Top Trump adviser steps down ahead of impeachment testimony

WASHINGTON –  President Donald Trump’s top adviser for Russian and European affairs is leaving his job at the White House, a day before he’s scheduled to testify before the House impeachment investigators, a senior administration official said Wednesday.

Tim Morrison owes his job at the National Security Council to Trump, but his testimony Thursday in the House impeachment inquiry might be central to a push to remove the president from office.

A senior administration official said Morrison “has decided to pursue other opportunities.” The official, who was not authorized to discuss Morrison’s job and spoke only on condition of anonymity, said Morrison has been considering leaving the administration for “some time.”

Morrison has been in the spotlight since August when a government whistleblower said multiple U.S. officials had said Trump was “using the power of his office to solicit interference from a foreign country in the 2020 U.S. election.”

Now it’s his turn in the impeachment probe’s hot seat.


Morrison, tall and lean with an authoritative voice, will be asked to explain that “sinking feeling” he got when Trump demanded that Ukraine’s president investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and meddling in the 2016 election.

Morrison, who is in his 40s, is a political appointee in the Trump White House, brought on board by former national security adviser John Bolton to address arms control matters and later shifted into his current role as a top Russia and Europe adviser.

It was there that he stepped into the thick of an in-house squabble about the activities of Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s personal attorney who had been conversing with Ukrainian leaders outside of traditional U.S. diplomatic circles.

Known as a “hawk” in national security circles, Morrison is set to be the first political appointee from the White House to testify before impeachment investigators. The probe has been denounced by the president, who has directed his staff not to testify.

Regardless of what he says, GOP lawmakers will be hard-pressed to dismiss Morrison, formerly a longtime Republican staffer at the House Armed Services Committee.


He’s been bouncing around Washington in Republican positions for two decades, having worked for Rep. Mark Kennedy, R-Minn., Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., and as a GOP senior staffer on the House Armed Services Committee, including nearly four years when it was chaired by Rep. Mac Thornberry, R-Texas.

Morrison’s name appeared more than a dozen times in earlier testimony by William Taylor, the acting U.S. ambassador in Ukraine, who told impeachment investigators that Trump was withholding military aid unless the new Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, went public with a promise to investigate Trump’s political rival Joe Biden and his son Hunter.

Taylor’s testimony contradicts Trump’s repeated denials that there was any quid pro quo.

Taylor said Morrison recounted a conversation that Gordon Sondland, America’s ambassador to the European Union, had with a top aide to Zelenskiy named Andriy Yermak.

Taylor said Morrison told him security assistance would not materialize until Zelenskiy committed to investigate Burisma, a Ukrainian gas company that once employed Biden’s son. A White House meeting for Zelenskiy also was in play.

“I was alarmed by what Mr. Morrison told me about the Sondland-Yermak conversation,” Taylor testified. “This was the first time I had heard that the security assistance — not just the White House meeting — was conditioned on the investigations.”

Taylor testified that Morrison told him he had a “sinking feeling” after learning about a Sept. 7 conversation Sondland had with Trump.

“According to Mr. Morrison, President Trump told Ambassador Sondland that he was not asking for a quid pro quo,” Taylor testified.

“But President Trump did insist that President Zelenskiy go to a microphone and say he is opening investigations of Biden and 2016 election interference, and that President Zelenskiy should want to do this himself. Mr. Morrison said that he told Ambassador Bolton and the NSC lawyers of this phone call between President Trump and Ambassador Sondland.”

Morrison told people after Bolton was forced out of his job that the national security adviser had tried to stop Giuliani’s diplomatic dealings with Ukraine and that Morrison agreed, according to a U.S. official, who was not authorized to discuss Morrison’s role in the impeachment inquiry and spoke only on condition of anonymity. The official said Morrison told people that with the appointment of Robert O’Brien as Bolton’s successor, his own future work at the NSC was in a “holding pattern.”

Bolton had brought Morrison into the NSC in July 2018 as senior director for weapons of mass destruction and biodefence.

He’s known as an arms control expert or an arms treaty saboteur, depending on who you ask.

Morrison, who earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Minnesota and a law degree from George Washington University, keeps nuclear strategist Herman Kahn’s seminal volume on thermonuclear warfare on a table in his office.

Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association, said Bolton and Morrison are likeminded. Kimball said both have been known for calling up GOP congressional offices warning them against saying anything about arms control that didn’t align with their views.

“Just as John Bolton reportedly did, I would be shocked if Morrison did not regard Giuliani’s activities as being out of bounds,” said Kimball, who has been on opposite sides of arms control debates with Morrison for more than a decade. /gsg

source: newsinfo.inquirer.net

US stocks set another record, the champagne’s still corked

NEW YORK  – U.S. stocks are back at a record. Don’t feel excited? Neither does Wall Street.

After a shaky few months, the stock market has pushed through worries about President Donald Trump’s trade wars, weakening corporate profits and the slowing global economy to set another all-time high. The S&P 500 closed Monday at 3,039.42, eclipsing the previous record set on July 26.


The resurgence belies how much caution still runs through markets, however. The strongest performers in recent months have been companies that pay big dividends and are more likely to hold up during downturns. Investors, meanwhile, remain hesitant to plow their money into stocks.

“We’ve slowly crept up to these all-time highs, but there’s still a lot of uncertainty,” said Emily Roland, co-chief investment strategist at John Hancock Investment Management. “We’re open to the idea that there could be a reacceleration in global economic growth, but we haven’t seen confirmation yet.”

Some glimmers of increased optimism have shone through the past couple of days, such as improved performance for smaller companies and tech stocks, but plenty of apprehension is still apparent in the catalysts for the S&P 500’s return to a record high:

— Defense has been the best offense.

Of the 11 sectors that make up the S&P 500, the ones seen as the stodgiest have been the best recently. Since July 26, utilities have jumped 6.3%. Profits for these kinds of companies are generally steadier than for the rest of the market, but also slower growing. That’s why they don’t typically do better than the overall market when times are good.

But their relatively high dividends look more alluring now that the Federal Reserve has cut interest rates twice since August, in hopes of protecting the economy. The only other sector in the S&P 500 to rise more than 1.4% is another high-dividend sector, real-estate, which is up 5.6%.

— Stocks THAT RISE WITH A STRONG ECONOMY are scuffling.

If investors were feeling gung ho, they’d likely be piling into areas of the market closely tied to the strength of the economy, which are known as “cyclical” stocks. They are not.

Energy stocks have been the worst performers in the S&P 500 since July 26, down 5%, for example. And tech stocks lagged the S&P 500 from late July until last week, after surging ahead of the rest of the market in the early part of this year.


The struggles tie into all the uncertainty that still exists about how much trade wars will hurt the economy, said Willie Delwiche, investment strategist at Baird. That would hurt cyclical stocks more than defensive stocks.

— Low interest rates DRIVE the market as much as anything else.

In addition to utilities and real-estate investment trusts, homebuilders have been among the market’s best performers recently. Lennar, PulteGroup and D.R. Horton are all up more than 16% in the last three months as lower mortgage rates have drummed up more business for them. The average 30-year fixed mortgage has a rate of 3.75%, down from 4.51% at the start of the year, according to Freddie Mac.

— Euphoria is still lacking.

