In the Byzantine world of health care pricing, most people wouldn’t expect that the ubiquitous flu shot could be a prime example of how the system’s lack of transparency can lead to disparate costs.
The Affordable Care Act requires health insurers to cover all federally recommended vaccines at no charge to patients, including flu immunizations. Although people with insurance pay nothing when they get their shot, many don’t realize that their insurers foot the bill — and that those companies will recoup their costs eventually.
In just one small sample from one insurer, Kaiser Health News found dramatic differences among the costs for its own employees. At a Sacramento, Calif., facility, the insurer paid $85, but just a little more than half that at a clinic in Long Beach. A drugstore in Washington, D.C., was paid $32.
The wide discrepancy in what insurers pay for the same flu shot illustrates what’s wrong with America’s health system, said Glenn Melnick, a health economist at the University of Southern California.
“There is always going to be some variance in prices, but $85 as a negotiated price sounds ridiculous,” he said.
Flu shots are relatively cheap compared with most health services, but considering the tens of millions of Americans who get vaccinated each year, those prices add up.
Health plans pass those expenses to consumers through higher premiums, economists say.
“The patient is immune from the cost, but they are the losers because eventually they pay a higher premium,” said Ge Bai, an accounting and health policy professor at Johns Hopkins University’s campus in Washington, D.C.
Bai said the variation in payments for flu shots has nothing to do with the cost of the drug but is a result of negotiations between health plans and providers.
Typically, health insurers’ reimbursements to private health providers are closely guarded secrets. The insurers argue secrecy is needed for competitive business reasons.
But there’s one place those dollar figures appear for anyone to see: the “explanation of benefit” forms that insurers send to members after paying a claim.
KHN reviewed forms that one of its insurers, Cigna, paid for some colleagues to get flu shots this fall in Washington, D.C., and California.
Cigna paid $32 to CVS for a flu shot in downtown Washington and $40 to CVS less than 10 miles away in Rockville, Md.
In Southern California, Cigna paid $47.53 for a flu shot from a primary care doctor with MemorialCare in Long Beach. But it paid $85 for a shot given at a Sacramento doctors’ office affiliated with Sutter Health, one of the biggest hospital chains in the state.
Health experts were not surprised insurers paid Sutter more, though they were stunned just how much more.
“Sutter has huge clout in California, and insurers have no other option than to pay Sutter the price,” Bai said.
For years, Sutter has faced criticism that is uses its market dominance to charge higher rates. In October, it settled a lawsuit brought by the state attorney general, employers and unions that accused the hospital giant of illegally driving up prices.
The $85 was not just far more than what Cigna paid elsewhere but also more than triple the price Sutter advertises on its website for people without insurance: $25.
How does Sutter justify its higher prices as well as different prices for the same shot at the same location?
Sutter officials had no simple explanation. “Pricing can vary based on a number of factors, including the care setting, a patient’s insurance coverage and agreements with insurance providers,” Sutter said in a statement.
Cigna also said many issues are considered when determining its varied payments.
“What a plan reimburses a pharmacy/clinic/medical center for a flu vaccine depends on the plan’s contracted rate with that entity, which can be affected by a number of factors including location, number of available pharmacies/facilities in that area (a.k.a. competition), and even the size of the plan (a.k.a. potential customers),” Cigna said in a statement. “It is important to keep in mind that hospitals and pharmacies have different economics, including the cost to administer.”
It’s also noteworthy that Medicaid, the state-federal health insurance program covering more than 72 million low-income Americans, pays providers far less for a flu shot. In Washington, D.C., Medicaid pays $15. In Connecticut, $19.
Nationally, self-insured employers and insurers paid between $28 and $80 for the same type of flu shot administered in doctors’ offices in 2017, according to an analysis of more than 19 million claims of people under 65 years old by the Kaiser Family Foundation in partnership with the Peterson Center on Healthcare. (Kaiser Health News is an editorially independent program of the foundation.)
“Your health plan could end up paying more than double the cost for the same flu shot depending on where you get it,” said Cynthia Cox, a vice president at the foundation.
“We see the same pattern for more expensive services like MRIs or knee replacements,” she said. “That variation in prices is part of what’s driving insurance premiums higher in some parts of the country.”
The wide discrepancy in costs for the same service highlights a major problem in the U.S. health care system.
“We don’t have a functioning health care market because of all this lack of transparency and opportunities for price discrimination,” Melnick said.
“Prices are inconsistent and confusing for consumers,” he said. “The system is not working to provide efficient care, and the flu shot is one example of how these problems persist.”
An unintended consequence of the health law making flu shots free for insured patients is that health plans have little ability to direct patients to providers that offer the vaccine for less cost because patients have no reason to care, Bai said.
Around the country, retailers like Target and CVS offer various incentives such as gift cards and coupons to entice consumers to come in for their free flu shots in hopes they shop for other goods, too. Some hospital systems such as Baptist Health in South Florida have also started providing free flu shots for people without insurance.
Bai said that while hospitals like Baptist should be praised for helping improve the health of their communities, there are other factors in play.
“There is a hidden motivation to use free flu shots as a marketing tool to improve the hospital’s reputation,” she said. “If people come to the hospital for a flu shot, they may like the facility and come again.”
Kaiser Health News (KHN) is a national health policy news service. It is an editorially independent program of the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation which is not affiliated with Kaiser Permanente.
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By Emily Prescott, The Sun
November 21, 2019 | 7:15am | Updated November 21, 2019 | 11:16am
Dozens of people in the UK have been suffering from norovirus-like symptoms after attending a huge Lego event in Bristol over the weekend.
The organizers of the Bristol Brick show say they are “devastated” and an investigation has been launched by the city’s health authorities.
Nearly 4,000 people visited the Action Indoor Sports center to celebrate Lego, but after the event, more than 40 attendees started experiencing sickness and diarrhea.
One Lego fan, who wished to remain anonymous, said he was not happy with the cleanliness of the venue.
He said: “The state of the place left a lot to be desired.”
“The food wasn’t great and over the weekend, the toilets weren’t well maintained, the basins didn’t work well and there was no hand sanitizer and that sort of thing.”
“At least 40 people that I know about have been affected.”
The Bristol Brick show issued a post on its Facebook page Wednesday afternoon that said: “Thank you all for coming to our show, enjoying it and helping us to raise money for two very worthy charities.
“We have been made aware that a number of people who attended our event over the weekend have since been hit by a virus.
“Unfortunately there were no reports of sickness made during the duration of the show, therefore we had no way of warning anyone nor identifying a source at the time.
“Many of you will know that Bristol has recently seen multiple cases of Norovirus affecting schools, hospitals and other businesses in the area and the combination of that plus almost 4,000 people through our doors over the weekend seems to have contributed to an outbreak.
“We held the same event at the same venue last year with no known issues so are confident this is an unfortunate and isolated incident.
“As the organizers, we are devastated that this has put a damper on an otherwise successful show, obviously we wish everyone who is affected a speedy recovery.
“Thanks for your continued support and we hope your memories of the show are not by tainted by these events!”
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce cut about 15 senior staff in its capital markets division this week, according to a person with knowledge of the move.
The employees were CIBC Capital Markets managing directors and the reductions were across all areas of the operation, said the person, who asked not to be identified discussing personnel decisions. CIBC had 1,408 capital markets employees as of the end of July, according to financial disclosures.
“We regularly review our businesses to ensure we are well-positioned to meet the evolving needs of our clients, and we make adjustments where needed to support our continued growth,” CIBC spokeswoman Jessica Steinberg said in an emailed statement.
