Ringing in 2018: The other side of the globe gets this party started

latimes.com - A look at how people around the world are saying adios to 2017 and ringing in 2018:

AUSTRALIA

Fireworks lighted up the sky above Sydney Harbour, highlighting the city's New Year's celebrations.

The massive fireworks display included a rainbow waterfall cascade of lights and colour flowing off the harbor's bridge to celebrate recently passed legislation legalising gay marriage in Australia.

Over a million people were expected to gather to watch the festivities. Security was tight, but officials said there was no particular alert.

Sydney officials said the event would generate some $170 million for the city and “priceless publicity.” Nearly half the revelers were tourists.

NEW ZEALAND

Tens of thousands of New Zealanders took to the streets and beaches, becoming among the first in the world to usher in 2018.

As the new year dawned in this southern hemisphere nation, fireworks boomed and crackled above city centers and harbors, and party-goers sang, hugged, danced and kissed.

In Auckland, New Zealand's biggest city, tens of thousands gathered around Sky Tower as five minutes of nonstop pyrotechnics exploded from the structure's upper decks.

But on nearby Waiheke Island, 20 miles away, authorities canceled the planned fireworks display because of drought conditions and low water supplies for firefighters.

CHINA

Those willing to brave the cold in Beijing will join a countdown at the tower at Yongdingmen Gate, a rebuilt version of the Ming dynasty-era landmark gate at the southern end of the city's north-south axis.

Bells will be rung and prayers offered at temples in Beijing, but the Gregorian calendar's New Year's celebrations are typically muted in China compared to the Lunar New Year, or Spring Festival, a time of fireworks, feasts and family reunions.

Authorities throughout China are also on high alert for stampedes or terror attacks at large public gatherings. Police in the central city of Zhengzhou are putting 3,500 officers on duty across the city while residents gather to watch a light show and cultural performance in a public square.

The official Xinhua News Agency reported that President Xi Jinping sent a New Year's greeting to his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, saying Beijing is ready to boost cooperation with Russia in 2018.

JAPAN

Many Japanese are celebrating the arrival of the Year of the Dog in the traditional way of praying for peace and good fortune at neighborhood Shinto shrines, and eating New Year's food such as noodles, shrimp and sweet black beans.

Barbecued beef and octopus dumpling stalls were out at Tokyo's Zojoji Temple, where people take turns striking the giant bell 108 times at midnight, an annual practice repeated at other Buddhist temples throughout Japan.

North Korea's nuclear and missile programmes cast a shadow over Japan's hopes for peace, said 33-year-old cab driver Masaru Eguchi, who was ready to be busy all night shuttling shrine visitors.

“The world situation has grown so complex,” Eguchi said, adding that he also worried about possible terrorism targeting Japan. “I feel this very abstracted sense of uncertainty, although I really have no idea what might happen.”

SOUTH KOREA

After spending an exhausting year that saw a presidency toppled by a corruption scandal and nuclear-armed North Korea firing missile after missile, South Koreans enter 2018 in need of a happy distraction. The upcoming Winter Olympics just might do it.

Thousands of people are expected to fill the streets near Seoul's City Hall for a traditional bell-tolling ceremony to usher in the new year. The group of dignitaries picked to ring the old Bosingak bell at midnight includes Soohorang and Bandabi — the tiger and bear mascots for the Pyeongchang Winter Games and Paralympics in February and March.

Tens of thousands of people are expected to flock to eastern coastal areas, including Gangneung, the seaside city that will host the Olympic skating and hockey events, to watch the sun rise on 2018.

INDIA

Security was tight in the southern Indian city of Bangalore to prevent a repeat of incidents of alleged groping and molestation of several women during last year's New Year's Eve celebrations.

Sunil Kumar, the city's police commissioner, said at least 15,000 police officers were on duty and were being aided by drones and additional closed-circuit television cameras.

Last year, police first denied that any sexual harassment had taken place during the celebrations in Bangalore, India's information technology hub. But later, police detained at least six men after several video clips of women being attacked by groups of men spread on social media.

PHILIPPINES

Hours before midnight, authorities had already reported that at least 86 people had been injured by celebratory firecrackers in the Philippines, which has some of the most raucous new year's celebrations in Asia.

Although the number of injuries has tapered off in recent years, largely due to hard economic times and government scare campaigns, the figures remain alarming. President Rodrigo Duterte signed an order in June confining the use of firecrackers to community-designated areas, such as near shopping malls and parks.

Many Filipinos, largely influenced by Chinese tradition, believe that noisy New Year's celebrations drive away evil and misfortune. But they have carried that superstition to extremes, exploding dangerously large firecrackers and firing guns to welcome the new year despite threats of arrest.

TURKEY

Security measures were ramped up across Turkey, which was hit by a New Year's Day attack a year ago that killed dozens.

In Istanbul alone, 37,000 officers were on duty, with multiple streets closed to traffic and large vehicles barred from entering certain districts. Several New Year's Eve street parties were canceled for security reasons.

Early on Jan. 1, 2017, an assailant shot his way into Istanbul's Reina nightclub, where hundreds were celebrating the new year. Thirty-nine people were killed — mostly foreigners — and 79 wounded. Islamic State claimed responsibility.

On Sunday, some 100 people gathered outside the nightclub to remember the victims of the attack.

ROMANIA

Romanians prepared to usher in a new year in which the focus is expected to be an anticorruption fight as the government seeks to push through legislation that critics say will make it harder to punish high-level graft.

Television stations broadcast live from supermarkets full of last-minute shoppers, while beauty salons reported full bookings as revelers geared up for traditional celebrations of copious meals that can run to hundreds of euros.

Others meditated and prayed at Orthodox churches and monasteries. In rural eastern Romania, villagers danced traditional pantomime-like jigs to welcome the new year, wrapping themselves in bear furs or dressing as horses.

In his new year message, President Klaus Iohannis praised Romanians who staged the largest protests since the end of communism.

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA

Tens of thousands of revelers will ring in the new year in Las Vegas under the close eye of law enforcement just three months after the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history.

Tourism officials expect about 330,000 people to come to Las Vegas for the festivities, which are anchored by a roughly eight-minute fireworks display at the top of seven hotel-casinos.

Acts including Bruno Mars, Britney Spears, Celine Dion and the Foo Fighters will keep partiers entertained before and after midnight at properties across Sin City.

The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department will have every officer working Sunday, while the Nevada National Guard is activating about 350 soldiers and Air Force personnel.

The federal government also is sending dozens of personnel to assist with intelligence and other efforts.

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Serial prankster arrested in 'swatting' trick that led to fatal police shooting of unarmed Kansas man

nydailynews.com - An alleged serial "prankster" from California has been arrested over a fake 911 call that resulted in police fatally shooting an unarmed Kansas man earlier this week, officials said.

Tyler Barriss — a 25-year-old gamer suspected of making the false police report that led to the death of Wichita resident Andrew Finch — was cuffed by Los Angeles cops late Friday. The catastrophic prank Barriss carried out, known as "swatting," has gained traction in online gaming communities and typically involves a person making up a story about an ongoing violent crime to trigger a massive police response.

Finch was gunned down on Thursday night after cops believe Barriss told a 911 dispatcher that he had shot his father and was holding his mother and younger brother hostage.

"I shot him in the head and he's not breathing anymore," Barriss said, according to a recording of the call released by the Wichita Police Department.

Barriss then added, "I might just pour gasoline all over the house, I might just set it on fire."

Barriss gave cops Finch's address, mistakenly believing it belonged to a person he had feuded with over a $1 or $2 Call of Duty wager.

"Due to the actions of a prankster we have an innocent victim," Wichita deputy police chief Troy Livingston said during a press conference Friday night.

Barriss' unnerving 911 call set cops rushing to Finch's house, expecting an ongoing hostage situation. Instead, an unarmed and unsuspecting Finch came to the front door.

Officers screamed at Finch to put his hands in the air, but Livingston said the 28-year-old father of two young boys moved a hand toward his waistband. An officer, fearing Finch was reaching for a gun, fired a single shot. Finch died minutes later.

A series of since-deleted Twitter posts screen-grabbed by the Wichita Eagle suggest that the targeted Call of Duty gamer gave Barriss a fake address that — seemingly by complete happenstance — turned out to be Finch's. (ontinueReading 

US: Judge bans Arizona from enforcing "racist" education law

CNN - An Arizona law banning Mexican-American studies from schools has been quashed.

A federal court says the measure, which took aim at programmes such as Tucson Unified School District's Mexican-American Studies (MAS) program Arizona that state lawmakers said were "designed primarily for pupils of a particular ethnic group," violates students' constitutional rights.

Richard Martinez, the attorney who represents a group of Mexican-American students who attended the Tucson Unified School District, said the students sued shortly after the law was passed by Arizona Governor Jan Brewer.

