to a secure location at the Capitol as the rioters broke into the building, but rebuffed attempts by the Secret Service to evacuate him.Asked whether Mr. Trump had a response to his supporters making such a demand, Judd Deere, a White House spokesman, said, We strongly condemn all calls to violence, including those against any member of this administration.He did not name Mr. Pence. The president and the vice president have not spoken since Wednesday morning, before the riot unfolded, an administration official said. | Politics | <s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> Politics|Trump has not lowered flags in honor of an officer who died from injuries sustained amid the riot.https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/09/us/politics/flag-lowering-trump-sicknick.htmlTrump has not lowered flags in honor of an officer who died from injuries sustained amid the riot.Credit...Todd Heisler/The New York TimesJan. 9, 2021President Trump has not ordered the flags on federal buildings to fly at half-staff in honor of Brian D. Sicknick, a police officer who was killed after trying to fend off pro-Trump loyalists during the siege at the Capitol on Wednesday.While the flags at the Capitol have been lowered, Mr. Trump has not issued a similar order for federal buildings under his control. A White House spokeswoman did not respond to a request for comment.Mr. Sicknick, 42, an officer for the Capitol Police, died on Thursday from brain injuries he sustained after Trump loyalists who overtook the complex struck him in the head with a fire extinguisher, according to two law enforcement officials. Hours earlier, addressing supporters at a rally steps from the White House, Mr. Trump denounced the 2020 election as stolen from him and instructed them to march peacefully to the Capitol while also repeatedly noting that his side needed to fight.Mr. Trump has not reached out to Mr. Sicknicks family, although Vice President Mike Pence called to offer condolences, an aide to Mr. Pence said.Some of the calls for violence during the riot on Wednesday were directed at Mr. Pence, who had made clear to the president that he did not believe he had the power to change the election result, and suggested that the vice president be hanged. Mr. Pence was whisked to a secure location at the Capitol as the rioters broke into the building, but rebuffed attempts by the Secret Service to evacuate him.Asked whether Mr. Trump had a response to his supporters making such a demand, Judd Deere, a White House spokesman, said, We strongly condemn all calls to violence, including those against any member of this administration.He did not name Mr. Pence. The president and the vice president have not spoken since Wednesday morning, before the riot unfolded, an administration official said. [/INST] Politics </s> |
Business BriefingDec. 29, 2015DuPont will cut 1,700 jobs in its home state, Delaware, and thousands more globally as it prepares for its merger with Dow Chemical. The companies announced this month that they would join to create a giant chemical producer that would eventually be split into three independent companies. At that time, DuPont announced a $700 million cost savings and restructuring program but did not specify how many jobs would be affected. On Tuesday, the chief of DuPont, Ed Breen, sent a letter to employees informing them that approximately 1,700 Delaware positions would be eliminated in the beginning of the year. DuPont, which has been based in Delaware for 213 years, said it would have preferred to let affected employees know of the news first. But it made the announcement during the holidays, because it was legally required to inform the state by the end of the year of the local job cuts. The company, which has about 54,000 employees worldwide, said the restructuring program would ultimately affect about 10 percent of that work force. The combined Dow-DuPont business will have dual headquarters in Delaware and Michigan, where each company is based, until it separates into three independent publicly traded companies focused on agriculture, material science and specialty products. Dow and DuPont expect their combination will cut annual expenses by $3 billion. | Business | <s> [INST] <<SYS>> Categorize the news article text into one of the following categories: Entertainment, Science, Politics, Health, World, Tech, Business, or Sports. You can only choose 1 category for each article. <</SYS>> Business BriefingDec. 29, 2015DuPont will cut 1,700 jobs in its home state, Delaware, and thousands more globally as it prepares for its merger with Dow Chemical. The companies announced this month that they would join to create a giant chemical producer that would eventually be split into three independent companies. At that time, DuPont announced a $700 million cost savings and restructuring program but did not specify how many jobs would be affected. On Tuesday, the chief of DuPont, Ed Breen, sent a letter to employees informing them that approximately 1,700 Delaware positions would be eliminated in the beginning of the year. DuPont, which has been based in Delaware for 213 years, said it would have preferred to let affected employees know of the news first. But it made the announcement during the holidays, because it was legally required to inform the state by the end of the year of the local job cuts. The company, which has about 54,000 employees worldwide, said the restructuring program would ultimately affect about 10 percent of that work force. The combined Dow-DuPont business will have dual headquarters in Delaware and Michigan, where each company is based, until it separates into three independent publicly traded companies focused on agriculture, material science and specialty products. Dow and DuPont expect their combination will cut annual expenses by $3 billion. [/INST] Business </s> |
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