Hollywood crowns its best and its worst this weekend. On Saturday, the Golden Raspberry Awards (or Razzies) were “awarded” to the worst movies while another, more serious fete recognized achievement in independent film. On Sunday the 90th Annual Academy Awards – better known as the Oscars – will be hosted by Jimmy Kimmel.

“The Emoji Movie” took top honors with the Worst Picture prize at the Razzie awards on Saturday, a gag award given by a group of Hollywood industry insiders known as the Golden Raspberry Foundation. The first full-length animation film to win the Worst Picture award, “The Emoji Movie” also scored wins for worst screenplay, worst director, and worst screen combo. 

Watch the Golden Raspberry Awards:

Tom Cruise was selected as Worst Actor for his work in “The Mummy,” while Tyler Perry – a male actor whose most famous character is a woman named Madea – got Best Actress for “Boo 2! A Madea Halloween.” Hollywood long-timers Mel Gibson and Kim Basinger took the Razzies for supporting roles in “Daddy’s Home 2” and “Fifty Shades Darker.”

A new Razzie category debuted this year: The Razzie Nominee So Rotten You Loved It. The winner was “Baywatch,” a movie about Los Angeles County lifeguards. The winner is selected by the general public through an online poll.

The Golden Raspberry Foundation also posted a tongue-in-cheek “In Memoriam” video – a parody of the Academy Awards’ annual remembrance of those who died in the past year – that highlighted men in the entertainment industry accused of sexual harassment. While suggesting their careers have died because of the allegations, the video ends by saying “We Won’t Be Missing You.” 

Also Saturday, the independent film industry took its awards ceremony to the beach, in a free-wheeling afternoon party meant to contrast sharply with the pomp of the Oscars ceremony the following night. 

The Film Independent Spirit Awards gave top directing honors to comedian Jordan Peele for “Get Out,” a horror comedy exploring relations between blacks and whites in modern-day America.

Best International Film went to director Sebastian Lelio of Chile, for “A Fantastic Woman,” a murder mystery centered on a transgender woman. 

Greta Gerwig won Best Screenplay for the coming-of-age story “Lady Bird,” which features a mother and daughter at odds with each other. Gerwig also directed the film.

And the award for Best First Screenplay, a separate category, went to Pakistani-American comic Kumail Nanjiani for “The Big Sick,” a semi-autobiographical romance.

On Sunday, the red carpets will be out for Hollywood’s biggest night, the Academy Awards. Among the frontrunners for Best Picture are Spanish director Guillermo del Toro’s fantasy “The Shape of Water,” Christopher Nolan’s historical picture “Dunkirk,” and Martin McDonagh’s “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.” Peele’s “Get Out” and Gerwig’s “Lady Bird” are also among the contenders.
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From: MeNeedIt

About half a million people are expected to line Sydney’s streets Saturday to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, the first time the annual parade has taken place since Australia legalized same-sex marriage.

The event started in 1978 as a protest march for gay rights and the decriminalization of homosexuality but has since grown into a major tourist spectacle featuring leather, sequins, glitter, lasers and dance music. It is now Sydney’s biggest street party and a major focal point for Australia’s gay and lesbian community.

This year’s procession includes 200 floats and groups of street dancers and will be headed by Dykes on Bikes, a motorcycle club.

Pop superstar Cher will headline the parade’s official party.

Same-sex marriage legalized

Australians overwhelmingly endorsed legalizing same-sex marriage in a postal survey in a country where sodomy laws were still in place in some states until as recently as the 1990s.

This year’s Mardi Gras will honor the 78ers, a group of people involved in the original protest, which took place June 24, 1978, as a peaceful march for gay rights that sparked the annual parade.

That protest was marred by police brutality with 53 people arrested in subsequent scuffles. Police have since apologized for the events of 1978 and now march each year in the parade alongside other emergency services.

Changing attitudes

Bruce Pollack, a Mardi Gras volunteer since 1984, said the parade has played a major role in changing attitudes toward the LGBT community over the decades.

