Waiting period for kidney transplants 5 to 10 years in Malaysia

Kidney failure patients nationwide need to wait for an agonising five to 10 years before they can undergo organ transplant.

National Kidney Foundation (NKF) head of public education, Maznifah Fatah said the waiting period was quite long as only one per cent of the nation’s 30 million population had pledged to donate their organs.

“This is because of the lack of public awareness on the importance of organ donation to help those in need,” she said when met at an organ donation campaign held at the Besraya Headquarters, Lok Yew Toll Plaza here today.

She said at present, there were more than 19,000 kidney patients waiting for transplants.

Maznifah added that besides kidney patients, there were others who were waiting for organ transplants including heart (seven), liver (six) and lung (six).

She said the kidney foundation was organising an awareness campaign to educate the public on the importance of organ donation,” she said.

Meanwhile, Besraya (M) Sdn Bhd business unit head, Md Zohir Harun said the programme which was conducted jointly with the NKF was a show of support for the organ donation campaign.

“This is the second time this programme is being conducted to encourage the public and our staff to join this campaign and become organ donors,” he said.

Besraya employee Khairunnisa Md Ismail, 30, said the programme made it easy for the staff to get information on organ donation and at the same time, a medical check-up.

“Through programmes such as this, we can detect diseases early and determine if we have a health problem,” she said.

Nor Arif Mustapah, 25, who patrols the Besraya highways said the programme allowed them to have a medical check-up without having to go to a health centre.

Among the free health checks conducted during the programme involve the kidneys, breasts, eyes and weight.

— Bernama

Thai police surround scandal-hit Buddhist temple after PM

Soldiers and police surrounded a scandal-hit Buddhist temple on Bangkok’s outskirts early Thursday (Feb 16) in apparent preparation for a raid, to arrest the sect’s spiritual leader, after Thailand’s military leader invoked special powers to put the site under military control.

A cat-and-mouse game between investigators and the powerful Wat Dhammakaya temple in Bangkok has played out for months over allegations that its former abbot accepted illicit funds.

Authorities have so far been reluctant to raid the super-rich temple’s space-age 1,000-acre compound.

Previous attempts saw thousands of devotees of the breakaway order turn out to defend the septuagenarian monk who is believed to be holed up inside.

The monk, Phra Dhammachayo, is accused of accepting embezzled funds worth 1.2 billion baht (US$33 million) from the owner of a cooperative bank who was jailed.

Early on Thursday, hundreds of police and soldiers were bussed into the site, locking down roads leading to the vast temple, following a sudden order endorsed by junta leader and prime minister, Prayut Chan-O-Cha.

The order invoked special powers, known as Section 44, putting the area under military control.

“Authorities can prevent people entering the area, evict them … demolish or destroy buildings,” it said. Anyone obstructing efforts to “effectively implement the law” faces one year in jail and a fine.

In an emailed statement the temple said “4,000 police and military” had been deployed with blockades “now prohibiting anyone from entering or leaving”.

The temple is also accused of having close links to ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a 2006 military coup.

The administration of his sister Yingluck, who was also prime minister, was also toppled by the military again in 2014.

The sect runs a sophisticated PR operation, including its own channel as well as hosting several spectacular gatherings of orange-robed monks each year.

In the last 30 years the Dhammakaya temple has grown exponentially, raising tens of millions of dollars.

– AFP/de

Lady in Fox sexual harassment case receives subpoena

U.S. prosecutors have subpoenaed one of the women who claims she was sexually harassed by former Fox News chairman, Roger Ailes, and compelled her to testify before a federal grand jury.

New York City lawyer, Judd Burstein said his client had received the subpoena on Monday from the securities fraud unit of the U.S. Attorney’s office in Manhattan. The subpoena compelled the client’s testimony before a federal grand jury, Burstein said.

Fox has been in communication with the U.S. Attorney’s office for months and will continue to cooperate on all inquiries with any interested authorities, the spokeswoman said.

An attorney for Ailes did not respond to a request for comment. Ailes has previously denied allegations of harassment.

Burstein said prosecutors told him the investigation focuses on alleged sexual harassment at Fox, but declined to elaborate further. He also declined to identify the client who received the subpoena.

It was not clear how the investigation could be tied to securities fraud. Federal securities law requires companies to report legal settlements, including in sexual harassment cases, to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Ailes resigned last year after former Fox News anchor Gretchen Carlson, filed a lawsuit against him claiming she was harassed and had her contract canceled when she rebuffed Ailes’ advances. The network agreed to pay US$20 million to settle the case on behalf of Ailes, who denied the allegation.

– Reuters

Kanye West unveils new Yeezy line during New York Fashion Week

3 months after being hospitalized for exhaustion, rapper Kanye West made his first major public appearance yesterday, turning up for his Yeezy fashion show during New York Fashion Week.

With his wife, Kim Kardashian West in the front row next to Vogue editor in chief Anna Wintour, West debuted the fifth season of his high-end athleisure wear collection for Adidas to the fashion world’s elite.

The show, which has become one of the most exclusive presentations during recent fashion weeks, was not live-streamed on the music streaming website TIDAL as some of West’s shows have been in the past.

Many social media users expressed their frustrations when they learned they would not be able to watch online, but critics were positive about the 39-year-old singer’s latest runway show, saying the emphasis was on his new collection, rather than him.

“To me it felt like the most traditional fashion show that he’s done,” said Rickie De Sole, W Magazine’s fashion market and accessories director, who was at the show.

“It had a polish to it. It felt like a serious fashion show. It felt substantial and there was less hoopla. It really was all about the fashion,” De Sole added.

The collection was dominated by denim, high-waisted jeans, hoodie sweatshirts, baseball caps, cargo pants, knee-high boots and, of course, sneakers.

Muslim model Halima Aden, the 19-year-old Somali-American who competed for Miss Minnesota wearing a burkini and who recently scored a major modeling contract with talent agency IMG, strutted the catwalk wearing a floor-length fur coat and a hijab.

Buzz had been building around the appearance of the so-called “Yeezy Runner” after West was photographed wearing the oversized white sneakers by paparazzi in January.

Kanye emerged as one of Donald Trump’s most high-profile supporters during the 2016 election campaign and met the then president-elect at Trump Tower in New York in December, making him the target of outrage and sarcasm from fans.

– Reuters

Mystery witness to testify against Robert Durst of ‘The Jinx’

Robert Durst, the real estate scion tied to several slayings explored in HBO’s series “The Jinx,” returned to a Los Angeles courtroom on Wednesday, Feb 15, to face a prosecution witness whose identity was being kept secret until taking the stand.

Durst, 73, is charged with first-degree murder in the fatal shooting of a writer and longtime confidante of his, Susan Berman, in December 2000, and prosecutors say the secret witness fears his or her life may be put in danger by testifying.

Berman was found slain execution-style in her Los Angeles apartment, not long after police in New York had reopened an investigation into the disappearance and presumed killing of Durst’s spouse, Kathleen, two decades earlier.

Prosecutors in Los Angeles say they suspect Durst killed Berman, 55, because of what she knew about his wife’s unsolved demise in 1982.

The judge has given approval for Wednesday’s witness to testify well in advance of the actual trial, with questioning and cross-examination by both sides videotaped and preserved in the event anything should prevent the person from appearing in court later.

An 85-year-old retired dean of the New York City medical school attended by Durst’s wife before she vanished was permitted to testify under similar conditions on Tuesday due to his advanced age.

Durst has pleaded not guilty in the murder case and said he had nothing to do with the fate of either women. He was questioned in the probe of his wife’s disappearance but has not been charged, and her body has never been found.

His ties to both cases, and his 2003 acquittal in the killing and dismemberment of a Texas neighbour, were chronicled in the popular multi-part HBO documentary “The Jinx” last year.

