Datasets:
Recag
/
C4_7

Dataset card Data Studio Files
xet
Community
1
text
stringlengths
12
61.1k
* WALTERS: Recruiter Robert Walters Plc on Tuesday posted a 16 percent rise in second-quarter gross profit, boosted by growth in its international markets.
* OCADO: Ocado, the online supermarket and technology company, reported a 13.9 percent fall in first-half core earnings on Tuesday, reflecting increased investment in the business.
* PREMIER FOODS: Premier Foods investor Oasis Management’s fund has nearly doubled its share stake in the company ahead of a shareholder meeting next week at which it has called for the removal of Chief Executive Gavin Darby.
* SKY/TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY FOX: Twenty-First Century Fox Inc is preparing a new bid for Sky Plc that values it at about 25 billion pounds ($33.14 billion) to top the offer it has received from Comcast Corp , the Financial Times reported on Monday.
* PREMIER FOODS: Hedge fund Paulson & Co has urged Premier Foods Plc to replace its chief executive officer, adding to a chorus of calls by investors for the maker of Oxo stock cubes and Mr Kipling cakes to overhaul its management team.
* GREYHOUND: Intercity bus company Greyhound Canada said it would stop services in three western provinces in the country and eliminate 415 jobs there as it loses riders to low-cost airlines and subsidized passenger services.
* BRITAIN-EU: Britain’s finance minister Philip Hammond said on Monday that Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit plan had his full support after Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and Brexit Secretary David Davis quit within hours of each other.
* CARILLION: The collapse of Carillion exposed the risks of using private companies to cut the cost of delivering public services and its failure could be repeated if the government does not learn lessons, lawmakers said on Monday.
* OIL: Oil prices rose on Tuesday on escalating concerns over potential supply shortages, with Brent crude leading the way as hundreds of oil workers in Norway were set to strike later in the day.
* COPPER: Copper prices in London and Shanghai extended gains for a second day on Tuesday, with investors lured to buy low after a trade war-fuelled sell-off last week.
* The UK blue chip index closed 0.9 percent on Monday, after two leading eurosceptic ministers’ resignations dented sterling, with real estate and utilities stocks declining as uncertainty over Brexit negotiations deepened.
The probe began about a month ago and was confirmed Thursday by an official with knowledge of the case. The official was not authorized to speak publicly about active investigations and spoke of condition of anonymity.
If evidence of alleged crimes is found, the matter could be referred to prosecutors, who could seek the release of Trump’s tax returns .
The investigation, first reported by The New York Times, follows Democratic state Attorney General Barbara Underwood’s lawsuit alleging Trump and his adult children used money from the charity to settle business disputes and promote his presidential campaign.
The White House says the lawsuit is politically motivated.
Fruits and vegetables sold in Canadian supermarkets today contain far fewer nutrients than they did 50 years ago, according to an analysis conducted by The Globe and Mail and CTV News.
Vital vitamins and minerals have dramatically declined in some of our most popular foods, including potatoes, tomatoes, bananas and apples, the analysis reveals.
Take the potato, by far the most consumed food in Canada. The average spud has lost 100 per cent of its vitamin A, which is important for good eyesight; 57 per cent of its vitamin C and iron, a key component of healthy blood; and 28 per cent of its calcium, essential for building healthy bones and teeth.
It also lost 50 per cent of its riboflavin and 18 per cent of its thiamine. Of the seven key nutrients measured, only niacin levels have increased.
The story is similar for 25 fruits and vegetables that were analyzed. But Health Canada refused to comment on the findings, saying the debate was an academic one.
The academics, for their part, are intrigued, but not alarmed.
Modern farming methods, long-haul transportation and crop-breeding practices are all believed to be contributing to the drop in vitamins and minerals.
Phil Warman, an agronomist and professor of agricultural sciences at Nova Scotia Agricultural College, said there is no doubt the nutritional content of food is different today, due to the emphasis on producing cheap food.
"The emphasis is on appearance, storability and transportability, and there has been much less emphasis on the nutritional value of fruits and vegetables," he said.
Dr. Warman said crops are bred to produce higher yields, to be resistant to disease and to produce more visually attractive fruits and vegetables, but little or no emphasis is placed on their vitamin or mineral content. While there is little evidence, anecdotal or otherwise, that the changes are resulting in major nutritional deficiencies in the general population, Dr. Warman emphasized that consumers should care about the issue because it is the nutrients, not the appearance, that give food value.