“I was involved in the gay and lesbian counseling service … you would always hear young gays, and older gays, and much older gays say ‘it’s OK to come out because I saw people like me in the parade enjoying themselves — and there were spectators,’” Pollack told Reuters. “It was Mardi Gras that made it OK to be gay and lesbian and bisexual and transgender.”
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From: MeNeedIt

The tiny Marshall Islands is creating its own digital currency in order to raise some hard cash to pay bills and boost the economy.

The Pacific island nation said it became the first country in the world to recognize a cryptocurrency as its legal tender when it passed a law this week to create the digital “Sovereign,” or SOV. In the nation of 60,000, the cryptocurrency will have equal status with the U.S. dollar as a form of payment.

Venezuela last month became the first country to launch its own cryptocurrency when it launched the virtual Petro, backed by crude oil reserves. The Marshall Islands said the SOV will be different because it will be recognized in law as legal tender, effectively backed by the government.

​Israeli partners

The Marshall Islands is partnering with Israeli company Neema to launch the SOV. It plans to sell some of the currency to international investors and spend the proceeds.

The Marshall Islands says the SOV will require users to identify themselves, thus avoiding the anonymity that has kept bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies from gaining support from governments.

“This is a historic moment for our people, finally issuing and using our own currency, alongside the USD (U.S. dollar),” said President Hilda Heine in a statement. “It is another step of manifesting our national liberty.”

The Marshall Islands is closely aligned with the U.S. under a Compact of Free Association and uses the dollar as its currency. Under the compact, the U.S. provides the Marshall Islands with about $70 million each year in assistance. The U.S. runs a military base on Kwajalein Atoll.

Lawmakers passed the cryptocurrency measure Monday following five days of heated debate. It’s unclear when the nation will issue the currency.

Leaders hope the SOV will one day be used by residents for everything from paying taxes to buying groceries.

Initial offering: 24 million

The law states that the Marshall Islands will issue 24 million SOVs in what it calls an Initial Currency Offering. Half of those will go to the government and half to Neema.

The Marshall Islands intends to initially sell 6 million SOVs to international investors. It says it will use the money to help pay the budget, invest in projects to mitigate the effects of global warming, and support those people still affected by U.S. nuclear testing.

The country also intends to hand out 2.4 million SOVs to residents.

Neema Chief Executive Barak Ben-Ezer said the SOV marked a new era for cryptocurrency.

“SOV is about getting rid of the excuses” for not shifting to digital assets, he said in a statement. He said it solved a huge problem with cryptocurrencies, which haven’t previously been recognized as “real” money by banks, regulators and the U.S. Internal Revenue Service.

Some lawmakers expressed concern about the large amount of the new currency that would go to the Israeli company, while others argued the country had urgent needs and the cash would help.

Jehan Chu, the Hong Kong-based co-founder of blockchain platform Kenetic, said he thought it was an amazing move by the Marshall Islands and was the way of the future.

“Physical currency is going by the wayside as an antiquated, obsolete form of transacting,” he said.

But Chu added that he didn’t think the currency would hold much appeal for international investors or be particularly valuable outside the Marshall Islands.

And many people in the Marshall Islands and beyond remain skeptical of cryptocurrencies.

Bank of England Governor Mark Carney this week said a global speculative mania had encouraged a proliferation of the currencies, and that they needed to be held to the same standards as the rest of the financial system.

“The prices of many cryptocurrencies have exhibited the classic hallmarks of bubbles … reliant in part on finding the greater fool,” Carney said in a speech to the Scottish Economics conference in Edinburgh.
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From: MeNeedIt

In agitating for a trade war, President Donald Trump may have forgotten William Tecumseh Sherman’s adage that “war is hell.”

The Civil War general’s observation can be apt for trade wars, which may create conditions for a shooting war.

A look at Trump’s spoiling-for-a-fight tweet Friday:

TRUMP: “When a country (USA) is losing many billions of dollars on trade with virtually every country it does business with, trade wars are good, and easy to win. Example, when we are down $100 billion with a certain country and they get cute, don’t trade anymore-we win big. It’s easy!”