Investors are still cautious, and they’re not chasing after the rising stock market. In four of the seven weeks through Oct. 16, they pulled more money out of U.S. stock funds and ETFs than they put in, according to the latest estimates from the Investment Company Institute.

Before that, investors yanked a net $101 billion through the year’s first eight months and instead poured money into the safety of bond funds.

To a contrarian, this is actually an encouraging sign. It means stocks could push even higher if investors do decide to get more aggressive with their portfolios. Recent performance suggests they might need a confidence-booster, such as a U.S.-China trade deal.

“We’re not seeing an excessive amount of optimism out there,” said John Hancock Investment Management’s Roland. “That’s one reason the market could still have some legs here. We’re open to that, but we’re just waiting for some confirmation that the backdrop can support earnings growth going forward.” /gsg

source: business.inquirer.net

Liverpool recovers to beat Tottenham 2-1, takes 6-point lead

LIVERPOOL, England — Tottenham transformed its first-minute fortunes against Liverpool, just not the outcome.

A goal after 47 seconds by Tottenham captain Harry Kane at Anfield on Sunday contrasted with the misery of Madrid in June when a penalty was conceded 22 seconds into the Champions League final against the same team.

But just as Mohamed Salah netted the penalty that set Liverpool on its way to a sixth European Cup, the striker also scored from the spot again 148 days on against Tottenham to complete a domestic comeback.

With a 2-1 victory — aided by captain Jordan Henderson’s equalizer — Liverpool restored its six-point lead at the top of the league.

“We are very critical of ourselves,” Henderson said, “and always want to do better.”

Liverpool is chasing its first league title since 1990. For Tottenham, it is finding a way to rise from 11th place closer to the top four where it has finished for four consecutive seasons.

With 12 points from 10 games, the north London club is enduring its worst start since Mauricio Pochettino took charge in 2014.

“We have the belief and the confidence,” Pochettino said. “But we didn’t find a way to keep possession.”

At least Mousa Sissoko found some early redemption on Merseyside, having handled to concede that penalty in the 2-0 final loss.

Launching a counterattack after 30 seconds on Merseyside, Sissoko’s surging run left a trail of red shirts in his wake before he picked out Son Heung-min on the left wing.

The South Korea forward brushed past Henderson before his shot hit the bar, helped by a deflection off Dejan Lovren.

Kane was primed to connect with the rebound, sending a stooping header past Alisson Becker with only 47 seconds on the clock.

“The best thing about my team today was that you couldn’t see any influence of the goal to be honest. We weren’t nervous, anything,” Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp said.

“We followed the plan and filled the plan with passion, emotion, everything in the right way.”

Just finding a way past Paulo Gazzaniga was a problem.

Even with first-choice goalkeeper Hugo Lloris out until the new year with an elbow injury, the understudy more than lived up to the task.

There was a double save to deny Salah and Roberto Firmino before getting a fingertip to Virgil van Dijk’s header.

But not even the power of Trent Alexander-Arnold’s shot from outside the penalty area was enough to find a way past Gazzaniga approaching the half hour.

He was proving a frustrating barrier to the equalizer, scrambling away Firmino’s header and then Lovren’s attempt from the resulting corner at the start of the second half.

Having swarmed Tottenham since conceding in the first minute, Liverpool switched off again to allow Son to embark on a counterattack.

Rounding Alisson, Son reached a tight angle and could only hit the crossbar.

How costly it proved.

Danny Rose failed to clear the ball and then only helped Fabinho’s cross onto the unmarked Henderson, who volleyed the ball past the Tottenham left back into the net.

Gazzaniga was finally beaten, and he was again by Salah’s penalty after Aurier dispossessed Sadio Mane before fouling the Senegal forward as he tried to clear.

With Kane having a header blocked with almost the final move of the game, Tottenham remains firmly in midtable, without an away win in the league since January.

“We can say we were very competitive,” Pochettino said. “We scored early and then I think we suffered in the first half. They were better than us.

“In the second half we controlled more, I think we played more the game that we wanted to play.”

Liverpool, which was held by Manchester United last weekend, has 28 points from a possible 30. Klopp’s side is six points ahead of Manchester City ahead of the second-place champions’ visit to Anfield in two weeks.

source: sports.inquirer.net

US official: IS leader believed dead in US military assault

WASHINGTON — Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the shadowy leader of the Islamic State group who presided over its global jihad and became arguably the world’s most wanted man, is believed dead after being targeted by a U.S. military raid in Syria.

A U.S. official told The Associated Press late Saturday that al-Baghdadi was targeted in Syria’s Idlib province. The official said confirmation that the IS chief was killed in an explosion is pending. No other details were available. The official was not authorized to discuss the strike and spoke on condition of anonymity.


President Donald Trump teased a major announcement, tweeting Saturday night that “Something very big has just happened!” A White House spokesman, Hogan Gidley, would say only that the president would be making a “major statement” at 9 a.m. EDT Sunday.

The strike came amid concerns that a recent American pullback from northeastern Syria could infuse new strength into the militant group, which had lost vast stretches of territory it had once controlled.

Al-Baghdadi led IS for the last five years, presiding over its ascendancy as it cultivated a reputation for beheadings and attracted hundreds of thousands of followers to a sprawling and self-styled caliphate in Iraq and Syria. He remained among the few IS commanders still at large despite multiple claims in recent years about his death and even as his so-called caliphate dramatically shrank, with many supporters who joined the cause either imprisoned or jailed.

His exhortations were instrumental in inspiring terrorist attacks in the heart of Europe and in the United States. Shifting away from the airline hijackings and other mass-casualty attacks that came to define al-Qaida, al-Baghdadi and other IS leaders supported smaller-scale acts of violence that would be harder for law enforcement to prepare for and prevent.

They encouraged jihadists who could not travel to the caliphate to kill where they were, with whatever weapon they had at their disposal. In the U.S., multiple extremists have pledged their allegiance to al-Baghdadi on social media, including a woman who along with her husband committed a 2015 massacre at a holiday party in San Bernardino, California.


With a $25 million U.S. bounty on his head, al-Baghdadi had been far less visible in recent years, releasing only sporadic audio recordings, including one just last month in which he called on members of the extremist group to do all they could to free IS detainees and women held in jails and camps.

The purported audio was his first public statement since last April, when he appeared in a video for the first time in five years.

In 2014, he was a black-robed figure delivering a sermon from the pulpit of Mosul’s Great Mosque of al-Nuri, his only known public appearance. He urged Muslims around the world to swear allegiance to the caliphate and obey him as its leader.

“It is a burden to accept this responsibility to be in charge of you,” he said in the video. “I am not better than you or more virtuous than you. If you see me on the right path, help me. If you see me on the wrong path, advise me and halt me. And obey me as far as I obey God.”


Though at minimum a symbolic victory for Western counterterrorism efforts, his death would have unknown practical impact on possible future attacks. He had been largely regarded as a symbolic figurehead of the global terror network, and was described as “irrelevant for a long time” by a coalition spokesman in 2017.

Al-Baghdadi was born Ibrahim Awwad Ibrahim Ali al-Badri al-Samarrai in 1971 in Samarra, Iraq, and adopted his nom de guerre early on. Because of anti-U.S. militant activity, he was detained by U.S. forces in Iraq and sent to Bucca prison in February 2004, according to IS-affiliated websites.



