Lyft Inc shares on Friday opened up 21.2 percent at $87.24 in its market debut on the Nasdaq after the company was valued at $24.3 billion in the first initial public offering (IPO) of a ride-hailing startup.

On Thursday, Lyft said it priced 32.5 million shares, slightly more that it was offering originally, at $72, the top of its already elevated $70-$72 per share target range for the IPO.

After a few minutes of trading, shares were up 18.6 percent at $85.42.

Instead of celebrating the first day of trading at the Nasdaq in New York, Lyft opted to mark the occasion at a defunct auto dealership in downtown Los Angeles.

A couple hundred people – Lyft staff, family and friends, stakeholders and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti – gathered before dawn for the kick-off event.

Lyft has recently bought the facility to turn it into a driver services center, the first of several it plans to open across the U.S. in the coming months, where drivers can get discounted services like help with taxes or charging electric vehicles.
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From: MeNeedIt

Most of us don’t give much thought to getting dressed every day, but for the elderly and disabled, seemingly simple tasks – like buttoning a shirt – can prove complicated. Fashion design students recently looked at low-tech ways to make clothes smarter. Tina Trinh reports.
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From: MeNeedIt

Once stigmatized and banned across the United States, marijuana is now legalized in many parts of the country, primarily for medicinal use, but increasingly also for recreation. As cannabis becomes mainstream, Americans in their 70s and 80s who used to get high on marijuana in their youth, are now using cannabis-infused products to relieve old age aches and pains. VOA’s Zlatica Hoke has this report.
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From: MeNeedIt

Most of us don’t give much thought to getting dressed every day, but for the elderly and disabled, seemingly simple tasks like buttoning a shirt can prove complicated. Fashion design students recently looked at low-tech ways to make clothes smarter. VOA’s Tina Trinh reports.
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From: MeNeedIt

Facebook has announced it is banning praise, support, and representation of white nationalism and separatism on its platform and on Instagram, which it also owns.

The company made the announcement Wednesday in a blog post, saying, “It’s clear that these concepts are deeply linked to organized hate groups and have no place on our services.”

The post says Facebook has long banned hateful speech based on race, ethnicity and religion, though it had permitted expressions of white nationalism and separatism because it seemed separate from white supremacy.

“But over the past three months,” the post read, “our conversations with members of civil society and academics who are experts in race relations around the world … have confirmed that white nationalism and separatism cannot be meaningfully separated from white supremacy and organized hate groups.”

“Going forward,” it continued, “while people will still be able to demonstrate pride in their ethnic heritage, we will not tolerate praise or support for white nationalism and separatism.”

It said people searching for terms associated with white supremacy will be directed to information about the group “Life After Hate,” which is an organization that helps violent extremists leave their hate groups through intervention, education, support groups and outreach.
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From: MeNeedIt

A huge fan of rock legends Queen, Peng Yanzi rushed to see Bohemian Rhapsody, the biopic about the band’s late lead singer, Freddie Mercury, while he was traveling in Britain last October.

It was a touching film that made him cry hard, Peng says. He loved it enough to watch it a second time in his home city of Guangzhou after the film garnered a surprise China release.

But the version of Bohemian Rhapsody he saw this past weekend was notably different from the original. Moviegoers in China say key scenes about Mercury’s sexuality have been either abruptly muted or cut altogether.

“The cut scenes really affect the movie,” said Peng, a Chinese LGBT rights activist. “The film talks about how [Mercury] became himself, and his sexuality is an important part of becoming who he was.”

Scenes that were deleted include one in which Mercury reveals to his then-wife that he is not heterosexual. In the part of the film where Mercury tells the band that he has AIDS, the dialogue goes silent.

“It’s a pity” the scenes were removed, said Hua Zile, chief editor of VCLGBT, an LGBT-themed account with more than a million followers on Weibo, one of China’s top social media platforms.

“This kind of deletion weakens his gay identity. It’s a bit disrespectful to his real experience and makes the character superficial,” Hua said. “There is no growth and innermost being of him.” Hua said he also watched both versions of the movie, in the semi-autonomous region of Hong Kong, which enjoys greater freedoms from censorship than mainland China, and the Chinese city of Guangzhou.

The missing scenes confused some moviegoers. Su Lei read Mercury’s biography online before watching the movie Wednesday afternoon so that she could better understand the plot and character development.

“Now it’s a very open era, influenced by some American and British TV dramas. People now can understand and accept this,” said Su, who works for an accounting firm. She called the film “inspiring” and said cutting the gay content was “unnecessary.”

Lu, a freelancer in Shanghai who asked to be identified only by his family name, watched the original version online after seeing the movie in a Chinese theater, where he said he found parts of the dialogue incoherent.