THE FACTS: History suggests that trade wars are not easy.

The president’s argument, in essence, is that high tariffs will force other countries to relent quickly on what he sees as unfair trading practices, and that will wipe out the trade gap and create factory jobs. That’s his motivation for announcing that the U.S. will impose tariffs of 25 percent on steel imports and 10 percent on aluminum imports.

The record shows that tariffs, while they may help certain domestic manufacturers, can come at a broad cost. They can raise prices for consumers and businesses because companies pass on at least some of the higher costs of imported materials to their customers. Winning and losing isn’t as simple a matter as tracking the trade gap.

The State Department’s office of the historian looked at tariffs passed in the 1920s and 1930s to protect farms and other industries that were losing their markets in Europe as the continent recovered from World War I. The U.S. duties hurt Europe and made it harder for those countries to repay their war debts, while exposing farmers and consumers in the U.S. to higher prices. European nations responded by raising their tariffs and the volume of world trade predictably slowed by 1934.

The State Department says the tariffs exacerbated the global effects of the Great Depression while doing nothing to foster political or economic cooperation among countries. This was a diplomatic way of saying that the economic struggles helped embolden extremist politics and geopolitical rivalries before World War II.

Nor have past protectionist measures saved the steel industry, as Trump says his tariffs would.

The United States first became a net importer of steel in 1959, when steelworkers staged a 116-day strike, according to research by Michael O. Moore, a George Washington University economist. After that, U.S. administrations imposed protectionist policies, only to see global competitors adapt and the U.S. share of global steel production decline.
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From: MeNeedIt

China has warned about the “huge impact” on global trading, if U.S. President Donald Trump proceeds with his plans to impose 25 percent tariffs on imported steel and 10 percent on imported aluminum products.

Wang Hejun, head of China’s commerce ministry’s trade remedy and investigation bureau, said in a statement late Friday the tariffs would “seriously damage multilateral trade mechanisms represented by the World Trade Organization and will surely have huge impact on normal international trade order.”

The Chinese official added, “If the final measures of the United States hurt Chinese interests, China will work with other affected countries in taking measures to safeguard its own rights and interests.”

Allies weigh in

Meanwhile earlier Friday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Trump’s tariff plans were “absolutely unacceptable.”

Trudeau said Friday he is prepared to “defend Canadian industry.” Canada is the United States’ biggest foreign source of both materials. He warned that the tariffs would also hurt U.S. consumers and businesses by driving up prices.

The European Union was also stung by Trump’s plan, as evidenced by European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker’s warning that the EU could respond by taxing quintessentially American-made products, such as bourbon whiskey, blue jeans and Harley-Davidson motorcycles.

Juncker told German media Friday that he does not like the words “trade war.” 

“But I can’t see how this isn’t part of warlike behavior,” he said.

Trump had tweeted earlier in the day: “Trade wars are good, and easy to win.”

The director of the World Trade Organization, Roberto Azevedo, responded coolly, saying, “A trade war is in no one’s interests.”

Currency markets 

The currency market responded with a drop in the value of the U.S. dollar against most other major currencies. It ended the day at its lowest level against the yen in two years. The euro gained a half-percent against the dollar Friday.

And the Dow Jones Industrial Average finished the trading week with its fourth decline in as many days, ending at 24,538.06. The Nasdaq and S&P 500, however, rose slightly after a three-day losing streak.

Trump spent Friday defending his threat to impose the tariffs, saying potential trade conflicts can be beneficial to the United States.

A Japanese government official told VOA that Tokyo “has explained several times to the U.S. government our concerns,” but declined to comment further on any ongoing discussions with Washington.

“While we are aware of the president’s statement, we understand that the official decision has not been made yet,” the Japanese official said. “If the U.S. is going to implement any measures, we expect the measures be WTO-rules consistent.”

Trump said Thursday the tariffs of 25 percent on steel and 10 percent on aluminum imports will be in effect for a long period of time. He said the measure will be signed “sometime next week.”