Banks in the U.S., Europe and elsewhere have been culling capital markets jobs amid a lacklustre year in dealmaking and an industrywide decline in revenue that their Canadian counterparts haven’t been able to escape. Royal Bank of Canada, which has the biggest investment banking operations among the country’s lenders, earlier this month began cutting as many as 40 capital markets jobs in London.
That followed reductions at Australia’s Macquarie Group Ltd., with about 100 equity research and sales jobs set for elimination in London and New York, and Citigroup Inc., which began cutting about 400 trading employees in July, joining Deustche Bank AG and Societe Generale SA in scaling back.
Trans Mountain’s biggest obstacle looks set to drag the long-running pipeline saga well into 2022
With the Federal Court of Appeal set to hold its second hearing on approval of the Trans Mountain Pipeline in December, it may seem that the end is near for the long-running saga.
But the perception could well be illusory. While Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s promise that his minority government will see the pipeline through remains fraught with political difficulties, it is the inexorable delays in the legal process that may present the greatest obstacle to the project’s fruition.
In August 2018, the Federal Court of Appeal (FCA) overturned the cabinet’s November 2016 order-in-council approving the pipeline, which was based on recommendations made by the National Energy Board (now the Canadian Energy Regulator) some six months earlier.
While the court found that Canada had acted in good faith and selected an appropriate consultation framework, the duty to consult had not been adequately discharged and “fell well short of the mark” by failing “to engage, dialogue meaningfully and grapple with the real concern of the Indigenous applicants so as to explore possible accommodation of (their) concerns.”
As a result, the court remitted the matter back to cabinet “to address these flaws and, later, proper redetermination” — effectively mandating a new consultation process while leaving no doubt that the courts were quite willing to review the consultation process exhaustively and to its very end.
“The clear message from the decision is that cutting corners is not on, and that extensive and frequent meetings as well as sitting down and nodding won’t be nearly enough without some meat on the bones of the process,” said Maxime Faille of Gowling WLG in Vancouver, co-counsel for Tsleil-Waututh, one of the First Nations affected.
More than a year after the ruling, however, there’s no end in sight to the legal process.
In February 2019, the NEB again recommended approval of the project. About four months later, the cabinet adopted the Board’s recommendations for a second time.
Virtually immediately, 12 applicants, comprised of eight First Nations, three environmental groups and the City of Vancouver applied for leave to challenge the new approval. The FCA allowed six of the applications — all First Nations — to proceed with challenges to the new consultation that preceded the latest approval.
“The key question for the court is whether the federal government has corrected the defects found in the first round of consultation,” says Matthew Kirchner, counsel to the Squamish Nation, one of the successful applicants.
The FCA is scheduled to hear the case in December, and if the court takes as long to render a decision as it did the first time around — about 11 months — November 2020 will be on the horizon.
But even that may be optimistic.
It turns out that three applicants who didn’t get leave in the FCA as well as two of the applicants who succeeded but found the ruling too narrow in scope have sought leave to appeal the Federal Court’s refusal to hear them to the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC). That could well delay the hearing on the merits scheduled for December in the FCA.
The key question for the court is whether the federal government has corrected the defects found in the first round of consultation
Matthew Kirchner, counsel to the Squamish Nation
But whenever the FCA rules on the second consultation process, it’s unlikely that everyone will be satisfied with the decision, meaning that another round of applications for leave to appeal to the SCC will follow, adding at least six months to the process.
And if leave is granted, tack on another 12-24 months for the court to hear the appeal and render a decision. The upshot is that it’s likely to be near the end of 2022 before the court case is done.
Unfortunately, a favourable result for Trans Mountain in the courts won’t necessarily mark the end of the regulatory process.
What is known as the “detailed route hearing” process must follow approval. The NEB started this process after the first cabinet approval but suspended it after the FCA’s first decision overturned it. If the pipeline is finally approved by the courts, the CER will continue the process.
The Crown Corporation resumed construction on the expansion project in August, and work is under way at the Westridge and Burnaby Terminals and at pump stations in Alberta.
Construction is expected to begin shortly in Greater Edmonton and Yellowhead, as crews are finishing up pre-construction activities and environmental surveys in the area, the company said in an email to the Financial Post.
“We have received more than half of the pipe needed for construction and are staging it at storage yards along the route,” the company said, adding that the 2,200 workers have already been hired. “Our contractors have been ordering and receiving equipment, surveying and staking and doing everything possible to be ready to start construction in the other areas as soon as possible.”
As the Federal Court of Appeal case makes its way through the court, the company plans to continue with all aspects of planning and construction.
“The applications are challenging the decisions made by the Canada Energy Regulator and the Federal Government, but do not in and of themselves negate the pre-existing approvals provided by those governmental authorities until and unless the court rules otherwise,” the company said.
But it won’t be simple.
Both the Coldwater Indian Band, also represented by Kirchner, and the City of Chilliwack have filed statements of opposition to the routing of the project. Coldwater, supported by WaterWealth, a Chilliwack based citizen-driven advocacy group, maintains that the pipeline’s route will have adverse effects on the Band’s water sources.
In support, Coldwater’s expert hydrogeologist insists that a proper study of the pipeline’s effect on water sources need to be done over a period of time so that appropriate baseline data can be collected. Proponents of the pipeline, including the federal government, say that isn’t necessary.
That dispute could, in turn, set off its own run of legal proceedings.
Perhaps no one should be surprised at the plethora of twists and turns.
After all, as Thomas Issac in Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP’s Vancouver office points out, Trans-Mountain is the “most consulted-upon project” in Canadian history.
“Even the highly controversial Northern Gateway pipeline didn’t have all the different and difficult maneuvering around Trans Mountain,” he said. “So the people who want to see this through are going to require a lot of fortitude — because the other side has plenty.”
Financial Post
Lowe’s Companies Inc., the U.S. owner of Rona and Lowe’s home improvement stores, says it’s closing nearly three-dozen outlets across Canada because of underperformance.
The 34 stores to be shut, most by the end of January, include 26 Rona locations, six Lowe’s and two Réno-Dépôts, the company said in a statement Wednesday.
“While making decisions that impact our associates and their families is never easy, closing underperforming stores is a necessary step in our plan to ensure the long-term stability and growth of our Canadian business,” Tony Cioffi, interim president of Lowe’s Canada, said in the statement. “We are taking decisive action to build a healthy business which will provide us with the flexibility to reinvest in our future growth.”
The closures come after an internal strategic review and almost a year to the day after Lowe’s closed 31 properties across the country in November, 2018.
Twenty-seven stores were closed in 2018, along with two regional support centres in Mississauga, Ont. and St. John’s, N.L., a truss plant in St. John’s, N.L. and a block plant in Kamloops, B.C.
Lowes, based in Mooresville, North Carolina, bought Rona in 2016. Rona was founded in 1939 in Quebec, and that’s where the largest share, 12, of the new closures will occur.
This month, Canada’s advertising regulator directed Lowe’s to cease calling its Rona unit “truly Canadian” or “proudly Canadian” because Lowe’s is an American company. Lowe’s said it disagreed with the ruling because of Rona’s Quebec heritage, but said it wouldn’t dispute the order.
Below are the stores to be closed and the closing dates:
Lowe’s owns about 600 stores across Canada under the Lowe’s, Rona, Réno-Dépôt, Ace and Dick’s Lumber banners, employing some 28,000 people, the company said. The New York Stock Exchange-listed parent company earned US$71.3 billion in 2018 revenue, it said.