Lu said that despite some lines being erased, it was still obvious the main character is gay. “But the movie has been deleted like this, which affects its entirety,” he said.

Censorship in China

While LGBT content is generally less taboo than other topics that Chinese authorities deem sensitive, same-sex relationships are still virtually absent from mainstream media.

In 2017, a government-affiliated internet TV association warned streaming content providers against depicting homosexuality, labeling it an “abnormal” sexual behavior. A similar move last year from Weibo provoked an outcry that prompted the website to backtrack and state that a “cleanup of games and cartoons will no longer target gay content.”

When Chinese video site Mango TV livestreamed the Academy Awards in February, Bohemian Rhapsody lead actor Rami Malek’s speech was subtitled to read “special group” when in fact he said “gay man.”

Mango TV also censored two LGBT-themed performances during last year’s Eurovision song contest, causing Eurovision to terminate its partnership with the Chinese broadcaster in the middle of the competition season.
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From: MeNeedIt

Health care has re-emerged as a major focus of U.S. political parties with the Trump administration advocating striking down the entire Affordable Care Act and Democrats introducing legislation to strengthen the law that has been in place since 2010.

The Justice Department on Monday backed a federal court ruling declaring the entire ACA unconstitutional on the basis that without the fines for not having health insurance, which a Republican-led Congress passed last year, the mandate for having coverage should not be allowed.

That went against the administration’s earlier position that while some parts of the ACA should be struck down, not all of it should be thrown out.

Trump told reporters Tuesday he wanted alternatives to the law, which was one of the chief policies enacted under his predecessor Barack Obama.

“The Republican Party will become ‘The Party of Healthcare!’” he wrote on Twitter.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer signaled his party is happy to take on the issue, especially following the end of the special counsel investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election and possible collusion with Trump’s campaign. Schumer said issues such as healthcare and climate change are much more important to voters.

The issue was a key part of the party’s 2018 congressional election strategy, which put Democrats back in control of the House of Representatives.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi unveiled Democratic proposals she says would improve upon the existing law, while accusing Republicans of working only to “destroy the affordable health care of America’s families.”

The legislation would seek to make health insurance plans more affordable by boosting subsidies to lower-income households, provide more protections for people with pre-existing conditions, and boost outreach and enrollment efforts to help people better understand what insurance options exist for them.

The legal battle over the existing law could end up at the Supreme Court, which previously upheld the individual mandate with its financial penalties as a legal tax Congress was allowed to impose. The five justices in the majority on that case remain on the court.
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From: MeNeedIt

The founder and all-female editorial board of the Vatican’s women’s magazine have resigned to protest what they call a campaign to discredit them and put them under the direct control of men. The editorial committee of Women Church World, a monthly supplement to the Vatican daily L’Osservatore Romano, claims the daily’s new editor has sabotaged the magazine after it denounced sexual abuse of nuns by the clergy. VOA’s Zlatica Hoke has more.
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From: MeNeedIt

In Japan, every emperor’s era has its own name – appearing in places such as coins, official paperwork and newspapers – and with abdication coming at the end of April, speculation is swirling about what the new “gengo” will be.

Although the Western calendar has become more widespread in Japan, many people here count years in terms of gengo or use the two systems interchangeably. Emperor Akihito’s era, which began in 1989, is Heisei, making 2019 Heisei 31.

The new era name is one of biggest changes — practically and psychologically – – for Japan at the start of Crown Prince Naruhito’s reign on May 1. On April 30, Akihito will abdicate, ending an era in the minds of many Japanese.

The new name is so secret that senior government officials involved in the decision must surrender their cell phones and stay sequestered until it is broadcast, media reports say.

City offices and government agencies, which mostly use gengo in their computer systems and paperwork, have been preparing for months to avoid glitches.

To make the transition easier, authorities will announce the new gengo – -two Chinese characters the cabinet chooses from a short list proposed by scholars — a month early, on April 1.

“We’ve been working on this change for about a year,” said Tsukasa Shizume, an official in the Tokyo suburb of Mitaka, where the era name will be changed on 55 kinds of paperwork in 20 administrative sections. The month-long lead time should be sufficient, he said.

Fujitsu and NEC Corp. have been helping customers ensure the switch doesn’t crash their systems.

Programs have been designed to make it easy to change the gengo, said Shunichi Ueda, an NEC official.

“If people want to test their computer systems, they can use a trial gengo and see if it works,” he said.

Most major companies use the Western calendar in their computer systems, so it won’t affect them as much, although smaller companies might run into some problems, he said.

In Tokyo’s Minato ward, officials will cross out Heisei on thousands of documents and stamp the new gengo above it.

National mood

The era name is more than just a way of counting years for many Japanese.

It’s a word that captures the national mood of a period, similar to the way “the ’60s” evokes particular feelings or images, or how historians refer to Britain’s “Victorian” or “Edwardian” eras, tying the politics and culture of a period to a monarch.

