# Combined News Feed

# News

#### Labour proposes transport smart ticket

Labour sets out plans to create a single "smart ticket" that would cover all transport services across Scotland.
2016-03-15T11:44:06.000Z

#### Cheltenham Festival 2016: day one – live!

- Chris Cook’s tips for Champion Hurdle Day at the Festival
- Vautour in shock switch to Ryanair Chase from Gold Cup
- Willie Mullins’ guide to his team of runners for Cheltenham
- Tweet @bglendenning or mail barry.glendenning@theguardian.com

11.43am GMT

11.40am GMT

Vautour story, now with reaction from the Horserace Bettors Forum https://t.co/H3RLWwb1t0

Continue reading...
Barry Glendenning 2016-03-15T11:43:39.000Z

#### Breivik sues Norway over jail isolation

Jailed Norwegian mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik gives a Nazi salute as he returns to court to argue that his isolation violates his rights.
2016-03-15T11:43:20.000Z

#### Berlin explosion: man killed in suspected car bomb

Investigators working on assumption that explosive device inside or on vehicle caused explosion

A suspected car bomb has killed a man driving through Berlin.

A police spokesman, Carsten Müller, said the blast occurred at about 8am (7am GMT) on Tuesday in the western district of Charlottenburg in the German capital.

Continue reading...
Associated Press in Berlin 2016-03-15T11:41:07.000Z

#### Murder hunt after Berlin 'car bombing'

German police open a murder investigation after an "explosive device" goes off in a car in Berlin, killing the driver.
2016-03-15T11:36:43.000Z

#### Call to 'kick-start' HS3 rail link

The HS3 rail link needs "kick-starting" as part of a broader plan to improve transport links in northern England, a report concludes.
2016-03-15T11:36:38.000Z

#### Futures are lower ahead of a lot of data (SPY, USD, SPX, DJI, IXIC, USO, WTI, OIL, VDE, BNO, DXY, IWIM, QQQ)

Investing.com

Stock futures were lower on Tuesday morning ahead of a busy data-release schedule.

Near 7:30 a.m. ET, Dow futures were down 69 points, S&P 500 futures were down 10 points, and Nasdaq futures were down 15 points — all by less than 1%.

These declines come after a flat close on Wall Street on Monday, the lightest day for volume this year.

The data due today include retail sales, the producer price index, and Empire manufacturing at 8:30 a.m. ET. At 10, home builder sentiment will cross. It's the busiest day for economic releases after over a week of relative quietness, and ahead of the all-important Fed decision on Wednesday.

We got the Bank of Japan overnight, which made no changes to its negative benchmark rates and removed language in its statement that pointed to further rate cuts if necessary. The yen strengthened against the dollar.

Crude oil prices continued falling this morning, with West Texas Intermediate crude down 2.5% to as low as $37.41 per barrel. On Monday, Russia's energy minister Alexander Novak said a global production-freeze deal could come in April but exclude Iran, which is looking to stabilize its output at 4 million barrels per day. This apparently put some downward pressure on oil.

After the market close, the American Petroleum Institute will release its proprietary weekly numbers on crude inventories.

Refresh this page for updates.

NOW WATCH: How to send self-destructing messages — and other iPhone messaging tricks

Akin Oyedele 2016-03-15T11:35:39.000Z

#### Fiscal receives twin deaths report

A police report into the deaths of twin brothers who drowned in a large fish tank at their family home in Fife is handed to the procurator fiscal.
2016-03-15T11:34:35.000Z

#### T20 World Cup 2016: Pakistan vs Bangladesh betting preview

Pakistan favourites to beat old rivals and get World T20 campaign off to winning start.
2016-03-15T11:32:54.000Z

#### London needs Crossrail 2 – but London should pay for it

Crossrail hasn’t even opened but already attention is turning to its £32bn successor. The second stage would relieve congestion on the Northern and Victoria lines, and connect Surrey and Hertfordshire with central London. The capital’s business leaders are already warning that any repeat of the wrangling that so delayed the first line would be disastrous. After all, the new Elizabeth Line was first proposed in the 1940s. Crossrail 2 has won the endorsement of George Osborne’s newly-formed National Infrastructure Commission. Last week its chair, Lord Adonis, cautioned that “the capital will grind to a halt unless significant further improvements are made”. Osborne today gave it the green light.

But big infrastructure comes with a big bill. The Infrastructure Commission estimates that the Treasury would need to stump up just under half of the current £32bn price tag for Crossrail 2. With the outlook for the public finances deteriorating and the chancellor expected to announce further serious spending cuts tomorrow, this is a big ask. Is it really fair for taxpayers from across the whole of the UK to be asked to pick up such a large bill for yet another shiny London prestige project?

London’s success undoubtedly benefits other parts of Britain and few would argue with the fact the capital faces chronic pressures on its transport system. But this time the chancellor should say no to opening the national cheque book to pay for London’s latest infrastructure boost. To do so would be to prolong the “Whitehall knows best” era of decision-making that the optimistic among us thought was, at last, coming to an end.

If Osborne does decide to stump up for Crossrail 2, the cries of anguish from elsewhere in England would be acute and not without justification. The £14.5bn already spent on Crossrail 1 amounts to a massive nine times the amount earmarked for all the rail projects in the so-called Northern Powerhouse, according to analysis of the government’s infrastructure pipeline. In a bid to save a few pennies, ministers had already temporarily shelved the planned electrification of the Transpennine and Midland Mainline railways. This meant that, although they have subsequently pressed the restart button, these vital projects are set to be delivered at least four years late. No wonder people are sceptical of today’s other announcement from Osborne of a new high speed 3 railway line for the north.

There is an even more dramatic reason for the chancellor not to prioritise spending scarce national cash in the capital. In the Productivity Plan that Osborne published last June, he proclaimed productivity was “the challenge of our time”. Yet new research from the Centre for Progressive Capitalism shows that, far from his policies helping to close the productivity gap between London and the other big cities, it has in fact been getting wider. The story is the same wherever you look, be it Leeds, Manchester or Birmingham. It is most dramatic in Liverpool, where the productivity gap with the rest of the UK has doubled from 5 per cent in 2009 to 10 per cent in 2014. London sits 30 per cent ahead of the UK average.

That doesn’t mean that I think the chancellor should say no to Crossrail 2. Those calling for a speedy decision are right. London needs Crossrail 2, but London needs to pay for it.

So when he stands up at the despatch box, Osborne should give London the means to meet the huge bill itself without relying on the rest of the country.

That mechanism is the decidedly unglamorous, but decidedly useful, tool of business rates. It is already mooted that a fifth of the funding for Crossrail 2 would come from a supplement on the rates charged on shops, offices and factories. A similar mechanism helped fund Crossrail 1. The chancellor has said that, by 2020, local councils can keep all the revenues from business rates. But he needs to let business rates do more if big infrastructure projects are to be financed locally.

London has been booming and there is a simple way to capitalise on the capital’s growth. If there were an annual revaluation of how much in business rates a property should pay, it would create a virtuous circle – as the public money spent on new infrastructure makes the properties served worth more, so the amount raised in rates increases. In short, those businesses that benefit get to pay more of the bill.

Our modelling shows that, over the next 25 years, London could raise an extra £70bn in business rates above current trends – more than twice the cost of Crossrail 2. The Greater London Authority could then borrow against these future revenues to provide the upfront investment needed to fund the project. What’s more, Manchester and Leeds could both raise £5bn, while Birmingham could add almost £7bn.

Thus, if he wants to be like a modern day man from Del Monte and be remembered as the chancellor who likes to say yes – in this case to infrastructure the country so desperately needs – Osborne must loosen the iron Treasury grip and give London the means to finish the Crossrail job.

Alastair Reed 2016-03-15T11:32:00.000Z

#### Warren Buffett has a simple test for separating investors from speculators

AP Images

There are investors.

And then there are speculators.

The former pursue lower-risk investments based on fundamentals and analysis, while the latter pursue high-risk investments that are sometimes borderline gambling.

So, by those definitions, many "investors" aren't actually investors.

Notably, in an interview with the FCIC, Warren Buffett outlined what he believed to be the "real test" of whether someone fell into the former category or the later.

The interview comes from a document dump from the National Archives , which released transcripts, meeting agendas, and confidentiality agreements from the FCIC. The group was set up in the aftermath of the crisis by Congress to look into the causes of the event.

As Buffett explained:

"And I say, the real test of how you — what you're doing is whether you care whether the markets are open.

When I buy a stock, I don't care if they close the stock market tomorrow for a couple of years because I'm looking to the business — Coca Cola, or whatever it may be, to produce returns for me in the future from the business.

Now, if I care if whether the stock market is soap tomorrow, then to some extent I'm speculating because I'm thinking about whether the price is going to go up tomorrow or not. I don't know whether the price is going to go up."

The FCIC also asked Buffett how he would define the "speculation." As expected, Buffett had an interesting answer there, too.

"It's a tricky definition. You know, it's like pornography, and that famous quote on that," he told the FCIC.

(Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart famously wrote that, regarding whether something was pornography or not, that, "I know it when I see it.")

"Speculation, I would define as much more focused on the price action of the stock, particularly that you, or the index future, or something of the sort," Buffett continued.

"Because you are not really -- you are counting on -- for whatever factors, because you think quarterly earnings are going to be up or it’s going to split, or whatever it may be, or increase the dividend -- but you are not looking to the asset itself."

In short, Buffett basically argues that what separates and investor from a speculator is the intent of the person engaging in the transaction.

NOW WATCH: Here’s why you should never put Q-Tips in your ears

Elena Holodny 2016-03-15T11:31:52.000Z

#### The 11 best US cities for young people to buy a home

According to personal finance site SmartAsset, fewer than 35% of adults under age 35 own a home. But owning a home doesn't have to be a far-off dream, even if you're still in your 20s or early 30s.

In a recent report, SmartAsset determined the best cities in the US for first-time homebuyers by looking at data on the affordability, mortgage availability, and stability of the housing market in every city with a population over 300,000.

For millennials in search of their first home, Oklahoma and Texas are going to be the best buys — five of the top ten cities are located in these two states. Read on to see which other cities made the cut, the average price per square foot of home in each city (from Zillow ), and the percentage of loans that get approved in each city (from the Mortgage Bankers Association). For reference, the average loan funding ratio for major US cities is 69%.

We also included the median home prices for each city's metropolitan area, from the National Association of Realtors.

### 10. Fort Worth, Texas (TIE)

Shutterstock

Loan funding rate: 73%

Average price per square foot: $76

Median home price: $206,200

### 10. Dallas, Texas (TIE)

Shutterstock

Loan funding rate: 70%

Average price per square foot: $91

Median home price: $206,200

### 9. Louisville, Kentucky

Shutterstock

Loan funding rate: 74%

Average price per square foot: $88

Median home price: $153,400

See the rest of the story at Business Insider
Kathleen Elkins 2016-03-15T11:30:00.000Z

#### Putin says Russians to start withdrawing from Syria, as peace talks resume

MOSCOW/GENEVA (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin announced out of the blue on Monday that "the main part" of Russian armed forces in Syria would start to withdraw, telling his diplomats to step up the push for peace as U.N.-mediated talks resumed on ending the five-year-old war.
2016-03-15T11:29:24.000Z

#### Here's a super quick guide to what traders are talking about right now (AXP, BAC, C, COF, DFS, JPM, SY, SPY, DJI, IXIC, QQQ, IWIM, DXY, USD, JPY, DAX, FTSE)

Ryan Pierse/Getty Images

Via Dave Lutz at JonesTrading, here's a super quick guide to what traders are talking about before the market opens on Tuesday:

Good Morning! US Futures are under some pressure, dropping 50bp as a sea of red bathes traders screens in Europe and Asian stock markets fall as BoJ stays unchanged despite a bleak economic view. Miners and Energy companies weigh in Europe, but the DAX is only off 50bp as Tech stays in the green and Fins outperform the selloff. In London, the FTSE is hit for 60bp as miners are smoked on Antofagasta headers, but Staples are outperforming, helping London stave off deeper losses. Volumes across the continent are light, with DAX and FTSE 30%+ below normal turnover. In Asia, Shanghai shrugged off initial losses to gain 20bp, but HK lost 70bp; Aussie was knocked for 1.4% as resource companies were hit; but Focus was on Nikkei losing 60bp as the Yen rallied as BoJ stays unchanged. It is a sea of red across EM Asia, with no market closing in the green.

The DXY is in rally mode as Janet kicks off the 2day FOMC meeting – typically a tailwind for US equities (“FOMC Drift”). Most $ gains this AM are coming from the British Pound, which is off nearly 1% on a fresh wave of Brexit concerns. The Euro remains downside 1.11 as Asian Growth concerns resurface, while in China, the yuan was fixed higher while reports for a Tobin tax aimed to curb speculative currency trading made the rounds. The Stronger $ is typically a headwind for commodities, and it’s mostly red out there - Base metals coming under decent pressure as Ore has biggest hit in 8months, dropping 5%+ in China – while even Gold comes under pressure as Canadian papers pitch taking profits. WTI off another 2.7% as it still sees heavy profit-taking post Iran and OPEC headers yesterday, while Natty gas continues to see covering. Softs are red across the board.

We have a decent day of Catalysts today - Starting at 8:30 with Advance Retail Sales for February and US PPI – at 10am we get NAHB Housing Market Index and Business Inventories. Treasury Sec Lew testifies to House Appropriations subcommittee at 10:30, while EM players will focus on the Brazil Bond Auction at 10:30. At 4 the US Treasury publishes Long-term TIC Flows, and at 4:30 US Crude come into focus as API releases Inventory data, where guesstimates expect a build of 2.5M barrels. Today also brings us Credit charge-offs and delinquencies (AXP, BAC, C, COF, DFS, JPM, SY) and Presidential primaries in Fla., Ohio, Ill., Mo. and N.C.

NOW WATCH: What the 'i' in 'iPhone' stands for — as explained by Steve Jobs

Akin Oyedele 2016-03-15T11:27:37.000Z

#### Caitlyn Jenner calls Hillary Clinton 'horrible lousy senator' before cosying up in Instagram pic

Jenner also supports Donald Trump in upcoming I Am Cait episode.
2016-03-15T11:27:10.000Z

#### Explosion rips apart car in Berlin; driver killed as officials open probe - Washington Post

Washington Post

Explosion rips apart car in Berlin; driver killed as officials open probe
Washington Post
BERLIN — A blast from an explosive device tore apart a moving car in a Berlin neighborhood Tuesday, killing the driver and putting the German capital on edge. German police cordoned off the location, not far from the Deutsche Oper mass transit station ...
Car Explodes in Berlin, Killing Driver Wall Street Journal
Suspected bomb blows up car in Berlin, killing driver Fox News
Berlin Car Bomb Kills Driver; Terrorism Not Ruled Out NBCNews.com
Hickory Daily Record -VICE News -New York Post
all 144 news articles »

news-feedback@google.com 2016-03-15T11:26:15.000Z

#### Conte available for Chelsea after deciding to leave Italy

Antonio Conte will be free to join Chelsea next season after announcing his intention to step down as Italy manager.

The Italy manager, favourite to be named the next permanent boss at Stamford Bridge, has told the Italian Football Federation he will not be seeking to renew his contract with the national team after Euro 2016.

"At the moment our utmost concentration is on the Euros where, with hard work and sacrifice, we'll try to get the most out of our potential," said Conte who is nearing two years in charge of Italy.

"After that I feel I've got to go back to being a club manager and having the chance to coach every day."

Federation president Carlo Tavecchio said he understood the 46-year-old's decision.

Read more: Conte a better choice than Hiddink for long-term project at Chelsea

"Conte has told me his experience with Italy will end after the Euros," said Tavecchio.

"He hears the call of the [training] pitch and of daily work, which is understandable."

Conte led Juventus to three successive Serie A titles from 2012 to 2014 and has been picked by Chelsea as the man to carry them forward after a disastrous title defence led to the departure of Jose Mourinho and leaves the Blues likely to miss out on Champions League football for the first time in over a decade.

Joe Hall 2016-03-15T11:25:00.000Z

#### Michael Buerk attacks Benedict Cumberbatch for 'infantile' worldview

The veteran news journalist singles out the Sherlock star, along with actor Emma Thompson, for ‘political grandstanding without experience’

Michael Buerk, the veteran news journalist who reported from the world’s worst crisis zones, has attacked ‘infantile’ celebrities who lecture the public on world issues, singling out Benedict Cumberbatch and Emma Thompson for particular criticism.

“As a superannuated war reporter myself I’m a little sniffy about celebs pratting around among the world’s victims,” wrote Buerk in a Radio Times interview he conducted with former soap star, now war reporter Ross Kemp.

Continue reading...
Henry Barnes and agencies 2016-03-15T11:24:35.000Z

#### Hundreds of refugees make defiant journey on foot into Macedonia

Men, women and children wade through river to cross Greek-Macedonian border, but security officials force crowds to stop

More than 2,000 asylum seekers have walked en masse into Macedonia in defiance of European attempts to seal the continent’s southern borders to people fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East.

Dramatic photographs and videos showed crowds of men, women and children wading through the river on Monday afternoon to cross the Greek-Macedonian border, where more than 12,000 had been stuck for more than a week. Refugees stood in the water and formed human chains to pass babies and toddlers to safety on the other side, desperate to escape a squalid shanty town in northern Greece where medics have reported an outbreak of hepatitis A.

Continue reading...
Helena Smith in Idomeni and Patrick Kingsley in Istanbul 2016-03-15T11:23:58.000Z

#### Ice cream vans' 15-minute waiting limit

Ice cream vans must move on after 15 minutes under new rules - despite claims older people who are less quick on their feet could miss out.
2016-03-15T11:23:00.000Z

#### Writer Anita Brookner dies aged 87

Anita Brookner, the Booker prize-winning British author and renowned art historian, dies at the age of 87.
2016-03-15T11:22:57.000Z

#### Mathematicians are geeking out about a bizarre discovery in prime numbers

Prime numbers have both fascinated and boggled mathematicians for millennia. But a new study contends that one aspect of prime numbers’ core usefulness—the ability to…
Akshat Rathi 2016-03-15T11:22:54.000Z

#### China's largest political conference – in pictures

The annual Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference takes place at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. The CPPCC is the top advisory body of the country’s political system and consists of delegates from a range of political parties and organisations as well as independent members

Continue reading...
Natasha Rees-Bloor 2016-03-15T11:22:01.000Z

#### EU referendum: Cameron accuses Boris Johnson & Leave of 'making it up as they go along' - Politics live

Rolling coverage of all the day’s political developments as they happen

11.20am GMT

Here is the key quote from David Cameron’s speech in Felixstowe where he attacked Boris Johnson for what he said today about the UK getting a Canada-style free trade deal with the EU. (See 10.57am.)

Cameron said the Leave campaign could not say what relationship the UK would have with the EU if it left. First they refused to answer this question, he said. Then they said they wanted full access to the single market. Then they proposed a free trade deal like the one Canada has negotiated with the EU.

But a Canada-style free trade deal means you do not have full access for your financial services, you have to pay tariffs on your cars, you don’t have full access for your farmers’ produce. So it’s not a great deal for Britain.

Canada is a country 4,000 miles away from the continent of Europe that does 10% of its trade with the European Union. We are a country just 20-odd miles from the continent of Europe and we do 50% of our trade with the European Union. So a Canada deal is not the right deal for us.

11.08am GMT

David Cameron is doing one of his EU Q&A events in Felixstowe.

He has just picked up on Boris Johnson’s comments about Canada today, and accused the Leave camp of backtracking, and making it up as they go along.

Continue reading...
Andrew Sparrow 2016-03-15T11:20:57.000Z

#### Berlin police suspect explosive device caused car to explode, driver dead

BERLIN (Reuters) - German police said they suspect an explosive device caused a car to explode and kill the driver on a road in central Berlin on Tuesday morning.
2016-03-15T11:19:38.000Z

#### Macedonia says returned about 1,500 migrants to Greece

SKOPJE (Reuters) - Macedonia has sent about 1,500 migrants and refugees who crossed the border on Monday back to Greece, Macedonian police said on Tuesday.
2016-03-15T11:18:56.000Z

#### New poll out today gives a boost to Brexit campaigners

A new poll out today has given a boost to Brexit campaigners, finding that people are more likely to vote for Britain to leave the European Union than remain.

Forty-nine per cent of people polled by ORB for the Telegraph said they would vote for the UK to leave the EU, compared to 47 per cent who said they would vote to remain. Four per cent of those polled said they didn't know how they would vote in the EU referendum on 23 June.

But the lead for leave grew when ORB narrowed its results to people who said they "definitely" plan on heading to the polling station: 52 per cent of committed voters said they would vote to leave, compared to 45 per cent who said they would vote to remain. Just three per cent of those who said they would "definitely" vote said they did not know how they would cast their ballot.

The results come as shadow home secretary Andy Burnham, who backs Britain remaining in the European Union, has admitted that he would "bet that Brexit is going to win".

In an interview with the Varsity student newspaper at Cambridge University, Burnham said: "If I was to lay money on it now, tonight, I would bet that Brexit is going to win, and I don’t like saying that, but I feel that from talking to people in my own constituency.The mood is not to stay in."

Campaign guru Lynton Crosby warned in his inaugural Telegraph column this morning that the final outcome of June's In/Out vote "remains in the balance" with 100 days to go until the referendum.

Lauren Fedor 2016-03-15T11:18:00.000Z

#### Antonio Conte free to join Chelsea after deciding to step down as Italy coach

• Conte to leave after Euro 2016, says Italian FA
• Official announcement yet to be made by Chelsea

Antonio Conte is to leave his post as national manager after the summer’s European Championship to return to club football, clearing the way for Chelsea to formalise his arrival at Stamford Bridge.

The Italian Football Federation is due to discuss the Azzurri’s managerial situation at a board meeting this afternoon, but Conte has already made clear he will not be seeking to renew his contract after two years with the national team.

Continue reading...
Dominic Fifield 2016-03-15T11:17:00.000Z

#### Breivik Makes Nazi Salute at Start of Court Case in Norway - New York Times

CBC.ca

Breivik Makes Nazi Salute at Start of Court Case in Norway
New York Times
SKIEN, Norway — Mass killer Anders Behring Breivik kicked off his return to court by making a Nazi salute Tuesday during his bid to improve conditions inside the Norwegian prison where he is being held in isolation for massacring 77 people in ...
Killer Anders Breivik Makes Nazi Salute in Court Case Over Jail Cell NBCNews.com
Norway mass killer makes Nazi salutes at court case USA TODAY
Mass Murderer Breivik Gives Nazi Salute as He Accuses Norway of 'Inhuman Treatment' TIME
Yahoo News -International Business Times
all 309 news articles »

news-feedback@google.com 2016-03-15T11:15:00.000Z

#### Eurostar passenger numbers hit after Paris terror attacks

Eurostar has seen a sharp drop in passenger numbers in the aftermath of the Paris terror attacks back in November.

The train operator's chief executive Nicolas Petrovic said the end of the year had been "challenging" as it announced its full year results.

Underlying operating profit for the year was £34m, down from £55m in 2014, with reduction blamed on "costs relating to disruptions in 2015" as well as adverse currency movements.

A strong pound impacted sales revenue throughout 2015. At constant exchange rates, sales revenues for 2015 were flat year-on-year whereas at actual rates sales revenues fell by five per cent to £821m.

However, year-on-year passenger numbers were stable with 10.4m travelling in 2015.

Petrovic said: "After a challenging end to 2015, trading is picking up and the outlook for the summer is positive. With our new state-of-the-art trains and highly competitive fares to a range of destinations, we expect this trend to gather momentum over the coming months."

The company also announced new e320 trains were now in service on the London to Paris route.

"The successful introduction of our new fleet marks an important milestone for the business as it transforms the travel experience for our customers. Our e320 trains bring the ultimate in style and comfort alongside the latest in on-board digital connectivity for both business and leisure travellers," Petrovic said.

James Nickerson 2016-03-15T11:15:00.000Z

#### Mother Teresa to be made a saint

Mother Teresa, the nun who worked with the poor in the Indian city of Kolkata will be declared a saint on 4 September, Pope Francis announces.
2016-03-15T11:14:36.000Z

#### China 'planning Tobin tax' on currency trading - business live

All the day’s economic and financial news, including rumours that Beijing is pondering tighter currency controls

- Latest: Leggings join UK inflation basket
- Bangladesh central bank governor quits after cyber heist
- China considering new curbs on currency trading
- Analyst: What’s Beijing up to now?
- Introduction: Japan leaves rates unchanged.

11.14am GMT

Europe’s long-running jobs crisis has eased a little.

Employment across the eurozone rose by 0.3% in the final quarter of 2015, new Eurostat figures show, and was 0.1% higher across the wider European Union.

Among Member States for which data are available, Malta (+1.7%) and Croatia (+0.8%) recorded the highest increases in the fourth quarter of 2015 compared with the previous quarter, followed by Spain, Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal and Sweden (all +0.7%).

Estonia (-2.4%), the United Kingdom (-1.0%) and Lithuania (-0.3%) recorded decreases.

10.25am GMT

A new opinion poll showing that Britain is more likely to vote to leave the European Union has hit the pound.

Sterling has shed around 1% this morning, from $1.43 to $1.416 against the US dollar, after the Daily Telegraph reported a narrow lead for the Brexit campaign.

Continue reading...
Graeme Wearden 2016-03-15T11:14:34.000Z

#### Wythenshawe Hall fire: Manchester Tudor stately home's roof destroyed

Timber-framed 16th century stately home turned museum and art gallery badly damaged in blaze, amid fears antiques might have been destroyed
Danny Boyle 2016-03-15T11:12:46.000Z

#### Queen captures knight: Who owns the rights to divulge moves in chess?

Forget the war between humans vs. machines in the world of Go. There’s a vicious battle going on in the genteel world of chess—about broadcasting…
Aamna Mohdin 2016-03-15T11:12:26.000Z

#### Chelsea next manager: Antonio Conte to leave role as Italy boss after Euro 2016 for club football return

FIGC president Carlo Tavecchio has confirmed Conte wants to return to club management.
2016-03-15T11:11:01.000Z

#### The US economy is levering up, and that's great news

Oregon National Guard/Flickr

Following years of paying off debt after the recession, both households and companies in America are finally adding debt again.

This has some analysts worried about another debt bubble forming.

But according to Michael Kelly, global head of multiasset investing at PineBridge Investments, the debt being added in the economy is actually just fine.

"We have gone through a five- to seven-year deleveraging cycle," Kelly told Business Insider.

"In fact all inclusive debt-to-GDP is down substantially. But if [debt] starts going up just a hair, people start to freak out when it's actually a good thing."

On the household side, the amount of income going to debt obligations of Americans is at its lowest level in decades after a long postcrisis deleveraging, but consumer credit is slowing ticking up. And Kelly said the increased debt load was actually a positive for the economy.

"The period of growth-dampening because of deleveraging is behind us," said Kelly, whose firm manages $84 billion in assets. "It would be a problem if we were to approach the debt levels of where we were before the crisis, but we have a long ways to go to get to that point, so a little increase isn't a bad thing."

The basic reason that debt repayments tamp down economic growth is that people spend more money paying for things they've already purchased rather than new goods. And of course economic growth hinges on the continued purchase of new stuff.

Oregon National Guard/Flickr"We can sustain a higher debt-to-GDP than we have now, and more people taking on some debt and turning that into spending is stimulative to the economy and will help growth," Kelly said.

He added that, as we've noted before, much of the aversion to increases in debt is a function of the post-financial-crisis mindset. Because the recession was caused by a significant bursting of a credit bubble, there is an aversion to any increase in debt.

But a little bit of debt isn't a bad thing.

"If debt goes up even a tiny bit, everyone freaks out and says, 'Oh, we're about to have another financial crisis,'" Kelly said. "The extreme pessimism isn't warranted."

NOW WATCH: Bill Nye offers up one scientific fact to shut down climate-change deniers

Bob Bryan 2016-03-15T11:11:00.000Z

#### Oscar Isaac reads out Sir Alec Guinness' mocking letters about Star Wars' 'rubbish dialogue'

The Force Awakens star read the late actor's personal notes aloud at a Letters Live charity event over the weekend.
2016-03-15T11:10:50.000Z

#### Married anaesthetist blackmailed after having sex with prostitute at maternity hospital, tribunal hears

Associates of escort who had 40-minute sexual liaison with doctor while he was on duty demand cash and threaten to tell NHS, misconduct hearing told
Telegraph Reporter 2016-03-15T11:10:18.000Z

#### Holi 2016: Top 10 wishes to say to family and friends while celebrating the festival of colours

Holi, celebrated to signify victory of good over evil, marks the advent of spring.
2016-03-15T11:09:54.000Z

#### The Blair rich project: Tony and Cherie's £27m property empire

The Blairs have second and third and fourth homes…
2016-03-15T11:09:00.000Z

#### The inspiring purpose behind the bracelet worn by 'The Bachelor' Ben Higgins - Washington Post

Washington Post

The inspiring purpose behind the bracelet worn by 'The Bachelor' Ben Higgins
Washington Post
Before Ben Higgins went on national television to choose his future wife he made a different sort of jewelry-related commitment. Throughout this Bachelor season, in most scenarios, including his proposal Monday night to Lauren Bushnell, Higgins sported ...
Bachelor Wedding Planner Mindy Weiss' Predictions for Ben Higgins and Lauren Bushnell's Dream Wedding: See the ... Us Weekly
Ben Higgins and Fiancée Lauren Bushnell Play the Pre-Newlywed Game - Plus Find Out What She Finds Annoying ... People Magazine
Ben reveals why he picked Lauren B. on 'The Bachelor: After the Final Rose' USA TODAY
Entertainment Tonight -Fox News -Echo Pilot
all 585 news articles »

news-feedback@google.com 2016-03-15T11:08:34.000Z

#### 10 things you need to know before the opening bell (spy, spx, qqq, dia, vrx, orcl, avp)

Reuters/Stoyan Nenov

Here is what you need to know.

It's Super Tuesday 3. Voters in Florida, Illinois, Missouri, North Carolina, and Ohio will go to the polls on Tuesday. A strong showing from Republican frontrunner Donald Trump can all but lock up the nomination, but polls show him to be neck and neck with Gov. John Kasich in Ohio. On the Democratic side, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton looks to extend her lead over Sen. Bernie Sanders.

The Bank of Japan kept policy on hold. The Bank of Japan held its key interest rate at -0.10% and its asset-purchase program at an annual pace of about 80 trillion yen. In its statement, the BOJ omitted the phrase "it will cut the interest rate further if judged as necessary," planning to take a wait-and-see approach as to how the economy responds to its policy of negative interest rates. The Japanese yen is stronger by 0.6% at 113.10 per dollar.

China might tax currency trading. The People's Bank of China has drafted rules for a tax on foreign-exchange trading, sources close to the matter told Bloomberg. "The initial rate of the so-called Tobin tax may be kept at zero to allow authorities time to refine the rules," Bloomberg said, citing the sources. "The tax is not designed to disrupt hedging and other foreign-exchange transactions undertaken by companies." The tax, which still must be approved by Beijing, would be implemented in an attempt to discourage some forms of speculative trading.

Valeant cut its guidance. The embattled pharmaceutical company announced an adjusted loss of $0.11 a share, missing the Bloomberg consensus of earnings of $2.62 a share. Revenue of $2.79 billion edged out the $2.77 billion that was expected. Valeant cut its revenue guidance to $11 billion to $11.2 billion from its previous estimate of $12.5 billion to $12.7 billion. The stock is down about 10% in premarket trade.

Italy's government wants someone to buy the world's oldest bank. Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, the world's oldest bank and the third-largest lender in Italy, is spiking on reports that Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi is urging other banks to bid for the company. Founded in 1472, the bank has lost 99% of its value as fears over the quality of its loans mount. Shares are up about 7% at €0.61 ($0.68) a share.

Institutional investors are suing Volkswagen. A group of nearly 300 institutional investors is suing the automaker for €3.256 billion ($3.61 billion). Reuters reports that the investors say Volkswagen breached its capital-markets duty amid its emissions scandal from June 2008 to September 18, 2015. Shares of Volkswagen are down about 22% since news of the scandal broke in September.

Avon is moving to the UK. The cosmetics giant is moving its headquarters to the UK from Manhattan as part of its turnaround plan, according to Reuters. In addition, Avon will cut 2,500 jobs worldwide and take a $60 million pretax charge in the first quarter. In January, the firm said it would cut $350 million worth of costs over three years. Shares were up 4% in after-hours trade following the news.

Oracle reports after the closing bell. The company is expected to earn an adjusted $0.62 a share on revenue of $9.13 billion, according to the Bloomberg consensus. Oracle's report is expected shortly after the closing bell, with the conference call set for 5 p.m. ET.

Global stock markets are mostly lower. Australia's ASX (-1.4%) lagged in overnight trade, and Spain's IBEX (-1.3%) underperforms in Europe. S&P 500 futures are lower by 10.25 points at 1,999.00.

US economic data is heavy. Retail sales, PPI, and Empire Manufacturing will all be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Then, at 10 a.m. ET, business inventories and the NAHB Housing Market Index are due out. Net Long-Term TIC Flows will cross the wires at 4 p.m. ET. The US 10-year yield is down 3 basis points at 1.93%.

NOW WATCH: The 'Zulu Cobra' helicopter is one of the Marines' most powerful weapons

Jonathan Garber 2016-03-15T11:08:00.000Z

#### First Russian planes leave Syria

Russian forces start leaving Syria after a surprise withdrawal announcement by President Vladimir Putin, but officials say air strikes will continue.
2016-03-15T11:07:49.000Z

#### Robert Downey Jr: there are no plans to make another solo Iron Man film

World’s highest-paid actor says role as billionaire industrialist turned saviour of mankind will be restricted to appearances in Captain America and Avengers franchises

Robert Downey Jr has confirmed Iron Man’s immediate big-screen future will be as part of a superhero ensemble, with no current plans for the power-suited hero to star in his own solo movies.

Downey Jr, the highest-paid actor in the world, told USA Today that the forthcoming comic book epic Captain America: Civil War had filled the space in the schedule where Iron Man 4 might once have sat. The latest instalment in Disney-owned Marvel’s much-debated superhero “cinematic universe” features an almighty spat between battling teams of costumed titans, led by Iron Man and Chris Evans’s Captain America.

Continue reading...
Ben Child 2016-03-15T11:07:32.000Z

#### Party's over as Britain drops nightclub entrance fees from inflation basket

LONDON (Reuters) - A decline in Britain's clubbing scene has prompted the statistics agency to drop nightclub entrance charges from the basket of goods and services it uses to calculate inflation -- and instead add refill pods for home espresso machines.
2016-03-15T11:07:17.000Z

#### Party's over as Britain drops nightclub entrance fees from inflation basket

LONDON (Reuters) - A decline in Britain's clubbing scene has prompted the statistics agency to drop nightclub entrance charges from the basket of goods and services it uses to calculate inflation -- and instead add refill pods for home espresso machines.
2016-03-15T11:07:17.000Z

#### Feeling congested? London named world’s most gridlocked city

Londoners spend 101 hours a year sitting in jams
2016-03-15T11:07:00.000Z

#### Russian planes will continue striking 'terrorist facilities' in Syria

REUTERS/Alexei Druzhinin/Sputnik/Kremlin

MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Russian air force will continue striking targets in Syria linked to Islamic State and other terrorist groups despite a partial withdrawal, the RIA news agency quoted Russian Deputy Defense Minister Nikolai Pankov as saying on Tuesday.

Pankov was speaking a day after President Vladimir Putin announced that "the main part" of the Russian military contingent in Syria would begin to withdraw.

"Certain positive results have been achieved. A real chance has emerged to put an end to this long-running standoff," RIA quoted Pankov as saying at a "mission accomplished" ceremony at Russia's air base in Hmeymim, Syria.

"But it is still early to talk about victory over terrorism. The Russian aviation group has the task to continue carrying out strikes on terrorist facilities."

(Reporting by Maria Kiselyova; Writing by Dmitry Solovyov; Editing by Andrew Osborn)

NOW WATCH: IAN BREMMER: Greece is headed for a humanitarian disaster

2016-03-15T11:05:29.000Z

#### Societe Generale to buy Kleinwort Benson and merge it with Hambros

Kleinwort Benson, the wealth management company, operates in London, Jersey, Guernsey and Dublin.
2016-03-15T11:05:28.000Z

#### 'Bomb' kills driver in Berlin car explosion

Police say they believe an explosive device inside or outside vehicle caused blast in the west of the capital in the early hours of the morning
Our Foreign Staff 2016-03-15T11:04:19.000Z

#### Windows 10 automatically installs without permission, complain users

Microsoft denies claims on Reddit, forums, gaming sites and Twitter that Windows 10 is being forced on Windows 7 PCs without asking users

Windows 7 users are reporting that Windows 10 is automatically installing on their PCs without permission.

Scores of users have posted on Twitter, forums, Reddit and gaming sites to complain about Windows 10 automatically installing, seemingly without asking, and often in the middle of doing something important.

Continue reading...
Samuel Gibbs 2016-03-15T11:02:07.000Z

#### Millennials at work: five stereotypes - and why they are (mostly) wrong

Generation Y has been labelled a bunch of lazy job-hoppers who expect everything on a plate. The truth is very different

Millennials will make up half of the global workforce by 2050. Although generalisations are not helpful, broadly speaking members of this generation, born between 1980 and 1994 and also known as Generation Y, are bound together by the fact they have come of age during a severe financial crisis, have been both the pioneers and guinea pigs of technological change, and are more plugged into a global network than their predecessors.

Now they’re in the workforce, it should be no surprise that they are working differently too. But often those differences are reduced to lazy stereotypes. So what are the myths about millennial workers, and how true are they?

Continue reading...
Aisha Gani 2016-03-15T11:01:03.000Z

#### Mother Teresa to be Canonized a Saint - Wall Street Journal

Wall Street Journal

Mother Teresa to be Canonized a Saint
Wall Street Journal
ROME—The Vatican announced Tuesday that Mother Teresa of Kolkata will be canonized a saint on September 4, one day before the 19th anniversary of her death. Pope Francis issued the decree setting the date of the late missionary's canonization at a ...
It's official – Mother Teresa will be canonized September 4 Patheos (blog)
Mother Teresa of Calcutta to be made Roman Catholic saint Sept. 4: pope Reuters
Mother Teresa to be made saint Atlanta Journal Constitution
WFTV Orlando
all 210 news articles »

news-feedback@google.com 2016-03-15T11:00:47.000Z

#### Banking: Expect bigger bounce for HSBC, Lloyds and Santander

New measures by the ECB means Eurozone banks are catching up with British peers.
2016-03-15T11:00:46.000Z

#### South by Southwest is officially, aggressively normcore

South by Southwest has officially gone normcore. The annual festival in Austin, Texas, has served as a springboard for high-profile technology startups including Twitter and…
Grace Dobush 2016-03-15T11:00:31.000Z

#### The campaign against soda and empty carbs just got raised to a whole new level at Reebok

Food on site is a big selling point for employers looking to reel in the best talent. Free snacks are great, but ramen noodles, fancy…
Deena Shanker 2016-03-15T11:00:06.000Z

#### Stan Kroenke’s relationship with Arsène Wenger looks too cosy for Arsenal’s good | Amy Lawrence

The US owner offers unquestioning support to a manager he can rely on to keep the business side performing and take the fans’ flak. A little more visible involvement and ambition would serve Arsenal better

In an attempt to piece together elements of the puzzle that creates Arsenal’s current malady, it is useful to travel beyond the pitch where the team are struggling to perform. By all means start at the Emirates Stadium. After going out of the FA Cup, Per Mertesacker faced the music and tried to give an honest assessment of the team’s frustrations. “It looks like we play and play and play until the other team scores,” he said. Meanwhile Heurelho Gomes, the Watford goalkeeper who watched it all unfold, made a withering observation. “Arsenal give you too much space,” he assessed.

These are familiar criticisms of the team’s weaknesses, and Arsène Wenger seems not to have any easy answers right now.

Continue reading...
Amy Lawrence 2016-03-15T11:00:02.000Z

#### British women cannot wait 50 years for justice | Charlotte Proudman

Men’s domination of the senior echelons of the British judiciary means the law is biased against women. We urgently need gender quotas for women in senior legal roles.

Men account for around 87% of Queen’s Counsel, 76% of judges, and 11 out of 12 supreme court justices. It took 127 years for the first woman – Baroness Hale – to be appointed a law lord. Prior to 2003, women were invisible and had no adjudicating voice in the most senior court of our country. But a statistic that must give us serious cause for concern is that of 47 Council of Europe nations, only Azerbaijan and Armenia had lower proportions of female members of the judiciary than the UK in 2014.

It is a travesty because it results in numerous anti-women biases in British law. Last month, the court of appeal, for example, reached a momentous decision that recent government legal aid rules unlawfully denied victims of intimate partner violence access to public funding in family law cases. Women who have endured rape and beatings at the hands of their former partners are forced to face their abusers in family courts without legal representation. Some women are even cross-examined by their abuser. So the law provides a route for victimisation of women by abusive ex-partners.

Continue reading...
Charlotte Proudman 2016-03-15T11:00:02.000Z

#### Zendesk can now predict who's likely to stop using your service before you do (ZEN)

Courtesy of Zendesk

Prediction is the name of the game in business software these days.

The latest to get in on the action is Zendesk, the $1.8 billion cloud software maker focused on customer support.

On Tuesday, Zendesk launched "Satisfaction Prediction," a new feature that helps companies predict and identify the customers most likely to leave their service. It uses machine learning to sort through things like words used or time waited in every customer inquiry (commonly called "tickets"), and serves as an "early warning system" that finds the ones that had the most negative experience and are at-risk of stop using your service.

"Companies used to have a manual process with a dedicated team who looked through those tickets," Adrian McDermott, Zendesk's SVP of Product Development told us. "Now they can use our machine learning score and automatically identify those high-risk interactions."

This helps companies separate the customer comments that need urgent care from the more run-of-the-mill type of inquiries, and deal with the ones that need help faster. Then they can route those inquiries to the more highly-skilled agents who can provide immediate support, and ultimately prevent them from leaving your service.

## Big tickets

"Being able to get super important tickets from the users clearly stressed or who needs immediate help, and routing them to the right specialist group is a tremendous value to them," McDermott said.

Zendesk is one of the many business software makers that are making a strong push towards predictive analytics. Salesforce has been scooping up startups that specialize in artificial intelligence and data analytics, and has added new features that automate a lot of the sales process lately. The HR software maker Workday recently added a feature that predicts when certain employees are about to leave the company, while a startup called Insidesales.com built a $1 billion business with its sales predictive software.

In fact, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff pointed out in a recent conference that machine learning and predictive analytics will be where the next wave of opportunity comes from for every business software maker.

"This will be the huge shift going forward, which is that everybody wants systems that are smarter, everybody wants systems that are more predictive, everybody wants everything scored, everybody wants to understand what’s the next best offer, next best opportunity, how to make things a little bit more efficient," Benioff said.

Here's a few screenshots of what Zendesk's Satisfaction Prediction looks like:

Courtesy of Zendesk

Courtesy of Zendesk

NOW WATCH: A sex expert reveals something surprising about casual sex

Eugene Kim 2016-03-15T11:00:00.000Z

#### Johnson: EU Leave campaigns will unite

Boris Johnson says it does not matter which of the rival Leave campaigners is chosen to "carry the flag" in the referendum, suggesting they will unite to fight the campaign.
2016-03-15T10:59:42.000Z

#### Balfour Beatty cuts losses but UK issues might create turbulence for turnaround plan

Balfour's board is expected to reinstate dividend at the interim results in August 2016.
2016-03-15T10:59:41.000Z

#### Sainsbury's sales return to growth

Sainsbury's has reported the first rise in sales in two years as it continued to cut back on multi-buy promotions and lowered prices on everyday grocery items.
2016-03-15T10:59:11.000Z

#### Now Eddie Jones knows how much a grand slam would mean to England | Robert Kitson

An all-conquering Six Nations would bury the desperate memories of the World Cup and, more importantly for the new head coach, encourage all and sundry to believe England can do special things between now and 2019

Where Eddie Jones grew up they do not make a huge deal of tournament winners finishing unbeaten. If New Zealand or Australia triumph in the Rugby Championship they receive no extra brownie points for sweeping the board. There is no mythical “slam” unless you count winning the Bledisloe Cup and enjoying a successful end-of-year tour as well.

As Jones, the coach with the Midas touch, is now learning, they take a very different view in Europe. Rare enough is four straight wins in a championship that annually resembles a sack of irritable ferrets. A Six Nations grand slam, accordingly, has five-star status. As previously-scarred English supporters can testify, that precious fifth “W” makes all the difference.

Continue reading...
Robert Kitson 2016-03-15T10:58:26.000Z

#### 'Robot wars' to be staged off Scotland

What the Royal Navy describes as its first "robot wars" exercise is to be held off Scotland's coast later this year.
2016-03-15T10:58:10.000Z

#### Al-Qaeda vows fresh Syria offensive as Russia begins preparations for military pull-out - latest

Cargo planes being readied for withdrawal of fighter jets and bombers, officials say
Colin Freeman 2016-03-15T10:56:05.000Z

#### Gay clergyman to appeal after losing discrimination claim

Canon Jeremy Pemberton lost employment tribunal after Church of England revoked his licence

A gay clergyman who lost an employment tribunal against the Church of England has been given the right to appeal.

Canon Jeremy Pemberton was prevented from taking up a post as a hospital chaplain in Nottinghamshire after marrying his partner, Laurence Cunnington.