Cioffi said Lowe’s would invest in its supply chain, web platforms, corporate stores and dealer network. Affected employees may be able to transfer to nearby stores, he said.
Lowe’s said it will also simplify its store banners for efficiency, reorganize its corporate support structure across the country to help stores and rationalize its product assortment for a more coordinated offering to Canadians.
“Although we still have work to do, I am confident we are on the right path to build a better Lowe’s and generate long-term profitable growth. We are committed to the Canadian market and are taking decisive action to improve the performance and profitability of our Canadian operations,” said Marvin R. Ellison, Lowe’s president and CEO, in a statement.
The company has already shed its retail operations in Mexico and is cutting back on slow-moving inventory as part of Ellison’s restructuring program.
Lowe’s shares surged as much as 6.9 per cent, the most in three months, to $121.22 on Wednesday.
With files from Reuters
How Ikea is changing everything — almost — to keep 31 million Canadians walking through the door — Down to Business podcast
Big box stores have had to rethink their strategies in a digital world where online shopping has taken a bite out of in-person sales.
Disruption to distribution models and demographic shifts in where people live has forced even the biggest retailers to rethink their plans for the future.
For the next few weeks, Down to Business will be talking retail – after all, ‘tis the season.
This week, Ikea Canada president Michael Ward joins host Emily Jackson to discuss how Ikea is evolving for the digital world. Despite the shakeup, 31 million people walked through the doors of an Ikea in Canada last year. How does Ikea plan to keep these shoppers interested?
You can listen below — or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher and Google Play, where you can also subscribe to get new episodes every Wednesday morning.
If you have any questions about the show, or if there are topics you want us to tackle, email us: downtobusiness@postmedia.com.
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playStephen A. isn’t ready to name Jackson the MVP over Wilson (1:27)Stephen A. Smith has no doubts that Lamar Jackson is spectacular, but explains how the Ravens’ defense has buffered him while Russell Wilson has put the Seahawks on his back. (1:27)7:05 AM ETSteve PalazzoloSpecial to ESPN.com Close• Senior analyst at Pro Football Focus
• Contributes regular columns to ESPN InsiderBest quarterback on intermediate throws. Best when targeting slot wide receivers. Best when throwing crossing routes. Even the best quarterback on designed rollouts.After we dug deep into Pro Football Focus last week to evaluate the NFL’s best at everything, we’re back for an in-depth look at football’s most important position. We have graded every throw from the first 11 weeks of the season to pick the best quarterbacks in 35 different categories. All stats are from our data set:Best overallRussell Wilson, Seattle SeahawksWhile it’s getting close at the top of the rankings, Wilson is still our highest-graded signal-caller at 91.0 overall. It has been an incredible season for the 2012 third-round pick, who ranks second in big-time throw percentage — big-time throws are PFF’s highest-graded pass attempts based upon ball placement, velocity, targeted depth and other factors — and first at avoiding turnover-worthy plays, an elite combination for quarterbacks.Best at throwing inside the numbersRussell Wilson, Seattle Seahawks, and Matthew Stafford, Detroit LionsWilson and Stafford are tied for the best PFF grade on passes in between the numbers at 94.0. Stafford leads the league with 13 big-time throws on these passes, while Wilson ranks first in completion percentage (85.7%) and second in yards per attempt (10.7).Best targeting outside the numbersAaron Rodgers, Green Bay PackersRodgers leads the league with a 92.3 grade on throws outside the numbers, and he is tied for second with 16 big-time throws to go with only two turnover-worthy plays. His passer rating of 110.7 ranks fourth.Best by route: OutRyan Tannehill, Tennessee TitansSince taking over as the starter for the Titans, Tannehill has had success on out-breaking routes, leading the way with a 92.5 grade and ranking fifth in yards per attempt (8.4). His best out route was a well-placed 20-yarder to Anthony Firkser in the comeback victory over the Chiefs.
Was Same-Sex Behavior Hardwired in Animals from the Beginning? – Livescience.com
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Evolutionary scientists have been thinking about same-sex sexual behavior all wrong.That’s the implication of a new study on same-sex behavior in animals. Instead of asking why animals engage in same-sex behavior (SSB), researchers should be asking, “Why not?” the authors said. If they’re right, same-sex sex may not have evolved independently in different animals for adpative reasons. Instead, same-sex sex may have emerged very early in time and could persist simply because engaging in it doesn’t cost animals much, evolutionarily speaking.”Usually, when evolutionary biologists see a trait that’s really widespread across evolutionary lineages, we at least consider the idea that the trait is ancestral and was preserved in all those lineages,” said Julia Monk, a doctoral candidate at Yale University, who co-authored the new research. “So why hadn’t people considered that hypothesis for SSB?”Related: Alternative Lifestyles in the WildIn evolutionary science, same-sex sexual behavior has long been viewed as a conundrum: Why would animals spend time and energy doing something sexual that won’t pass along their genes to the next generation? And yet, same-sex sexual behavior has been observed in at least 1,500 species, ranging from lowly squash bugs to humans.(To avoid anthropomorphizing, the researchers don’t use the terms “homosexual,” “heterosexual,” “gay” or “straight” to refer to animal behavior.)”We can’t assign sexuality to animals — we’re trying our best to learn about them by observing their behaviors,” Monk told Live Science. “And those behaviors shouldn’t be mapped onto human cultural and societal contexts.”The assumption that there must be an evolutionary reason for all this same-sex sex has led researchers to search for possible benefits to same-sex behavior. For example, in humans, researchers have found that having a gay son or brother seems to be associated with a woman having more offspring in total. Other studies have posited that same-sex sexual behavior is a side effect of other genes that have reproductive benefits. In evolutionary biology, the ability of an animal to reproduce given its environment is called fitness. It’s entirely possible that in some species, same-sex sex could have fitness benefits, Monk and her colleagues wrote in their paper, published Nov. 18 in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution. But these evolutionary benefits may not be required for same-sex sexual behavior to exist. Imagine, instead, that the earliest sexually reproducing animals simply tried to mate with any and all members of their species — regardless of sex. This might have been a logical pathway for evolution, because all the bells and whistles that distinguish males from females are energetically costly to evolve. So any effort expended on mating with the same sex would be compensated for by not spending energy evolving and maintaining distinctive secondary sex characteristics, like differing colors, scents and behaviors. Those sex-distinguishing traits may have all come later in the evolutionary chain, the authors argued.In this formulation, same-sex and different-sex sexual behavior would have started out on an equal footing, early in animal evolution. This could explain why same-sex sex is so common throughout the animal kingdom: It didn’t evolve multiple times independently, but was instead part of the fabric of animal evolution from the start.The new hypothesis undercuts old assumptions about same-sex behaviors, said Caitlin McDonough, a doctoral candidate at Syracuse University and a study co-author. Much of the research done on these sexual behaviors assumes that same-sex sex is costly for animals and that different-sex sex is not costly, she said.”You really need to go through those assumptions and test the costs and benefits of both behaviors in a system,” McDonough said.If same-sex behaviors go back to the roots of animal evolution, the fact that these behaviors are so common today makes sense, Monk said.”If you assume a trait like SSB is a new development and has high costs, it’s going to be really hard to understand how it could become more and more common from those low initial frequencies,” she said. “It would have to have really large fitness benefits, or be otherwise impervious to natural selection, for that outcome to be probable. “On the other hand, if you assume a trait is ancestral and was originally common, and it has low costs, it’s much more likely that it would remain widespread to this day, even if it doesn’t seem to contribute much to fitness.”One piece of evidence supporting this hypothesis is that some echinoderms, including sea stars and sea urchins, engage in same-sex sexual behavior. Echinoderms evolved early in the history of life, likely in the Precambrian period more than 541 million years ago.But other evidence is slim, largely because scientists haven’t systematically studied same-sex sexual behavior in animals. Most observations have been accidental, and biologists have often viewed sex between two animals of the same sex as irrelevant or improper to note, Monk said. Sometimes, researchers automatically assume that same-sex behavior isn’t really about sex but instead is about dominance or bonding. And often, if two animals are observed having sex, they’re assumed to be male and female without any confirmatory evidence, McDonough said.”The science that we do is really informed and influenced by cultural biases,” she said.Thinking of same-sex sexual behavior as a standard part of the animal repertoire would change how researchers approach the study of the evolution of these behaviors. The next step, Monk said, would be to gather more data on the prevalence of same-sex behavior in animals. Then, researchers could compare species from across the tree of life to determine if all linages show same-sex behavior. If so, it would strengthen the argument that same-sex sexuality was part of life for the ancestors of all of today’s sexually reproducing animals. 20 Weird Dog and Cat Behaviors Explained by Science10 Amazing Things You Didn’t Know about AnimalsThere’s No Such Thing as a ‘Gay Gene,’ Massive Study ConcludesOriginally published on Live Science.