"I care because I want to eat a product that is as high in nutritional value as possible. Otherwise, I would eat sawdust with nitrogen fertilizer," he said.
Tim Lang, a professor at the Centre for Food Policy in London, England, agreed. "It's an issue of consumer rights," he said. "We think of an orange as a constant, but the reality is it isn't."
In fact, you would have to eat eight oranges today to get the same amount of vitamin A your grandparents got from a single orange. And you would need to eat five to get the same level of iron. However, the amount of vitamin C has increased slightly.
Dr. Lang said declining nutrient levels may prove to be a health issue because we are only beginning to understand how important micronutrients are to disease prevention. "The argument that it doesn't matter because we overconsume is complacent. . . . Nutrient density might also be important."
Alison Stephen, director of research at the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, said the biggest nutritional problem is that most Canadians do not eat anywhere near the recommended five to 10 servings of fruits and vegetables daily.
But she is not unduly worried about today's consumers failing to get their required vitamins and minerals. "A lot of our foods today are fortified -- milk, bread, apple juice, cereal," she said.
In other words, grains and dairy products are far more important sources of essential nutrients than they were in the past.
To conduct the analysis, The Globe and Mail and CTV examined food tables that were prepared by government researchers in 1951, 1972 and 1999, and compared the nutrients available from 100 grams of the given food.
The results were almost identical to similar research conducted in the United States and Britain. The U.K. research was published in the British Food Journal, a peer-reviewed, scientific publication, while the U.S. data have been published only in alternative-health journals.
According to the Canadian data, almost 80 per cent of foods tested showed drops in calcium and iron; three-quarters saw drops in vitamin A, and half lost vitamin C and riboflavin; one-third lost thiamine and 12 per cent lost niacin.
But some experts said the explanation for the decline might be found in testing and sampling methods.
Len Piché, an associate professor of nutrition at Brescia College in London, Ont., questioned the accuracy of the numbers, saying testing methods were not great in 1951, so we may only now be getting a true idea of the nutrients in fruits and vegetables. "Did they really go down, or do we just have better techniques for analyzing those nutrients?" he wondered.
However, Dr. Piché said the issue is one Health Canada should examine. "If there's a problem, I'm confident the government will take it seriously and do the necessary research to address it," he said.
Percentage change in the nutrient content of fruits and vegetables in Canada between 1951 and 1999.
A surgeon once named among “The Most Beautiful Doctors in America” has been accused of plying a former patient with “massive amounts of opiates” and charging her as much as $7,000 a day for multiple doses of highly addictive painkillers, according to a suit filed in Manhattan Supreme Court.
A $3 million malpractice suit filed by Maria Angeles Liberatore alleges that Dr. David Greuner, a cardiovascular surgeon who frequently makes TV appearances, turned his prescription pad into a cash machine, dosing her with almost 1,300 shots of Demerol and Dilauded, powerful opioids used to treat pain.
The lawsuit alleges that over the course of 13 months -- mostly in 2011 -- Greuner prescribed almost 700 shots of Demerol and more than 500 shots of Dilauded for Liberatore, a well-to-do businesswoman who became dependent on painkillers after a car crash in the 1980s.
But the suit alleges that after Liberatore met Greuner her dependency accelerated and that she required multiple daily doses of injectable Demerol – a drug that the FDA recommends should only be used to treat acute episodes of moderate to severe pain -- at a cost of nearly a $250,000 over the course of a year.
A pharmacy record submitted in the lawsuit also shows that Greuner prescribed Liberatore several hundred tablets of Methadone, a drug typically used to fight addiction to heroin and other narcotics.
"She was trying to get help from a doctor, that’s what you’re supposed to do," said James Stricker, an attorney who represents Liberatore.
Stricker said the quantity of opioids in Liberatore’s system nearly killed her and rendered her completely incoherent.
“The doctors submitted affidavits. She was rendered a small child. She was unable to act for herself, care for herself."
Liberatore declined the I-Team’s request for an interview.
Greuner, who was named among the nation’s most beautiful doctors by the syndicated talk show The Doctors and has appeared on other medical shows, also declined to comment to the I-Team.
He has a clean disciplinary record and is licensed in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and at least three other states.
He suggested Liberatore, who filed for bankruptcy in 2011, was trying to shake him down because she was nearly broke. He also claimed that the suit fell outside the statute of limitations.
"Likely realizing that the days of her action were numbered… [she] embarked upon a campaign to malign my reputation and harass my business colleagues to increase pressure for me to settle," Greuner said in the filing.