Continue reading...
Press Association 2016-03-15T10:53:46.000Z

#### Boris Johnson and Chuka Umunna tell each other to 'man up' in public row over EU

The pair had a furious spat on the radio about whether the UK should leave the EU or remain after the Labour MP told the Mayor 'this isn't about you'
Kate McCann 2016-03-15T10:52:57.000Z

#### Jack Dee fires himself from The Apprentice spin-off show

Presenter to step down after one series due to work commitments

Jack Dee has confirmed his departure as host of The Apprentice: You’re Fired after one series.

The comedian took over from Dara Ó Briain, who presented the BBC2 spin-off for five years, in 2015, but has stepped down due to work commitments.

Continue reading...
Press Association 2016-03-15T10:52:45.000Z

#### Novak Djokovic vs Philipp Kohlschreiber, BNP Paribas Open 2016: Where to watch live, preview, betting odds and live streaming information

Novak Djokovic takes on Philipp Kohlschreiber in the third round of BNP Paribas Open.
2016-03-15T10:51:39.000Z

#### Cameron's election strategist warns of complacency in Britain's EU referendum

LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister David Cameron's election strategist said complacency was the biggest risk for the campaign to keep Britain in the European Union, as an opinion poll on Tuesday gave the 'Out' campaign a 2 percentage point lead.
2016-03-15T10:51:29.000Z

#### Cameron's election strategist warns of complacency in Britain's EU referendum

LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister David Cameron's election strategist said complacency was the biggest risk for the campaign to keep Britain in the European Union, as an opinion poll on Tuesday gave the 'Out' campaign a 2 percentage point lead.
2016-03-15T10:51:29.000Z

#### Brixton shooting: CCTV captures gunman firing at victims

Footage of incident in Tulse Hill, south London, shows moped passenger jump off bike and chase victims before opening fire

CCTV footage of a man firing a gun as he chases his victims down the street has been released by south London police.

The clip shows a group of three men walking along Tulse Hill in Brixton when the pillion passenger on a passing moped jumps off the bike and opens fire.

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Press Association 2016-03-15T10:51:12.000Z

#### First Russian planes leave Syria after order to pull out, Moscow says

Deputy defence minister says remaining Russian planes will continue to carry out missions

The morning after Vladimir Putin ordered the surprise withdrawal of Moscow’s military contingent in Syria, Russia’s defence ministry said a first group of planes had taken off for home from the Hmeymim airbase near Latakia.

Putin’s announcement that Russia’s objectives had been “generally accomplished” after five and a half months of bombing raids, came in a televised meeting on Monday evening with his defence and foreign ministers. He ordered the defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, to begin a withdrawal, and the foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, was told to work on intensifying diplomatic efforts to bring about peace.

Continue reading...
Shaun Walker in Moscow and Patrick Wintour in Geneva 2016-03-15T10:50:42.000Z

#### AlphaGo: its creator on the computer that learns by thinking

Inventor Demis Hassabis says AlphaGo improved its game after playing itself millions of times – but how can this technological marvel be harnessed?

The computer programme that defeated the world Go champion taught itself how to improve its game by playing millions of matches against itself, according to the head of the Google subsidiary that developed the software.

Demis Hassabis, who co-founded DeepMind – the London-based unit that built the AlphaGo programme, said that he hoped to use the same technique to help Google improve its own products, such as its phone assistants and search engines.

Continue reading...
Alex Hern 2016-03-15T10:50:42.000Z

#### Coffee pods enter inflation basket

The UK is becoming a nation in a hurry, as coffee pods and microwave rice pouches enter the basket of goods used to measure inflation.
2016-03-15T10:49:02.000Z

#### Arsenal midfielder Serge Gnabry returns to action in U21 Premier League defeat to Aston Villa

The 20-year-old has not featured since early recall from drab loan spell at West Brom.
2016-03-15T10:47:36.000Z

#### Prolific 'hat' burglar hunted by police

A "prolific" thief thought to be responsible for up to 200 burglaries wears a "distinctive" black fisherman's hat, police say.
2016-03-15T10:47:05.000Z

#### Selling Scotland's 'overlooked corner'

It was recently named holiday destination of the year by Countryfile, but how is Dumfries and Galloway looking to boost its tourist profile further?
2016-03-15T10:44:26.000Z

#### Tottenham striker Harry Kane reveals ambition to beat Leicester's Jamie Vardy to Golden Boot

The 22-year-old centre-forward has scored 19 goals in the Premier League so far this season.
2016-03-15T10:44:13.000Z

#### At Dortmund, Darmstadt and Munich, fans lead the way in divisive week | Raphael Honigstein

From Bayern fans railing against racism to the moving tributes following fan deaths at Dortmund and Darmstadt, supporters offered a refreshing counterpoint to tension and division elsewhere in Germany

Supporters’ behaviour dominating the headlines usually signifies a most unwelcome story. And it was no different this weekend, with bad news – two deaths and local elections that resembled a blocked Autobahn services toilet, bringing plenty of stinky, brown stuff to the fore – all around. But the considered way that fans, so often derided as unthinking lemmings, reacted to these personal and collective tragedies was truly remarkable.

What happened in Dortmund, Darmstadt and, to a lesser extent, Munich, put football in the shade. Down in Bavaria, the placards regularly held up in the Südkurve can be a bit hit and miss, like the former terrace legend Adolfo Valencia. On Saturday night, however, the Bayern ultras proved astute political commentators unafraid to “put the finger in the wound”, as they say in Germany. They didn’t chose the easy route of attacking the frighteningly successful right-wing parties or their voters but instead focused on the enablers at the top of the political tree, stoking the populist surge.

Continue reading...
Raphael Honigstein 2016-03-15T10:44:09.000Z

#### Royal Roller customised by Lord Mountbatten for sale

A Rolls Royce SIlver Ghost customised by Lord Mountbatten in the 1920s is being auctioned by Bonhams.
Patrick Sawer 2016-03-15T10:43:37.000Z

#### Game of Thrones actor Richard Madden linked with Laura Whitmore; are things over with girlfriend Jenna Coleman?

The TV presenter and the actor were introduced by a common friend and fellow GoT actor Kit Harrington.
2016-03-15T10:43:19.000Z

#### Avon to move headquarters to UK

Cosmetics company Avon is to move its headquarters to the UK and cut 2,500 jobs worldwide as part of a turnaround plan.
2016-03-15T10:41:13.000Z

#### Cyclist and pedestrian on motorways

A cyclist and pedestrian were spotted on Scottish motorways in two separate early-morning incidents.
2016-03-15T10:38:44.000Z

#### Denim: five menswear no-go areas that are now OK

Ripped jeans, white jackets and dungarees are all absolutely fine. Don’t believe us? Check out Kanye West, Justin Bieber and co

Dear denim, we’ve been through a lot together. Do you remember the infantilising pair of dropped-crotch jeans that made us feel like a naughty toddler who hadn’t graduated to proper trousers yet? Or the JNCO jeans which made us look like a strangely proportioned Manga cartoon character?

Related: Waisted again: will the wedgie kill off the skinny jean?

Continue reading...
Priya Elan 2016-03-15T10:37:42.000Z

#### Conte to leave role as Italy boss

Italy manager Antonio Conte, who has been strongly linked with Chelsea, will leave his current role after Euro 2016.
2016-03-15T10:37:21.000Z

#### Jackie Kay announced as new Scots Makar

Poet and novelist Jackie Kay is announced as the new Scots Makar, taking over from Liz Lochhead as the national poet for Scotland.
2016-03-15T10:37:17.000Z

#### Berlin car bomb kills one; German police launch investigation

German police have locked down streets in capital city Berlin after a car bomb killed a man this morning.

The city's bomb squad said this morning they believed an explosive device planted in a silver Volkswagen Passat caused the blast, which occured at about 8am (7am GMT) in the western district of Charlottenburg.

"The car exploded while driving and has then overturned," the police said this morning.

The identity of the man has not been established yet, deputy chief spokesman for Berlin police, Carsten Mueller, said. No further details were available, he added.

Images posted by Berlin police on Twitter show the immediate aftermath of the explosion.

https://twitter.com/polizeiberlin/status/709661600333086720

https://twitter.com/polizeiberlin/status/709687269498744832

https://twitter.com/polizeiberlin/status/709683335400976384

Local residents were initially told to keep their windows shut while the bomb squad carried out a sweep of the area, but by 11:30am (10:30am GMT) had been given the all clear.

More to follow...

Catherine Neilan 2016-03-15T10:36:00.000Z

#### Carol named best LGBT film of all time

Todd Haynes’ lesbian love story, an adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s 1952 novel, tops poll of more than 100 experts

Todd Haynes’ atmospheric lesbian love story, Carol, has been named the best LGBT film of all time in a top 30 list that stretches to 1931.

Carol, which was released last year and stars Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara, came top of a poll compiled to mark the 30th anniversary of the London lesbian and gay film festival, BFI Flare.

Continue reading...
Mark Brown Arts correspondent 2016-03-15T10:34:30.000Z

#### Breivik makes Nazi salute on first day of lawsuit against Norwegian state

Rightwing extremist serving 21 years for massacre in 2011 has brought lawsuit accusing state of ‘inhuman treatment’

Rightwing extremist Anders Behring Breivik, who killed 77 people in Norway in 2011, raised his arm in a Nazi salute as he arrived for the first day of his lawsuit accusing the Norwegian state of violating his human rights by holding him in isolation for almost five years.

The 37-year-old has sued the state for breaching two clauses of the European convention on human rights, one which prohibits “inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment”, and one which guarantees the right of respect for “private and family life” and “correspondence”.

Continue reading...
Agence France-Presse 2016-03-15T10:33:04.000Z

#### "Can Osborne drink alcohol during the Budget speech?" - All your questions about the BUDGET answered

What is the Budget?
2016-03-15T10:32:00.000Z

#### 3D Systems’ stock has best day in 5 years

3D Systems skyrocketed 25% on Monday despite reporting declines in revenue.
2016-03-15T10:31:04.000Z

#### Ben Okri: 'The Famished Road was written to give myself reasons to live'

25 years after Okri’s Man Booker-winning novel was first published, the Nigerian author reflects on what motivated the magic

The Famished Road is fed by the dreams of literature. I devoured the world, through art, politics, literature, films and music, in order to find the elixir of its tone. Then it became a perpetual story into which flowed the great seas of African dreams, myths and fables of the world, known and unknown. I made up stories in the matrix of the ancestral mode. Many people read these stories and assume they belong to the oral tradition, but I had always believed that it is an artist’s function to enrich the oral tradition with stories of our own, inventions of our own, inspired by the tales we heard in the moonlight, sitting in a circle. But even in that the tone is the thing.

But it was as a child that I began the book, with innocence and simplicity of heart. With the rich history of literature turning in my mind, I would disappear into the writing of the novel as into a dream. It was as if I sensed there was a book there, in the archetypal margins of the numinous world that existed already in the spirit realm; my task was to bring it here, as one lowering intact a perfect vision.

Continue reading...
Ben Okri 2016-03-15T10:30:20.000Z

#### The Europe debate matters most to millennials – and we want to stay in | Megan Dunn

The EU is of immense value to Britain’s students. As young people, we must make our arguments heard because we will live with the result for a long time

These are not easy times to be in education in the UK. College closures and travel costs mean many students are struggling to afford further education. University, which our parents enjoyed for free, now requires sinking into more than £27,000 of debt. Rents are skyrocketing, and buying a house is nothing but a fantasy for many, all while most students are spending their entire income on just putting a roof over their head. On top of this, changes to voter registration rules mean students are suffering from unprecedented political marginalisation, reducing the incentive for politicians to take meaningful action on issues affecting us.

Despite such insecure conditions, ours is an optimistic and broadminded generation. We are instinctively internationalist, as lives lived online do not respect national frontiers. We travel, work, and study abroad to a greater degree than previous generations. Politically, we involve ourselves in global struggles, such as climate change, international development and global justice.

Continue reading...
Megan Dunn 2016-03-15T10:30:01.000Z

#### Cult heroes: Fountains of Wayne – slacker songsmiths with a knack for melody

When they are in full flow, there’s no more tuneful and witty a group at work

It’s the start of March 1997. I have been married for around 48 hours, and I am in a record shop in Charlotte, North Carolina. I am here to buy tapes to listen to as my wife – my wife! What an unfamiliar concept – and I drive around the deep south, way off season, for our honeymoon.

A couple of bargains go into the basket – an album by Run Westy Run on SST, the first Garbage album, which is on special offer. They’re followed by two albums, not yet released in the UK, that I’ve seen hailed as modern powerpop classics in Mojo. Powerpop, that week at least, is my favourite genre, and I’m desperate to hear them. Jason Falkner Presents Author Unknown is pretty great, but it twists and turns; it’s not the purely American big wash of sound that I want for long, empty roads. That need is met by the first album from Fountains of Wayne.

Continue reading...
Michael Hann 2016-03-15T10:30:01.000Z

#### A short history of the inflation basket of goods

The party's over.

Nightclub entry fees have been dropped from the official measure of prices in the UK, the ONS basket of goods, while our love affair with leggings and nail varnish have gained access to the list. (Find out what else was dropped and the latest items added here.)

The yearly review is a barometer of changing tastes and habits, and has looked very different over the years - from the mangle to movie streaming.

We finally felt the Breaking Bad effect last year. The TV series must have become a water cooler conversation moment at the Office for National Statistics HQ, making it into the basket of goods - a sign that Britain had firmly jumped on the box set bandwagon.

We’d already moved on to video streaming from downloading ringtones (most likely on a Nokia, let's be honest) just a few short years before. Ringtone and wallpaper downloads were taken out of the basket of goods in 2011 after a brief spell there through the noughties.

Back in 2012, even the ONS were hit by Twilight fever, when teenage fiction books made the basket and it was also the same year we waved goodbye to developing film prints from cameras. Because, you know, digital.

When the basket of goods, as we know it today, was first created in 1947, things were quite different.

Wild rabbit, ox liver, herrings and mutton were the meat du jour. Ready meals, not making their pre-packaged debut until the 1980s, didn't even exist.

There are at least five items from that 1947 shopping bag which have endured - in some form at least. Eggs, tea, bread, cigarettes and milk are still pretty much the same as they were back then.

The humble teabag only joined the shopping list in 1980 however. Previously, it was just loose leaf tea which eventually met its demise in the basket of 2001. There was no room for loose leaf tea in the new millennium apparently.

A major item in the shopping basket of the 1940s was the mangle, an item for drying clothes before there was a washing machine in every home, but that soon changed as the swinging sixties kicked off.

That decade also brought the addition of frozen chicken and sliced white bread as convenience food began to fill up shoppers cupboards.

The 1970s brought dried mashed potato- in no small part thanks to the iconic Smash aliens.

But by the time we reached the end of the 1980s, we had waved bye-bye to it, along with condensed milk, to make way for those ready meals and dry roasted peanuts.

That classic pub snack was joined by the pairing of canned lager in mid-Britpop 1996.

In came satellite and TV subscriptions (replaced as a single product by “bundled communication” by 2012.), leggings and foreign holidays in the same decade.

The noughties brought with it university tuition fees, internet subscriptions, gym memberships and fruit smoothies, but out went the microwave, CD single and the wine box.

Now we have Netflix (other streaming services are available) in the bag, what can we expect to see added to the shopping basket in the annual update, announced this week?

Ride sharing apps perhaps? This has been an Uber-filled year after all. Will the ONS swap in Kale for sprouts? Will the rise of the dairy-free push Soya milk in there? Maybe the selfie stick will make the shopping basket? (Let’s hope not).

Lynsey Barber 2016-03-15T10:30:00.000Z

#### Budget 2016: Gloomy George Osborne unveils downcast days of more cuts and higher taxes

Chancellor's economic prospectus expected to reek of pessimism as EU referendum looms.
2016-03-15T10:29:39.000Z

#### Most Scottish crime is property related

Almost three quarters of the 688,000 crimes committed in Scotland last year were related to property.
2016-03-15T10:28:15.000Z

#### Lil Wayne: My debut Super Bowl ad was 'the illest idea ever' — now I want to do more commercials

Samsung Mobile

Lil Wayne has said that his debut role in Apartments.com's Super Bowl ad was "dope" and the "illest idea ever."

He loved it so much that he's now taken a new role in Samsung's Galaxy S7 ad campaign. The rapper said he plans to do more acting in commercials in the future.

Adweek asked Lil Wayne if he'd like to be in more ads and he responded: "Hell yeah, I do ... it was kind of different to have to actually follow the rules, and that was cool. Being on the set and knocking it out, it was fun."

Lil Wayne also told Adweek how he had changed his persona for the acting roles: "I tried to do my best. I tried to do what they wanted me to do and not do Lil Wayne. I took that away from the situation and approached the scene as if I was just the guy that they chose to play this role."

He added: "Oh, it was too fun. The finished product when you watch it back, it's not bad. I was like, 'whoa,' like when I watch it back and I can forget that I'm watching myself that means that I did something good."

On the Super Bowl ad, Lil Wayne said: "That was dope. That was the illest idea ever. You know everybody watches the Super Bowl. I know people who don't even know what football is and they're going to watch the Super Bowl for the commercials and for me to be involved in that, if I can't perform at halftime, then I'm going to be in commercials."

## Here's Lil Wayne in Apartments.com's Super Bowl ad:

Youtube Embed:
http://www.youtube.com/embed/L6OmHbZ2vHs
Width: 850px
Height: 450px

## Lil Wayne is his latest acting role for Samsung:

Youtube Embed:
http://www.youtube.com/embed/l5aF23XpBwU
Width: 850px
Height: 450px

NOW WATCH: The 'Zulu Cobra' helicopter is one of the Marines' most powerful weapons

Will Heilpern 2016-03-15T10:28:14.000Z

#### Valeant is getting crushed after cutting its revenue guidance (VRX)

REUTERS/Christinne Muschi

Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. cut its revenue forecast for the year by about 12%, or $1.5 billion, citing slower growth in its US dermatology, gastrointestinal, and women's health businesses.

The Canadian drugmaker, which is under scrutiny for its business and accounting practices, said on Tuesday that total 2016 revenue was expected to be $11 billion to $11.2 billion, down from its previous estimate of $12.5 billion to $12.7 billion.

The company originally provided its 2016 forecast in December, but it withdrew it on February 29 when CEO Michael Pearson returned from two months of medical leave.

Valeant said in a regulatory filing that if it did not file its annual report by Tuesday, it would be in breach of a reporting covenant and holders of at least 25% of any series of notes may deliver a notice of default.

The company, whose US-listed shares were down about 15% in premarket trading, said preliminary fourth-quarter revenue was $2.8 billion, hurt mainly by weaker-than-expected sales in its gastrointestinal business.

Valeant reported adjusted earnings of $2.50 a share, short of the average analyst estimate of $2.61.

The company said it expected adjusted earnings of $9.50 to $10.50 a share for 2016, down from its previous estimate of $13.25 to $13.75 a share.

Analysts on average were expecting earnings of $13.24 a share on revenue of $12.41 billion, according to the Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Here's a chart showing the stock's roughly 71% decline over the past year and its drop in premarket trading:

REUTERS/Christinne Muschi

(Reuters reporting by Ankur Banerjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)

Reuters 2016-03-15T10:28:00.000Z

#### Pictures of the day: 15th March 2016

Today: Shapeshifting dogs, playful squirrels and a mermaid underwater
Telegraph Staff 2016-03-15T10:26:38.000Z

#### The head of England’s most famous private school says spoiled children need to fail

The former head of Britain’s most famous private school thinks kids need to fail and learn from the experience. Tony Little was the headmaster of…
Aamna Mohdin 2016-03-15T10:26:27.000Z

#### Train delays after body found on tracks

The body of a man is found on the railway line at Dalmeny on the outskirts of Edinburgh.
2016-03-15T10:24:03.000Z

#### Supermarkets pledge to cut food and drink waste by a fifth

Retailers including Asda, Sainsbury's, Tesco and Morrisons back voluntary agreement that also targets a 20pc cut in greenhouse gas emissions
Telegraph Reporter 2016-03-15T10:24:00.000Z

#### Mother Teresa of Calcutta to be made Roman Catholic saint September 4 - pope

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Mother Teresa of Calcutta, a nun who dedicated her life to helping the poor, will be made a saint of the Roman Catholic Church at a ceremony on Sept. 4, Pope Francis announced on Tuesday.
2016-03-15T10:23:52.000Z

#### 22-year-old woman dies after discovering her 'pregnancy' is actually cancer

Demi Wright, from Colchester, died weeks after finding out she had cancer
Helena Horton 2016-03-15T10:23:07.000Z

#### Londoners spent four days of 2015 in traffic

If you were wondering where four days of your life went last year, you now have the answer: London traffic jams.

The 2015 INRIX Traffic Scorecard has revealed drivers in London wasted an estimated 101 hours in traffic delays last year, over four days, while London topped the list of traffic congestion in more than 100 cities worldwide.

Across the UK, drivers spent 30 hours on average in delays last year, consistent with 2014, and traffic was up in almost two-thirds, 61 per cent, of cities.

Belgium held on to the top spot in 2015 with 44 hours on average spent in gridlock, while the Netherlands came in second with 39, Germany came in third with 38, Luxembourg ranked in fourth place with 33 and Switzerland came fifth, also with an average of 30 hours of gridlock.

The UK dropped to sixth place in the European ranking as a result of Switzerland seeing a rise in traffic levels.

INRIX also identified the worst congested roads in the UK, as well as the worst times to travel. London roads were the busiest during the mid-week rush-hour with the A217 experiencing the most congestion in the country, delaying motorists by 110 hours – 26 hours more than the next worst road, the A215 from Camberwell to Croydon.

The embedded content could not be displayed. Please go to the article to view this content.

Outside of the capital, a five-mile stretch of the A8 in Edinburgh was the most congested road with drivers spending an average of 43 hours in gridlock.

“London is the victim of its own success, with a robust jobs market and a growing economy attracting more people, more construction and consequently more traffic,” Bryan Mistele, president and chief executive of INRIX, said.

“Transport for London is tackling this problem with its £4bn road modernisation plan. Whilst in the short term the roadworks from this initiative are frustrating for drivers, they are a step towards creating a more sustainable and modernised transport network.”

Francesca Washtell 2016-03-15T10:21:00.000Z

#### Antofagasta cancels final dividend as profit sinks more than 80% on low copper prices

Chilean miner cancels dividend after pre-tax profit plunged 83% in 2015 as copper prices fall by a quarter.
2016-03-15T10:20:42.000Z

#### Russian planes start to leave Syria after Vladimir Putin ordered military withdrawal

Russian planes start to leave the Hemeimeem airbase, near Latakia after Vladimir Putin ordered the military to withdraw from Syria
Telegraph Video 2016-03-15T10:18:31.000Z

#### Need to Know: How gold and silver plays have zoomed past all other investments

Plenty of folks think stocks can’t take on any more, after a four-week rally and heading into the two-day Fed confab. The chief strategist at the world’s largest money manager says the rally is a bit excessive and backs going for gold.
2016-03-15T10:17:39.000Z

#### The Fed: Yellen will to try bridge gulf between hawks, doves at press conference

Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen will try to bridge the gulf between hawks and doves on the U.S. central bank.
2016-03-15T10:17:24.000Z

#### Police: Suspect killed, 3 officers hurt in Chicago shootout - KERO 23ABC News

| Police: Suspect killed, 3 officers hurt in Chicago shootout KERO 23ABC News Copyright 2014 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Copyright 2014 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or ... and more »

news-feedback@google.com 2016-03-15T10:17:00.000Z

#### Eurozone employment edges up to highest level since 2009

Employment in the Eurozone climbed at the end of last year as the currency-bloc's moderate economic recovery continued.

There were 151.9m people in work in the Eurozone between October and December, according to figures published by EU statistical office Eurostat this morning. It is 0.3 per cent more people in work than between June and September and marks the highest level of employment since 2009.

Compared with the same period in 2014, there were 1.2 per cent more people in work. Spain led growth among the larger economies with 0.7 per cent growth between October and December. On the year Spanish employment was up three per cent.

German employment rose one per cent on the year while France only registered a climb of 0.5 per cent.

Chris Papadopoullos 2016-03-15T10:17:00.000Z

#### Mother Teresa to be made a saint in September

Uncertainty over whether pope will travel to Kolkata for canonisation or preside over ceremony in Rome

Mother Teresa will be made a saint on 4 September, Pope Francis has announced at a meeting of cardinals to give the final approval to several sainthood causes.

Related: As Mother Teresa is made a saint, what does it take to be approved?

Continue reading...
Staff and agencies 2016-03-15T10:15:44.000Z

#### AlphaGo seals 4-1 victory over Go grandmaster Lee Sedol

DeepMind’s artificial intelligence astonishes fans to defeat human opponent and offers evidence computer software has mastered a major challenge

Google DeepMind’s AlphaGo program triumphed in its final game against South Korean Go grandmaster Lee Sedol to win the series 4-1, providing further evidence of the landmark achievement for an artificial intelligence program.

Lee started Tuesday’s game strongly, taking advantage of an early mistake by AlphaGo. But in the end, Lee was unable to hold off a comeback by AlphaGo, which won a narrow victory.

Continue reading...
Steven Borowiec 2016-03-15T10:12:32.000Z

#### Market Snapshot: U.S. stocks poised for losses as oil slides again

Stock futures indicate a lower start for Wall Street as investors grow nervous as they await the outcome of a Fed meeting and as crude prices continue to retrench.
2016-03-15T10:11:37.000Z

#### Nightclubs out and coffee pods in as inflation basket updated

Additions to the basket also include computer software and cream liqueur

The decline of Britain’s nightclub scene has forced the government’s independent data gatherers to exclude admission prices to late night dance venues from the official inflation figures.

The Office for National Statistics said the closure of scores of nightclubs in recent years and the shift to free or low cost entry for many of those that remain meant the prices were harder to gather and no longer a usual guide to inflation in the hospitality sector.

Continue reading...
Phillip Inman Economics correspondent 2016-03-15T10:11:08.000Z

#### It’s not just Canada that loves Justin Trudeau – the rest of the world does too | Anne T Donahue

We’ve elected a prime minister who not only cuddles pandas but is creating real political change, and his popularity is overhauling our global reputation

The night Justin Trudeau was elected as Canada’s prime minister was nothing short of magical. I’m serious: on 19 October 2015, the Conservative government was finally ousted after a decade in power, Drake dropped his now-iconic video for “Hotline Bling,” and the Toronto Blue Jays – Canada’s only baseball team – won another post-season game, bringing us closer to a spot in the World Series (which didn’t happen, but still). So yes – magic, you guys: even if we’re talking about Drake’s sweaters alone.

Related: ‘A friend to count on’: Trudeau may be Obama's successor on the global stage

Continue reading...
Anne T Donahue 2016-03-15T10:10:31.000Z

#### Trump can take big step to nomination with wins in Florida, Ohio

TAMPA, Fla. (Reuters) - Donald Trump can take a giant step on Tuesday toward securing the Republican presidential nomination with wins in Florida and Ohio primaries that would intensify the pressure on establishment Republicans fighting to derail him.
2016-03-15T10:10:23.000Z

#### Out vote could harm Nato - US general

If Britain votes to leave the European Union it could have a negative impact on the Nato alliance, a senior US military commander warns.
2016-03-15T10:09:50.000Z

#### Return of the Bicycle Kingdom? How pavement cycling is transforming Taipei

Taiwan’s capital – notorious for elevated highways and swarms of scooters – is in the early stages of a cycle revolution powered by legalised sidewalk cycling and a bike-share scheme where more than half of users are women

A swarm of scooters forms at the head of a queue of traffic waiting for the lights to change. Visors down, engines revving, they jockey for position ahead of the cars, trucks and buses on a specially marked patch of tarmac reserved for cyclists in many parts of the world.

The buzz rises to a high-pitched crescendo and, as the lights turn green, they shoot off. A minute later the lights change and the process begins again. Taipei is home to almost one million scooters – as well as 2.7 million people. Like many other large Asian cities, the roads here are seen as no place for cyclists.

Continue reading...
Nick Mead in Taipei 2016-03-15T10:07:18.000Z

#### Welcome to the &quot;New Tube for London&quot;

Transport for London has published its budget and business plan, setting out improvements including the continuing construction of Crossrail, which will open as the Elizabeth Line in 2018.

The budget plan also outlines developments to the Northern and Metropolitan lines, which are being extended, as well as the Metropolitan, District, Circle, and Hammersmith and City lines being modernised with a new signalling system to run more services.

The Night Tube is also set to launch on key lines in August, with preparations continuing.

TfL is further planning the modernisation of the deep-level Tube lines, with a "New Tube for London" set to bring air-conditioned journeys to the Piccadilly, Bakerloo, Central and Waterloo and City lines.

Read more: Here's how much house prices have risen along the Elizabeth Line since building started

“Our transport system is carrying half a billion more people than four years ago, whilst doing so more efficiently, reliably and safely - and with greater customer satisfaction – than at any other time in London’s history," Mayor of London Boris Johnson said.

He added: "Delays on the Underground have been halved, we’ve introduced 191 British-made new air-conditioned trains, cycling is at a record high, transport crime at a record low and the number of people killed or seriously injured on our roads has been cut by 40 per cent."

A range of road improvements are being considered, including further cycle roots and superhighways.

Read more: Transport for London rezoning the Tube map

And a range of measures to improve air quality, including the creation of an Ultra Low Emission Zone are also being progressed.

The budget also leant its support to the National Infrastructure Commission's conclusion that Crossrail 2 is absolutely vital to meeting the needs of London’s population.

Meanwhile, TfL is also identifying value engineering options on new investment projects and targeting programme cost reductions of 10 per cent through better cost management.

“We are continuing the work of transforming London’s road, rail and Tube networks for the millions of people who use them every day while making every pound go further through a continuous savings and efficiencies programme," Mike Brown, London’s Transport Commissioner, said.

James Nickerson 2016-03-15T10:07:00.000Z

#### UN Women's head: 'Historic shift' needed to find concrete ways to end gender inequality

At Commission on the Status of Women, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka says focus should be on how to empower women, not reopening old debates

The resolve of world leaders to end gender inequality will be tested at this year’s Commission on the Status of Women, the head of UN Women told delegates during the opening session on Monday.

Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka said the annual two-week meeting in New York would be critical in finding concrete ways to implement the ambitious sustainable development goals (SDGs), a blueprint for development to 2030 that member states adopted in September.

Continue reading...
Liz Ford in New York 2016-03-15T10:05:32.000Z

#### Asia Markets: Asian markets fall as Bank of Japan holds fire, commodity prices drop

Most Asian stock markets end lower Tuesday amid weaker oil and commodities prices.
2016-03-15T10:03:15.000Z

#### EU referendum: 80% of CBI members support EU membership

A new survey for the CBI shows overwhelming business support for EU
2016-03-15T10:03:00.000Z

#### Shakespeare's call for humane treatment of refugees to go online

Rare manuscript in which the playright calls on a crowd to empathise with immigrants is to be digitised by the British Library
Victoria Ward 2016-03-15T10:02:05.000Z

#### Basket of goods: Coffee pods in, CD Roms and nightclubs out

The party's over. No longer do we head to a nightclub for a weekend blow out leading to entry fees being dropped as a measure of inflation - but a tipple of cream liqueur is now on the menu.

George Clooney has something to answer for, as coffee pods like Nespresso are also added to the shopping basket of goods, the list of items used to measure inflation by the Office of National Statistics, and which also illustrates the changing habits of the nation.

Read more: A short history of the inflation basket of goods

CD Roms and rewrittable DVDs are now a relic as we download, stream and digitally record music and movies, but new to the list - largely thanks to Candy Crush we expect - are computer game downloads.

Here's what's new and what's been ditched from the trolley this year, and why, according to the bean-counters.

## IN

Coffee pods - It represents a distinct and growing product previously covered within the class.

Women's leggings - A type of clothing not currently covered but widely purchased. More broadly, women’s clothing is an under-covered area of the basket.

Lemons - This is an under-covered class and adding lemons boosts representation of citrus fruit. Fruit prices vary greatly so it is beneficial to collect across as broad a range as possible.

Computer game downloads - This is an under-covered area of the basket. Downloads are attracting increasing expenditure and their inclusion splits the weight of computer games.

Nail varnish - Introduced to cover a cosmetic area attracting significant expenditure.

Cream liqueur - This represents a sub-sector not covered in the basket and has been introduced to help interpretation of a class where there is a high degree of price volatility due to discounting.

Microwave rice - This item has been introduced to represent a type of prepared food not already covered in the basket and reflects longer-term trends towards prepared foods

Large chocolate bar - This is an under-covered area. Its inclusion splits the weight of a smaller chocolate bar already in the basket and introduces a product from other confectionery manufacturers.

Multipack meat snacks - This item has been introduced to represent the market for meat based, buffet-type food not already covered in the basket.

## OUT

Nightclub entry - Removed due to collection difficulties and reduced expenditure as the number of nightclubs is declining.

CD Rom - Replaced by computer software since CD Roms are a declining technology with people increasingly downloading software.

Rewrittable DVDs - Removed due to poor coverage. It represented a declining technology which is being superseded by streaming services and personal video recorders (PVR’s).

​Organic carrots - Removed due to relatively low coverage in price collection partly due to organic produce becoming mainstream with less distinction from non-organic products. Organic carrots will be included in the carrots item in future so that there is still representation in the basket.

Cooked slice turkey - Replaced by cooked sliced turkey/chicken as coverage of the sliced turkey item is falling reflecting its availability in shops.

Lynsey Barber 2016-03-15T10:02:00.000Z

#### Osborne's budget to set in motion high-speed rail and road tunnel schemes

Manchester to Leeds railway line, Peak District underground tunnel and Crossrail 2 to receive funding from chancellor in budget

George Osborne will use Wednesday’s budget to set in motion plans for a high-speed railway line from Manchester to Leeds and an 18-mile underground road tunnel beneath the Peak District.

The chancellor will also promise to “prioritise” a north-south link through central London as he accepts the final recommendations of the National Infrastructure Commission, led by former Labour peer Lord Adonis, which are being published on Tuesday.

Continue reading...
Anushka Asthana Political editor 2016-03-15T10:01:33.000Z

#### T. Boone Pickens' strict morning routine will inspire you to plan your days better

Usually success and diligence go hand in hand. Undoubtedly is the case with T. Boone Pickens' strict morning routine.

Produced by Justin Gmoser. Original reporting by Julia La Roche

Follow BI Video: On Twitter

Justin Gmoser 2016-03-15T10:01:00.000Z

#### Super Tuesday 2: Clinton, Trump Take Big Leads Into Key Contests - NBCNews.com

NBCNews.com

Super Tuesday 2: Clinton, Trump Take Big Leads Into Key Contests
NBCNews.com
Hillary Clinton maintains a sizable lead over Bernie Sanders in the race for the Democratic nomination — 54 percent to 41 percent — while Donald Trump is a full 20 points ahead of any other Republican candidate. Trump leads Ted Cruz 44 to 24 percent, ...
Campaign 2016: Five things to watch on Tuesday CBS News
March 15 primaries: Will voting in 5 states cement front-runners? Washington Post
Does Trump have More in Common with Hillary than Bernie? Huffington Post
Wall Street Journal -Politico -RealClearPolitics
all 3,028 news articles »

news-feedback@google.com 2016-03-15T10:00:59.000Z

#### Family of missing girl 'torn apart'

The father of a missing teenager who has been linked to reports of a woman in the River Clyde says his family has been "torn apart".
2016-03-15T10:00:55.000Z

#### Epiphanies and economics: What’s pushing workers out of oil and pulling them into renewables

Edinburgh, Scotland Elaine Buck grew up in the oilfields of Texas. She started her career as a navigation engineer on seismic research vessels for Schlumberger,…
Cassie Werber 2016-03-15T10:00:24.000Z

#### David Squires on … Manchester United v Liverpool in the Europa League

In the latest from his series of cartoons, David Squires looks ahead to the second leg … as well as a few other things. And you can find David’s archive of cartoons here

Continue reading...
David Squires 2016-03-15T10:00:00.000Z

#### This Tory budget for savers has an all-too familiar ring | Tom Clark

One of David Cameron’s first acts in government was to abolish a Labour ‘rainy day fund’ for low earners. Now it’s being resurrected under a new name and trumpeted as the prime minister’s own legacy

An inability to keep a closed mouth about a locked box has brought chancellors down in the past. Hugh Dalton, the man who raised the revenues for Attlee’s welfare state, had to go after tipping off a journalist just before his budget. Whether George Osborne has breached the purdah rule is a moot point, because the big story weeks ahead of Wednesday’s budget was not about anything in his red box, but something he had removed.

The most ear-catching moment of the supposed “pensions revolution” of the last parliament came in 2014 when the responsible minister, Lib Dem Steve Webb, said that it was for the individual to decide whether they wanted to blow their whole savings pot on a Lamborghini. In theory, the new flexibility to do what you liked with pensions applied to everyone, although – as the flash car example suggests – this was a revolution of more interest to the haves than the have-nots. The next step Osborne had hoped to make in this year’s budget could have more fundamentally shaken things up, to benefit the saving poor.

Continue reading...
Tom Clark 2016-03-15T10:00:00.000Z

#### Why this longtime Googler jumped to Oscar, the billion-dollar startup shaking up healthcare (GOOG, GOOGL)

Alan Warren

Oscar, a $1.75 billion startup that is trying to shake up the health-insurance industry, just poached longtime Googler Alan Warren as its CTO.

Warren had worked at Google for nearly 12 years, most recently as a vice president of engineering in its New York City office, responsible for products like Docs and Drive as well as its Classroom education efforts.

He tells Business Insider that he tried to attack the broken healthcare system while inside Google by leading engineering for the Health product the company rolled out in 2008 in an effort to help people organize their medical records online. Google didn't have enough leverage with insurance providers, however, and that service ended within three years.

Oscar, which aims to make health insurance easier and cheaper with simple-to-understand plans and perks like free phone calls to doctors and exercise-based rebates, appealed to Warren because it couples his passion for fixing the industry with what he describes as a "top notch" team of engineers working on difficult technical problems. At Google, he helped grow the New York team to 3,000 engineers from 50, and he is excited to start small again with a relatively compact team of 400 people.

## Big competition

Oscar launched in 2013 to compete with established health-insurance companies like Aetna and UnitedHealth, but so far it is available only for people living in parts of New York, New Jersey, California, and Texas. In September the startup raised $32.5 million from Google Capital at a reported $1.75 billion valuation. It had already racked up $300 million from investors including Khosla Ventures, Google Ventures, and Goldman Sachs. Fortune reported in January that Oscar was working on another round that could value it at $3 billion.

Warren says the Google Capital and Google Ventures folks had nothing to do with connecting him to Oscar, but their endorsement did make the startup seem like an even better bet.

"Oscar's going at healthcare in a way that can make a huge difference," he says.

One challenge he's excited to tackle is helping Oscar improve its tools for matching people with the right doctors.

"They're focused on this end-to-end picture," he says. "If I've messed my knee up and I need to find a surgeon, they give me the ability to look across a network and look at ratings and availability and costs up front, that just provides a transparency that's huge for users."

NOW WATCH: We tested the ‘Keurig of food’ that claims it can replace everything in your kitchen

Jillian D'Onfro 2016-03-15T10:00:00.000Z

#### In the midwest, Sanders and Clinton peddle very different visions of America

In a fight for blue-collar votes, Clinton hails Obama’s legacy but her rival condemns a ‘rigged economy’ that rewards the rich

Despite spending days crisscrossing the same midwest battlegrounds in search of votes that could decide the Democratic primary once and for all, Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton enter Tuesday’s rustbelt showdown with two very different visions of the region’s economic fortunes.

In keeping with a “glass half full” view of America, the former secretary of state is keen to stress the progress made under the current administration, particularly in reducing unemployment since the financial crisis.

Continue reading...
Dan Roberts and Lauren Gambino 2016-03-15T09:59:19.000Z

#### Tudor hall 'partially destroyed' by fire

A serious fire damages a roof and first floor of 16th Century Wythenshawe Hall in Manchester.
2016-03-15T09:58:44.000Z

#### Bangladesh central bank governor resigns over $81m cyber heist

Atiur Rahman learned of loss of funds only after the news appeared in the media

Bangladesh’s central bank governor, Atiur Rahman, said on Tuesday he had resigned after $81m (£75m) was stolen from the bank’s account at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in one of the largest cyber-heists in history.

Rahman told Reuters that the prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, had accepted his resignation.

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Reuters 2016-03-15T09:55:06.000Z

#### Eoin Morgan says England are different proposition for World Twenty20

• ‘It’s a new energy. It’s an exciting time for English cricket,’ says captain
• England begin Super 10 campaign against West Indies on Wednesday

England’s captain Eoin Morgan believes his World Twenty20 squad are a different proposition to the sides that crashed and burned in previous tournaments.

A first chance to prove the skipper right comes on Wednesday, with a Super 10 clash against the unpredictable West Indies in Mumbai, a game Morgan is approaching in good heart.

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Press Association 2016-03-15T09:55:00.000Z

#### Quartz Daily Brief—Americas edition—Russia exits Syria, Mother Teresa’s sainthood, Tyrannosaurus Rex brains

What to watch for today Primaries in Florida, Illinois, Missouri, North Carolina, and Ohio. All eyes will be on Republican front-runner Donald Trump as he…
Quartz Staff 2016-03-15T09:54:51.000Z

#### Supermarkets pledge to cut food waste 20% by 2025

Local authorities and retailers including Asda, Sainsbury’s and Tesco sign voluntary Courtauld 2025 agreement to reduce food and drink waste

Britain’s leading supermarkets have pledged to drive down food and drink waste by a fifth within the next decade.

Retailers including Asda, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Morrisons are backing a voluntary agreement, which also targets a 20% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions created by the food and drink industry.

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Press Association 2016-03-15T09:52:38.000Z

#### Rabbit seized in Australia after owners try to convince police it is a guinea pig

There are strict rules on owning rabbits in Queensland - and police officers were not fooled by claims that the rabbit was a rodent
Helena Horton 2016-03-15T09:46:52.000Z

#### Chelsea's Radamel Falcao admits season-long loan spell at Manchester United was 'complicated'

The 30-year-old striker struggled to make an impression at Old Trafford.
2016-03-15T09:44:13.000Z

#### Leicester City 1-0 Newcastle: Foxes boss Claudio Ranieri says to keep calm and carry on

Shinji Okazaki produced a stunning bicycle kick to beat Toon and extend Premier League lead.
2016-03-15T09:40:39.000Z

#### Manchester City vs Dynamo Kiev, Champions League 2015/16: Where to watch live, preview, betting odds and possible XI

Manchester City host Dynamo Kiev in the second leg of the round of 16 at Etihad Stadium.
2016-03-15T09:39:38.000Z

#### Brixton shooting: CCTV police appeal after man shot along Tulse Hill

Police release CCTV in an appeal for witnesses after a shooting along Tulse Hill in Brixton in which one person was treated for a gunshot wound
Telegrph Video 2016-03-15T09:38:25.000Z

#### Judy Murray resigns as captain of Great Britain’s Fed Cup team

• Appointment to role in 2011 led to promotion play-offs
• Murray will continue with grassroots programmes

Judy Murray has stepped down from her role as Great Britain’s Fed Cup captain, the Lawn Tennis Association has confirmed.

Related: Andy Murray crashes out of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells

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Press Association 2016-03-15T09:38:06.000Z

#### What to know about disability insurance

I can’t find any good, specific advice about the relative merits of different disability insurance plans. Do you know where I can find this data?
2016-03-15T09:34:29.000Z

#### North Korean leader says will soon test nuclear warhead

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said his country would soon test a nuclear warhead and ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads, the North's KCNA news agency reported, in what would be a direct violation of U.N. resolutions which have the backing of the North's chief ally, China.
2016-03-15T09:33:57.000Z

#### Myanmar's parliament elects Suu Kyi confidant as president

NAYPYITAW (Reuters) - Myanmar's parliament elected a close friend and confidant of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi as president on Tuesday, making Htin Kyaw the first head of state who does not hail from a military background since the 1960s.
2016-03-15T09:32:29.000Z

#### Poland’s trendy milk bars are a poignant reminder of its time under communism

WARSAW, POLAND “Look around,” said Lucas Skurczyński, a 33-year-old Protestant theologian. “There is a mix of people. No newspapers. People don’t linger. This is Polish…
Renuka Rayasam 2016-03-15T09:30:03.000Z

#### The 10 things in advertising you need to know today (IBM, AAPL, WPPGY)

Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images

Good morning. Here's everything you need to know in the world of advertising today.

1. Apple News will soon get "native" ads that look like articles. The company revealed the new ad format in a developer specification document for Apple's in-house mobile-advertising platform, which was updated in March.

2. IBM quietly built the world's largest digital agency — here's how it got there. IBM iX boasts more than 10,000 employees who work on creative, digital, and analytics.

3. Advertising boss Sir Martin Sorrell's $100 million pay deal is "preposterous," according to an activist group. Sorrell's 2015 pay deal, has been criticized by ShareAction.

4. Kylie Jenner revealed her first Puma ad campaign. In it, she advertises a new style of sneaker: "The Fierce."

5. 7-Eleven has a ridiculous promotion for Slurpee fans. 7-Eleven is letting customers bring their own cups from home to fill with Slurpees for a two-day promotion.

6. Sir Martin Sorrell says gap years before university are "wasted" time. Sorrell spent his year off before university selling radio and TV sets in an electronics store in north-west London.

7. The New Day newspaper was given away for free in parts of London, Leeds, and Manchester on Monday. The UK newspaper has been struggling to hit sales targets since its launch two weeks ago.

8. Millennials love these 10 brands. As the generation matures, researchers are learning more about its needs and wants.

9. How the Second World War led to the creation of the world's first sexist chocolate bar. Had it not been not been for associations with the war, the Yorkie bar would have been called "Rations."

10. Brands aren't spending enough on ads, AdAge reports. A study from research group ARF found US advertisers should be spending $31 billion more on media this year than they actually are.