Durst was formally charged with the Berman killing a day after HBO aired the final episode of its series, in which Durst was recorded muttering to himself off-camera: “What the hell did I do? Killed them all, of course.”

Durst told authorities after his arrest that he smoked marijuana daily and was high on methamphetamine during his appearance on “The Jinx,” according to court records. Prosecutors have put his estimated net worth at some US$100 million.

– Reuters

Canadian radio show host, Stuart McLean dies at 68

Stuart McLean, a Canadian humorist and broadcaster known for his popular syndicated comic radio show, The Vinyl Cafe, died on Wednesday at the age of 68, said CBC. 

Doctors had been treating McLean for melanoma since late 2015. In a December 2016 blog post to fans, he said the treatment had not been totally successful.

The Vinyl Cafe, a weekly CBC show broadcast in both Canada and the United States, started in 1994 and focussed on the life and misadventures of Dave, owner of a small record store, and his wife Morley.

McLean, who began his career as a journalist making CBC radio documentaries, wrote a series of best-selling books based on the show. He started taking The Vinyl Cafe on the road in 2008, travelling to both Canada and the UInitd States.

“Stuart was an exceptional storyteller who has left an indelible mark on CBC Radio and countless communities across Canada,” Susan Marjetti, executive director of CBC Radio, said in a statement.

– Reuters

A Suspect arrested over death of Kim Jong Un's half-brother

A female suspect carrying a Vietnamese passport has been arrested. South Korean intelligence has confirmed the North Korean man was killed with poison

A woman has been arrested in connection with the death of Kim Jong Un's half-brother, Malaysian police said.

She was detained Wednesday at Malaysia's Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 carrying a Vietnamese travel document.

Earlier, South Korea's intelligence committee said two Asian women were suspected of murdering Kim Jong Nam, who died soon after being attacked at the same airport.

Investigators are awaiting the results of an autopsy on his body.

Kim is believed to have been poisoned, South Korea's National Assembly Intelligence Committee Chairman Lee Cheol Woo told a press briefing Wednesday.

Lee did not say how Kim was poisoned or how South Korea obtained the information.According to CNN's Will Ripley, who is in Pyongyang, Kim's death has not been publicized in North Korea and is unlikely to be, given political sensitivities.

Kim was boarding a flight to the island of Macau, a Chinese territory, to visit his family when he was attacked, Lee said.

TV screens show pictures of Kim Jong Nam, the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2017.

Kim went to the counter at KLIA asking for help, the Royal Malaysian Police said in a statement.

A Malaysian official told CNN that the man was then taken to an airport clinic, which decided to send him to the hospital. He died en route.

"The deceased ... felt like someone grabbed or held his face from behind," Selangor State Criminal Investigations Department Chief Fadzil Ahmat told Reuters.

South Korea's Unification Ministry said Wednesday it was working with Malaysian authorities, while the country's acting President and Prime Minister discussed the death at a National Security Council meeting.

The North Korean embassy in Malaysia said they had no information about Kim's death when contacted by CNN, but a car with a North Korean flag on it was seen entering the hospital mortuary where Kim's body is believed to be.

Journalists gather outside the forensic department of a hospital in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2017.

Unsubstantiated reports

Numerous unsubstantiated reports of how Kim was attacked have been circulated but Malaysian police are providing few details.

The Malaysian inspector general of police said in a news release Tuesday the deceased North Korean man was traveling with a passport bearing the name Kim Chol.

Kim, who was in his mid-40s, had a reputation for traveling on fake passports -- it may have even been tied to his fall from grace in his home country.

Kim Jong Nam, left, was the half-brother of North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un, right.

While Kim was the most public of all Kim Jong Il's sons before his half-brother Kim Jong Un took power, it was reported he lost favor with his father after he used a forged document to try to visit Tokyo Disneyland in 2001.

His absence from his father's funeral in 2011 fueled earlier rumors that he had beenbanished from North Korea.

North Korean playboy

Kim Jong Nam was the son of Kim Jong Il and Song Hye Rim, one of his favored mistresses.

He had a different mother to North Korea's current leader Kim Jong Un, his father's youngest son, who was born to another mistress, Ko Yong Hui.

Kim Jong Nam didn't believe his brother had the ability to properly lead North Korea, according to author Yoji Gomi who wrote the 2012 book "My Father, Kim Jong Il, and Me."

Kim Jong Nam (R) with his father, former North Korean leader Kim Jong Il (L), according to CNN-affiliate KBS.

But he never actually met his Kim Jong Un, due to the North Korean practice of raising potential successors separately.

After his departure from North Korea, the older Kim made his name for being an overweight and careless playboy, who was also willing to speak out about his family.

"He spoke out against his father's 'military first' policy," Gomi told CNN in 2012. "He wants North Korea to embrace economic reform and open its doors."

- CNN

California lawmaker makes push for health warning labels on soda

A California state senator is  introducing a law that would require sugary drink manufacturers to put a warning label on their products, the latest effort in the “War on Sugar.”

Officials and public health advocates have heightened their criticism of sugar as a key contributor to health epidemics like obesity and diabetes, and California has become a major battle ground in the fight against what they say is excessive sugar consumption.

San Francisco is battling Big Soda in court over a law requiring a warning label on advertisements for sugary drinks, and voters in four Bay Area cities have approved taxes on the products. On Monday, Democratic state Senator Bill Monning for a third time introduced a bill that would place warning labels on soda and other sugar-sweetened beverages sold in California.

Similar bills from Monning failed in 2014 and 2015, but the lawmaker said he sees a rising tide of support.

“Certainly the victories in local communities show a growing awareness of the health risk posed by these drinks,” Monning said by telephone, referring to votes in November in three Bay Area cities approving soda levies. Voters in Berkeley had approved a soda tax in 2014.

“This is not a tax measure. We’re not taking products off the shelves. This is about consumers’ right to know,” he said.

The legislation would require companies like Coca-Cola Co and Pepsi Co Inc to put warning labels on beverages sold in California that have added sugars and have 75 or more calories per 12 ounces. The warning would state that drinking beverages with added sugar contributes to obesity, diabetes and tooth decay.

Soda companies are already facing declining sales of their namesake beverages and trying to introduce new products to meet changing tastes.

“America’s beverage companies already provide fact-based, easy-to-use calorie labels on the front of every bottle, can and pack we produce,” said an American Beverage Association spokeswoman, adding that “misleading warnings” won’t solve complex public health problems.

ABA has sued San Francisco to block the city from introducing a warning label on sugar-sweetened beverages. It recently lost a legal challenge to block a soda tax from being rolled out in Philadelphia last month.

Coca-Cola and the ABA have been sued by a nonprofit group for allegedly misleading consumers about the health risks from consuming sugary beverages. 

– Reuters

US Secret Service chief to retire in March

Joseph Clancy, US Secret Service chief, will retire in early March 2017, the elite agency tasked with protecting the US president said on Tuesday (Feb 14).

 Clancy, former head of US President, Barack Obama’s detail, returned from a previous retirement to steer the agency two years ago, amid outcry over several security lapses at the White House that tarnished the agency’s image.

Clancy, who prior to his first retirement had served the agency for nearly three decades  will officially step down once more on Mar 4, and new US President Donald Trump will appoint his successor.

The Secret Service, made up of some 6,500 people, is also responsible for the security of former presidents and vice presidents, as well as foreign heads of state and government on official visits.

– AFP/de

Rock singer Debbie Harry crowned Style Icon at Elle Style Awards

Debbie Harry, the frontwoman of rock band Blondie, was crowned a fashion icon at London’s Elle Style Awards, and she thanked her punk influences for defining her style.