"This was their curriculum that was intended to be responsive to them...culturally, linguistically, educationally," Martinez said. "The program had a very strong effect on students' achievement... in fact, most of the students finished high school and matriculated to college, which was unprecedented at Tucson Unified School District."

Most of the students are now in college, with two students currently enrolled in high school in the Tucson Unified School District.

According to court documents, the programme was established in 1998 and included courses like art, government, literature, and history focusing on "historic and contemporary Mexican-American contributions." It was meant to help Mexican-American students engage and relate to their studies and to "close the historic gap in academic achievement between Mexican-American & white students in Tucson."

The MAS programme was a success, U.S. District Court Judge Wallace Tashima noted, writing that "one would expect that officials responsible for public education in Arizona would continue, not terminate, an academically successful program."

However, the programme drew negative attention from Arizona Department of Education officials. Tom Horne, the former superintendent of public instruction, said the programme was "'extremely anti-American" because it promotes "essentially revolution against the American government."

According to court documents, Horne never attended a class from the programme to see what was being taught there and yet recommended the program be canceled. When the Tucson Unified School District didn't accept his recommendation, Horne "began lobbying for statewide legislation that would ban the program." His third draft of a bill prohibiting ethnic courses passed the House.

That was when John Huppenthal, a Senator who was chairman of the Senate Education Accountability and Reform Committee, became a proponent of the bill. It passed the Legislature in 2010 and both officials used the bill "to make political gains," Judge Tashima said, using the issue as "a political boon," that the men referenced in their political campaigns.

The court also found that Huppenthal posted discriminatory comments on a blog a few months after the bill passed. Huppenthal, who wrote under two pseudonyms, said things like, "I don't mind them selling Mexican food as long as the menus are mostly in English." He also wrote that embracing Mexico's values is "the rejection of success and embracement of failure," and opposed Spanish-language media saying, "This is America, speak English." He also wrote a blog comment comparing the Mexican-American Studies classes to the "KKK in a different colour," called the teachers skinheads and said they "use the exact same technique that Hitler used in his rise to power."

These blog comments, the judge said, were "the most important and direct evidence that racial animus infected the decision to enact" the bill.

Tashima ultimately concluded that the bill "was enacted and enforced with a discriminatory purpose" since "students have a First Amendment right to receive information and ideas" and said current Superintendent of Public Instruction Diane Douglas and Horne and Huppenthal "acted contrary to the First and Fourteenth Amendments," "violated students' constitutional rights," and said the bill "was not enacted in a legitimate educational purpose."

The defendants have 30 days to appeal and "the clock is ticking," said Martinez.

"Everyone is very pleased to bring this eight-year challenge to closure in such a positive way. Now public school students in Arizona will be allowed to take classes that teach their history and literature, to hear their own stories and know that they, too, are part of the rich American fabric," Martinez said.

CNN has requested comment from the Arizona Department of Education as well as the state's attorney general. Tucson Unified School District Superintendent Dr. Gabriel Trujillo did not have a comment, his spokeswoman said. The District and staff are on winter break. (ontinueReading

China’s bold advances challenge India’s sway over small neighbours

theaustralian.com.au - Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said this month that his country “disapproves” of spheres of influence in international affairs. He was speaking in Delhi, India’s capital, a fact that underscored a point China is making increasingly clear by other, less diplomatic means: the thing it really disapproves of is India maintaining a sphere of influence.

Separated from the rest of Asia by the world’s biggest mountains, India is the elephant on its own subcontinent. Leaving aside perennially hostile Pakistan, it has effortlessly dominated smaller neighbours much in the way the US does in the Caribbean: they may grumble and resent their sometimes clumsy big brother, but they have learned to stay out of its way. Lately, however, China’s bold advances are challenging India’s sway.

Consider the past few weeks. On December 9 Sri Lanka granted a 99-year lease of a strategic port on its southern coast to a company controlled by the Chinese government. The same week an alliance of two communist parties swept parliamentary polls in Nepal; they had campaigned for closer ties with China and more distant ones with India. At the end of November, after a hasty “emergency” session of parliament with no opposition members present, the Maldives became the second South Asian country after Pakistan to ratify a free-trade agreement with China. The low-lying archipelago in the Indian Ocean, which sits beside trade routes along which an estimated 60,000 ships pass every year, has also leased an island to one Chinese firm and awarded big infrastructure projects to others.

India has faced challenges in its traditional sphere before, says Tanvi Madan of the Brookings Institution, a US think tank. What is different is the scale and speed of China’s incursion.

Until 2011, for instance, China did not even have an embassy in the Maldivian capital, Male. But after a state visit to the island republic by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2014 — the first by a Chinese leader — military, diplomatic and economic ties have strengthened rapidly. China now holds some 75 per cent of the Maldives’ debt, reckons Mohamed Nasheed, an exiled former president.

Following the Maldives’ sudden free-trade deal with China, India’s Foreign Ministry could only drily intone: “It is our expectation that as a close and friendly neighbour, (the) Maldives will be sensitive to our concerns, in keeping with its ‘India First’ policy.” Rather than reaffirm its commitment to upholding Indian interests, however, the Maldivian government abruptly suspended three local councillors for the sin of meeting with the Indian ambassador without seeking prior permission. In the past, the Maldives, with its 400,000 people, would not have dared snub its neighbour of 1.3 billion so blatantly. The affront is all the more glaring given that a muscular foreign policy is one of the electoral planks of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whose party just won a hard-fought election in his home state of Gujarat.

In Nepal, too, the Chinese dragon has advanced swiftly. As long ago as the 1950s its rulers had reached out to China to counterbalance India, which controlled nearly all access to the landlocked kingdom — as it was then — and was pressing the royal family to allow some democracy. “But all it took to manage Nepal then was a few boxes of whisky,” says Constantino Xavier of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, another think tank. Decades later, when Nepal’s king again made overtures to China, India mounted an 18-month economic blockade that ultimately persuaded him not only to shun his northern neighbour but also to allow multi-party elections. When Nepalese Maoists, briefly in government in 2008 following a 10-year civil war, went to China seeking aid, they came away empty-handed. “They were told a mountain has two sides; know which one you are on,” says Xavier. In other words, Nepal should recognise Indian dominance.

Nepal, now a republic, issued a new constitution in 2015. India saw it as unfair to lowland regions that lie along its border, and so again showed its muscle. But rather than crumple in the face of a new blockade (which was imposed by Nepalese protesters but tacitly backed by India, which still controls nearly all road access), Nepal’s wobbly government held its ground. To assert its independence it signed several deals with China. In the just-completed elections this policy paid off handsomely for Nepal’s communists, who were able to promise giant Chinese investments in hydropower, roads and the country’s first railway. This will run not downhill from Kathmandu, the Nepalese capital, to India, but over the mountains to China.

Nepal’s ties to India remain extremely strong. Millions of Nepalese work there; it is Nepal’s biggest trading partner; and the two countries’ armies have historically been tightly bound. But whereas India has counted on this legacy to sustain its influence, China has busied itself with funding scholarships, think tanks and junkets to China for Nepalese journalists and academics. Back in the 1960s, a Nepalese delegation met Mao Zedong, recalls Xavier. “He told them that only in 50 years, when a train reached from Tibet to Kathmandu, could China match India’s influence.”

India has met China’s push with consternation, and the occasional pushback. Quite literally so: Indian troops this year crossed onto territory claimed by another small country in India’s orbit, Bhutan, to block a road-building incursion by Chinese forces. The intervention did stop China, but has tested India’s relations with a country that relies heavily on Indian aid and is such a close ally that it has yet to establish diplomatic relations with its only other neighbour, China. This may have been the intention. China has long been quietly offering to resolve its border disputes with Bhutan through an exchange of territory. India has blocked the idea, fearing it would strengthen China at a point of military vulnerability for India.

In that particular contest India may be a match for China, in determination if not in strength. India’s foreign-policy establishment is well aware of its other weaknesses in relation to its northern neighbour and has worked hard to address them. It used to rely on the sheer immensity and harshness of the Himalayas to act as a barrier, and deliberately built no roads that a Chinese invader might use. That has changed: India is furiously struggling to catch up with China’s burgeoning and impressive border infrastructure.

But retaining an Indian “sphere of influence” remains a tricky task. Aside from the fact that India’s economy is only a fifth of China’s in size, and that its messy democracy makes policymaking slow and cumbersome, India suffers important institutional constraints. Its entire corps of diplomats amounts to just 770 professionals, compared, for example, with the US’s 13,500 foreign-service officers. Indian aid to its neighbours has suffered from poor delivery through inefficient public-sector companies. And until recently India has shied away from working with other countries that are equally concerned by China’s expansionism.

All of this is changing, however. The Indian elephant may be slow to learn, but it is hard to budge.

World's Wealthiest Became $1 Trillion Richer in 2017

Bloomberg.com - The richest people on earth became $1 trillion richer in 2017, more than four times last year’s gain, as stock markets shrugged off economic, social and political divisions to reach record highs.