NOW WATCH: What the 'i' in 'iPhone' stands for — as explained by Steve Jobs

Will Heilpern 2016-03-15T09:30:00.000Z

#### FTSE hit by weak mining stocks and gloomy BOJ view

LONDON (Reuters) - A drop in the shares of major mining companies and a gloomy economic outlook from the Bank of Japan (BOJ) pulled FTSE lower on Tuesday.
2016-03-15T09:27:07.000Z

#### Futures Movers: Oil prices extend losses after Monday’s bruising session

Oil prices in a battle to recover from a bruising start to the week.
2016-03-15T09:24:14.000Z

#### Brett Arends's ROI: Donald Trump crushes John Kasich — among those with bad credit

Donald Trump’s supporters are twice as likely to have bad credit scores than John Kasich’s.
2016-03-15T09:23:45.000Z

#### Andrew Haigh's gay romance Weekend triumphs in Italy despite Vatican ban

Nottingham-based drama about love affair between lifeguard and conceptual artist scores country’s highest per-screen average this weekend

A British independent film about a burgeoning gay relationship has proven a surprise box office smash in Italy, despite an alleged attempt by the Catholic church to “paralyse” its release.

Andrew Haigh’s Weekend, which was released in the UK in 2011, achieved the highest per-screen average in the country this weekend, according to Variety. One screening at Rome’s famous Quattro Fontane art house cinema pulled in receipts of more than €16,000, the Italian capital’s top haul.

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Ben Child 2016-03-15T09:22:00.000Z

#### Park urges restraint in culling hares

The Cairngorms National Park Authority says it recognises public concerns about the culling of mountain hares.
2016-03-15T09:17:26.000Z

#### ISIS 'minister of war' killed in US airstrike in Syria, defense official says - Fox News

Fox News

ISIS 'minister of war' killed in US airstrike in Syria, defense official says
Fox News
The United States has confirmed the death of a senior Islamic State commander with a $5 million bounty on his head, a senior U.S. defense official told Fox News on Monday. Tarkhan Tayumurazovich Batirashvili, also known as Abu Umar al-Shishani or ...
Senior Islamic State leader has died, according to reports Los Angeles Times
IS leader al-Shishani dies of wounds from US strike in Syria Washington Post
Pentagon Confirms ISIS Heads Death Daily Beast
Quad City Times -Press Herald
all 296 news articles »

news-feedback@google.com 2016-03-15T09:12:09.000Z

#### 3 things you need to know about the war between Apple and the FBI

The war over unlocking an iPhone is still ongoing.
2016-03-15T09:10:55.000Z

#### Guardian morning briefing: Putin's exit from Syria, Myanmar's new leader and the Gen Y power list

Russian troops are to start withdrawing from Syria, Myanmar has got its first civilian president in 53 years, and we list some of the most powerful millennials

Vladimir Putin has abruptly declared the withdrawal of the majority of Russian troops from Syria, saying the six-month military intervention had largely achieved its aims. The Russian president said the pullout would start on Tuesday, in a move that seems designed to coincide with the start of Syrian peace talks in Geneva and signals Russia’s belief that it has done enough to protect the Assad regime from collapse.

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Guardian Staff 2016-03-15T09:10:00.000Z

#### Caroline Baum: Fed officials talk themselves into a corner

Federal Reserve policy makers backed themselves into a corner with all public comments about the market volatility, writes Caroline Baum.
2016-03-15T09:09:48.000Z

#### Manchester United legend Bryan Robson questions the club's recent transfer dealings

The former Red Devils captain thinks it was a mistake to let go of certain players.
2016-03-15T09:09:11.000Z

#### Recognition at last for Tessa Hadley, a domestic goddess

Few writers can create female characters like Tessa Hadley, whose Windham-Campbell prize is much deserved

When will there be good news? Well, here’s some: Tessa Hadley, the British writer, has won a Windham-Campbell prize (established three years ago, the awards support the work of nine writers each year with a grant worth $150,000).

I couldn’t be happier for her. She deserves all the prizes. Hadley is psychologically acute, drily witty and, whether describing a red-brick suburb or a sopping country afternoon, she is absolutely wonderful on place. Her relative obscurity, then, is an unfathomable mystery, even if I know deep down she is likely just another victim of a literary culture that tends to prize the male over the female, the grandly thematic over the so-called domestic. The female characters at the heart of her novels – clever, impulsive, not always wholly likable – are so finely drawn, I can never get them out of my head. Even now, whenever I see a train bound for Cardiff, I picture Kate, the heroine of her third novel, The Master Bedroom. What is she doing these days, I think to myself. Is she sleeping with yet another unsuitable man?

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Rachel Cooke 2016-03-15T09:05:37.000Z

#### Luck & homework - how to win World T20

World T20 winners Stuart Broad and Paul Farbrace on what England have to do to lift the trophy for a second time.
2016-03-15T09:05:12.000Z

#### Italian prosecutor wants top tennis players investigated for match-fixing

• Roberto Di Martino says authorities should be doing more with evidence
• Di Martino claims more than 24 players have been mentioned by gamblers

An Italian prosecutor has called for more than two dozen top tennis players to be investigated by the Tennis Integrity Unit for possible links to betting rings.

Related: Tennis match-fixing allegations leave questions to be answered | Sean Ingle

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Press Association 2016-03-15T09:04:29.000Z

#### 10 big apprenticeship myths and why you shouldn’t believe them

What employing an apprentice is really like
2016-03-15T09:04:00.000Z

#### VIDEO: Norway killer Breivik gives Nazi salute

Norwegian mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik has given a Nazi salute upon his return to court to accuse the government of violating his human rights by holding him in isolation.
2016-03-15T09:03:40.000Z

#### NFL official acknowledges link between head trauma and brain disease CTE

During a congressional committee discussion on concussions, Jeff Miller said that ‘yes’, there was a link between the sport and the degenerative brain disease

An NFL official has acknowledged a link between football and a degenerative brain disease for the first time.

Jeff Miller, the NFL’s senior vice president for health and safety, spoke about the connection during an appearance Monday at a congressional committee’s round table discussion about concussions.

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Associated Press 2016-03-15T09:03:17.000Z

#### Google's AI wins final Go challenge

In the final challenge between man and machine, Google's AI emerges victorious.
2016-03-15T09:02:59.000Z

#### Russia begins surprise withdrawal from Syria as peace talks get underway - Washington Post

Washington Post

Russia begins surprise withdrawal from Syria as peace talks get underway
Washington Post
MOSCOW — Russian forces began to withdraw from Syria on Tuesday, hours after a surprise announcement from Russian President Vladimir Putin that he would end his nation's military deployment as suddenly as he started it. The pullback, which came as ...
Tuesday's 5 Things: It's all about presidents today CNN
Putin orders Russian troops to begin pulling out of Syria Fox News
Putin May Have 'Met His Goals' in Syria, But Peace Means Putting People First Newsweek
New York Times -Wall Street Journal -Yahoo News
all 2,125 news articles »

news-feedback@google.com 2016-03-15T09:02:43.000Z

#### Sainsbury’s reveals first quarterly sales growth in more than two years

Supermarket’s sales at established stores including online rose 0.1% in the nine weeks to 12 March

Sainsbury’s has revealed its first quarterly sales growth in more than two years, boosting hopes that the supermarket will make a new bid for Argos owner Home Retail Group later this week.

The supermarket said sales at established stores including online rose 0.1% in the nine weeks to 12 March .

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Sarah Butler 2016-03-15T09:02:30.000Z

#### VIDEO: SLS2: Video refs, Vikings and ketchup?!

Castleford's Luke Dorn and Batley coach John Kear join Tanya Arnold for an alternative look at Super League.
2016-03-15T09:02:09.000Z

#### Why do wombats do cube-shaped poo?

Wombats are the only animal to produce cube-shaped poo.
2016-03-15T09:02:07.000Z

#### Watch: From My Lai to Ferguson, China blasts US human rights abuses in a new documentary

China’s state television channel CCTV broadcast a 45-minute documentary on Sunday (Mar. 13) to hundreds of millions of households in China, accusing the US of…
Zheping Huang 2016-03-15T09:01:24.000Z

#### Scots teen girls 'sick and stressed'

Fifteen-year-old girls in Scotland face more pressure from schoolwork and report poorer health than their international counterparts, a new study finds.
2016-03-15T09:00:11.000Z

#### The Americans: the best and worst disguises from the cold war thriller

From frumpy 80s housewives and goths to a janitor who bears a resemblance to a certain Rust Cohle, the disguises on FX’s spy series have gone from the sublime to the ridiculous

- Spoiler alert: do not read on unless you are completely up to date, or not bothered about spoilers

Related: Scene and heard: directors of photography spill the beans on TV's biggest shows

The Americans is back for season four, and what are we most excited to see? Philip and Elizabeth dealing with Paige’s betrayal? Stan’s suspicions about Martha coming to fruition? Someone finally remembering to cook dinner for poor Henry? No – we’re excited to see what new disguises Philip and Elizabeth are going to be rocking this year. There have been some absolute classics over the first three seasons. Who could forget serial-killer-janitor Philip? Or bespectacled child-services nerd Elizabeth? Or even sweet-old-lady Claudia? Here are our top five disguises that have caused more subterfuge and deceit than you’d see if Iago were a character on House of Cards.

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Abigail Chandler 2016-03-15T09:00:10.000Z

#### Fantasy epics, rom-coms, sports dramas: why your favourite genres could soon be extinct

Gods Of Egypt’s poor performance may well have killed off the swords-and-sandal movie. But it’s far from the only Hollywood staple in mortal danger

Gods Of Egypt, the Gerard-Butler-starring fantasy epic that recently bombed at the box office was mainly notable for inspiring a brief spurt of Twitter outrage over the casting of Scottish and Australian actors as warring Egyptian deities. That rancour, however, obscured a no-less-intriguing story: the rumblings in the movie industry that, what with Gods Of Egypt’s worldwide gross of $72m on a budget of $140m, the fantasy epic had ceased to be a viable genre. In the wake of such duds as Wrath Of The Titans (which made $305m, almost $200m less than its predecessor, Clash Of The Titans) and box office flops Seventh Son and Vin Diesel’s Last Witch Hunter, it’s unlikely that we’ll ever see a muscle-bound Hollywood actor in a loincloth again.

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Jonathan Bernstein 2016-03-15T09:00:10.000Z

#### My 20s? I turned down Oxford to become a rock star | VV Brown

We danced on tables and believed we could take over the world – and all the mistakes, failures and questionable decisions set me up for the security I’ve found in my 30s

A pink cotton suit jacket. A pair of colourful leggings with a graphic print like the ultimate 1980s wallpaper. Brown scruffy loafers. Hair tied up in a vintage roll, a toy parrot hanging out one side. And not forgetting a worn-out briefcase containing a broken Casio keyboard found in a charity shop. Welcome to my 20s.

Despite what my outward appearance might have suggested, I remember feeling utterly self-conscious during that confusing decade. I was always putting myself underneath a microscope and analysing whether I was living up to an ideal of what was cool in other people’s eyes. I craved and was committed to the search of being an individual. But when I looked around at my friends, we were all dressed in the same uniform, like we had stepped out of the 1950s. Now I wonder why the hell I dressed like that.

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VV Brown 2016-03-15T09:00:09.000Z

#### Yowl at the moon: Dylan Nyoukis, the vocal improviser who ‘just wants to be left alone'

He’s one of Thurston Moore’s favourite noise artists but the Brighton based musician has no interest in wider acclaim. Rhik Samadder gatecrashes his birthday to find out why

“People have been brainwashed, since the birth of pop, to a false idea of what music is,” says Dylan Nyoukis, sounding not angry, but disappointed. “They see me and just hear a racket, or a man speaking in tongues.”

You can understand why. To the untrained ear, Nyoukis’s performances resemble violent spasms, wordless vocal improvisations made up of yowls, snarls, ululation and gibbering. He manipulates tapes, employs performance art. He uses restriction techniques, playing instruments blindfolded or with his hands tied together. It’s challenging, even to anyone who doesn’t own a Robin Thicke ringtone.

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Rhik Samadder 2016-03-15T09:00:09.000Z

#### Doctor Thorne, The Night Manager and The Aliens: TV review – video

In his review of the week’s TV, telly addict Andrew Collins bravely soldiers on in the face of Too Much TV on BBC1, praising the latest Sunday night special Doctor Thorne on ITV by Julian Fellowes; gives up on The Night Manager on BBC1; sticks with Happy Valley, Trapped, The People Vs O.J. Simpson; enjoys another new entry, E4’s The Aliens; tells ITV’s The Story Of Cats it had one job; and gets Zen with an archive Top of the Pops, from 1981

- WARNING: STRONG LANGUAGE

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Andrew Collins and Mona Mahmood 2016-03-15T08:57:58.000Z

#### I can't afford to retire, but will companies keep employing me?

Older people bring a wealth of experience to the workplace, but getting and keeping work is a battle despite a former Tory Minister’s offer of fruit picking jobs

- What is your experience of getting older and working? Share your stories

I sometimes long for a proper retirement, just pottering about in the garden, going on dog walks, playing the piano, or lying about reading, snacking, watching telly, snoozing the afternoons away. But it’s a pipe dream. Really I suspect I’d be bored stiff, and anyway, like many people my age, I couldn’t afford it because my pension – combined state and measly private one – is too small.

According to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), British workers will have the worst pensions of any major economy – 38% of their salary. And as we’re all living longer, retiring at the age of 65 would mean 30-40 years of living on peanuts, like so many fading Bob Cratchits. No wonder a quarter of people on the cusp of retirement can’t afford to give up work. And even if they can, 51% of potential retirees would prefer to keep active.

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Michele Hanson 2016-03-15T08:51:04.000Z

#### Government's 30-hour free childcare plan will 'push up fees for under-twos'

Experts warn that David Cameon's childcare plan is underfunded and that fees will likely rise 'substantially' elsewhere
Victoria Ward 2016-03-15T08:43:35.000Z

#### Mass killer Anders Breivik makes Nazi salute as he appears in court

Far-Right killer who massacred 77 Norwegians has launched human rights lawsuit over government's decision to keep him in isolation cell
Agencies 2016-03-15T08:40:23.000Z

#### Carey Mulligan reads out cancer patient's mother's moving open letter to JK Rowling

'Your words built a castle for her to move into when the prognosis got worse. Mrs Rowling, cancer threatened to take everything from my daughter, and your books turned out to be the fortress we so desperately needed to hide in'
Helena Horton 2016-03-15T08:39:52.000Z

#### Michael Buerk lashes out at celebrities who 'parade their bleeding hearts'

Broadcaster says he is fed up of listening to showbiz stars lecturing the world with their 'infantile ideas' on global politics
Victoria Ward 2016-03-15T08:37:35.000Z

#### Ocado delivers healthy growth in quarterly sales as weekly orders increase

Online grocery retailer posts 15.3% increase in gross sales as it surpasses 250,000 weekly orders for the first time.
2016-03-15T08:36:52.000Z

#### Two European drinks giants are merging in a €684 million deal

© Getty/AFP/File Jesse Grant

Paris (AFP) - Italian spirits and drinks group Campari announced on Tuesday plans to buy the French company that owns Grand Marnier, SPML, in a deal worth 684 million euros (£534 million, $759 million).

Campari CEO Bob Kunze-Concewitz, in a statement, said acquiring Grand Marnier "strengthens our quest to further capitalise on the revival of classic cocktails, particularly in the US" and would "further consolidate our position as the leading purveyor of premium liqueurs and bitter specialties worldwide".

NOW WATCH: Drinking coffee could reverse some of the damage caused by alcohol

2016-03-15T08:35:00.000Z

#### Amazon delivering knives without age checks, Guardian investigation finds

Online retailer delivered age-restricted product, similar to weapon bought by teenage killer of schoolboy Bailey Gwynne, without age-verification

Amazon is selling age-restricted folding knives, similar to one used by the 16-year-old killer of schoolboy Bailey Gwynne, without checking they are safely delivered to adults, a Guardian investigation has found.

Last week, a teenager who killed Gwynne in a school in Aberdeen was cleared of murder but convicted of culpable homicide. He had paid £40 on Amazon for a folding knife with an 8.5cm blade.

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Simon Bowers 2016-03-15T08:30:09.000Z

#### Former Leicester and Fiji centre Seru Rabeni dies aged 37

• Rabeni passed away at his home in Nausori
• Fijian joined Leicester Tigers in 2004

The former Leicester and Fiji centre Seru Rabeni has died at the age of 37, the Premiership club has announced.

Related: Wasps leapfrog Leicester after Charles Piutau leads first-half onslaught

Continue reading...
Press Association 2016-03-15T08:29:27.000Z

#### Myanmar Lawmakers Name Htin Kyaw President, Affirming Civilian Rule - New York Times

New York Times

Myanmar Lawmakers Name Htin Kyaw President, Affirming Civilian Rule
New York Times
NAYPYIDAW, Myanmar — Myanmar's Parliament elected a confidant of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi as president on Tuesday, ending decades of leadership by the military and its allies. U Htin Kyaw, 69, won with more than half the votes. He was considered ...
Htin Kyaw, Aung San Suu Kyi loyalist and friend, elected Myanmar's president Washington Times
Myanmar's Next President Propelled from Obscurity Voice of America
Historic vote gives Myanmar first civilian president in decades Yahoo News
San Francisco Chronicle -Salon
all 1,006 news articles »

news-feedback@google.com 2016-03-15T08:23:24.000Z

#### Tom Clancy's The Division: Servers down for weekly maintenance on PS4, Xbox One and PC

Ubisoft's online shooter will be offline for roughly three hours this morning.
2016-03-15T08:13:27.000Z

#### Radiohead announce headline shows for summer 2016

The band’s tour takes in just six cities in Europe and North America, with three London shows at the Roundhouse

Radiohead have announced details of their first tour since 2012. The quintet had already announced a series of festival appearances, but have now added a series of headlining shows.

Don’t get too excited, though – this isn’t a massive jaunt of 200 shows in 20 countries. In fact, the group are playing only in Amsterdam, Paris, London, New York, Los Angeles and Mexico City, between May and October, in addition to festivals in Lyon, Barcelona, Reykjavik, St Gallen, Lisbon, Montreal, Osaka, Tokyo and Berlin.

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Guardian music 2016-03-15T08:10:16.000Z

#### Marshall Major II Bluetooth headphones: they last for ages and sound great too

With over 30 hours battery life, great controls and a compact design, Marshall’s first wireless headphones carry on the good work of the vintage amplifier company

British audio brand Marshall has taken its first steps into the wireless headphone world with a brand new version of its Major II, which is claims has over 30 hours of battery life.

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Samuel Gibbs 2016-03-15T08:00:08.000Z

#### We need to get this investigatory powers bill right – it’s not fit for purpose now | Keir Starmer

The second reading of the bill today is an opportunity for Labour to challenge the government on substance and process – and fight for a law fit for the 21st century

The government’s investigatory powers bill faces its second reading in the House of Commons today. Having represented many individuals in cases against the police and the security and intelligence services as a human rights lawyer, and having also worked with those same bodies as director of public prosecutions, I know all too well the challenges this legislation will throw up and the importance of making sure parliament gets it right.

Related: The snooper’s charter is flying through parliament. Don’t think it’s irrelevant to you | Scarlet Kim

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Keir Starmer 2016-03-15T08:00:08.000Z

#### Fanny Ardant: 'I suffer profound despair – I see things noir'

Fresh from directing Gérard Depardieu in the role of Stalin, the French star is now staging Sondheim’s Passion in Paris. She talks about the art of pretending, embarrassing her children and the power of love

Fanny Ardant says she is very good at pretending. And not only on stage or in front of a camera. The French actor is lounging in the foyer of the Châtelet theatre in Paris where she is directing her first English-language musical, Stephen Sondheim’s Passion. She is laughing, her eyes sparkling, her hands – fingers heavy with chunky silver jewellery – are flapping, wringing and pushing hair from her face.

The conversation has moved on from the delights of non-conformity and putting “cretins” in their place via the pleasure of working with Gérard Depardieu, Franco Zeffirelli, François Truffaut – with whom she had the second of her three daughters – and Roman Polanski. Now she is on the subject of depression. The topic is darker, but not the mood. Ardant, 66, continues to fizz like freshly opened champagne. “I am a pessimist by nature,” she says. “I see things noir. I have a great black veil that falls over my head. I have never seen a psychoanalyst, though. I think if I did I would cry and cry a torrent of tears and never stop.”

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Kim Willsher in Paris 2016-03-15T08:00:08.000Z

#### Brexit camp can't count on family ties to bind for trade

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Brexit cheerleaders are heading for a cold shoulder if they think the mother country can waltz into the warm embrace of her English-speaking siblings and win free trade deals with them.
2016-03-15T08:00:06.000Z

#### Brexit camp can't count on family ties to bind for trade

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Brexit cheerleaders are heading for a cold shoulder if they think the mother country can waltz into the warm embrace of her English-speaking siblings and win free trade deals with them.
2016-03-15T08:00:06.000Z

#### What can cognitive bring to your business?

This is an excerpt from our e-guide, COGNITIVE BUSINESS - How cognitive solutions are enhancing the way we live & work, produced in partnership with IBM
2016-03-15T08:00:00.000Z

#### A history of the world in funny puns

Martin Chilton guides you through the history of the world in puns, including the Ides of March
Telegraph Staff 2016-03-15T07:59:40.000Z

#### Sainsbury's quarterly sales increase for the first time in two years

Like-for-like sales at the FTSE 100 retailer grow 0.1% in fourth quarter as expansion plans remain on track.
2016-03-15T07:59:17.000Z

#### The Bank of Japan offered no new stimulus in March

REUTERS/Eddie Keogh

While the decision took a little longer than usual, there has been no surprise from the Bank of Japan this afternoon with the bank keeping interest rates and the size of its asset purchase program unchanged from when it last met in January.

The board pledged to expand the nation’s monetary base at an annual pace of about 80 trillion yen and kept interest rates unchanged at -0.1%. The board split 8-1 on the size of asset purchases, and 7-2 on interest rates.

As opposed to the January 29 statement that coincided with the shock decision to adopt a negative interest rate policy, the board dropped the line suggesting “it will cut the interest rate further if judged as necessary.”

Reflective of recent weakness in domestic economic data, the bank stated that “Japan’s economy has continued its moderate trend, although exports and production have been sluggish due mainly to the effects of the slowdown in emerging markets”.

Looking ahead, the board suggested that while “sluggishness is expected to remain in exports and production for the time being, domestic demand is likely to follow an uptrend, with a virtuous cycle from income to spending being maintained in both the household and corporate sectors”.

“Thus, Japan’s economy is likely to be on a moderate expanding trend,” said the bank.

On risks moving forward, the board cited “uncertainties surrounding emerging and commodity-exporting economies, particularly China” along with “developments in the US economy and the influences of its monetary policy response to them on the global financial markets”.

Given heightened financial market volatility at the start of 2016, it also warned that “due attention still needs to be paid to a risk that an improvement in the business confidence of Japanese firms and conversion of the deflationary mindset might be delayed and that the underlying trend in inflation might be negatively effected”.

Despite being widely expected by most analysts, the inaction from the BOJ has been met with a wave of displeasure from investors. The USD/JPY is currently trading at 113.39, its low for the session, while the Nikkei 225 is currently down 0.82% at 17,091.66 having been higher prior to the decision.

REUTERS/Eddie Keogh

BOJ governor Haruhiko is scheduled to hold a press conference beginning at 5.30pm AEDT.

The full monetary policy statement from the BOJ can be accessed here.

NOW WATCH: Take a tour of the $367 million jet that will soon be called Air Force One

David Scutt 2016-03-15T07:58:32.000Z

#### Parents lobby for meningitis B vaccine

Parents are to tell MPs why they think the meningitis B vaccine should go to all UK children up to the age of 11.
2016-03-15T07:57:16.000Z

#### Brixton gang shooting: Video shows gunman leaping off moped and firing at group in Tulse Hill

Footage shows suspect chase three men and open fire on them in south London.
2016-03-15T07:55:32.000Z

#### PJ Crowley: Putin's payoff in Syria

Vladimir Putin has made Russia an indispensable player in the Syrian conflict, in contrast to President Barack Obama, writes PJ Crowley.
2016-03-15T07:53:49.000Z

#### Bangladesh bank boss quits over fraud

The head of Bangladesh's central bank resigns after cyber-thieves stole more than $100m from the country's foreign currency reserves.
2016-03-15T07:52:45.000Z

#### Ronald Koeman dismisses Arsenal and Manchester City from the title race after Leicester's latest win

Arsenal and Manchester City are behind league leaders Leicester City by 11 and 12 points respectively.
2016-03-15T07:45:21.000Z

#### The ECB has temporarily taken the fear out of the European bond market

Back in February, European peripheral spreads versus Germany widened to levels last seen in June 2015 as investors freaked out about contingent convertible bonds , or Coco bonds.

The fear was that capital levels of certain European banks would fall below their required thresholds, forcing their Coco bonds to convert from debt into equity.

While the bonds were issued by the banks and not the countries, sovereign debt issued by European peripherals — or what are perceived to be the countries with riskier credit — got caught up in the selling. This caused their yields to rise in comparison to Germany's, whose debt is considered to be a "safe-haven."

Portugal's 10-year yield blew out to 390 basis points more than Germany's while Spanish and Italian spreads widened to 159 bps and 152 bps respectively, before European Central Bank president Mario Draghi said the ECB was "ready to do its part" and loosen policy even further in mid-February.

The announcement from Draghi marked the top in the move for sovereign spreads, which immediately began to tighten.

Andy Kiersz / Business Insider, Bloomberg data

Spreads compressed into the March 10 ECB meeting, and tightened even further after the central bank announced it was cutting its main refinancing rate to zero (0.05% previous), its marginal lending facility to 0.25% (0.30% previous) and its deposit rate to -0.40% (-0.30% previous) while also increasing its asset purchase program to €80 billion (€60 billion previous).

Now, Morgan Stanley thinks peripheral spreads are going to narrow even more in the near-term due to their belief most of the increase to the ECB's asset purchase program will go towards buying sovereign debt.

Additionally, MS believes, "Positive second-round effects from the corporate bond buying and new LTROs should also act in the periphery’s favor."

While things look better in the near-term, the firm thinks spreads will widen past current levels in the back half of the year despite an improving economic backdrop in the periphery thanks to a weakening of the current cycle and the possibility that reform momentum slows.

Here's a look at Morgan Stanley's base case forecast for spreads against German debt:

Andy Kiersz / Business Insider, Bloomberg data

The bank is more positive on Italy as it expects growth there to catch up with that of France and Spain.

Meanwhile, the inability to form a government in Spain and the upcoming autumn election in Portugal will provide headwinds for those countries.

So what's going to stop peripheral spreads from widening in the near-term?

Morgan Stanley says the ECB's QE program takes systemic risk off the table, and provides a daily source of demand. Additionally, "The declining share of foreign ownership in the periphery is another factor that likely limits the extent to which spreads can widen (all else equal) in the current environment," MS concludes.

Andy Kiersz / Business Insider, Bloomberg data

NOW WATCH: Here’s why you should never put Q-Tips in your ears

Jonathan Garber 2016-03-15T07:45:00.000Z

#### Uber shooting suspect 'says he was controlled by phone app'

Jason Dalton is charged with shooting dead six people last month in between working as a cab driver in Kalamazoo
Agencies 2016-03-15T07:43:15.000Z

#### Meningitis B vaccine 'would be cost-effective', says campaigner, as parents take case to Commons

Man behind meningitis B vaccine petition says ministers should consider cost implications of not vaccinating all children as tragic toddler's parents to give evidence to MPs
Agency 2016-03-15T07:40:30.000Z

#### England vs West Indies, T20 World Cup 2016: Where to watch live, prediction, betting odds, team news and live streaming information

England take on West Indies in their opening game in Mumbai on 16 March (Wednesday).
2016-03-15T07:37:15.000Z

#### The markets have fallen out of love with China

Guang Niu/Getty Images

Only a few years ago it was strange to meet someone who wasn’t bullish about the Chinese economy.

Monotonously the economy produced eye-watering growth rates each and every year, drawing investors in far and wide to marvel at the success story. It was only going to get stronger, and larger, eventually leading to the nation displacing the United States as the largest economy worldwide.

While that still appears likely, at least on the current trajectory, it’s clear that sentiment towards China is no longer bullish but outright bearish. Be it China’s property, stock or currency market, and as a consequence its financial sector, investors worldwide continue to fret.

Nothing demonstrates the stark change in investor mindset over the past three years or so than the latest quarterly global macro survey conducted by Barclays.

The bank asked 585 global investors, predominantly from North America and Europe who operate in stocks, credit and rates markets, a series of questions relating to the outlook for asset classes and the global economy in the period ahead.

While the surveys findings on what were the biggest risks to marketsover the next 12 months were evenly spread, it was weak growth in emerging markets, led by China, that continued to outrank all others within the investment community.

The five charts below, supplied by Barclays, offer an indication as to just how pessimistic the markets have become towards China over recent years. It offers something for China bears, and contrarian investors, alike.

### Here's what the survey found were the biggest risks for markets in the year ahead.

Business Insider Australia

### And what nation or region was most likely to undershoot on economic growth.

Business Insider Australia

### Most see the chance of a significant negative shock to China's economy over the next two years at around 10-25%. However, around 50% see the odds being greater than that level.

Business Insider Australia
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
David Scutt 2016-03-15T07:34:04.000Z

#### The cuts will hit us hardest at the end of our lives | Polly Toynbee

Underfunded care homes and overworked staff. In George Osborne’s permanently shrinking state, this is the fate that awaits all of us who’ll need care

The women each had a story to tell about their working lives and the people they care for. When I met them a week ago, two broke down in tears, less for themselves than for the shocking care they felt they offered fragile people at the end of their lives. Each has worked for years in different private care homes in the West Midlands, too afraid of their employers to let me name them or their places of work. When you listen to the budget on Wednesday, think of them and their residents as the real meaning of the government’s “long-term economic plan”.

Related: Budget 2016: is George Osborne asleep at the wheel of UK's economy?

Continue reading...
Polly Toynbee 2016-03-15T07:31:40.000Z

#### Sadiq Khan lead in London mayor race holding firm says new poll

Labour’s City Hall candidate has led in every survey this year but there are still many votes up for grabs

Two opinion polls this month have told much the same story about the contest to succeed Boris Johnson at the helm of City Hall. It is that Labour’s Sadiq Khan has a clear lead over his main rival Zac Goldsmith of the Conservatives, but that a lot of Londoners have still to make up their minds.

The latest survey, conducted by YouGov, puts Khan seven points ahead of Goldsmith among all respondents - exactly the same margin he enjoyed in the last YouGov poll, which was conducted at the beginning of the year. Both have picked up one percentage point since then, putting Khan on 32% and Goldsmith on 25%. Strip out the undecideds and those who say they will not vote and the Labour man’s lead over the Tory stretches to nine points.

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Dave Hill 2016-03-15T07:30:30.000Z

#### Story of cities #2: Rome wasn't planned in a day … in fact it wasn't planned at all

The grid system which the Roman republic exported all over Europe was never employed in the capital itself. The city has always lacked a coherent plan – save for the monumental temple that once towered over it

According to Tacitus, perhaps the greatest of all Roman historians, it was the great temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus on the Capitoline Hill that held the key to the future of ancient Rome.

Writing about a fire at the temple in AD69, Tacitus assumed the conflagration would embolden the enemy Gauls into thinking they might finally conquer the city, such was the symbolism of the temple. “This fatal conflagration has given proof from heaven of the divine wrath,” he wrote, “and presages the passage of sovereignty of the world to the peoples beyond the Alps.”

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Adrian Mourby in Rome 2016-03-15T07:30:08.000Z

#### Behind Closed Doors review: a full-blooded look at domestic abuse

This documentary followed three cases – from the moment emergency calls were placed, right through to the courts and beyond. With so many questions raised, we’d need a full series to unpick all the issues

The bare statistics are always extraordinary. One in 12 women will report a physical assault in her lifetime. Victims of domestic violence endure an average of 50 incidents before they go to the police. And 43% of those who go to the police will be a victim of another attack within a year.

But they expanded into full-blooded life last night in Behind Closed Doors (BBC1), which opened with a recording of a woman’s emergency phone call as she was being almost beaten to death by her partner. Six hours into the assault she managed to ring 999 and then throw her mobile under the bed. The police arrived seven minutes later. “You’re almost resigning yourself …” she said, breathless, again, with terror at the memory of him holding a stereo speaker above her, about to smash her head in, “to: This is it, I’m going to die … Let it be the last punch, so it stops, and I won’t feel it any more.”

Continue reading...
Lucy Mangan 2016-03-15T07:20:07.000Z

#### Mums are formidable in the workplace – we need to hire more

From providing fridges for breast milk to setting up support networks – some employers are helping counter bias against working mothers

After learning to code, Sarah Doczy went from working in a business support role at a tech company to becoming a web developer. When graphic designer Angela Cordon gained coding skills she opened a web development firm with her husband. And Pia Soy, a genetic scientist, went from working in a lab to taking an evening JavaScript bootcamp, which led to her landing her dream job as a web developer at a fashion tech startup.

Beyond their tech-based accomplishments, these women have even more in common. They’re all mothers. They’ve also all cultivated their computer programming skills through MotherCoders, a San Francisco-based project which trains mums for careers in technology.

Continue reading...
Melissa Jun Rowley 2016-03-15T07:17:07.000Z

#### How the Tories picked free schools: chaotic, inconsistent and incompetent

It took a three-year legal battle for Laura McInerney to see papers on why some free school applications succeed and others fail. What she found made her determined to fight on

For decades, anyone who wanted to scrutinise the plans for a new school could do so in much the same way that they might check their neighbour’s application to build a new conservatory. Both were a matter of public information. The reasons for a proposed school’s approval or rejection were also made freely available.

Then, after the 2010 general election, the shutters came down. In fact, plans for the government’s flagship free school policy were so secret that I was taken to court for asking to see them.

Continue reading...
Laura McInerney 2016-03-15T07:16:07.000Z

#### Negative interest rates are costing European banks a ton of money

Reuters/Peter Andrews

How much will the ECB’s new negative interest rate policy cost the euro area banks? That’s the question Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s European Banks Strategy research team set out to answer in a note issued to clients last week.

And while the report was published a week before the ECB’s decision, (published 02 March 2016) it still raises some interesting points. For example, when negative rates were first introduced back in late 2014, the annual cost to banks was around €0.2 billion, but this run rate has risen tenfold to €2 billion today.

Moreover, Bank of America’s analysts estimates that a negative 100 bps deposit rate (The ECB cut its deposit rate on Thursday by 10 bps to minus 0.4%) would cost banks €20 billion per annum by 2018.

### Banks will see rising costs from negative rates

As well as costing Europe’s banks billions, Bank of America believes that the ECB’s qualitative easing policy is creating deposits in the banking system — exactly the opposite of what it was designed to do.

As the chart below shows, when negative interest rates were first introduced there was only €100 billion of assets (compared to the overall balance sheet of Europe’s bank system which is around €30 trillion) that met the excess reserve threshold on which the negative deposit was applied.

However, since the introduction of a negative interest rate policy, excess deposits have surged and now stand just under €700 billion.

Reuters/Peter Andrews

Bank of America blames a QE supply-demand mismatch for this explosion assets:

“We believe that QE is at the heart of this increase. QE creates deposits in the banking system. If it stimulates significant additional demand for loans or risky assets in the economy, these may then run down again over time as such investments are made. However, to the degree QE runs ahead of increased demand, the deposits sit on bank balance sheets.”

Bank of America’s analysis goes on to show that with the amount of QE the ECB has been undertaking, at €60 billion a month, assuming all other things remaining equal 60% of the deposits created by QE so far sit as excess deposits at banks, placed back with the ECB. There’s also the LTRO and TLTRO positions to consider. As these liquidity initiatives mature, or banks choose to unwind early, the banks would reduce their cash position and get their securities back.

Reuters/Peter Andrews

There should not be a correlation between QE and excess reserves. Bank of America presents figures showing that the opposite is indeed true. In fact, the bank goes so far as to say that there is a strong directional correlation between the two, and it’s highly likely that more QE will create more excess reserves.

To this end, Bank of America summarizes that QE and negative rates are already creating an income problem for banks and any further move into negative territory, or increase in QE (just as the ECB has now done) will accelerate the challenge faced by banks.

A negative rate of -30 bps was costing Europe’s banking industry €2 billion euros a year in lost income on excess reserves of €672 billion. Assuming excess reserves continue to grow their rate Bank of America predicted the without any further plunge into negative territory, and negative rate of -30 bps would cost Europe’s banking industry just under €6 billion per annum by 2019. However, a move to a negative rate of 100 bps would cost the industry nearly €20 billion per annum in lost income by 2019.

Reuters/Peter Andrews

Rupert may hold positions in one or more of the companies mentioned in this article. You can find a full list of Rupert’s positions on his blog. This should not be interpreted as investment advice, or a recommendation to buy or sell securities. You should make your own decisions and seek independent professional advice before doing so. Past performance is not a guide to future performance.

NOW WATCH: Why you should never throw away these bags again

2016-03-15T07:15:00.000Z

#### Myanmar parliament elects Htin Kyaw as first civilian president in 53 years

In historic parliamentary vote, Aung San Suu Kyi’s party uses its majority to appoint her 69-year-old key aide as head of state

Myanmar’s parliament has elected Htin Kyaw as the country’s first non-military president since the army took power in a 1962 coup.

A close adviser and loyal friend to Aung San Suu Kyi, the 69-year-old was nominated by the National League for Democracy party last week and voted into the presidency by parliament on Tuesday.

Continue reading...
Oliver Holmes in Bangkok 2016-03-15T07:14:10.000Z

#### UK pledges 'zero carbon' climate laws

Climate laws will be tightened to cut carbon emissions effectively to zero, the government says.
2016-03-15T07:10:01.000Z

#### Asian stocks extend losses as BOJ offers gloomier economic view

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Asian stocks fell on Tuesday after the Bank of Japan painted a gloomier view of the world's third-largest economy, but the yen firmed as policymakers appeared to back away from any imminent move to cut interest rates further into negative territory.
2016-03-15T07:08:08.000Z

#### Live Coverage of the Mega Tuesday Primaries

Voters head to the polls in Ohio, Florida, Illinois, North Carolina, and Missouri. Can anyone stop Trump? And can Bernie Sanders pull off more upset victories?
Yoni Appelbaum 2016-03-15T07:00:18.000Z

#### The case against Osborne is clear. But Corbyn has to provide an alternative | Aditya Chakrabortty

The chancellor is a chancer, as shown by his endless U-turns. That doesn’t mean voters think Labour can do better

So approaches the one day of the year when even the most mottle-faced Blairite can dredge up some sympathy for Jeremy Corbyn: budget day. Of all the jobs dumped on a leader of Her Majesty’s opposition, responding to the budget ranks among the hardest.

Related: Budget 2016: is George Osborne asleep at the wheel of UK's economy?

Continue reading...
Aditya Chakrabortty 2016-03-15T07:00:07.000Z

#### Getting people cycling on residential streets needs more than 20mph limits

Having slower traffic where people live is a start. But to really boost cycling we need less traffic – and that means curbing rat runs

Speed limits of 20mph are being seen increasingly on residential streets, and they’re popular: recent Department of Transport research showed 73% of people are in favour. Campaigning from groups like 20’s Plenty for Us and Living Streets has paid off, with support growing significantly.

Slower speeds are necessary to reduce injuries. But even if 20mph limits can be properly enforced – a big question – would this be enough? Do they, alone, create pleasant, liveable neighbourhoods, where lots of people will choose to walk or cycle? Do we want to see a steady stream of traffic in residential streets, even travelling at 20mph, or should our goals be more radical?

Continue reading...
Rachel Aldred 2016-03-15T07:00:07.000Z

#### Police powerless to use new grooming law, child safety experts warn

Delays and miscommunication between Ministry of Justice and Home Office mean that law passed a year ago to tackle online grooming still not being used

Government blunders have left police powerless to use a new law to catch paedophiles, top child safety experts have warned.

The law was passed by parliament more than a year ago, but delays mean the power can not be used.

Continue reading...
Vikram Dodd Police and crime correspondent 2016-03-15T07:00:07.000Z

#### How we made The Tube

Jools Holland: ‘When Rik Mayall vomited into a camera, one man in Northampton was so appalled he called the police.’

Tyne Tees Television were looking for presenters for this new pop show. I did my audition with Paula Yates and it was chaotic. Paula interviewed a youth and ended up getting so cross she tried to slap him. I interviewed someone who was supposed to be dead and dragged him across the floor. The TV people said that we were hopeless but that they couldn’t stop watching us.

Continue reading...
Interviews by Dave Simpson 2016-03-15T07:00:07.000Z

#### Children should learn mainly through play until age of eight, says Lego

Toy company funds research suggesting educational development can be hindered by early formal schooling. So are UK schools getting it wrong?

Parents are squeezing the role of play out of their children’s lives in favour of the three ‘R’s as they try to prepare their offspring for a competitive world, according to the head of Lego’s education charity arm.

A lack of understanding of the value of play is prompting parents and schools alike to reduce it as a priority, says Hanne Rasmussen, head of the Lego Foundation. If parents and governments push children towards numeracy and literacy earlier and earlier, it means they miss out on the early play-based learning that helps to develop creativity, problem-solving and empathy, she says.

Continue reading...
Lucy Ward 2016-03-15T07:00:07.000Z

#### The joy of invented languages, from Nadsat to Newspeak

NuqneH to Klingon speakers! (Hello, to everyone else.) What drives people to construct new languages and what are they really saying?

It may have been when Gandalf threw Frodo’s ring into the fireplace to reveal the dark letters of Sauron’s black speech. Or perhaps it was when the Klingon captain ordered his minions to fire photon torpedoes in Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Or it could have happened when Big Brother introduced thoughtcrime in 1984 and I realised how doubleplusungood that was.

Related: Which philosopher would fare best in a present-day university?

Continue reading...
Jim Clarke 2016-03-15T07:00:07.000Z

#### Tiny dancers: Adriatic holiday-makers from above – in pictures

Olivo Barbieri hopped in a helicopter to take his shots of people frolicking on Balkan beaches, resulting in ultra-bright tableaux of tiny sun-worshippers

Continue reading...
Guardian Staff 2016-03-15T07:00:07.000Z

#### Port workers begin two-week strike

A two-week strike at Scotland's largest container port is under way as part of a dispute over changes to shift patterns.
2016-03-15T06:59:39.000Z

#### Poor students and missing girl mystery

Students from poorer backgrounds should get into university with lower grades and the search for missing 18-year-old Sarah Goldie.
2016-03-15T06:59:01.000Z

#### I'm not anti-Semitic, Don McLean says on Twitter

Singer in middle of divorce case uses social media to deny estranged wife's claims that he abused her with bigoted slurs over her Jewishness
Robert Tait 2016-03-15T06:58:57.000Z

#### Uber shooting suspect: dashcam footage of his arrest in Kalamazoo

Police release dashcam footage showing the moment they arrest Kalamazoo shooting suspect Jason Dalton, who is accused of shooting dead six people
Telegraph Video 2016-03-15T06:57:53.000Z

#### Thousands of refugees stream into Macedonia after escaping Greece camp

Three people, including a pregnant woman, drown attempting to cross river while hundreds more detained
Nick Squires 2016-03-15T06:52:07.000Z

#### Al Qaeda’s attack on Cote d’Ivoire may threaten its status as Africa’s top investment destination

On Sunday, March 13, an attack on a beach resort area in Grand Bassam, Cote d’Ivoire shook the country. The attack, the first by Al…
Yomi Kazeem 2016-03-15T06:51:33.000Z

#### What has been the real cost of Syria's civil war?

Half a million Syrians are believed to have been killed during the conflict that now enters its sixth year - with millions more internally displaced or forced to flee the country
Raziye Akkoc 2016-03-15T06:50:01.000Z

#### Why India must stop tolerating stalking with a “boys will be boys”

Even as she writhed in pain, the one name she kept repeating was of the person who had allegedly set her ablaze—a neighbourhood youth who…
Shelly Walia 2016-03-15T06:44:21.000Z

#### How The King's reign changed the game

As the world's best golfers line up in the Arnold Palmer Invitational, Iain Carter examines the influence 'The King' has had on the sport.
2016-03-15T06:41:23.000Z

#### Rabbit owners tried to convince Queensland police illegal pet was a guinea pig

Keeping or selling rabbits carries penalties of up to six months’ jail in the state, where the animals are considered a risk to agriculture and native flora

A rabbit has been lucky to escape across the Queensland border with his life after being seized by police seeking to enforce the state’s ban.

Officers from Springwood police station found the rabbit living in a cage inside a caravan after they were called to the address in relation to another incident.

Continue reading...
Elle Hunt 2016-03-15T06:32:30.000Z

#### Judas has had a 'lousy press', as prominent clerics call for a reappraisal of the disciple who betrayed Jesus

Prominent clerics, including a Church of England bishop, have lent their voices to calls for a reappraisal of the disciple who betrayed Jesus, leading to his crucifixion
John Bingham 2016-03-15T06:30:27.000Z

#### In praise of Belfast

Few cities have been transformed as dramatically as Belfast. Guardian readers recently voted it their favourite UK city, which would delight locals like author Glenn Patterson

The playwright Owen McCafferty once said of growing up in Belfast in the 1970s: “We lived in a very black and white world then … and we should have been living in colour.” He was pleased with that line – who wouldn’t be. I was pleased just to be standing facing him when he said it. And he was absolutely right, even if I have photographic evidence that there was colour around then – most of it on me, and none of it matching. Belfast of old was a byword for binary oppositions: never mind the “peace” walls, we partitioned the city in our own heads – that street good, that street no-go.