He was released 10 months later, after which he joined the al-Qaida branch in Iraq of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. He later assumed control of the group, known at the time as the Islamic State of Iraq.

After Syria’s civil war erupted in 2011, al-Baghdadi set about pursuing a plan for a medieval Islamic State, or caliphate. He merged a group known as the Nusra Front, which initially welcomed moderate Sunni rebels who were part of the uprising against Syrian President Bashar Assad, with a new one known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. Al-Qaida’s central leadership refused to accept the takeover and broke with al-Baghdadi.

Al-Baghdadi’s fighters captured a contiguous stretch of territory across Iraq and Syria, including key cities, and in June 2014, it announced its own state — or caliphate. Al-Baghdadi became the declared caliph of the newly renamed Islamic State group. Under his leadership, the group became known for macabre massacres and beheadings —often posted online on militant websites — and a strict adherence to an extreme interpretation of Islamic law.

Over the years, he has been reported multiple times to have been killed, but none has been confirmed. In 2017, Russian officials said there was a “high probability” he had been killed in a Russian airstrike on the outskirts of Raqqa, but U.S. officials later said they believed he was still alive.

source: newsinfo.inquirer.net

Home Improvements That Really Do Pay Off

We all know updating your home can pay off in big ways—increasing resale value, making it more energy efficient and making it a better place to live. Here are 10 ways to instantly add value to your home and make it a buyer’s first choice.


Give your Kitchen Some Love

Kitchens are a big seller in every home and will continue to be.  Potential home buyers always make visiting the kitchen first a priority, so make sure when it comes time to sell yours is ready to go! A few hundred dollars can pay off big. So if you don’t have a huge budget focus first on updating your kitchen faucet, adding some new cabinet door handles and adding new lighting fixtures.

If you have more than a few hundred dollars? Focus on giving your cabinets a makeover. If you don’t have a huge budget, you can still redo your cabinets by hiring a refacing company or you can even re-paint them yourself. A fresh coat of paint can make an entire kitchen look brand new.

Another easy fix is replacing your backsplash. This can really update the entire look of a kitchen and you don’t have to always invest in tile either. You could use wooden beadboard, wallpaper, stainless steel sheets or chalkboard paint.


Update Your Appliances

This can be a little more expensive, but it doesn’t always have to be, making sure all your appliances match really goes a long way when selling your home. Often times some appliances like dishwashers or microwaves can have replacement panels ordered, which will save a lot. Also look for deals at your local appliance store, oftentimes they have a scratch and dent section. You will be able to get appliances for half the price of normal appliances.


Give Your Frontdoor a Facelift

First impressions matter, so make sure when those perspective buyers walkthrough your front door they want to buy the house. Invest in a new front door or paint your old one, it can dramatically change the look of your home and instantly enhance curb appeal. Adding potted plants, new exterior lights, new house numbers and a rug can instantly add charm to an otherwise uninspiring entrance.


Modernize Your Bathroom

Second to kitchens, bathrooms sell homes and fortunately improvements can be made without spending a lot of cash.  Simple and affordable fixes, like changing the toilet seat or adding a pedestal sink are easy for the most unhandy homeowner to tackle. Painting the bathroom can do wonders as well, often times this is one of the easiest rooms to paint because of its size.

If you like to DIY, and have a plain, frame-less mirror, try updating it with a frame or learn how to tile. Adding this architectural element will impress every buyer.


Give Your Light Fixtures a New Look

This is another easy update for the most novice homeowner to pull off! New kitchen and dining room lighting can instantly take at least a decade off a room and make it look larger. Also adding a dinner switch to your current lighting, will help set the mood for those open houses.


Don’t Forget Floors

Make sure to look down! Carpeting is another detail that can either date a home or bring it into this century. Getting your carpets professionally cleaned is an inexpensive investment and can make a huge difference, especially if your carpets aren’t too bad in the first place.

If your carpet has some serious wear and tear or is from the 1970’s, consider adding an area rug.


Keep Your Curb Appear High

Make sure that your lawn and garden is looking like it belongs in Home and Garden Magazine. This isn’t an expensive investment and can really impress homebuyers. Making sure your lawn is mowed and there aren’t any patches of missing grass is a great place to start. Re-mulching garden beds is another easy investment that doesn’t take a green thumb and can make the house look brand new. What buyers see when they first drive buy, really does make a difference. Put away all garbage cans, plant some season flowers and trim any branches. If you have a patio set on a deck, buy new pillows to give it a fresh update.

source: smarterlifestyles.com

Google’s Nest smart home devices get spooky updates for Halloween

For Halloween this year, Google has rolled out a handful of festively frightful features to their Nest home products, including letting owners swap out their doorbell chime for the sound of a cackling witch and asking the Assistant to “get spooky.”

On Monday, Google announced that users can look towards their Nest smart home devices for help getting festive (or scary) this Halloween.

As of Oct. 21 and through the beginning of November, owners of the Nest Hello video doorbell will have the option to make their chime sound like a cackling witch, ghost, vampire or monster to make your home the spookiest on the block — no decorations necessary.

When these tones are no longer available, Google has promised that winter-themed bells will roll out on Hello products, too.

While that’s the only brand-new feature coming to Google’s Nest smart home products, the company outlined a few additional ways the devices can be used to help owners prepare for the big day.

By saying “Hey Google, get spooky,” the Assistant will start playing a 60-minute playlist of “spooktacular” sounds and music.

Requesting the devices to “show me DIY Halloween costume videos” or “show me Halloween makeup videos on YouTube” will bring up content to help users get their looks ready ahead of fall parties and trick-or-treating outings.

All Halloween Nest features are available as of Oct. 21. Time to get your spook on! IB/JB

source: technology.inquirer.net

Asian shares mixed amid uncertainties on Brexit, China trade

TOKYO –  Asian shares were mixed Monday amid uncertainties about Britain’s exit from the European Union and the ongoing trade conflict between the U.S. and China

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 gained nearly 0.3% in early trading to 22,548.07. South Korea’s Kospi picked up 0.2% to 2,065.68, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 0.2% to 26,778.99. The S&P/ASX 200 in Australia lost 0.1% to 6,640.40, while the Shanghai Composite slipped 0.1% to 2,934.30.

Shares fell in Taiwan and were mixed in Southeast Asia.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is trying to win over rebellious lawmakers in time to meet the Oct. 31 Brexit deadline for the UK’s exit from the 28-nation European Union.

A vote over the weekend ended with an amendment that delays the proposed deal, leaving the situation uncertain. And EU officials have not yet responded to Johnson’s reluctant request for an extension of the month’s end deadline.

“The can is not kicked far down the road with UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson expected to seek a new ‘meaningful vote’ on his deal as soon as Monday with the countdown to the Brexit deadline,” Jingyi Pan of IG said in a commentary.


Meanwhile, Japan reported that its exports fell 5.2% from a year earlier in September while imports slipped 1.5%. The resulting deficit of 123 billion yen ($1.1 billion) reflected weak exports to China, South Korea and other Asian countries, customs data showed.