In 2017, Canada, Brazil, South Korea and Mexico accounted for nearly half of all U.S. steel imports. That year, Chinese steel accounted for less than 2 percent of overall U.S. imports.
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From: MeNeedIt

The 46th running of Alaska’s famed Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race kicks off Saturday amid the most turbulent year ever for the annual long-distance contest that spans mountain ranges, the frozen Yukon River and dangerous sea ice along the Bering Sea coast.

Among the multiple problems: a champion’s dog doping scandal, the loss of major sponsor Wells Fargo, discontent among mushers and escalating pressure from animal rights activists, who say the dogs are run to death or left with serious injuries. The Iditarod has had its ups and downs over the decades, but the current storm of troubles is raising questions about the future of the 1,000-mile (1,600-kilometer) race that for many symbolizes the contest between mortals and Alaska’s unforgiving nature.

Leo Rasmussen, one of the race’s founders, predicted the Iditarod is heading for extinction within the next few years, given an “extreme lack of organization” from its leadership.

“You can only burn so many stumps, you know, and you’re done,” he says.

Iditarod CEO Stan Hooley acknowledged organizers have weathered a dark time but disagreed the race faces an uncertain future.

“There’s always going to be an Iditarod,” he said. “I consider this more of a growing process than anything else.”

The Iditarod’s governing board disclosed in October that four dogs belonging to four-time winner Dallas Seavey tested positive for a banned substance, the opioid painkiller tramadol, after his second-place finish last March behind his father, Mitch Seavey. It faced criticism for not releasing the information sooner.

The Iditarod said it couldn’t prove Dallas Seavey administered the drugs to his dogs, and didn’t punish him. Since then, the rules have been changed to hold mushers liable for any positive drug test unless they can show something beyond their control happened.

The younger Seavey, who denied administering tramadol to his dogs, also came under scrutiny when the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, a longtime race critic, complained about a kennel operated by the musher based on allegations of sick, injured or dead dogs. Local investigators said they found no evidence of animal cruelty in the matter.

Dallas Seavey is sitting out this year’s race in protest over the handling of the doping investigation. Instead, he is in Norway to participate in another sled dog race, the Finnmarkslopet, which begins March 9.

PETA protest

The deaths of five dogs connected to last year’s race also played a role in increasing pressure from animal rights activists. Three of the deaths occurred during the race, and two dogs died after being dropped from the competition. One got loose from a handler and was hit by a car, and another died as it was flown to Anchorage, likely from hyperthermia. The race went without dog deaths in several recent years. 

PETA says that for the first time, about a dozen of its members will protest the race in person at the ceremonial and competitive starts and at the finish line, in the remote coastal town of Nome. They plan to bring five headstones with the names of the dogs that died in 2017.

By PETA’s count, the dog deaths bring the total to more than 150 over the Iditarod’s history. Race officials dispute those numbers but have not provided their own despite numerous requests from The Associated Press.

“If the human participants want to race to Nome, have at it,” PETA spokeswoman Colleen O’Brien said. “But don’t force these dogs to run until their paws are bloody and they die on the trail.”

Race officials blame activists for using manipulative information to pressure corporate sponsors like Wells Fargo, a longtime backer that severed ties to the Iditarod last spring.

Mitch Seavey, who is seeking a fourth Iditarod championship, said his son is the happiest he’s seen him in months, and is reveling in heavy snow in Norway. The elder Seavey said he himself is not going to be distracted by “all the noise,” but is focusing on his dogs and the race ahead.

“There’s been a lot of craziness, but it’s the people who are insane,” he said. “The dogs aren’t crazy.”

Climate change

There’s one bright spot for organizers: Optimal trail conditions. A warming climate in recent years has caused significant disruptions, including the rerouting of the 2017 and 2015 races hundreds of miles to the north because of dangerous conditions. As always, the race will begin with the customary ceremonial start in Anchorage, but the competitive portion beginning Sunday north of Anchorage will follow a southern route for the first time since 2013. Traditionally, southern and northern routes are alternated every year.