The 23 percent increase on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, a daily ranking of the world’s 500 richest people, compares with an almost 20 percent increase for both the MSCI World Index and Standard & Poor’s 500 Index.

Amazon.com Inc. founder Jeff Bezos added the most in 2017, a $34.2 billion gain that knocked Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates out of his spot as the world’s richest person in October. Gates, 62, had held the spot since May 2013, and has been donating much of his fortune to charity, including a $4.6 billion pledge he made to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in August. Bezos, whose net worth topped $100 billion at the end of November, currently has a net worth of $99.6 billion compared with $91.3 billion for Gates.

George Soros also gave away a substantial part of his fortune, revealing in October that his family office had given $18 billion to his Open Society Foundations over the past several years, dropping the billionaire investor to No. 195 on the Bloomberg ranking, with a net worth of $8 billion.

By the end of trading Tuesday, Dec. 26, the 500 billionaires controlled $5.3 trillion, up from $4.4 trillion on Dec. 27, 2016.

“It’s part of the second-most robust and second-longest bull market in history,” said Mike Ryan, chief investment officer for the Americas at UBS Wealth Management, on Dec. 18. “Of all the guidance we gave people over the course of this year, the most important advice was staying invested.” (ontinueReading

US Holiday Sales See Largest Increase Since 2011

usnews.com - Retail holiday sales in America had their largest increase this year since 2011 — jumping 4.9 percent compared to the same time (Nov. 1 to Dec. 24) last year, according to a report from Mastercard SpendingPulse.

Online shopping, which increased 18.1 percent from last year, was a big reason for the bump. Despite the store closings throughout the year, the ease of online and last-minute shopping and the availability of fast-shipping options helped retail sales.

"Overall, this year was a big win for retail," said Sarah Quinlan, senior vice president of market insights at Mastercard. "The strong U.S. economy was a contributing factor, but we also have to recognize that retailers who tried new strategies to engage holiday shoppers were the beneficiaries of this sales increase."

Early promotions from retailers encouraged consumers to buy. The first three weeks of November saw significant jumps in sales, according to the report. Additionally, Black Friday and Super Saturday — the Saturday before Christmas — were the two biggest days of single-day spending for retail sales.

Although overall spending grew 4.9 percent, sales in different categories differed. Sales in electronics and appliances increased 7.5 percent, the strongest growth in the last 10 years. Home furniture and furnishings, as well as home improvement saw increases of 5.1 percent. Jewelry sales increased by 5.9 percent, mostly by last-minute shoppers, the report found.

Department and speciality apparel stores traditionally see most of their sales happen in-store as opposed to online, and despite their many closings, their sales saw moderate gains.

The SpendingPulse report is based on aggregate sales activity in the Mastercard payments network, along with survey based-estimates for other forms of payment, such as cash and checks, according to Mastercard. The data exclude auto sales. (ontinueReading

XMAS Survey 2017

In honour of the Christmas holiday I am going to do a brief survey. There are 25 random questions related to the Xmas holiday.

1 Do you observe Christmas Ever or Christmas Day?
 - Christmas Eve mostly, but now it's both.

2. Do you and your family send out cards?
 - I do (to a select few), but the rest of my family doesn't.

3. Do you put up a Christmas tree?
 - Not really. I have put up a small pre lit tree years past. I don't really do it anymore.

3. Do you put up other decorations?
 - I put up lights and ornaments.

4. What is your favourite Christmas song?
 - I like the 12 Days of Christmas. My fav version is by Ray Conniff

5. What do you want for Christmas?
 - Candy mostly.

6. White Elephant gift exchange, yea, or ney?
 - NO. They are stupid & overrated.

7. Have you ever sat on Santa's lap?
 - Yes when I was very young.

8. What part of Christmas do you look most forward to?
 - Time spent relaxing and visiting family.

9. Have you ever had a secret Santa?
 - No.I don't do Secret Santa.

10. What is your favourite Christmas movie?
 - Home Alone.

11. What is your favourite Christmas special?
 - The Grinch  who stole Christmas.

12. What is it like where you live in December?
 - It is cold, with little to no snow on the ground.

13. Do you hang up a stocking?
 - Not really. This year I have one up.

14. When do you start getting excited about Christmas?
 - After American Thanksgiving.

15.What is your favourite drink?
 - Hot Cocoa.

16. What is your favourite childhood Christmas memory?
 - Going to my grandmas to spend the holiday with extended family.

17. What is your favourite holiday desert?
 - Pie with ice cream.

18. What is your favourite Christmas dish?
 - Some kind of meat like turkey or roast with potatoes gravy, corn, stuffing and of course pie.

19. Do you like giving or receiving gifts?
 - Both. It's nice to get people gifts that they need or want and I like to get gifts in return.

20. If you could spend anywhere for Christmas, where would you go?
 - If I could, maybe somewhere in the mountains. Might be nice to go to Australia too.

21. What's on your Christmas wishlist this year?
 - A new television. A new fragrance.

22. Do you do anything for New Year?
 - Not really. I like to go and shop the after Christmas sales.

23. What is the best gift you received?
 - I got an Ancestry DNA kit. I did it months prior because my mum did it and wanted me to do it.

24. was is the worst gift you have received?
 - a tealight holder. It was from a white elephante gift exchange.

25. What is your Christmas morning tradition?
 - Get up early open gifts and eat.

There you have it, a 25 questions survey with 25 answers. Feel free to use these for your survey. Until next time have a wonderful holiday!

Swiss president wants a vote to clarify country's EU position

ZURICH (Reuters) - A referendum in Switzerland to clarify the country’s relationship with the European Union would be helpful, Swiss President Doris Leuthard said on Sunday, after ties between the two sides cooled this week.

Switzerland’s frictions with the EU, of which it is not a member, arise as Britain negotiates its withdrawal from the bloc following a referendum in June last year and seeks a new trading relationship with its closest neighbors.

Talks on securing a new “framework” treaty to govern the Swiss-EU relationship have been underway for some time, with Brussels wanting to replace the more than 100 bilateral accords which regulate its relationship with Bern.

But relations soured this week when the EU granted Swiss stock exchanges only limited access to the bloc, prompting Swiss threats of retaliation for what it called discrimination.

”The bilateral path is important,“ Leuthard told Swiss newspapers Sonntags Blick. ”We therefore have to clarify our relationship with Europe. We have to know in which direction to go.

“Therefore a fundamental referendum would be helpful.”

Talks on the an all-encompassing agreement made headway last month after Switzerland agreed to increase its contribution to the EU’s budget.

Such a deal would ensure Switzerland adopts relevant EU laws in return for enhanced access to the bloc’s single market, crucial for Swiss exports.

But a deal would be opposed by the anti-EU Swiss People’s Party (SVP), currently the biggest group in parliament.

Leuthard, who steps down as president at the end of the year, said the latest row had not overshadowed her year in the rotating office.

“Of course, the differences with Brussels are now in focus. Here our attitude is clear - for the EU to link such a technical thing like stock exchange equivalency with a political question like the framework treaty, that is not possible,”

She said some countries were putting Switzerland in the same category as Britain, while others wanted to strengthen their own financial centers at Switzerland’s expense.

“Others think we are cherry pickers who benefit too much from the single European market, they want to increase pressure for a framework agreement,” Leuthard said.

Pressure from outside would did not contribute to a beneficial climate in Switzerland over a potential agreement, she said.

She said she understood Swiss scepticism towards the EU, but there was no alternative to finding an accommodation with the bloc which generates around two thirds of Swiss trade.

“We can strengthen the cooperation with India and China, but the EU remains central. We need a mechanism and regulated relationship with the EU, that would also prevent political games like we are having at the moment,” Leuthard said. (ontinueReading

California wildfire becomes largest on record in the state

Reuters - A sprawling Southern California wildfire that has been burning through rugged, drought-parched coastal terrain since Dec. 4 has become the largest on record in the state, state fire officials said on Friday.

The so-called Thomas fire has blazed through 273,400 acres (110,641 hectares), surpassing the previous record of the 2003 Cedar fire in San Diego County that scorched 273,246 acres and killed 15 people, they said.

The Thomas fire was 65 percent contained as of Friday evening and the natural spread of the blaze had been virtually halted days ago by fire crew, they said.

Incremental increases in burned acreage detected by daily aerial surveys since then have been largely due to controlled-burning operations conducted by firefighters to clear swaths of vegetation between the smoldering edges of the fire zone and populated areas.

The fire has destroyed over 1,000 structures as it has scorched coastal mountains, foothills and canyons across Ventura and Santa Barbara counties northwest of Los Angeles, officials said.

On Thursday, authorities canceled the last evacuation notices still in effect for Santa Barbara and Ventura counties.

One fatality directly related to the fire has been reported, a firefighter who succumbed to burns and smoke inhalation in the line of duty last Thursday.