The mixed performance to start the week is a continuation of the wobbles that ended last week, when the S&P 500 index logged its second straight weekly gain even though stock indexes ended lower on Friday.

Technology companies led the slide, which erased the major U.S. indexes’ gains from the day before. Communication services, industrials and health care stocks also fell, outweighing gains in real estate companies, banks and elsewhere in the market.

Investors are focusing on company earnings reports, searching for a clearer picture on the impact that the trade war between the U.S. and China is having on corporate profits and the broader economy.

The S&P 500 index fell 0.4% to 2,986.20. The index is just 1.3% below its all-time high set in late July.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1% to 26,770.20 and the Nasdaq lost 0.8%, to 8,089.54. The Russell 2000 index of smaller stocks gave up 0.4% to 1,535.48.

Uncertainty over the standoff between Beijing and Washington has been roiling markets. Negotiators reached a truce last week that kept the conflict over trade and technology from escalating further, but both sides still have many issues to work out before reaching a substantive deal.

ENERGY: Benchmark crude oil dipped 10 cents to $53.68 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It fell 15 cents to $53.78 a barrel Friday. Brent crude oil, the international standard, dropped 20 cents to $59.22 a barrel.

CURRENCIES: The dollar rose to 108.50 Japanese yen from 108.38 yen on Friday. The euro slipped to $1.1158 from $1.1174./gsg

source: business.inquirer.net

Jose Altuve’s HR in 9th sends Astros to World Series over Yankees

HOUSTON — Jose Altuve, the 5-foot-6 driving force of Houston, delivered a swing that will play in Astros’ highlights forever.

Altuve homered off Aroldis Chapman with two outs in the ninth inning and Houston outlasted the New York Yankees 6-4 Saturday night to advance to the World Series for the second time in three years.

“That’s one of the best moments of postseason history,” Houston general manager Jeff Luhnow said.

In a bullpen Game 6 with a back-and-forth finish, DJ LeMahieu hit a tying, two-run shot off Astros closer Roberto Osuna in the top of the ninth. Altuve answered with a two-run drive to left-center, setting off a wild celebration at Minute Maid Park and earning himself AL Championship Series MVP.

“Beautiful game,” Altuve said.

Astros ace Gerrit Cole was waiting to pitch a potential Game 7 on Sunday. Instead, the postseason star — undefeated since May 22 — can be lined up for Game 1 at home against the NL champion Washington Nationals on Tuesday night.

Yuli Gurriel hit a three-run homer in the first inning, and flashy outfield defense helped Houston’s relievers defeat the Yankees and their vaunted bullpen.

It almost fell apart in the ninth. Gio Urshela singled off Osuna leading off for his third hit of the game, and LeMahieu put a ball into the first row of seats in right field — inches over the glove of leaping George Springer — to tie it at 4.

Altuve, a sparkplug touted as Houston’s heart and soul, didn’t let this one get away.

“I get asked to describe Jose Altuve all the time,” manager AJ Hinch said. “I think MVP is what he is.”

The teams combined to use 14 pitchers in a drawn-out game that lasted 4 hours, 9 minutes.

Houston’s Will Harris, who got four outs over the sixth and seventh innings and has yet to allow a run this postseason, was glad Houston’s bullpen got to show its stuff.

“We have a lot of guys with a lot of pride that are really good at their jobs,” he said. “And I was excited for the opportunity for us to prove that today.”

The defense helped. Right fielder Josh Reddick dived for Brett Gardner’s liner for the second out of the sixth. An inning later, left fielder Michael Brantley laid out for Aaron Hicks’ shallow floater and doubled off Aaron Judge at first.

Gurriel, a holdover from Houston’s 2017 championship team, was 1 for 20 to start the ALCS before his drive in the first inning. He jumped all over a high-and-tight fastball from opener Chad Green, and his shot into the Crawford Boxes was his first connection this postseason.

It’s the third time Houston has eliminated New York in the past five postseasons. The Astros won the 2015 wild-card game in the Bronx and beat the Yankees in seven games in the 2017 ALCS before winning their first title.

“I feel like we are on equal footing with them,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “Unfortunately, sports can be a little bit cruel for the team that goes home.”

Washington is seeking its first championship in the 51-season history of the Montreal Expos/Nationals franchise. The original Washington Senators won their only championship for the nation’s capital in 1924 and last reached the World Series in 1933 before becoming the Minnesota Twins for the 1961 season.

Gary Sánchez had an RBI single in the second and Urshela homered in the fourth for the Yankees.

Alex Bregman gave the Astros an insurance run with an RBI on a forceout in the sixth inning.

Brantley’s double play elicited one of the loudest ovations of the night — before Altuve’s blast — from the sellout crowd of 43,357 which included Hall of Famers Nolan Ryan and Craig Biggio and Rockets stars James Harden and Russell Westbrook, who watched from the front row in personalized orange Astros jerseys.

New York was 1 for 6 with runners in scoring position and 3 for 24 over the final five games of the series. The franchise lost its fourth straight ALCS after falling in 2010, 2012 and 2017. The Yankees will go without a World Series appearance in a calendar decade for the first time since the 1910s.

“The work never ends,” Boone said. “And we’ll continue to try and I guess close that gap.”

Altuve doubled off Green with one out in the first inning and Bregman drew a walk with two outs. After a short visit to the mound, Gurriel knocked the next pitch into the seats in left field for a 3-0 lead. The runs were Houston’s first with two outs in the series.

Houston had been 4 for 40 with runners in scoring position before that big swing.

Brad Peacock, who threw eight pitches in a scoreless eighth inning Friday night, became the fourth pitcher ever to finish a postseason game and then start the next day, and the first since 1924.

He needed seven pitches to retire the side in the first before running into trouble with two outs in the second. Josh James ended the inning by striking out Gardner.

Ryan Pressly had another gutsy escape, too. He hurt his right knee again fielding a bases-loaded grounder by Didi Gregorius but limped over to tag him for the final out of the third. Pressly, who grimaced as he went toward the dugout after one pitch, had arthroscopic surgery on the same knee on Aug. 22 and returned Sept. 20. Pressly also got two strikeouts with the bases loaded in Game 4.

He said that some scar tissue broke off on the play but that he’ll be ready to go this week.

“It’s the World Series,” Hinch said. “It will be all hands on deck.”

source: sports.inquirer.net

NFL’s biggest star joins growing list of sidelined QBs

DENVER — With Patrick Mahomes sidelined, fans across the NFL may be longing for the days when the backup quarterback’s job was to carry a clipboard and not the hopes and dreams of an entire franchise.

Mahomes escaped significant ligament damage when he dislocated his right kneecap Thursday night in Kansas City’s 30-6 pummeling of the Denver Broncos and there is optimism the reigning NFL MVP could be back on the field in about a month.


Mahomes had an MRI exam Friday that showed the ligaments were intact, a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the team was still sorting through the results and putting together a timetable for his return.

“He’s a huge part of this team, huge part of the league. You just hate to see that,” said journeyman Matt Moore, the latest No. 2 thrust into a leading role in this “Year of the Backup Quarterback.”

Starting with Andrew Luck, who retired at age 29 after dealing with a series of injuries, the league’s celebration of its 100th season has been marred by the loss of some of its biggest stars.