“Coming from the punk point of view, which was very deconstructionist, destructive, and disrespectful, you have to find something in yourself that makes you feel a lot of different ways,” she told Reuters at the red carpet event late Monday.

“So you have to feel beautiful, you have to feel comfortable. I have to feel sexy.”

Harry, who attended the event with Blondie co-founder Chris Stein, playfully wore a crown designed by Vivienne Westwood, while posing for photographers. Harry also wore a Westwood red suit with a black-and-white shirt and shoes.

Blondie, an American punk band famous for hits like “Heart of Glass” and “Call Me” in the late 1970s and early 1980s, is expected to release their 11th studio album, “Pollinator”, in May.

“It’s about the ongoing circle of culture and how we all feed off of each other and I think at this particular time…it’s very important to remember that. That we’re all so deeply connected,” Harry said about the new album.

British actress and United Nations Women Global Goodwill Ambassador, Emma Watson, was given the Woman of the Year award in recognition of her acting career and work for gender equality.

– Reuters

The World’s largest seaplane to make maiden flight soon

The AG600, said to be the world’s largest seaplane will be making its maiden flight in the first half of 2017, Chinese state media said last Wednesday.

The amphibious aircraft’s four engines successfully passed a series of rigorous tests between Feb 11 and 14, after rolling off a production line in the southern city of Zhuhai last July.

Its maker the state-owned Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) had told Xinhua that the AG600 is 37 metres long with a wingspan of 38.8 metres.

It is by far the world’s largest amphibious aircraft, about the size of a Boeing 737, AVIC’s deputy general manager Geng Ruguang said.

It was designed for fighting forest fires and performing marine rescue missions, said Xinhua, with excellent maneuverability and a relatively wide range of search scope.

The aircraft has a maximum take-off weight of 53.5 tonnes, can collect 12 tonnes of water in 20 seconds and is capable of rescuing up to 50 people far offshore.

In the July report, Xinhua also cited chief designer Huang Lingcai as saying that the AG600 is “like a ship that can fly, with advanced gas-water dynamic engineering and underwater corrosion resistance technology”.

“The latest breakthrough in China’s aviation industry, which demonstrates an overall improvement of China’s national strength and research capacity,” said Huang.

– CNA/hs

CCTV Image of Jong nam’s alleged assassin caught on CCTV: Watch Video

 A clear image of a woman believed to be one of the assassins who killed Kim Jong-nam, the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, has been captured by CCTV cameras at KLIA2.

The image shows a woman in her middle-age and of Asian descent.

She also can be seen wearing a white long-sleeve t-shirt with the word “LOL” in large letters and a blue short skirt, with her right hand over a small sling handbag.

Meanwhile, South Korean news broadcaster YTN News earlier released several photographs of KLIA2’s CCTV footage of one of the alleged assassins who assassinated Kim Jong-nam

Police have confirmed a North Korean who died at the KL International Airport 2 (klia2) on Monday was Kim Jong-Nam.

Jong Nam was poisoned at Kuala Lumpur airport by two women believed to be North Korean operatives, who were at large.

Two women hailed a cab and fled immediately afterwards.

http://www.themalaysiantimes.com.my/video-image-of-jong-nams-alleged-assassin-caught-on-cctv/

South Korea suspects female assassins killed half brother of North Korean leader

South Korean spy agency suspects two female North Korean agents assassinated the estranged half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Malaysia, lawmakers in Seoul said on Wednesday, as Malaysian medical authorities sought a cause of death.

U.S. government sources also told Reuters they believed that North Korean assassins killed Kim Jong Nam, who according to Malaysian police died on Monday on his way to hospital from Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

South Korean intelligence believed Kim Jong Nam was poisoned, lawmakers said after being briefed by the country’s spy agency.

They said the spy agency told them that the young, unpredictable North Korean leader had issued a “standing order” for his half-brother’s assassination, and that there had been a failed attempt in 2012.

Kim had been at the airport’s low cost terminal to catch a flight to Macau on Monday, when someone grabbed or held Kim’s face from behind, after which he felt dizzy and sought help, Malaysian police official Fadzil Ahmat told Reuters.

According to South Korea’s spy agency, Kim Jong Nam had been living with his second wife in the Chinese territory of Macau, under Beijing’s protection, the lawmakers said. One of them said Kim Jong Nam also had a wife and son in Beijing.

Kim Jong Nam had spoken out publicly against his family’s dynastic control of the isolated state.

“If the murder of Kim Jong Nam was confirmed to be committed by the North Korean regime, that would clearly depict the brutality and inhumanity of the Kim Jong Un regime,” South Korean Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn, the country’s acting president, told a security council meeting.

The meeting was called in response to Kim Jong Nam’s mysterious death, news of which first emerged late on Tuesday.

South Korea is acutely sensitive to any sign of potential instability in North Korea, and is still technically in a state of war with its impoverished and nuclear-armed neighbour.

– Reuters

Singer, Alanis Morissette loses millions to burglars

Burglars made off with US$2 million in jewellery from singer Alanis Morissette’s home in the upscale Los Angeles neighborhood of Brentwood, US media reported Tuesday.

The Canadian-born alternative rock giant was not at home when the thieves struck on Thursday, celebrity news website TMZ said, although police were not immediately able to confirm the report.

The break-in comes less than two weeks after Morissette’s former business manager, who worked for other entertainment and sports figures, admitted embezzling more than US$6.5 million from his clients.

Jonathan Schwartz, 48, entered his plea to federal wire and tax fraud charges for failing to disclose the embezzled funds to the Internal Revenue Service.

He is due to be sentenced on May 3, and faces a prison term between four and six years.

He acknowledged that between May 2010 and January 2014, he withdrew about $4.8 million belonging to Morissette without her knowledge.

Morissette said in a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles last year that she fired Schwartz after growing suspicious when he could not provide timely information on her finances.

The singer was the voice behind a string of energetic rock anthems in the mid-1990s including You Oughta Know, Hand in My Pocket and You Learn.

Her 1995 album Jagged Little Pill won the Grammy for Album of the Year, making the then 21-year-old Morissette the youngest winner of the prestigious award until Taylor Swift.

– AFP/cy

FAA investigating airplane incident reported to involve Harrison Ford

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, FAA, said on Tuesday that it is investigating an incident involving a single-engine private plane that flew over an American Airlines Boeing 737 jet in Santa Ana, California.

NBC News reported that actor Harrison Ford was piloting the private plane, an Aviat Husky, that was involved in an incident at John Wayne Airport on Monday afternoon.

FAA spokesman Ian Gregor said the plane was cleared to land at runway 20L and the pilot correctly read back the clearance. “The pilot then landed on a taxiway that runs parallel to the runway, overflying a Boeing 737 that was holding short of the runway,” Gregor said.

American Airlines flight 1546 to Dallas had 110 passengers and a six-person crew and was waiting for the private plane to land before taking off, a person familiar with the matter said. It left shortly after the private plane landed without incident.

American Airlines spokesman Ross Feinstein said the airline reported the incident to the National Transportation Safety Board and the FAA.

NBC News said Ford was captured on air traffic control recordings asking, “Was that airliner meant to be underneath me?” Air traffic controllers informed Ford that he had landed on a taxiway rather than the runway, NBC said.

In 2015, Ford told investigators he did not recall the moments before he crashed his vintage plane onto a Los Angeles-area golf course, suffering serious injuries and badly damaging the aircraft.

The star of “Star Wars” and “Raiders of the Lost Ark” was the sole occupant of the 1942 single-engine Ryan Aeronautical ST-3KR when it went down on a golf course near the Santa Monica Municipal Airport in March 2015.

In 1999, Ford and a flight instructor were in a helicopter that crashed north of Los Angeles, reported a Los Angeles Times then.