Brutal Fungal Disease Could Threaten Snakes on a Global Scale

gizmodo.com - It starts with a single lesion. And then another. Soon, the snake’s entire body is covered in the unsightly sores. If the snake is lucky, its skin will start molting, expunging the reptile of the infection. Less fortunate snakes will die. And in some cases, desperate snakes will spend more time in the sun to expedite the molting process—a risky move that makes them vulnerable to predators.

This awful fungal infection is caused by a pathogen called Ophidiomyces ophidiodiicola, and it’s starting to make scientists quite nervous. As a new study published in Scientific Advances points out, this infectious disease, which is known to afflict a handful of snake species in the United States and Europe, could soon reach global, pandemic proportions.

A team of scientists from the American Museum of Natural History, the US Geological Survey, and the University of Maryland, College Park, say snake fungal disease (SFD) can infect many species of snake regardless of genetic predispositions, physical characteristics, or habitat (this fungus doesn’t harm humans, in case you’re wondering). Disturbingly, virtually every snake on the planet is at risk—and the call is now out for scientists to be on the look-out for this emerging threat. (ontinueReading

Catalan independence crisis: Spain, Europe braced as region votes

BARCELONA, Spain — For Roger Heredia, the battle for Catalan independence began generations ago.

His great-grandfather fought and died in 1938 at the hands of forces loyal to Spain's Gen. Francisco Franco. Under Franco's dictatorship, from 1939 to 1975, Catalonia's distinct culture, language and separatist aspirations were suppressed.

Heredia and other hard-line secessionists believe the mistreatment of Catalans continues to this day.

“The transition from Franco to democracy was a farce — a lie,” said Heredia, who is running as a separatist candidate in Thursday's Catalan elections with his ancestor in mind.

Voters in the regional parliamentary election will have a choice between parties that seek an independent state, or at least more autonomy, and unionists that favor remaining within Spain. Polls show the two sides running neck and neck.

The prospect of Catalan independence threatens the integrity of Spain and is sending jitters throughout Europe. E.U. leaders fear an independent Catalonia might encourage separatist movements elsewhere in the bloc.

Voting appeared to be proceeding peacefully so far, in contrast to an Oct. 1 independence referendum that drew a violent response from Spanish police and clashes at polling stations.

Months of uncertainty have already had economic ramifications for the region, which accounts for roughly a fifth of Spain's economy. But analysts say the vote is unlikely to settle questions of independence.

Potentially fractious coalition talks await separatists if they secure a parliamentary majority, with divisions over how to proceed. A win for the unionist parties would deal a significant blow to the independence movement, but likely not quash the separatists' aspirations.

Declaring independence would be like “jumping into the vacuum,” said Josep Borrell — an anti-independence Catalan, Spanish politician and former president of the European Parliament.

Borrell said he identified as both Spanish and Catalan.

Analysts said the independence struggle may have even served to strengthen Spanish nationalism, with gains anticipated for the anti-independence Citizens Party.

Separatists and those who seek more autonomy say they want to wrest control from the national government in Madrid. They argue the region contributes more to Madrid than it receives, and say it should have more fiscal autonomy and control over key infrastructure projects. (ontinueReading

FDA approved Spark Therapeutics’ gene therapy Luxturna™(voretigene neparvovec-rzyl) for treating children and adults with the rare inherited blindness disorder biallelic RPE65 mutation-associated retinal dystrophy. Approval of the one-time adeno-associated virus vector (AAV)-delivered gene therapy, which FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, M.D., described in a statement as “a milestone that reinforces the potential of this breakthrough approach in treating a wide-range of challenging disease,” marks the first gene therapy approval for a genetic disease. Spark has not confirmed the cost of treatment, although some commentators are anticipating a $1 million per patient price tag. Luxturna is currently under review by the European Medicines Agency.

FDA clearance of Luxturna marks the third approval by the agency for a gene therapy, but the first for an AAV-based treatment. In August this year, the U.S. regulator cleared Novartis’ cell-based chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T) gene therapy Kymriah™ (tisagenlecleucel) for treating refractory or relapsed B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. In October, Kite Pharma’s CAR-T therapy Yescarta™(axicabtagene ciloleucel) was given the FDA nod for treating refractory or relapsed diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.

Dr. Gottlieb further commented, “Today’s approval marks another first in the field of gene therapy—both in how the therapy works and in expanding the use of gene therapy beyond the treatment of cancer to the treatment of vision loss….The culmination of decades of research has resulted in three gene therapy approvals this year for patients with serious and rare diseases. I believe gene therapy will become a mainstay in treating, and maybe curing, many of our most devastating and intractable illnesses.”

Next year, the FDA aims to start rolling out a series of what it calls disease-specific guidance documents on the development of specific gene therapy products. These will “lay out modern and more efficient parameters—including new clinical measures—for the evaluation and review of gene therapy for high-priority disease where the platform is being targeted,” Dr. Gottlieb stated. “We’re at a turning point when it comes to this novel form of therapy, and, at the FDA, we’re focused on establishing the right policy framework to capitalize on this scientific opening.” (ontinueReading

Deepening water crisis in Yemen amid severe fuel shortages

AMMAN/SANA’A, 19 December, 2017 – Recent restrictions on imports of fuel to Yemen have sparked critical shortages and price hikes across the country, severely impacting access to safe water and other vital services for children including health care and sanitation. The cuts are the latest challenge to containing Yemen’s acute watery diarrhea and cholera outbreak. Yemen has for decades struggled with extreme water scarcity.

“Fuel shortages in Yemen are causing a deepening water and health crisis,” said Geert Cappelaere, UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa. “This could not come at a worse time for the children of Yemen reeling from violence, malnutrition and an outbreak of diseases including acute watery diarrhea and cholera.”

The cost of diesel fuel has doubled in just over one month, jeopardizing the provision of water, particularly for the poorest families. Water pumping stations serving over 3 million people via public networks in 14 cities are quickly running out of fuel.

Prices of commercially trucked water – a main source for one fifth of Yemen’s population have skyrocketed. On average, they have doubled while in some locations they increased six-fold.
“For over two thirds of Yemenis living in extreme poverty, safe water is now completely unaffordable,” added Cappelaere.

Children under 5 years old account for more than a quarter of nearly 1 million suspected cases of acute watery diarrhea and cholera. Over 385,000 children suffer from severe acute malnutrition and are fighting for their lives. Poor access to safe drinking water is also one of the most important causes of malnutrition.

UNICEF is providing nearly 450,000 litres of fuel monthly to continue running water pumping stations in Sana’a, Hodeida and Hajjah, among other cities across the country. But UNICEF and other partners have also been hit by the fuel shortages and rising prices, making it even more difficult to meet children’s basic needs.

“Restrictions on humanitarian assistance and imports of lifesaving supplies must urgently be lifted to avoid Yemen spiraling even further into the abyss,” said Cappelaere. “The children of Yemen have already suffered too much and for far too long.” (ontinueReading

Myanmar: Could Aung San Suu Kyi face Rohingya genocide charges?

Oh deer...

BBC - Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, is determined that the perpetrators of the horrors committed against the Rohingya face justice.

He's the head of the UN's watchdog for human rights across the world, so his opinions carry weight.

It could go right to the top - he doesn't rule out the possibility that civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi and the head of the armed forces Gen Aung Min Hlaing, could find themselves in the dock on genocide charges some time in the future.

Earlier this month, Mr Zeid told the UN Human Rights Council that the widespread and systematic nature of the persecution of the Rohingya in Myanmar (also called Burma) meant that genocide could not be ruled out.

"Given the scale of the military operation, clearly these would have to be decisions taken at a high level," said the high commissioner, when we met at the UN headquarters in Geneva for BBC Panorama.

That said, genocide is one of those words that gets bandied about a lot. It sounds terrible - the so-called "crime of crimes". Very few people have ever been convicted of it.

The crime was defined after the Holocaust. Member countries of the newly founded United Nations signed a convention, defining genocide as acts committed with intent to destroy a particular group.

It is not Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein's job to prove acts of genocide have been committed - only a court can do that. But he has called for an international criminal investigation into the perpetrators of what he has called the "shockingly brutal attacks" against the Muslim ethnic group who are mainly from northern Rakhine in Myanmar.

But the high commissioner recognised it would be a tough case to make: "For obvious reasons, if you're planning to commit genocide you don't commit it to paper and you don't provide instructions."

"The thresholds for proof are high," he said. "But it wouldn't surprise me in the future if a court were to make such a finding on the basis of what we see."

By the beginning of December, nearly 650,000 Rohingya - around two thirds of the entire population - had fled Myanmar after a wave of attacks led by the army that began in late August.

Hundreds of villages were burned and thousands are reported to have been killed.

There is evidence of terrible atrocities being committed: massacres, murders and mass rapes - as I heard myself when I was in the refugee camps as this crisis began.

What clearly rankles the UN human rights chief is that he had urged Ms Suu Kyi, the de facto leader of Myanmar, to take action to protect the Rohingya six months before the explosion of violence in August.