The club of QBs sidelined so far includes Drew Brees (thumb), Ben Roethlisberger (elbow), Cam Newton (foot), Nick Foles (collarbone), Josh Allen (concussion), Mitchell Trubisky (shoulder) and Sam Darnold (mononucleosis), whose backup, Trevor Siemian was lost for the season with a gruesome ankle injury.


Now, the league’s brightest young star is hurt, too.

Shortly after becoming the fastest player in NFL history to throw for 7,500 yards, in just his 25th game, Mahomes got hurt not on one of his improvisational masterpieces but on the most basic play, a quarterback sneak.

The stadium grew silent as one by one players peeled off the pile and Mahomes stayed down, his right leg stuck at an awkward angle before he rolled onto his back, ripped off his helmet and covered his face.

“I don’t even want to think about that,” receiver Tyreek Hill said. “We are just trying to move on from it, and I will continue to pray for my dog.”

“It was out of whack,” tight end Travis Kelce said. “I couldn’t even describe it. You looked at it and were like, ‘On no, there is something wrong with him.'”


Denver defensive end Shelby Harris’ heart sank.

“I’ve never seen anything like that on the field before,” Harris said. “His knee was literally all the way to the side, his kneecap was. I wish him the best. We definitely need him in the league, he’s definitely a big attraction in the league.”

Mahomes shooed away a cart and trainers helped him off the field once his kneecap was popped back into place. Then, he walked gingerly to the locker room.

“Obviously we need him to get wins,” Hill said. “But now we just have to move on.”

The Chiefs’ hopes of reaching their first Super Bowl since 1970 — the year Mahomes’ father, former big leaguer Pat Mahomes, was born — will rest at least for a while not on their magnificent maestro but on Moore, a 35-year-old career backup who wasn’t even in the league last year as he sought to transition into either coaching or scouting.

Moore attended Kyler Murray’s pro day at Oklahoma this spring alongside Adam Engroff, the Miami Dolphins’ director of college scouting. But Moore found himself in demand again when Chad Henne broke an ankle in the preseason and he signed Sept. 1 to back up Mahomes.

It was Kansas City’s dominant defense that really stepped up when Mahomes went out Thursday night, but Moore did throw a 57-yard TD pass to Hill with Chris Harris Jr. in coverage. Overall, he was 10 of 19 for 117 yards.

“It is crazy. I am pretty sure about three or four of the guys out there on the field had never caught a ball from Matt even in practice,” Kelce said. “I know I hadn’t.”

While backups Teddy Bridgewater in New Orleans and Kyle Allen in Carolina have each gone 4-0, most fill-ins aren’t so fortunate.

Mason Rudolph was knocked unconscious after replacing Roethlisberger, elevating undrafted Devlin “Duck” Hodges, who’d been cut at the end of training camp, to the starring role in Pittsburgh’s last game. Siemian’s season-ending injury opened the door for Luke Falk before Darnold returned last week.


Only four starting QBs who own Super Bowl rings are still standing: the ageless Tom Brady, the rejuvenated Aaron Rodgers, the dependable Russell Wilson and the floundering Joe Flacco, who somehow escaped injury Thursday night despite being sacked a career-high eight times and knocked down on most of his other drop-backs.

Hill insists it’s business as usual with Moore under center instead of Mahomes.

“I don’t see anything changing,” Hill said.

Except, well, everything.

Earlier this week, Broncos coach Vic Fangio said facing Mahomes is the toughest task in the football because “you have to defend two plays: the one they’ve called and then the one he might create.”

Now, those skills are shelved, like those of so many others who have mastered the league’s paramount and most precarious position.

source: sports.inquirer.net

Abu Dhabi unveils world’s first Artificial Intelligence university

ABU DHABI — The capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has announced the launch of the world’s first university dedicated to artificial intelligence, in a bid to stay ahead of the disruptive technologies and diversify its economy from the reliance on oil.

Named after the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and de facto leader of the UAE who has long championed science and technology development in UAE, Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI) will offer academic post-graduate (MSc and PhD) courses in three key fields of AI – computer vision, machine learning and natural language processing – with access to some of the world’s most advanced AI systems to unleash its full potentials.

All graduate-level students admitted to the school will be eligible for a full scholarship along with several benefits such as a monthly allowance, accommodation arrangements and health insurance.

The first class of graduate students is scheduled to start coursework at MBZUAI campus in Masdar City, a new urban area in Abu Dhabi, in September 2020.

“MBZUAI aligns with the vision of the UAE leadership that is based on sustainable development, progress and the overall well-being of humanity and underpinned by capacity-building and active participation in finding practical solutions based on innovation and state-of-the-art technology,” said Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, UAE Minister of State, who also served as Chair of the university’s Board of Trustees, at the press conference in Abu Dhabi.

“As such, the Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence is an open invitation from Abu Dhabi to the world to unleash AI’s full potential,” Al Jaber said, referring to the school’s expectations that it would be able to attract talents in AI from all over the world.


“AI is already changing the world, but we can achieve so much more if we allow the limitless imagination of the human mind to fully explore it,” he added.

“The University will bring the discipline of AI into the forefront, molding and empowering creative pioneers who can lead us to a new AI-driven era.”

Dr Kai-fu Lee, Chairman and CEO of Sinovation Ventures and President of Sinovation Venture’s Artificial Intelligence Institute and a board member of the MBZUAI, said “AI is the new electricity.”

“It is the new technology upon which many applications will be built and they will change the world, it will disrupt and improve and amplify all kinds of professions and industries in the next 10-15 years,” Lee said.

He added that through the commitment for AI that the UAE has – having the first AI minister and now the first AI university, in addition to many pragmatic policies and considerable resources poured into the field – the country will soon become one of the technological leaders of the world.


Talking to Vietnam News Agency on the issue of female representation in AI in general and in the student body of the university, Prof Daniela Rus, director of the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) at MIT and also a member of the university’s board, said the university is committed to making an “inclusive atmosphere where women feel appreciated and it’s also important to show the young females all the potentials for technology, all the extraordinary things they could do in the future.”

She said that the field of computer science currently has problems that require the expertise and involvement of all people, especially including the “unique perspectives of women” in a field where women are otherwise underrepresented, to make progress and tackle the world’s problems.

According to PricewaterhouseCoopers (Pwc), AI could potentially contribute US$15.7 trillion into the world’s economy by 2030, in addition to giving boost up to 26 per cent in GDP to local economies. For the UAE, AI’s contributions to the national GDP could rise to 14 per cent in the same timeframe, the largest ratio in the entire Middle East.

UAE has also become the first in the region to launch a national strategy on AI development. It is also leading the region in terms of Government AI readiness index, earning the 19th place in the world, according to a report from Oxford Insights.

source: technology.inquirer.net

Increasing women’s testosterone level boosts running capacity, new study finds

In the first study of its kind, a new European research has found that higher testosterone levels in females have a significant effect on a woman’s ability to run for longer.

Carried out at Karolinska University Hospital and Swedish School of Sports and Health Sciences, Stockholm, Sweden, the new study looked at 48 physically active and healthy 18- to 35-year-old women and randomly split them into two groups.

One group applied 10 milligrams of testosterone cream to the outer thigh each day for 10 weeks, while the other 10 milligrams of an inactive (placebo) substance.