– Reuters

Recovering from memory loss, Kanye West focuses on fashion comeback

Kane West was hospitalized two months ago for exhaustion and memory loss. Still recovering, Kanye is expected to make his first major public appearance at New York Fashion Week, his producer revealed.

West, who was hospitalized after abruptly cancelling the remainder of his “Pablo” tour following a week of curtailed concerts and rants about politics, is expected to be at Wednesday’s New York presentation of his latest Yeezy collection of high-end athleisure wear for sports brand Adidas.

Music producer Malik Yusef said he has visited with the rapper recently and that West was focused on his recovery and spending time with his two young children with wife, reality star Kim Kardashian.

“His memory’s coming back,” said Yusef, who worked with West on “The Life of Pablo” album that was nominated for eight Grammy awards.

Yusef’s remarks to celebrity news outlet PopSugar at Sunday’s Grammy awards were the first details of West’s recovery after his sudden hospitalization in November for what was first said to be exhaustion.

Representatives for the 39-year-old rapper did not offer any explanation for West’s 10-day hospitalization last year and did not return requests for comment on Tuesday on the remarks about memory loss.

The fashion event is likely to be a family affair for West. Kim Kardashian posted on social media on Tuesday that she was on her way to New York.

Both Kim and Kanye were a no-show at the Grammy Awards. Kardashian’s mother, Kris Jenner, told celebrity outlet E! that West did not attend the Grammys because he was working on his fashion presentation.

“He’s got a lot of work to do,” Jenner said.

People Magazine, citing unnamed sources, said Kardashian was worried that the fashion show would cause West undue stress.

West’s previous collections have often been a spectacle and are a popular stop during the New York Fashion Week celebrations. Yeezy collections have regularly sold out.

A year ago, more than 20 million viewers watched online as the rapper debuted his “Pablo” album at Manhattan’s Madison Square Garden alongside the presentation of his Yeezy season 4 collection, which featured a diverse group of models dressed in leotards, tops, leggings and parkas in neutral tones.

Kane West has kept a low public profile in recent months, although he did meet with then President-elect Donald Trump in New York in January.

– Reuters

U.S. National Security Adviser Resigns Over Russia Scandal

United States President Donald Trump’s national security adviser, Michael Flynn, resigned late Monday night after it was revealed that he had lied to the vice president and others about his interactions with the Russian ambassador to the U.S.

A month ago, prior to beginning his role as National Security Adviser, Mr. Flynn spoke to the Russian ambassador to the U.S., Sergey Kislyak. When Vice President-elect Mike Pence and others asked Mr. Flynn if he had discussed sanctions with the Russian diplomat, a potentially illegal action, Mr. Flynn insisted that he had not.

It was later revealed, however, that Mr. Flynn did in fact discuss sanctions with Mr. Kislyak.

The Washington Post earlier on Monday reported that the Justice Department had warned Mr. Trump that Mr. Flynn made misleading remarks about his communications with the Russian ambassador, which could make him vulnerable to blackmail. The New York Times reported on Tuesday that the Justice Department made the warning “weeks ago.”

Facing pressure from the Trump administration, which said its trust in the national security adviser had “eroded,” Mr. Flynn tendered his resignation on Monday night.

His letter of resignation reads in part, “In the course of my duties as the incoming National Security Adviser, I held numerous phone calls with foreign counterparts, ministers, and ambassadors. … Unfortunately, because of the fast pace of events, I inadvertently briefed the Vice President Elect and others with incomplete information regarding my phone calls with the Russian Ambassador.”

Mr. Trump has subsequently named Lt. Gen. Joseph Keith Kellogg, Jr. (Ret.) as Acting National Security Adviser.

Meanwhile, Democrats, the opposition party, have called for an investigation into the matter with a view towards exposing any other potential illegal contacts with foreign officials.

- SAHARA REPORTERS

La La Land picks up five British Bafta awards

Hollywood musical “La La Land” picked up five British Bafta film awards on Sunday (Feb 12), including best director and actress, paving the way for Oscar success later this month.

The dreamy tribute to the heyday of Hollywood musicals was named best film, while also picking up gongs for cinematography and original music, in the ceremony at London’s Royal Albert Hall.

Accepting the award for best director – beating off competition from the likes of Ken Loach and Tom Ford – Damien Chazelle said it was an “incredible honour” and a pleasure to be there along with those behind the film.

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (Bafta) award for leading actress went to Emma Stone, who plays an aspiring actress in “La La Land” and took on a political tone in her acceptance speech.

“In a time that is so divisive I think it’s really special we were all able to come together tonight, thanks to Bafta, and to celebrate the positive,” she said.

A throwback to Hollywood’s Golden Age, “La La Land” took home seven Golden Globes in January and has been nominated for 14 Oscars.

The best actor Bafta award went to Casey Affleck, for his role in the drama “Manchester By The Sea”, beating Ryan Gosling who was nominated for “La La Land”.

Affleck said he learnt to act while attending therapy sessions for children of alcoholics.

Kenneth Lonergan’s “Manchester” also won the original screenplay award, which the director said he was “overwhelmed” to accept.

Flying the flag for UK filmmaking was Ken Loach’s “I, Daniel Blake”, which won the outstanding British film but lost out in four other categories.

Set in Newcastle, northeast England, the film tells of one man’s battle against the bureaucracy of Britain’s social welfare system.

Accepting the award for outstanding British film, 80-year-old Loach said filmmakers stand “with the people” and took aim at the government.

“The most unvulnerable and poorest are treated by the government with a callous brutality that is disgraceful,” he said.

Ahead of the awards ceremony, he urged the public to become active in politics. “You should know which side you’re on and why and get in and take part in politics. There is no time now to sit on the fence,” he told AFP.

The glamorous ceremony was woven with political messages, beginning with host Stephen Fry making a jibe at US President Donald Trump who recently described veteran actress Meryl Streep as “overrated”.

“I look at row after row of the most overrated people in the audience,” quipped the actor, after stepping out at the end of an opening performance by Canadian-based Cirque du Soleil.

Anticipating the ceremony would be peppered with references to Washington and Westminster, actress Viola Davis said she supported filmmakers taking a stand.

“I especially like it in a profession that could be considered narcissistic. But also I think that’s what we do as artists. We do, we’re rebels, we make political statements,” she told AFP, before picking up the best supporting actress award for “Fences”.

Dev Patel, who was named best supporting actor for his role in “Lion”, said he was already a winner before the ceremony.

“I already just feel so happy to be here. It sounds like a real cliché but I’ve got my whole family with me. I’m here on home turf at the Baftas wearing a tuxedo walking this red carpet. I feel like a winner,” he told AFP outside the Royal Albert Hall.

Other guests braving the cold to walk the red carpet included Britain’s Prince William and his wife Kate, whose London home Kensington Palace is close to the Royal Albert Hall.

– AFP/de

Valentine’s Day gets chilly reception in Asia

A Pakistani court has banned public celebrations of Valentine’s Day in the capital Islamabad while Indonesian students plan to spurn the event, as the festival of love gets a chilly reception in parts of Asia.

Lonely hearts looking for romance in Australia, Malaysia and Singapore were warned to beware of the growth in online love scams, while grumpy protesters in Japan rallied in recent days for an end to public smooching.

Monday’s decision by the Islamabad high court was the latest attempt by authorities in the conservative Muslim country to outlaw a celebration seen by many as a vulgar and indecent Western import.

The annual occasion is increasingly popular among young Pakistanis, many of whom seize the chance to honour romance by giving cards, chocolates and gifts to their sweethearts.

The court issued the order after a petitioner declared love was being used as a “cover” to spread “immorality, nudity and indecency, which is against our rich traditions and values”.

The ruling, seen by AFP and greeted with approval by Islamist parties, also called for the electronic and print media to stop promoting Valentine’s Day.

