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The struggle in Catalonia for self determination has shaken the whole Spanish state. It has forced all political forces to take a stance.
Much of the left across the Spanish state, while not supporting the repression of the right-wing government of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, have also not supported Catalonia’s independence process.
The Spanish and European establishments have just days to stop the advance of the progressive electoral alliance United We Can in the June 26 general elections in the Spanish state. How are they doing? As matters stand, not well.
United We Can, formed in early May, brings together new anti-austerity party Podemos and the longer-standing United Left (IU), as well as broader coalitions in Catalonia (Together We Can), Galicia (In Tide) and Valencia (A La Valenciana).
Spain: Can left's economic plan reverse austerity?
United We Can — the united ticket made up of Podemos, the United Left, the green party Equo and three broader alliances in Catalonia, Galicia and the Valencian Country — is campaigning in the June 26 Spanish general elections on a plan to reverse economic austerity.
Spain: With Podemos and United Left joining forces, is a left government in sight?
United Left's Alberto Garzon and Podemos' Pablo Iglesias.
Five months after the December 20 election in Spain failed to produce a government, the country is returning to the polls in the most polarised contest since the end of the Franco dictatorship in 1977.
United Left leader Alberto Garzon and Podemos leader Pablo Iglesias celebrating the formation of an alliance between the two parties.
Spain's anti-austerity party Podemos and older left-wing party United Left announced on May 9 that they had reached a preliminary agreement to run on a joint platform before Spain's new general election on June 26.
What was the central message of the December 20 Spanish general elections, which was “won” by the governing conservative People's Party (PP) of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy with only 28.72% of the vote, 3.6 million votes less than the last national poll in 2011?
Why did the opposition Spanish Socialist Workers Party (PSOE) greet its worst ever result —22.01%, 1.4 million votes less than 2011 — with a sigh of relief?
The December 20 elections in the Spanish state will attract the usual large field of runners. Challengers will represent every imaginable position along the Spanish state's two main political dimensions — the left-to-right social axis and the axis of national rights.
This second dimension reaches from the centralism of the ruling People's Party (PP) to the pro-independence stance of various Catalan, Basque and Galician parties.
Internet entrepreneur Arianna Huffington says it is time to reevaluate our relationship with technology.
If individuals want to thrive in a future dominated by AI and intelligent machines, they will need to create more time and space for human relationships that foster creativity.
Less time on smartphones and apps, even disconnecting, will be key.
Internet entrepreneur Arianna Huffington sees a bright future for a new kind of technology — the kind that helps individuals disconnect from the damage done by the internet's first generation. And it can't come soon enough, she says, as the next generation of technology may pose an ever greater threat to our lives and jobs.
It is inevitable that artificial intelligence, machine learning and automation will take over some jobs, Huffington told CNBC in a recent email exchange, but that will place a premium on uniquely human qualities in the future labor market — creativity, compassion, empathy and complex problem-solving. That's where Huffington sees a pressing problem to solve. She says these human qualities are at risk today and the cause is — no surprise — too much technology. Her advice: Reevaluate your relationship with technology before it is too late.
Arianna Huffington speaks onstage during the "THRIVE with Arianna Huffington" panel at The Town Hall during 2016 Advertising Week New York on September 28, 2016 in New York City.
"These are the very qualities that are diminished when we're burned out from being always on," Huffington said of human abilities like creativity. "One of the next frontiers in the tech world is technology that helps us disconnect from technology and create time and space to connect not with screens but with other people and with ourselves."
Self-care and wellness applications for smartphone devices have been booming. Meditation apps, like Headspace and Calm, have grown into huge successes on app stores by helping consumers manage anxiety and stress.
Headspace says it reached $100 million in revenue last year and also has a product in the works seeking FDA approval. The company and its competitors also have been finding success in corporate deals to improve employee wellness.
Last year Apple introduced Screen Timeto help its users — more than 1.4 billion people — manage their time on iPhones.
Many exercise and fitness apps continue to be popular, yet Calm (No. 1 overall) and Headspace (No. 3) are among the most downloaded apps in the health and fitness category, as ranked by iOS App Store and Google Play consumer spend, according to App Annie data. A recent round of fundraising for Calm valued the company at $1 billion.