The late timing of the Iditarod Trail Committee’s disclosure of the doping matter prompted the race’s major sponsors to commission an independent consultant late last year. The consultant’s report said the committee took months to release the information, causing concerns among many about a lack of transparency.

The consultant called on organizers to develop a plan to rebuild trust with mushers and sponsors.

“Both of these partner groups are on the verge of withdrawing their support for this race as a result of their distrust in this board,” the report states.

More recently, a group of mushers named the Iditarod Official Finishers Club has called for the resignation of the Iditarod board president and other board leaders it says have conflicts. It also has criticized the board in its handling of the doping scandal. Hooley, the race CEO, said conversations are under way to replace some members. 

Four-time winner Jeff King said he sees room for improvements after the doping controversy caught organizers “flat-footed,” and he is ready for a significant change in the board leadership. But he doesn’t believe the Iditarod is nearing the end of its lifespan, and laughs when asked about it.

“You can count on from me, and many mushers that I would bet my life on, that we will continue to do the best we can for our dogs and the event,” he said.
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From: MeNeedIt

President Donald Trump isn’t pleased with Alec Baldwin’s latest comment that impersonating the president is “agony,” and is suggesting Saturday Night Live replace the comedian.
 
“Alec Baldwin, whose dying mediocre career was saved by his terrible impersonation of me on SNL, now says playing me was agony. Alec, it was agony for those who were forced to watch. Bring back Darrell Hammond, funnier and a far greater talent!” Trump tweeted.

Baldwin responded in a series of tweets.

“Agony though it may be, I’d like to hang in there for the impeachment hearings, the resignation speech, the farewell helicopter ride to Mara-A-Lago [sic]. You know. The Good Stuff. That we’ve all been waiting for.”
 
Baldwin also tweeted that he was “Looking forward to the Trump Presidential Library” and suggested that it would contain a live Twitter feed and “a little black book w the phone numbers of porn stars.” In a third tweet, he asked that first lady Melania Trump stop calling him to ask for tickets to “Saturday Night Live.”
 
Baldwin, a Democratic activist, received an Emmy award for his running parody last year on Saturday Night Live, or SNL. But he tells The Hollywood Reporter that he doesn’t enjoy it: “Every time I do it now, it’s like agony. Agony. I can’t.”

The comedian joked that if Trump wins in 2020 he might “host a game show in Spain.”

 
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From: MeNeedIt

From a small village in Uttar Pradesh, laborer Shavan Kumar, has brought his 38-year-old wife to a government-run hospital New Delhi to be treated for a heart condition. But he worries that the $500 loan he has taken will not cover the cost of her medical care; although the treatment is free, he has to pay for medicines, tests and their stay in the city.

“I am scared about how I will repay the money I have borrowed. What can a man working on daily wages do? It is in God’s hands,” Kumar said.

The Indian government has announced it will implement what it calls the world’s largest public health insurance plan, offering coverages of about $8,000 to poor and low-income families. That could be a game-changer for the 63 million people like Shavan Kumar who are driven into poverty every year by “catastrophic” expenses on health care, according to the Health Ministry.

Dubbed “Modicare” in a reference of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the hugely ambitious scale of the project – which proposes to insure 500 million people – has caused a wave of optimism in a country where improving access to health services has never been a political priority.

However, in a nation where many government initiatives are hobbled with poor implementation, there are concerns about how it will work and how it will be funded.

Priya Balasubramaniam, a health specialist at the Public Health Foundation in New Delhi questions whether the $300 million earmarked this year will get the project off the ground. “While this has definitely come with a bang, I think for those of us who want to move to the next level, it is really about the fiscal space that the government has allocated for a scheme as ambitious as this,” she says.

Officials say the vast scale of the project will drive down insurance premiums to as little as $18 per year. That adds up to $1.7 billion – an outlay that the government plans to make with funds pooled by both the federal and state governments.

Closing rich and poor gap

Health experts also hope the insurance cover will improve the quality of care by opening the doors of India’s expensive private hospitals to the poor.