He said he spoke to her on the telephone when his office published a report in February documenting appalling atrocities committed during an episode of violence that began in October 2016.

"I appealed to her to bring these military operations to an end," he told me. "I appealed to her emotional standing… to do whatever she could to bring this to a close, and to my great regret it did not seem to happen." (ontinueReading

North Koreans mourn on anniversary of Kim Jong Il's death

Dec. 17 (UPI) -- On the anniversary of the death of the the former North Korea leader Kim Jong Il, the state news agency published footage of thousands of mourners bowing, paying their respects and laying flowers at the foot of a statue of Jong-Il.

The "Dear Leader" died on December 17, 2011. It is also the anniversary of the death of Kim Il Sung, the country's founder. According to reports, senior government officials visited the mausoleum where the remains of Kim Il Sung are interred.

Some experts predicted leader Kim Jong Un would launch another test missile on the anniversary of his father's death, but history suggests the North Korean government rarely tests missiles during the winter.

World leaders and security officials expect the provocations to ramp back up in the spring. Though no new missiles have been tested in recent weeks, tensions in the region remain high.

Last week, Senator Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., was asked to weigh in on the changes of the United States engaging in a military conflict or intervention in North Korea.

"I would say there's a three in 10 chance we use the military option," Graham told the Atlantic.

Graham said the odds would jump to 70 percent if Kim Jong Un's government conducts another nuclear bomb test.

Analysts at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington-based think tank, argue that now is the time to purse diplomacy and work to tamp down tensions before North Korea begins testing missiles again.

"The data [reveals] that there is a clear uptick in provocations starting in the months of March and April, which is the period when U.S. and South Korea conduct their annual Foal Eagle and Key Resolve joint military exercises," Lisa Collins said in a CSIS newsletter published last month.

"This anticipated uptick in provocations in the 2nd and 3rd quarters of 2018 would not provide favorable conditions for diplomacy with North Korea," Collins said. "The space for dialogue may therefore be limited to the next three months when we can expect fewer provocations from North Korea."

Last week, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the United States could be open to peace talks with North Korea without preconditions. The U.S. has previously insisted that an abandonment of North Korea's nuclear program is a prerequisite for any diplomatic discussion.

"It's not realistic to say we're only going to talk if you come to the table ready to give up your program, they have too much invested in it," Tillerson told the Atlantic Council, an international affairs think tank.

However, Tillerson said North Korea needs to "earn its way" back to the discussion table by refraining from further military provocations. ContinueReading

North Korea Explained:

Wild Monkeys & Deer Are Now Having Sex With Each Other And Scientists Don't know Why

*Contains strong suggestive language

Newsweek.com - After video went viral that showed a snow monkey sexually mounting a sika deer, scientists have published a research paper on the behavior.

What they found was that monkeys’ predisposition to mount deer, while surprising, was not abnormal. In fact, it’s a cultural action, either a fad or an ingrained tradition among the primates.

In research published in the journal Archives of Sexual Behavior, scientists documented repeated attempts by Japanese macaques, also known as snow monkeys, to climb on the backs of deer and thrust their pelvises.

Because of the anatomical differences between the species, videos of the interactions don’t show actual sexual penetration. (And don’t worry, even if they did actually copulate, monkeys and deer are too far removed genetically to make baby hybrids called “meer” or “donkeys.”) Additionally, it was primarily adolescent females that were humping the cervines. Incidentally, both species have mating seasons at the same time.

The scientists are certain that the monkeys’ advances toward the deer are sexual in nature, because the actions resemble the actions that the female monkeys make toward male monkeys before they actually mate. Oddly, the female monkeys were primarily observed mounting male bucks. It’s unknown whether that’s because female deer and juveniles would buck them off, or because the monkeys actually had a sexual preference for stags.

The researchers documented interactions between snow monkeys and their sexual partners. They found that snow monkeys have no preference between sex within their own species or with another. There was no difference in how long the monkeys spent on top of their partner of either species, but they did prefer doggy-style with the deer. (Other positions would prove logistically challenging.)

The deer, for their part, didn't seem to mind.

Skopje-Macedonia says it needs prospect of joining EU to thwart authoritarianism

theguardian.com - Efforts to promote liberal politics in the Balkans will be set back if Macedonia is not offered a firm prospect of Nato and EU membership next year, the leaders of the country’s fledgling government have warned.

Radmila Šekerinska, Macedonia’s deputy prime minister and defence minister, told the Guardian: “The next year is crucial. We need to show that there are developments – people do not expect everything to be solved tomorrow – but they expect progress because we have been stuck for 10 years. What happens will create either inspiration or frustration right across the Balkans.”

She said the six-month-old government, one of the few social-democratic success stories in Europe, wants to find a way to end the 26-year dispute with Greece over the name the Republic of Macedonia is given in international forums. Since it became independent in 1991, the country has been referred to internationally as the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM).

In one of the more obscure but emotive European disputes, Greece has been blocking Macedonia’s push for Nato membership since 2008, claiming that by using the name Macedonia, Skopje has been hijacking Greek history and culture, pointing to the erection of a statue of Alexander the Great in 2011 and naming Skopje airport after the ancient Greek warrior.

Greece also fears that Macedonia, with a population of 2 million people, has irredentist territorial ambitions over the Greek province of the same name.

“No one in Macedonia has territorial pretensions, literally no one. It is laughable,” Šekerinska said. “The only time when we might occupy Greece is when we pour to the Greek beaches as tourists.”

The Social Democratic Union of Macedonia is presenting a new face of the country to Europe after taking power in June following a prolonged impasse, a violent invasion of parliament by extreme nationalists and revelations in 2015 of mass wiretapping by the secret police to defend corrupt business interests.

The government has set about making judicial changes, ensuring fairer funding of the media, placing democratic controls on the secret police and trying to encourage ethnic Albanians into the SDSM. It has also ended years of stony relations with Bulgaria by signing a friendship treaty and started to cool ethnic tensions by changing language laws to allow greater use of Albanian.

In local elections in October, despite a personal campaign appearance by the rightwing Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orbán, the conservatives were crushed as voters punished the old regime. After ruling Macedonia for 10 years, the VMRO-DPMNE won five out of 81 municipalities. (ontinueReading

Related: EU accession remains Macedonia's top priority for 2018: FM

Report: ‘New Macedonia’ the Name Proposed by FYROM, Athens to Agree

Protesters gather as U.S. regulators meet to end net neutrality

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Communications Commission is expected on Thursday to rescind rules aimed at ensuring a free and open internet, as protesters gathered to oppose the change.

Commission Chairman Ajit Pai’s proposal marks a victory for internet service providers like AT&T Inc, Comcast Corp and Verizon Communications Inc that opposed the regulations, popularly known as net neutrality rules, and hands them power over what web content consumers can access.

Democrats, Hollywood and companies like Google parent Alphabet Inc and Facebook Inc had urged Pai, a Republican appointed by U.S. President Donald Trump, not to rescind the Obama-era rules barring service providers from blocking, slowing access to or charging more for certain content.

Consumers are unlikely to see any immediate changes resulting from the rule change, but smaller startups worry the lack of restrictions could drive up costs or lead to their content being blocked.

Internet service providers say they will not block or throttle legal content but that they may engage in paid prioritization. They say consumers will see no change and argue that the largely unregulated internet worked fine in the two decades before the 2015 order was adopted.

Democrats point to polls showing the proposal is deeply unpopular and say they will ultimately prevail in protecting the rules, either in the courts or in U.S. Congress.

FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, a Democrat, said in a written dissent released on Thursday that the decision grants internet providers “extraordinary new power” from the FCC.

“They have the technical ability and business incentive to discriminate and manipulate your internet traffic. And now this agency gives them the legal green light to go ahead,” she said.

Several state attorneys general have said they will work to oppose the ruling, citing problems with comments made to the FCC during the public comment period. Other critics have said they will consider challenging what they consider to be weaker enforcement.

Net neutrality supporters rallied in front of the FCC building in Washington before the vote, and some Congress members were expected to join. (ontinueReading

Pedophile arrested at Sydney Airport under sex offender laws

theaustralian.com.au - A pedophile has been arrested at Sydney Airport as he attempted to fly out of Australia, under new laws preventing registered child sex offenders from travelling overseas to abuse children which come into effect today.

The laws will prevent up to 20,000 registered child sex offenders who have served their sentences but are subject to reporting obligations from leaving Australia without approval from law enforcement agencies.

Almost 800 registered child sex offenders travelled overseas last year, about 40 per cent of whom did so without informing authorities of their travel.

Visiting Sydney Airport this morning, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said the laws gave her the authority to deny a passport to a child sex offender, cancel existing passports, or order the surrender of a foreign passport.