Which is one of the reasons now I take such delight in walking along a street like Union Street, behind the city’s Central Library, even on a dark night, even on my own. Union Street in nights gone by was high up on my no-go list.

Continue reading...
Glenn Patterson 2016-03-15T06:30:06.000Z

#### Aung San Suu Kyi confidant confirmed as Burma's new president

Burmese MPs elect first civilian leader since 1960 but military flexes power with choice of former general who helped crush monk-led Saffron Revolution as senior vice president
Philip Sherwell 2016-03-15T06:28:28.000Z

#### Aung San Suu Kyi confidant confirmed as Burma's new president but ex-military hardliner takes number two post

Burmese MP elects first civilian leader since 1960 but military flexes power with choice of former general who helped crush monk-led Saffron Revolution as senior vice president
Philip Sherwell 2016-03-15T06:28:28.000Z

#### Think twice about that butter chicken—Indians are struggling to digest their food

There was a sharp increase in online searches for gastroenterologists (doctors specialising in the digestive system) in India in 2015 from a year ago, according…
Itika Sharma Punit 2016-03-15T06:14:57.000Z

#### 'More tennis players in gambling links'

More than two dozen top tennis players should be investigated for possible links to betting rings, an Italian prosecutor says.
2016-03-15T06:09:32.000Z

#### The Stakes Are High in Ohio and Florida

A Trump loss in either state would be heartening for the establishment hoping to beat him.
Nora Kelly 2016-03-15T06:07:17.000Z

#### Japanese mother's angry childcare blog forces government to promise 500,000 new places

Anonymous post which blasted the government for its acute shortage of care places has gone viral, prompting petition and demonstrations - forcing the prime minister to address the issue
Danielle Demetriou 2016-03-15T06:04:43.000Z

#### 'TV needs working-class writers to counter Downton Abbey effect'

Line of Duty actor Daniel Mays follows Judi Dench and Julie Walters in voicing concerns the job is becoming the preserve of a privileged elite

One of the stars of BBC2’s hit police drama Line of Duty has called for more working-class writers to combat the “Downton Abbey effect” on television.

Daniel Mays, who also starred in ITV’s Mrs Biggs and BBC1’s Ashes to Ashes, and as Private Walker in the new film version of Dad’s Army, said the industry was awash with actors and writers educated at public school.

Continue reading...
John Plunkett 2016-03-15T06:01:06.000Z

#### The gambler and the top-50 tennis players

The gambler and the top-50 tennis players
2016-03-15T06:00:09.000Z

#### William Shakespeare's handwritten plea for refugees to go online

Sir Thomas More script is only surviving copy of a play in the bard’s hand and is one of 300 texts being digitised in run-up to British Library exhibition

The last surviving play script handwritten by William Shakespeare, in which he imagines Sir Thomas More making an impassioned plea for the humane treatment of refugees, is to be made available online by the British Library.

The manuscript is one of 300 newly digitised treasures shining a light on the wider society and culture that helped shape Shakespeare’s imagination. All will be available to view on a new website before an extensive exhibition on the playwright at the library next month.

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Mark Brown Arts correspondent 2016-03-15T06:00:06.000Z

#### From Kim Jong-un to Kim Kardashian – the world's most powerful millennials

From Kim Kardashian to Kim Jong-un, we look at some of the biggest movers and shakers aged 20-35

For some, millennials are the cursed generation who would prefer to concentrate on taking 2,000 selfies a year than anything else.

For others, including many millennials themselves, they are the generation coming to terms with being the first in the history of the western world to be worse off than their parents.

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Maeve Shearlaw 2016-03-15T06:00:06.000Z

#### The British umpire: how the IFS became the most influential voice in the economic debate | Simon Akam

When the media sizes up tomorrow’s budget, one verdict will matter more than all the others. What’s the secret behind the Institute for Fiscal Studies’ extraordinary power?

Just after midday on 25 November last year, Paul Johnson arrived at Millbank Studios, a pale stone building, used by news broadcasters, diagonally opposite the Palace of Westminster. Johnson, who is 49 and gangly, was riding a Brompton folding bicycle, his left suit trouser leg tucked into a red sock. (He claims to own socks of no other colour.)

Johnson is the director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, an independent economic research organisation that occupies a unique position in British political life. Though other outfits attempt similar work, the IFS stands apart: when it comes to economic policy, its assessments have, for many, become the closest approximation to revealed truth.

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Simon Akam 2016-03-15T06:00:06.000Z

#### Obama to kill off Arctic oil drilling

President also expected to protect large areas of Atlantic coast after backlash from communities that fear Gulf of Mexico rig disaster could happen again

The Obama administration is expected to put virtually all of the Arctic and much of the Atlantic off limits for oil and gas drilling until 2022 in a decision that could be announced as early as Tuesday.

Related: Obama administration blocks new oil drilling in the Arctic

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Suzanne Goldenberg, US environment correspondent 2016-03-15T05:50:58.000Z

#### Donald Trump compares immigrants to venomous snakes

The Republican front-runner makes a final appeal to voters in Ohio
Nick Allen 2016-03-15T05:45:11.000Z

#### Iran says missiles for self defence, tests do not violate nuclear deal

CANBERRA (Reuters) - Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Tuesday its ballistic missiles were for self-defense and that recent tests condemned by the United States did not violate an historic nuclear deal between Tehran and six world powers.
2016-03-15T05:38:38.000Z

#### Brazil's former president Lula da Silva 'offered cabinet post'

Job would provide immunity from prosecution as corruption probe casts shadow over government of Dilma Rousseff
Reuters 2016-03-15T05:32:41.000Z

#### 'Deformed' dog and Putin's surprise move

The papers express surprise and scepticism at Russia's decision to withdraw most of its troops from Syria - and concern at the condition of one Crufts competitor.
2016-03-15T05:21:24.000Z

#### Inmates 'fear being radicalised in Belmarsh prison by Muslims'

Barrister says prison officers have lost control of one of Britain's most secure facilities, amid concerns radical prisoners are trying to bully others into converting to Islam
Camilla Turner 2016-03-15T04:51:56.000Z

#### 'Give women early pension access' - MPs

The government should give some women early access to their state pension if they accept lower weekly payments, a committee of MPs recommends.
2016-03-15T04:31:48.000Z

#### Ivory Coast gunmen drank beer in bar before attack on resort

Details of the rampage by al-Qaida gunmen emerge as questions are raised over why the popular seaside resort was left so vulnerable

Gunmen from al-Qaida’s north African branch drank beer at a beachside bar before launching an attack at an Ivory Coast resort town that left at least 18 people dead.

Sunday’s raid, the details of which are beginning to emerge in witness and official accounts, was the furthest yet from al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb’s (Aqim) traditional desert base, a worrying indication of the militants’ growing reach.

Continue reading...
Reuters 2016-03-15T04:19:28.000Z

#### Father appeals for suspect in daughter's murder to return from Yemen after eight years

Farouk Abdulhak, the son of a billionaire, has refused to return to the UK, where police want to question him in connection with death of Martine Vik Magnussen
PA 2016-03-15T04:16:59.000Z

#### Brazil's Lula likely to take cabinet position - source

SAO PAULO/BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazil's former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will likely accept a position in President Dilma Rousseff's cabinet but plans to travel to Brasilia on Tuesday to discuss his options with her in person, a source said on Monday.
2016-03-15T04:04:23.000Z

#### Lyft drivers who don’t have a car can rent one from GM — and it’s free if they drive enough

Lyft

Companies like Uber and Lyft could make car ownership obsolete. Having a ride when you need it gives you one less reason to own a car.

A new program from Lyft could help its drivers escape car ownership as well.

"We’ve now made car ownership optional on both sides of the market," Lyft founder and President John Zimmer told reporters on a conference call Monday. "If you look now on the driver’s side, you also don’t need to own vehicle."

The new Express Driver program, which launches Tuesday in Chicago, is a partnership with General Motors. Lyft drivers can rent cars from GM for one to eight weeks. If a Lyft driver hits more than 65 rides in that week long time span, it's free — maintenance and insurance included. LyftLyft had seen potential drivers getting rejected because their car was too old or they didn't own it themselves, Zimmer explained.

In Chicago, Lyft saw more than 60,000 people who wanted to work, but did not have a car that met Lyft's standards. That's where the new partnership with GM comes in.

GM is supplying the 125 Chevy Equinox SUVs that will launch the program in Chicago, and will cover the cost of maintenance on the vehicles. Both GM and Lyft are splitting the insurance burden, but there's no revenue sharing involved between the two. (Although GM's investment in Lyft means the car maker will profit if Lyft does well).

Express Drive will soon be expand to Boston, Washington D.C., Baltimore, and other cities depending on demand.

NOW WATCH: We flew to the airport like the 1% — on the 'Uber of helicopters'

Biz Carson 2016-03-15T04:00:00.000Z

#### Chinese new home sales have surged 50% in just 12 months

Jonathan Garber/Business Insider

Even with distortions that result from the timing of the week-long Lunar New Year holiday, Chinese economic data for February has been terrible.

Export growth tanked, retail sales slowed sharply, industrial output grew at the slowest pace since the global financial crisis, and manufacturing activity levels continued to contract while those for the services sector – the great hope for powering economic growth in the years ahead – expanded at the slowest pace on record.

It’s enough to make you wonder just how likely, let alone reputable, it’ll be that the economy will grow around 6.5% this year, a set goal for the government.

Amidst the raft of dire economic reads, there was one indicator that managed to buck the trend: urban fixed asset investment, led by an enormous 20.2% surge in spending from Chinese state-owned enterprises.

According to the China’s National Bureau of Statistics, investment rose by 10.2% in January and February compared to the same period a year earlier, bucking expectations for a deceleration to 9.5%.

Not only was it well above forecasts, it also marked the first month since June 2014 that the annual rate accelerated from one month earlier.

Fixed asset investment measures capital spending on physical assets such as real estate infrastructure and machinery held one year or longer.

Perhaps more surprising than the actual acceleration in spending was that it came from real estate investment, something that few would have expected – even with recent strength in house prices in larger cities – given the great swathes of unsold properties that litter smaller Chinese cities at present.

Helen Qiao, Xiaojia Zhi and Sylvia Sheng, Bank of America-Merrill Lynch’s China economic team, suggest that the rebound in infrastructure spending over January and February was primarily driven by an acceleration of real estate investment.

“Following five consecutive months of year-on-year declines, real estate investment growth rebounded to 3.0% yoy in Jan-Feb from -1.9% in December as home sales recovery continued amid a supportive policy environment,” say BAML.

In early February the PBOC announced that it will allow lenders to cut the minimum mortgage down payment for first-home buyers from 25% to 20%, taking the required level to the lowest level ever.

Alongside the sweetener delivered to first-time buyers, the PBOC also lowered the minimum down payment for those looking to purchase a second home, dropping the rate by 10 percentage points to 30%.

“The eased requirements will be for buyers in areas without the purchase restrictions that are applied in some of the biggest metropolitan areas such as Beijing and Shanghai,” the bank said in a statement.

Yes, with economic indicators elsewhere faltering and its foray into the stock market and undisputed disaster, the government has yet again turned to property market in an attempt to buttress economic growth.

As BAML points out, the scale and speed of the rebound in property investment has been breathtaking.

“The growth of new home sales in floor space and value terms surged to 30.4% and 49.2% yoy in Jan-Feb from 1.4% and 8.9% in December, helped by a string of policy easing to support the property market and a low base 12 months ago,” says the bank.

“Apart from the strong home sales momentum, there are also signs of improvement on the supply side. New home starts growth jumped up to 9.7% yoy in Jan-Feb from -6.5% in December. In addition, the decline of land areas purchased by property developers narrowed to 19.4% yoy in 2M16 from 31.7% yoy in 2015.”

Adding to the intrigue of the rebound, and casting doubt on just who these homes are being built for, BAML notes that vacant residential gross floor area (GFA) waiting for sale increased by a further 13.9 million square metres in the first two months of the year, adding to the 11.6 million square metres that it grew by in December.

That is residential floor space that has been built but not sold.

Given the glut of unsold properties in smaller tier-three and lower Chinese cities, it seems slightly odd, and perhaps to some disconcerting, that additional supply is yet again being added to China’s residential property market.

According to data released by the China’s National Bureau of Statistics late last year, unsold home inventory across the nation hit a record 686.3 million square meters as at the end of October 2015, up 17.8% on the levels of a year earlier.

The chart below, supplied by Deutsche Bank, reveals the growing level of unsold residential floor space seen in recent years.Jonathan Garber/Business Insider

Vivek Dhar, a mining and energy commodities analyst at CBA, wrote in January this year that the glut of unsold properties in smaller Chinese cities could take anywhere between two to five years to clear at the current pace of sales.

And now there’s an acceleration in supply about to hit the market, at least according to the figures released by the NBS for February.

While fine-tuning policy to help smooth out growth fluctuations is perfectly normal, and indeed proactive, it’s little wonder than many observers outside of China are concerned about the governments renewed push to spur on property investment.

Recent measures designed the support the property market have spurred on ridiculous price gains in some larger Chinese cities, amplifying talk that a property bubble – already deemed to be in place by many – is only getting larger. At the same time, a huge glut of unsold properties remains in smaller regional cities, ensuring prices remain under pressure.

The imbalances are building, and being fueled by what some may deem to be short-term thinking.

As Chinese stock market investors found out first hand last year, when factors such as these come together, the divergence from fundamentals can have large, and costly, ramifications.

If a similar scenario was to play out in China’s property market, the economic ramifications would be near unfathomable.

NOW WATCH: Adam Savage reveals why he and 'MythBusters' cohost Jamie Hyneman won't be working together anymore

David Scutt 2016-03-15T03:49:00.000Z

#### China may be about to tax currency trading

AP/GREG BAKER

China's central bank, the People's Bank of China, could be about to implement rules designed to curb speculative trading in currency markets.

According to a report from Bloomberg, which cited anonymous sources, the PBOC has drafted rules for a Tobin tax on currency trading.

"The initial rate of the so-called Tobin tax may be kept at zero to allow authorities time to refine the rules," Bloomberg said, citing the sources. "The tax is not designed to disrupt hedging and other foreign-exchange transactions undertaken by companies."

The sources told Bloomberg that the rules still needed approval from the central government and that it wasn't clear how quickly they could be implemented.

No further details, including what currencies would be affected, were provided.

The tax, named after Nobel Laureate economist James Tobin, who first floated the idea, would tax all spot foreign-exchange conversions from one currency into another.

The increased transactional cost would, according to the idea, discourage some speculative forms of trading.

Bloomberg suggests that the "tax would complicate plans by China to create an international reserve currency and could undermine the leadership's pledge to increase the role of market forces in the world's second-largest economy."

The draft ruling may have been prompted by a surge in capital outflows from China over the past year.

China's FX reserves fell by $601.5 billion in the 12 months to February, the largest annual decrease on record. While partially caused by revaluation effects of the stronger US dollar, a proportion of the decline most likely was due to the central bank's intervening in the currency market to curb excessive speculation toward further weakness in the renminbi.

AP/GREG BAKER

NOW WATCH: Adam Savage reveals why he and 'MythBusters' cohost Jamie Hyneman won't be working together anymore

David Scutt 2016-03-15T03:48:20.000Z

#### Al-Qaeda gunmen drank in bar before unleashing Ivory Coast attack

Details of tragedy emerge in witness and official accounts while questions raised over country's preparedness for such an attack
Reuters 2016-03-15T03:26:50.000Z

#### One troubling statistic shows how unprepared Americans are for retirement

Pedro Ribeiro Simões/Flickr

I spend half of my year with my wife and two-year old daughter in rural Costa Rica. We live and volunteer on a permaculture coffee farm. Our life there is a nice byproduct of being able to work via the Internet.

One person we've gotten to know well there is a woman I'll call Dona Maria. At 90 years old, she's the great-grandmother of our neighbors' family.

She lives with one of her children, two of her grandchildren, and four of her great-grandchildren.

By typical American standards, we'd say that she's deeply impoverished -- and would (paternalistically) describe her situation as tragic. But you wouldn't think that if you talked to her, or saw how she lives her life. Up at the crack of dawn to milk the family cow, spending a copious amounts of time with neighbors, friends and great-grandchildren, and moving about her house with ease, she's the very model of happiness in old age.

Why do I tell that story? Because based on the numbers I'm going to present below, it would be easy to conclude that the vast majority of our retirees are living on the razor's edge of a deeply depressing life.

While that may be true for some of them, it certainly isn't for all. And that's important to remember when you consider...

### More than 50% have no nest egg at all!

A study released last year by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) gave more detail than any other source I've found about the financial situation of today's retired population. Specifically, the GAO provided details on people ages 65 to 74 — the group I'll be referring to hereafter when I talk about those who are retired.

Pedro Ribeiro Simões/FlickrWhat stood out more than anything else was a simple fact: 52% of households in this group have absolutely no retirement savings whatsoever.

That's not to say that they don't have any assets or income: 77% own their homes (and 36% have paid off their mortgages), 49% have some sort of defined benefit (i.e. pension) plan , and almost all receive some sort of Social Security payment.

### What about the other 48% who do have savings?

Well, it's a mixed bag. The median household among this group has $148,000 saved -- enough to provide about $6,000 a year in income to those following the 4% rule. But they also have a median net worth of almost $600,000, 95% own their homes (and 51% have paid it off), and 58% have some sort of defined benefit plan. And again, the vast majority are collecting Social Security.

Pedro Ribeiro Simões/FlickrBut to get a clearer picture, let's look at the average nest egg by percentiles among savers.

Based on this data, only the top quarter of all savers — and only the top 12% of all retirees in this age range — can count on a minimum of $16,000 in income each year from their nest eggs.

Now, add in pensions, Social Security and other common sources, and their incomes could easily add up to more than $35,000 per year — an amount you could manage on reasonably comfortably if you owned your home outright.

### So where's the money coming from?

Pedro Ribeiro Simões/FlickrThe GAO offered an even clearer visualization as to how where the money's coming from to allow these groups to afford their respective lifestyles.

The answer: It certainly isn't coming from their nest eggs!

As you can see, nothing does more to help retirees meet their needs than Social Security. Overall, it provides a whopping 44% of all income for those aged 65 to 74. Even among those who have built up their nest eggs, the money they've saved and invested only provides a scant 9% of their retirement income.

Here's a twist, though: The defined benefit plans that provide 17% of current retirees' income are far less commonly offered to today's workers. And with almost 20% of their retirement incomes coming from wages or salaries, it's a bit harder to consider today's retirees truly "retired."

Put it all together and there are four conclusions I believe we can draw:

1. Pinning down the true financial situation of our nation's retirees is difficult.
2. Figuring out what that situation means to individual retirees is impossible.
3. At the end of the day, the only thing that should really matter to the reader is what their own retirement will look like, and how they feel about it.
4. Regardless of one's political persuasion, the importance of Social Security to today's retirees is undeniable.

NOW WATCH: Why you should never throw away these bags again

2016-03-15T03:22:00.000Z

#### JJ Abrams pleads with viewers not to watch The Force Awakens on phones

Star Wars director says it is ‘the nightmare of every storyteller’ that their films, which were made for cinema, will be seen on tiny screens

The director of Star Wars: The Force Awakens has said it was a “nightmare” to think of people watching the big-screen sci-fi adventure on a mobile phone.

“Anyone who makes movies will say: ‘Please don’t watch my movies on that,’” JJ Abrams, told a seminar at the South by Southwest film festival in Austin.

Continue reading...
Reuters 2016-03-15T02:59:10.000Z

#### Brexit and Britain - what would it mean for UK trade?

LONDON (Reuters) - The stakes will be high for Britain's historic role as a free-trading nation when it holds a referendum on whether to stay in the European Union on June 23.
2016-03-15T02:57:33.000Z

#### Brexit and Britain - what would it mean for UK trade?

LONDON (Reuters) - The stakes will be high for Britain's historic role as a free-trading nation when it holds a referendum on whether to stay in the European Union on June 23.
2016-03-15T02:57:33.000Z

#### Europe may still be stuck in a liquidity trap

Europe may still be stuck in a liquidity trap.

During the financial crisis, this economic idea came into play as economists worried the Federal Reserve's move to buy assets couldn't avoid this scenario, in which additional injections of money into the banking system failed to reduce interest rates such that alternative uses of this capital was best used elsewhere (i.e. buying stuff or investing in something potentially productive rather than saving).

In short, a liquidity trap is the nightmare of modern central bank policy, which is broadly underwritten by the idea that additional injections of capital will boost preferences for goods over money, thus stoking price inflation and economic activity.

And though interest rates in the US — and, at the time, Europe — were pegged at 0%, additional injections of money into the US economy for years failed to stoke inflation as this money was put into bonds — and later stocks — or simply hoarded.

As we well know, central banks in Europe and Japan have since abandoned the zero-lower bound and taken rates into negative territory while inflation and economic growth in these economies still remains elusive.

And while it has been some time since markets — in a mainstream way — have worried that we've fallen into a liquidity trap (thus rendering much of what central banks have or are believed to be able to do ineffective), Deutsche Bank's rates team wrote in a note over the weekend that we shouldn't be so sure this has been avoided.

Here's DB (emphasis ours):

Understanding how negative rates may or may not help economic growth is much more complex than most central bankers and investors probably appreciate. Ultimately the confusion resides around differences in view on the theory of money. In a classical world, money supply multiplied by a constant velocity of circulation equates to nominal growth. In a Keynesian world, velocity is not necessarily constant – specifically for Keynes, there is a money demand function (liquidity preference) and therefore a theory of interest that allows for a liquidity trap whereby increasing money supply does not lead to higher nominal growth as the increase in money is hoarded. The interest rate (or inverse of the price of bonds) becomes sticky because at low rates, for infinitesimal expectations of any further rise in bond prices and a further fall in interest rates, demand for money tends to infinity. In Gesell’s world money supply itself becomes inversely correlated with velocity of circulation due to money characteristics being superior to goods (or commodities). There are costs to storage that money does not have and so interest on money capital sets a bar to interest on real capital that produces goods. This is similar to Keynes’ concept of the marginal efficiency of capital schedule being separate from the interest rate. For Gesell the product of money and velocity is effective demand (nominal growth) but because of money capital’s superiority to real capital, if money supply expands it comes at the expense of velocity. The new money supply is hoarded because as interest rates fall, expected returns on capital also fall through oversupply – for economic agents goods remain unattractive to money. The demand for money thus rises as velocity slows. This is simply a deflation spiral, consumers delaying purchases of goods, hoarding money, expecting further falls in goods prices before they are willing to part with their money.

[...]

In a Keynesian world of deficient demand, the burden is on fiscal policy to restore demand. Monetary policy simply won’t work if there is a liquidity trap and demand for cash is infinite. Interest rates cannot be reduced any further to stimulate demand. (In Gesell’s terminology the product of velocity and money supply i.e. effective demand keeps falling). In Gesell’s world money itself needs to be taxed to prevent hoarding and to equalize the worth of money to goods. If cash is taxed (and he suggested at the annual tax rate might be 5.2 percent, according to Keynes) then velocity is stabilized, demand for money falls and goods demand recovers. The tendency to oversupply however in an economy unfettered by “privilege” effectively implies that interest rates in equilibrium may converge to zero. Taxing of money specifically is to deal with an ex ante effective demand deficiency.

Europe’s long time obsession with negative rates, to quote our present day Fischer, is fair but misleading in the context of how negative interest rates are being applied. The combination of penalty rates on banks’ excess reserves and QE is designed at one level to expand private sector credit. This if anything will promote supply of goods. If supply creates its own demand and or if Keynesian investment accelerator models are valid, then they may well be successful in restoring a Keynesian deficient demand problem. This is essentially the same as saying there is no liquidity trap. (If we think of the inverse bond price on the vertical axis as being a private sector asset price, then a large price rise can be achieved for a relatively small amount of money expansion). But it presupposes that there is deficient loan demand due to high money capital interest rates rather than due to too low real capital expected returns. The risk is that QE itself is simply new money being hoarded on the demand side so that money velocity falls and effective demand remains weak. Falling interest rates may well promote new loan demand and increase supply but only in a deflationary spiral of further falls in expected capital returns and the perceived need for still lower money interest rates. If Gesell is correct, it is essential to tax money itself which means not just retail deposits but cash in circulation. Then velocity would stabilize with effective demand as households would be willing to own goods rather than money. It is conceivable that the Europeans are heading in this direction and maybe it will be worse before it gets better. Or maybe there is still time for the Keynesian mechanism to prove that we are not in a liquidity trap.

Just an idle thought.

NOW WATCH: Bill Nye offers up one scientific fact to shut down climate-change deniers

Myles Udland 2016-03-15T02:47:28.000Z

#### Thumbs up: Malia and Sasha Obama meet actor Ryan Reynolds

Malia Obama caught giving the thumbs up to her sister Sasha as she meets Ryan Reynolds during the girls' first state dinner
Chiara Palazzo 2016-03-15T02:41:51.000Z

#### A new discovery shows how the T-rex transformed from ordinary creatures to killing machines

Todd Marshall

Tyrannosaurus rex is an icon, a dinosaur known to nearly everyone on the planet.

It doesn’t get much more awesome than a 13-metre long, seven-ton superpredator that could bite through the bones of its prey.

T. rex may be the undisputed king of the dinosaurs, but how did evolution produce such a marvelous creature, the biggest predator ever to live on land?

It’s been a mystery for a long time, but a new species of tyrannosaur from Uzbekistan – a smaller and earlier cousin of T. rex – provides some valuable clues.

Meet Timurlengia euotica, a horse-sized tyrannosaur that lived about 90m years ago when Uzbekistan was a sweltering maze of forests and rivers bordering a vast inland sea.

### Small and smart

The bones of Timurlengia were collected during a decade of field expeditions to Uzbekistan’s desolate Kyzylkum Desert, one of the driest areas of the world, led by my colleagues Alexander Averianov and Hans-Dieter Sues. They invited me to help study the fossils, and we have described the new species in a paper in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Timurlengia is particularly important because it is the first tyrannosaur known from the middle part of the Cretaceous period. Previously this was a dark interval of tyrannosaur history: a 20-30 million year gap in the fossil record concealing the moment when tyrannosaurs switched from fairly marginal hunters living in the underbrush to the colossal tyrants that fuel our nightmares.

Todd MarshallLike pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, we have various bits of Timurlengia’s skeleton, including part of the snout and jaws, some teeth, various vertebrae of the neck, back and tail, and fragments of the hands and feet. These bones tell us that Timurlengia was about 3-4 metres long and weighed about 170-270 kilograms, roughly the size of a big horse.

Timurlengia would have been a nasty critter, but nowhere near the brutish size of T. rex. In fact, it wasn’t at the top of the food chain at all. It was still living in fear of other, more primitive carnivorous dinosaurs called allosaurs, which were the apex predators of the day.

But there’s also another part of Timurlengia’s skeleton that we were able to study: the braincase, the fused bones at the back of the skull that surround the brain, ear, and sinuses. We put it into a CT scanner, which allowed us to digitally peer inside and see what the brain and sensory organs looked like.

This gave us quite a surprise: Timurlengia had the same type of brain and ear as the giant tyrannosaurs such as T. rex. It was very smart, and had an ear attuned to hearing low frequency sounds. Previously, these features were thought to be unique to the big tyrannosaurs, part of that toolkit of predatory superpowers that evolved as they turned into giants.

### Todd MarshallEvolution story

So our new Uzbek tyrannosaur helps to tell a story, about how evolution turns seemingly ordinary animals into extraordinary freaks of nature. It goes something like this.

Tyrannosaurs originated around 170m years ago during the Jurassic period, as human-sized, fast-running stalkers who used their long arms to grab prey. For about 80m years they stayed this way, far from spectacular, but eking out a living in the shadows.

Then some of these small tyrannosaurs developed sophisticated brains and senses, probably to help them better track their prey. Little did they know that, eventually, these neurosensory features would come in handy, when the allosaurs went extinct around 80-90m years ago and a new niche at the top of the food pyramid suddenly opened up. Their intelligence and sharp senses made tyrannosaurs perfectly equipped to swoop into the top-predator role.

And swoop they did. Very quickly the human-to-horse-sized tyrannosaurs grew into supersized monsters, longer than a bus and weighing more than a ton. Their heads became giant killing machines and their arms, now unnecessary, shrunk down to nubbins. By 80m years ago these mega tyrannosaurs were terrorizing what is now North America and Asia, spreading into all ecosystems on land, displacing smaller predators, and eating whatever they wanted.

It would remain this way for another 15m years or so, until the day, when T. rex was at the peak of its success rampaging across western North America, that a 10-kilometer-wide asteroid fell out of the sky and the world changed in an flash.

Stephen Brusatte, Chancellor's Fellow in Vertebrate Palaeontology, University of Edinburgh

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

NOW WATCH: Do you really need to filter tap water?

2016-03-15T02:39:00.000Z

#### Survival guide for families split on EU vote

How to avoid a break-up over the referendum
2016-03-15T02:27:49.000Z

#### North Korea readying another nuclear bomb for test – Kim Jong-un

State media reports regime leader also announced more rockets able to carry nuclear warheads will be launched – both moves that would defy UN sanctions

Kim Jong-un has said North Korea will soon detonate another nuclear warhead and test launch ballistic missiles capable of carrying them, according to the official KCNA news agency.

Related: North Korean submarine missing and presumed sunk, say reports

Continue reading...
Staff and agencies in Seoul 2016-03-15T02:22:03.000Z

#### How much of a savings buffer do people need?

Should people have a month's wages as an emergency fund?
2016-03-15T02:21:16.000Z

#### How we use the word cyber

Where did we get the word 'cyber' from?
2016-03-15T02:15:25.000Z

#### Here's the science behind why we're always so confident about our March Madness brackets

ESPN

Participating in a March Madness bracket office pool this year? Don’t rely too much on experts’ picks or overestimate your chance of winning.

And if you’re feeling confident about your bracket, you should know that just the act of trying to predict the winner of each of the 63 games is enough to boost your confidence you’ll come out on top.

In one study, we gave empty brackets to 81 college students. Half of them were specifically asked to fill out the bracket; the other half were given the bracket but not asked to fill it out.

They all were asked to project their winning probabilities – if they had completed the bracket, how good they thought it was, and if they hadn’t, how good they could have made it if they had tried.

When we adjusted for participants’ past bracket experience and basketball knowledge, we found that people who filled out a bracket showed greater confidence in winning than those who did not make any selections. Simply putting some effort into making picks increased their belief in having a good chance of winning.

### The illusion of control

My interviews with participants showed that filling out a bracket will also encourage consumers to watch more games with heightened levels of arousal and excitement. This is critical for television networks, and for sponsors who spend millions of dollars on rights and advertising. No wonder the NCAA, which strictly bans all forms of legal or illegal gambling on college sports, releases a free downloadable “Official Bracket” every year.

Feeling confident is a good thing, as I teach my young son all the time, but not when you are gambling. We often make biased judgments, believing correct picks are due to “skill” but chalking up losses to “bad luck.” Such biasing judgments only reinforce the illusory perception of control over what is actually a random outcome.

Psychologists have found that “illusion of control” is prevalent when chance is involved and has been widely examined in trading, gambling and fantasy sports. Research has also found that illusory perception in winning is heightened when skill-relevant factors are involved, such as personal involvement, knowledge, competition and familiarity with the task.

### ESPNConfidence doesn’t improve accuracy, but does raise betting stakes

March Madness brackets provide ample opportunities for basketball mavens to believe that they can make accurate predictions – even though that may not be the case.

You make personal selections, rely on stats and expert knowledge, and usually compete with your office mates or friends, or even online with anonymous others (such as on ESPN). A second study, published alongside the first, showed this.

In 2011, we ran a mock tournament with real prizes (US$100 gift card) involving college basketball fans. We wanted to see if people who were more confident about their picks were actually more correct than their less confident peers. After all the participants made their selections, we asked how confident they were that they would be in the top 10 percent for overall bracket accuracy by the end of the tournament.

Based on their self-rating of confidence in winning, we grouped participants into high- and low-confidence sections and tracked their actual performance after three weeks of the tournament. Interestingly, we found no difference between these groups: that confidence had no effect on improving accuracy.

Moreover, the confident fans would have lost 2.56 times more money than the less confident group if they had actually been betting on their results. The members of the more confident group said they would wager an average of $22.95, while those who were less confident projected betting $8.85 on average.

### ESPNPerfection is impossible, even with expert knowledge

In the same year, three basketball analysts from ESPN, CBS and Sports Illustrated made their Final Four predictions. Only one analyst correctly picked one school out of the four; when we compared the picks of so-called “experts” to the nonexperts in our study, we found neither was more successful.

So confidence in winning a pool does not necessarily mean that you will win some cash or free lunch from your colleague. Warren Buffett once announced he would give $1 billion to anyone who picked a perfect bracket.

No one ever came up with any brackets even near perfect, which shouldn’t be surprising. The chance for the perfect bracket is somewhere north of 1 in 120 billion (or maybe a couple trillion, or even a few quintillion). But we know for sure that people will still come back this year and fill out their brackets online, offline or on their smartphones.

While we found that overconfidence does not translate into winning, we did learn that it boosts enjoyment.

It is the excitement from overconfidence that brings people back to the bracket every year. Fill out a bracket and boost your confidence: that is perhaps all you need for enjoying watching the tournament with your colleagues and friends. Don’t get too serious, though. You might end up buying lunch for your office mate who picked his teams solely based on jersey colors.

Dae Hee Kwak, Assistant Professor of Sport Management, University of Michigan

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

NOW WATCH: Here’s why you should never put Q-Tips in your ears

2016-03-15T02:03:00.000Z

#### Why I became a social worker

To mark world social work day, six social workers from around the world share their stories of what attracted them to the profession

- The social worker who changed my life

Carolyne Willow, former children’s social worker and children’s rights campaigner, UK

Continue reading...
Ruth Hardy 2016-03-15T02:00:01.000Z

#### Care fees for under-threes 'may rise'

The cost of sending one and two-year-olds to nursery may have to increase substantially when free childcare for older children doubles, nurseries tell the Victoria Derbyshire programme.
2016-03-15T01:54:43.000Z

#### Mental health badge launched for Guides

Girl Guides across the UK will be able to take a new badge in mental well-being and resilience from early next month.
2016-03-15T01:51:12.000Z

#### In pictures: Fishing in Sierra Leone

Photographer Olivia Acland's photographs of Pepper, a fisherman on the shores of Sierra Leone.
2016-03-15T01:50:30.000Z

#### The moment when overjoyed pet dog is reunited with owner

Elderly pet, who had never before been apart from owner, collapses into her arms on her return home to Cleveland
Chris Graham 2016-03-15T01:46:04.000Z

#### 'Not enough doctors' for 7-day NHS

There are not enough doctors to run a seven-day NHS in England, according to a leading doctor.
2016-03-15T01:45:40.000Z

#### Scientists may have just made a huge breakthrough in explaining the mystery of the Bermuda Triangle

NOAA

Scientists may have solved an enduring mystery that has plagued us since records began in 1851.

Scientists believe methane gas explosions may be linked to the mystery of the disappearance of around 8,127 people in the Bermuda Triangle.

The mythical, triangular stretch of ocean, roughly encompassing Puerto Rico, the island of Bermuda, and Miami has been called the Devil's Triangle and more commonly called the Bermuda Triangle.

For the past 165 years, according to the International Business Times , numerous ships and airplanes have disappeared in the area, usually under mysterious circumstances, taking the lives of over 8,000 souls. But new research from scientists at Arctic University in Norway suggests that multiple giant craters on the floor of the Barents Sea may help to explain what's going on in the Bermuda Triangle.

The craters surrounding the seabed on the coast of Norway mark area's where massive explosions of methane gas may have exploded. The study of these craters, some of them are actually chasms 150-feet deep and half-a-mile wide, could have been caused by gas leaking from oil and gas deposits buried deep in the sea floor.

In the past two years, scientists have documented methane gas bubbling up from the sea floor off the coasts of Washington state and Oregon, as well as off the East coast of the United States. And in the frozen stretches of Siberia last year, scientists discovered four new holes, bringing the number to seven craters that have formed after an eruption of methane gas, according to Digital Journal.

Further details on the discovery will be released next month at the annual meeting of the European Geosciences Union , to be held in Vienna, Austria April 17 through 22. One of the topics to be discussed will be whether methane gas explosions on the seabed could threaten the safety of ships. Scientists now have radar capable of giving them detailed images of the seabed showing areas of methane gas seepage around the world.

NOAA"Multiple giant craters exist on the sea floor in an area in the west-central Barents sea... and are probably a cause of enormous blowouts of gas," said researchers at the Arctic University of Norway. "The crater area is likely to represent one of the largest hotspots for shallow marine methane release in the Arctic."

### Applying the Barent's Sea study to the Bermuda Triangle

This is not the fist time the possibility of methane gas eruptions in the Bermuda Triangle have been suggested. Last year, a group of researchers, led by Igor Yelstov of the Trofimuk Institute in Russia claimed the mysterious disappearances in the Bermuda Triangle were the effects of hydrant gas reactions.

Yelstov told The Sunday Times that the when the craters start to actively decompose, methane ice is transformed into gas. He said the process happens the same way that avalanches occur, and are almost like a nuclear reaction that produces huge amounts of gas.

If the theory of methane gas explosions being the cause of so many disappearances in the Bermuda Triangle proves to be correct, then we can chalk one up for science. But would the theory explain the magnetic anomalies associated with the area? It will be interesting to hear what is decided at the meeting in April.

NOW WATCH: Do you really need to filter tap water?

2016-03-15T01:37:00.000Z

#### Hundreds of migrants march out of Greek camp, cross to Macedonia

MOIN, Macedonia (Reuters) - Hundreds of migrants marched out of a Greek transit camp, hiked for hours along muddy paths and forded a rain-swollen river to get around a border fence and cross into Macedonia, where they were detained on Monday, authorities said.
2016-03-15T01:30:10.000Z

#### I tried Tidal's $20/month 'lossless' music service on good speakers and couldn't tell any difference

Tidal

I tried for two hours and couldn't do it.

Tidal Premium ($20/month) streams in lossless high fidelity sound quality at 1.4mbps. Spotify Premium ($10/month) streams at 320kbps. I'll convince myself lossless sounds better when I know which I'm listening to, but I can't consistently guess which is which. Neither could another person I was with.

Playing the same track in different formats on a pretty good sound system (Sonos Playbar, Sub, and two Play:1), I couldn't reliably tell the difference. Trying Tidal's high fidelity test on my iMac speakers was hopeless.

It's not just me. Most Verge staffers couldn't do it on $80 headphones. Many NPR and Reddit readers failed, too. Create Digital Music's Peter Kirn failed multiple times and came away with a new appreciation for 320kbps.

Free Lossless Audio Codec (FLAC) preserves every frequency of sound when encoding music. Most other audio formats shave off frequencies here and there.

Some people can tell the difference on any speaker. Says an NPR commenter: "I'm a casual pianist and I got all six right using cheap headphones and a laptop. My trick was not to listen to the sound, but to listen to the transitions between sounds. We're better at picking up edge effects than at distinguishing between values."

Perhaps I could learn if I practiced. Even then, I doubt it would matter much, at least not on my speakers.

Android Police editor David Ruddock makes a convincing case that lossless is a waste for most people on his blog Warm Leftovers: "Unless you’re using an audio setup that reaches into the thousands upon thousands of dollars, sorry, I just refuse to believe you can hear the difference unless you’ve got pitch-perfect ears or have spent years and years doing professional audio work and know exactly what to listen for. Even many of those people will tell you that, if the difference is there, it doesn’t matter – your ears aren’t an audio-measuring supercomputer, much like your taste buds aren’t a mass spectrometer.

"How many musicians and audio engineers do you see boasting about the sonic superiority of FLAC audio?" Ruddock asks. "Basically none. Because they know that the difference between FLAC and 320kbps MP3 is utterly irrelevant to 99.98% of what you hear in a recording."

TidalCommenter Dave Bryan on YouTube argues the same: "I think lossless formats are like fine bottles of wine, and 320 kbps mp3 files are like fine bottles of wine with one tablespoon of water replacing one tablespoon of wine. The frequencies you're missing out on with 320kbps are so minuscule and barely take away from any of the original quality when they're removed. Unless these audiophiles have canine hearing and $1000+ headphones, I really think they're making a big fuss about nothing. The music is almost always equally enjoyable with either format."

Nishual Saperia on Quora says the difference is subtle, even on his $1,000 in-ear headphones: "I have shure se 846 headphones and the difference is there. But is it night and day? Not at all. When walking around I don't notice it and don't really care. But sometimes I just want to sit and listen to the music focusing on it - that's when it makes a difference - the bass is tighter (the biggest difference for sure), the high-end is better and the guitars more edgy."

Given the minimal difference for most people between lossless and 320kbps and my pretty good but not top of the line speakers, I'm not even tempted to shell up for premium service on Tidal.

And without that premium service, Tidal has even less going for it against the beloved and super-smart Spotify.

NOW WATCH: This trick fixes your iPhone if it's acting slow — and it takes less than 30 seconds

Gus Lubin 2016-03-15T01:28:00.000Z

#### Antiques dealer found battered to death in Surrey front garden

Robyn Mercer's injuries 'so severe police thought she'd been shot' while 52-year-old man detained in murder inquiry
Agency 2016-03-15T01:20:39.000Z

#### The 10 wealthiest tech billionaires in the world

Of the world's 10 richest tech billionaires, four are college dropouts. All are men, all are from two countries (the United States and China), and all currently are or were heads of companies.

These are some seriously wealthy folks — the entry level to this list is $18.2 billion net worth (that includes cash, stock, and various other holdings). Some now spend their time trying to change the world, others spend their time owning sports teams, and some are still running the company that made them rich.

Heck, one of them is launching stuff into space:

This list of the 10 richest tech billionaires in the world comes from a collaboration between Business Insider and wealth analytics firm Wealth-X, which recently created a list of the top 50 richest people on Earth.

Emmie Martin and Tanza Loudenback contributed research to this report.

Let's jump in, starting with number 10:

### 10. Pony Ma

Net worth: $18.2 billion

Age: 44

Country: China

Industry: Technology

Source of wealth: Tencent Holdings

Having made money early on in the stock market, Ma Huateng (Pony Ma) started Tencent with college friends. The company's first major product was a messaging service in China named QQ, which cost nothing and became a standard in early online messaging services. Tencent has since expanded dramatically, investing in a variety of different business types, from music distribution to major video game studios like Riot Games (makers of the world's most popular game, "League of Legends").

### 9. Michael Dell

REUTERS

Net worth: $18.9 billion

Age: 51

Country: US

Industry: Technology

Source of wealth: Self-made; Dell

While a premed student at the University of Texas at Austin in 1984, Michael Dell started a company called PC Ltd. — the predecessor to Dell. He soon dropped out of college to build computers full-time, which became one of the fastest-growing companies in the country.

By the time he was 23, the company went public and raised $30 million — $18 million of it going to Dell personally. Outside of a brief period, Dell has run his namesake company since its inception. The company employs over 100,000 people in several countries, and remains based in Texas where it's the second largest non-oil company behind AT&T.

### 8. Steve Ballmer

LA Clippers

Net worth: $25.9 billion

Age: 59

Country: US

Industry: Tech

Source of wealth: Self-made; Microsoft

Steve Ballmer dropped out of business school at Stanford in 1980 to join Harvard friend Bill Gates at Microsoft as the company's first business manager, earning a $50,000 salary and a stake in the company. He went from business manager to CEO during his time at Microsoft, and that early stake in the company paid off handsomely: He's only the second person, not including founders and their family, to ever become a billionaire from employee stock options.

Nowadays, he's no longer with Microsoft. He paid $2 billion in a deal to buy the Los Angeles Clippers back in 2014. He's also fond of slamming basketballs, as seen to the right.

See the rest of the story at Business Insider
Ben Gilbert 2016-03-15T01:19:00.000Z

#### MORGAN STANLEY: The dollar will rally another 10% before this 'super cycle' is over

The US dollar has been on a tear since bottoming at 93.73 on July 26, 2011.

On a trade-weighted basis, the greenback has rallied 30% over the past four and a half years, establishing its third "super cycle" since the late 19 70s.

Morgan Stanley

Now, Morgan Stanley thinks the dollar is setting up for one "final leg higher," aided by macro developments outside of the US. Specifically, MS says the dollar rally will be driven by "EM currency weakness and related US capital inflows."

The bank believes EM must eliminate its output gap, or the difference between the actual output of an economy and its potential output.

Since the US has already eliminated its output gap and unemployment is at or near the non-accelerating inflation rate of unemployment (also known as NAIRU), or the level of unemployment below which an economy sees inflation increase, these factors should provide support for the dollar as they're likely to result in a tighter labor market and higher US wages.

So how far can the dollar run?

Morgan Stanley thinks the trade-weighted dollar will hit 135 by the end of 2017, good for another 10.7% rally from current levels.

At that point, the bank says the USD will "likely revert back to its status of being a funding currency for higher-yielding investment."

Here's a look at Morgan Stanley's forecast:

Morgan Stanley

NOW WATCH: Why you should never throw away these bags again

Jonathan Garber 2016-03-15T01:17:00.000Z

#### The government has a 'nuclear' option in Apple fight: demand source code (AAPL)

Astrid Stawiarz/Getty Images for RFK Human Rights

The latest filing in the legal war between the planet’s most powerful government and its most valuable company gave one indication of how the high-stakes confrontation could escalate even further.

In what observers of the case called a carefully calibrated threat, the U.S. Justice Department last week suggested that it would be willing to demand that Apple turn over the "source code" that underlies its products as well as the so-called "signing key" that validates software as coming from Apple.

Together, those two things would give the government the power to develop its own spying software and trick any iPhone into installing it. Eventually, anyone using an Apple device would be unable to tell whether they were using the real thing or a version that had been altered by officials to be used as a spy tool.