A massive gap exists between private and public hospitals. The former have state-of-the-art medical facilities but only the upper income groups can afford their steep costs. On the other hand, quality public hospitals such as the All India Institute of Medical Sciences where Shavan Kumar brought his wife offer free treatment, but are few in number, confined to the big cities and hugely overburdened.

That is the dilemma that Hari Singh, a New Delhi resident, faced when he broke his knee in a road accident three months ago. Having no savings, he first went to a government hospital, but left quickly and headed to a private hospital.

“The conditions were so miserable, the toilets were filthy, two patients were put on one stretcher and there was no system at all. I got very scared,” he says.

But to pay for his care he had to borrow $5,000 at a crippling interest rate of 5 percent a month. Now he does not know when he can return to his job as a driver or how to support his two young children.

Ashok Agarwal, founder of the Indian Institute of Health Management Research, hopes the new government project will change that. “For the first time poor people would have a choice to go to a center where they feel comfortable,” he says. “Once you have insurance which is willing to pay, then the load of the patients can go to the private sector also.”

He says it will also incentivize private hospitals to improve facilities to attract patients. “Imagine you can have 500 million customers at your doorstep. Which company would not like that to happen?”

Health professionals underline that the insurance initiative needs to go hand-in-hand with improved primary health services and point out that poor people often land up in hospitals because they cannot afford day-to-day medical care and medicines.

But most government-run medical centers “are dysfunctional, lacking equipment, medicines and even qualified staff,” says Balasubramaniam, the health specialist at the Public Health Foundation in New Delhi. “You are focusing on the top of the pyramid while the foundations are still very shaky.” For example Shavan Kumar may never have needed to head to a hospital in New Delhi if his wife’s condition had been diagnosed earlier.  

But in a country where government spending on health care is among the lowest in the world – just 1 percent of the GDP – the project has sparked hope. “What the government has done in one stroke is to look at 500 million at the same time. I have no doubt it will take a few years to come on the ground and be stabilized, but the intent is very good,” says Agarwal.

 
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From: MeNeedIt

U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat to impose steep tariffs on steel and aluminum imports sparked concerns of a trade war Friday, with emerging markets trading lower and some world leaders threatening to take retaliatory measures.

Japan’s Nikkei share average fell to a more than two-week low Friday. The Nikkei ended 2.5 percent lower at 21,181.64 points, its lowest closing since Feb. 14.

“Automakers will have to bear the cost, and they may also have to raise prices while auto sales are already sluggish,” said Takuya Takahashi, a strategist at Daiwa Securities. “This isn’t looking good to the auto sector.”

​China, EU, Canada react

China on Friday expressed “grave concern” about the apparent U.S. trade policy but had no immediate response to Trump’s announcement that he will increase duties on steel and aluminum imports.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker denounced Trump’s trade plan as “a blatant intervention to protect U.S. domestic industry.” He said the EU would take retaliatory measures, it Trump implements his plan.

Canada said it would “take responsive measures” to protect its trade interests and workers if the restrictions are imposed on its steel and aluminum products.

Trump said Thursday the tariffs of 25 percent on steel and 10 percent on aluminum imports will be in effect for a long period of time. He said the measure will be signed “sometime next week.”

The trade war talk had stocks closing sharply lower on Wall Street.

The American International Automobile Dealers Association said Trump’s tariff plans would increase prices substantially.

“This is going to have fallout on our downstream suppliers, particularly in the automotive, machinery and aircraft sectors,” said Wendy Cutler, a former U.S. trade official. “What benefits one industry can hurt another. What saves one job can jeopardize another,” she said.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the president’s decision “shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone.” She said Trump had talked about the trade plans “for decades.”

Republicans speak out

Not all of Trump’s fellow Republican politicians agreed with his trade war talk.

Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska said, “You’d expect a policy this bad from a leftist administration, not a supposedly Republican one.”

A spokesman for House Speaker Paul Ryan said the House majority leader hoped the president would “consider the unintended consequences of this idea and look at other approaches before moving forward.”

Trump posted on Twitter Thursday about trade policy.

At the Thursday meeting, President Trump said the NAFTA trade pact and the World Trade Organization have been disasters for the United States. He asserted “the rise of China economically was directly equal to the date of the opening of the World Trade Organization.”