Meanwhile in Muslim-majority Indonesia, a group of school students in the city of Surabaya denounced the romantic day as a Western celebration that encourages casual sex and staged a protest.

“Say no to Valentine!” chanted the students, who were aged between 13 and 15 and included many girls wearing headscarves.

“This protest was organised as we have seen on television that Valentine’s Day tends to be associated with free sex,” said Pandu Satria, organiser of the demonstration. “That makes us afraid.”

Several cities across the country also banned people from celebrating.

In Malaysia, where Islam is also the dominant religion, a group called The National Muslim Youth Association urged females to avoid using emoticons and an excessive amount of fragrance in a pre-Valentine’s Day message.

‘SMOOCHING IS TERRORISM!’

Days earlier in Japan, a group of marxist protesters known as “Kakuhido”, or the Revolutionary Alliance of Men that Women find Unattractive, also called for an end to public displays of love, claiming it hurts their feelings.

A group of Japanese protesters stage an anti-Valentine’s Day demonstration march in Tokyo. (AFP/KAZUHIRO NOGI)

“Our aim is to crush this love capitalism,” the group’s public relations, chief Takayuki Akimoto told AFP.

“People like us who don’t seek value in love are being oppressed by society,” he added. “It’s a conspiracy by people who think unattractive guys are inferior, or losers – like cuddling in public, it makes us feel bad. It’s unforgivable.”

Authorities in Malaysia, Australia and Singapore also warned of a growth in online scams cheating lonely people out of their savings.

Romance scams cost Australians more money than any other form of cheating, with those aged over 45 more likely to be stung, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said.

“Romance scammers are getting increasingly manipulative so if you are going online this Valentine’s Day to look for love, it’s absolutely vital that you’re able to recognise the warning signs,” ACCC deputy chair Delia Rickard said in a statement.

– AFP/de

Lady Gaga gets Billboard boost after headlining Super Bowl

Lady Gaga soared back up the weekly U.S. Billboard 200 album chart on Monday after a flawless performance at the Super Bowl halftime show gave her catalogue of music, a sales boost.

Gaga’s “Joanne,” which was released in October, climbed more than 60 spots on the chart to No. 2, with sales of 74,000 units, according to figures from Nielsen SoundScan.

Gaga gave a solo performance at the Feb. 5 National Football League Super Bowl championship, singing a medley of hits after flying off the roof of the stadium to the stage while suspended on cables.

The football game and halftime performance were watched on television by more than 110 million viewers.

Gaga’s set also provided a massive boost for her earlier albums. Her 2008 record “The Fame” reentered the chart at No. 6 with 38,000 units sold, while her 2011 album “Born This Way” landed at No. 25 with 17,000 units sold.

Gaga, 30, topped the Digital Songs chart, which measures online song sales, with her new track “Million Reasons” selling 149,000 copies. Her earlier hits such as “Born This Way,” “Bad Romance” and “Poker Face” also experienced big boosts on the singles chart.

The Billboard 200 album chart tallies units from album sales, song sales (10 songs equal one album) and streaming activity (1,500 streams equal one album).

Despite Gaga’s Super Bowl boost, California rapper Big Sean took the No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200 album chart this week with “I Decided,” which sold 151,000 units in its first week. It ousted last week’s chart-topper, hip hop trio Migos’ “Culture,” which dropped to No. 3.

New albums in the top ten of the Billboard 200 chart include country singer Reba McEntire’s “Sing it Now: Songs of Faith” at No. 4, the soundtrack to the hit Broadway play “Dear Evan Hansen” at No. 8 and “The RCA-List, Vol. 4,” a compilation of current hip hop hits, at No. 10.

–Reuters

How the Valentines Day heart got its shape

ON Valentine’s Day, the world celebrates love by being bombarded with red and pink hearts, heart-shaped candies, heart-shaped cards and more.

“It didn’t mean love before the 13 th and 14 th centuries,” says Eric Jager, author of The Book of the Heart and medieval literature professor at UCLA. When the shape was drawn before that point, it was generally for decorative purposes, he says, citing the enamel at the French Cluny Abbey (c. 1300) as one prominent example. As the idea of romantic love began to take shape during that medieval period, so did the symbolism.

“[People at the time] thought of our hearts as books of memory, a place where God’s commands are written, and [believed] feelings for the beloved were somehow written on your heart,” says Jager. There were stories imagining “female saints whose hearts are said to be cut open after their death, and inside their hearts are inscriptions indicating their love for God or Jesus.”

So it makes sense that the heart shape was linked to actual hearts. Carlos Machado, a cardiologist and medical illustrator, says that familiar shape does somewhat resemble the four chambers of the heart, if it is cut open, or the image of the heart that appears in echocardiograms. But the shape is even closer to the look of a bird or reptile heart — which makes sense, he says, given that the study of anatomy before the 14th century was based on the dissection of animals. It is thought that the Catholic Church objected to the dissection of the human body during the Middle Ages.

By the middle of the 14th century, virtually all representations of the heart show it being held by the tip, with the base pointing upwards, thus conforming to its actual position in the thoracic cavity,” according to The Shape of the Heart, by the late Pierre Vinken, former co-chairman of the company that publishes the medical journalThe Lancet.

He identifies the first non-medical European illustration of a heart in a drawing that accompanied the medieval French love poemLe Roman De La Poire by Thibaut, written circa 1255.

It is believed that the poem is the source of the idea that a person in love can “give” his or her heart to the beloved, the way the lover in the poem gives away a pear.

Even then, the heart in question wasn’t quite the shape that’s recognizable today.

“In the Middle Ages, the pine-cone-shaped heart was represented with a rounded base,” Vinken wrote in a 2001 article published inThe Lancet. “It was only during the early years of the 14th century that the scalloped shape of the St. Valentine heart, with a fold or dent in the base, made its appearance.”

The more familiar modern heart shape appears to have come on the scene from the Italian didactic poem Documenti d’amore by Francesco Barberino, a Florentine jurist, that went viral in the 14th-century. One of its illustrations — depicting a naked cupid standing on the back of a galloping horse throwing arrows and roses at bystanders — included hearts. Shortly after its publication, the scalloped heart began appearing in other works of visual art and in tapestries.

About 150 years later, in the early 15th century, the tapestry “Le don du Coeur” (“The Gift of the Heart,” now at the Louvre) depicted a man holding a small red heart.

That image became one of the most popular representations of “courtly love,” rules about love that governed behavior at Europe’s aristocratic courts and was channeled into literature and poetry.

In the Middle Ages, heart-shaped books were also popular, corresponding with the idea of the heart as a place of memory.

So, by that point, the heart had taken its shape and had come to mean love — just in time for the organ to lose some of its symbolic importance in the human body, as the popular understanding of medicine evolved. The idea of the heart as the spot where feeling was literally recorded lost some of its power. “The brain takes over,” as Jager puts it.

Jager argues the fact that this image and metaphor has stuck around — an example of “iconographic inertia,” a term popularized by the essayist Nicholson Baker — shows that, at least when it comes to love, some things don’t change so easily.

“We ’re still, in a sense,” he says, “medieval creatures.”

- TIME

Bad boy breeds welcome at Westminster dog show

From the fearsome Doberman Pinscher to the battling Tosa, some of the world’s most notorious breeds will strut their stuff in the next two days at New York’s Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, alongside the Toy Poodle, the Basset Hound and other smaller breeds.

The prestigious show throws the welcome mat out to the controversial canines every year, even as some are unwelcome on the streets of many U.S. cities because of their nasty reputations that breeders insist are undeserved.

Billed as the second-longest continuously running sporting event in the United States, behind only the Kentucky Derby, the Westminster show runs Monday and Tuesday at Madison Square Garden.