“Registered child sex offenders have reporting obligations in Australia because of the ongoing risk that they present to children in Australia, but we are aware that they have a high propensity to reoffend if they are in the country where they not monitored and where child sex exploitation is rampant,” Ms Bishop said.

“These laws are designed to protect children at home and abroad.”

Ms Bishop would not say where the man who was arrested this morning was attempting to travel to.

“The man is currently being interviewed by the federal police, so I don’t want to go into any more details,” she said.

“I don’t wish to prejudice the interview, but he was stopped here at the smart gate, because of these laws, because his name appeared on the watch list.”

The new laws were spearheaded by Senate crossbencher Derryn Hinch,

Justice Minister Michael Keenan said they were the most comprehensive crackdown on child sex tourism that has ever occurred anywhere in the world.

“This is world first legislation, and the rest of the world is looking to Australia to see how this is going to progress,” he said.

“We know that in our region, there is different levels of law enforcement capability, there is different approaches to the abuse of children, there’s different community attitudes, and we are making sure that Australians will not be able to leave this country to abuse vulnerable children, particularly in Southeast Asia.”

Mr Keenan said the new laws were party of the government’s “comprehensive approach” to tackling pedophiles abroad and in Australia.

“In September I introduced comprehensive new legislation that will make the offender cycle for pedophiles more difficult in every facet,” he said.

“We will ensure that we will have a presumption against bail, we will have a presumption against parole, we will ensure that the most serious child sex offenders serve a minimum period of time in prison.

“Now that legislation is before the parliament, but it has been opposed by the Labor Party, and I call on them to rethink their attitude towards this, because what we’re doing here today, in cancelling the passports of pedophiles and making it an offence for them to travel overseas, and what we’re doing about making sure that they spend serious time in prison here in Australia keep, is part of a comprehensive package to keep children safe in our region and to keep children safe here in Australia, and I would ask the Labor Party to rethink their attitude and to make sure that they join with us in this crackdown on pedophiles.”

In October, Labor justice spokeswoman Clare O’Neil defended her party’s stance on mandatory minimum sentences, saying Labor was pushing for life sentences for the worst child sex offenders and was only opposed to mandatory minimums because they lessened the likelihood of juries convicting offenders and meant criminals were less likely to co-operate in bringing down child porn ringleaders.

Kenya Marks 54 Years of Independence Under Shadow of Divisive Poll

Nairobi — Kenyans from all walks of life have began streaming into the Moi International Sports Centre (M.I.S.C) in Kasarani where President Uhuru Kenyatta is expected to lead the nation in marking the 54th anniversary of the country's independence.

The gates to the 60,000 seater Stadium were open from 7 am.

This is the first public holiday President Kenyatta will preside over after he was sworn-in to serve his second term as president of the Republic last month.

During the celebrations there will be a military parade and the ceremonial trooping of the colour will be conducted by the Kenya Air Force command from Moi Air Base in Eastleigh, Nairobi, traditional dances and the ceremonial raising of the Kenyan flag.

According to the Government Spokeman Erick Kiraithe, The Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) formation will also host the President's Guard of Honour and lead other armed and disciplined forces commands in a march-past, as well as pull off the fly-past.

Meanwhile, security has been beefed in the city as the country prepares to commemorate Jamhuri Day.

A spot check by our crew observed heavy deployment of police officers with the Central Business District conducting patrols both on foot and in their patrol vehicles.

For instance on Moi Avenue near the Tom Mboya Statue, National Youth Services personnel and a joint consignment of Kenya Prison and Administration Police officers could be seen warding off any gathering converging at place that usually plays host to the Bunge la Wananchi.

Nairobi police boss Japheth Koome has warned that police will not allow any other public gathering in the city and urged Kenyans to converge at the Moi International Sports Complex, Kasarani for national celebrations to mark Jamhuri Day. (ontinueReading

Kenya In Depth:

The Netherlands Just Had Its Annual Christmas Blackface Fight Amid Controversy

VICE.com - It’s not really Christmas until people in the Netherlands start arguing about whether the racist Christmas character Zwarte Piet – Black Pete – is actually racist. The Zwarte Pieten are meant to be Santa's team of helpers, who – as their name subtly alludes to – are black. His character is celebrated on Sinterklaas (St Nicholas) day – an annual Dutch holiday on the 5th of December, which heavily features white people dressing up as Piet by splashing on blackface.

At this year's celebration, angry pro-Piet supporters set up roadblocks on the streets leading into the small northern Dutch village of Dokkum, to block anti-Piet demonstrators from protesting the area's Sinterklaas parade. The stand-off was framed as a battle between liberal elites, with their PC, no-to-blackface ways, and defenders of good, old-fashioned Dutch traditions.

A week later, there was another attempt at an anti-Piet demonstration in Dokkum to protest the group being barred from entering the town on Sinterklaas. I travelled to the event with the protesters to speak to both sides and find out why people are still wearing blackface in 2017.

World's First Electric Ship in China Is Hauling Coal

Newsweek - PR China has launched its first all-electric cargo ship. The 230-foot-long ship runs a mere eight miles per hour, but the vessel has zero emissions of waste gas pollutants. The irony, however, is that the ship is going to haul coal, more than 2,000 tons worth, in the inland section of the Pearl River.

The all-electric ship is powered with enough lithium batteries to power 40 cars—a battery capacity of 2,400 kilowatt hours. After two hours of charging, the ship can run for 50 miles.

Chen Ji, the general manager of Guangzhou Shipyard International Company Ltd., which manufactured the ship, said it will reduce shipping costs for electric power operators.

“The cost of electric power is less than that (of) traditional fuel,” Chen said, as reported by China Daily. “The main cost of the new energy cargo ship depends on how much lithium battery it is equipped with.”

The ship can carry over 2,000 tons of goods—or for this ship, coal.

“As the ship is fully electric powered, it poses no threat to the environment,” Huang Jialin, the chairman and general manager of Hangzhou Modern Ship Design & Research Co., which designed the ship, said. The technology will soon be used in passenger or engineering ships.

But even as the ship itself will not produce any new emissions, it carries coal down the Pearl River in the Guangzhou, the capital of the Guangdong province. Both shipyards will be equipped with charging stations that can recharge the battery in two hours—about the time it takes to load and unload the ship, reported Electrek.

“This kind of ship takes into consideration the harmony between humans and nature and can protect water quality and marine life, and should be copied by other ships sailing on local rivers,” Wang Yongchen, a Beijing environmentalist, told the Global Times last month.

The environmental costs of cargo ships are hefty. The shipping industry is responsible for 3 percent of global emissions, reported the Huffington Post. That number is expected to rise to 17 percent by 2050 as global trade and the speed of ships increase.

Low-grade marine fuel oil contains 3,500 times more sulfur than road diesel, and one-third to half of air pollution in Hong Kong, for instance, is caused by large ships, according to a Nature commentary article published last year. Massive ships can reach around 1,300 feet long. For reference, the electric cargo ship is a mere 230 feet. (ontinueReading

Iraq proclaims 'end of war against ISIS'

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Iraqi forces have declared the total liberation of Iraq from ISIS.

Iraqi Lieutenant General Abdel Amir Yarallah, said in a statement that several infantry and mechanized divisions on Saturday controlled areas along the Syrian border and thus, the liberation "of all Iraqi territory" from ISIS.

Iraq's popular mobilization forces (PMF) also contributed to the fight against ISIS holdouts in the area between Nineveh and Anbar provinces.

The statement added that Syrian and Iraqi forces now control all ports of the Euphrates north of the Al-Qaim border crossing and 605 total kilometers of the border.

AFP first reported Iraqi Prime Minister had declared the "end of the war against ISIS" in the country.

"As we reached this spot, we declare the war against the terrorists of ISIS is now over," he said, according to state media at an Arab Media Union Conference in Baghdad.

"We have defeated an enemy which sought relentlessly to kill our civilization. But we stood firmly and defeated it. We have crushed ISIS," Abadi added.

The US operation of the US-led Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS also announced the military victory.

Iraqi forces and Hashd al-Shaabi militias launched a major drive to clear areas of the al-Jazeera region on Friday.

ISIS overran much of Iraq in 2014. Iraqi and Kurdish Peshmerga forces backed by the international coalition liberated the country's second-largest city of Mosul in July after a nine-month joint offensive.(ontinueReading

Ireland's leaders say deal shows Britain is edging towards soft Brexit

theguardian.com - The Irish border deal hammered out after objections from the Democratic Unionist party has inadvertently edged Britain towards a soft Brexit deal, political leaders in Ireland have said.

Ireland’s prime minister, Leo Varadkar, said he was delighted with the deal because not only had it delivered an invisible border with Northern Ireland but the DUP clause had unexpectedly delivered a new promise of barrier-free trade between the whole of Ireland and the UK in the event of no deal.

Varadkar pledged that May would have “no closer friend” in the next stage of negotiations on the back of the agreement on the Irish border.