JERUSALEM (AP) — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was indicted Thursday in a series of corruption cases, throwing Israel’s paralyzed political system into further disarray and threatening his 10-year grip on power. He rejected calls to resign, angrily accusing prosecutors of staging “an attempted coup.”The first-ever charges against a sitting Israeli prime minister capped a three-year investigation, with Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit indicting Netanyahu for fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes.“A day in which the attorney general decides to serve an indictment against a seated prime minister for serious crimes of corrupt governance is a heavy and sad day, for the Israeli public and for me personally,” Mandelblit, who was appointed by Netanyahu, told reporters.The indictment does not require the 70-year-old Netanyahu to resign, but it significantly weakens him at a time when Israel’s political parties appear to be limping toward a third election in under a year.An ashen-faced Netanyahu appeared on national TV late Thursday, claiming he was the victim of a grand conspiracy by police and prosecutors who had intimidated key witnesses into testifying against him.He defiantly claimed the indictment stemmed from “false accusations” and a systematically “tainted investigation,” saying the country was witnessing an “attempted coup” against him.“Police and investigators are not above the law,” he said. “The time has come to investigate the investigators.”Netanyahu is desperate to remain in office to fight the charges. Under Israeli law, public officials are required to resign if charged with a crime. But that law does not apply to the prime minister, who can use his office as a bully pulpit against prosecutors and try to push parliament to grant him immunity from prosecution.As the investigation gained steam in recent months, Netanyahu has repeatedly lashed out at what he sees as a hostile media, police and justice system. Observers have compared his tactics to those of his good friend, U.S. President Donald Trump, who has used similar language to rally his base during an accelerating impeachment hearing.Several dozen supporters and opponents of Netanyahu staged rival demonstrations outside the prime minister’s official residence Thursday night. Police kept the groups apart and there were no reports of violence.Mandelblit rejected accusations that his decision was politically motivated and said he had acted solely out of professional considerations. He criticized the often-heated pressure campaigns by Netanyahu’s supporters and foes to sway his decision, which came after months of deliberations. Both sides had staged demonstrations outside or near his home.“This is not a matter of politics,” he said. “This is an obligation placed on us, the people of law enforcement, and upon me personally as the one at its head.”According to the indictment, Netanyahu accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars of champagne and cigars from billionaire friends, offered to trade favors with a newspaper publisher and used his influence to help a wealthy telecom magnate in exchange for favorable coverage on a popular news site.Netanyahu becomes Israel’s first sitting prime minister to be charged with a crime. His predecessor, Ehud Olmert, was forced to resign a decade ago ahead of a corruption indictment that later sent him to prison for 16 months.The decision comes at a tumultuous time for the country. After an inconclusive election in September, both Netanyahu and former military chief Benny Gantz, leader of the Blue and White party, have failed to form a majority coalition in parliament. It‘s the first time in the nation’s history that that has happened.After Gantz’s deadline expired at midnight, the country on Thursday entered an unprecedented 21-day period in which any member of parliament can try to rally a 61-member majority to become prime minister.If that fails, new elections would be triggered, setting the stage for a three-month campaign followed by weeks or months of post-election negotiations and horse trading.The only apparent way out of the crisis would be a unity government between the two parties, which together control a parliamentary majority. But after Thursday’s indictment, that possibility appeared even more remote.Blue and White leaders said it was impossible for Netanyahu to rule under indictment and warned that there was a risk his personal considerations could influence his decisions.“A prime minister up to his neck in corruption allegations has no public or moral mandate to make fateful decisions for the state of Israel,” the party said in a statement.The most serious charges against Netanyahu were connected to so-called “Case 4000,” in which he is accused of passing regulations that gave his friend, telecom magnate Shaul Elovitch, benefits worth over $250 million to his company, Bezeq. In return, Bezeq’s news site, Walla, published favorable articles about Netanyahu and his family.The relationship, it said, was “based on a mutual understanding that each of them had significant interests that the other side had the ability to advance.” It also accused Netanyahu of concealing the relationship by providing “partial and misleading information” about his connections with Elovitch.Two close aides to Netanyahu testified against him in the case.The indictment also described billionaires Arnon Milchan and James Packer as a “supply channel” of champagne and cigars for Netanyahu. It estimated the value of the gifts at roughly $200,000.It said Netanyahu assisted the Israeli Milchan, a Hollywood mogul, in extending his U.S. visa. It was not immediately clear what, if anything, Packer, who is Australian, received in return.The final case accuses Arnon Mozes, publisher of the Yediot Ahronot daily, of offering positive coverage of Netanyahu in exchange for pushing legislation that would have harmed a free newspaper that has cut into Yediot’s profits.In recent months, Likud leaders have remained firmly behind Netanyahu. But after the indictment, they were largely mum.In the first sign of rebellion, Netanyahu’s top Likud rival earlier in the day called for a leadership primary should the country, as expected, go to new elections.“I think I will be able to form a government, and I think I will be able to unite the country and the nation,” Gideon Saar said at the Jerusalem Post Diplomatic Conference in Jerusalem. He spoke before the indictment was announced and did not address the looming criminal charges.If elections are held, opinion polls are already predicting a very similar deadlock, with Likud and Blue and White both unable to secure a parliamentary majority.That could now change. A poll carried out last month by the Israel Democracy Institute, a nonpartisan think tank, found that 65% of Israelis thought Netanyahu should resign as head of Likud if indicted, with 24% opposed. The poll had a margin of error of 4 percentage points.The emergence of Saar as an heir could reshuffle the deck, but challenging Netanyahu in Likud is a risky maneuver in a party that fiercely values loyalty and has had only four leaders in its 70-plus-year history.