Greuner's prescriptions were administered, according to the suit, during pricey house calls under company names like called "Elite House Call," "NY Hotel Urgent Med," and "Premier House Call."
Representatives of those concierge doctor services were not available for comment.
According to Dr. Seth Waldman, Director of the Pain Management Division of the Hospital for Special Surgery, it would be extremely unusual for a doctor to prescribe hundreds of Demerol shots for a single patient to be taken at home.
Injectable opioids, Waldman said, are generally intended for acute pain relief like after a surgical operation or to alleviate pain during end-of-life palliative care.
Dr. Andrew Kolodny, chief medical officer at the addiction treatment center Phoenix House and founder of the advocacy group Physicians for Responsible Opioid Prescribing, also said Demerol injections would be a highly unusual prescribing choice for a physician doing house calls to treat a patient with chronic pain associated with a car accident.
"Outside of a hospital or hospice care, it is highly unusual for a physician to treat an outpatient with injectable opioids. I haven’t heard of that before."
Greuner has motioned to have the case sealed to protect his reputation. At a hearing to discuss the motion his attorney, Caroline Wallitt, said an anonymous person has been harassing Greuner by posting on Yelp, writing to journalists, and alerting the doctor's colleagues to false accusations in the lawsuit.
"We believe it demonstrates a pattern of improper conduct that is designed to hurt Dr. Greuner. To malign him," Wallitt said.
Judge Schlesinger ultimately declined to seal the record, noting the decision is related to the nation’s opioid crisis.
At least one lawmaker – state Sen. Phil Boyle (R- Bay Shore) -- said he’d be following the case against Greuner.
Boyle has sponsored several bills aimed at battling opioid abuse and said that if Greuner has to pay a malpractice judgment to an admitted addict the case could have a much-needed chilling effect on how doctors deal with drug-seeking patients in the future.
"We may see a rash of lawsuits and if that is the case we're going to see a lot less over-prescribing,” he said.
The resignations of Alcatel-Lucent's two top executives mark the final stage in a two-year-old merger that so far has failed to deliver strong results.
Chairman Serge Tchuruk will step down Oct. 1 and CEO Patricia Russo will leave by year's end after helping to pick her replacement, the company said Tuesday after reporting a large loss for the second quarter. Its board will also be trimmed down, and former Lucent CEO Henry Schacht will leave the board immediately.
The communications equipment makers joined forces in 2006 in a bid to gain economies of scale to better compete against low-cost Chinese vendors such as Huawei Technologies. The move also eliminated one more independent competitor vying to supply a dwindling number of service providers, following a string of big carrier mergers.
However, the trans-Atlantic deal caused jitters over culture clashes and future prospects from the beginning, winning approval from Lucent shareholders in a close vote. And since it was formed, Alcatel-Lucent has racked up a string of losses. On Tuesday, it posted a second-quarter loss of €1.1 billion (US$1.7 billion), up from €586 million a year earlier. Not counting exceptional charges, it still lost €222 million.
"When you take two people with broken legs and tie them together, they don't really walk any better," said Yankee Group analyst Zeus Kerravala. The deal was virtually doomed to failure, with two struggling partners, cultural differences to overcome, and dramatic changes at Alcatel-Lucent's carrier customers, he said.
But the resignations may clear the way for leaders who can deliver what carriers are now looking for, Kerravala believes. In the traditional telecommunications world where Russo and Tchuruk come from, vendors like Alcatel and Lucent built both networks and the software to deliver applications on them. Today, carriers such as BT Group and AT&T want a single IP (Internet Protocol) infrastructure that can carry applications and services developed by third parties, Kerravala said. They will be more like Windows, which gains its strength from its widespread developer base, he said.
The good news for Alcatel-Lucent is that no vendor quite has what the carriers need yet, Kerravala said, although Cisco and Juniper (which just hired former Microsoft executive Kevin Johnson as its CEO) are working on it. "It's not like it's too late for Alcatel-Lucent," he said.
The departures will finally consummate the deal and put the company in French hands, Burton Group analyst Dave Passmore said.
"It really was a takeover of Lucent by Alcatel. By putting her in charge, at least initially, it gave the Lucent people a reason to perhaps hang on," Passmore said, in reference to Russo. It was a hard merger, and culture clashes and a tough market have prevented the company from better competing against low-cost rivals. A recently reported move by Alcatel-Lucent to concentrate on services rather than equipment is one move to succeed in the new environment, he added.