He said it was in Ireland’s interest to help Britain get a deep and ambitious deal because Ireland wanted to preserve the £50bn-a-year trade it does with the UK, its biggest export partner.

He admitted Anglo-Irish relations had been damaged by the fractious negotiations over Brexit, but said that could quickly be repaired.

“I’ll be very frank. Brexit, by its nature, has strained relations between Ireland and the UK. Of course it has. How could it not?” he said. “Our role now is to get through that. I actually think because of this agreement that we have today, because we have the guarantees and the assurances that we sought, Britain will have no closer friend than Ireland.”

He confirmed that under the deal there would be no cameras, customs checks or patrols on the border, something he said everyone north and south of the border should appreciate as a major achievement in the Brexit negotiations.

The 15-paragraph Irish deal also guarantees the Good Friday agreement will continue in all its parts, allows border communities to continue to access EU funding, and means anyone in Northern Ireland opting for Irish citizenship will continue to have rights as EU citizens.

The leader of Ireland’s opposition, who is in a confidence-and-supply agreement with Varadkar’s Fine Gael government, went further. “From the British perspective, it seems to me we are edging towards a soft Brexit, something the Brexiteers may not want to hear, but there are certain realities dawning,” said Micheál Martin, leader of the Fianna Fáil party. (ontinueReading

China protests India's drone intrusion in Sikkim sector

Indiatoday.in - An Indian drone "crossed over" the border with China and crashed in the Sikkim sector which includes Dokalam after losing contact with the ground control, prompting Beijing to lodge a diplomatic protest with India over the violation of China's territorial sovereignty.

China's Defence Ministry and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the Indian unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) crashed into the Chinese side of the border recently.

"Recently an Indian Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) invaded Chinas airspace and crashed in the Sikkim section of China- India border," Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told a media briefing here.

He said the Chinese border troops had taken a "professional and responsible attitude" to verify the device.

Geng did not spell out when the incident had taken place.

In New Delhi, India's defence ministry today said an unmanned aerial vehicle had "crossed over" the border with China in the Sikkim sector after losing contact with the ground control due to some technical problem.

It said the Indian border security personnel, as per standard protocol, immediately alerted their Chinese counterparts to locate the UAV and they later reverted with its location.

The defence ministry said the exact cause of the incident is under investigation.

Sources said the UAV belonged to the Indian Army.

The incident comes to light days before Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi's visit to New Delhi to attend the Russia- India-China trilateral meeting.

"I want to point out that the Sikkim section of the China India border has been delimited," Chinese Foreign ministry spokesman said, in an apparent reference to the 1890 China- British Treaty.

Beijing often referred to the 1890 Britain-China treaty during the lengthy Dokalam standoff, stating that it has defined the Sikkim section of the boundary with Tibet, therefore the border in that area has been settled.

"The action of the Indian side violated China's sovereignty and it is not conducive to the peace and tranquillity of the border area and China is dissatisfied with this and lodged solemn representation with the Indian side," Geng said.

In its diplomatic protest to India, "China asked the Indian side to stop the activities of the devices near the border and work with China to maintain peace and tranquillity of the border areas", he said.

Geng declined to reveal the details of the drone. He did not confirm whether the crash has taken place near the Dokalam where the two countries were locked in a 73-day-long border standoff which ended on August 28.

The standoff ended after Chinese troops stopped building a key road close to India's Chicken Neck corridor.

Asked whether the protest was lodged in Beijing or Delhi, he said he is not aware of the details. "I know that China has lodged solemn representation to the Indian side," he said.

Earlier, the Chinese military alleged that an Indian drone has "intruded" into its airspace recently and crashed into the Chinese side of the border and voiced strong dissatisfaction and opposition over the incident.

The Indian UAV "intruded" into China's airspace and crashed recently, and China's border troops have conducted identification and verification over the vehicle, Zhang Shuili, deputy head of the combat bureau of the Western Theatre Commands joint staff department said.

The Chinese military's western theatre command jurisdiction covers all most all of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and including Tibet's border region with India and the Ladakh region.

"Indias move has infringed upon China's territorial sovereignty, and we are strongly dissatisfied with and opposed to this," Zhang has been quoted by state-run Xinhua news agency as saying.

"We will fulfil our mission and responsibility and defend China's national sovereignty and security resolutely," he said.

Asked whether the drone issue would figure in Wangs talks with Indian officials when he visits New Delhi, Geng said the "goal" of the Chinese foreign ministers visit was to attend the RIC meeting.

"When he is in India he will meet with the senior officials of the Indian side. At that time, the two sides will exchange views on China-India relations and other issues of the common concern," he said.

Wangs visit to Delhi will be the first visit by a top Chinese official to India after the Dokalam crisis and commencement of the second five-year term for Chinese President Xi Jinping. (ontinueReading

#NotMyPM: Police arrest two men 'planning to blow up Downing Street gates and kill Theresa May'

Independent.co.uk - Security services believe they have foiled a plot to assassinateTheresa May in Downing Street.

Two men have been arrested on suspicion of plotting to kill the Prime Minister by using a bomb disguised as a bag to blow off the gates of Downing Street and then attack her with knives.

The suspects were detained during raids in London and Birmingham last week and charged with terrorism offences. They are due to appear in Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday.

The plot was revealed to the Cabinet yesterday by Andrew Parker, the head of MI5, who also told ministers that security services have foiled nine terrorist attacks on the UK in the last year.

The Metropolitan Police said Naa’imur Zakariyah Rahman, 20, from north London, and Mohammed Aqib Imran, 21, from Birmingham, had been charged with preparing a terrorist act.

A Scotland Yard spokesperson declined to confirm that the arrests were linked to a plot to attack Ms May.

It comes as a new report found that security services could possibly have prevented a suicide attack at the Manchester Arena in May. Bomber Salman Abedi killed 22 people when he blew himself up outside an Ariana Grande concert.

David Anderson QC, who was asked to conduct an independent investigation, said Abedi had been on MI5’s radar but that his “true significance was not appreciated at the time”.

After reviewing the security services’ actions in relation to four terrorist attacks in the UK this year, Mr Anderson said: “It is conceivable that the Manchester attack in particular might have been averted had the cards fallen differently.”

Addressing the Cabinet, Mr Parker reportedly said Isis had been defeated in Syria and Iraq but was continuing to orchestrate attacks on the UK. Militants are increasingly using social media to try communicate with would-be attackers, he said.

After the meeting, Ms May’s spokesman said: ”The Prime Minister led thanks to the tireless work of staff at MI5 to combat the unprecedented terrorist threat.

“Cabinet ministers heard that while Daesh suffered major defeats in Iraq and Syria, this did not mean the threat is over. Rather it is spreading to new areas, including trying to encourage attacks in the UK and elsewhere via propaganda on social media.” (ontinueReading

Myanmar forces may be guilty of genocide against Rohingya, U.N. says

GENEVA (Reuters) - Myanmar’s security forces may be guilty of genocide against the Rohingya Muslim minority and more of them are fleeing despite a deal between Myanmar and Bangladesh to send them home, the top U.N. human rights official said on Tuesday.

The United Nations defines genocide as acts meant to destroy a national, ethnic, racial or religious group in whole or in part. Such a designation is rare under international law, but has been used in contexts including Bosnia, Sudan and an Islamic State campaign against the Yazidi communities in Iraq and Syria.

Zeid Ra‘ad al-Hussein, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, said that none of the 626,000 Rohingya who have fled violence to Bangladesh since August should be repatriated to Myanmar unless there was robust monitoring on the ground.

Myanmar’s ambassador, Htin Lynn, said his government was working with Bangladesh to ensure returns of the displaced in about two months and “there will be no camps”.

Zeid, who has described the campaign in the past as a “textbook case of ethnic cleansing”, was addressing a special session of the U.N. Human Rights Council called by Bangladesh.

He described reports of “acts of appalling barbarity committed against the Rohingya, including deliberately burning people to death inside their homes, murders of children and adults; indiscriminate shooting of fleeing civilians; widespread rapes of women and girls, and the burning and destruction of houses, schools, markets and mosques”.

“Can anyone - can anyone - rule out that elements of genocide may be present?” he told the 47-member state forum.

Shahriar Alam, Bangladesh’s junior foreign affairs minister, told the session in Geneva that his country was hosting nearly one million “Myanmar nationals” following summary executions and rapes “as a weapon of persecution”.

Mainly Buddhist Myanmar denies the Muslim Rohingya are its citizens and considers them foreigners.

These crimes had been “perpetrated by Myanmar security forces and extremist Buddhist vigilantes”, Alam said, calling for an end to what he called “xenophobic rhetoric..including from higher echelons of the government and the military”. (ontinueReading

CVS Health is buying Aetna for $69 billion in 2017's biggest deal

CVS Health is buying Aetna, the companies announced Sunday.

The pharmacy giant is acquiring the third largest US insurer in a $69 billion deal. Aetna stockholders will be paid $145 a share in cash and 0.8378 CVS shares per Aetna share.