Of the 200 breeds and varietals competing for the “Best In Show” title this year, about two dozen are restricted or banned in some U.S. jurisdictions because they are considered to be potential dangers.

Here is a sampling of the “bad boy” breeds who are competing at the show:

– The American Staffordshire Terrier is one of several breeds popularly known as “pit bulls,” one of the most prohibited dogs in the United States. The terriers once bred to fight bears and bulls in the ring are banned in Denver, Miami and Cincinnati and other cities. But breeders and owners of the stocky, sleek-coated dogs say American Staffordshires are usually smart and good-natured companions. They are the American Kennel Club’s 80th most popular breed.

– Dogue de Bordeaux, also known as the Bordeaux Mastiff, is another dog initially bred for fighting. Instead of bulls and bears, the Bordeaux was often pitted against wolves. The AKC says most mastiffs are affectionate and protective, but not aggressive. Even so, the breed is banned from public housing projects in New York City.

– Rottweilers have been cast as blood-lusting human hunters in films such as “Dogs of Hell” in the early 1980s. But in real life, it is usually reserved with strangers and affectionate with its family, according to breeders. They are the ninth most-popular breed within the AKC, whose recognition qualifies breeds to compete in Westminster.

– The Tosa, originating from the island of Shikoku in Japan, is known for its extreme courage and athleticism. The burly canine, weighing up to about 130 pounds (59 kg), is still used for dog fighting in its native country. “In this arena the Tosa has no equal,” the AKC says on its websites. Its brawling abilities might be why the Tosa is not just restricted in parts of the United States, but it is also banned in more than a dozen nations around the world.

– Doberman Pinschers, the slender and alert working dog that originated in Germany in the late 1800s, is another notorious movie villain that has landed on restricted lists around the nation, including in the U.S. Army. Lovers of the breed admire the Doberman for its fearlessness and obedience. It is the AKC’s 14th most popular breed.

– Bred to herd sheep, German Shepherds were once demonized in the United States because of their association with Nazi Germany, which used them as guard dogs. But the breed’s reputation has changed over time. It is now one of the most popular breeds in the United States for law enforcement. Despite their police ties, German Shepherds are among a handful of breeds that frequently cause their owners to be denied home insurance, according to the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

– Reuters

Adele breaks her Grammy Award in half and dedicates it to Beyonce

Thinking Adele and Beyoncé’s Grammys lovefest couldn’t get any more romantic, the British singer broke her award in half to reportedly share with Queen Bey.

After her showstopping acceptance speech for Album of the Year, Adele snapped her Grammy in two and dedicated it to Beyoncé, who she was up against.

The "Hello" singer was photographed holding the two pieces of the golden trophy up in the air, after breaking it in two.

She had praised her fellow musical diva several times during the show as she beats her out for Record of the Year, Album of the Year and Song of the Year.

She even made Beyoncé cry with the speech for her Album of the Year win for her comeback creation25, as she gushed about how “monumental,” “beautiful,” and “soul baring,” Bey’s Lemonade album was.

Then she went backstage to the Grammys pressroom and continued lavishing Beyoncé with love.

-usmagazine

Pilot Removed From Flight After Her Intercom Rant About Divorce And Politics

A United Airlines pilot was removed and replaced before takeoff on Saturday, February 11, after she went on long, bizarre rant via the intercom system about Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton and her divorce. 

The pilot, who has not yet been identified, arrived late to the flight from Austin to San Francisco wearing street clothes. “She shows up dressed like a civilian and asked us to take a vote to see whether we should have her change into her uniform or fly as it is,” passenger Pam O’Neal told CBS San Francisco.

Then the captain reportedly launched into an incoherent political tirade. “She started off by saying that she had not voted for either Trump or Clinton because they’re a bunch of liars,” said O’Neal. “It just really sort of went downhill from there and didn’t make a lot of sense to any of us.”

Fellow passenger Randy Reiss was so alarmed that he fled the aircraft along with dozens of others on board flight 455. According to Reiss,who tweeted the event, "the pilot demonstrated that she was not in a mentally safe space and shared that she was going through a divorce. She identified an interracial couple in first class, I think in an effort to say ‘yay unity,’ but it was awkward,” wrote Reiss. “At that point, I was like ‘YOOOO!!!’ And she looks at me and is like, ‘Did I offend you, sir? I apologize. You don’t have to fly if you’re not comfortable.’”

That is when Reiss jumped up and “stormed off.” He claims half the flight followed his lead and that after the pilot was removed from the plane the two shared a hug at the agent gate. “She was crying. She apologized. I wished her well & said I hope she gets the help she needs,” he wrote. “I kid u not, her parting words: ‘We should be on a show together. We should write a book.’”

United spokesperson Charles Hobart told Reuters: “We hold our employees to the highest standards and replaced the pilot with a new one to operate the flight, which has since departed Austin. We apologize to our customers for the inconvenience."

By Rachel Paula Abrahamson, USmagazine

Pakistani Court bans Valentine’s Day celebration in public

A Pakistani court on Monday issued a ruling against observing Valentine’s Day in public places across the country. 

Petitioner Abdul Waheed told newsmen that the Islamabad High Court (IHC) also ordered local media not to publicise anything related to the day. Majid Bhatti, a lawyer at the IHC, confirmed that the court order covered the entire country. 

Report says Valentine’s Day draws mixed responses from people every year with many voicing objections, citing religious teachings. In 2017, President Mamnoon Hussain had urged people not to observe Valentine’s Day because it was not a Muslim, but a Western tradition. 

“Valentine’s Day has no connection with our culture and it should be avoided,’’ the president had said. Waheed said had asked the court to issue orders against the promotion of Valentine’s Day because he believed print and electronic media had been presenting the day as if it was part of local culture. According to him, private TV channels will be banned from airing special content in relation to Valentine’s Day.

Source - Vanguard 

How One Woman Makes Millions Reselling Designer Clothes On eBay

What’s the best way to get the most money for that Chanel bag in “like new” condition sitting in your closet, or that cashmere Burberry coat hanging in the back? Women near Chicago know that relying on EDropOff is one of the simplest, most convenient ways to recycle luxury items they’ve grown tired of.

EDropOff is a leading eBay seller, founded in 2004 by Corri McFadden, and is now the place to find expensive designer duds at a fraction of the retail price.

Corri McFadden of Chicago was in her last semester of college when a TV commercial for an eBay listing franchise came on at 2 am. A light bulb went on and she told her program director the next day that she was going to open an eBay drop-off store. The program director was not nearly as excited as McFadden by the idea and tried to discourage her from proceeding. But McFadden would not be deterred.

She spent the next three months preparing a business plan, choosing to fly to participate in eBay Live in New Orleans rather than attend her own college graduation. Her plan was solid enough that she walked into Chase Bank and convinced the banker to give her a line of credit to open her business.

McFadden made the most of that money, painting the walls of her 600-square-foot rented storefront, setting up storage and developing a website.

On Oct. 1, 2004, McFadden opened the first retail store in Chicago’s Lincoln Park. The first box of inventory that came in was exactly what she had feared – worthless Beanie Babies. But then she got some Rollerblades to list on eBay for a client, some Hummel figurines and fly fishing equipment. Her client base was growing slowly.

“Everyone had a story” about their stuff, which McFadden enjoyed hearing. She quickly realized that her best merchandise – meaning easiest to sell and highest profit margin – were designer clothing. So she focused her attention on ladies with designer duds to sell. She started asking them how she could better serve them, she says. And they told her.

Offering a free closet clean-out service helped McFadden’s business grow exponentially.