While there is irony in the use of tech to manage our use of tech — and to manage the stress that may at least partially be caused by tech — the fact that mindfulness apps hold two of the top three spots in the health category speaks for itself. "The features and value proposition (access to wellness and meditation) of these apps are resonating with users," said an App Annie spokeswoman. "Users are deriving value from these features, and they are willing to pay for it, which is a huge testament to the success of both Calm and Headspace, as well as the shift in awareness and mindset."
Huffington's Thrive app has been a "very modest" performer to date, according to App Annie, though it only has been available for a short period of time.
The disconnect message is also on-message for Huffington's latest tech start-up effort, Thrive Global, a wellness brand. It has launched a behavior-change app with what it claims are "science-backed" microsteps, or what Huffington described as "too-small-to-fail changes that you can incorporate into your daily life right away." The app's Thrive mode allows consumers to limit notifications to a VIP list and has an app-control dashboard, which lets users examine how often they engage with specific applications on their phone.
Academic researchers are also beginning to analyze the benefits of disconnecting from major internet platforms, with mixed results. In a recent study conducted by Stanford University, 2,844 Facebook users deactivated their accounts for four weeks, and researchers found that while there were clear benefits to being off Facebook, there were also benefits the social network provides that were lost.
While Facebook deactivation reduced online activity across social media, it led to increased TV watching among study subjects — but also resulted in more socializing with family and friends. Although being off Facebook led to less political polarization, it also reduced factual news knowledge retained by subjects. However, subjects in the study did experience an increased subjective well-being and, once off Facebook, were less likely to return to it.
Huffington, who is an executive producer on National Geographic's new '90s tech-sector docudrama "Valley of the Boom," said the consumer relationship with technology is one of the most important issues of the modern era, and it is time to reevaluate the seeds that were planted back in the '90s during that first internet boom.
"To reclaim our relationship with technology, we need to see where we've been," Huffington said. "To take control of our tech habits, we need to understand how and why the tech world that drives those habits was built."
The tech world is responding to consumer demand and augmenting people's lives in many ways, but she still believes the worst aspect of evolving technology is a hyperconnected, always-on world.
"Even for those of us old enough to remember the first boom and to have lived through it, it's sometimes hard to remember that there was a time before we were all hyperconnected and glued to our screens. And seeing the decisions that were made that led to our current moment makes us realize we can also make decisions about how we use this technology."
Giffords had come to the well of the chamber to resign, a formality since she’d signaled her intention earlier, as she recovers from a gunshot wound to the head during a shooting rampage in her home district in Arizona. It was one of the longer House goodbyes in recent times, as Democrats and Republicans lined up to see her off. A prolonged standing ovation followed a fusion of tributes and tears as colleagues praised her dignity and perseverance.
Giffords submitted resignation letters to both Boehner and Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, but it isn’t effective until the end of the day.
UEA students protesting about university fees at the offices of Liberal Democrat MP Simon Wright in Martineau Lane, Norwich where they posted protest cards through the letter box.
Coaches packed with more than 500 students and lecturers from Norfolk will be heading to London tomorrow to join a huge protest against university funding cuts and proposed tuition fees increases.
The local protesters will join up to 30,000 people from across England at the march and rally, which follows the government’s proposal last week to introduce annual tuition fees of up to £9,000.
Six coach-loads of students and staff from the University of East Anglia (UEA) will be joined by three full coaches of people from City College Norwich and a coach-load from Norwich University College of the Arts (Nuca).
Tom Dolton, UEA student union’s communications officer, said: “Education is not a privilege, it is a right. The government shouldn’t take that right away from people, and that is what the cuts will do.
Tom Grant, president of City College’s student union, said students from the college were concerned that fees increases would “price them out” of university, while there were also concerns about cuts to the education maintenance allowance, which is paid to young people from lower-income families to help them to go to college.
The government announced it was cutting more than £4bn of funding from higher education at last month’s comprehensive spending review.
And last week, universities minister David Willetts announced the government’s response to Lord Browne’s higher education funding proposals.
He said the government would introduce legislation by the end of the year to increase maximum annual fees from 2012. He said the fees cap would be lifted from the current £3,290 to £6,000 – or up to £9,000 if higher education institutions met conditions on widening access to students from poorer backgrounds.
He said no student would have to begin repaying the fees until they were earning at least £21,000 a year – up from the current £15,000 trigger point.
He also said that “a quarter of graduates – those on the lowest incomes” would pay less overall than they did at present. And, for the first time, he said part-time students would be able to claim grants.