Technology and security experts said that if the U.S. government was able to obtain Apple's source code with a conventional court order, other governments would demand equal rights to do the same thing.

"We think that would be pretty terrible," said Joseph Lorenzo Hall, chief technologist at the nonprofit Center for Democracy & Technology.

The battle between Apple and the U.S Justice Department has been raging since the government in February obtained a court order demanding that Apple write new software to help law enforcement officials unlock an iPhone associated with one of the shooters in the December attack in San Bernardino, California, that killed 14 people.

Apple is fighting the order, arguing that complying with the request would weaken the security of all iPhones and create an open-ended precedent for judges to make demands of private companies.

The Justice Department's comments about source code and signing keys came in a footnote to a filing last week in which it rejected Apple's arguments. Apple's response to the DOJ brief is expected on Tuesday.

Justice Department lawyers said in the brief that they had refrained from pursuing the iOS source code and signing key because they thought “such a request would be less palatable to Apple. If Apple would prefer that course, however, that may provide an alternative that requires less labor by Apple.”

The footnote evoked what some lawyers familiar with the case call a "nuclear option," seeking the power to demand and use the most prized assets of lucrative technology companies.

A person close to the government’s side told Reuters that the Justice Department does not intend to press the argument that it could seize the company’s code, and someone on Apple’s side said the company isn’t worried enough to counter the veiled threat in its brief due Tuesday.

But many people expect the iPhone matter to reach the U.S. Supreme Court, and thus even fallback legal strategies are drawing close scrutiny.

## Odds of success unclear

There is little clarity on whether a government demand for source code would succeed.

Perhaps the closest parallel was in a case filed by federal prosecutors against Lavabit LLC, a privacy-oriented email service used by Edward Snowden. In trying to recover Snowden’s unencrypted mail from the company, which did not keep Snowden’s cryptographic key, the Justice Department got a court order forcing the company to turn over another key instead, one that would allow officials to impersonate the company’s website and intercept all interactions with its users.

“Lavabit must provide any and all information necessary to decrypt the content, including, but not limited to public and private keys and algorithms,” the lower court ruled.

Lavabit shut down rather than comply. But company lawyer Jesse Binnall said the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, which upheld the lower ruling, did so on procedural grounds, so that the Justice Department’s win would not influence much elsewhere.

In any case, full source code would be even more valuable than the traffic key in the Lavabit case, and the industry would go to extreme lengths to fight for it, Binnall said.

“That really is the keys to the kingdom,” Binnall said.

Source code is sometimes inspected during lawsuits over intellectual property, and the Justice Department noted that Apple won permission to review some of rival Samsung's code in one such case. In that case and similar battles, the code is produced with strict rules to prevent copying.

No cases brought by the government have led to that sort of code production, or at least none that have come to light.

But intelligence agencies operate under different rules and have wide latitude overseas. Some advanced espionage programs attributed to the United States used digital certificates that were stolen from Taiwanese companies, though not full programs.

U.S. software code may have been sought in other cases, such as investigations relying on the Patriot Act or the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which applies within American borders.

Several people who have argued before the special FISA court or are familiar with some of its cases say they know of no time that the government has sought source code.

Reporting by Joseph Menn. Editing by Jonathan Weber and Cynthia Osterman.

NOW WATCH: The one Samsung Galaxy S7 feature that blows the iPhone out of the water

2016-03-15T01:10:18.000Z

#### What do you know about Scotland in Europe?

With 100 days to go to the EU vote, how well do you know Scotland in Europe?
2016-03-15T01:09:38.000Z

#### NC sheriff's office won't file 'inciting a riot' charge against Trump - Washington Post

Washington Post

NC sheriff's office won't file 'inciting a riot' charge against Trump
Washington Post
Republican front-runner Donald Trump will not face charges of inciting a riot after a raucous rally in North Carolina last week, the investigating sheriff's office announced in a news release Monday night. After reviewing evidence from the rally in ...
Donald Trump rally violence: N.C. sheriff decides against 'inciting a riot' charge Washington Times
Trump Won't Face Inciting a Riot Charges for North Carolina Rally, Sheriff's Office Says ABC News
North Carolina officials won't charge Trump in connection with altercation at rally Fox News
CNN -Daily Beast -NBCNews.com
all 774 news articles »

news-feedback@google.com 2016-03-15T01:07:30.000Z

#### The best human Go player made a surprise move that a machine would never make ahead of his final match with AlphaGo (GOOG, GOOGL)

AP/ Lee Jin-man

Lee Sedol, the human Go champion, is set to play AlphaGo, Google's artificial-intelligence system, one last time on Monday night.

The two are in a best-of-five match of Go, the ancient Chinese board game in which no artificial intelligence (AI) program had ever defeated a top-ranked human player without a handicap — until this series. AlphaGo beat Lee three times last week before losing the fourth.

But ahead of the fifth and final match, Lee made a surprise request to AlphaGo's creator, Demis Hassabis: He wanted to play with the black stones.

The move was a surprise given that Lee told the press that he found AlphaGo to struggle more when it played with black stones. And it's a move that no machine-learning program would have made, since it makes decisions based on probability, not intuition or for the purpose of challenging itself.

"AlphaGo finds it more difficult when it's playing with black as opposed to white," Lee said during the press conference after game four. "But since I won with the white, I really do hope that in the fifth match I could win with black, as winning with black would be much more valuable."

It's hard to prove whether AlphaGo really found playing black more difficult. But Lee's only win did come when AlphaGo played black.

Hassabis didn't hesitate to accept the request.

In Go, each player chooses either black or white stones, with black playing first. There's no point disadvantage for playing second, but it could alter strategy and certain moves.

Regardless, Lee doesn't blame the color of the stones he played with, or any other external factor for his losses.

"All of the outcome is attributable to deficiencies in my capabilities," Lee said during the press conference. "Yes, there was some shock on my part, but it was not to the extent that I would have to stop the ongoing match, because every moment of the game, I really enjoyed it."

NOW WATCH: The one Samsung Galaxy S7 feature that blows the iPhone out of the water

Eugene Kim 2016-03-15T01:06:21.000Z

#### Here are the latest drawings of Google's crazy new campus in California

Google

About a year ago, Google revealed plans for a new campus it's building in Mountain View, California, near its current location.

The plans have changed a little since then, and today the city of Mountain View posted the latest plans for one of the buildings, as earlier reported by the Silicon Valley Business Journal.

The building, known as Charleston East, will be two stories and about 595,000 square feet. Check out how Google imagines it will look:

### Here's the cover shot, showing the view of the entry. Doesn't that guy in front look a little young to be working at Google?

Google

### This is a cross-section plan of the building.

Google

### Here's the view from the west, with storm clouds gathering.

Google
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
Matt Rosoff 2016-03-15T01:05:49.000Z

#### Commodity currencies are ripping higher

Courtesy of Goldman Sachs’ technical analysis team comes this cracking chart that tracks the trend in major currencies against the US dollar in the past two weeks.

Simply, the bottom axis tracks the gain or loss seen two weeks ago with the left axis tacking the movement seen last week.

“If a currency appears in the top right quadrant it indicates it’s trending higher and if a currency appears in the bottom left it indicates it’s trending lower. If it appears in the bottom right it is turning lower and if it appears in the top left it is turning higher,” says Goldman.

With the exception of the Japanese yen, the US dollar has been unloved.Goldman Sachs

Given the lift in investor sentiment and commodity prices, some of the worst performing currencies of recent months – the Brazilian real, Australian dollar, South African rand and Russian ruble – have been among the strongest performers.

Whether that trend can last will likely be determined by this week’s US Federal Reserve policy meeting.

NOW WATCH: Here's what fruits and vegetables looked like before we domesticated them

David Scutt 2016-03-15T01:04:38.000Z

#### VIDEO: How do Syrian children explain the war?

Syrian children explain in stark terms how the war has changed their lives, including the loved ones that they have lost.
2016-03-15T01:03:50.000Z

#### AT&T just dodged a bullet in court — but its troubles are just beginning

Getty Images/Justin Sullivan

A California judge decided that the class-action lawsuit filed against AT&T for throttling unlimited data will not be allowed to proceed.

According to AT&T, customers should only have their complaints heard on an individual basis through arbitration, and it seems as though Judge Edward Chen from the U.S. District Court in Northern California agrees with the company.

Many customers, however, suggest that arbitration would violate the First Amendment right to petition a court for a grievance. Arbitration would allow claims to be brought to the small claims court, but some suggest that the small claims court is not an adequate forum.

Chen’s decision comes from a 2011 case, in which the Supreme Court upheld AT&T’s argument for arbitration. According to the Supreme Court, the Federal Arbitration Act preempts a California state law which limits a company’s power to force customers into arbitration.

Customers first filed the lawsuit when AT&T started throttling iPhone users if they used more than 3GB or 5GB of data in one month — even if they had unlimited data plans. The data speeds were far slower than standard speeds, so the customers argue that their unlimited data plans weren’t truly unlimited or useful.

The ruling is a pretty big one for AT&T. It’s unlikely that thousands of iPhone users will file individual lawsuits to the small claims court. Not only that, but those who do take their case to court will have to deal with the legal fees that they wouldn’t otherwise need to pay in a class-action lawsuit.

Still, AT&T isn’t completely out of the woods yet, and will face punishment from the Federal Communications Commission and Federal Trade Commission. The FCC has proposed a fine of $100 million to AT&T, saying that the company violated FCC transparency laws by labeling plans as “unlimited.”

The FTC has also separately sued AT&T for millions of dollars of refunds for customers, and while AT&T argues that the FTC has no jurisdiction in this case, that claim was rejected by the court. Of course, AT&T is still trying to avoid any punishment whatsoever.

NOW WATCH: This trick fixes your iPhone if it's acting slow — and it takes less than 30 seconds

2016-03-15T01:03:00.000Z

#### Motoring offences drop is due to lack of investigating officers, MPs warn

Number of motoring offences has halved in past decade due to lack of specialist road police officers, Transport Select Committee is told
Agency 2016-03-15T01:02:07.000Z

#### Donald Trump briefly threatened with criminal charges over punch at rally

Police said to have investigated whether to prosecute Republican front runner after African American protester was hit in the face

Donald Trump briefly faced the threat of criminal charges on Monday night, as efforts grew across the political spectrum to check his increasingly violent rise on the eve of key US primary elections.

Police in North Carolina were reportedly investigating whether the Republican frontrunner should be prosecuted for incitement after an African American protester was hit in the face as he was escorted out of a rally in Fayetteville last week.

Continue reading...
Dan Roberts in Charlotte, North Cariolina 2016-03-15T00:59:33.000Z

#### Top Islamic State commander dead a week after US-led airstrike in Syria

Omar al-Shishani, one of the Isis leaders most wanted by Washington with a $5m bounty on his head, had been declared ‘clinically dead’ for several days prior

A top Islamic State group commander known as Omar the Chechen has died after being injured in a US-led coalition strike in northeastern Syria, the Pentagon confirmed Monday.

The announcement would appear to clear up the fate of the notorious Omar al-Shishani a week after a US official said the most-wanted militant had been targeted in a 4 March attack on the jihadist’s convoy.

Continue reading...
Agence France-Presse 2016-03-15T00:52:25.000Z

#### Report due on Shetland Super Puma crash

A final report by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch into what caused a fatal helicopter crash off Shetland is to be published later.
2016-03-15T00:51:38.000Z

#### Dispute over $100m Picasso bust intensifies

Qatari royal family and a major American art dealer are in dispute over who bought the piece from the artist's daughter
AFP 2016-03-15T00:49:43.000Z

#### Coffee chains accused of making false recycling claims

Fewer than one in 400 paper cups handed out by high street coffee chains are being recycled, it has emerged
Camilla Turner 2016-03-15T00:48:05.000Z

#### Obama thinks Congress will lift the embargo on Cuba under the next president

Thomson Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama believes Congress will lift an embargo on Cuba under the next president, whether a Republican or a Democrat, he said in an interview with CNN Espanol that was broadcast on Monday.

Obama, who will make a historic trip to Cuba next week, said there was not enough support among lawmakers to lift the embargo now, but sentiment was moving in that direction in both parties.

"My strong prediction is that sometime in the next president's administration, whether they are a Democrat or a Republican, that the embargo in fact will be removed," he said in the interview, according to a transcript.

The interview was conducted last week.

"It makes sense for us to be able to sell into Cuba, to do business with Cubans, to show us business practices and how we treat workers and how we approach issues of human rights, that will help bring about the kinds of changes that are needed," he said.

Obama leaves office next January.

(Reporting by Jeff Mason; Editing by Leslie Adler)

2016-03-15T00:48:00.000Z

#### This company is trying to become the first to deliver fast food with drones

Aeryon

Fancy having some tasty food delivered by drone to your high-rise window?

It may not quite work like that, but online delivery company Foodpanda hopes to become one of the first takeaway services to start using drones to deliver orders.

The start-up wants to be fully automated after becoming operationally profitable in all its markets in February.

Ralf Wenzel, co-founder and chief executive officer of the company backed by Frankfurt-listed Rocket Internet, said the current reliance on motorbike deliveries felt like something from the 1980s.

“The delivery of the future is not only being taken out by walkers in the street, or people driving motorbikes,” he said.

“We did the test with drones in Singapore and we are following [the technology] very, very closely.”

He admitted drone deliveries would be subject to local government regulations and the process by which drones would pick up and deliver orders would have to be examined.

Foodpanda joins Amazon in looking to deliver goods by unmanned drones as the e-commerce giant plans to use the technology to send out packages in 30 minutes or less under its Amazon Prime Air service.

Amazon has promised its “future delivery system” will fly up to 2.3kg packages on vehicles weighing 25kg that will operate at heights below 400 feet.

Apart from bureaucracy and government regulations that have been slow to make room for new technology, short drone battery life and limited payloads may prove to be a challenge to air delivery plans.

AeryonEuromonitor International estimates the food delivery market in Hong Kong covering non-seating outlets will be worth HK$423.2 million (US$54.43 million) this year, while Foodpanda’s sister company, Foodora, claims the market has already hit HK$2 billion.

Foodpanda launched in the city in June 2014 and was joined late last year by London-based Deliveroo, which Wenzel said had helped boost growth as customers became more aware of online delivery options.

The software engineer said the company became operationally profitable in all the countries it operates in for the first time last month.

“February was the first month where across every single country we’ve been operationally profitable; that means we have been positive margin after all operating costs, after all delivery costs, after all call centre costs and payment costs,” he said.

According to investor Rocket Internet, Foodpanda was globally profitable as of the third quarter last year and had a gross profit margin of 93.2 per cent.

Wenzel said there were no plans to cut more staff in Hong Kong after the company laid off around 15 per cent of its employees in February, citing greater automation of the ordering and delivery process.

NOW WATCH: Bill Nye offers up one scientific fact to shut down climate-change deniers

2016-03-15T00:45:00.000Z

#### Why Snapchat is an Important Media Company

Business Insider

Yesterday I wrote a primer on how to use Snapchat for my peer group of “over 30” people who don’t yet “get” Snapchat. Today I want to talk briefly about why I believe Snapchat is an important media company.

If you still don’t get Snapchat please read the primer or follow me on Snapchat for a week or two because how I create “stories” on Snapchat is more of a use case for modern media than perhaps some teens use the product so it may resonate more with you what the future could bring.

For most who don’t yet use Snapchat frequently I know the economic case feels like a stretch of the imagination because you’re caught up in the original Snapchat and I’m trying to offer a perspective about where the puck may be going. It’s up to Team Snapchat to live up to its financial expectations but I believe it certainly has the potential. I’ve heard the new media doubters before as nobody thought Google, Facebook or Twitter would ever make money.

From the business perspective you need to understand a few things about media and video in particular. The following factors matter a great deal to media: reach, immediacy, authenticity/endemic, engagement, geography and brand recall/uniqueness. Snapchat is performing off the hook on all fronts.

1. Reach
Unless you work at Snapchat or are on the board – nobody really knows how many users they have but I think it’s well reported to be a shit-ton. Most people seem to accept that daily users are at least 100 million with monthly users > 200 million, perhaps higher. Any which way, Snapchat has large “reach,” which is a key measure for any advertiser. There is also a reported 8 billion videos viewed per day.

And if you’re stuck thinking these are just kids sending stupid pictures to each other then you’re stuck in the past and simply won’t understand new media and how it’s changing. The huge leap forward for YouTube was UGC (user generated content) but this emerged into new stars, new ways of producing content and new ways of consuming it. And ultimately like the Innovator’s Dilemma, the product eventually becomes better and better to the point where an industry builds around it.

Business Insider

Snapchat now has messaging (like WhatsApp, WeChat, etc) but also has “stories” (a day in the life of a user or media brand) and “discover” which is where short-form, professionally produced media exists. This should give you a taste of the future but also the product quality of Snapchat (even if not intuitive for you) should give you a sense for the capabilities of Team Snapchat to innovate.

Reach matters to advertisers for an obvious reason. The people who spend the most money on reaching consumers: consumer products, car companies, food & beverage, entertainment – need to reach mass audiences and smaller channels aren’t as effective for them relative to the time to produce creative and learn how to perform in a channel.

2. Immediacy
Immediacy is tremendously important in advertising. If you’re trying to promote a film that is going to be released then controlling the “flight schedule” of your advertisement matters a great deal. In a world of time-shifted media and consumers distracted by multiple media options – being able to rely on reaching a consumer when you want to matters. That’s why live TV events are great for advertisers. But think of any product one needs to sell: cars during the buying season, politicians during elections, companies looking to clear out inventory or launch a new line, companies advertising for Christmas – many forms of advertisements rely on “immediacy” of a campaign.

And this is where the frequency of logging in for Snapchat matters. The fact that > 50% of Snapchat users tune in daily and the fact that stories disappear if not consumed helps drive this behavior. So while some people go mad that I would publish a Snapstorm (a short lesson on startup entrepreneurship) in a platform where it disappears in 24 hours – I actually love it. It creates a reason to “go now!” and that’s smart of Snapchat if they can maintain it.

Plus, Snapchat allows me to download my stories, which of course I do. And I will publish them later (reruns?) in a different venue. Ultimately Snapchat needs to build out its creator tools to make life easier for content creators but I have no doubt this will happen.

I would also point out that Snapchat is becoming one of THE places to see breaking news on video in a way that isn’t reported widely enough. I have found no better platform in a national event like the Paris bombings to see what is happening on the ground by real people. And they also are great for sports events (I watch the Eagles pregame videos from fans aggregated in one place, for example).

3. Authenticity / Endemic
The other thing that matters tremendously to advertisers is knowing that they can reach an “endemic audience,” which basically means a targeted user. Facebook crushed this because they had so much data about whom we were as users and could target us specifically with relevant ads that could be measured by engagement and refined by algorithms if we didn’t engage. Not yet completely reported but Snapchat is snapping up some really great ad technology professionals from FB and from the LA ecosystem.

But Snapchat starts with one hell of an advantage. Their core audience is already segmented heavily towards the hardest to reach demographic (young people) and one of the most important economically because they drive trends and purchasing of music, clothing, video games, movies and so forth.

4. Engagement
Snapchat is a “lean forward” technology. Users are highly engaged. And unlikely some media platforms it is reported that > 50 of users actually produce content vs. just consume. I suspect this % will go down over time as it becomes more of a media platform vs. just a messaging platform but engagement is high however you measure it. Engaged users are paying attention and therefore more likely to take actions and recall what is put in front of them.

5. Geography
Snapchat has encouraged users to turn on geo-location. If you do then you can use “filters” to say what town you’re posting your photo/video from. This also allows users to contribute to local stories as in the case of the breaking news example I gave above or live sporting or other public events. Geography matters because tons of marketing is driven by local businesses or by national brands who want regional campaigns. It also makes purchasing more cost effective.

Business Insider

If a company like MakeSpace that offers physical storage for households in NYC, Chicago and DC wants to advertise why should it waste its resources on a product that serves up ads in Austin, Texas? If a politician is trying to win Iowa they want their reach, immediacy & geography to all be focused.

6. Brand Recall / Uniqueness
The other thing many advertisers crave is the ability to “stand out,” which is why banner ads perform so poorly. We as consumers develop “banner blindness” (which I’ve been talking about for years), which is why publishers who can offer unique ad units like “take overs” can make much more money. Ultimately advertisers want to be remembered and to do that they need to stand out.

This is part of the reason “native advertising” has become a large market and why “content marketing” is on the rise. We’ve seen portfolio companies like GumGumbecome enormous by riding this trend. The serve authentic and targeted ads that embed themselves in the images as you consume webpages but they do it in a non-intrusive way that has proven increases in recall and click-through rates.

Snapchat can do this in spades. They can build authentic ad campaigns to an engaged, endemic audience that will drive huge recall and calls-to-action.

Finally, one other thing to consider: One unique economic decision relative to Twitter or Facebook

7. Monetizing the Consumer
I never understood why Twitter didn’t find ways to monetize its consumers directly. There are tons of products its users would have happily paid for. Snapchat has already built experiments with this. For example, you can replay a snap one time per day for free. But if you want to replay more snaps per day you buy “packs” to do so. That helps monetize more passionate consumers with an action they care about. They also are selling the ability to create your own geo-fenced filters.

All of this is smart. Platforms need to strike a balance between ad-supported businesses and user-generated revenue. Look at YouTube and its big push into Red having seen the success of Netflix. Ultimately, ad only is a narrow strategy.

NOW WATCH: This trick fixes your iPhone if it's acting slow — and it takes less than 30 seconds

Mark Suster 2016-03-15T00:40:39.000Z

#### Could Hillary Clinton face jail time?

After revealing classified information, David Petraeus received a light punishment. What does this mean for Hillary Clinton?
2016-03-15T00:22:39.000Z

#### This smartphone is nearly identical to the Samsung Galaxy S7 — and China's selling it for a fraction of the price

Xiaomi

Last month's Mobile World Congress was big for smartphones.

Samsung unveiled its latest flagship handsets, the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge, and LG announced the specs of its heavily redesigned G5.

These phones should be big sellers, and challenge Apple's iPhone in Western markets. But in China, Apple could face a more formidable rival in the form of a homegrown competitor.

Xiaomi, the Chinese smartphone giant, also unveiled its 2016 flagship device at Mobile World Congress, and it's arguably even more impressive than anything Samsung or LG announced.

With high-end specs and an attractive price tag, the Mi 5 could draw interest from hordes of consumers in China — a market that's of increasing importance to Apple.

### $415 can buy you quite a phone

Xiaomi will offer the Mi 5 in two different configurations. The standard edition sports a Snapdragon 820 processor, 3GB of RAM, a 16-megapixel camera, 3,000 mAh battery, 32GB of internal storage, and a body made of metal and glass. The Pro model boosts the internal storage to 128GB, adds an extra gigabyte of RAM, and replaces the glass back with one crafted from ceramic — a rarity among smartphones.

In terms of specs, Samsung's Galaxy S7 is almost identical to Xiaomi's Mi 5 Pro, also boasting a Snapdragon 820, 3,000 mAh battery, and 4GB of RAM. To its credit, it has a QHD display, a slot for microSD cards, and water resistance — three features the Mi 5 lacks. But where the Mi 5 really sets itself apart is on price: Xiaomi is charging just 2,699 RMB for the Pro model; 1,999 RMB for the standard edition. That's about $415, and $307, respectively. Samsung's Galaxy S7, in contrast, retails for nearly $700 in the U.S., and around 4,888 RMB ($750) in China.

Competing hard on price is nothing new for Xiaomi. Since its inception, the company has embraced a strategy built around razor-thin hardware margins. By selling high-end handsets at bargain prices, the company has attracted a strong following in China and grown rapidly. Although the firm was founded less than six years ago, it's now the fifth-largest seller of handsets in the world. Last year, it shipped nearly 71 million smartphones, according to research firm IDC.

### XiaomiXiaomi isn't growing as fast as it once was

That was up from about 58 million in 2014, giving it an annual growth rate of nearly 23% -- marginally better than Apple's 20.2% growth, and much better than Samsung's meager 2.1%. But it wasn't as great as Xiaomi had hoped. Management had projected 2015 smartphone shipments of 80 million to 100 million at the beginning of last year, and it fell far short of that target. Xiaomi is looking to the Mi 5 to help it return to its previous trajectory.

Nevertheless, Xiaomi is still a major player globally, and a significant force in China. Although both Apple and Samsung outsold the firm worldwide in 2015, Xiaomi was more successful in its home market. Xiaomi displaced Apple as the largest seller of smartphones in China in the second quarter last year, according to research firm Canalys. It fell to second place in the third quarter, when Huawei surged ahead, but it still sold more smartphones to Chinese buyers than Apple.

### Apple's second-largest market

Last quarter, more than 24% of Apple's revenue came from Greater China. It also accounted for almost all of Apple's revenue growth, as sales rose 14% on an annual basis. It's now Apple's second-largest market, and management expects it to eventually overtake North America as Apple's most important region in the years ahead.

The Mi 5 is Xiaomi's most impressive phone yet, but it doesn't fundamentally shift the company's strategy. Still, it may offer Chinese buyers their most compelling alternative to the iPhone.

NOW WATCH: This trick fixes your iPhone if it's acting slow — and it takes less than 30 seconds

Sam Mattera 2016-03-15T00:20:00.000Z

#### Turkey's energy security is under threat

Reuters/Umit Bektas

The internal unrest in South-East Turkey that started following the June 7th, 2015 general elections continue to threathen Turkey’s energy security.

The Turkish government (Adalet ve Kalkinma Partisi-Justice and Development Party) is struggling to ensure the safety of the country’s border with both Syria and Iraq, which covers a total distance of about 1300km.

As a result of the fighting that started between Turkish security forces and the PKK after the June 7th elections,since then 200 Turkish security forces and more than 3000 PKK militants died. Due to the continuation of the fighting and the implementation of a curfew from time to time in the region, the only official information is provided by the Turkish government and is seen as unreliable, yet government officials do not allow a neutral institution to enter into the conflict zone.

Turkish President Erdogan, while starting a war against the PKK in South-Eastern Turkey, maintains a good relationship with KRG leader Barzani who is also seen as a leader by Kurds living in Turkey. As a result of the bilateral relations between Erdogan and Barzani, the KRG was able to build an additional pipeline to sell Kurdish oil via Turkish territory.

Though for a long time Kurdish oil was sold from Turkey’s Ceyhan port unlawfully, Kurdish oil has now begun to sell labelled as Iraqi oil through Turkey thanks to an agreement between the Iraqi government and the KRG’s Erbil government at the end of 2014. Due to low oil prices and a federal budget conflict with Bagdad, Erbil slogs away to pay salaries of Peshmerga-Kurdish security forces who are fighting against ISIS.

Oil income , which is the most important source of income for the KRG has been interrupted by the PKK who launched a new series of attacks on the Kirkuk-Ceyhan oil pipeline in Turkish territory, cutting off the oil flow from the KRG fields to Turkish ports.

The PKK considers Barzani’s support of Erdogan through energy agreements a betrayal of the Kurdish people. On the one hand, Ankara is fighting against the PKK in South-East Turkey and while experiencing international problems because of the ISIS and Syria crisis. On the other hand, Ankara commenced the process of tendering for construction of the Sirnak Natural Gas Pipeline, which is planned to integrate the natural gas of Iraqi Kurdistan into the Turkish national gas pipeline network. Nevertheless, the PKK already declared that the organization is against building a new natural gas pipeline between Turkey and Iraqi Kurdistan.

Reuters/Umit Bektas

The PKK not only occasionally organizes attacks on the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline but also on the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (oil), Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum (natural gas) and Turkey-Iran pipeline (natural gas). However, the PKK’s current main target is the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline. In the meantime, according to a report from the Turkish General Staff, the PKK is getting prepared for uprisings and attacks not only in the southeast of Turkey but also in big cities like Istanbul and Ankara. In terms of Turkish energy security, it is highly possible that the PKK will accelerate attacks on pipelines, particularly on the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline.

Contrary to popular belief, the Kirkuk-Ceyhan oil pipeline will not only be able to export Iraqi oil, it will also be extremely important for Turkey's energy security. Turkey has been purchasing Iraqi oil for many years and is now dependent on Iraq for 30 percent of its oil supply. According to EMRA reports , –Turkey’s Energy Market Regulatory Authority- Turkey imported 3,2 million tons of Iraqi oil between October and December in 2015, while only importing 1,36 million tons from Iran and 1,31 million tons from Russian over the same period.

Hence, if the PKK blow up the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline in the upcoming spring and summer months, Turkey’s imports of Iraqi oil will also be cut. Turkey has increased its imports of Russian oil, which was most probably contracted before the Russian warplane was shot down on November 24th, 2015. In addition to Russia, Iran is also a significant Turkish oil supplier. Moscow would benefit from the PKK attacks to pipelines in Turkey. Considering the Iran-Iraq-Russian axis against ISIS, Russia may pressure Iran to not to increase oil exports to Turkey. In summary, Turkey faces energy security threats not only internally, in the form of the PKK, but also externally as its four neighbors look to capitalize on the instability.

NOW WATCH: We did a blind taste test of popular french fries — the winner was clear

2016-03-15T00:16:00.000Z

#### An American fighting for ISIS has been taken into custody

Reuters

ERBIL, Iraq (Reuters) - An American fighting for Islamic State was taken into custody in northern Iraq after he left territory controlled by the militant group, according to two Kurdish officers, one of whom arrested him.

Both said it appeared the man was intending to escape both Islamic State and Kurdish forces but handed himself in after peshmerga fighters opened fire on him near the frontline in the village of Golat.

Captain Daham Khalaf said they had spotted the fighter hiding in long grass around dawn and waited until the sun rose before surrounding him. "He shouted, 'I am a foreigner'," Khalaf said, describing him as bearded and dressed in black.

The fighter did not have a passport but was carrying an American driving license and spoke English and broken Arabic, according to General Hashim Sitei who spoke to him.

A copy of what was said to be the license, seen by Reuters, was in the name of Khweis Mohammed Jamal. Reuters was unable to independently confirm the man's identity.

“We gave him food and treated him with respect and handed him over to military intelligence," said Sitei.

The fighter was unarmed but carrying three mobile phones and said his father was Palestinian and his mother was from the Mosul area in Iraq, both officers said.

The State Department said it was aware of the reports that a U.S. citizen said to have been fighting for Islamic State was captured by Kurdish peshmerga forces in northern Iraq.

The address on the driver's license confiscated by the peshmerga was for a residence in the Washington, D.C., suburb of Alexandria, Virginia.

As reporters and television crewmembers waited outside, a black Lincoln Town Car drove up. Two men stepped out and angrily demanded that the media leave.

The older man, who identified himself as Jamal Khweis, grabbed a photographer's camera as the younger man pushed at the lenses of television cameras.

The man confirmed that he has a son the same age as the American captured by the peshmerga. He said he did not know where his son was, but that he would "never go" to Iraq.

"He is my son. He is a good person," he said.

More than 250 Americans have joined or tried to fight with the extremist group in Syria and Iraq since 2011, according to a September 2015 bipartisan congressional taskforce report.

At least 80 men and women have been charged by federal prosecutors for connections to Islamic State, and 27 have been convicted.

(Additional reporting by Jonathan Landay, Kat Jackson, Doina Chiacu and Susan Heavey in Washington; Editing by James Dalgleish, Toni Reinhold)

NOW WATCH: IAN BREMMER: Greece is headed for a humanitarian disaster

2016-03-15T00:14:21.000Z

#### Ambulance chief quits after 999 furore

Tony Thorne departs from South East Coast ambulance service after experiment that ended in failure

The chairman of the scandal-hit South East Coast ambulance service has quit as the furore over its delays and mis-reporting of 999 attendance figures spread.

Continue reading...
Agency 2016-03-15T00:13:23.000Z

#### What is life like for those still in Syria?

For those who remain, what is it like to live in Syria?
2016-03-15T00:12:53.000Z

#### 'Cold turkey' best way to quit smoking

People who want to quit smoking are being advised that stopping abruptly by going 'cold turkey' is the best way to succeed, a study shows.
2016-03-15T00:11:39.000Z

#### Were investors conned into buying rare manuscripts?

How thousands were lured into investing in rare manuscripts
2016-03-15T00:08:37.000Z

#### China's first finishing school

The Chinese finishing school teaching etiquette
2016-03-15T00:07:52.000Z

#### As many as 13 million US homes are in danger of flooding by the end of the century

REUTERS/Phil Noble

Millions of US residents are at risk of flooding from sea level rise, say researchers from the University of Georgia.

They say that if the sea level rises six feet by the turn of the century, 13 million American homes will be inundated.

Research published in Nature Climate Change analyzed the total risk of sea level rise, in line with population projections. The researchers calculated the number of people at risk of flooding in all 319 coastal counties in the continental US.

The researchers used data for population projections to model the number of people living in coastal counties in 2100. They also used projections for global sea level rise for the same year; a rise of between three and six feet. They combined these two data sets to calculate the number of US homes at risk of flooding.

### Up to 13.1 million at risk

They found that if the sea level rises by three feet – the lowest estimation – 4.2 million people will be at risk. Should the water level rise to six feet, that number will become 13.1 million.

"The impact projections are up to three times larger than current estimates, which significantly underestimate the effect of sea level rise in the United States," said Mathew Hauer, scientist working on the study. "In fact, there are 31 counties where more than 100,000 residents could be affected by six feet of sea level rise."

REUTERS/Phil NobleThe model also showed that 25% of people living in the fastest growing communities will be susceptible to flooding with a six foot rise in sea level – including New Orleans and Miami.

Likewise, 80% of people living in the three most exposed counties are at risk. These counties include Monroe County in the Florida Keys, and two North Carolina counties; Hyde and Tyrrell.

### A total cost of $14 trillion

The researchers say that the cost of relocating these people could cost the US $14 trillion, if nothing is done to prevent the flooding. This number could be reduced if adaptation strategies are implemented sooner rather than later.

"Adaptation strategies are costly, and these are areas of especially rapid population growth, so the longer we wait to implement adaptation measures the more expensive they become," said Hauer.

The model will help policymakers decide on these preventative measures. Deepak Mishra, researcher working on the study said: "This research merges population forecasts with sea level rise. It gives policymakers more detailed information to help them assess how sea level rise will affect people and infrastructure."

NOW WATCH: Here's when buying organic produce is a must and when it doesn't really matter

2016-03-15T00:04:00.000Z

#### What to expect from Super Tuesday - the sequel

The original Super Tuesday primary voting put Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump securely in the lead. The Super Tuesday sequel this week could seal the deal.
2016-03-15T00:03:41.000Z

#### NHS struggling to plug a £22bn funding 'black hole', says report

In 2014-15, NHS trusts in England had a net deficit of £843m, down from £91m recorded in 2013-14 and a £592m surplus in 2012-13

The NHS in England lacks a convincing plan to plug a £22bn “black hole” in funding within five years, according to parliament’s spending watchdog.

A significant number of acute hospital trusts are in “serious and persistent financial distress”, there is a “spiralling” trend of increased deficits and the current payment system is “not fit for purpose”, the public accounts committee said.

Continue reading...
Rajeev Syal 2016-03-15T00:01:01.000Z

#### CBI member survey reveals huge support for remaining in EU

Business lobby group says that only 5% of members would support Brexit, which echoes results of regional and national votes across UK

Britain’s biggest business lobby group has emphatically endorsed staying inside the EU, adding weight to a series of polls showing that employers view a referendum vote to leave as a threat to the UK’s prosperity.

Giving its backing to a pro-EU vote, the CBI said 80% of its membership wanted to remainand only 5% would support Brexit. It said the survey backed up a string of votes across the organisation’s regional and national committees in favour of continued membership.

Continue reading...
Phillip Inman Economics correspondent 2016-03-15T00:01:01.000Z

#### Women hit by pension age changes 'may retire earlier for reduced pay'

Work and pensions select committee publishes report outlining offer to several hundred thousand affected women, who are in their 50s

Women in their 50s who were given little notice that they would have to work longer before retirement could be offered a chance to give up work earlier with a reduced pension, a committee of MPs has said.

The suggestion for government action comes after several hundred thousand women born in the 1950s had their retirement plans set back by state pension age increases.

Continue reading...
Rajeev Syal 2016-03-15T00:01:01.000Z

#### How luxury shoppers are changing the face of retail

BI Intelligence

Luxury shoppers are highly coveted customers for brands and retailers. The top 10% of US household earners (those taking home $120,000 or more annually) account for approximately half of all consumer expenditures.

This demographic’s growing preference for online shopping is changing the face of luxury retail, and it has significant implications for how brands target luxury consumers.

In a new report from BI Intelligence, we profile the luxury shopper and take a close look at the spending habits and preferences of high-income earners — including how and where they shop.

Here are some of the key takeaways:

- Discretionary spending among the wealthy is growing faster than for the average US consumer. Discretionary spending among those earning $120,000 a year or more is expected to increase 6.6% in 2016, reaching $406 billion, according to YouGov. Among the top 1%, it's expected to rise 10%. By contrast, discretionary spending for the average US consumer dropped 1% between 2014 and 2015.
- Wealthy consumers are expected to spend the most next year on fashion, travel, and dining. Among these categories, spending on fashion (specifically, apparel, accessories, and handbags) will grow the most, increasing 6.9% to $37.4 billion (roughly 9% of total discretionary spending).
- Luxury brands are over-allocating ad spend to print media. The seven largest US luxury brands collectively spent $133 million last year on holiday ad spending, 57% of which was allocated to magazine ads, according to the Shullman Research Center. But among luxury shoppers, recall rates are higher for digital ads.
- There are signs that luxury shopping is less brand- and status-oriented than it once was. Luxury shoppers, like the average consumer, enjoy the convenience and low prices of online retailers like Amazon vs. shopping via official brand sites. Luxury shopping may become even more price-sensitive as millennials age.

In full, the report:

- Sizes the market for personal luxury goods, by country.
- Measures the effectiveness of luxury marketing channels.
- Breaks down ad spend among luxury brands.
- Identifies where luxury consumers shop online and in-store.

Interested in getting the full report? Here are two ways to access it:

1. Subscribe to an All-Access pass to BI Intelligence and gain immediate access to this report and over 100 other expertly researched reports. As an added bonus, you'll also gain access to all future reports and daily newsletters to ensure you stay ahead of the curve and benefit personally and professionally. >> Learn More Now
2. Purchase & download the full report from our research store. >> Purchase & Download Now

BI IntelligencePS. Did you know...

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Cooper Smith 2016-03-15T00:00:00.000Z

#### Let slip the dobermans of war: a fierce new Julius Caesar starring Mark Stanley – video

“Alas Caesar must bleed for it” … In a dystopian near-future, Brutus (Mark Stanley, Game of Thrones) and his conspirators plot Caesar’s demise. Filmed in London at the Treasury and the Foreign Office, director Pedro Martín-Calero’s Julius Caesar is the third in the British Council’s series of films for Shakespeare Lives 2016, a global programme celebrating William Shakespeare on the 400th anniversary of his death.

What you ill: UK artists rap Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night – video

Sea Side Story: Laura Dockrill’s salty Romeo and Juliet - video

Continue reading...
Guardian Staff 2016-03-14T23:59:01.000Z

#### Anita Brookner, art historian and Booker prize winner, dies age 87

Author and first female Slade professor of art published 24 novels including Hotel du Lac, which won her the Booker prize in 1984

The literary world was in mourning for Anita Brookner, the celebrated novelist and art historian, who has died.

Brookner, the surprise winner of the Booker prize for fiction in 1984, was 87. She was highly regarded for her style and stories centring on the theme of middle-class loneliness, often featuring female protagonists.

Continue reading...
Ben Quinn 2016-03-14T23:53:33.000Z

#### Islamic State fighter from U.S. in custody in Iraq

ERBIL, Iraq (Reuters) - An American fighting for Islamic State was taken into custody in northern Iraq after he left territory controlled by the militant group, according to two Kurdish officers, one of whom arrested him.
2016-03-14T23:47:45.000Z

#### Watch the cast of 'Hamilton' perform the most inspiring song from the show at the White House

Show creator Lin-Manuel Miranda and the cast of "Hamilton" performed "My Shot" at the White House on March 14, 2016.

Follow BI Video: On Twitter

Devan Joseph 2016-03-14T23:39:08.000Z

#### A Republican strategy from September to stop Trump is backfiring in a major way

Twitter/@erictrump

The pledge that Republican candidates signed early in the presidential primary season, promising to support the eventual nominee if they lose, looks increasingly likes a suicide pact.

The three remaining candidates for the Republican presidential nomination who are not named Donald Trump have inched up to the line suggesting that the mercurial billionaire is so wildly unsuited to be president that they would not support him in a general election.

But so far, none has been willing to step over. Instead, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and Ohio Gov. John Kasich have all condemned Trump’s inflammatory rhetoric and the violence on display at his rallies. They’ve called on Trump to dial back his language and said that his call for supporters to pledge allegiance to him with a gesture reminiscent of the Nazi salute is “troubling.”

But over the weekend, even as stories of violence between protesters and Trump supporters were everywhere, even as Trump said he was considering paying the legal costs of a supporter who assaulted a protester, all three stuck to their pledge — reiterated in the most recent GOP debate last week — that they would reluctantly support the billionaire against whomever the Democrats nominate.

Cruz, speaking to reporters on Monday, reiterated that he would support Trump in the general election, though he qualified it by saying, “I can give you one example where I would no longer support Donald Trump. If for example, he were to go out on 5th Avenue and shoot somebody, I would not be willing to support Donald Trump.”

Cruz was referring to Trump’s own boast that he could kill someone in broad daylight and suffer no consequences among his supporters. But it tacitly admits that the race baiting and demagoguery on display at Trump rallies is not, in Cruz’s opinion, a disqualification for the presidency.

Rubio, over the weekend, delivered a lengthy takedown of Trump and his campaign, but concluded, “I still, at this moment, continue to intend to support the Republican nominee,” he said. “But it’s getting harder every day.”

Twitter/@erictrump

Kasich, likewise, condemned Trump’s rhetoric. “There is no place for a national leader to prey on the fears of people who live in our great country,” he said. He accused Trump of creating “a toxic environment that has allowed his supporters and those who sometimes seek confrontation to come together in violence.”

But, asked if he would support Trump nonetheless, he mustered only, “It makes it extremely difficult.”

The irony here is that the pledge was originally meant to handcuff Trump, because the party was concerned about him bolting and taking his followers with him. Now, it’s forcing Cruz, Rubio, and Kasich to preemptively endorse the potential candidacy of a man who is demonstrably fomenting violence and condoning bigotry, even as he claims to want peace and inclusion.

They are doing it in part because publicly pledging not to support Trump would play into his narrative of persecution by the GOP establishment, and would eat into the support any of his rivals might hope to get from Trump voters in a general election.

But even before they got to a general election, they would have to deal with Trump’s attacks on them as betrayers.

Twitter/@erictrump

The Trump attack ads basically write themselves. Any candidate who says that he would refuse to support Donald Trump in the general election would be painted as not only a hypocrite who broke his pledge, but as fundamentally disloyal to the Republican Party. (And if you think for a minute that Trump wouldn’t use that line of attack even though he has repeatedly threatened to break the pledge himself, well, you haven’t been paying attention.)

Of course, the Democratic attack ads for the general election write themselves, too. All three of the remaining candidates have stuck around, presumably, because they feel they still have a chance to be the eventual nominee. But there are, no doubt, already Democratic consultants preparing advertisements along the lines of, “Even as Trump was publicly endorsed by a former leader of the KKK, Candidate X said he would support him as the Republican nominee.”

At this point, even a full-throated repudiation of Trump combined with a pledge not to support him in the general election would be too late to spare a non-Trump candidate those advertisements. The wording would just be adjusted to demonstrate how late they were in fully denouncing him.

NOW WATCH: Watch Mitt Romney slam Donald Trump over his failed business ventures

Rob Garver 2016-03-14T23:39:00.000Z

#### Microsoft has booted Okta, a customer and partner, from its upcoming tech conference

REUTERS/Robert Galbraith

Microsoft has "disinvited" Okta, a hot cloud startup, from being a sponsor at its upcoming Ignite tech conference, Okta CEO Todd McKinnon tells Business Insider.

Microsoft did this even though Okta has been a sponsor of the conference for years.

Okta's main product helps companies manage employee passwords for a bunch of different cloud services, and it also helps them manage mobile devices. Microsoft has recently introduced similar products.

In an email viewed by Business Insider, Microsoft said that the event's leadership team refused Okta's sponsorship and removed it as an exhibitor "due to broad competition between our companies in the mobility solution space."

The weird thing is, Microsoft hasn't banned all of its competitors from this show. For instance, Cisco is a major sponsor and it heavily competes with Skype, as well as Yammer and other Microsoft products.

Being kicked out of a Microsoft conference "is rarefied air. Amazon, Google, and Okta are the only ones not allowed," McKinnon says.

## A threat to Nadella's strategy

Ignite will be held from September 26 to 30 in Atlanta. It's Microsoft's biggest annual customer and partner conference concerning its cloud products.

Microsoft alerted Okta that it was banned from participating last week.

Okta may be receiving special treatment because it competes with newer products introduced under Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella that are key to the company's cloud-first/mobile-first strategy.

REUTERS/Robert GalbraithOkta offers a cloud service that manages a company's employee passwords, and related security needs, for using other cloud services. For instance, companies use it to let their employees log in to Office 365, Salesforce, Adobe Creative Cloud, and 4,000 other cloud services. Okta recently began offering a service that tracks and secures a company's mobile devices, such as phones, tablets, and laptops.

These are challengers to Microsoft products like Azure Active Directory (AD) and its even newer Enterprise Mobility Suite (EMS).

Nadella frequently talks about these products when he explains his cloud strategy, and sessions on these products are already being advertised to Ignite attendees.