The deal creates a new type of company that includes a health insurer, a retail pharmacy, and a company that negotiates prescription drug prices with drugmakers called a pharmacy benefits manager. It's the biggest merger to happen in the US in 2017.

"This is a natural evolution for both companies as they seek to put the consumer at the center of health care delivery," the companies said in a news release.

The timing of this massive acquisition is no coincidence. Speculation that Amazon might be getting into the pharmacy business has been rampant for months, and the company's notorious for stepping into new businesses and crushing the competition with low prices, fast delivery, and its massive network of loyal shoppers. (ontinueReading

North Korea says US-South Korea military drills drive them to 'brink of a nuclear war'

foxnews.com - North Korea lambasted the U.S. and South Korea on Sunday for bringing the countries to the “brink of a nuclear war” a day before the allies begin a joint military drill in a defiant show of force against Kim Jong Un less than a week after the regime launched an intercontinental ballistic missile.

North Korea’s state-run newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, wrote in a commentary Sunday the upcoming military drill is an “all out provocation against” the rogue nation that “may lead to a nuclear war at any moment.”

“Such drill is a dangerous provocation as it is driving the tension on the Korean peninsula to the brink of a nuclear war,” the commentary said. “The U.S. and the South Korean puppet forces are so foolish as to run amok with such stealth fighters.”

It added, “The stealth fighters, which the enemies boast so much of, will not escape the fate of a tiger moth.”

A spokesman for North Korea’s Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Country — an organization focused on reunifying the North and the South — also said “insane President Trump is running wild” in a statement released by the state’s Korean Central News Agency.

“The situation clearly proves that the U.S. and the South Korean puppet war maniacs are just aggressors and provocateurs breaking peace and stability on the Korean peninsula and in the region and that the DPRK was entirely just when it decided to invariably take the path of simultaneously developing the two fronts in order to bolster up its war deterrent in every way,” the spokesman said, according to KCNA. (ontinueReading

Smartphones can literally change your brain, study says

CNN - You may be one of the growing number of Americans (or global citizens) who has a bit of nomophobia.

"Nomophobia?" you mutter as you read this on your ever-present smartphone. "Of course not."

"NO MObile PHOne phoBIA" is a 21st-century term for the fear of not being able to use your cell phone or other smart device. Cell phone addiction is on the rise, surveys show, and a new study released Thursday adds to a growing body of evidence that smartphone and internet addiction is harming our minds — literally.

How do you know if you're addicted? There's an online (of course) quiz to find out, which has been translated into Spanish, Italian and Turkish.

Take the quiz here.

Rate your responses on a scale of 1 (completely disagree) to 7 (strongly agree) and add your score. According to Caglar Yildirim, an assistant professor of human computer interaction who created the scale for use in his research at State University of New York at Oswego, a score of 20 or below means you're not an addict; a score of 21 to 60 means you're mildly nomophobic; and a score of 61 to 99 means you probably can't go long without checking your phone.

"It might be a good idea to be conscious of that," Yildirim said, "but we are only concerned if it starts to interfere with your daily life."

Did you score between 100 and 200? You're probably struggling with severe anxiety when you can't access your cell phone, he said.

"This might negatively affect your social life and relationships with friends and family," Yildirim said. "There are studies that show those who score high on the test tend to avoid face-to-face interactions, have high levels of social anxiety and maybe even depression.

"It might affect your ability to work or study, because you want to be connected to your smartphone all the time," he added. "So if any of this applies to you, then it's time to start looking at your behavior and level of anxiety."

SecurEnvoy, a two-factor authentication company, conducted research using a polling panel (which is not as scientific as a randomized poll) and found that 66 percent of people in the United Kingdom have some form of nomophobia. Notably, 41 percent of the participants said they had two or more phones to make sure they stayed connected.

Surveys by the Pew Research Center this year showed that 77 percent of Americans own smartphones, up from 35 percent in 2011. Ninety-five percent own a cell phone of some kind.

What's wrong with being a cell phone junkie?

Obviously, there are some serious ramifications to having a cell phone habit. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, mobile phone use is partially to blame for the distracted driving that kills an estimated nine people each day and injures more than 1,000.

The prevalence of texting while driving has reached epidemic proportions. A 2010 study by the Pew Research Center said nearly half of US adults admit reading or sending a text message while driving. The news is worse for teens: Nearly one in three 16- or 17-year-olds said they have texted while driving.

Millennials are the worst offenders, according to Pew. Fifty-nine percent of people between the ages of 18 and 33 reported texting while driving, compared with 50 percent of Gen Xers (age 34 to 45) and only 29 percent of baby boomers.

It's not just driving. A study of pedestrians in midtown Manhattan found that 42 percent of those who entered traffic during a "Don't Walk" signal were talking on a cell phone, wearing headphones or looking down at an electronic device. A 2013 study found a tenfold increase in injuries related to pedestrians using cell phones from 2005 to 2010.

Other health ramifications include text neck — that cramping, stabbing pain that comes after looking down at your phone too long — and poor posture, which can affect your spine, respiratory functions and even emotions. Researchers have also found that the blue light emitted from our cell phones and other internet devices can disrupt melatonin production and therefore our sleep. (ontinueReading

Japan sets date for Emperor Akihito’s abdication as April 30, 2019

japantimes.co.jp - A special panel chaired by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Friday set April 30, 2019, as the date for Emperor Akihito’s abdication, the first retirement of a sitting Emperor in 200 years.

The Chrysanthemum Throne is considered the world’s oldest monarchy.

The decision, expected to be approved by the government later this month, will pave the way for Crown Prince Naruhito, the eldest son of Emperor Akihito, to ascend the throne the following day, May 1, ushering in a new era that would end the Heisei Era, which started in 1989.

“It gives me a profound sense of awe that we have taken a significant step toward the throne’s succession,” Abe told reporters in his office after the meeting wrapped up.

“We will make our utmost effort to make sure that the Emperor’s abdication and the Crown Prince’s succession will be carried out with no incident, with the blessing of the Japanese people,” he said.

Abe also noted that Friday’s special meeting at the Imperial Household Agency — held for the first time nearly in 25 years — proceeded without a hitch, suggesting attendees, including heads of both chambers of the Diet, the chief justice of the Supreme Court, the grand steward of the Imperial Household Agency and two Imperial family members, did not object to the proposed date.

The panel’s decision will be discussed by Abe’s Cabinet on Tuesday and rubber-stamped as an ordinance on a later date, reportedly as early as Dec. 8. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said the government will “swiftly” formalize the timeline.

Friday’s development represented a significant milestone in Emperor Akihito’s abdication saga, which stunned the nation when it was first reported last year. In a nationally televised message addressing the nation in August last year, the 83-year-old Emperor hinted at his desire to abdicate the throne — an extremely rare action last taken by Emperor Kokaku in 1817 — citing his concerns that his advanced age was interfering with his public duties.

Modern Japan has witnessed the throne’s succession take place only upon the demise of an emperor, as per Article 4 of the current Imperial Household Law. In response to Emperor Akihito’s wishes, the Diet enacted a special one-off law in June enabling him to abdicate.

Initial reports say some in the government had originally called for a March 31 abdication and a subsequent change in Japan’s era name, or gengō, on April 1, on the grounds that these dates will help minimize confusion among the public as they coincide with the start of Japan’s fiscal year, which begins in April.

The change of an era name is significant in Japan, where the custom of gengōis deeply rooted in everything from calendars and official documents to computer programs, and often takes precedence over the internationally used Gregorian calendar.

Suga said, however, that the late April date is the best option due to the early part of the month being regarded as a particularly busy period. April, often the timing of university enrollment and the start of new employment, is synonymous with starting a new life.

He also mentioned that nationwide local government elections, which take place every four years, are also scheduled to be held in April that year, which could lead to a potential surge in political tensions.

Suga added it is “theoretically possible” that the switch into a new era will not coincide with Crown Prince Naruhito’s rise to the throne on May 1, 2019. However, his assertion that the government will minimize public confusion suggests such a scenario is unlikely.

The top government spokesman didn’t clarify when the government will unveil the name of the new era, but he claimed officials will make sure “the life of the public will remain unaffected” by the shift, indicating that the government will give enough advance notice to avoid causing confusion.

Emperor Akihito, who underwent heart surgery and treatment for prostate cancer, is widely regarded by the Japanese public with fondness, due partly to the diligence he often shows in visiting and consoling disaster survivors.

The Emperor is defined by the postwar, pacifist Constitution as a “symbol” of the people and has no political power.

The abdication issue has also sparked debate on whether other reforms are needed for the Imperial succession system.

Concerns over the sustainability of the male-only succession system have been growing because the Imperial family only has one young heir, the 10-year-old Prince Hisahito.

The other seven unmarried children are all women, and six are in their 20s and 30s. Under the law, women are obliged to abandon their Imperial status if they marry a commoner. (ontinueReading