Officials: Hepatitis A cases traced to berries sold in states including Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana – WLWT Cincinnati
Officials: Hepatitis A cases traced to berries sold in states including Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana
A hepatitis A outbreak in Nebraska, Indiana and Wisconsin has been traced to blackberries sold in Fresh Thyme grocery stores and federal authorities on Wednesday warned consumers in 11 states against eating some berries bought from that chain.The Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services said in a news release that the outbreak began several weeks ago in Nebraska. The department said it, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are investigating and have confirmed 11 cases of the virus, including six in Nebraska.Fresh Thyme said in a written statement that it’s cooperating with the investigation, working to identify its suppliers and isolate the source of the contamination.“At this time, there is no reason to believe that any of the product was contaminated via handling in our stores,” the company said.The FDA urged consumers in Nebraska, Indiana, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Minnesota, Ohio and Pennsylvania to not to eat any fresh blackberries bought from Fresh Thyme between Sept. 9 and Sept. 30.Anyone who froze the berries for later use should throw them out, the FDA said.Hepatitis A is a virus that infects the liver and can cause mild, flu-like symptoms for several weeks.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) —A hepatitis A outbreak in Nebraska, Indiana and Wisconsin has been traced to blackberries sold in Fresh Thyme grocery stores and federal authorities on Wednesday warned consumers in 11 states against eating some berries bought from that chain.The Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services said in a news release that the outbreak began several weeks ago in Nebraska. The department said it, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are investigating and have confirmed 11 cases of the virus, including six in Nebraska.
Fresh Thyme said in a written statement that it’s cooperating with the investigation, working to identify its suppliers and isolate the source of the contamination.“At this time, there is no reason to believe that any of the product was contaminated via handling in our stores,” the company said.The FDA urged consumers in Nebraska, Indiana, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Minnesota, Ohio and Pennsylvania to not to eat any fresh blackberries bought from Fresh Thyme between Sept. 9 and Sept. 30.Anyone who froze the berries for later use should throw them out, the FDA said.Hepatitis A is a virus that infects the liver and can cause mild, flu-like symptoms for several weeks.
With the appointment of Chrystia Freeland as deputy prime minister, Justin Trudeau has resurrected a cabinet position that lay dormant for the past 13 years. But what, exactly, is expected of a deputy prime minister?Chrystia Freeland becomes the 10th deputy prime minister since the role was created in 1977. (Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press)With the appointment of Chrystia Freeland as deputy prime minister, Justin Trudeau has resurrected a cabinet position that lay dormant for the past 13 years. Former prime minister Stephen Harper chose not to have one, and the current prime minister went without for his first term.”It’s an odd position because … sometimes we have it, sometimes we don’t,” said Paul Wilson, associate professor at the Clayton H. Riddell Graduate Program in Political Management at Carleton University. Freeland exited her role as foreign affairs minister to become the new intergovernmental affairs minister and the 10th deputy prime minister. Anne McLellan was the last cabinet minister to hold the deputy PM position, way back when Paul Martin was prime minister. On Wednesday, following the swearing-in of his cabinet, Trudeau suggested he chose Freeland for this role because he worked “very, very closely and with great success” with her on the NAFTA renegotiation and what he described as “the challenges of the American administration.” “We know that as we move forward on issues that matter right across the country, like energy and the environment and other large issues, we’re going to have to engage in a strong and positive way with different orders of government right across the country and I’m very much looking forward to doing that with Chrystia by my side,” he said. But what, exactly, is expected of a deputy prime minister? “All the portfolios kind of have a chain of command and a kind of a solid understanding,” said Sheila Copps, who was deputy prime minister under Jean Chrétien. “But the [deputy prime minister] position really doesn’t. Which kind of is why some prime ministers decide to appoint one, some don’t.” Then prime minister Brian Mulroney confers with his deputy prime minister Don Mazankowski prior to a cabinet meeting in Montreal. (Paul Chiasson/Canadian Press) The position itself, according to the Privy Council Office, has no standing in law and does not carry any formal duties or tasks. Unlike the case of the vice presidency in the United States, there is no law in Canada stipulating the deputy prime minister automatically takes over if the prime minister is incapacitated. While it’s an honorary title, deputy prime ministers have in the past played a variety of roles, as determined by the prime minister. Those roles have included ceremonial functions, defending the prime minister during question period when the PM is absent (and answering questions on the prime minister’s behalf) and playing important policy functions. How much power the position holds, or where that power puts the deputy prime minister in the hierarchy of cabinet ministers, really depends on the prime minister. “I think it’s up to the prime minister, basically. What are the needs?” Wilson said. In the cabinet’s order of precedence, Freeland is now listed as number two, right behind the prime minister. “That confirms that being named deputy PM moves her up, while otherwise the rest of the order of precedence is determined by date of being sworn in to the Privy Council,” Wilson said. The position was created in 1977 by Justin Trudeau’s father, Pierre Trudeau, who made Allan MacEachen Canada’s first deputy prime minister. Robert Bothwell, professor of Canadian history and international relations at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, said Pierre Trudeau owed MacEachen and likely was trying to give him a consolation prize after moving him out of foreign affairs (the ministry was called “external affairs” at the time) to make room for Don Jamieson. “I think MacEachen was a little sore so I think Trudeau just gave him the honorific to show Allan that he really did like and respect him,” Bothwell said. “It was a recognition that Allan was a big bull in the herd and he was important in its own right. I’m sure that he appreciated that. But it didn’t give any particular power.” MacEachen’s duties included presiding over cabinet meetings at times, Bothwell said. But other deputy prime ministers had more power, Wilson said. Sheila Copps says that Jean Chretien was under pressure not to name a deputy prime minister. (Ron Poling/Canadian Press) Brian Mulroney’s deputy prime minister Don Mazankowski, who chaired the government operations committee, was probably one of the most active and influential deputy PMs, Wilson said. “I know talking to PCs from the period, he basically ran the operations of government. He was the main person on a day-to-day basis who was really bringing everything together.” Generally, the individual who takes on the role of deputy prime minister is a person of seniority who carries a lot of weight in government, Wilson said. Other past deputy prime ministers include Jean Chrétien (under John Turner), Erik Nielsen (Mulroney), Jean Charest (Kim Campbell), Herb Grey (Chrétien) and John Manley (Chrétien). Copps said that before she was named deputy, there was a fair bit of pushback from Chretien’s inner circle urging him not to appoint anyone. “To have a deputy prime minister can also be a another point of contact for the prime minister, which isn’t necessarily managed through the PMO,” she said. “The fewer points of contact you have that are outside that orbit, the easier it is for you to control the message.” But Copps said Chrétien told her that it was his wife Aline who helped convince him to name a deputy prime minister. She said she was very honoured at the time to be given that role, particularly because of the tremendous amount of pressure the prime minister was under to not name anyone. “In the end, it’s a great honour to represent your country at these events. But at the same time, the job is a lot more difficult than it looks because of the fact that you’ve become the face of the government on multiple issues,” she said. “And it’s sometimes challenging.”