Creating A Service Everyone Wanted

Many women admitted that “consignment was shameful,” she says, and that they didn’t want people to know they were selling off items in their wardrobe. So McFadden developed a free closet clean-out service, where she came to them, offering to organize their closets and give them a quote for any clothes they might want to sell. “It became everyone’s biggest secret,” she says. Business was booming.

“Then the economy fell out and people needed cash fast,” says McFadden. Those who couldn’t pawn clothes brought them to her to sell on eBay. She quickly had a huge inventory of high-end, designer clothing, shoes, and accessories.

So she rebranded herself, pioneering the luxury consignment industry.

This rebranding included how her clients’ garments were sold. She put her logo on bags and boxes and carefully packaged each item. “I tried to make it an exciting transaction,” she says.

Today McFadden sells about 1,500 items a week. About 80% of her listings are auctions, and about 20% are available for purchased immediately using eBay’s “Buy It Now” option.

She has a high percentage of repeat buyers, she says, and has amassed a feedback score of more than 150,000 – that means at least 150,000 people have provided positive feedback on their purchases from her. She has a track record of satisfying her customers, which means she can charge a slightly higher fee. “I can guarantee authenticity,” McFadden says. She charges a commission of 40% of the final selling price, which includes all associated fees.

Getting Started

For aspiring eBay moguls, McFadden has advice for you. “Clothing, shoes, and accessories is an easy category to start with [on eBay] because we all have them,” says McFadden. Start by selling what you’re done with to fund the purchase of new items, she suggests.

Study auctions that were successful, for items you have to sell, to see what the seller did well. In particular, pay attention to:

The keywords used in the listing headerHow measurements are presentedThe quality of the images – how many, against what backdrop

Since the U.S. Postal Service does free pick-up from home, you don’t have to carve out time to deliver packages to be mailed. With a scale and printer, you can weigh and apply the correct postage on your shipments and leave them for your carrier to pick up.

“Truly anyone can do it,” says McFadden.

- Forbes

Mexicans hold massive anti-Trump protest

Thousands of Mexicans protested on Sunday, Feb 12, 2017, against US President Donald Trump, hitting back at his anti-Mexican rhetoric and vows to make the country pay for his “big, beautiful” border wall.

“Mexico must be respected, Mr Trump,” said a giant banner carried by protesters in Mexico City, who waved a sea of red, white and green Mexican flags as they marched down the capital’s main avenue under the watchful eye of thousands of police.

In what is shaping up to be Mexico’s biggest anti-Trump protest yet, some 20 cities joined the call to march from a protest movement backed by dozens of universities, business associations and civic organisations.

Protester Julieta Rosas was wearing a T-shirt with a picture of Trump sporting an Adolf Hitler mustache.

“We’re here to make Trump see and feel that an entire country, united, is rising up against him and his xenophobic, discriminatory and fascist stupidity,” said Rosas, a literature student at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM).

US-Mexican relations have plunged to their lowest point in decades since Trump took office on Jan 20.

Trump, who launched his presidential campaign calling Mexican immigrants “criminals” and “rapists,” has infuriated the United States’ southern neighbor with his plan to stop illegal migration by building a wall on the border and his vows to make Mexico pay for it.

Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto canceled a Jan 31 trip to Washington over Trump’s insistence that Mexico will fund the wall.

“We are all migrants. We are all one. This is a time to build bridges, not walls,” said 73-year-old protester Jose Antonio Sanchez, who was marching with his nine-year-old granddaughter.

Trump has also wrought havoc on the Mexican economy with his threats to terminate the country’s privileged trade relationship with the United States, blaming Mexico for the loss of American jobs.

The Mexican peso has taken a beating nearly every time Trump insisted on renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), attacked car makers and other companies that manufacture in Mexico, or vowed to slap steep tariffs on Mexican-made goods.

Mexico sends 80 per cent of its exports to the United States – nearly US$300 billion in goods in 2015.

– AFP/de

Amazon warns that trade protectionism could hurt business

Amazon.com Inc warned on Friday that government actions to bolster domestic companies against foreign competition could hurt its business, in a possible reference to U.S. President Donald Trump’s “America First” agenda.

In a routine description of regulatory risks in its 2016 annual filing, the world’s largest online retailer said “trade and protectionist measures” might hinder its ability to grow.

That language has not appeared in Amazon’s warning about government regulation in at least the past five annual filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. However, the Seattle-based company has cited trade protection in those filings as a risk to its international sales and operations specifically.

The new Republican president has made job creation a cornerstone of his policies, threatening to impose tariffs on imports so companies produce and hire within the United States. Republicans in Congress also have a plan to target imports while excluding export revenue from U.S. corporate income tax, known as a border adjustment tax.

The proposal in the U.S. House of Representatives has divided corporate America. Major exporters like Boeing Co have thrown their weight behind it, but a retail association has said it would raise prices for shoppers.

It was not clear what kinds of protectionist measures – whether tariffs or other actions – concerned Amazon the most, or from which countries Amazon saw the greatest risk.

Amazon so far has declined to comment on Republican lawmakers’ border tax plan. It declined comment on the new language in its annual filing, which appeared under the header, “Government Regulation Is Evolving and Unfavorable Changes Could Harm Our Business.” The filing did not mention the change in leadership of the White House.

Separately, Amazon said in the filing that it may face penalties for having delivered consumer products to entities covered by the Iran Threat Reduction and Syria Human Rights Act, between 2012 and 2016.

Products included apparel, consumer electronics, software and books. Amazon said it processed goods worth about US$2,400 for an entity controlled or owned by Iran’s government, for example.

“We do not plan to continue selling to these accounts in the future,” Amazon said. “Our review is ongoing and we are enhancing our processes designed to identify transactions associated with individuals and entities covered by the (act).”

– Reuters

Al Jarreau, Jazz, Pop and R and B Singer Dies At 76

Al Jarreau, a versatile vocalist who defied categorization for decades, died Sunday morning at the age of 76. Earlier this week, Jarreau had been hospitalized in Los Angeles "due to exhaustion," according to his official Facebook page.

In a statement posted on Jarreau's website, the musician was lauded for his compassion and caring for those around him.

"His 2nd priority in life was music. There was no 3rd. His 1st priority, far ahead of the other, was healing or comforting anyone in need. Whether it was emotional pain, or physical discomfort, or any other cause of suffering, he needed to put our minds at ease and our hearts at rest."

As an artist, Jarreau was impossible to define and had a voice impossible to mistake.

Since he recorded his first album in the 1960s, Jarreau demonstrated a vocal dynamism and flexibility that outpaced many of his peers, as can be seen in his track record at the Grammys. Jarreau won seven of them over the course of his career, becoming the only vocalist to win plaudits in the jazz, pop and R&B categories.

Al Jarreau celebrates after the 1982 Grammys in Los Angeles. Jarreau won honors that year for best pop male vocalist and best jazz male vocalist.

Even in his first album, recorded in 1965 with just a jazz piano trio, he was already breaking out the sliding and bending of notes that would eventually make him a favorite of jazz fans all over the world.

A few years after releasing that album, Jarreau walked away from a career as a vocational rehab counselor with a degree in psychology. He spent his earliest years bouncing between San Francisco, New York and his native Milwaukee.

Four years after settling in Los Angeles in 1971, Jarreau was finally heard by the right people and was signed to Warner Brothers Records. He then released a string of albums that fell into a sweet spot between jazz, pop and R&B.

As NPR's Rose Friedman notes, "He was famous for his scat singing, using his voice like a musical instrument." People magazine put it simply: "He doesn't so much sing as play his voice."

- Felix Contreras 

A Nigerian man arrested in India with ingested 1.3 kg cocaine

India’s Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has recovered 1.3 kilograms of Colombian cocaine stashed in 90 capsules from the stomach of a Nigerian, Monday Tony Okonkwo, who had come to Delhi from Lome, Togo.