“It’s a way of dividing history,” said Jun Iijima, a 31-year-old lawyer who was born the last year of Showa, the era of Akihito’s father, Emperor Hirohito. “If you were just counting years, the Western system might be sufficient. But gengo gives a certain meaning to a historical period.”

The 64-year Showa era, which lasted until 1989, has generally come to be identified with Japan’s recovery and rising global prominence in the decades after World War II.

The imperial era name is also a form of “soft nationalism,” said Ken Ruoff, director of the Center for Japanese Studies at Portland State University.

“It’s one of these constant low-level reminders that Japan counts years differently and Japan has a monarchy,” he said.

The gengo characters are carefully chosen with an aspirational meaning. Heisei, which means “achieving peace,” began on Jan. 8, 1989, amid high hopes that Japan would play a greater role in global affairs after decades of robust economic growth.

Soon afterward, Japan’s economic bubble popped, ushering in a long period of stagnation and deflation. The rise of China and South Korea diminished Japan’s international prominence, and a series of disasters – including the 1995 Kobe earthquake and 2011 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crises – has marred Heisei’s image.

Fading use

In daily life, usage of the gengo system is slowly declining as Japan integrates into the global economy.

A recent Mainichi newspaper survey showed that 34 percent of people said they used mostly gengo, 34 percent said they used both about the same, and 25 percent mainly the Western calendar.

In 1975, 82 percent said mostly gengo. Both calendars use Western months.

Japanese drivers licenses have started to print both dates, instead of just gengo.

Iijima, the lawyer, says legal paperwork uses the era name because that’s what the court system uses. But in daily life he uses both. For global events, he thinks in terms of the Western calendar – like the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks – and uses both dating systems for domestic events.

He is indifferent about what characters will be chosen for the next gengo.

But remembering that his grandparents suffered during World War II, he hopes that it will be an era without war, that Japan will keep up economically with China and India and that it will grow into a “mature,” more tolerant place.

“I hope Japan can become a society where minorities can live more easily,” he said.
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From: MeNeedIt

Chicago police have dropped all charges against television actor Jussie Smollett, who was accused of falsely reporting that he had been the target of a hate crime.

Smollett’s attorneys announced the news Tuesday, saying their client’s record had been “wiped clean.”

A spokeswoman for the Cook County prosecutor’s office said, “After reviewing all of the facts and circumstances of the case, including Mr. Smollett’s volunteer service in the community and agreement to forfeit his bond to the City of Chicago, we believe this outcome is a just disposition and appropriate resolution to this case.” She added that Smollett will forfeit a $10,000 bond payment.

But Chicago police as well as mayor Rahm Emanuel have spoken out angrily about the development. “This is without a doubt a whitewash of justice,” Emanuel said, complaining that the grand jury in the case heard “only a sliver” of the evidence.

Chicago police superintendent Eddie Johnson said, “Do I think justice was served? No. What do I think justice is? I think this city is still owed an apology.”

Smollett, who is black and gay, responded publicly to the decision, thanking family, friends and fans who supported him and vowing, “I have been truthful and consistent on every level since day one. I would not be my mother’s son if I was capable of one drop of what I have been accused of.”

Smollett reported in January that he had been sent a threatening letter and was then attacked on the street by two men he didn’t know who wrapped a rope around his neck and attempted to pour bleach on him while yelling racial and homophobic slurs. He also said they yelled, “this is MAGA country,” referring to President Donald Trump’s slogan, “Make America Great Again.”

Police later said that Smollett had staged the attack himself, paying two physical trainers $3,500 to carry it out.

Smollett plays a gay character on the television show Empire, which is filmed in Chicago.
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From: MeNeedIt

What should have been a giant leap for womankind has turned into a stumble on the path to equality after U.S. space agency NASA canceled the first all-female spacewalk due to a lack of a spacesuit in the right size.

Anne McClain and Christina Koch had been due to step into history books in a spacewalk Friday, during the final week of Women’s History Month.

But McClain will now give up her place on the mission to her male colleague Nick Hague, NASA announced late Monday.

“Mission managers decided to adjust the assignments, due in part to spacesuit availability on the station,” NASA said in a statement.

“McClain learned during her first spacewalk that a medium-size hard upper torso — essentially the shirt of the spacesuit — fits her best. Because only one medium-size torso can be made ready by Friday, March 29, Koch will wear it.”

Nearly 60 years after the first human blasted off into space, less than 11 percent of the 500 plus people who have traveled to space have been women, and spacewalk teams have either been all-male or male-female.

McClain and Koch were both part of the 2013 NASA class that was 50 percent women.

NASA said the decision to change the plan was made in consultation with McClain after a spacewalk last week.