The women’s hormone levels and body composition—percentage of body fat and lean muscle mass—were measured at the beginning and end of the 10 weeks.

To test how the testosterone cream affects aerobic performance, the researchers measured how long the women could run on a treadmill before reaching the point of exhaustion, and to test the effect on anaerobic performance, which requires short bursts of energy, the women were asked to complete exercises such as squat jumps and standing vertical jumps.

The findings, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, showed that the women who used the testosterone cream experienced a rise in their levels of the hormone, with average circulating levels of testosterone increasing from 0.9 nanomoles/liter of blood to 4.3 nanomoles/l among these women.


Perhaps unsurprisingly, the women who took the inactive cream experienced no increase in testosterone levels.

The women who applied the testosterone cream also experienced a significant boost to their capacity to run for longer, with the team finding that running time to exhaustion increased significantly by 21.17 seconds (8.5%) in this group, compared with the women who took the inactive substance.

The testosterone group also experienced increases in muscle mass and leanness, though their body weight did not change.

However, there were no significant changes on any of the anaerobic performance measures, or any significant changes in weight.

It is already known that testosterone levels can impact sports performance. The researchers note that male athletes have, in general, an advantage of 10-15% in comparison with female athletes, which is most likely due to men having, on average, more than 15 times higher circulating testosterone than women.


There has been much discussion recently about whether women with levels of testosterone high enough to fall into the male range, as a result of rare inborn conditions, should be allowed to compete against women with normal levels of the hormone, although evidence is limited on the effect of testosterone on female performance.

However, the International Association of Athletics Federations has said that female athletes with high levels of the hormone must lower their testosterone levels to below 5 nanomoles/liter of blood to be eligible to compete at international level in middle distance races (400 meters to 1 mile), which has been widely criticized and legally challenged.

“Our results are therefore of great importance for the ongoing discussion of whether it is fair to allow athletes with naturally high testosterone to compete in the female category without reducing their hormonal concentration to the female range,” conclude the researchers. IB /ra

source: technology.inquirer.net

Claude Monet’s ‘Charing Cross Bridge’ could fetch P1.5 billion at New York auction

“Charing Cross Bridge” is one of the seminal London canvases Monet created during multiple trips to London that he undertook in the early 1900s. The canvas will be offered on Nov. 12 as part of Sotheby’s Impressionist & Modern Art evening sale in New York City.

This series was painted from the vantage point of Monet’s room at the Savoy Hotel, which the French artist found particularly advantageous to capture the city’s fog. “Charing Cross Bridge” which is characterized by its evanescent mix of color, light and shadow, is expected to fetch between $20 million (around P1.03 billion) and $30 million (at least P1.5 billion) at Sotheby’s.


London’s Charing Cross Bridge remains one of Monet’s most emblematic subjects, as he revisited it in 37 canvases completed between 1899 and 1905. Several of them belong in the collections of international institutions, such as the Art Institute of Chicago, Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts and the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum in Madrid.

This pre-sale high estimate is well below the French Impressionist’s auction record of $110.7 million (P5.7 billion), which was set last May at Sotheby’s New York for “Meules”.

As Sotheby’s pointed out, Monet’s paintings of the Charing Cross Bridge are still in private hands and rarely appeared at auctions.

The one offered for sale at Sotheby’s was purchased in 1977 by the late Andrea Klepetar-Fallek and Fred Fallek, hanging over their living room couch for more than 40 years.

The couple established a tradition of giving each other a piece of art for each birthday and anniversary, quickly assembling an impressive collection of paintings, drawings and sculptures. Among them are works by Pierre Bonnard, Edgar Degas, Lyonel Feininger, Jacques Lipchitz, Emil Nolde and more.

The highlights from the collection include Pierre Bonnard’s “Femme se déshabillant”, estimated between $1.5 million (P77.4 million) and $2.5 million (P129 million); Lyonel Feininger’s “Hästende Leute (Hurried People)”, estimated between $100,000 (P5.1 million) and $150,000 (P7.7 million); as well as Emile Nolde’s “Rote Dahlien (Red Dahlias)”, estimated between $60,000 (almost P3.1 million) and $80,000 (P4.1 million).

The Klepetar-Fallek Collection will be offered across both Sotheby’s evening and day sales of Impressionist & Modern Art, which are set respectively on Nov. 12 and 13.

Ahead of the auctions, all pieces from the collection will be on public view at Sotheby’s New York galleries from Nov. 1 through 12. CL/NVG

source: newsinfo.inquirer.net

Samsung Galaxy Fold available again in Korea, soon in Japan, China

SEOUL — Samsung was to begin taking orders for the foldable gadget on its homepage as well as some e-commerce platforms like 11st, eBay and Coupang at midnight on Sunday, according to the tech giant.

The exact volume of the third batch has not been revealed, but industry officials estimate around 10,000 units would be rolled out.

According to market forecasts, Samsung has released around 20,000 Galaxy Folds so far for the Korean market alone through the first and second rounds of preorder-based sales in September.

Despite the high price tag of 2.39 million won ($2,020), the available units sold out in just a few minutes for the two previous batches.

Now the third session is drawing public attention to the strictly controlled volume of limited-edition phones.

“It seems like Samsung is exploiting the value of rarity,” said an industry official. “Because of the limited volume, the phone’s value has been raised incredibly.”


The official predicted that Samsung Display has prepared a total of 100,000 foldable AMOLED display panels for the Fold, including a portion set aside for potential replacements for defective ones.

After being sold out not only in Korea but also in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Singapore and France, Samsung plans to debut the foldable device in challenging markets like Japan, Poland, Mexico and Switzerland later this month.

For the Japanese market, the Galaxy Fold will not have the Samsung logo on the hinge of the in-folding device, a strategy Samsung is employing in the market dominated by American rival Apple. The Fold’s Japan launch is slated for Oct. 25.

Samsung will also venture into the Chinese market again with the Fold on Nov. 1, which will see it compete against Huawei’s foldable Mate X.

The Korean company has suffered slumps in China sales in recent years, accounting for less than 1 percent in market share.

source: technology.inquirer.net

Neymar set to mark 100th game with Brazil

SAO PAULO— Ahead of his 100th game with Brazil, Neymar is adamant that he still deserves special treatment in the national team despite never having won a major title in his nine years wearing the famous yellow shirt.

The 27-year-old forward will reach the century mark in a friendly against Senegal in Singapore on Thursday, and defended his status as the team’s biggest star even though Brazil won this summer’s Copa America without him.


“I was always one of the main figures and one of those carrying it all on my back,” Neymar said at a news conference Wednesday when asked about getting special treatment. “I never ran away from that. I always played my role in the national team very well. When a player reaches that level it is normal that there is a different treatment.”

“I was in places that had players with more history than me and I had to respect what coaches did for them,” the Paris Saint-Germain striker added. “Messi has a different treatment at Barcelona. Is it because he is better looking? No. It is because he is decisive. He earned it. I don’t say that only about myself, but I say it about everyone that has performances at that level. That is normal in soccer.”

Neymar’s comments come at a time when some Brazil fans have accused coach Tite and the Brazilian soccer confederation of being too lenient with the striker over his problems off the pitch. Those include his altercation with a fan after the French Cup final in April; his insistence that his father-agent was allowed into Brazil’s dressing room during a pre-Copa America friendly; and a rape allegation that was recently closed by police.