Trump told officials from steel and aluminum companies that the United States “hasn’t been treated fairly by other countries, but I don’t blame the other countries.”

In 2017, Canada, Brazil, South Korea and Mexico accounted for nearly half of all U.S. steel imports. That year, Chinese steel accounted for less than 2 percent of overall U.S. imports.

President Trump said he has a lot of respect for Chinese President Xi Jinping, and when he was in China, he told President Xi, “I don’t blame you, if you can get away with almost 500 billion dollars a year off of our country, how can I blame you? Somebody agreed to these deals. Those people should be ashamed of themselves for what they let happened.”

Xi’s top economic adviser, Liu He, is set to visit the White House Thursday to meet with top administration officials, including Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Trump’s chief economic adviser Gary Cohn.

A White House official speaking on condition of anonymity told Reuters that they expect a “frank exchange of views” and will focus on “the substantive issues.”

Ryan L. Hass, the David M. Rubenstein Fellow at John L. Thornton China Center and the Center for East Asia Policy Studies at Brookings Institution told VOA he believes in the best-case scenario, Liu’s visit will assure both sides that “they are committed to solving underlying problems in the bilateral trade relationship.” Hass noted, “In such a scenario, both sides would agree on the problems that need to be addressed, the framework for addressing them, and the participants and timeline for concluding negotiations.”

Hass said if Liu’s visit fails to exceed the White House’s expectations, then the probability of unilateral U.S. trade actions against China will go up.

“If the U.S. takes unilateral actions, China likely will respond proportionately, and that could set off a tit-for-tat cycle leading to a trade war,” Hass said.
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From: MeNeedIt

Australia’s corporate watchdog is taking mining giant Rio Tinto and two former executives to court over the global miner’s “misleading and deceptive conduct” in reporting the coal reserves of a Mozambique mine purchased for $4 billion.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) launched the court action Friday against Rio Tinto, former Chief Executive Tom Albanese and former Chief Financial Officer Guy Elliott.

“ASIC alleges that RTL (Rio Tinto Ltd) engaged in misleading or deceptive conduct by publishing statements in the 2011 annual report, signed by Mr. Albanese and Mr. Elliott, misrepresenting the reserves and resources of RTCM (Rio Tinto Coal Mozambique),” the watchdog said in a statement.

Rio Tinto bought the mine in 2011 for $4 billion and wrote off $3.5 billion in loses several years later when it sold the mine. The mining company fired Albanese and Elliott over their involvement with the sale.

ASIC said in a statement, “… by allowing RTL (Rio Tinto Limited) to engage in such conduct, Mr. Albanese and Mr. Elliott failed to exercise their powers and discharge their duties with the care and diligence required by law as directors and officers of RTL.”

ASIC wants the court to fine the two former Rio Tinto executives and bar them from managing corporations “for such periods as the court thinks fit.”

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charged the mining giant and the two executives with fraud last year over similar allegations.

Rio Tinto said last year the U.S. charges were “unwarranted.”

The company did not immediately respond to the Australian charges.
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From: MeNeedIt

Uber is driving deeper into health care by offering to take patients in every U.S. market where it operates to their next medical appointment. 

The ride-hailing service said Thursday its Uber Health business will handle rides set up by doctor’s offices or other health care providers and then bill that business, not the patient, for the service. The company said rides can be set up within a few hours or days in advance. Patients won’t need access to a smartphone to use the service.

Uber began testing the service last summer. More than 100 health care providers have signed up including hospitals, clinics and physical therapy centers.  

Company leaders said they are expanding because there’s a need. They cite federal government research that estimates that more than 3 million people do not obtain medical care due to transportation problems.

“There are a lot of people out there who are not going to the doctor simply because they can’t physically make it there,” said Uber Health executive Jay Holley. 

He added that the service also represents a business opportunity for Uber by connecting the company with a lot of first-time users.

Uber will bill care providers who sign up for the service monthly based on their usage. Holley said some may pass the cost on to their customers, but most of the providers it has worked with so far pay for the rides out of their operating budget. 