Words that mean trouble: Canadian company builds hate speech database | CBC News
Toronto firm Hatebase has built a 3,600-word hate speech lexicon, digging through the web for potentially hateful messages, which are then flagged to NGOs and social media companies. It has attracted big-name partners around the world, but the practice has led to concerns from free-speech advocates.Timothy Quinn is the co-founder of Hatebase, an online repository of hate speech. (Evan Mitsui/CBC)This story is part of Exposing Hate, an ongoing series examining the nature of hate in Canada: how it manifests, spreads and thrives and how Canadian institutions, law enforcement and individuals are dealing with it. To curb hate speech — and ultimately, the violence it can spur — Timothy Quinn and his team have spent years compiling the most vile words found on the internet.His Toronto firm, Hatebase, relies on software that digs through the web several times an hour to spot potentially hateful words, which are then flagged to NGOs interested in countering hate and to social media companies. Hatebase’s ever-growing, multilingual hate speech lexicon of more than 3,600 terms has attracted big-name partners around the world. But the practice has led to concerns about censorship, and whether computers are equipped to navigate complicated streams of text and decipher what is hateful. “It’s a horrible job for a human being to do,” Quinn said. “You need some degree of automation to handle the worst of the worst.” Launched in 2013 as a partner of the Sentinel Project — a genocide-prevention group — Hatebase was initially meant as a way to track early signs of mass atrocities. It would analyze potentially dangerous online chatter in conflict zones in hopes of preventing violence. A woman lays flowers at a memorial for the victims of the Toronto van attack, April 23, 2018, which left 10 people dead another 16 wounded. (Patrick Morrell/CBC) Early signs of violence Online messages may have served as precursors to more recent, high-profile killings, too. Suspects in the Toronto van attack, the El Paso Walmart shooting and the massacre at the mosque in New Zealand, among others, are said to have spread spiteful content online in the lead-up to their rampage. Although Hatebase’s automated social media monitoring engine, known as Hatebrain, is not designed to single out users, Quinn said a noticeable spike in online hate speech can sometimes precede targeted violence. “We’re not looking for the one active shooter,” Quinn said in an interview. “We’re looking for raw trends around language being used to discriminate against groups of people online.” The firm’s database includes terms in 97 languages, spotted online more than a million times from users in at least 184 countries. In Canada, gay people and women represent the most-targeted groups, according to a country-specific page not yet made public, but seen by a CBC News reporter. How it’s used Hatebase licenses its software to tech companies, including the Chinese-owned video sharing app TikTok and other social media firms. Quinn said his company works with well-known Silicon Valley firms but declined to name them, citing non-disclosure agreements. Hatebase only provides the data. It’s up to clients to decide how to use it, for instance by blocking users who use hateful words, deleting their messages or flagging content to human moderators. The Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA) told CBC it’s concerned about the way the data is used, and whether it can form the basis for excluding some points of view from online discussion. CCLA’s Cara Zwibel is concerned the definition of hate speech may be too restrictive. Words “that most people in ordinary conversation would think is hate speech, is not hate speech under the law,” she said. Hatebase applies a broad definition to hate speech: “any term which broadly categorizes a specific group of people based on malignant, qualitative and/or subjective attributes — particularly if those attributes pertain to ethnicity, nationality, religion, sexuality, disability or class.” Tony McAleer, a former skinhead recruiter, recently published his memoir, The Cure for Hate. He is a co-founder of the group Life After Hate. (Craig Chivers/CBC) More than words Zwibel stressed the context around questionable content — not just the words themselves — must be analyzed before determining whether it should be taken down. “I am worried about using machines to do this kind of work,” she said. Humans grade the entries into Hatebase’s lexicon — from “mildly offensive” (such as “bimbo”) to “extremely offensive” (like the N-word). Quinn said Hatebase also uses several factors to analyze the way words are being used in a sentence, such as by searching for “pilot fish.” A reference to the small aquatic creatures that live alongside sharks, pilot fish are words or symbols often attached to targeted slurs. Quinn said pilot fish could include the word “asshole” or the cartoon-turned-hate symbol, Pepe the Frog. Hatebase also provides free services to non-profit groups. Its website lists the UN’s human rights agency and the U.S.-based Anti-Defamation League as partners. The company also says more than 275 universities and colleges, including Harvard and Oxford, use Hatebase data for research. In Ottawa, the United for All Coalition — a local group recently formed to counter hate and violence — is considering working with Hatebase to identify neighbourhoods where residents may be vulnerable to radicalization. “It’s not about targeting or fingering people who are engaging in hate or dangerous speech, it’s about knowing where it’s happening,” said Julie McKercher, an Ottawa Police co-ordinator for the MERIT program, which is part of the Coalition. She said geolocation data obtained by Hatebase could point authorities and community groups in the right direction. ‘You’re always playing catch-up’ Another challenge emerges when trying to track hate speech: subtle changes to words made to circumvent digital filters. Tony McAleer, a former skinhead recruiter living in B.C., compares it to the arcade game Whac-A-Mole. “The groups themselves will change the language they’re using, so you’re always playing catch-up,” he said. Hatebase, for instance, lists the word “ghey” as “an intentional misspelling of ‘gay’ meant to avoid censorship and mock homosexual behaviour.” A recent search of public tweets found the spelling used frequently. McAleer, who recently published his memoir, The Cure for Hate, said hateful words shouldn’t just be suppressed without proposing an alternative message. “When you censor something, it becomes more popular than it ever was.” Timothy Quinn at Hatebase said the company’s mandate “is in no way to limit free speech.” He agrees counter-messaging and understanding the root of hate is a better strategy. “We’re really in the business of making data available, so organizations can understand the scale of the problem.”
Amnesty International latest to slam surveillance giants Facebook and Google as “incompatible” with human rights
Human rights charity Amnesty International is the latest to call for reform of surveillance capitalism — blasting the business models of “surveillance giants” Facebook and Google in a new report which warns the pair’s market dominating platforms are “enabling human rights harm at a population scale”.
“[D]despite the real value of the services they provide, Google and Facebook’s platforms come at a systemic cost,” Amnesty warns. “The companies’ surveillance-based business model forces people to make a Faustian bargain, whereby they are only able to enjoy their human rights online by submitting to a system predicated on human rights abuse. Firstly, an assault on the right to privacy on an unprecedented scale, and then a series of knock-on effects that pose a serious risk to a range of other rights, from freedom of expression and opinion, to freedom of thought and the right to non-discrimination.”
“This isn’t the internet people signed up for,” it adds.
What’s most striking about the report is the familiarly of the arguments. There is now a huge weight of consensus criticism around surveillance-based decision-making — from Apple’s own Tim Cook through scholars such as Shoshana Zuboff and Zeynep Tufekci to the United Nations — that’s itself been fed by a steady stream of reportage of the individual and societal harms flowing from platforms’ pervasive and consentless capturing and hijacking of people’s information for ad-based manipulation and profit.
This core power asymmetry is maintained and topped off by self-serving policy positions which at best fiddle around the edges of an inherently anti-humanitarian system. While platforms have become practiced in dark arts PR — offering, at best, a pantomime ear to the latest data-enabled outrage that’s making headlines, without ever actually changing the underlying system. That surveillance capitalism’s abusive modus operandi is now inspiring governments to follow suit — aping the approach by developing their own data-driven control systems to straitjacket citizens — is exceptionally chilling.
But while the arguments against digital surveillance are now very familiar what’s still sorely lacking is an effective regulatory response to force reform of what is at base a moral failure — and one that’s been allowed to scale so big it’s attacking the democratic underpinnings of Western society.
“Google and Facebook have established policies and processes to address their impacts on privacy and freedom of expression – but evidently, given that their surveillance-based business model undermines the very essence of the right to privacy and poses a serious risk to a range of other rights, the companies are not taking a holistic approach, nor are they questioning whether their current business models themselves can be compliant with their responsibility to respect human rights,” Amnesty writes.
“The abuse of privacy that is core to Facebook and Google’s surveillance-based business model is starkly demonstrated by the companies’ long history of privacy scandals. Despite the companies’ assurances over their commitment to privacy, it is difficult not to see these numerous privacy infringements as part of the normal functioning of their business, rather than aberrations.”