“Anne trained in M and L and thought she could use a large but decided after Friday’s spacewalk a medium fits better,” wrote spokeswoman Stephanie Schierholz on Twitter.

“In this case, it’s easier (and faster!) to change spacewalkers than reconfigure the spacesuit.”

The NASA announcement was met with disappointment and anger by many following the much-anticipated mission on social media, with some arguing an all-female spacewalk was overdue.

Others said they were sad that a milestone moment on women’s space exploration had been deferred, but safety came first.

“I’m super disappointed about the all-woman spacewalk not happening as scheduled this Friday but I’m also super supportive of astronauts having the authority to say ‘I would be safer using a different piece of equipment’,” wrote Emily Lakdawalla, a senior editor at the U.S. nonprofit The Planetary Society.

“An all-woman spacewalk WILL eventually happen.”
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From: MeNeedIt

The seven women busily making and packing sanitary napkins in a small manufacturing unit in Kathikhera village had never heard that word while growing up. That is no surprise: menstruation is a taboo subject in village homes. 

That is why when the venture was launched over two years ago, several women quit after being taunted by villagers for doing “dirty work.” Those who persevered did not dare acknowledge what they were doing. 

“We used to tell everyone we are making diapers. When people came to buy them we were very embarrassed to admit that we are actually making pads,” says 22-year-old Rakhi Tanwar. “I did not even tell my father and brother about the work I was doing.” 

The venture was born in a village home after a crowd funding initiative by a student group in the United States helped purchase a machine to make affordable sanitary napkins. The group also funded a documentary that was set in the village. Made by Iranian-American filmmaker Rayka Zehtabchi, it bagged the Oscar in the short documentary category this year. 

In this small conservative community, getting the unit going was a struggle until the arrival of the film crew and the making of the movie gradually revolutionized attitudes toward menstruation. The film chronicles the impact of the cultural stigma that surrounds the subject: an estimated 20 per cent adolescent girls drop out of school after puberty and menstrual hygiene poses a challenge due to lack of access to sanitary products. 

Sneha, the protagonist of the documentary, testifies to the silence that surrounds the subject: her mother never told her about menstruation. She recalls how she was ridiculed for her work. “Sometime I came home and almost wept at the way people treated me. I was often tempted to leave. People looked at me with such contempt,” says the village girl who had never imagined her work would one day make her walk down the red carpet in Los Angeles.

There has been a dramatic change since those early days. “Those who did not want to hear about this subject or talk to us now converse about it more openly to us and to each other,” she says. “It is treated as a normal topic. This is a huge opportunity. This is what we wanted, that it should not be considered a “dirty” subject.” 

The women who were once turned away from village homes when they went to explain about sanitary products now get a willing ear. Sanitary pads, which in India, are usually discreetly kept under a shelf, are openly displayed in the Kathikhera village shop and even men turn up to buy them for their wives. Mothers say they will discuss the topic with young daughters. 

“I never shared anything with my friends also,” says Rakhi laughing shyly. “But these foreigners who came to make the movie have removed the shame we used to feel.”

The quiet social revolution taking place in Kathikhera has been made possible due to the efforts of a social entrepreneur in South India who devised a machine to make low-cost sanitary napkins after he discovers his wife uses rags.

​Besides menstrual hygiene, there have been other gains from the project: financial independence and a new-found determination to achieve goals among the women involved in the Kathikhera project. They use only their first name because they say they want to have their own identity. Sneha aspires to become a police officer, although she says women’s issues will always be a part of her mission. Rakhi, who wants to be a teacher, is using the $35 salary a month from her work at the factory to fund her postgraduate studies. 

The unit is providing the first ever avenue of employment in a village where women were confined to housework. 

The road has not been easy for women like Sushma, a mother of two who lives in an extended family. It was never supportive of her work and her husband insisted she must do all the housework despite the job she took on. But the recognition that came to the village after the Oscar award have changed all that. “Now my family allows me come to work early. My sisters-in-law willingly do my share of the housework,” says Sushma, who is determined to carry on with her job.

Officials and village elders have become more open to discussing women’s issues with Action India, the charity that helped set up the venture. “When we used to hold meetings to create awareness about menstrual hygiene, they used to say that we are spoiling their women,” recalls Suman, a social worker with the group that focuses on reproductive health issues. She says they were accused of promoting the venture to make profits while burdening households with more expenses. “Now that atmosphere has changed. They want to join hands with us. They ask us about our problems.” 

As a quiet village that had never heard of the world’s biggest film awards basks in the stardust that has fallen on it since the Oscar win, the hope is that the documentary’s bigger message will resonate in other parts of rural India. The winds of change are blowing. Action India has already set up one more pad making unit in a neighboring village with the aim of transforming lives for more young women.
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From: MeNeedIt