Uber rival Lyft offers a similar service called Concierge, which allows health care providers to set up rides for patients to get to appointments. The providers pay for the rides. Lyft also has patient transport partnerships with larger health care providers.

Health insurers and others have long recognized the need to help some patients, especially those with low incomes, make their medical appointments. 

Molina Healthcare Inc. has offered a transportation benefit to its customers for around 25 years and says that more than 3 million people are eligible. Molina specializes in administering the state- and federally funded Medicaid programs for poor people and the disabled. 

Spokeswoman Laura Murray said the insurer found that covering transportation expenses helps patients keep regular appointments and preventive care visits, which can include things like flu shots or checkups. She said that can improve patient health and cut down on unnecessary emergency room visits.

Adams Clinical runs clinical trials for drug companies and started using Uber Health in the middle of last year. Since then, trial participation has grown and patients have started staying in the studies longer, CEO Nelson Rutrick said.

The Watertown, Massachusetts, company had used taxis before switching to Uber. Rutrick said taxis were more expensive and required advance planning to get a cab to drive an hour or two to pick someone up. 

 “Uber is already where the patient lives,” he said.

 
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From: MeNeedIt

Older men may face premature death if they spend most of the day sitting around, but it doesn’t require a huge amount of exercise to increase their chances of living longer, a study in the UK suggests.

Researchers asked 1,655 men, all between 71 and 92 years old, to wear accelerometers for one week. The goal was to assess their activity levels.

Among a subset of 1,274 men without cardiovascular disease or heart failure who wore the accelerometers as directed, participants logged a daily average of 616 minutes of sedentary time, 199 minutes of light activity and 40 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise.

After following the men for up to six years, there were 194 deaths.

For each additional 30 minutes of sedentary time on a typical day, men were 17 percent more likely to die during the study, researchers report in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

Every extra half hour of light activity, however, was associated with 17 percent lower odds of death.

“For those who are able, it remains a good idea to aim for at least 150 minutes each week of moderate or more intense activity, that is, activities that get the heart beating faster,” said lead study author Barbara Jefferis of University College London.

“Our results suggest that whilst moderate or more intense activity is best, for older men who are unable to achieve the target, doing even light physical activity is worthwhile for extending the lifespan,” Jefferis said by email.

Not surprisingly, researchers also found that men were about 40 percent less likely to die during the study when they got the minimum recommended 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise each week, compared to men who didn’t achieve that amount.

Long or short bursts

And the benefit was similar whether men got this total amount of exercise in brief, sporadic bouts of less than 10 minutes at a time or they exercised in longer bouts of at least 10 minutes or more.

“We found that as long as men accumulated 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity per week, it didn’t matter whether it was in long or short bursts,” Jefferis said.

“This is encouraging for older adults, as it is easier for them to reach the target without worrying about sustaining activity in bouts.”

While 66 percent of the men managed to get at least 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise in short bursts, just 16 percent achieved this in bouts of 10 minutes or longer, the study found.

The study wasn’t a controlled experiment designed to prove whether or how the amount or duration of exercise men get might directly impact longevity.

Another limitation is that accelerometers used in the study didn’t distinguish between standing time and sitting, which might have different health effects, researchers note. Men who followed through with wearing the devices also tended to be younger and healthier than men who didn’t.

Mental benefits

Still, the results add to evidence that any exercise is better than none, even if more intense activity is better, said Keith Diaz, a researcher at Columbia University Medical Center in New York City who wasn’t involved in the study.

“So, whether one walks for 1 minute at a time or 10 minutes at a time, any duration of activity at a time is healthful,” Diaz said by email.

“Regular exercise can lower blood pressure, blood sugar levels, body weight, triglycerides, and unhealthy LDL cholesterol; all of which can improve your heart’s health and, in turn, longevity,” Diaz added. “Exercise can also help memory and thinking by stimulating the release of chemicals in the brain that affect the health of brain cells and the growth of new blood vessels in the brain.”
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From: MeNeedIt