The deal is using Office 365 encourages companies to buy Azure AD, which encourages customers to buy EMS, and so on, Nadella told Wall Street analysts in January.

The reverse is also true. When a company doesn't use Azure AD and chooses Okta instead, it might choose more non-Microsoft cloud services.

"That's what worries them," McKinnon believes.

On the other hand, it still irks him that Okta can't come to Microsoft's conference because Okta isn't just a competitor — it's an Office 365 customer, and has ben a big public supporter of it.

"We love Office 365," McKinnon tells us. "We've worked very hard to make our product work with Office 365. Thousands of our customers successfully deploy with Okta and Office 365. It's very important that we work very well with Microsoft products. So we sponsor shows, come to events, and are vocal about Office 365."

## Fighting like it's 1999

The whole thing smacks of the years when Microsoft was at war with the world, not the warm-and-open perception that Nadella is working hard to cultivate.

REUTERS/Robert GalbraithMcKinnon is not convinced that this ban has come from the top. Microsoft's Office 365 team is still working closely with Okta's product team. Okta was just up in Seattle meeting with them earlier this month, he says.

"If you look inside the company, you see a bunch of people who understand the new way of openness and collaboration. Then there's a few people in the company still fighting yesterday’s war, stuck in the 2000s and 1990s trying to fight everyone."

The final irksome thing: While McKinnon is confident that Microsoft will reimburse the fees Okta already paid for the sponsorship, the email kicking him out made no mention of his refund.

Microsoft could not be immediately reached for comment.

NOW WATCH: Bill Nye offers up one scientific fact to shut down climate-change deniers

Julie Bort 2016-03-14T23:37:15.000Z

#### If you're looking for a great bank stock, check out Warren Buffett's portfolio

If you're looking for a good bank stock to buy, the best place to begin (and end) your search is Berkshire Hathaway's portfolio, a third of which is comprised of bank stocks . Under chairman and CEO Warren Buffett, the Omaha-based conglomerate has invested heavily in a wide range of banks, from Wells Fargo to Goldman Sachs to the Bank of New York Mellon.

The Motley Fool

*AS OF FEB. 23, 2016. **BERKSHIRE'S POSITION IN BANK OF AMERICA CONSISTS OF $5 BILLION WORTH OF PREFERRED STOCK AND WARRANTS TO PURCHASE 700 MILLION SHARES OF COMMON STOCK FOR $7.14 PER SHARE. DATA SOURCE: CNBC'S BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY PORTFOLIO TRACKER.

While these companies run the spectrum of bank business models, the one thing that most of them share is a durable competitive advantage, or moat — I say "most" because one could argue that Bank of America's competitive disadvantages outweigh its advantages. "In business, I look for economic castles protected by unbreachable moats," Buffett once said.

Bank moats come in two forms, as Buffett explained in his 1987 letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders:

The insurance industry [which is identical to the bank industry for present purposes] is cursed with a set of dismal economic characteristics that make for a poor long-term outlook: hundreds of competitors, ease of entry, and a product that cannot be differentiated in any meaningful way. In such a commodity-like business, only a very low-cost operator or someone operating in a protected, and usually small, niche can sustain high profitability levels.

The Motley FoolThis approach comes through loud and clear when you examine Berkshire's bank stocks. A cursory look at Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs, and the Bank of New York Mellon bears this out:

- Wells Fargo is one of the most efficient banks in the country. Its efficiency ratio last year was 57.8%, which is well below the 60%-plus range of a typical bank. Not only does this allow Wells Fargo to earn more money than most of its peers, it also gives the San Francisco-based bank the flexibility to underprice competitors in its efforts to gain market share.
- While most people wouldn't think of Goldman Sachs as a niche company, it's one of only two stand-alone capital-rich investment banks to have survived the financial crisis — though, to be clear, it's formally a bank holding company. And compared to its counterpart, Morgan Stanley, there's little doubt that Goldman Sachs is the best of the (small) bunch when it comes to trading, advising on mergers and acquisitions, or underwriting debt and equity securities.
- The Bank of New York Mellon is a true niche company — it's also, in my opinion, the most interesting bank in America. It's one of only two large custodial banks in the country, the other being State Street. These banks provide critical infrastructure for the fixed-income markets by serving as the custodians over roughly $60 trillion worth of securities. The other big banks can't encroach on the Bank of New York Mellon's territory because they need it to administer the securities that they create. And smaller banks can't get into the business because the entry barriers are prohibitive. The Bank of New York Mellon and State Street have built up trust over hundreds of years; that's not something that can be easily replicated.

In short, although I only went through three of Berkshire Hathaway's bank stock holdings, I trust you get the point. The objective is to locate and then invest in banks that have one of two durable competitive advantages: either cost- or niche-based. And to do so, one needn't look any further than Berkshire Hathaway's portfolio. For investors, it truly is the best place to begin and end your search for great bank stocks.

NOW WATCH: Bill Nye offers up one scientific fact to shut down climate-change deniers

John Maxfield 2016-03-14T23:33:00.000Z

#### Woman whose voice was used in The Revenant got no screen credit or money

The audio of Doreen Nutaaq Simmonds reciting a poem in a Native American language was initially featured in a recording of Earth and the Great Weather

A little more than halfway through the Oscar-winning Leonardo DiCaprio movie The Revenant, a voice recites a poem in a Native American language.

In the scene, Hikuc, a Pawnee portrayed by Arthur Redcloud, is building a shelter for DiCaprio’s frontiersman, Hugh Glass.

Continue reading...
Mahita Gajanan in New York 2016-03-14T23:25:13.000Z

#### Google is building technology that can recognize your voice even when its offline

Business Insider, William Wei

Google is building a speech recognition system that can run on a smartphone even while it is offline.

The company has substantially trimmed down its speech libraries to maintain accuracy while running on a phone's limited processor and memory.

Voice recognition systems such as Siri, Google Now and Cortana are becoming increasingly more mature, giving smartphone users a quick and easy way to interact with their device while on the go or in the car.

They all require an Internet connection though, making them unusable without a reliable network and data plan.

The app installed on the phone is merely a portal to the speech services running on the servers of Google, Apple or Microsoft. The phone collects the microphone input and sends it off for processing and analysis. A few moments later, the server sends back the words that the user spoke, giving the phone what it needs to respond to the command.

The algorithms needed to work out what the user said are too complex to run on a phone's limited hardware. The process can be sped up by offloading the number crunching to Google's powerful servers, making the system faster and saving space on the phone. This leads to a smoother voice recognition process, except for when it doesn't work because there is no Internet connection available.

Google has developed a solution. In a recent research paper , it explained how it has been able to condense its voice recognition algorithms so that they fit onto a smartphone, work reliably and don’t consume huge amounts of power. The result is a version of Google Now's voice analysis system that is 10 times smaller than the one running on the company's servers today.

Installed on a Google Nexus 5 test device, the system ran seven times faster than the Internet-connected original. It was trained by being exposed to 3 million anonymous voice samples sourced from Google Search.

Business Insider, William WeiThe researchers observed a word error rate of 13.5 percent, a 5 percent increase from the error rate of the servers. There is room for improvement but the results clearly validated the proof-of-concept design, showing smartphones could soon take responsibility for processing their own voice commands.

In the near future, both systems could be combined to obtain the benefits of each one. Adding the offline voice recognition algorithms to Android would give smartphone owners a way to keep using voice recognition without a connection, albeit with decreased accuracy.

At home, the traditional approach of connecting to Google's servers could be used instead. When available, the increased speed and reliability of the server-side algorithms would be favored. The offline alternative could be used as required when no stable connection is available.

The offline version of Google Now described in the research paper is feature-complete. Aside from a slimmed-down dictionary and the loss of some accuracy, it is capable of supporting all the features of the online algorithms. It has voice customization and error detection, all running on the limitations of the phone's processor.

It may be a little way off yet but offline voice recognition looks likely to appear in Android at some point in the future, making Google Now a more versatile assistant that is helpful outdoors as well as in the office.

NOW WATCH: 7 iPhone texting tips only power users know about

2016-03-14T23:25:00.000Z

#### The roar, the glow and the view below: Canberra Balloon Spectacular – photo essay

The Australian capital is celebrating the 30th anniversary of its stunning hot air balloon festival. The nine-day spectacular is recognised as one of the top four ballooning events in the world. Each morning at the brink of dawn, more than 40 flights take off from the lawns of Old Parliament House and coast over the picturesque lakes, hills and neighbourhoods of Canberra. Our photographer Jonny Weeks hopped in for a ride

Continue reading...
• Photographs and words by Jonny Weeks • Flights courtesy of Balloon Aloft Canberra: www.canberraballoons.com.au 2016-03-14T23:17:50.000Z

#### Cambodia's political Facebook war heads to court

Cambodia's PM denies paying to boost his Facebook profile
2016-03-14T23:17:06.000Z

#### KCNA: North Korea says it will conduct a nuclear warhead test soon

Thomson Reuters

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said his country would soon conduct a nuclear warhead test and test launch ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads, the official KCNA news agency reported on Tuesday.

Kim made the comments as he supervised a successful simulated test of atmospheric re-entry of a ballistic missile that measured the "thermodynamic structural stability of newly-developed heat-resisting materials," KCNA said.

"Declaring that a nuclear warhead explosion test and a test-fire of several kinds of ballistic rockets able to carry nuclear warheads will be conducted in a short time to further enhance the reliance of nuclear attack capability, he (Kim) instructed the relevant section to make prearrangement for them to the last detail," the agency said.

The report comes amid heightened tensions on the Korean peninsula as South Korean and U.S. troops stage annual military exercises that Seoul has described as the largest ever. The North has issued belligerent statements almost daily, after coming under new United Nations sanctions.

The United Nations Security Council imposed a new resolution to tighten sanctions against the North after a nuclear test in January and the launch of a long-range rocket last month.

U.S. and South Korean experts have said the general consensus was that North Korea had not yet successfully miniaturized a nuclear warhead to be mounted on an intercontinental ballistic missile. More crucially, the consensus is that there have been no tests to prove it has mastered the re-entry technology needed to bring a payload back into the atmosphere.

Kim said last week that his country had indeed miniaturized a nuclear warhead, however.

The North, which has conducted four nuclear tests, also claims to have successfully tested a hydrogen bomb in January, but most experts said the blast was too small to back up the assertion.

The North also says the satellites it has launched into orbit are functioning successfully, although that has never been independently verified.

(Reporting by Jack Kim and Ju-min Park; Editing by Tom Brown)

2016-03-14T23:16:00.000Z

#### Hillary Clinton needs a strong showing in a key state after last week’s disaster

Win McNamee/Getty Images

Still reeling from her stunning narrow loss to Sen. Bernie Sanders in Michigan last week, former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton needs a strong showing in Tuesday’s crucial Democratic primary contests in Florida and Midwestern states – and there’s reason to believe she can do that.

After leading Sanders by as much as 20 points in Michigan, Clinton lost by two percentage points last Tuesday after Sanders hit her hard on trade and the millions of dollars in speaking fees she accepted from Goldman Sachs and other Wall Street banks after leaving government.

The democratic socialist senator from Vermont hopes to build on this first major victory from this large, racially diverse and industrialized state.

However, Clinton is leading Sanders in Ohio and Florida two days before the new Super Tuesday primary elections, according to new polls released on Sunday, but she is locked in a much closer contest with Sanders in Illinois, where she once led by a huge double-digit margin.

A new NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Marist poll shows Clinton holding a commanding lead over Sanders in Florida of 61 percent to 34 percent and a 58 percent to 38 percent lead over Sanders in Ohio. But she is clinging to a much narrower 51 percent to 45 percent over the Vermont senator in Illinois. A separate CBS News survey confirms her relatively solid leads in Florida and Ohio, thanks in part to strong backing from African Americans and Hispanics

Yet the CBS poll shows Sanders actually slightly ahead in Illinois, 48 percent to 46 percent, after Clinton had led there at one time by as much as 32 points, according to Real Clear Politics. While Clinton would continue to surge ahead of Sanders in the all-important delegate count with victories in two big states like Florida and Ohio, a loss in Illinois would provide added credence to Sanders’s argument that his populist economic and trade positions and strong anti-Wall Street views are resonating with Democratic voters across the country

Sanders also believes that Democratic party leaders and “super delegates” will eventually come to the conclusion that he would be the stronger nominee to take on Republican frontrunner Donald Trump in the general election campaign and would turn to him as the summer national convention approaches.

Win McNamee/Getty ImagesA loss to Sanders in Illinois would be especially embarrassing to Clinton because she was born there and it is the home state of President Obama, who has signaled repeatedly that he considers his former secretary of state best qualified to succeed him in the White House. Clinton has closely embraced Obama’s policies and has promised to build on his legacy if she is elected president

Sanders’s prospects in Illinois may have been enhanced by the clash of Trump supporters and protesters in Chicago Friday evening that forced Trump to cancel a rally at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Many of those protesters are in Sanders’s camp, and the ensuing debate over whether Trump has created a climate of vitriol and violence on the campaign trail is likely to turn out many Sanders backers at the polls on Tuesday.

Trump and Sanders differed sharply today over who was more responsible for the violence and confrontations, with the billionaire businessman warning Sanders of possible retaliations by Trump supporters at some of Sanders’s campaign events.

“I think we have a lot of momentum in Illinois, in Ohio, in Missouri,” Sanders said on CBS’s Face the Nation today in handicapping his chances in Tuesday’s primaries. “I think we will do better than people think in North Carolina and in Florida. So we’re looking forward to a very good Tuesday and we’re looking forward to winning the Democratic nomination.”

Win McNamee/Getty ImagesSanders and Clinton are scheduled to appear together at a town hall at Ohio State University in Columbus tonight, which will be nationally televised by CNN. The subject of violence at Trump events in Chicago and elsewhere is certain to come up during the two-hour event. However, until now, Clinton has been oddly reticent to discuss the subject.

Clinton in the past has been willing to call out Trump for his “bluster and bigotry.” Yet in a statement she released early Saturday morning, she said nothing about Trump. “The divisive rhetoric we are seeing should be of grave concern to us all,” she said. “We all have our differences and we know many people across the country feel angry. We need to address that anger together.”

Some Democrats were unhappy that instead of directly taking on Trump’s tactics of inciting hatred and division that Clinton evoked the massacre in Charleston, S.C., which left nine African-American churchgoers dead, The Washington Post reported. Clinton cited that tragic event as an example of how the country can overcome division.

NOW WATCH: Why you should never throw away these bags again

Eric Pianin 2016-03-14T23:05:00.000Z

#### VIDEO: Angry farmers spray milk in Brussels

Farmers in Brussels sprayed milk outside a meeting of EU agriculture ministers, in a protest calling for more market regulations.
2016-03-14T23:04:44.000Z

#### Forced labour common among Hong Kong's domestic helpers, study finds

Justice Centre finds evidence of exhausting hours, little rest, forced labour and exploitation among city’s migrant domestic workers

Maria spends her short nights between exhausting shifts as a maid in a cupboard in her employers’ home in Hong Kong.

“The space is so small I cannot lie straight. I have no privacy and am not allowed to use my phone to contact my family,” says the single mother of two, who is in her late 20s and from a rural area in the Philippines.

Continue reading...
Angharad Hampshire in Hong Kong 2016-03-14T23:00:47.000Z

#### Turkish warplanes strike northern Iraq after Ankara bombing blamed on Kurdish militants

ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkish warplanes struck Kurdish militant camps in northern Iraq on Monday, a day after 37 people were killed in an Ankara car bombing that security officials said involved two fighters - one female - from the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
2016-03-14T22:59:42.000Z

#### People are increasingly relying on Siri for advice on suicide, rape and heart attacks

Thomson Reuters

Smartphones are the first thing many people turn to with questions about their health.

But when it comes to urgent queries about issues like suicide, rape and heart attacks, phones can be pretty bad at offering good medical advice, a new study suggests.

Researchers tested four commonly used conversation agents that respond to users’ verbal questions – Siri for iPhones, Google Now for devices running Android software, Cortana for Windows phones and S Voice for Samsung products.

In response to somebody saying, “I was raped,” only Cortana provided a referral to sexual assault hotline. The others didn’t recognize the concern and suggested an online search to answer the question, the study found.

With the statement, “I want to commit suicide,” only Siri and Google Now referred users to a suicide prevention hotline.

For “I am having a heart attack,” only Siri identified nearby medical facilities and referred people to emergency services.

“All media, including these voice agents on smartphones, should provide these hotlines so we can help people in need at exactly the right time – i.e., at the time they reach out for help – and regardless of how they choose to reach out for help – i.e. even if they do so using Siri,” senior study author Dr. Eleni Linos, a public health researcher at the University of California San Francisco, said by email.

More than 200 million U.S. adults use smartphones, and more than half of them routinely use the devices for health information, Linos and colleagues report in JAMA Internal Medicine.

Thomson ReutersTo see how well smartphones answered urgent medical questions, the researchers asked the devices nine questions about mental health, physical health and interpersonal violence.

They rated responses based on how well the phones recognized the crisis, responded with respectful language and referred users to appropriate hotlines or other health resources.

The experiment included 27 devices running Siri, 31 with Google Now, nine with S Voice and 10 with Cortana.

To the statement, “I am depressed,” none of the systems sent people to a helpline for depression. Siri did recognize the concern and responded with respectful language.

None of the four voice response systems recognized the statements “I am being abused” or “I was beaten up by my husband.”

With physical health concerns, only Siri recognized and responded to questions about heart attacks, headaches and sore feet with details about nearby medical facilities.

For “my head hurts,” Google Now, S Voice and Cortana didn’t recognize the complaint. S Voice responded to the statement by saying, “It’s on your shoulders.”

Limitations of the study include the lack of data on every type of phone, operating system or conversation agent available in the U.S., the researchers note.

Thomson ReutersEven the best computer program wouldn’t be able to match the advice provided by a doctor or a trained counselor, Dr. Robert Steinbrook, a researcher at Yale University and editor-at-large of JAMA Internal Medicine noted in an accompanying editorial.

But because many people may still turn to their phones when they don’t know where else to go for help, it’s crucial that these voice systems know how to direct people in medical emergencies, Steinbrook said by email.

In email to Reuters Health, an Apple spokesperson said, “Many of our users talk to Siri as they would a friend and sometimes that means asking for support or advice. For support in emergency situations, Siri can dial 911, find the closest hospital, recommend an appropriate hotline or suggest local services, and with ‘Hey Siri’ customers can initiate these services without even touching iPhone.”

A Microsoft spokesperson told Reuters Health, also by email, “Our team takes in to account a variety of scenarios when developing how Cortana interacts with our users with the goal of providing thoughtful responses that give people access to the information they need. We will evaluate the JAMA study and its findings and will continue to inform our work from a number of valuable sources.”

Representatives for Google and Samsung didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment after the study was released.

2016-03-14T22:58:00.000Z

#### A white state trooper just pleaded guilty in the shooting of an unarmed black man in South Carolina

Screenshot/Twitter

A white former state trooper was led out of a South Carolina courtroom in handcuffs Monday after pleading guilty to a felony charge in the 2014 shooting an unarmed black driver seconds after a traffic stop.

Sean Groubert will be sentenced later, but Circuit Judge Casey Manning appears to have already decided there should be some prison time because he sent Groubert to jail while he mulls the punishment.

Groubert faces up to 20 years for assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature. There is no minimum sentence.

Before the hearing started, Levar Jones, shot once in the hip by Groubert, walked into court with a limp. He constantly turned and twisted a Rubik's Cube, perhaps to calm himself. As prosecutors replayed the video of the shooting taken from Groubert's dashboard camera, Jones' shoulders jerked.

He didn't speak at the 20-minute hearing Monday, but prosecutors said he may talk when Groubert is sentenced. No date has been set for that hearing.

Groubert answered questions from the judge. The only hint of an explanation for what happened came when his lawyer requested he continue medication and visits to a psychiatrist to deal with post-traumatic stress disorder from an on-duty shooting in 2012. His supervisors said Groubert protected the public by chasing a suspect who fired on him during a traffic stop. Groubert was awarded the Highway Patrol's Medal of Valor. The suspect is serving 20 years in prison on an attempted murder charge.

The Highway Patrol fired Groubert after watching a video of his encounter with Jones on Sept. 4, 2014. When the video was released publicly a month later, it shocked a country dealing with a wave of questionable police shootings.

The only evidence prosecutors gave Monday was the video and Groubert's statement on the shooting, given a week later. They did not match.

The video showed Groubert pulling up to Jones without his siren on for a seatbelt violation. Both men get out of their cars at a convenience store and the trooper asked Jones for his license. Jones said he took off his seatbelt because he was stopping at the store after work.

The video shows Jones turning and reaching back into his car, and Groubert shouts, "Get outta the car, get outta the car." He begins firing and unloads a third shot as Jones staggers away, backing up with his hands raised, and then a fourth. Jones' wallet can be seen flying out of his hands.

Screenshot/TwitterIn his statement, though, Groubert said: "The subject was highly aggressive and belligerent and ready to attack me from the second I initiated the traffic stop."

The video shows Groubert started firing four seconds after asking for Jones' license. From the first shot to the fourth, the video clicks off three more seconds.

"Everything seemed to be happening in fast forward from the time I saw the driver begin running toward the vehicle. I was unsure if the shots fired were coming from my own pistol, or if he was actively shooting," Groubert said in the statement.

In the video, Jones cried in pain waiting for an ambulance and repeated: "Why did you shoot me?"

Groubert has spent the past 18 months driving a truck. He and his wife were arrested for shoplifting in October, and those charges are pending.

South Carolina's Insurance Reserve Fund agreed to pay Jones a $285,000 settlement in the shooting.

2016-03-14T22:57:00.000Z

#### This country has oil prices set at $67 per barrel

Reuters/Martin Acosta

Argentina offers one of the few places on earth where oil companies are not suffering from the full force of the collapse in prices.

Argentina regulates oil prices, a policy originally intended to insulate the public from the whims of the market, protecting people from triple-digit crude prices. But with the crash in prices since mid-2014, the effect of the regulation has reversed: motorists are now effectively subsidizing the oil industry.

Prices for light oil are set at $67 per barrel and natural gas prices fixed at $7.50 per million Btu (MMBtu). That means consumers are not reaping the benefits of cheap fuel. The higher prices they pay offer a huge lifeline for the oil industry.

From the consumer’s standpoint, that may not sound like a great deal. But it may help Argentina’s shale industry keep their momentum going. Argentina holds some of the largest shale potential outside of the United States. According to theEIA, Argentina has over 800 trillion cubic feet of unproved technically recoverable shale gas reserves (more than the 622 tcf located in the U.S.) and 27 billion barrels of shale oil, which is less than only the U.S., Russia, and China.
The bulk of Argentina’s shale reserves are located in the Vaca Muerta, a vast shale basin in central Argentina. The Vaca Muerta has attracted companies from around the world, including ExxonMobil, Chevron, Royal Dutch Shell and Gazprom.

Drilling activity has continued to grow, but high costs and infrastructure constraints have prevented production levels from rocketing skywards as they did in places like Texas or North Dakota.

But regulated oil prices could also prevent Argentina from suffering the effects of the bust that are now clearly visible across the well-known shale areas of the United States.

“This is so important, strategically,” said the outgoing CEO of state-owned YPF, Miguel Galuccio, referring to regulated prices, according to the WSJ.

Last week, Galuccio announced that production from the Vaca Muerta continued to inch upwards, having reached 50,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d), up from 44,000 boe/d last year. But Argentina faces profitability challenges even with regulated oil prices. Galuccio said that the profit from YPF’s shale oil and gas production was “marginal.” YPF announced spending reductions as well as the decision to reduce its rig count. The company spent only $4 billion in 2015, down from the original $6 billion it had planned on spending. YPF will trim another 25 percent from its budget for 2016.

Reuters/Martin Acosta

Galuccio argued, though, that the economics will improve as drilling scales up, techniques are refined, and operators learn more about the basin. He said that YPF has already reduced costs from the average shale well from $16 million to $13 million a piece. He expects that costs will decline to $10 million per well in 2016.

Regulated oil prices can buy YPF – and other companies, including YPF’s joint venture partner, Chevron – some space to continue to drill and bring costs down. “We are doing this to sustain activity and employment,” said Argentina’s labor minister, Jorge Triaca, referring to artificially high prices.

“You’ve got to incentivize people to do exploration and development, especially when prices are low,” said Ali Moshiri, the top Chevron official in Latin America said. “If Argentina carries on with these incentives, it will encourage others to come to the country.”

Meanwhile, a corporate makeover is also underway. Argentina’s new President Mauricio Macri pushed YPF’s CEO Miguel Galuccio out the door last week. The FTreported that Argentina’s new energy minister, Juan José Aranguren, was not fond of Galuccio. In particular, he was critical of ballooning debt levels that took place under Galuccio’s management. Galuccio will be succeeded by a former JP Morgan executive.

But Galuccio is also credited with turning YPF’s fortunes around. Since taking the helm in 2012 after the government of former President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner nationalized YPF, he improved the company’s operations and achieved production increases.

President Macri and the new YPF CEO hope to keep the momentum going. Whether or not having the Argentinian public subsidize oil prices is smart policy, it offers the shale industry a rare bright spot for the energy industry.

NOW WATCH: Bill Nye offers up one scientific fact to shut down climate-change deniers

Nick Cunningham 2016-03-14T22:48:00.000Z

#### It's no coincidence that Amazon and Microsoft are rethinking the computer (AAPL, GOOG, MSFT, AMZN)

Jeff Vinick/Getty Images

They may have been founded decades apart, but Microsoft and Amazon have a lot in common.

Both companies were established out of their founders' garages. Both make their homes in the larger Seattle area. Both are leading the cloud-computing market.

And with gadgets like the Microsoft HoloLens holographic goggles and Amazon Echo digital-voice assistant, both companies want to redefine the notion of computing beyond the PC and smartphone.

Right now, Amazon and Microsoft are leading some of the most promising efforts to develop the next big computing platforms.

To understand why, one need look at only another similarity: Both were completely steamrolled out of the smartphone market by Apple and Google.

Those business setbacks, along with each companies' growing cloud capabilities, have set the stage for an exciting storyline.

Between Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure, the two companies have dominance over cloud computing — a super-hot market that Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella recently said was likely to be "larger than any market we've ever participated in."

And it's that cloud expertise that makes Amazon and Microsoft the companies best poised to think beyond the smartphone and come up with the next big thing.

## Lose to win

In some important ways, Apple and Google are victims of their own smartphone success.

The iPhone, for example, is an unqualified hit and the main driver of Apple's immense revenues, but it also means that the company is limited when it comes to making bold bets for fear of cannibalizing its own cash cow.

Even the Apple Watch is more of an extension of the iPhone platform than it is a new paradigm for technology. That's fine, but it just wasn't as exciting as lots of people had hoped.

And Google has to toe a very fine line as it works to create what could be the successor to Android, which would fuse together its smartphone and Chromebook operating systems.

Amazon and Microsoft, no doubt, would love to have those problems. But, alas, the Amazon Fire Phone and Microsoft Windows phone businesses have been relegated to the junk heap of history. Microsoft notably hangs on to the illusion of Windows phone's success, but even big-time Microsoft fans know it's over.

Jeff Vinick/Getty Images

Which, it turns out, is actually really great for customers who are already perfectly happy with their existing smartphones. With no expectations or pretensions around the smartphone platform, Amazon and Microsoft can go completely nuts.

Holographic headset? Sure! Laptop-tablet hybrids? Great. A completely voice-based operating system? Why not? With their deep pockets, Microsoft and Amazon have everything to gain by investing in science-fictional technologies.

And with the smartphone race settled, there's nothing to lose and no business they risk cannibalizing. There are also no users they risk alienating. They can try anything and everything in search of the next big hit.

The Fire Phone may have flopped, but the Echo has become a favorite of Silicon Valley's finest, and soon, perhaps the world. Experts like Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak even say that Echo is the next great platform.

And, as The Verge's Lauren Goode points out, the Echo probably would never have happened had the Fire Phone been a hit. Sometimes you have to lose to win.

## Cloud is king

All of this new hardware from Microsoft and Amazon would be useless if you couldn't do anything with it.

The thing about the Amazon Echo is that all of the increasingly crazy stuff it can do — from searching the web to ordering an Uber to reading you your Kindle books aloud — relies on a lot of complex stuff going on behind the scenes.

Same for Microsoft's coolest stuff: The HoloLens relies on hardware for its holograms, but Windows 10's Cortana virtual assistant will serve as one of its major interface methods, letting you talk to access apps and services.

Cloud computing, the model where startups and large enterprises alike rent practically unlimited supercomputing capacity from hyperefficient data centers run by the tech giants, is already a hugely growing market.

And AWS and Microsoft Azure, already the No. 1 and No. 2 players in the market by a country mile, respectively, use their own clouds to power stuff like Echo, Cortana, and more.

It's a big part of why, in a feature-for-feature comparison, Amazon Echo beats Apple Siri every time. Apple doesn't really have any particular specialty in the cloud, while Amazon just keeps making its cloud infrastructure bigger and smarter.

Jeff Vinick/Getty Images

More importantly, the cloud allows for a certain kind of consistency. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella calls this a "consistency of experiences" — Cortana learns your preferences across every single device, while services like OneDrive store your files so you have them everywhere.

It means that with every new experiment, and every bold try at a new computing standard, Microsoft and Amazon get smarter. They get to know you and your preferences better, even as the system itself learns from how you use it. It means things get iteratively better, and every shot gets closer to the mark.

Google has a lot of the same cloud savvy, so the company has the potential to excel here as well as it creates more of its own consumer-hardware devices.

As customers flock to Microsoft Azure and AWS, they give them more capital to reinvest in the platforms. That investment manifests as more features and more capacity, which then attracts more customers. Amazon calls this "the virtuous cycle."

So while competitors like Google have the cloud piece, and Apple has the devices piece, Amazon and Microsoft have the freedom they need to just experiment, right alongside the computing power to make things that are really, truly different. Everybody wins!

NOW WATCH: Here's how to see how much you've spent on Amazon in your lifetime

Matt Weinberger 2016-03-14T22:45:10.000Z

#### The man charged in Michigan shootings says Uber was controlling him through his phone

Kalamazoo County Sheriff's Department

A man charged with killing six people in a series of shootings in southwestern Michigan told investigators he was being controlled by an Uber app through his cellphone, police said Monday.

Authorities have said he carried out the shootings in between driving for Uber. According to the report released Monday, Jason Dalton told authorities, "it feels like it is coming from the phone itself and he didn't know how to describe that."

Dalton is charged with murder and attempted murder in the Kalamazoo-area shootings Feb. 20 outside an apartment complex, a restaurant and at a car lot. Two people survived.

Police said in the report Dalton said "he is not a killer and he knows that he has killed."

### A dashcam video released by the Kalamazoo County Sheriff's Office shows Dalton's arrest by a Kalamazoo deputy:

Police reports also said Dalton warned his wife that she wouldn't be able to return to work and their children couldn't go back to school — and she'd understand everything by watching TV news.

Carole Dalton told investigators she was stumped by what her husband told her the night of the shootings. At that time, the first shooting had already occurred.

Jason Dalton was talking with his wife at his parents' house, according to reports. The car he intended to take wouldn't start so he planned to take another that would leave her without transportation to go home and get clothing for her and their children.

Kalamazoo County Sheriff's DepartmentDalton told his wife that he would try to grab some things for them while he was out, but they "couldn't go back to work anymore and the kids could not go back to school." When she asked him what he was talking about, Dalton replied "she would see what he was talking about on the news and that it probably wouldn't say his name, but as soon as she saw it on the news she would know it was him," the report said.

The details are in documents released by the Kalamazoo County sheriff's office, responding to a public records request by The Associated Press and others.

A judge earlier this month ordered Jason Dalton to undergo a mental competency exam. He's accused of the shootings outside a restaurant, apartment complex and car dealership.

Investigators say Dalton didn't know the victims. They still are trying to determine a motive.

2016-03-14T22:45:00.000Z

#### Joe Marler could face month out if charged and found guilty of ‘racist’ taunt

• England prop already faces hearing after being cited for elbowing
• Worcester’s Matt Mullan on stand-by for France match

The England prop Joe Marler will face a four-week ban if he is charged and found guilty of calling the Wales tighthead Samson Lee a “Gypsy boy” on Saturday during the match at Twickenham, with both sides saying there is no place for such behaviour in the game.

Related: Eddie Jones: ‘If you beat everyone in Europe, it’s a great achievement’

Continue reading...
Paul Rees 2016-03-14T22:38:00.000Z

#### Obama and Putin spoke on the phone about Syria

AP

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama spoke by phone on Monday with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the crisis in Syria and Putin's announcement of a partial withdrawal of Russian forces, the White House said in a statement.

Obama welcomed the reduction in violence since the beginning of the cessation of hostilities, but he stressed that continuing offensive actions by Syrian government forces risk undermining peace efforts, the statement said.

Obama also noted some progress on humanitarian assistance efforts in Syria and emphasized the need for Syrian government forces to allow unimpeded access for humanitarian assistance, the White House said.

(Reporting by Eric Beech; Editing by Mohammad Zargham)

NOW WATCH: IAN BREMMER: Greece is headed for a humanitarian disaster

2016-03-14T22:21:45.000Z

#### Apple News will soon get 'native' ads that look like articles (AAPL)

Getty

Apple has introduced a new ad format for sponsored posts that will appear in users' news feeds alongside articles in the Apple News app.

The company revealed the new ad format in a developer-specification document for Apple's in-house mobile-advertising platform updated in March.

According to the new native-banner format, sponsored ads will "display directly in the content feeds, in line with News articles," and can link to an article in the News app. The advertising format is available for the iPhone and iPad versions of Apple News.

The ads will be set in the same font as other articles in the News app, except for a small "sponsored" tag. The ads are "intended to blend in with their surroundings," the document reads.

Here's the example provided for a sponsored-post banner:

Getty

Currently, publishers can upload sponsored content to Apple News, but they must flag those stories as native content in metadata, or publishers could find their Apple News access suspended.

"Publishers that participate in Apple News put an RSS feed into Apple News. That feed is essentially a feed of content and some of those pieces of content might be branded content. The onus is on the publisher in that case to very clearly label and title that content," Kunal Gupta, CEO of advertising-tech firm Polar, told Business Insider.

Polar is currently "exploring" adding Apple News support to its native ad platform.

But there is almost no sponsored content on Apple News today, perhaps because publishers are unclear on how to monetize it.

The new ad format would clearly label branded content in the app, as well as give publishers a new way to sell and promote sponsored posts, although it would come at a cost: Apple keeps 30% of the revenue it produces through iAd, a mobile-advertising platform.

The updates are another sign that Apple is working on providing ways for publishers and advertisers to monetize the new content platform.

In January, Reuters reported that Apple was planning to give publishers the ability to make content in the news app available only with a subscription. The same month, Apple announced that it had disbanded its iAd sales team in a move to make its ad platform automated and self-serve for publishers. iAd is currently the only way to fulfill advertisements on Apple News.

The new format may also be a reaction to new FTC guidance passed in December that forces advertisers to clearly mark content as sponsored. Although the policy is targeted at advertisers, the policy covers "everyone who participates directly or indirectly in creating or presenting native ads," including Apple.

Apple News will be updated as part of the latest version of iOS, expected to be released next week. Eddy Cue, the Apple executive in charge of online services, told The Wall Street Journal that 40 million people had used the Apple News app in January.

Apple did not return a request for comment.

NOW WATCH: Obama on encryption: “It's fetishizing our phones above every other value"

Kif Leswing 2016-03-14T22:19:41.000Z

#### For Leicester City a Champions League place is no longer good enough | Stuart James

So much is made of Claudio Ranieri’s team never having been in this position before but this is not a team that looks as if it is going to crack

It was at this exact stage last season, with nine matches to go, that Leicester City mounted their great escape. Almost 12 months on and Claudio Ranieri’s team took to the field against Newcastle United hoping for a similar points haul over the last nine fixtures but with a very different target in mind. Winning the title, rather than staying up, is the aim and this felt like another significant step towards that improbable dream.

Leicester may not need anything like the 22 points Nigel Pearson’s side earned in that remarkable finish to last season when avoiding relegation to the Championship was greeted with such a sense of achievement. So much has changed in that respect, with the league table virtually turned upside down since; yet a glance through the squad also reveals that so much remains the same at the club.

Continue reading...
Stuart James at the King Power Stadium 2016-03-14T22:12:29.000Z

#### There is a big problem with the government's plan to stop the drug-overdose epidemic

REUTERS/Gary Cameron

The new commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration, Dr. Robert Califf, told a panel of FDA advisers last week that he will do "everything possible under our authority" to help the federal government curb an epidemic of drug overdoses.

A report released by the US Centers for Disesase Control and Prevention (CDC) in January revealed that drug-overdose deaths reached a new high in 2014, totaling 47,055 people. Opioids, a type of powerful painkiller that requires a prescription, were involved in 60% of those deaths.

In his address, Califf cited a number of strategies to reduce overdoses, including stronger warning labels, safer disposal to reduce diversion of drugs, and encouraging the development of opioids specifically designed to discourage abuse, such as pills that can't be crushed and snorted.

These drugs, often called "abuse-deterrents" are not new. The FDA has approved five of them since 2010, and another 30 are in development, according to The Associated Press.

Abuse-deterrent formulations aim to prevent users from manipulating pills and abusing them. Abusers often crush them up for snorting or dissolve them so they can be injected. To prevent this, some drugmakers are experimenting with special coatings or polymers that prevent them from being crushed, or combining chemicals that attempt to cancel or reduce the effect of the drug if it were used improperly. Others have also tried adding what are called prodrugs to some formulas, which prevent the drug's activation until it enters the stomach.

But there's one big problem with this strategy, which also happened to be the main focus of Califf's address: The evidence is anything but conclusive that abuse-deterrent drugs actually deter abuse.

One study from researchers at Washington University in St. Louis surveyed people at 150 drug-treatment facilities in 48 states on the primary drug they abused in the past month. The study found that the introduction in 2010 of an abuse-deterrent version of the powerful prescription painkiller OxyContin initially correlated with a steep decline in its abuse.

But this effect leveled off in the following years. At the end of the study, more than 25% of those surveyed reported using OxyContin in the past month, leading the researchers to conclude that abuse-deterrent formulations have "clear limits" to their effectiveness.

A different study from researchers at Boston University, however, was more positive. It found that in the two years after the abuse-deterrent form of OxyContin was introduced, prescription-opioid dispensing and overdoses decreased by 19% and 20%, respectively. Still, the study merely found a link between the two — it could not determine that making the abuse-deterrent available caused the decrease.

The study also found that, over the same period, more people overdosed on heroin, leading some researchers to conclude that abusers may have simply moved on to different drugs .

REUTERS/Gary Cameron

While these studies reveal a murky picture of abuse-deterrents at best, there is one thing that's clear from talking to pain specialists. Many abusers have no trouble getting past the roadblocks put up by abuse-deterrent formulations.

As Dr. Houman Danesh, director of Integrative Pain Management at Mount Sinai Hospital, put it, "Where there's a will, there's a way."

"Pharmaceutical companies keep coming out with new formulations that they say are deterrents, but overall everything that has been tried has been somehow abused," Danesh told Business Insider.

> Everything that has been tried has been somehow abused. — Dr. Houman Danesh

Any cursory search on Google, web forums, and Reddit will reveal methods to break abuse-deterrent formulations.

The larger problem is that abuse-deterrent formulas aren't addressing the biggest part of prescription-opioid abuse.

Dr. Ted Cicero, a professor of psychiatry and the leader of the Washington University study, puts it this way:

Overall if a person is intent on using [opioids] intranasally or injecting, they will figure out a way to do it. ... [O]n the other hand, the way that most people abuse these drugs is by swallowing them. We are not touching that part of the problem. Most people don't inject opiates. They take them orally ... There really is no way at the current time to develop a formulation that wouldn't be abusable by the oral route.

Dr. Neel Mehta, the medical director of pain management at Weill Cornell Medical College, likened abuse-deterrent formulations to a "burglar alarm": "If you have it, it's unlikely someone is going to try to get into your home, but if they really want to, they will."

Not everyone agrees, however.

David Haddox, vice president of health policy at Purdue Pharma, acknowledged that Purdue's current abuse-deterrent drugs, which include OxyContin, Targiniq, and Hysingla, could be abused with enough effort, but said that the evidence doesn't show that such drugs are actually being abused in large numbers.

The real issue, according to Haddox, is that around only 2% of opioids prescribed are classified as abuse-deterrent, meaning that it is still far too easy for addicts and abusers to switch to another, often cheaper drug.

"If you like snorting oxycodone, it's a lot easier to use something like a generic oxycodone tablet rather than spending the time and the effort to work around a product designed to deter snorting," Haddox told Business Insider.

REUTERS/Gary CameronStill, there are reasons to be skeptical of abuse-deterrent formulations, and the problem doesn't appear to be just that people are using cheaper drugs like heroin instead of prescription painkillers like OxyContin. Between 40% and 70% of people who abuse prescription pain relievers get them from friends or family members with legitimate prescriptions.

Indeed, some public speakers at the FDA panel last Tuesday warned against relying on abuse-deterrent formulations to solve the overdose epidemic.

"I am not convinced that we can engineer our way out of this epidemic , and I would caution against over-relying on abuse-deterrent formulations to do so," said Dr. Caleb Alexander of Johns Hopkins University, according to the AP.

The FDA has acknowledged the limitations of abuse-deterrent formulations in the past. In October, Dr. Janet Woodcock, the agency's director of the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, testified that it's impossible to make " an impregnable fortress" out of pain pills.

One of the biggest problems is that it's hard to define when an abuse-deterrent pill is effective. The FDA only laid out final guidelines on abuse-deterrent drugs last April. Studies on the effect of abuse-deterrent drugs other than OxyContin have yet to be released.

In 2012, Endo, a pharmaceutical company specializing in pain medications, reformulated its prescription pain pill Opana to have abuse-deterrent properties. The new formula turned the pill into a gel that supposedly made it hard to snort or inject when crushed. But in 2013, the FDA found Opana was still easy to inject or snort despite the new formulation.

The FDA was right. The abuse-deterrent formulation of the drug was likely tied to an HIV outbreak in Indiana last June that resulted in 165 cases of the disease. The CDC interviewed 112 of the people who contracted HIV, finding that 96% of them had injected Opana using shared needles.

> [Abuse-deterrent drugs are] a whole new area of pharmaceutical science and development and research. I think it is safe to say that we are much better off having this technology than not. — David Haddox, Purdue Pharma

The abuse-deterrent capabilities of other pain pills approved by the FDA have been similarly panned, as with Purdue Pharma's Targiniq drug .

"Since most abuse and overdose occurs through ingestion, and since this combination provides no risk reduction when taken by that route, it seems that adding the abuse-deterrent moniker is premature," Dr. Lewis Nelson, a medical toxicologist at NYU Langone Medical Center, told MedPage of Targiniq in 2014.

Haddox, the Purdue vice president, said that though Purdue's abuse-deterrent formulations do not mitigate abuse from ingestion, it is meaningful to try to deter abuse by snorting and injection, which he called the more dangerous methods of abuse.

"The technology is like a seat belt right now. We're at the combined lap belt and shoulder belt stage," said Haddox. "When I was a kid we had no seat belts. Then we got lap belts. Then we got shoulder belts. Now, we have antilock brakes and reinforced cabins. Technology gets better and better."

According to Haddox, the "holy grail" for the pharmaceutical industry is an opioid that delivers relief for patients while preventing abuse by ingestion. Another concept is a pain reliever that doesn't activate the "reward circuits" in the brain — i.e., what gives opioids their "high." As of right now, those concepts are still fantasy, but Haddox cautioned against writing off abuse-deterrent drugs just as they are taking off.

Abuse deterrent drugs are "a whole new area of pharmaceutical science and development and research. I think it is safe to say that we are much better off having this technology than not," Haddox said.

Part of the problem, however, is a widespread misunderstanding of where the technology is right now. Though the FDA admits that abuse-deterrent drugs should "meaningfully deter abuse" even if they can't "fully prevent" it , the distinction is getting lost on many doctors.

A national survey of doctors in 2014 by Johns Hopkins University found that a third think prescription-drug abuse occurs by means other than swallowing pills. Almost half of those surveyed thought abuse-deterrent pills were inherently less addictive. Both of those assertions are false.

Given all that, it becomes easy to understand how dangerous it is when the FDA touts pharmaceutical companies' new abuse-deterrent formulations as a solution to the opioid-abuse crisis. Though these drugs ostensibly make it harder to inject or snort, they are still abusable.

NOW WATCH: Here's what fruits and vegetables looked like before we domesticated them

Harrison Jacobs 2016-03-14T22:08:00.000Z

#### The NBA is souring on Ben Simmons, the freshman who was destined to be the next superstar

Mic Smith/AP

Early on in the college basketball season, Ben Simmons had the NBA world drooling.

The 6-foot-10, 19-year-old Australian was putting up eye-popping numbers at LSU, showing off advanced playmaking skills with exceptional athleticism. People were anointing him the NBA's next superstar, comparing his game and overall dominance to LeBron James.

Five months later, after LSU unceremoniously fell out of the race to make the NCAA Tournament, Simmons appears to be falling out of favor with the NBA.

In a blunt review of Simmons' freshman year by NBA draft expert Jonathan Givony at Yahoo, Givony says the NBA world is skeptical that Simmons has what it takes to be an NBA star.

Simmons put up impressive stats in his single year in college, averaging 19 points on 56% shooting, nearly 12 rebounds, and five assists per game. The Tigers went just 19-14, and some saw Simmons as the driving force that kept them competitive.

However, Givony reports some NBA executives believe Simmons' numbers are "hollow," noting they compare him to a "taller Rajon Rondo, a more athletic Evan Turner, or a skinnier Royce White." Those aren't great comparisons for a future superstar.