Needless to say Facebook and Google do not agree with Amnesty’s assessment. But, well, they would say that wouldn’t they?
Amnesty’s report notes there is now a whole surveillance industry feeding this beast — from adtech players to data brokers — while pointing out that the dominance of Facebook and Google, aka the adtech duopoly, over “the primary channels that most of the world relies on to engage with the internet” is itself another harm, as it lends the pair of surveillance giants “unparalleled power over people’s lives online”.
“The power of Google and Facebook over the core platforms of the internet poses unique risks for human rights,” it warns. “For most people it is simply not feasible to use the internet while avoiding all Google and Facebook services. The dominant internet platforms are no longer ‘optional’ in many societies, and using them is a necessary part of participating in modern life.”
Amnesty concludes that it is “now evident that the era of self-regulation in the tech sector is coming to an end” — saying further state-based regulation will be necessary. Its call there is for legislators to follow a human rights-based approach to rein in surveillance giants.
You can read the report in full here (PDF).
Why Atlantic Canada’s lucrative seafood industry is concerned about Elizabeth Warren | CBC News
Canada is defending measures it has taken to protect critically endangered North Atlantic right whales, as political pressure — and blame — mounts from the United States in the wake of a rash of whale deaths in Canadian waters in 2019. “We’re very confident that our measures are world class in nature and stand up extremely well to those in the United States,” said Adam Burns, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans’ director of resource management.Burns was responding to the latest salvo from Massachusetts senators Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey, who are threatening a ban of some Atlantic Canadian seafood products. The senators blame a Canadian “roll back” of whale protection measures in 2019. Canada had 12 right whale deaths in its waters in 2017, then none in 2018. A North Atlantic right whale swims in the waters of Cape Cod Bay in April. (AFP via Getty Images) “Consequently, of the 10 right whale mortalities documented in 2019, nine occurred in Canadian waters,” they wrote in a Nov. 13 letter to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The U.S. had five (2017), three (2018) and one (2019) deaths in its waters during that time, according to the NOAA. The senators want proof Canada is doing as much as the U.S. to protect right whales before the whales return to Canadian waters in the spring. ‘Severity of the right whale crisis calls for urgent action’ “If NOAA finds that Canada’s conservation standards are not equivalent to ours, then NOAA Fisheries under the authority of the MMPA (Marine Mammal Protection Act) should consider taking action to prohibit imports of fishery and fishery products from the pertinent Canadian fisheries into the United States,” they wrote. When the MMPA comes into force in 2022, the United States can ban seafood imports from countries without equivalent marine mammal protections after a comparability analysis. The senators say that as a G7 economy Canada is exempt from the grace period. They are seeking an expedited “comparability analysis” under the act. Sen. Ed Markey co-wrote the letter to the NOAA with Warren. (Zach Gibson/Getty Images) “The severity of the right whale crisis calls for urgent action,” they said. ‘Hell yeah, we take it very seriously’ So far the U.S. commerce department has rejected similar calls for a fast-track review that could lead to a Canadian seafood ban. But under court pressure from environmentalists in 2018, the United States banned Mexican shrimp and other seafood caught with gillnets that kill endangered vaquita porpoises. The Atlantic Canadian seafood industry remains apprehensive. “Do we take it seriously? Hell yeah, we take it very seriously. The U.S. remains our biggest market and that’s not changing anytime soon,” said Geoff Irvine of the Lobster Council of Canada. Trap fisheries like snow crab and lobster are under the greatest scrutiny as a potential cause of entanglement, especially in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, the scene of most right whale whale deaths. In 2017, two of the deaths were attributed to entanglement in snow crab gear. “Any time there’s a potential threat of a closure stopping product crossing borders, it’s certainly of serious concern, to any and all seafood processors or shippers in Nova Scotia,” says Osborne Burke, general manager of Victoria Co-Operative Fisheries, a large snow crab and lobster processor in Cape Breton. Steps taken Burke and Irvine point out Canada imposed numerous restrictions on fisheries in the Gulf of St Lawrence after 2017, including fishing restrictions, speed limits and a massive increase in aerial surveillance. Environmentalist Sean Brillant of the Canadian Wildlife Federation defends the measures. “I believe the actions that have been taken and are continuing to be taken by Canada are sound and deserve some acknowledgement that these are good decisions,” he said. Did Canada ease up? In the face of complaints from Canadian fishing groups, Canada modified its restrictions in 2019 after no right whale deaths in 2018. That included reducing the size of a season-long closure area for snow crab in the Gulf in favour of dynamic closures imposed when a right whale is spotted in an area. Warren and Markey contrast that with efforts by U.S. fishermen, especially those in their home state who have “significantly changed their practices to reduce whale mortality. “Because the burden of reducing risk to right whales falls substantially on fishermen, it is essential that we understand whether U.S. and Canadian fishermen are being held to the same high standards.” Conservationist rejects U.S. claims, but says more must be done Brillant argues restrictions in place in Canada this year were as strong 2018. “But ultimately the proof is in the pudding. And right now we’ve got all these dead whales with us, and that’s showing that despite all this good effort and good decisions it’s not adequate.” In Ottawa, DFO’s Burns says Canada is able to respond faster than U.S. regulators to protect right whales, pointing to its power to shut down fishing in a 1,400-square-kilometre area after a single right whale sighting. “They’re very aware that our legislation and regulations allow us to implement measures that help us avoid entanglement of North Atlantic right whales in a way that our colleagues in the United States simply are unable to do,” Burns said. “And so while we’re focused on a slightly different approach … we share the objective of mitigating to the extent possible the impacts of fishing on North Atlantic right whales.” The politics behind blame U.S. politicians in New England are under pressure from their own lobster fishermen, who are facing demands for greater fishing restrictions to protect right whales. This fall, Maine’s lobster industry backed out of an agreement to reduce the number of lines in the water by 50 per cent, on the grounds they were being asked to bear an undue share of the burden to protect whales. “We’re heading into an election year. And Senator Warren is a presidential candidate for the Democrats. How much of this is just strictly politics and grandstanding as well. I wonder,” Burke said. Brillant said the issue is quickly moving from a technical evaluation to a political calculation. “This brings lots of other higher-scale issues in — for example, Canada-U.S. competition. Fishermen from America versus Canadian fishermen competing for the same sort of markets whether it’s here in Canada or in the U.S.,” he said.
(CNN)Meteorites that crashed into Earth billions of years contain sugars, researchers say, lending support to the idea that asteroids may hold some of the ingredients to life.