Protesters will assemble from 11.30am at Horse Guards Avenue before a 12.30pm march through Westminster and a 1.15pm rally at Millbank, outside Tate Britain.
The “We Will March” event is organised by the National Union of Students (NUS) and the University and College Union (UCU).
Education correspondent Steve Downes will be travelling on one of the coaches to cover the protest. Don’t miss www.eveningnews.co.uk for regular updates and photographs throughout tomorrow, and pick up Thursday’s paper for post-event analysis. To keep up with regular live updates from the scene, follow stevedownes1973 on Twitter - www.twitter.com.
For most of America's Next Top Model's 15th cycle, Anne Ward trampled her competition, exhibiting one stunning high-fashion picture after another, even breaking a Top Model record by winning the main photo challenge five weeks in a row. But when she was finally named the winner on December 1, it took the 19-year-old Dallas native by surprise. We spoke to Ward about finding beauty in her awkwardness, constantly taking criticism from the media and what you do after you've already booked Vogue.
TV Guide Magazine: You've been able to mull this over since taping ended five months ago. Was watching last night's finale still a significant moment for you?
Anne: Definitely. Being able to watch the whole scene again where they were trying to decide on America's Next Top Model, made me choke up just because it was such a big deal, and I was so nervous. I didn't think I was going to win. I really wasn't expecting it, and it was such shock.
TV Guide Magazine: You were trampling the competition from the beginning — it can't have been a complete surprise?
Anne: I'd done really well with photos and stuff, but I was still having trouble with exuding a confident personality and having a good runway walk, which is what [runner-up] Chelsey [Hersley] had. I think it was really, really, close at the end.
TV Guide Magazine: I heard that you and Chelsey are still friends. How do you overcome some of the things said on TV?
Anne: Looking back at all the stuff that some of the girls said, I completely understand, because it was such a harsh environment with high stakes. We had to be competing against each other and it was a lot to take in at the time, so I am really not bothered by most of the comments because I know that we are all still very good friends and we understand each other. [Chelsey and I] stayed in touch a lot, and I actually got some advice from her about how the modeling industry works in real life since I haven't really done anything professional yet.
TV Guide Magazine: What was your favorite challenge?
Anne: My favorite challenge was probably the Zac Posen show. Because he was a nice guy and really energetic and giving us all tips and was really hands on. I think he actually drew a picture for me in one of my little notebooks. He was cool.
TV Guide Magazine: What was the toughest challenge for you?
Anne: I think the toughest challenge for me was probably the conveyor belt runway because it was so scary. All of us were terrified. There wasn't one person that was relaxed, except for the male models, but they weren't in high heels and dresses.
TV Guide Magazine: Today, if you look online, it feels almost like that day when the promo was released at the beginning of the season, with a lot of attention being focused on the small size of your waist and your weight. How do you feel about going back to that again and again?
Anne: It doesn't really bother me that much. In the beginning, with the promo, I wasn't bothered by it because people didn't know who I was and it was just a little clip. Now it still doesn't bother me, because I know that I am healthy, and it's just how I am. I've been like this ever since I was born. I have a fast metabolism. If you are what you are right now naturally, then there's really no need to worry. Whatever is best for you is what makes you beautiful and unique.
TV Guide Magazine: Do you feel it's almost poignant that you're winning at a time when bullying has taken such a center stage in the media?
Anne: Definitely. Watching the news there's pretty much a cyber bullying or a case of bullying in school every day, where teens are committing suicide over it. It's terrible to watch. I've been through a lot of bullying because of my height and my awkwardness. It was a really tough time in my life. But I was able to, on the show, learn that what made me different was actually what was beautiful about me, and I hope that young people watching the show come to realize that.
TV Guide Magazine: What is the goal after you've already been in Vogue?
Anne: I don't know. Maybe even more Vogue covers? That would be cool.
Twenty-three teams from New Zealand Police, Customs, Corrections, Aviation Security and the New Zealand Defence Force (NZ Army) competed in the three different categories: Police Patrol, Narcotic Detector and Explosive Detector.
The competition involved a range of activities to test the unique skills of dogs and their handlers and was held in the Upper Hutt area.
Four-year-old Police dog Mario and handler Senior Constable Mark Chapman, from Tauranga, are this year’s national Police Patrol dog champions and the winners of the Frank Riley Cup.
The pair also won the William Rose Bowl for criminal work disciplines.
“I thought we were up there but I had my money on someone else winning it.