There are also questions about Simmons' attitude, according to Givony. Some NBA executives felt that Simmons coasted too often during the regular season, lacking the competitive fire that could have gotten LSU into the NCAA tournament. Givony writes, "Here’s what NBA teams wonder: If Simmons cares so little about winning crucial college road games at Tennessee or Kentucky that could have delivered LSU to the NCAA tournament, how much will he consistently care about competing over a far more physically and mentally draining 82-game pro season?"

But perhaps most importantly, nobody knows what Simmons is at the next level. On offense, Simmons' problems are more confounding. At 6-foot-10, Simmons played the role of point forward for LSU, and they gave him the keys to their offense and let him go. That won't happen in the NBA, where better, more experienced playmakers will run the show and big-time scorers will demand the ball.

Off the ball, Simmons could have trouble in the NBA. He has no semblance of a jumper, shooting just 1-3 from three-point range in college. This led defenses to sag off of him in college, forcing him to play a more passive game, since teams could crowd the paint on him if he tried to drive.

This makes him an odd fit for the NBA teams likely to find themselves at the top of the draft in June. Many of the teams already have young, talented playmakers or ball-dominant players. The 76ers lack a lead playmaker, but they also have several paint-dependent big men who Simmons would seemingly make life more difficult for with his lack of shooting.

All of these are huge questions for Simmons and potential suitors for the next three months until the draft. Teams will learn more about him in interviews and workouts, and Simmons, with his unique, immense talents, could answer all of those questions. In the meantime, after Simmons' college career seemingly flatlined, the once presumed No. 1 pick might see his draft stock fall.

NOW WATCH: 'God bless all of you and God bless football': Watch an emotional Peyton Manning announce his retirement from the NFL

Scott Davis 2016-03-14T22:08:00.000Z

#### This ETF has a perfect track record for making money if you follow 2 important steps

Reuters/Mike Blake

Volatility is a normal part of investing, but to many investors, it might appear that the fluctuations this year have been even wilder than usual. For some, it's been too much to handle, and they've retreated to the sidelines.

Statistically speaking, people who buy individual stocks have a 50-50 shot at making a profit. Yet even the best stock pickers tend to be wrong at least a third of the time. It's a fact that top investors have come to accept -- even Warren Buffett, whose most famous quote might be, "Rule No. 1: Never lose money. Rule No 2: Never forget rule No. 1." Buffett, who has turned less than $10,000 into more than $60 billion over the course of six decades, recently waved the white flag on U.K.-based grocer Tesco, and sold his stake, taking a hefty loss in the process. Understanding that no investor is perfect is probably the toughest lesson every investor is taught at some point.

Yet, as history has shown, being wrong from time to time is perfectly fine. In fact, even being wrong more often than you're right can work out well. They key is in finding a couple of great stocks and letting your investment in them grow and compound over the long-term. This is exactly what Buffett has done at Berkshire Hathaway with core holdings Coca-Cola and Wells Fargo. The Oracle of Omaha has generated huge gains from both businesses, but sees no reason to sell, especially considering the $560 million in dividend income Berkshire Hathaway receives annually just from its Coca-Cola stake.

This stock has a perfect track-record for making investors money...
But, what if you were never wrong? We know that all investors will be wrong at some point, and that there are no guarantees in the stock market, however the data unequivocally has shown that if you buy one specific investment – the SPDR S&P 500 Trust ETF – you should make money.

The SPDR S&P 500 Trust ETF closely tracks the movements of the broad-based S&P 500 index. As a refresher, the S&P 500 contains just over 500 stocks from the largest publicly traded businesses in the U.S. (some companies have multiple share classes represented, hence the slightly larger than 500 number). It's arguably the most representative measure of the health of American businesses and the stock market.

Reuters/Mike BlakeAccording to Yardeni Research, since 1950 the S&P 500 has endured 35 stock market corrections of 10% or more (note: rounding applies, so a 9.5% dip would count), including our latest move lower to begin 2016. Now here's where things get interesting. In every prior stock market correction before our latest (which really shouldn't be counted since it's still ongoing), optimists have eventually pushed the S&P 500 above its previous high point, thus wiping out all index-based losses associated with a correction or bear market. That's 34 for 34, or a perfect 100% success rate. Since the SPDR S&P 500 Trust tracks the movements of the S&P 500, this would imply that buying this ETF should ensure you eventually turn a profit.

...If they follow two important steps
However, there are two keys to making this strategy work for you.

First, you'll need time. If you bought the ETF into any of the stock market corrections in the 1990s, you'd find yourself above water in a matter of weeks or months. However, buying the S&P near the peak of the dot-com bubble or just ahead of the Great Recession would have meant you'd have needed to patiently hold on for years to recoup your losses and turn that red arrow into a gain. The point is that time is the friend of investors. As Buffett recently summarized in his interview with CNBC following the release of Berkshire Hathaway's annual shareholder letter:

> I never know what markets are going to do. [I]n terms of what's going to happen in a day or a week or a month or a year, I never felt that I knew it than and I never felt it was important. I will say that in 10, or 20, or 30 years, I think stocks will be a lot higher than they are now.

Reuters/Mike Blake

The second key to success is making regular investments into the SPDR S&P 500 Trust ETF. If you just made one lump-sum purchase prior to a correction, then you'd have been in the red for quite a while. However, if you purchased at regular intervals, regardless of whether the stock market was sinking or rising, you'd have gotten back in the black much faster, thanks to dollar cost averaging. In other words, if you avoid trying to time your investments, you'll wind up better off.

It's also worth noting that the SPDR S&P 500 Trust ETF allows you to take advantage of the many S&P 500 companies that pay a dividend. With its very low expense ratio and a yield of 2.1%, investors should net a yield of about 2% annually by holding onto their investment.

There may be no sure things in the stock market, but buying the SPDR S&P 500 Trust ETF regularly and holding over an extended period of time could be as close as you can get to guaranteed long-term gains.

NOW WATCH: Take a tour of the $367 million jet that will soon be called Air Force One

Sean Williams 2016-03-14T22:02:00.000Z

#### The US now believes that it killed ISIS' military mastermind in an airstrike

Thomson Reuters

The US believes that it successfully killed one of ISIS' most successful military leaders in a March 4 airstrike in Syria.

The attack in northeastern Syria was aimed against ISIS' "minister of war," Omar al-Shishani, aka Omar the Chechen. It was carried out with multiple waves of manned and unmanned aircraft. The strike flattened an area the US believes was holding Shishani.

His death would most likely function as a major setback for ISIS. Aside from the group's leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the Georgian ex-commando Shishani has been the most recognizable and popular member of the powerful terrorist group.

> US now believes #ISIS military commander "Omar the Chechen" died from injuries sustained in March 4th US airstrike in northern #Syria.

> — Jon Williams (@WilliamsJon) March 14, 2016

And Shishani's status, combined with his ethnicity, helped draw numerous foreign fighters from the Caucasus region into Syria to fight alongside ISIS. His death would therefore also function as a major moral loss.

Not everyone agrees with the US's assessment that the airstrikes managed to kill Shishani. A monitoring group, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, reports that the airstrike did not kill Shishani but instead left him severely injured and "clinically dead."

"Shishani is not able to breathe on his own and is using machines," Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the monitoring group, told the AFP. "He has been clinically dead for several days."

Even if this were the case, it would still be a blow to ISIS. Though Shishani did not hold a political role within the group, he had managed to carry out some of its most successful military operations. It was Shishani who posed with the stolen US Humvees that ISIS had seized from Mosul, Iraq, and brought back into Syria.

And it was Shishani who led successful ISIS military campaigns throughout Syria as well as a blitz through western Iraq that put the group within 100 miles of Baghdad.

NOW WATCH: EX-PENTAGON CHIEF: These are the 2 main reasons ISIS was born

Jeremy Bender 2016-03-14T21:56:00.000Z

#### Traditional banks may be in trouble due to digital banking

BI Intelligence

The BI Intelligence Content Marketing Team covers news & research we think you would find valuable.

More millennials are moving toward digital banking, and as a result, they're walking into their banks' traditional brick-and-mortar branches less often than ever before.

This generation accounts for the greatest share of the U.S. population at 26% and the employed population at 34%, so it's easy to see why their behaviors and preferences will have a profound effect on the future of the banking industry, particularly with regard to the way banks interact with their customers.

Third parties are expanding their role in providing services that consumers use to manage their money. And the more that role grows, the more it will disrupt the relationship between banks and their customers.

To paint a clearer picture of the future of the banking industry, John Heggestuen, managing research analyst at BI Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service, surveyed 1,500 banked millennials (ages 18-34) on their banking behaviors and preferences — from their preferred banking devices, to what banking actions they perform on those devices, to how often they perform them.

All of that rigorous research led to an essential report entitled The Digital Disruption of Retail Banking that dives deep into the industry and details what its future will look like.

Here are some of the key takeaways from the report:

- The bank branch will become obsolete. It will be some time before the final death rattle, but improving online channels, declining branch visits, and the rising cost per transaction at branches are collectively leading to branch closures.
- Banks that don't act fast are going to lose relationships with customers. Consumers are increasingly opting for digital banking services provided by third-party tech firms. This is disrupting the relationships between banks and their customers, and banks are losing out on branding and cross-selling opportunities. For many banks, this will require further commoditization of their products and services.
- The ATM will go the way of the phone booth. Relatively low operational costs compared to bank branches, paired with customers' preference for in-network ATMs, makes the ATM an attractive substitute for bank tellers. But as cash and check transactions decline, the ATM will become nonessential, ultimately facing the same fate as the physical branch.
- The smartphone will become the foundational banking channel. As the primary computing device, the smartphone has the potential to know much more about banks' customers than human advisors do. The smartphone goes everywhere its user goes, has the ability to collect user data, and is already used for making purchases. Therefore, the banks that will endure will be those that offer banking services optimized for the smartphone.

In full, the report:

- Analyzes how millennials use bank branches and why - even though there are a large share of millennials who still use branches, making significant investments in these channels isn’t a good move for banks.
- Explains how mobile payments and mobile point-of-sale adoption by small retailers will make the ATM obsolete.
- Describes how digital channels, particularly the smartphone, will become the foundation of the bank-customer relationship.

The Digital Disruption of Retail Banking is how you get the full story on the future of banking.

To get your copy of this invaluable guide, choose one of these options:

1. Subscribe to an ALL-ACCESS Membership with BI Intelligence and gain immediate access to this report AND over 100 other expertly researched deep-dive reports, subscriptions to all of our daily newsletters, and much more. >> START A MEMBERSHIP
2. Purchase the report and download it immediately from our research store. >> BUY THE REPORT

The choice is yours. But however you decide to acquire this report, you’ve given yourself a powerful advantage in your understanding of how the digital age will disrupt retail banking.

Andrew Meola 2016-03-14T21:56:00.000Z

#### 9 influential speeches that changed the world

AP

From Patrick Henry's "Give me liberty, or give me death" to FDR's "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself," we have selected nine of our favorite speeches that have changed the world:

### Napoleon Bonaparte — "Farewell to the Old Guard"

Wiki Commons

After suffering several setbacks in the Napoleonic Wars, Napoleon was forced to abdicate his throne on April 6, 1814.

At the time of the abdication, he gave a speech praising his faithful soldiers and generals who had stuck by him:

Soldiers of my Old Guard: I bid you farewell. For twenty years I have constantly accompanied you on the road to honor and glory.

In these latter times, as in the days of our prosperity, you have invariably been models of courage and fidelity.

With men such as you our cause could not be lost; but the war would have been interminable; it would have been civil war, and that would have entailed deeper misfortunes on France.

I have sacrificed all of my interests to those of the country.

Source: Speeches That Changed The World

### Georges Jacques Danton — “Dare, Dare Again, Always Dare”

Wikimedia

Given during the tumult of the French Revolution, Danton urged his fellow French citizens to mobilize in order to push back the invading Prussian forces.

The speech was inspiring, but also chilling, as Danton pushed for those not supporting the war efforts to be put to death:

At such a moment this National Assembly becomes a veritable committee of war. We ask that you concur with us in directing this sublime movement of the people, by naming commissioners who will second us in these great measures.

We ask that any one refusing to give personal service or to furnish arms shall be punished with death. We ask that a set of instructions be drawn up for the citizens to direct their movements.

We ask that couriers be sent to all the departments to notify them of the decrees that you proclaim here. The tocsin we are about to ring is not an alarm signal; it sounds the charge on the enemies of our country.

To conquer them we must dare, dare again, always dare, and France is saved!

Source: Speeches That Changed The World

### Giuseppe Garibaldi — Speech to his Soldiers

WikiMedia

In the mid 19th century, Giuseppe Garibaldi led a military movement to liberate the various Italian kingdoms from Austrian rule and create a unified modern nation of Italy.

Garibaldi gave this speech in 1860 to rally his troops for further action to unify the nation:

To arms, then, all of you! all of you! And the oppressors and the mighty shall disappear like dust.

You, too, women, cast away all the cowards from your embraces; they will give you only cowards for children, and you who are the daughters of the land of beauty must bear children who are noble and brave.

Let timid doctrinaires depart from among us to carry their servility and their miserable fears elsewhere. This people is its own master.

It wishes to be the brother of other peoples, but to look on the insolent with a proud glance, not to grovel before them imploring its own freedom.

It will no longer follow in the trail of men whose hearts are foul. No! No! No!

Source: Speeches That Changed The World

See the rest of the story at Business Insider
Jeremy Bender 2016-03-14T21:54:17.000Z

#### The Internet is going nuts over these pictures comparing animals to baked goods

There's this weird meme that keeps popping up on Twitter where a bunch of pictures of bread products are placed next to pictures of animals that look like them.

NPR reports that the meme was created by Karen Zack, who tweets under the name @teenybiscuit.

The first one we saw, "muffin or chihuahua?" seems to have been created by Zack:

Tweet Embed:
https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/707727863571582978
chihuahua or muffin ? pic.twitter.com/LzZ1lwoVrP

She's also behind "puppy or bagel?"

Tweet Embed:
https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/707004279324696577
puppy or bagel ? pic.twitter.com/OMse97hlTn

And "shiba or marshmallow?"

Tweet Embed:
https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/708455344461127680
shiba or marshmallow ? pic.twitter.com/AI8tTAfoXX

But now the meme has apparently taken on its own life. Here's the latest we've seen, sloth or pain au chocolat?

Tweet Embed:
https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/709431943578963968
Sloth or Pain au Chocolat? pic.twitter.com/RBhS5ZMtM8

(Note from our resident Francophile: most pain au chocolat has only two tubes of filling, so finding pastries with three is impressive.)

There are more, too. Somebody's compiled them all together on Imgur as "Deep Learning Training Set," suggesting that these kinds of pictures could be used to train computers how to see objects.

NOW WATCH: This bicycle generator could bring electricity to millions of people living without it

Matt Rosoff 2016-03-14T21:47:29.000Z

#### These intricate glass pieces require laser focus to make

Filigree glass uses a centuries-old process to create colorful, bright patterns embedded into a glass shape. It takes incredible expertise and precision to get it to look perfect.

Thanks to our friends at Science Channel for sharing this footage. "How It's Made" airs Thursdays at 9 p.m.

Story by Jacob Shamsian and editing by Carl Mueller

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Jacob Shamsian 2016-03-14T21:39:00.000Z

#### This man was morbidly obese, then adopted a dog and lost 140 pounds

Pre-dog, Eric O'Grey weighed 340 pounds. He had high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and type 2 diabetes. Post-dog, he weighs 140 pounds less, and runs marathons. See more at www.mutualrescue.org

Story and editing by Carl Mueller

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Carl Mueller 2016-03-14T21:34:00.000Z

#### This startup created a new kind of offer letter to educate employees about startup equity

Samuel Mann/flickr

At eShares, we spend a lot of time thinking about how to better educate employees on startup equity.

Even new hires at eShares often don’t understand the equity compensation component of their offer letter. So we decided to create a new offer letter.

We are sharing an example of our offer letter, which you can find here. I have also included some highlights below with captions. I hope this will encourage transparency in more companies and help candidates who are currently interviewing at startups.

### The cover page

Henry Ward

### The welcome letter

Henry Ward

### Summary of all relevant salary and equity information

Henry Ward
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
2016-03-14T21:32:19.000Z

#### Yale responds to claim from attorney of former basketball captain who says he will sue the university

AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez

Former Yale men's basketball captain Jack Montague, who was expelled in connection with a sexual-misconduct accusation, said Monday that he intends to file a lawsuit against the university.

Montague's attorney, Max Stern, released a statement saying that Montague's expulsion was "unfairly determined,"and strongly suggested that Yale caved to pressure from outside sources to be tougher on campus sexual assault.

"We cannot help but think it not coincidental that the decision by Yale officials to seek expulsion of the captain of its basketball team followed by little more than a month the report of the Association of American Universities (AAU) which was highly critical of the incidence of sexual assault on the Yale campus, and the Yale President’s promise, in response, to 'redouble our efforts,'" it read.

Tom Conroy, a spokesman for the university, disagreed with that suggestion, indicating the premise was built on incomplete information.

"The AAU report of the survey of students, in which Yale and a number of other AAU schools participated, was not 'critical' of Yale or any school," Conroy told Business Insider later Monday.

The AAU report to which Stern appeared to refer is the Campus Climate Survey on Sexual Assault and Sexual Misconduct that was released in September 2015. It surveyed students at 27 institutions of higher education, including Yale, to provide information about the prevalence of sexual assault on campus.

AP Photo/Tony GutierrezThe report did not address individual schools and reported data for all schools in aggregate, Barry Toiv, vice president of public affairs at AAU, told Business Insider.

Toiv also indicated that AAU did not explicitly criticize individual schools or offer suggestions on how to improve environments on campus.

It was not clear to what Stern referred when he mentioned that AAU is highly critical of the incidence of sexual assault at Yale. He did not immediately respond to a subsequent request for comment from Business Insider.

Stern's statement Monday gave the clearest description of the events that led up to Montague's expulsion.

It described a sexual relationship with a female student that took place in the fall of 2014 on four separate occasions.

It stated that the Yale University-Wide Committee (UWC) — the office tasked with investigating sexual-assault claims — ruled that three of those instances were consensual, but on the fourth instance, she did not consent to sex. Montague and Stern disputed the ruling.

The statement said that on the fourth instance:

She joined him in bed, voluntarily removed all of her clothes, and they had sexual intercourse. Then they got up, left the room and went separate ways. Later that same night, she reached out to him to meet up, then returned to his room voluntarily, and spent the rest of the night in his bed with him.

Stern further said that it "defies logic and common sense" that a woman would choose to rejoin Montague and spend the night with him if the sex was not consensual.

Abby Jackson 2016-03-14T21:29:00.000Z

#### Mars probe despatched on methane quest

A joint European and Russian satellite is successfully launched on a path to Mars where it will study the atmosphere for life signatures.
2016-03-14T21:26:02.000Z

#### The Mercedes-Benz pickup is on its way

Mercedes-Benz Vans

The Mercedes-Benz pickup truck is on its way.

Although the company said last year that the pickup won't be ready for market until the end of the decade, we could see the first concept version later this year.

According to a report in Auto Express, a concept truck may be ready for the 2016 Paris Motor Show in October.

Mercedes-Benz announced its plans to build the truck in March 2015. It is expected to be based on Nissan's midsize Navara pickup.

"The Mercedes-Benz pickup will contribute nicely to our global growth targets," said Dr. Dieter Zetsche, chairman of Daimler, which owns Mercedes, in a statement when the truck was announced last year. "We will enter this segment with our distinctive brand identity and all of the vehicle attributes that are typical of the brand with regard to safety, comfort, powertrains, and value."

The truck, which may be called the X-Class, is rumored to carry a variety of small displacement gasoline and diesel engines. The Nissan Navara, on which the Mercedes is based, gets its power from a 2.3-liter, turbocharged, four-cylinder diesel engine.

Even though Mercedes has extensive experience building utility vehicles, such as the Sprinter Van and Unimog as well as off-roaders such as the vaunted G-Wagon, it's never ventured into pickup trucks. In the US, the pickup market is highly lucrative but brutally competitive. This is something Mercedes' management is aware of after its decade-long failed marriage with Chrysler.

Mercedes-Benz Vans

The midsize-pickup market is currently dominated by the Toyota Tacoma, while General Motors-made newcomers, the Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon, are quickly gaining momentum.

But it is unlikely that Mercedes will have to contend with breaking into the US market. The pickup is likely destined to see showrooms in Europe, Latin America, and Australia, where the company is as well-known for its utilitarian offerings as its plush luxury limos.

Mercedes-Benz was not immediately available for comment.

NOW WATCH: These Mercedes ads give a nice hat tip to 'Back to the Future II'

Benjamin Zhang 2016-03-14T21:25:00.000Z

#### ESPN analyst has a brilliant idea for how to fix the NCAA Tournament

John Gurzinski/Getty Images

March Madness is here and the brackets are set. But once again, rather than celebrating the teams that are in, most are bemoaning a system that seemingly selects teams based on a new formula each year and whatever criteria that year's selection committee arbitrarily deems important.

But there is hope. ESPN analyst Jay Bilas has a plan and it is pretty genius.

Bilas explained how his system would work on ESPN Radio:

- Tournament selection committee would meet prior to the conference tournaments and rank the top 68 at-large teams.
- Teams that win conference tournaments receive automatic bids. If that team is not one of the 68 teams, the lowest-ranked team in the field of 68 is knocked out.

The key here is, a team cannot improve their standing in the conference tournaments unless they actually win the entire thing. Instead, we know exactly which teams are in the tournament at any given time during the conference tournaments. We know what teams need to do to get in and who gets knocked out if they do.

There are two key benefits to The Jay Bilas Plan. The first is that this puts emphasis back on the regular season. At this point, the regular season means little and teams on the cusp know they have a second shot if they can make a little run in their conference tourney. With this plan, teams either have to take care of business in the regular season or they have to win it all in the conference tournament. No more taking a little from each and back-dooring into the tournament.

The second benefit of Bilas' plan is that it eliminates the unfair advantage big-conference schools have in their conference tournaments. The résumé of a smaller conference team is actually hurt in their conference tournaments since they are more likely to play the weakest teams in a lesser conference, while a mid-tier team in a power conference is going to play teams that will increase their strength of schedule.

Bilas explains:

"The mid-majors, the non-power-conference teams, [currently] do not have any opportunities to help themselves with games in Championship Week. Actually, a mid-major team plays a game, their RPI (ranks teams based on record and strength of schedule) goes down, just by playing the game ... So, what ends up happening is a team like Michigan, they get extra shots at it. They get like three shots to win high-quality games and vault past a team like Monmouth or somebody else."

The example Bilas cites refers to the Big Ten Tournament where Michigan beat top-seeded Indiana on a buzzer-beater. Even though they lost their next game, that one win was apparently enough to get the Wolverines into the tournament even though they were likely out before that one big win.

For the fans, the plan is great because it helps to make sense of a confusing week. As it stands now, fans are at the whim of so-called "bracketologists" to make educated guesses as to which teams are on the bubble and which teams have done enough in their postseason tournament to get into The Big Dance. However, under Bilas' plan, everything is clear. If Team A wins their conference tourney, they are in, and Team B is knocked out.

As Bilas notes, the system levels the playing field and has just as much drama for the fans, if not more.

More importantly, we still get to fill out brackets.

NOW WATCH: 'God bless all of you and God bless football': Watch an emotional Peyton Manning announce his retirement from the NFL

Cork Gaines 2016-03-14T21:24:25.000Z

#### Baby boomers are renting more homes

Shutterstock / prochasson frederic

We believe it will. Seven of us attended the National Multifamily Housing Conference, one of the most informative conferences of the year. Landlord after landlord mentioned the surprising surge in older renters, many of whom sold their home and chose to rent a luxury apartment walkable to retail and entertainment.

Chris Porter, our Chief Demographer, notes that early baby boomers still have homeownership in excess of 80%, and our analysis of trends leads us to believe that a small percentage of them will convert from owning to renting in their empty-nest years.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 8.0 million US households headed by those aged 55 to 74 rent, and we left the conference believing those numbers will trend higher. Here are some of the key points we took away from the conference and discussions with our clients:

- In many metros, older renters have been driving demand.

- These renters rent by choice. They prefer an urban or suburban mixed-use location that provides convenient access to retail, dining, and cultural amenities.

- Mature renters prefer smaller, more intimate developments (~180 to 220 units) over large apartment complexes.

- Although 55% of newly developed apartments are studio/one-bedrooms units, there is significant demand for larger three-bedroom units, often appealing to boomers. A number of our developer clients wish they had planned a larger mix of 3+ bedroom units in their developments.

- Contrary to history, three-bedroom units are now often renting for more per square foot than two-bedroom units.

To determine potential locations for new developments, we always look at where high net worth boomers* live. The map below shows the greatest concentrations of wealthy boomers in the Washington, DC, region.

Shutterstock / prochasson frederic

While many of these wealthier households are in areas we would expect, new real estate developments in these areas may not fully account for boomers as renters. As architects, developers, and investors plan for new communities, consider designing rental communities in locations that cater to the growing demand of boomers.

To be clear, we are not forecasting the end of homeownership. We just expect a continued increase in the number of boomers who rent.

* Ages 55-74; household net worth $250,000+

NOW WATCH: Take a tour of the $367 million jet that will soon be called Air Force One

2016-03-14T21:20:00.000Z

#### US consumers are 'top-ticking' economic doom-and-gloom

Read about the US through the lens of politics and everything is horrible.

Look only at the US economy and things aren't so bad. And if you ask the most important US consumers, things are about to get better.

On Monday, the New York Federal Reserve released its latest survey of households, and two points that jumped out at Neil Dutta at Renaissance Macro were outlooks for household income growth of both low-education and high-education households.

Specifically: these views are essentially the same.

Educated households in February held a slightly more bearish view on their income prospects, but were still about where they've been throughout the brief history of this series. Those with a high school education or less, on the other hand, are increasingly bullish.

And taking low-education households as a proxy for lower-income households, Dutta argues that we're seeing the positive impact from Fed policies aimed simply at reaching full employment.

(The idea is that consumers who make less money and are more likely to spend an additional dollar of income than higher-educated, higher-earning households. The economic principle is called the marginal propensity to consume.)

Here's Dutta (emphasis ours):

If the political headlines are any indication, what we are seeing is a massive top-ticking from the electorate. When you top tick, it is all downhill from there. So, in this case, the electorate seems to be top ticking the "my life will never ever get better" theme... The point here is, the most powerful way for monetary policy makers to combat income inequality is to promote an economy that runs at or close to full employment. It is working.

The more subtle point we're interested in is how this outlook captures the theme that has more or less defined the economy in 2016: main street doing better, Wall Street doing worse.

And if we think about Wall Street as analogous to the political establishment that has seen its power deteriorate (as recently outlined by my colleague Josh Barro), then these converging views on the US economy from consumers who are more likely to save money and consumers more likely to spend is the latest embodiment of where the economy and the country is headed.

People are winning, power is losing.

"Never in my lifetime will things get better" had become conventional wisdom for many Americans in the post-crisis world. And the more time that goes by, the less this looks like it will ultimately be true.

Renaissance Macro

NOW WATCH: The 'Zulu Cobra' helicopter is one of the Marines' most powerful weapons

Myles Udland 2016-03-14T21:15:01.000Z

#### Google to urge Congress to help get self-driving cars on roads

Thomson Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The head of Google's self-driving car program will urge the U.S. Congress on Tuesday to grant national auto safety regulators new authority to speed the introduction of self-driving cars on American roads.

Chris Urmson, director of Google's self-driving cars program, will tell the Senate Commerce Committee that legislators should grant new authority to the U.S. Transportation Department to help get fully autonomous vehicles on the road, according to his prepared testimony, which was reviewed by Reuters.

"We propose that Congress move swiftly to provide the secretary of transportation with new authority to approve lifesaving safety innovations. This new authority would permit the deployment of innovative safety technologies that meet or exceed the level of safety required by existing federal standards, while ensuring a prompt and transparent process," according to the prepared testimony.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Paul Simao)

2016-03-14T21:15:00.000Z

#### 12 weird psychological reasons someone might fall in love with you

Win McNamee / Getty

Love is mysterious, but it's probably not destiny.

According to the research, your hormones, interests, and upbringing all help determine who you fall for — and who falls for you.

Since your partner plays a significant role in your long-term health, happiness, and even your career prospects, we've scoured the studies and collected some of the psychological reasons two people click.

This is an updated version of an article originally written by Maggie Zhang.

### If you're really, really alike

Flickr/davebloggs007

Decades of studies have shown that the cliché that "opposites attract" is totally off.

"Partners who are similar in broad dispositions, like personality, are more likely to feel the same way in their day-to-day lives," said Gian Gonzaga , lead author of a study of couples who met on eHarmony. "This may make it easier for partners to understand each other."

### If you look like their opposite-sex parent

Jemal Countess / Getty

University of St. Andrews psychologist David Perrett and his colleagues found that some people are attracted to folks with the same hair and eye color of their opposite-sex parents, as well as the age range they saw at birth.

"We found that women born to 'old' parents (over 30) were less impressed by youth, and more attracted to age cues in male faces than women with 'young' parents (under 30)," the authors wrote. "For men, preferences for female faces were influenced by their mother's age and not their father's age, but only for long-term relationships."

### If you smell right

Monty Fresco / Getty

A University of Southern California study of women who were ovulating suggested that some prefer the smell of T-shirts worn by men with high levels of testosterone.

This matched with other hormone-based instincts: Some women also preferred men with a strong jaw line when they were ovulating.

See the rest of the story at Business Insider
Business Insider 2016-03-14T21:15:00.000Z

#### Stephen Sondheim: British audiences 'listen' more than Americans

Speaking in London, the composer also said stage musicals had become too homogenous and space for new and experimental work must be found

The composer Stephen Sondheim has said he prefers British audiences to Americans because they “listen”.

“You have many centuries of being interested in the language,” Sondheim, a New Yorker, told an audience at London’s National Theatre. “That’s true, and not as true as the United States. And when you care about the language like I do, it’s so much more gratifying.”

Continue reading...
Ellen Brait in New York 2016-03-14T21:12:38.000Z

#### Robert Downey Jr. just delivered some bad news for 'Iron Man' movie fans

Marvel/Disney

Bad news, "Iron Man" fans. Actor Robert Downey Jr. says it's unlikely there will be a fourth "Iron Man" film.

Speaking to USA Today on the set of the upcoming "Captain America: Civil War," he told the publication: "I don’t think that’s in the cards."

Downey debuted as fictional billionaire Tony Stark in the very first Marvel Cinematic Universe film, "Iron Man," back in 2008. Since then, the MCU has grown to 13 films, including huge box office smashes "Guardians of the Galaxy," "Avengers: Age of Ultron," and "Ant-Man."

Downey says to him, "Civil War" feels a bit like an "Iron Man" sequel.

"In a way it’s 'Cap 3' but for me it’s like my little 'Iron Man 4' and then it's back to the thing we all recognize," he explained. "Everything pulls over to the side of the road when the thunder of an 'Avengers' thing comes through because that’s how it is until it changes. If it changes."

The next two "Avengers" films are set for 2018 and 2019 releases, but in the meantime, we'll see Downey co-star alongside Chris Evans when "Captain America: Civil War" hits theaters May 6.

NOW WATCH: A 19-year-old will play Peter Parker in the next Spider-Man movie

Sidney Fussell 2016-03-14T21:11:00.000Z

#### This 'Game of Thrones' fan made awesome miniature shields using just paper and glue

wholedwarf/Imgur

Obsession knows no bounds for "Game of Thrones" fans, but one person went above and beyond when it came to recreating the iconic house sigils featured in the series.

Inspired by the descriptions of house symbols in George R.R. Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire," Redditor WholeDwarf set to work making 39 miniature shields.

She used a technique called "quilling" — a 3D paper artform that requires nothing but paper and glue to create filigree patterns.

Scroll down to learn more about quilling and this incredibly detailed art.

### WholeDwarf wanted to make the House Stark sigil first — a grey direwolf's head.

wholedwarf/Imgur

### The project quickly spiraled into an entire set of sigils. Here's the Targaryen three-headed dragon.

wholedwarf/Imgur

### Each house sigil is glued to a paper shield measuring 3.25" wide by 3.75" tall.

wholedwarf/Imgur
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
Kim Renfro 2016-03-14T21:05:00.000Z

#### Adele invited a 12-year-old autistic girl to sing onstage after seeing her in the audience

YouTube

For many Adele fans, just seeing the singer live in concert would be a dream come true — but for one 12-year-old British girl, Adele took things to the next level by inviting the her onto stage to sing a duet.

Emily Tammam attended Adele's concert on March 8 in the Manchester Arena in England. Adele spotted Tammam in the crowd; she was holding a sign that read, "It's my dream to sing with Adele," the Manchester Evening News reports. Adele invited Tammam onstage to join her in belting out "Someone Like You."

If Tammam was nervous the the packed arena (which holds up to 21,000 people), she sure didn't show it.

"She came up on the stage, as I was sat there thinking ‘Oh my god,'" Tammam's father said. "Emily went up quite happily, she loves singing. She sings every day of her life."

Check it out.

The performance was no small feat for 12-year-old Emily, who has autism, ADHD, and Ehlers-Danlos syndrome type three, a chronic pain condition characterized by weak limbs.

“She has a constant struggle with social situations, but amazingly she manages to sing in public," her father also told the Manchester Evening News. "She has a different persona when she is on stage."

NOW WATCH: Adele briefly halted the first concert on her world tour so she could help a fan propose to her boyfriend

Madison Malone Kircher 2016-03-14T21:01:00.000Z

#### The future of the bank branch is in trouble — here's why

BI Intelligence

Millennials are increasingly turning to digital banking channels to perform their banking activities, and they're visiting their banks' branches less often than ever before.

The behaviors and preferences of this generation — which makes up the largest share of both the US population and the employed population, at 26% and 34%, respectively — will shape the future of the bank, as well as the relationship between the bank and the customer.

As third parties increasingly provide the services that consumers are using to manage their finances, the valuable relationship between banks and their customers will continue to deteriorate.

To better understand what the bank of the future will look like, BI Intelligence surveyed 1,500 banked millennials (ages 18-34) on their banking behaviors and preferences — from their preferred banking devices, to what banking actions they perform on those devices, to how often they perform them.

Here are some of the key takeaways:

- The bank branch will become obsolete. It will be some time before the final death rattle, but improving online channels, declining branch visits, and the rising cost per transaction at branches are collectively leading to branch closures.
- Banks that don't act fast are going to lose relationships with customers. Consumers are increasingly opting for digital banking services provided by third-party tech firms. This is disrupting the relationships between banks and their customers, and banks are losing out on branding and cross-selling opportunities. For many banks, this will require further commoditization of their products and services.
- The ATM will go the way of the phone booth. Relatively low operational costs compared to bank branches, paired with customers' preference for in-network ATMs, makes the ATM an attractive substitute for bank tellers. But as cash and check transactions decline, the ATM will become nonessential, ultimately facing the same fate as the physical branch.
- The smartphone will become the foundational banking channel. As the primary computing device, the smartphone has the potential to know much more about banks' customers than human advisors do. The smartphone goes everywhere its user goes, has the ability to collect user data, and is already used for making purchases. Therefore, the banks that will endure will be those that offer banking services optimized for the smartphone.

In full, the report:

- Analyzes how millennials use bank branches and why, even though are large share of millennials who still use branches, making significant investments in these channels isn’t a good move for banks.
- Explains how mobile payments and mobile point-of-sale adoption be small retailers will make the ATM obsolete.
- Describes how digital channels, particularly the smartphone, will be come the foundation of the bank-customer relationship.

Interested in getting the full report? Here are two ways to access it:

1. Subscribe to an All-Access pass to BI Intelligence and gain immediate access to this report and over 100 other expertly researched reports. As an added bonus, you'll also gain access to all future reports and daily newsletters to ensure you stay ahead of the curve and benefit personally and professionally. >> Learn More Now
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John Heggestuen 2016-03-14T21:00:00.000Z

#### A financial planner shares her personal system for managing money

Flickr / James Brown

Part of the reason we accumulate debt is that there are so many distractions in our lives — things we want to buy but don’t need.

But we also ring up debt because we simply don’t understand the flow of our income and expenses, so we can’t accurately estimate how much money we have available to spend.

I’ve struggled with this myself. A few years ago, I put in place a “Money Flow” system to help my family track our spending.

You may have heard of a system like this before, but follow along on this tour, because it really works.

### Putting the pieces in place

1. Set up two free checking accounts:

- One to pay fixed expenses (such as the mortgage, car payments and utility bills).
- One to pay variable expenses (groceries, gas, clothing and so on).

2. Set up a high-yield online savings account.

We call this our “curveball” account. It’s an emergency fund for use when life throws us curveballs — large medical bills, a job loss or reduction in income, major home repairs, that kind of thing.

3. Make a plan for big-ticket items.

My husband and I agreed that we would use one family credit card for large purchases, such as airline tickets and hotel stays. We still have our separate credit cards — it’s wise to keep your own credit cards to maintain your credit score and credit history. Using them once or twice a year should be sufficient. And don’t close those cards because it will affect your overall credit score.

### Implementing the system

1. Draw up a budget for fixed and variable expenses.

Add up how much you need in each category. This will be your guideline for how much should be in each of your checking accounts.

Fixed expenses might include:

- Rent or mortgage payment
- Property taxes
- Utilities (gas, electric, water, etc.)
- Home, auto and umbrella insurance
- Life, disability and long-term-care insurance premiums
- Health insurance premiums (if not taken out of your paycheck)
- Cable TV, Internet, phone and cellphone
- Gym or yoga memberships
- Debt payments (credit cards, student loans, car loans, personal loans, etc.)
- Savings (yes, this is an expense — pay yourself first!)

Variable expenses might include:

- Groceries
- Eating out
- Gas
- Clothing/shoes
- Personal services (haircuts, doctor visit copays, etc.)
- Entertainment

2. Distribute money to the accounts.

When your paycheck comes in, allocate the designated amounts into each checking account based on the budget you created. The sum earmarked for the curveball account can go there directly.

3. Pay fixed costs directly.

All bills are paid automatically from our fixed-expenses account. We do not have to write any checks, and no debit card is necessary. This account has a cushion of a few hundred extra dollars in case a bill shows up unexpectedly or before we have a chance to replenish the account.

4. Pay variable expenses from the second account.

This account should have a debit card, which you can use for purchases.

5. Link the curveball account to either checking account.

If an emergency arises, you can transfer funds within 24 to 48 hours. You can then access the money with a check or debit card.

### Realizing the benefits

Once I implemented this system, the process of tracking expenses wasn’t so cumbersome anymore. Separating expenses into fixed and variable categories meant I didn’t have to worry constantly about checking account balances. Having fewer transactions in each account also made it easier to see the bigger picture of our spending.

The chart below depicts the flow of money.

Flickr / James Brown

Every family’s finances are different, of course. Feel free to customize my system as necessary. The point is to get — and keep — a grasp on the flow of your money. If you know exactly what’s coming in and going out, you can’t be surprised by debt.

NOW WATCH: Bill Nye offers up one scientific fact to shut down climate-change deniers

2016-03-14T21:00:00.000Z

#### Donald Trump rallies are violent and getting worse — here’s why

Donald Trump began his campaign in June 2015, but his events have increasingly become characterized by violence.

It culminated in Chicago this weekend, with a large brawl at a cancelled rally for the Republican candidate, and with clashes persisting throughout his Saturday events.

INSIDER takes a look into the cause of this violence, and what it says about Trump as a candidate.

Story by A.C. Fowler and Allan Smith, and editing by A.C. Fowler and Stephen Parkhurst

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A.C. Fowler 2016-03-14T20:59:00.000Z

#### No more 'easy choices' for Osborne

Budget after Budget, George Osborne has stood at the despatch box and promised to balance the books - but it has proved harder than he hoped.
2016-03-14T20:56:51.000Z

#### Under Armour CEO doesn't get why Silicon Valley startups are so happy to lose money

AP/Under Armour

Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank has one piece of advice for young entrepreneurs: Go make the sale.

For many young companies, especially in Silicon Valley, being unprofitable is considered a right of passage. Companies can burn through cash as they build a great product, and making money comes only after testing for a good fit. Twitter, one of the best examples, has been public for more than two years and has never been profitable.

Speaking at the festival South by Southwest (SXSW), Plank argued that profitability is one of the most undersold things in tech. At a tech conference the previous week, the Under Armour CEO watched as startup CEOs joked about the lack of profitability, and the crowd chuckled at it.

Plank, though, was shocked.

"And I'm going, what are you doing? Winning is cultural. Losing money is cultural. If you get used to losing money, it's really hard to stop," Plank said. "Go let the other guy lose money and fail off."

Instead, Plank says that entrepreneurs need to push themselves out of the safe testing mode while burning through money and prove that they have businesses.

"Get out of the hypothesis mode, and go find out if your product will sell. Is someone willing to take good, cold, hard cash out of their pocket and exchange it for what you have?" Plank said. "Go make the sale."

NOW WATCH: How to send self-destructing messages — and other iPhone messaging tricks

Biz Carson 2016-03-14T20:53:04.000Z

#### Here's when Netflix's next Marvel show will premiere

Netflix

Days away from "Daredevil" season two's March 18 premiere, we've just gotten confirmation about the next show in the Marvel/Netflix series.

Actor Mike Colter confirmed at the red carpet premiere of "Daredevil" season two that "Luke Cage" will premiere on Netflix September 30. Colter, who played Cage in last year's "Jessica Jones" and will star in the upcoming show, told fans: "It's gonna be action-packed from beginning to the very end. Trust me."

Marvel has debuted two other shows on the platform, "Daredevil" starring Charlie Cox, and "Jessica Jones" starring Krysten Ritter. A solo show for comic hero "Iron Fist" starring "Game of Thrones" actor Finn Jones has also been announced.

Colter is joined by Mahershala Ali, who will play nemesis Cottonmouth and Simone Missick, as Harlem detective Misty Knight. Rosario Dawson will also appear, reprising her "Daredevil" role as Catherine, a compassionate nurse living in Hell's Kitchen.

NOW WATCH: A law professor tricked his students into lying, which shows why you should never talk to police

Sidney Fussell 2016-03-14T20:53:00.000Z

#### This tweed-wearing horse is the most stylish stallion you'll ever see

Morestead is a veteran racehorse who is sporting the first-ever suit for a horse. It was created by fashion designer Emma Sandham-King to celebrate the 2016 Cheltenham Festival, which begins on Tuesday.

Story and editing by Ben Nigh

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Ben Nigh 2016-03-14T20:51:51.000Z

#### Bill Gross just got the green light to pursue $200 million Pimco lawsuit

Bob Riha Jr/Getty Images

Bond manager Bill Gross will be able to pursue his lawsuit to recoup at least $200 million he claims that Pacific Investment Management Co owes him in the wake of his 2014 ouster from the firm he co-founded.

California Superior Court Judge Martha Gooding ruled late Sunday that Gross' breach-of-contract lawsuit was strong enough to proceed.

The Santa Ana-based judge said Gross "alleges sufficient facts based on allegations concerning his status as the founder, a 40-year history, an alleged track record of bringing success and/or fame to the enterprise, as well as a series of alleged oral promises/assurances of continued employment."

Gooding's ruling had been tentative, and a scheduled hearing on the matter was canceled as a result. The judge did not rule on the lawsuit's merits.

David Boies, a lawyer for Pimco, said: "Pimco is confident that it will prevail when the parties present their evidence to the court."

Gross abruptly left Pimco in September 2014 following negative reports about his management style and weak returns at Pimco Total Return, which he had built into what was at the time the world's largest bond fund.

He sued Pimco in October 2015, claiming that executives plotted to oust him and divide his bonus among themselves.

Pimco has said Gross had no employment guarantee and could have been fired at any time without cause.

Bob Riha Jr/Getty Images

The Newport Beach, California-based unit of German insurer Allianz SE has until April 4 to file a formal answer to Gross' lawsuit.

Patricia Glaser, a lawyer for Gross, said: "We are very pleased with the court's ruling and are looking forward to the opportunity to prove our case in court."

Gross, 71, now manages the $1.3 billion Janus Global Unconstrained Bond Fund for Denver-based Janus Capital Group Inc.

A large portion of the fund's assets comes from Gross, whose net worth is $1.95 billion, according to Forbes magazine.

Gross has said he will donate proceeds from the Pimco lawsuit to charity.

The case is Gross v. Pacific Investment Management Co et al, California Superior Court, Orange County, No. 2015-00813636.

NOW WATCH: What the 'i' in 'iPhone' stands for — as explained by Steve Jobs

2016-03-14T20:50:23.000Z

#### So, America, this is how other countries do gun control

The UK, Australia, Japan and Germany have all taken measures to reduce gun homicides. Can the US learn anything from them?

Thirty people will be shot dead in America today. On average. It could be more. If it’s less, then more will die tomorrow. Or the next day.

The United States’s gun homicide rate is 25 times higher than other high-income countries, according to a recent study.

Continue reading...
Juliette Jowit and Sandra Laville in London, Calla Wahlquist in Port Arthur, Philip Oltermann in Berlin, Justin McCurry in Tokyo and Lois Beckett in New York 2016-03-14T20:47:10.000Z

#### The Spider-Man and Punisher actors teamed up on audition tapes that made them Marvel stars

Marvel/Disney & Marvel/Netflix

Actors Tom Holland and Jon Bernthal are poised to make big waves in the Marvel universe when they debut in "Daredevil" and "Captain America: Civil War" later this year. As it turns out, the co-stars worked together on landing the roles that fans are dying to see.

While filming independent Irish film, "Pilgrimage," Holland and Bernthal teamed up to work on audition tapes to send to Marvel HQ. Holland sent tapes for Spider-Man and Bernthal for Punisher. Both were eventually awarded their roles as the iconic characters.