Monday Tony Okonkwo: arrested in Delhi

According to The Times of India, Mr Okonkwo was taken to a hospital where an X-ray confirmed the presence of foreign bodies in his stomach. He was in the hospital for two days during which he expelled 90 capsules containing 1.3kg cocaine.

Monday Tony Okonkwo arrived IGI airport in an Ethiopian Airlines plane on February 6, 2017.

“When we conducted a thorough search of his body and baggage, he denied having any drugs or banned substance with him. However, the NCB team got suspicious when he said that he had come to India regarding his business of wigs and hair, but was found travelling on a tourist visa,” said Rajender Pal Singh, deputy director general, NCB.

During interrogation, Mr Okonkwo revealed that he had ingested the drug capsules at a guesthouse in Lagos. “The accused said he took around three hours to ingest the capsules and then took a flight to Lome. He then travelled to Addis Ababa from where he boarded a flight to New Delhi. His passport has corroborated the claims,” Singh said. Monday Tony Okonkwo was supposed to deliver the drugs to another distributor in India.

Sears, Kmart drop 31 Trump Home items from their online shops

U.S. retailers Sears and Kmart this week removed 31 Trump Home items from their online product offerings to focus on more profitable items, a spokesman said on Saturday.

The decision follows retailer Nordstrom Inc’s announcement this week that it had decided to stop carrying Ivanka Trump’s apparel because of declining sales, prompting President Donald Trump to take to Twitter to defend his daughter. White House spokesman Sean Spicer characterized the Nordstrom move as a “direct attack” on the president’s policies.

Neither Sears nor Kmart carried the Trump Home products in their retail stores, a Sears Holdings Corp spokesman said. Kmart is a wholly owned subsidiary of Sears Holdings.

“As part of the company’s initiative to optimize its online product assortment, we constantly refine that assortment to focus on our most profitable items,” spokesman Brian Hanover said in a statement.

“Amid that streamlining effort, 31 Trump Home items were among the items removed online this week,” he said, adding those items can be found through a third-party vendor, without providing additional information about the products.

The Trump Home collection includes lines of furniture, lighting, bedding, mirrors and chandeliers, some from makers who supply the items to Trump hotels, according to the collection’s website.

Nordstrom’s sales of Ivanka Trump’s line of clothing and shoes fell by nearly one-third in the past fiscal year, with sharp drops in sales weeks before her father was elected president on Nov. 8, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday.

– Reuters

Valentine flowers under magnifying glass in Miami

With Valentine’s Day around the corner, US customs inspectors are rolling up their sleeves for the unromantic task of scrutinising millions of imported flowers to keep out both bugs and drugs.

Cut flowers are a US$15 billion industry in the United States and with two thirds of them imported, mostly from Colombia, it’s Valentine’s rush hour at Miami International airport, the hub of the massive operation.

Millions of flowers at a time are kept in a refrigerated warehouse, motors humming to guarantee a stable 1 C (34 degrees F), often despite sweltering subtropical heat, as the flowers are inspected, cleared and shipped.

“It’s a very busy time of the year for us and we have to be very careful,” said Migdalia Arteaga, spokeswoman for agriculture at the US Customs and Border Protection (CPB) agency.

Their approach is not high-tech but seems to work: inspectors grab a bunch, hang it upside down and smack it a few times to see if any insect or other stray stowaway material, drops out.

Even under the magnifying glass, most of the flowers turn out to be problem free. But sometimes the whacking turns up a ride-along insect.

“This is one of the most important missions that we have,” said Arteaga. “Protecting the nation against pests, that can get to the ecosystem and destroy it or cause havoc,” she warned.

Traffickers in the past have been known to hide drugs in the flood of flowers by injecting them right into flower petals, Arteaga said.

In such cases, customs does not seize the drug-laced plant, but lets it be delivered – and busts the person at the receiving end.

But keeping out the tiny bugs is just as serious a matter, explains Christopher Maston, the customs authority’s port director for Miami.

“It only takes one exotic plant pest to inflict tremendous damage on domestic agriculture, which is a trillion dollar industry,” he said. “Our agriculture specialists represent a front line in protecting America.”

And so biologists and entomologists toil day and night, moving heaven and earth to move a mountain of 500 million roses through Miami, ahead of the Feb 14 holiday.

“During that period our agriculture specialists at CBP will find roughly 1,800 plant pests,” said Maston. “That sounds like a lot but it’s relatively low.”

Valentine’s Day accounts for a quarter of annual cut-flower sales in the United States, according to the American Society of Florists – rivalled on the calendar only by Mother’s Day.

– AFP/de

6 dead after quake shakes southern Philippines

Residents of the southern town of Surigao, Mindanao island spent the night huddled in fear as aftershocks rocked the city following the 6.5-magnitude quake which struck Friday night.

Provincial disaster management officer Ramon Gotinga said that most of those killed had died due to falling objects.

But he added that one elderly man was buried in his home when the upper floor collapsed, and despite rescue teams digging throughout the night, they were unable to recover him alive.

Another 80-year-old woman died of a heart attack, Gotinga said, adding that at least 126 people were injured, 15 of them in a serious condition.

The quake damaged many buildings, including in the two-storey Gaisano mall, one of the city’s largest structures and shattered windows, sending sharp shards and heavy rubble into the street.

One bridge collapsed and two others were damaged in the quake, which also cracked the city airport’s runway, forcing flights to be diverted, the civil defence office added.

“I thought it was the end of the world. The cement on the roads was cracking open,” resident Carlos Canseco told ABS-CBN television.

Thousands of terrified residents fled their homes with many running to higher ground, fearing that a tsunami would hit the coastal city of more than 152,000 people.

Regional civil defence chief Rosauro Arnel Gonzales said several houses had collapsed and search and rescue teams had been dispatched to make sure no one was inside.

“There are reports of houses that were damaged and they (the rescue teams) have to go around these impacted areas to really ascertain whether there is a need to conduct a rescue,” he told AFP.

The disaster also knocked out both power and water services in Surigao City and surrounding areas.

Authorities said they expected power to be restored by Sunday but that it may take as much as three days to bring back water services.

Abraham Kiptom of Kenya wins 2nd Access Bank Lagos City Marathon

Abraham Kiptom of Kenya has won the international category of the 2nd Access Bank Lagos City Marathon, defending his title.

Philip Sharabutu also defended the first Nigerian male title and Emmanuel Gyang came second in the Nigerian male category.

Sports fans commended the organisers of the 2nd Access Bank Lagos City Marathon for the live telecast of the race on a giant monitor at the Teslim Balogun Stadium, Lagos. 

A lot of spectators who came to watch the marathoners at the starting point trooped into the stadium to watch the event live on a giant viewing screen. Bola Adewunmi, a student told vanguard that it was a good initiative by the organisers. “This is a good thing, the crowd here is huge and I think it has added spice to the Marathon unlike last year. “I hope they will keep up the good work and continue the competition,’’ he said.

Tigers and Red Wings owner Ilitch dead at 87

Mike Ilitch, american entrepreneur and owner of the Detroit Tigers and Red Wings, died on Friday at the age of 87, his company announced in a statement.

Ilitch, a first generation American of Macedonian descent who founded international fast food franchise Little Caesars Pizza, had owned the Tigers Major League Baseball team since 1992 and the Red Wings National Hockey League franchise since 1982.

“My father was a once-in-a-generation entrepreneur, visionary and leader, setting the tone for our organization and our family,” Christopher Ilitch, president and CEO of Ilitch Holdings, said in a statement.

“He made such a positive impact in the world of sports, in business and in the community, and we will remember him for his unwavering commitment to his employees, his passion for Detroit, his generosity to others and his devotion to his family and friends.”

– Reuters