Neymar is currently at odds with PSG’s fans as well after trying to force a return to Barcelona during the offseason.


And in Brazil, he remains the country’s most polarizing player.

His statistics with the national team are impressive: 61 goals and 42 assists in 99 games so far. That puts him one goal behind two-time World Cup winner Ronaldo, who is in second place on Brazil’s all-time list of top scorers with 62. Pele tops the list with 77.

With Neymar in the team, Brazil has 70 victories, 19 draws and 10 defeats. But aside from the 2013 Confederations Cup, no titles.

At the 2014 World Cup at home, Neymar injured his back in the quarterfinal win over Colombia and the team was humiliated 7-1 by Germany in the semifinals without him. At least year’s World Cup in Brazil he was far from his best after recovering from a foot injury, and made little impact as Brazil lost 2-1 to Belgium in the quarterfinals.

And this summer he had to miss the Copa America because of an injury he sustained shortly before the tournament.


Asked about his best memories with the national team, Neymar picked his debut, his World Cup debut in 2014 and the goal he scored in the opening game of the tournament against Croatia.

“There is a positive balance, but it isn’t all about victories in the life of an athlete,” Neymar said. “There are many disappointments, defeats and mistakes. But if you fight for it, in the end, you make up for your mistakes. I am very happy to reach that mark of 100 matches. Not even in my best dreams I thought this could happen.”

source: sports.inquirer.net

Goodbye, iTunes: Once-revolutionary app gone in Mac update

SAN FRANCISCO — It’s time to bid farewell to iTunes, the once-revolutionary program that made online music sales mainstream and effectively blunted the impact of piracy.

That assumes, of course, that you still use iTunes — and many people no longer do. On iPhones, the functions have long been split into separate apps for music, video and books. Mac computers follow suit Monday with a software update called Catalina.


Music-subscription services like Spotify and Apple Music have largely supplanted both the iTunes software and sales of individual songs, which iTunes first made available for 99 cents apiece. Apple is now giving iTunes its latest push toward the grave. For anyone who has subscribed to Apple Music, the music store will now be hidden on the Mac.

Sidelining the all-in-one iTunes in favor of separate apps for music, video and other services will let Apple build features for specific types of media and better promote its TV-streaming and music services to help offset slowing sales of iPhones.

In the early days, iTunes was simply a way to get music onto Apple’s marquee product, the iPod music player. Users connected the iPod to a computer, and songs automatically synced — simplicity unheard of at the time.

“I would just kind of mock my friends who were into anything other than iPods,” said Jacob Titus, a 26-year-old graphic designer in South Bend, Indiana.


Apple launched its iTunes Music Store in 2003, two years after the iPod’s debut. With simple pricing at launch — 99 cents a single, $9.99 for most albums — many consumers were content to buy music legally rather than seek out sketchy sites for pirated downloads.

But over time, iTunes software expanded to include podcasts, e-books, audiobooks, movies and TV shows. In the iPhone era, iTunes also made backups and synced voice memos. As the software got bloated to support additional functions, iTunes lost the ease and simplicity that gave it its charm.

And with online cloud storage and wireless syncing, it no longer became necessary to connect iPhones to a computer — and iTunes — with a cable.

Titus said he uses iTunes only to hear obscure Kanye West songs he can’t find streaming. “At the time it seemed great,” he said. “But it kind of stayed that same speed forever.”

The way people listen to music has changed, too. The U.S. recording industry now gets 80% of revenue from paid subscriptions and other streaming. In the first half of 2019, paid subscriptions to Apple Music and competing services rose 30% from a year earlier to 61 million, or $2.8 billion, while revenue from digital downloads fell nearly 18% to $462 million.

“The move away from iTunes really does perfectly mirror the general industry move away from sales” and toward subscriptions, said Randy Nelson, head of insights at Sensor Tower.

Rachel Shpringer, a 35-year-old patent agent in Los Angeles, spent years curating playlists on iTunes. But over time, she realized that was cutting her off from new music. She now gets music through a SiriusXM subscription.

The Mac’s new Music app, which gets the old iTunes icon, is the new home for — drum roll — music. That includes songs previously bought from the iTunes store or ripped from CDs, as well as Apple’s free online radio stations. It’s also the home for Apple’s $10-a-month music subscription.

Apple Music subscribers will no longer see the iTunes music store, unless they restore it in settings. Non-subscribers will see the store as a tab, along with plenty of ways to subscribe to Apple Music. (On iPhones, iTunes Store remains its own app for buying music and video.)

The iTunes store for TV shows and movies will still be prominent on Macs, though now as part of the TV app. Video available to buy or rent will be mixed in with other movies and shows — including exclusive offerings through Apple TV Plus.

The new Podcasts app gets a feature that indexes individual episodes, so you can more easily search for actors or fads that don’t appear in the podcast’s text description. The Mac previously got separate apps for voice memos and books, including audiobooks. The iPhone syncing and backup functions traditionally found in iTunes have been incorporated into the Mac’s navigation interface, Finder.

source: technology.inquirer.net

Student dies while running laps as punishment for being late

A 14-year-old student died after collapsing while running around his school’s field, as punishment for coming to class late.

The boy, identified as Fanly Lahingide, arrived in his school in Indonesia 25 minutes late last Tuesday, Oct. 1, as per Tribun News via AsiaOne last Friday, Oct. 4.


Lahingide, along with five other friends who also came to class late, were allegedly made by their teacher to run laps around their school’s field. Lahingide collapsed mid-run during his second lap.

Following his collapse, Lahingide’s mother (unnamed in the report), 46, received a call saying that he fell unconscious.

Lahingide was immediately brought to a hospital. The boy was declared dead at 8:40 a.m. after attempts to resuscitate him turned unsuccessful.

The boy was not known to have any history of medical conditions, leaving authorities still unable to identify cause of death. As per report, an autopsy is set to be carried out at Bhayangkara Hospital.

Recalling how Lahingide had breakfast at their home earlier that day, his mother said in the report, “I never thought this morning would be the last time I get to see my son.”

“I hope no other child has to experience this,” she added. “The police must investigate this incident and punish the teacher accordingly.”

Police told the news outlet that the victim’s family will file a case against the teacher who allegedly made the boy run laps. As per report, the family expressed that they disagree with the teacher’s actions. Ryan Arcadio/JB

source: newsinfo.inquirer.net

Knife attack by employee at Paris police HQ kills 4 officers

PARIS — An administrator armed with a knife attacked officers inside Paris police headquarters Thursday, killing at least four before he was fatally shot, officials said.

Police union official Loic Travers told reporters the attack appeared to have started in an office and continued elsewhere in the large police compound across the street from Notre Dame Cathedral.

The number of people injured was not immediately known.

Travers said the motive is unknown, but that the 20-year police employee allegedly responsible for the attack worked in the intelligence unit and had not posed known problems until Thursday.

He said he could not remember an attack of this magnitude against officers.

Emery Siamandi, who worked at police headquarters, said he was in the stairwell leading to the chief’s office when he heard gunshots.