Frank Dzubeck, an analyst at Communications Network Architects, agreed that cultural differences have stalled the company.
"It's not that the other party can't change. ... It's that neither party wants to change," Dzubeck said. "Neither organization thought this was a merger of equals."
Tchuruk and Russo are both talented leaders, but they have to make way for fresh leadership to do the hard work of cutting jobs and centralizing authority, he said.
"That's the only way that this thing was ever going to get solved," Dzubeck said.
This morning, local TV station Fox5 reported that the city of San Diego was going to have the Longbranch Torrey Pine chopped down. This report stirred neighbors up and a number of them came out to find yellow tape and signs blocking the street around the Torrey on that 4600 block.
Officer Surwilo showed up to monitor the situation.
The contract crews began trimming the tree but had no plans to cut the large tree down. Fox5 has since changed their reporting.
The City’s contractor showed up early Thursday. All photos by Wayne Starker.
Signs were placed yesterday, announcing an “event”. The City has been trying to notify the neighborhood that trimming was all they had in mind.
Neighbors and members of Save Peninsula Trees gather to question city and contractor.
But with the tragic collapse of a Torrey on Monday that killed two visitors – there’s been some in the community calling for all Torrey Pines to be removed.
Most recent photo showing some of the branches trimmed off the Torrey. Photo by Carole Landon-Stone.
While it is a positive thing local TV stations are staying in tune with the story about this Torrey – which the neighborhood saved 8 years ago – and we welcome all the coverage the situation deserves, but neighbors were needlessly riled up this morning.
Perhaps this wasn’t the best headline to use, but it’s what came to mind as I’m feeling a bit under the weather.
Nice crisp photos by Wayne Starker. Thanks Wayne for being ‘johnny-on-the-spot’ this morning.
Second that. And thanks to everyone else who showed up or contacted the OB Rag this morning about this developing story (LindaT, Judith, Carole, Matt, Virginia).
Oh Lordy, frickin’ Fox news. For Pete’s sake, as if there wasn’t enough “chicken little” reaction already. And its not a positive thing when news media don’t get the facts right!
In theory, there should now exist a reasonable conduit for tree information between the City and the various communities through the CFAB Board, which has reps from each district. Its possible, given the recent weather and the tragic accident a few days ago, that the City rescheduled maintenance activities (perhaps abruptly but understandably) to be pro-active in monitoring these larger trees during the winter months.
I feel pretty certain that if the Long Branch Torrey ever gets slated for felling, that Mr. Widener (City Forester) now knows well to inform the OB community first. Or I’d like to think so.
First, the dangerous nature of the removed trees was, and still is, debatable. Second, these large trees don’t necessarily have to be trimmed every year, and third, unless he’s in close contact w/ the City’s admin record of tree visits and assessments, he has no idea whether O&M visits have been made over the past 2 years. A visit does not always include trimming!
Hate to be picky, but this is how people get riled up over the wrong stuff!
I just drove by the trees on Saratoga and they appear to my eye to be in pretty poor shape. The roots of these trees have grown over the curb and are spilling into the gutter. They surely can’t be well rooted if that is the case. These trees should be investigated ASAP.
Sam, are you an arborist? What makes you think they need to be investigated ASAP? Unless you have some background in this area, it is not very responsible to sound an alarm like that.
That’s one of the many events the center has supported since the school year began. It’s held a biweekly seminar series and cosponsored the Black Arts Movement conference, which included academic presentations and performances.
• The Marcus Shelby Quartet: Harriet Tubman and the Blues – Teacher and musician Marcus Shelby will tell the story of Harriet Tubman, who rose from humble beginnings, escaped slavery and dedicated her life to challenging injustices. 8 p.m. Monday in Lakireddy Auditorium. Free and open to the public.
• Thirty Years of Mass Incarceration: Where Do We Go from Here? – The daylong symposium looks at the past, present and future of mass incarceration. The 1984 Crime Control Act, which established mandatory minimum sentences, was the first in a series of laws passed in the 1980s and 1990s that created mass incarceration. The number of people behind bars increased 450 percent. 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday in the California Room.
• Graduate Students Conference – Professor Rachel Klein from the University of California, San Diego, will deliver the keynote talk, “The Metropolitan Museum on Trial: Cypriot Antiquities and the Transformation of Culture in the Late Nineteenth Century United States” at 6:30 p.m. April 19 at the Merced Theatre. Free and open to the public.