But you just don’t know.
“Everything you did had to be perfect.
Constable Elyse Lewis and Mist, from Whangarei, took out second place, as well as the Commissioner’s Challenge Cup for obedience disciplines.
“I found the competition very challenging.
It really tested my boundaries – and tested my pressure levels.
“I learned a heck of a lot about me and my dog and what we can do together.
The Narcotic Detector title was won by Senior Constable Chris Harris, with dog Floyd, from Auckland.
I knew Floyd was very capable, but being the first time for me here, I didn’t know what to expect – and you really don’t know where you stand until the names are called at the end.
“The competition was extremely stiff this year, and the scores were all very tight at the top.
“Everyone worked really hard just to get here in the first place, and it’s a big deal to have come and competed at a national level.
Deputy Commissioner Mike Clement presented the prizes at the Police Dog Training Centre in Trentham this afternoon.
Recent developments in Nigeria’s power sector may not have come quite pleasing to the 11 electricity distribution companies (Discos). Within the last couple of weeks, the Discos may have seen ample reasons and signs from the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) to want to be primed for probable but uncomfortable developments that are bound to come upon them.
First, it was the government’s declaration of the eligible customers’ regime on the counsel of the NERC thus approving bilateral trade relations between electricity generation companies (Gencos) and bulk power consumers. The declaration was with the intent to minimise Discos’ interference in such electricity trades.
Then followed a fresh order by NERC to maximum demand consumers without meters to henceforth stop payments of estimated bills to the Discos, but with no deliberate intent to make them lose revenues from the large power users, who constitute the most of their revenue base.
Following up on these two orders, NERC then disclosed that it would disband the boards of any of the Discos found guilty of poor operational performances since taking over their distribution assets.
Speaking at the 16th edition of the monthly power sector operators’ meeting which was hosted by the Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC) Ltd, at one of its transmission stations in Ugwuaji, Enugu State, NERC’s Commissioner for Engineering Performance and Monitoring, Prof. Frank Okafor, stated that the regulator had initiated a regulatory proceeding that may lead to the sack of the management boards of the 11 Discos over their alleged poor performance ratings.
Okafor explained that the regulatory commission was fed up with the operational excesses of the Discos, especially on their reported failures to abide by the performance agreements they signed with it in providing meters for electricity consumers in the country, and would in this regards initiate tough regulatory actions against them.
He noted that, at the moment, the Discos had failed to accomplish the terms in the metering plans they submitted to the commission, adding that they have rather resorted to unfair practices of estimated billing of consumers, a development it would no longer tolerate.
The Discos have in return accused the government of frequently interfering in the regulation of the electricity industry by the NERC, and then denying them cost reflective tariff. They’ve also stated that debts owed them by government MDAs have continued to pile up though the government has commenced efforts to pay off the debt.
The financial shortages that were built up by government’s interference in the market’s tariff have also been referred to by the Discos as a huge challenge to their operations.
“We are looking at very heavy sanctions including calling off the boards of some Discos and replacing the boards. It is going to be as bad as that very soon because NERC has a right just like the Central Bank does to the banks, to sack the board and put in a new board,” he stated.
Buttressing the commission’s conviction on the poor showings of the Discos, Okafor noted: “Remember there was the NEMSF fund which was to beef up the metering commitment of the Discos but it doesn’t appear they are doing that and we are working to make sure that they have to do that.
In addition to the possible board disbandment, NERC also made to stop the Discos from profiteering from their maximum demand customers with its order stopping further estimated payments to them.
The order, which came at a time the Discos’ revenue remittance performances to the market have been extremely poor – an average of 25 per cent every month, would certainly affect the Discos’ financial status considering that this consumer class historically holds the juiciest end of their revenue base.
Accordingly, the MD customers are commercial and industrial customers, who consume high levels of electricity and contribute substantially to the revenues of Discos. The consumption threshold for MD customers is 45KVA, while their meters are connected on the 11Kv (high tension wire) electricity lines, mostly on dedicated transformers.
This class of customers include heavy users of electricity like commercial business plazas, large firms, and small-scale industries among others. They, from the statistics provided by the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, spend billions of naira annually to power their operations, and from which the Discos benefit.
Even though the power supplies in the country and indeed to this class of consumers have been poor, MAN, in 2016 disclosed that its members spent a whopping N9 billion to generate power on daily basis to keep up with their manufacturing activities.