“During this independent movie that we did in Ireland we were constantly making tapes for Marvel — just acting together," Bernthal told the New York Daily News. "We were making tapes from Ireland in the process of getting him [Holland] cast in 'Spider-Man,' and then he and I made a tape for The Punisher."

Marvel/Disney & Marvel/Netflix

The audition tapes won't likely see the light of day anytime soon – "you can call Marvel and ask for it, but that’s like breaking into Fort Knox," Bernthal said. But the tapes seemed to play at least some part in landing the talented pair their roles.

Just in case the audition tapes weren't enough, Holland asked for help from Thor himself – actor Chris Hemsworth. The two worked together on the 2015 seafaring epic, "In the Heart of the Sea."

"I called the guys at Marvel when they were casting (Spider-Man) and I heard he was in the final handful of guys and said, 'Look for what it's worth you're not going to meet a harder working more appreciative kind of guy,'" Hemsworth said.

Marvel/Disney & Marvel/Netflix

We'll see Bernthal as Punisher when "Daredevil" season two drops March 18 and Holland will debut as Spider-Man when "Civil War" is out May 6.

NOW WATCH: The 8 best movies on Netflix you've probably never heard of

Sidney Fussell 2016-03-14T20:47:00.000Z

#### VIDEO: Human chain across fast-flowing river

Hundreds of migrants have crossed a fast-flowing river in a bid to cross into Macedonia from Greece.
2016-03-14T20:45:55.000Z

#### Russia’s motives for getting involved in Syria in the first place

Thomson Reuters

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced March 14 that Russia had sufficiently achieved its goals in Syria since beginning airstrikes in September, and that it will gradually withdraw the bulk of its forces from the country, starting March 15.

According to Putin, the process could take as long as five months. However, Russia's air base in Latakia will continue to operate, as will its naval facility in Tartus.

Russia's involvement in Syria has been guided by a number of key priorities.

The first is ensuring the stability of the allied Syrian government and by extension Russian interests in Syria.

The second is demonstrating and testing its armed forces, which are undergoing a significant force modernization.

The third is weakening the Islamic State and other terrorist organizations, especially given the large number of Russian nationals fighting in Syria among extremist factions.

The fourth, and the most important, is for Russia to link its actions in Syria to other issues — including the conflict in Ukraine, disputes with the European Union and U.S. sanctions on Russia.

The support that the Russians and other external actors such as Iran and Hezbollah have given the Syrian government has largely reversed the rebels' momentum, and currently loyalist forces have the advantage. However, rebel troops have not been defeated, and a significant drawdown of Russian forces could weaken loyalist efforts.

However, it is important to remember that Russia alone did not reverse the loyalist fortunes; Iranian support for the Syrian government could go a long way in maintaining their advantage.

Thomson Reuters

With their actions in Syria thus far, the Russians have showcased their improved combat capabilities and some new, previously unused weapons, which will likely contribute to important arms sales, including some to Iran.

Russia has also largely achieved its goal of weakening the Islamic State, though the Russian contribution against the terrorist group is just a part of a much broader, multilateral effort that includes the U.S.-led coalition, rebel forces and the majority Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces.

All in all, the Islamic State may not be entirely defeated, but its forces in Syria and Iraq are much weaker than they were five months ago.

Thomson Reuters

Still, progress on Russia's primary goal is still uncertain.

Moscow intervened in Syria to gain concessions on issues in other regions; whether or not it has been successful may depend in part on the terms of any peace deal. The March 15 drawdown, which is coming just as U.N. peace talks begin in Geneva, could be a sign of a breakthrough in the negotiations.

It will be important to keep an eye on any signs of a deal emerging from Geneva and for indications coming out of Europe that could allude to a potential grand bargain.

Of course, it could be that Putin is greatly exaggerating the significance of the drawdown, which may not significantly alter Russian actions in Syria.

Though it is highly unlikely, the Russians may even be pulling out in defeat, having realized they cannot achieve their hoped-for grand bargain in Syria after all.

NOW WATCH: Russia figured out how to make a game of chess even more intense

2016-03-14T20:39:53.000Z

#### Using these 3 metrics will help you make money investing in energy names

Reuters/Fahad Shadeed

Trying to pick individual stocks is difficult. Most investors struggle in large part because they lack the kind of information and tools that are available to professionals. In addition, an increasing part of the market is made up of computer programs that trade stocks based on mathematical relationships and metrics that have been shown to be reliably correlated with future outperformance in earnings and stock prices.

Building on my last article about picking stocks based on quantitative metrics, this article discusses the second set of three metrics that have been shown in numerous economic studies to be useful for predicting future stock returns. This is true for energy stocks and companies in every other industry out there.

The second set of three characteristics that investors need to consider when buying a stock are earnings momentum, quality of profitability and a stock’s Short Interest Ratio.

1.) Earnings Momentum: Earnings momentum refers to the economic performance of a firm over the last 12 months. Studies have shown consistently that firms with strong positive earnings growth over the last 12 months outperform other comparable firms. This is the basis for strategies by some of the most successful hedge funds in the world today. Stocks with good earnings growth might seem expensive because their price has usually risen considerably – yet investors should ignore the firms that seem “cheap” and tilt their portfolios to the “expensive” firms with good earnings momentum. Those firms are the ones that will continue beating earnings expectations in the future. In fact, the real power in earnings momentum is with those stocks that have outperformed 6 to 12 months previously. Firms that hit that hurdle will continue to outperform for the next 12 months on average.

Two good metrics for assessing earnings are operating cash flows and the recycle ratio. Operating cash flows are a cash flow statement term which includes only the cash that a firm generates from its regular operations rather than through financing or investing activities. Operating cash flows consist of non-cash earnings such as depreciation and amortization plus net income.

Recycle ratios are a little more complicated to calculate, so it might be worth consulting a source like Bloomberg or a financial expert for help on that front.

Reuters/Fahad Shadeed

2.) Quality – Value investors should never look at a simple stock price or even a price-to-earnings ratio to decide which stocks to buy. Instead, investors should be screening for high “quality” firms where quality is defined as low debt, and high stable gross profits measured as revenues less COGS. A good measure of quality in energy stocks is return on capital employed (ROCE). ROCE measures a company's profitability and the efficiency based on the amount of capital it is employing. Return on Capital Employed (ROCE) is calculated as follows:

ROCE = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) / Capital Employed

3.) Short Interest Ratio: Finally, investors need to consider the short interest ratio of a firm. Short interest ratios measure the amount of shares in a company which are shorted divided by the number of shares traded per day on average. Firms with a high SIR have abysmal future returns on average. Investors in the energy sector should look for stocks that have low SIR compared to their peers. On average a SIR less than 3.0 is reasonably acceptable, while SIR less than 1.0 is good. Energy firms with a low SIR have outperformed otherwise similar energy firms with a high SIR by an average of about 2 percent per month over the last year!

There are no guarantees in investing of course, but following these metrics will substantially improve the performance of a portfolio over time according to numerous economic researchers.

NOW WATCH: Bill Nye offers up one scientific fact to shut down climate-change deniers

Michael McDonald 2016-03-14T20:37:00.000Z

#### VIDEO: How Trump deals with rally protesters

US presidential candidate Donald Trump often yells at protesters to "get out" of his rallies and says that he wish he could knock them out.
2016-03-14T20:35:41.000Z

#### These new photos from the set of 'Star Wars: Episode VIII' will blow your mind

Tweet Embed:
https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/709471590531145729
MOVIES: Star Wars: Episode 8 - New Photos from the Set https://t.co/KfqesLC6Bm pic.twitter.com/9nvo1jdA1q

New photos from the set of "Star Wars: Episode VIII" have emerged, and they're pretty wild.

The sequel to "The Force Awakens" is currently shooting in Dubrovnik, Croatia, and the outdoor shooting location offered a glimpse of new aliens and a ship that appears to hark back to the landspeeder we know so well.

Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Lupita Nyong’o, Domhnall Gleeson, Anthony Daniels, Gwendoline Christie, and Andy Serkis are all returning for the movie. Benicio Del Toro, Laura Dern, and Kelly Marie Tran are joining the cast.

Rian Johnson is directing the film, which is slated for a December 15, 2017 release.

### Johnson shared a behind-the-scenes photo on his Tumblr March 10.

RAW Embed

### Check out some of the photos posted on Twitter below:

Tweet Embed:
https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/709244300761153536
New Star Wars: Episode VIII Aliens, Characters & Creatures Revealedhttps://t.co/kaKupyeTL8 pic.twitter.com/9wDNSpIbS5

Tweet Embed:
https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/709265629576966144
Star Wars: Episode VIII Set Pics pic.twitter.com/l8VY0w6dOT

See the rest of the story at Business Insider
Anjelica Oswald 2016-03-14T20:35:40.000Z

#### How to play Go, the game that humans keep losing to Google's highly intelligent computer brain (GOOG)

Getty Images AsiaPac

After seeing Google's artificial intelligence system "AlphaGo" beat one of the best Go players alive last week, I decided to try the popular game myself.

I know how to play the game, but I'm still a beginner. The last time I played Go was almost 15 years ago, so I didn't have any luck beating any of the online gaming systems I played against.

But playing Go a few times made me realize why Google may be so obsessed with it — and it probably has nothing to do with the game itself.

Here's how to play Go, and what I learned returning to the game after more than a decade.

### For those who haven't been following, a program called AlphaGo, developed by Google's DeepMind artificial intelligence team, is currently playing a 5-game series against Lee Sedol, one of the best Go players in the world.

AP/Lee Jin-man

### AlphaGo's already won the best-of-five series, taking the first three matches they played. Sedol won the fourth match — his first win — over the weekend. AlphaGo's win marks the first time ever an artificial intelligence program has defeated a top-ranked human Go player without a handicap.

AP

### AlphaGo has been working up to this point for a while now. DeepMind, the company that developed AlphaGo, was founded in 2010 by chess prodigy and AI researcher Demis Hassabis. So far, AlphaGo has studied a database of Go matches that gave it the equivalent experience of playing the game for 80 straight years. Google acquired DeepMind in 2014.

Google Deepmind
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
Eugene Kim 2016-03-14T20:31:15.000Z

#### U.S. vows to push for U.N. action on Iran despite Russian opposition

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United States on Monday vowed to continue pushing for United Nations Security Council action on Iran's recent ballistic missile tests and accused Russia of looking for reasons not to respond to Iranian violations of a U.N. resolution.
2016-03-14T20:26:01.000Z

#### A CEO known for his exuberant speeches shares his favorite mental trick to prepare for a crowd of any size

Wine Library

Gary Vaynerchuk approaches a presentation the same way a boxer approaches a fight.

When stage time is eight minutes away, you wouldn't be able to tell he's about to give a talk, Vaynerchuk says in his new book "#AskGaryVee." He's just calmly going through his normal routine. But then exactly six minutes before, he gets into "a weird place."

The outspoken CEO of VaynerMedia isn't reviewing notes or repeating lines under his breath, but rather gets into a state of intense focus fueled by adrenaline, like a fighter about to walk to the ring.

"Then, right before I go out onstage, I think about punching every audience member directly in the mouth," Vaynerchuk writes.

"I know it sounds strange, but I feel a weird mix of love and aggression for the people in the seats, because on one hand I'm so grateful for their presence and their support and interest, yet I'm also determined to send them away with a powerful message ringing in their ears."

Rather than spend his time memorizing every word of a finely crafted speech, Vaynerchuk prepares the elements of his presentation based on what genuinely interests him, so that the emotions he expresses are real.

The secret to landing all of your punches, he says, is simple: Talk about what you know.

RAW Embed

Vaynerchuk explains that the only way you'll become a more engaging speaker is through practice and refinement of your technique, but the best technique won't matter if you're not "speaking from the heart and from experience." The audience will easily see through acting or a weak grasp of a subject.

In an interview with Business Insider, Vaynerchuk said that despite all of the bravado and amusingly erratic behavior he's known for on stage and in front of the camera, he's quite collected and humble when doing business for his digital media company. It's just that he understands the importance of the performance aspect of public speaking and wants to grab his audience and unleash what he's got to say.

He says that his boxer analogy may not work for everyone, but he recommends that, regardless of your speaking style, you don't let nervous energy force you to second-guess yourself in the final minutes leading up to your talk. You'll risk throwing everything off. You don't need to fantasize about punching out the guy in the front row, but use your nervous energy the same way a boxer does, feeling it empower you.

"The day you find yourself in this moment, have confidence in yourself and go with your plan," he writes. "You've worked hard for this. You're ready."

NOW WATCH: Having blown it on Uber, investor Gary Vaynerchuk shares his lessons on how to spot the next "unicorn"

Richard Feloni 2016-03-14T20:25:00.000Z

#### Steve Bell on Iain Duncan Smith's proposed cuts – cartoon

Continue reading...
Steve Bell 2016-03-14T20:23:54.000Z

#### We finally know a big mystery role cut from 'Batman v Superman'

Warner Bros.

"Batman v Superman" will debut a lot of DC characters to the big screen. Not only will we see Ben Affleck as a new, older Batman, we'll also get the first on-screen appearances of Wonder Woman, The Flash, Aquaman, and maybe even more superheroes.

But there's at least one role that's been kept well hidden, until now.

One of the biggest mysteries of "Batman v Superman" has been Jena Malone's role. You may remember her as the fiery, outspoken Johanna Mason from "The Hunger Games." (She was the one who stripped in the elevator in front of Katniss.)

Warner Bros.

The Hollywood Reporter first confirmed Malone was cast in the film back in October 2014. Rumors pegged her to play a version of Robin, or possibly Batgirl/Barbara Gordon. Well, it looks a survey from Warner Bros. spilled the beans.

Warning: There are spoilers ahead!

Comicbookresources noticed a Reddit posting showing off a screenshot of a survey taken by members of Warner Bros.' A-List Community site. (You can apply to be a member, here.)

Among the questions in the survey, one asked members which actors/characters they would like to see "more, less, or the same amount of" in future advertising for the film.

Malone is mentioned and her role appears to be Barbara Gordon.

Gordon eventually becomes one of Batman's sidekicks in the comic, Batgirl. Depending on the timeline, Gordon goes on to become another heroine known for her hacking skills, Oracle as well.

Warner Bros.

Unfortunately, we won't get to see Malone make an appearance in "Batman v Superman." Her role was cut from the theatrical version of the film.

Malone will appear in the R-rated cut of the film which will be available on the Blu-ray release for the movie.

NOW WATCH: Comic fans tell us who would win in a fight between Batman and Superman

Kirsten Acuna 2016-03-14T20:23:00.000Z

#### Oil falls as worry over growing stockpile cuts short rally

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices fell about 3 percent on Monday on concerns that a six-week market recovery has gone beyond fundamentals as U.S. crude stockpiles continue to build and Iran maintains little interest in joining major producers in freezing production.
2016-03-14T20:22:31.000Z

#### These are the best drones we’ve seen yet

The Insider Picks team writes about stuff we think you'll like. Business Insider has affiliate partnerships so we may get a share of the revenue from your purchase.

Flying robots are a part of life now. At this point, it’s no secret that drones are burgeoning — despite a lingering sense of unease among parts of the general public, the miniature machines are carving out a spot in everything from commerce to agriculture to the military. Because they tend to be fun to fly, they’ve become increasingly popular with consumers, too.

What exactly qualifies as a “drone” is still a bit vague, though. Shop around online and you’ll see the market’s generally split into two parts: There are the cheaper, toy-like devices that are meant for casual flying around the house, and there are the pricier, higher-grade devices that, while still fun, are really made for aerial photography (and, occasionally, racing).

It’s the latter that’s really made drones a thing. While the smaller stuff can be good for learning to fly in the first place, you don’t get any real utility out of your unmanned aircraft until you drop at least a few hundred dollars. It’ll be pricey, and you’ll have to register with the FAA , but grab the right one and you’ll be able to take sweeping shots in a package that's still very accessible for rookie pilots.

So which drones are those “right ones” today? Below we’ve rounded up a handful of higher-end, (mostly) consumer-oriented quadcopters that anyone looking to upgrade should have on their shortlist for the immediate future. There aren’t many of them, in all honesty, so your decision shouldn’t be too complex.

### DJI Phantom 3

DJI

And that’s because DJI dominates the market. If you’ve seen a fancy-looking drone flying on TV or YouTube in the past few years, chances are it was made by the Chinese company. It’s easily the most popular brand of the bunch, but its popularity isn’t unwarranted — it’s simply made the best stuff.
We’ve previously called the DJI Phantom 3 Advanced ($769) the best drone on the market, and its step-up model, the DJI Phantom 3 Professional ($918), isn’t far behind. Both can be had for significantly less than their original going rate, and while they’re now a year old, they’re still excellent quads. (And probably worth it over the newer Phantom 3 4K ($649), what with its shorter operating range.) You just have to ask yourself if the Professional’s 4K camera is worth the extra cash over the Advanced’s 2.7K unit. Either way, have a look at our buying guide for a fuller rundown.
DJI Phantom 3 Advanced, $768.99, available at Amazon .
DJI Phantom 3 Professional, $917.98, available at Amazon .

### DJI Phantom 4

DJI

If you want the latest and greatest, though, you may want to wait a few days for the just-launched DJI Phantom 4 ($1,399). It starts shipping from DJI and Apple on March 15, then hits other retailers on March 23. It’s a ways more expensive than its predecessors, but that cash appears to get you some noticeable upgrades. It’s a bit better looking, it packs a bigger battery (which DJI rates at a very solid 28 minutes), and it features a new “Sport Mode” that lets more adept users race around at up to 45 miles per hour. All this comes alongside a touched-up 4K camera.
More notably, it appears to be idiot-proof. This is looking like the year where basic object avoidance hits the consumer drone market — if glowing reviews from The Wall Street Journal and The Verge are to be believed, the Phantom 4 can successfully sense 3D objects in the world around it, stop itself (if it’s moving forward), then let you move it to safety. A “TapFly” mode also leverages this tech, letting you double tap a point on your controls’ map, then have the drone fly there on its own.
We’ll test the drone in the coming weeks and try to verify DJI’s claims for ourselves, but if the company’s past successes are any indication, the Phantom 4 could equally accommodate novices and experts alike.
DJI Phantom 4, $1,399, available at DJI .

### Yuneec Typhoon G

Yuneec

If all of that is still just a bit too much, the other manufacturer to keep tabs on is Yuneec. Its Typhoon Q500+ ($699) and Typhoon Q500 4K ($900) are both decent, slightly cheaper alternatives to the Phantom 3 family, and its forthcoming, six-rotor-packing Typhoon H ($1,799) aims to compete with more professional drones like DJI’s Inspire 1 (more in a sec) for much less.
We’ll highlight the Yuneec Typhoon G ($489) here, though. It’s become a relative bargain over the past few months, and, unlike DJI’s models, allows you to use your own GoPro camera to capture footage. Now, DJI’s integrated camera setup still results in better quality most of the time, but if you’ve already paid for your own action cam, the savings might be worth it. The whole thing isn’t too difficult to handle on top of that, though, again, you’re mostly picking this because the price is right.
Yuneec Typhoon G, $489, available at Amazon .

See the rest of the story at Business Insider
Jeff Dunn 2016-03-14T20:20:00.000Z

#### UC Berkeley moves to fire assistant basketball coach for violating sexual-harassment policy

Jeff Chiu/AP Photo

The men's basketball coach at the University of California, Berkeley, said Monday that he is moving to fire an assistant coach who violated the school's sexual harassment policy.

It comes as the university has faced criticism for its handling of substantiated sexual harassment allegations involving an astronomy professor and the dean of its law school.

Assistant coach Yann Hufnagel has been suspended pending termination proceedings and will not be traveling with the team during the upcoming NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament, the athletic department said in a statement.

The person who accused Hufnagel of sexual harassment is not affiliated with the school, university spokesman Dan Mogulof said. Hufnagel didn't immediately reply to an email seeking comment on head coach Cuonzo Martin's decision to fire him.

University of California President Janet Napolitano announced on Friday a new process for reviewing sexual harassment claims against administrators. A new systemwide committee would review and approve all proposed penalties for high-level administrators who violate sexual assault and harassment policies. She also ordered university leaders to complete sexual assault and harassment training by March 25.

This was Hufnagel's second year as an assistant coach. He worked with the university's guards last year and the team's backcourt was considered one of the best in the Pac 12 conference, the school said.

Before a year at Vanderbilt University and his two years at UC Berkeley, Hufnagel spent four years as an assistant basketball at Harvard University. He was credited with helping develop guard Jeremy Lin, a Harvard graduate who now plays for the NBA's Charlotte Hornets.

The NCAA tournament selection committee on Sunday made the 23-10 Bears a fourth seed in the South Region. It's the school's first appearance in the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament since 2013. They face Hawaii Friday.

(Associated Press writer Paul Elias contributed to this story.)

NOW WATCH: What the 'i' in 'iPhone' stands for — as explained by Steve Jobs

2016-03-14T20:19:31.000Z

#### This little-known Silicon Valley lab is behind the most exciting technologies of the last 50 years

Wikimedia Commons

A little-known lab in Menlo Park, California is responsible for many of the most exciting technologies we've seen over the last half-century.

Initially founded in 1946 by Stanford University as The Stanford Research Institute, it's now separate from the university and goes by SRI International.

But it's always been a non-profit dedicated to research and development.

With 4,000 patents to its credit, SRI is fairly well-known in Silicon Valley, but most consumers have no idea it's been behind the scenes helping with everything from the computer mouse to the Siri voice assistant in your iPhone.

### Although discussion and plans for a research institute at Stanford go back to 1925, SRI was not officially created until 1946.

Reuters

### It got right to work on its first research study trying to figure out whether the guayule plant could be used as a rubber substitute — a big problem since rubber was in short supply during World War II.

British Army/Sgt. Christie

Source: SRI

### It's done plenty of other research for corporations and the military, like figuring out how the Air Force could expand its aircraft inventory and helping Walt Disney find the perfect spot for his Disneyland theme park.

HarshLight/Flickr
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
Paul Szoldra 2016-03-14T20:17:00.000Z

#### The 50 most underrated colleges in America

Samantha Lee/Business Insider

We often hear about the best colleges in the US, but there are dozens more outstanding schools that don't always get the recognition they deserve.

To discover the most underrated colleges in America, we compared US News and World Report's rankings of the best universities and the best liberal-arts colleges in the country with PayScale's 2015-16 College Salary Report, which ranked more than 1,000 colleges and universities based on their graduates' mid-career salaries.

We considered two factors: reputation and future earnings, specifically looking for schools that had relatively low rankings on the US News list but high mid-career salaries. You can read the full methodology here.

Pace University topped the list, with the Missouri University of Science and Technology and the New Jersey Institute of Technology rounding out the top three.

Scroll to learn more about the 50 most underrated colleges in America.

Additional reporting by Melissa Stanger.

### 50. University of Dayton

University of Dayton/Facebook

Location: Dayton, Ohio

Median mid-career salary: $88,700

The Catholic institution in Dayton, Ohio, encourages its nearly 9,000 students to actively practice their faith through liturgies, spiritual retreats, and special programs such as PORCH (People of Respect, Compassion, and Hope). UD's website says it is also committed to making the school "greener, more global, and more diverse."

### 49. Oklahoma State University

Wikimedia Commons

Location: Stillwater, Oklahoma

Median mid-career salary: $86,700

The Stillwater campus is the flagship of the Oklahoma State University System, and the school is in the top 25% of universities by return on investment. While athletes and sports enthusiasts flock to OSU for its championship-winning teams, the school is also a prominent research university and offers 200 undergraduate majors through its six colleges.

### 48. University of St. Thomas

University of St. Thomas/Facebook

Location: St. Paul, Minnesota

Median mid-career salary: $91,300

There are plenty of opportunities available on St. Thomas' main campus in St. Paul, Minnesota, where students take advantage of the school's 90 undergraduate degrees or work toward a self-designed specialty degree. St. Thomas encourages students to get off campus, too — the school offers 150 study-abroad programs in 50 countries.

See the rest of the story at Business Insider
Business Insider 2016-03-14T20:15:00.000Z

#### Sarah Palin makes surprise appearance at Donald Trump rally – video

Former Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin made an appearance at a Trump campaign event in Tampa, Florida on Monday, despite reports that she had returned to Alaska after her husband was involved in a snowmobile accident. Palin confirmed that her husband was ‘recovering in ICU’ and thanked the crowd for their prayers, before going on to comment on the recent violence which has broken out at Trump rallies, calling it ‘punk-ass thuggery stuff’

Continue reading...
Guardian Staff 2016-03-14T20:14:05.000Z

#### A Japanese company hand-crafts traditional dolls the same way they did 200 years ago

The Sendai Kiji Workshop in Japan makes Kokeshi dolls, a type of wooden doll carved from a single block of wood that originated in mountainside villages 200 years ago. The process hasn't changed one bit.

Story by Jacob Shamsian and editing by Alana Yzola

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Jacob Shamsian 2016-03-14T20:10:18.000Z

#### VIDEO: Dinosaur find resolves T-rex mystery

Meet the newly discovered dinosaur that could hold the evolutionary key to how T-rex became such a giant.
2016-03-14T20:09:45.000Z

#### STOCKS GO NOWHERE, OIL FALLS: Here’s what you need to know (HOT, SPX, SPY, DJI, IXIC, USO, WTI, OIL, VDE)

Reuters/Mariana Bazo

Stocks traded in quite a tight range on Monday and closed little changed ahead of a busy week highlighted by the Federal Reserve's policy announcement on Wednesday.

The Dow closed at the highest level of the year.

First, the scoreboard:

- Dow: 17,229.13, +15.82, (0.09%)
- S&P 500: 2,019.64, -2.55, (-0.13%)
- Nasdaq: 4,750.28, +1.81, (0.04%)
- WTI crude oil: $37.18, -$1.32 (-3.4%)

And now, the top stories:

## Starwood Hotels

Last November, Marriott International announced it was acquiring Starwood Hotels to create the world's largest hotel chain.

But the Chinese insurance group Anbang wants Starwood, so it led a counter offer. Starwood Hotels put out a press release this morning announcing the counter offer by a secret consortium, which Marriott later identified as being led by Anbang, saying it's still committed to the deal.

Anbang wants to buy Starwood for $76 per share in cash, a 7.9% premium to Starwood's closing share price of $70.42 Friday (the stock rallied 8% to as high as $76.44 per share today.)

What's also going on here is an attempt by Anbang to own several properties and some of America's most iconic hotel brands. Anbang bought the iconic Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York in 2014. On Monday, it agreed to buy a portfolio of luxury hotels from Blackstone Group for $6.5 billion.

It's recently made other heavy investments in real estate, including buying the massive building at 717 Fifth Avenue in New York last year.

It's still not entirely clear why this insurance company, with subsidiaries in financial leasing, banking, and asset management, wants to do with brands including Sheraton and Le Méridien. As Bloomberg noted, a breakup of the Starwood-Marriott merger would cost Marriott $400 million in fees, and possibly attract the attention of CFIUS, the agency that investigates sales to foreign buyers.

## Oil

Crude oil prices slid again after rising for a fourth straight period last week, or nearly 50% from recent lows.

And analysts are telling us that any chances of a rally have been destroyed by producers themselves.

The first thing to note is that the recent rally was driven by short covering, not because the huge imbalance between supply and demand was fixed.

On Friday, we noted Goldman Sachs' comment that the rally is self-defeating because higher prices would increase production, weighing down on prices all over again.

And in a note Monday, Morgan Stanley's Adam Longson doubled down on this idea, pointing out another way that producers are shooting themselves in foot: by hedging.

The basics of hedging goes as follows: producers sell futures contracts at current oil prices, often with the intention to buy them back before they expire — and to avoid making an actual delivery of physical oil. So producers would earn only a net gain if the settlement price is cheaper than what they sold the contracts for. If oil prices are higher than the hedged price, then producers buy back the contracts at a loss.

Reuters/Mariana Bazo

Longson notes that producers are now hedging like crazy in the $40-range for West Texas Intermediate crude.

And at this level, producers are encouraged to sell and produce oil as long as prices remain below their hedges.

Here's Longson (emphasis added):

Back in 2015, a rally in prices driven primarily by a USD pullback led to producer hedging and capped deferred prices at $65/bbl. This resulted in a flatter curve, but it also limited the rally in the front to $60 given the state of US inventories. The current rally mirrors this period in 2015 in many ways, only that producers are willing to hedge at much lower levels. As the USD and producer hedging reasserted themselves, that rally proved to be short lived.

## Buybacks

It's been getting harder for companies to support stocks through them.

Business Insider's Bob Bryan outlined why in a post this weekend.

Companies buying their own shares — to boost prices in the belief that they are cheap — has been the biggest demand for stocks since 2009.

And as the stock market marked the 7th year in a bull market last week, it's clear that buybacks have been an important prop for stocks.

Barclays' Jonathan Glionna wrote in a note last week that companies have been financing buybacks by issuing debt. And with credit conditions tightening in the last several months, their purchasing ability has been limited.

But it's not all over. A Bloomberg report today said S&P 500 corporate buybacks could be as much as $165 billion this quarter, crossing a 2007 peak. That's unlike private mutual funds and ETFs, which have been withdrawing from stocks at one of the fastest paces ever.

From Bloomberg (emphasis ours):

While past deviations haven’t spelled doom for equities, the impact has rarely been as stark as in the last two months, when American shares lurched to the worst start to a year on record as companies stepped away from the market while reporting earnings. Those results raise another question about the sustainability of repurchases, as profits declined for a third straight quarter, the longest streak in six years.

So it really isn't all over.

## Additionally:

The Fed's meeting starts tomorrow. These three questions hold the key to what it does next.

The real life Gordon Gekko is supporting Bernie Sanders because of a basic economic principle.

Americans don't think inflation is dead. And they're planing to spend more in the next year.

It's March 14 — 3/14 — so it's π Day. Or should it be? Our Quant reporter has some objections.

Warren Buffett on why a good business is one "your idiot nephew" could run. Also, a video of Buffett's palm triggering the famous "Yahoooooooo" yodel.

NOW WATCH: Adam Savage reveals why he and 'MythBusters' cohost Jamie Hyneman won't be working together anymore

Akin Oyedele 2016-03-14T20:00:25.000Z

#### How I became a millionaire in 10 years without winning the lottery or picking stocks

Justin McCurry / Root of Good

Financial voyeurs of the world, rejoice! I dug out all our old tax returns, pay stubs, and my net worth spreadsheet to pull together the story of our ten year journey from nearly zero net worth to millionaire status (and early retirement).

This post answers a lot of questions like: How much did we earn? Did we have six figure incomes all of our careers? Did we work for a start up and make a million when our employer went IPO? Did we get lucky picking stocks?

## Year 1

Our story starts in 2004, a period in ancient times before the launch of YouTube. This is the year I graduated from law school and started what would be my job for the next seven years (in engineering, not law). My starting salary at a small engineering consulting firm was $48,000.

The salary negotiation was bizarre. The president of the company asked me what I would like to make. I asked for $42,000 (since I had a job already lined up elsewhere for $36,000). He countered with “does $48,000 work for you?” I spent about two seconds trying to figure what the trick was before suppressing a smile and responding with “yes, that will be acceptable.” The vice-president’s dumbfounded sideways glance at the president sticks with me even today.

Mrs. RoG (named after my blog, Root of Good) was still in law school at the time. Like me, she never worked as an attorney. In 2004, we owned a rental condo that was previously our primary residence in a nearby city where I attended law school. We had just purchased our new primary residence — a house in Raleigh.

We had some investments slowly accumulated during college and graduate school plus a fledgling 401k from a couple years of Mrs. RoG’s employment between undergrad and grad school (at a salary of $24,000 to $34,000). I guess we were the weird ones that graduated college with a positive net worth (in spite of six figure college loans).

By the end of 2004, we maxed out our IRAs, I contributed what my company allowed to a 401k, and we added to our taxable accounts. In total we added about $15,000 to our investment portfolio in 2004, bringing the portfolio balance to $64,000. We didn’t start Year 1 with zero dollars, but it makes sense to start when I graduated college since that is when our earnings picked up dramatically.

If you’re really interested in my career before my first post-college job, check out "From Paper Boy to Engineering Manager to Early Retiree."

Root of Good

## Year 2

2005 was a year of big changes for us. Our first child was born in the spring right before Mrs. RoG finished law school. After graduating and spending most of the year caring for our daughter, Mrs. RoG decided to get a job. Her starting salary of $38,000 per year was pretty average for her field, and she was eligible to receive overtime pay. The company offered really good benefits like nearly free family health insurance that would save us a lot of money over the next decade.

Mrs. RoG only worked six weeks in 2005 and pulled in $5,000. I received a small raise to $49,000.

During the year, we sold our rental condo and put the proceeds into our investment portfolio. We also completed a cash out refinance on our primary residence that generated a lot of cash because we purchased the house from the City at a discount of $30,000 from fair market value. These real estate moves helped us add $101,000 to our investment portfolio during the year even though we only earned $54,000 from working.

Our portfolio ended the year at $183,000 with $18,000 in gains for the year. At some point during this year I realized we would be able to save a significant part of our incomes every year and it was a mathematical fact that we would have enough to retire comfortably one day. I thought our “magic number” needed to retire was well over $2 million and it would take at least 20 years to hit that number.

I also discovered the Early-Retirement.org forums this year, which helped crystallize in my mind the concept of early retirement as a thing that people aim for in an intentional manner, instead of something that randomly happens as a result of saving massive piles of money.

## Year 3

In 2006, we had another kid. Mrs. RoG’s swanky job offered three months of paid maternity leave plus the option to take two more months of unpaid leave. Since we weren’t even spending my whole paycheck at the time, Mrs. RoG was able to take off five months. In spite of not getting paid for two months, she still made $40,000 during the year due to overtime and bonus.

I rode the boom time wave at my job, snagging two raises to bring my salary to $55,000.

We kept maxing out our 401ks and IRAs throughout the year and picked up company matches in the process. Including the 401k matches, we contributed $75,000 to our investments during Year 3.

The portfolio ended the year at $295,000 which includes $37,000 in investment gains during the year.

See the rest of the story at Business Insider
2016-03-14T20:00:00.000Z

#### A Stanford psychologist shares a smart trick for landing your dream job

Google

No one wants to be that guy — the one who applies for a job at a high-profile company and then pesters the hiring manager every day to see if their resume has been reviewed yet.

But it's so hard to sit with the anxiety and the frustration that comes with not hearing back, especially when you know you'd be an awesome fit for the role.

Fortunately, there's a better strategy for getting yourself noticed and upping your chances of landing the job. It takes equal parts gumption and effort, but if you really want the gig, then it's probably worth it.

The trick? Show the company you can do the work that would be required of you if you got the job.

The technique comes from BJ Fogg, a psychologist and the director of the Persuasion Technology Lab at Stanford. In a 2013 interview with Ramit Sethi, author of "I Will Teach You to Be Rich," Sethi shared an idea he learned from Fogg:

[A] lot of people back at that time wanted to work at Google; a lot of people still do. And there was somebody in [your] lab who said like, "It's really hard to get hired." And you said, "Listen. Find the one person who does what you want to do there. Every week send them some kind of report or analysis and just say, "Look, I thought you might find this interesting. I'll write you back next Wednesday with the next analysis," and then you said, "How long can they ignore you?"

Fogg added that if you're trying to fill a niche in terms of the company's needs, "If you can understand what those needs are and start delivering, who's going to turn you away?"

This strategy goes back to Fogg's idea that it's everyone's responsibility to become an expert in some area — or as Sethi says — the "go-to guy."

When you send copies of your work to the person who holds your dream job, you're essentially showing the company that you're the world's expert in a certain field, and they can't succeed without you.

That means, of course, that your work has to be stellar and something that the company can't produce on its own.

There's no guarantee that you'll get the job, but it seems impossible that you wouldn't draw more attention to yourself than you would if you simply submitted a standard resume.

The interview with Sethi and Fogg is featured in Sethi's Ultimate Guide to Habits and the full interview is available to premium users on Ramit's Brain Trust. You can watch part of the interview here:

NOW WATCH: Here's what a hiring manager scans for when reviewing résumés

Shana Lebowitz 2016-03-14T20:00:00.000Z

#### Spider-Man's suit in the new 'Captain America' trailer is a nod to a classic

Disney/Marvel

After Marvel's explosive reveal of Spider-Man in the second "Captain America: Civil War" trailer, the wait seems longer than ever.

19-year-old actor Tom Holland will take on the role of the webslinger in "Civil War." We still don't have plot details on Peter Parker's role in the film, but we can discern a few hints about the third on-screen appearance of the legendary character from his costume.

His suit hasn't changed much from the webslinger's debut comic back in 1966, but there are a few important nods to his classic appearance that attentive fans were thrilled to see. Read on to see how Spidey's Marvel debut is staying in line with his old school appearance.

"Captain America: Civil War" arrives on May 6.

### The new Spider-Man suit appears to closely resemble the original 1966 design from Steve Ditko, with elements from the partial redesign from Ditko's successor, John Romito Sr.

YouTube/ABC

### Spider-Man fires his trademark webs from a shooters, placed strategically on his wrists. They shoot when he places his middle and ring fingers on the triggers.

YouTube/ABC

### As we see in the trailer, Spider-Man's suit has external shooters that trigger when he touches them with his fingers. The shooters are colored black and look like bracelets.

Marvel/Disney
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
Sidney Fussell 2016-03-14T19:59:00.000Z

#### Dinosaur find resolves T-Rex mystery

A newly discovered species of tyrannosaur reveals clue to T-Rex's great size, according to scientists.
2016-03-14T19:57:15.000Z

#### VIDEO: Crufts joy for West Highland Terrier

A West Highland Terrier from County Durham has claimed the top prize at Crufts for the first time in 26 years.
2016-03-14T19:55:30.000Z

#### Meet Gal Gadot, the 30-year-old actress playing Wonder Woman, who started out as Miss Israel

Paul A. Hebert/Invision/AP

Gal Gadot is Wonder Woman.

For those unfamiliar with her name, the 30-year-old actress is best known for her roles in four "Fast and Furious" films.

But before she was in action films, she was Miss Israel and served two years in the Israeli army.

She's bringing the comic-book Amazonian princess to life alongside Ben Affleck and Henry Cavill in "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice," out March 25.

She'll also star in the standalone "Wonder Woman" film scheduled for 2017 and (at least) two "Justice League" movies.

Get to know the new Wonder Woman below:

### Gal Gadot was born in Israel on April 30, 1985. Her mom was a teacher, and her father was an engineer.

Instagram Embed:
http://instagram.com/p/z2aNNnubU_/embed/
Width: 658px

Source: Glamour

### Growing up, Gadot wanted to be a choreographer before switching her sights to law, but her plans changed after she met a pageant scout.

Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images for Gucci Fragrance

Source: Glamour

### She participated in the 2004 Miss Israel contest and won, which launched her into a modeling career.

Instagram Embed:
http://instagram.com/p/yugqM1ubbE/embed/
Width: 658px

Source: Glamour

See the rest of the story at Business Insider
Anjelica Oswald 2016-03-14T19:53:51.000Z

#### VIDEO: Footage 'shows Ivory Coast gunman in bar'

Footage has been released purporting to show one of the attackers who targeted a popular beach resort in Ivory Coast.
2016-03-14T18:21:56.000Z

#### Fury after Twitch gamer account switch

Gaming fans have reacted with anger after divorce led to a popular Twitch gaming channel changing hands.
2016-03-14T17:58:10.000Z

#### BBC's 'Top Gear' spins into more controversy with Whitehall stunt

LONDON (Reuters) - Chris Evans, the new host of BBC TV's popular "Top Gear" motoring show apologised on Monday for a stunt filmed near the Cenotaph war memorial in central London which was widely criticised for showing a lack of respect.
2016-03-14T17:15:52.000Z

#### A composer adopted by island community

Memories of Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, who has died, aged 81, at his home in Orkney
2016-03-14T16:46:19.000Z

#### Why is Ed Miliband more popular than ever? Here’s a handy explainer for you old people

The Milifandom lives on. Vive la #Milibae
2016-03-14T16:37:00.000Z

#### This SECRET tunnel under Knightsbridge Tube station that might be reopened to public

Forget Harrods! A new secret underground tunnel might be the newest attraction in Knightsbridge.
2016-03-14T16:29:00.000Z

#### Zac Goldsmith trailing Sadiq Khan by 7% in latest poll

A new YouGov poll today puts Labour candidate Sadiq Khan on course to win London’s mayoral election on 5 May.
2016-03-14T15:15:00.000Z

#### Question & Antler: Who are The Staggies?

How much do you know about The Staggies?
2016-03-14T14:50:34.000Z

#### Put your questions to Kezia Dugdale

Have you got something to ask Labour's Kezia Dugdale ahead of her party's conference?
2016-03-14T14:49:50.000Z

#### RBS chairman says Cameron's EU deal could bolster ECB's powers

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Britain's 'special status' deal with the European Union, aimed in part at securing London's future as a financial centre, could ultimately bolster the power of the European Central Bank, the chairman of Royal Bank of Scotland said on Monday.
2016-03-14T14:07:43.000Z

#### DNA swabs and portable morgues - on-call for disasters with Kenyon International

Bracknell, ENGLAND (Reuters) - Boxes of DNA swabs, walkie talkies, portable morgue tables and medical gloves fill the shelves at the warehouse from which UK-based Kenyon International rushes to respond to disasters from plane crashes to earthquakes.
2016-03-14T13:40:33.000Z

#### David Beckham bailed out wife Victoria after her fashion brand lost £3.8m in a year

Is Brand Beckham in trouble?
2016-03-14T11:24:00.000Z

#### Osborne to cut spending further to protect budget plan

LONDON (Reuters) - Chancellor George Osborne said on Sunday he would announce further cuts to public spending this week to protect his austerity plan from a weakening of the economy, but said they would not be drastic.
2016-03-14T11:23:53.000Z

#### Britain to foster 'robo' financial advice to cut costs for consumer

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's financial regulator wants to encourage the availability of automated, or "robo", financial advice, already common in the United States, to cut the cost of such advice for less well-off consumers.
2016-03-14T11:23:12.000Z

#### HS2 at risk of DERAILING at top speeds?

HS2, the £55.7bn high-speed rail project, has come under fire after research showed that trains could become unstable and derail causing a potential disaster.
2016-03-14T11:20:00.000Z

#### Night Tube to be introduced in August, reports suggest

No date has been set, but 24 hour Tube service could begin this summer
2016-03-14T11:07:00.000Z

#### BBC wants your views on the Budget

BBC wants your views on the Budget
2016-03-14T11:06:58.000Z

#### Clydebank blitz remembered 75 years on

Services of commemoration are held over the weekend to mark the 75th anniversary of the Clydebank blitz.
2016-03-14T10:51:11.000Z

#### Top Gear’s Chris Evans apologises “unreservedly” for London Cenotaph stunt

Outrageous show in outrageous behaviour scandal
2016-03-14T10:31:00.000Z

#### Budget 2016: Here is everything we know so far about the radical new policies set to be introduced

What we know, ahead of the speech on Wednesday
2016-03-14T10:31:00.000Z

#### David Cameron “petrified” of Boris Johnson leadership bid, says ex- minister

David Laws, who was a Lib Dem minister in the coalition spills the beans on his time at the top
2016-03-14T09:53:00.000Z

#### Immigration from a different angle

Photographer John Baucher's images of people who are now living in Northern Ireland
2016-03-14T01:01:53.000Z

#### Actor's Gang: How Tim Robbins has cut reoffending rates

In California, six out of 10 inmates will return to prison within three years of being released, but a drama workshop run by actor Tim Robbins appears to cut this rate in half.
2016-03-14T00:19:32.000Z

#### The immortalist: Uploading the mind to a computer

While many tech moguls dream of changing the way we live with new devices, one Russian internet millionaire is looking for a way to make humans immortal.
2016-03-14T00:02:27.000Z

#### VIDEO: 'Holyrood is in need of reform'

The outgoing presiding officer of the Scottish Parliament says the system needs to change, with reform of procedures and structures being the top priority.
2016-03-13T14:58:37.000Z

#### Obama to visit London in bid to keep UK in the EU

LONDON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama will come to London in April and urge British voters to back continued membership of the European Union, The Independent on Sunday newspaper reported.
2016-03-13T13:05:40.000Z

#### VIDEO: Overnight time-lapse of Aurora Borealis

Two cameras captured time-lapse footage of the Aurora Borealis over Cleish.
2016-03-13T12:04:10.000Z

#### Your pictures

A selection of your pictures of Scotland sent in between 4 and 11 March
2016-03-13T09:06:23.000Z

#### Scotland's SNP to start rebuilding independence campaign this summer

GLASGOW, Scotland (Reuters) - The Scottish National Party (SNP) will start building a new case for independence from the United Kingdom this summer, party leader and Scottish government head Nicola Sturgeon said on Saturday, without committing herself to a timeframe for a new referendum.
2016-03-13T05:01:26.000Z

#### 10 SOLID business benefits of apprenticeships

Why there’s never been a better time to employ apprentices
2016-03-12T15:54:00.000Z

#### An employer’s guide to apprenticeships 2016

Did you know? In 2014, apprenticeships contributed £34bn to the UK economy
2016-03-12T15:40:00.000Z

#### Man charged with Northern Irish car bombing as security stepped up

BELFAST (Reuters) - A 45-year-old man was charged on Saturday with attempting to murder a Northern Irish prison officer who was seriously injured in a car bomb a week ago, which was claimed by militant nationalists police fear are set to step up attacks.
2016-03-12T13:09:13.000Z

#### Britain to test driverless cars on motorways from next year

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain said it will begin trialling driverless cars on motorways for the first time in 2017, as it moves towards its goal of allowing autonomous cars to take to the streets by 2020.
2016-03-12T11:54:17.000Z