“I told myself, this isn’t right,” Siamandi said. “Moments later, I saw three policewomen crying. I couldn’t help them in any way, and their colleagues were crying, too, so I figured it must be serious.”

He said he saw one officer on his knees in tears.

The attack came a day after thousands of officers marched in Paris to protest low wages, long hours and increasing suicides in their ranks.

France’s prime minister, interior minister and the Paris prosecutor were at the scene, but the government had not issued a statement more than two hours after the rampage.

The neighborhood where the police compound is located, a busy tourist destination, was locked down, the Cite metro stop was closed and the bridge between Notre Dame and the headquarters building was blocked off.


“Paris weeps for its own this afternoon after this terrifying attack in the police headquarters. The toll is heavy, several officers lost their lives,” Mayor Anne Hidalgo tweeted.

Extremists have repeatedly targeted French police in France in recent years. In 2017, a gunman opened fire on the Champs-Elysees boulevard, killing one officer before he was shot to death.

In 2016, an attack inspired by the Islamic State group killed a police officer and his companion, an administrator, at their home in front of their child. /jpv

source: newsinfo.inquirer.net

Apple Admits and Apologizes for Listen to Your Conversations

Apple on Wednesday apologized for its digital assistant Siri sharing some of what it heard with quality control workers as it unveiled new rules for handling data from conversations.

Under the changes, Apple will allow its employees to review conversations only from customers who opt in to the “Siri grading” program to improve the voice recognition technology.

Apple on Wednesday apologized for its digital assistant Siri sharing some of what it heard with quality control workers as it unveiled new rules for handling data from conversations.

Under the changes, Apple will allow its employees to review conversations only from customers who opt in to the “Siri grading” program to improve the voice recognition technology.


Apple will also delete by default any recordings used for the program.

“We realize we haven’t been fully living up to our high ideals, and for that, we apologize,” Apple said in a post.

“We’ve decided to make some changes to Siri” as a result of concerns expressed about the grading program, the company added.

“Our goal with Siri, the pioneering intelligent assistant, is to provide the best experience for our customers while vigilantly protecting their privacy.”

Computer-generated transcripts will still be used to hone the ability of the software to understand what people say and mean, the company said.

Apple suspended the program after news broke that contractors were hearing confidential medical information, criminal dealings, and even sexual encounters.

The California tech giant was among several firms scrutinized using contractors to “listen” to conversations with digital assistants to improve artificial intelligence software.

If customers opt-in, only Apple employees will be allowed to listen to audio samples of Siri interactions and they will “work to delete any recording which is determined to be an inadvertent trigger” of the voice-commanded digital assistant, according to the company.

“We hope that many people will choose to help Siri get better, knowing that Apple respects their data and has strong privacy controls in place,” Apple Apology.

Google and Amazon have also announced changes to their programs in response to privacy concerns.

source: usa.inquirer.net

Stocks climb as markets cap turbulent quarter with calm end

NEW YORK – U.S. stocks climbed on Monday and gave one last nudge to ensure the S&P 500 emerged from yet another tumultuous quarter with a modest gain.

As has been the case throughout the quarter, movements in President Donald Trump’s trade war with China helped drive the market on Monday. Investors found encouragement after China said that its top trade negotiator will lead talks with the United States that are expected to take place next week. The Trump administration also calmed some worries that it may limit U.S. investment in Chinese companies.

The developments helped push technology stocks higher in particular. Those companies often move along with news about trade because of how reliant they are on China as both a customer and a supplier. The S&P 500 climbed 14.95 points, or

0.5%, to 2,976.74.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 96.58, or 0.4%, to 26,916.83, and the Nasdaq composite added 59.71, or 0.8%, to 7,999.34.

The moves left the S&P 500 with a 1.2% gain for the quarter. While that was its smallest quarterly gain this year, the index had been on track for a much worse performance just a month ago.


Trump shocked markets in August when he said he’d raise tariffs on Chinese goods, and the announcement sent stocks and bond yields reeling. The S&P 500 dropped more than 6% in the weeks following July 26, when it set its last record. But stocks began climbing again in September as both sides made conciliatory moves to ease tensions.

Yields, meanwhile, remained lower for the quarter after the Federal Reserve cut short-term rates twice. They were the first rate cuts for the Fed since the financial crisis was swamping the economy in 2008. Across the Atlantic, the European Central Bank was likewise working to keep rates low in hopes of shoring up a slowing global economy.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury dipped to 1.65% from 1.67% late Friday. At the end of the last quarter, it was at 2%.

Like the S&P 500, the Dow also ended the quarter with a gain of 1.2%. The technology-heavy Nasdaq was a touch lower, with a loss of 0.1%.

Small companies took on more damage, as they typically do when investors are worried about the threat of a recession. The Russell 2000 lost 2.8% during the quarter.

Don’t expect the tumult to end with the close of the quarter.

Aside from the U.S.-China talks, the next three months have plenty of events on the schedule to keep markets on edge. Beyond the United Kingdom’s pending exit from the European Union, investors are also waiting to see whether Germany will enter a recession and how the new incoming head of the European Central Bank performs.

Closer to home, the impeachment inquiry into Trump could create even more uncertainty. That puts more pressure on the consumer, the bulwark of the U.S. economy recently, particularly when businesses have become reluctant to spend due to the trade war.

“The consumer’s been enough to keep the economy moving, but things like consumer confidence seem to be plateauing,” said Emily Roland, co-chief investment strategist at John Hancock Investment Management.

In the next few weeks, companies are scheduled to tell investors how much profit they made during the third quarter. Expectations are generally low again, with analysts forecasting a drop of nearly 4% from a year ago. The results, plus what CEOs say about their spending and revenue forecasts, should give a better picture of the economy’s potential direction.

“We need that earnings engine to kick in to drive markets higher,” Roland said.

Last year, the S&P 500 slumped 14% in the fourth quarter for its worst performance in seven years when fear spiked that the Federal Reserve’s plans to keep raising interest rates and a slowing global economy would knock the United States into a recession.

This time around, the Federal Reserve has shifted gears, and many investors expect the central bank to cut rates at least one more time this year. That could help support markets, even with all the potential flashpoints on the calendar.

Benchmark U.S. crude fell $1.84 to settle at $54.07 per barrel Monday. Brent crude, the international standard, fell $1.13 to $60.78 a barrel.

Natural gas dropped 7 cents to $2.33 per 1,000 cubic feet, heating oil lost 4 cents to $1.91 per gallon and wholesale gasoline fell 5 cents to $1.60 per gallon.


Gold fell $33.40 to $1,465.70 per ounce, silver fell 65 cents to $16.90 per ounce and copper fell 2 cents to $2.56 per pound.

Stock markets around the world were mixed during the quarter, as European growth remained stubbornly weak and Hong Kong saw increasingly violent political protests. In Europe, France’s CAC 40 finished with a 2.5% gain for the quarter. Germany’s DAX rose 0.2%, and the FTSE 100 lost 0.2%.

In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 index rose 2.3% for the quarter, while South Korea’s Kospi fell 3.2% and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong lost 8.6%.

The dollar rose to 108.07 Japanese yen from 107.81 yen on Friday. The euro weakened to $1.0902 from $1.0941. /gsg

source: business.inquirer.net