An international team of scientists found “bio-essential” sugars in meteorites, wh…
Iran sentences 6 conservationists to prison in internationally criticized trial as unrest continues | CBC News
Six conservationists working to save the critically endangered Asiatic cheetah have been sentenced to prison on internationally criticized espionage charges in Iran, even as protests and unrest continue in parts of the country. One Canadian died in prison awaiting trial.This undated photo provided by the family of the late Iranian-Canadian professor Kavous Seyed-Emami, shows him, right, and his wife, Maryam Mombeini, in an unidentified place in Iran. Seyed-Emami died in custody in Tehran in disputed circumstances. (Family of Kavous Seyed-Emami/The Associated Press)Six conservationists working to save the critically endangered Asiatic cheetah have been sentenced to prison on internationally criticized espionage charges in Iran, activists said Thursday, even as protests and unrest continue in parts of the country amid a government-imposed internet shutdown. The case against members of the nonprofit Persian Wildlife Heritage Foundation show how spying charges and convictions can be levied against dual nationals and those with Western ties in Iran in closed-door trials before its Revolutionary Court.News of the cases comes after demonstrations against government-set gasoline prices rising turned violent in Iran, killing at least 106 people, according to Amnesty International. Iran disputes that figure without offering its own and has turned off the internet across the country. A UN office earlier said it feared the unrest may have killed “a significant number of people.” The New York-based Center for Human Rights in Iran said Thursday that the convicted conservationists face six to 10 years in prison for “contacts with the U.S. enemy state.” Two others have yet to hear verdicts, it said. The conservationists found themselves arrested over their use of camera traps to track the cheetahs, a common tool of wildlife experts. One of the conservationists, Iranian-Canadian citizen Kavous Seyed-Emami, died in disputed circumstances in prison in February 2018 awaiting trial. His widow then was blocked from flying out of Iran, but later made it out. Iran’s Revolutionary Court typically handles espionage cases and others involving smuggling, blasphemy and attempts to overthrow the country’s Islamic government. Westerners and Iranian dual nationals often find themselves tried and convicted in closed-door trials in these courts, only later to be used as bargaining chips in negotiations. Mehran Seyed-Emami, left, Maryam Mombeini, centre, and Ramin Seyed-Emami, right, are pictured after being reunited at Vancouver International Airport on Oct. 11, 2019. Mombeini had been separated from her sons since March 8, 2018. (Ramin Seyed-Emami/Twitter) “The only crimes that have been committed in relation to the conservationists are their unlawful arrest, their cruel and inhuman treatment in prolonged solitary confinement, the denial of their due process rights, and their sham convictions and sentencing, without evidence or regard for the requirements of law,” said Hadi Ghaemi, the center’s executive director. Iranian state media and judiciary officials did not immediately comment on the verdicts, which is common in Revolutionary Court cases. The semiofficial Fars news agency, close to the country’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, carried a short story acknowledging the verdicts.
Huge pro-India fake news network includes Canadian sites, links to Canadian think tanks | CBC News
A huge international network of fake local news sites that push a pro-Indian government position internationally has a deep Canadian connection, CBC News has learned. Some of the sites pose as Canadian news outlets.A screenshot shows the Times of Manitoba, a website registered by a man linked to a massive international network of fake news sites that pushes pro-India stories. The Times of Manitoba doesn’t publish local Manitoba news. (Screengrab/Times of Manitoba)A huge international network of fake local news sites that push a pro-Indian government position internationally has a deep Canadian connection, CBC News has learned. According to the EU DisinfoLab, a Brussels-based non-profit group whose goal is identifying disinformation targeting the European Union, the network includes at least 265 sites in more than 65 countries. At least 12 of those sites pose as Canadian news outlets and use names that either mimic current media publications or old media outlets that have folded, such as The Toronto Evening Telegram. CBC has also found evidence of a further 16 sites designed to look like local Canadian news websites, all registered by the Srivastava Group. Some of the sites have either been taken down in the last week, since some of the EU DisinfoLab’s findings have been reported, or never had content uploaded to them in the first place. All of the sites are tied to the Srivastava Group, an Indian corporation run by Ankit Srivastava, a self-described entrepreneur based in New Delhi. CBC was able to determine using website data analysis tool DomainTools. Some of the websites were registered to a bungalow in Edmonton. The network of sites publishes content that is critical of Pakistan. News sites with Canadian names but little activity The purported Canadian news sites run by the network have names like the Toronto Mail, the Quebec Telegraph and the Times of New Brunswick. Many borrow the names of defunct Canadian newspapers. In all cases, the “about” section claims that the websites are local Canadian media outlets. Most of the Canadian websites in the network have generated very little activity on social media, garnering almost no likes and shares, according to social media analytics tool BuzzSumo. Unlike many fake news networks, the sites don’t seem to make money through advertising since they don’t carry ads. Alexandre Alaphilippe, executive director of the EU DisinfoLab, notes that parts of this network have been active since 2010. “It’s a network that has been operating for a very long time on these questions, promoting India or denigrating Pakistan,” he said. “It’s not only fake media sites. They have think-tanks, NGOs and so on. It’s very organized. It shows that this is something that is planned.” Controversial visit to Kashmir The Srivastava Group was also linked to a controversial visit by right-wing members of European Parliament to Kashmir in late October, which included a meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. European Union lawmakers walk on the banks of Dal Lake in Srinagar, Kashmir, on Oct. 29. At far left is Madi Sharma, who was reported by Indian media to have extended the invitation to the European MPs to visit India, and accompanied those MPs during their time in Kashmir. Sharma is the director of a think-tank with links to a group behind a huge fake news network. (Danish Ismail/Reuters) The visit to Kashmir took place even though access to the region is extremely restricted by the Indian government, and journalists and NGOs are barred. In August, the Indian government revoked part of the constitution granting the Jammu and Kashmir state special status, instituted a curfew and cut internet and phone connections. The area has been under lockdown for more than 100 days. 13 women arrested for protesting in India-administered Kashmir Gunfire in Kashmir leaves 4 civilians dead, others wounded According to Julian Schofield, an associate professor at Concordia University in Montreal whose studies focus on South Asia, the visit might be a way for India to promote its handling of the situation in Kashmir and make it look better when compared to its main rival, Pakistan. “Bringing the Europeans over is saying, ‘Look, we’re a functioning democracy, just like you, we have the same issues as you, and essentially, we’re liberal. We’re multi-ethnic, multi-identity, just like you, not like Pakistan. Come visit Kashmir, we’re doing our best,'” he said. According to Indian media, that visit was financed and organized by two NGOs with connections to Srivastava: the International Institute for Non-Aligned Studies (IINS) and Women’s Economic and Social Think-Tank (WESTT). IINS was founded by Srivastava and shares a physical New Delhi address with the Srivastava group. WESTT’s website was registered by M. Srivastava. The director of WESTT, Madi Sharma, is also described as the EU correspondent for the New Delhi Times — an obscure newspaper whose editor-in-chief is Ankit Srivastava. Its website has 1.2 million followers on Facebook, but almost no interactions with its content, which is extremely unusual given that followers tend to interact with content, and suggests the followers may be fake. Sharma was reported by Indian media to have extended the invitation to the MPs to visit India, and accompanied those MPs during their time in Kashmir. European Union MPs on a boat ride at Dal Lake in Srinagar, Kashmir, at the end of October. The area was off limits to journalists. (Danish Ismail/Reuters) Several Indian journalists from fact-checking outlets contacted by CBC/Radio-Canada said they had never heard of the New Delhi Times before the controversy over the Kashmir visit erupted. Schofield said that India’s rivalry with Pakistan is at the centre of its foreign policy and the visit was part of its propaganda effort. “It is viable as a technique against Pakistan. If Pakistan wasn’t there, India would dominate the sub-continent.” Srivastava has also republished columns from Toronto Sun columnist Tarek Fatah, who describes the two as friends, and also has links to former Liberal MP Mario Silva; the IP address used to register the website of a think-tank that was chaired by Silva is the same as that of the Srivastava group, and the site is hosted on a server administered by Srivastava. CBC News reached out to Srivastava at multiple phone numbers, and in all cases, the person who answered the phone referred inquiries to an email address. Srivastava did not respond to multiple email inquiries. Over the past week, Twitter has suspended several accounts linked to the network, including the accounts for EP Today, a purported news magazine centred on the European Parliament, and 4news Agency, a newswire service which served to boost the network’s content. Both these sites were used to push pro-India news items. The real ‘fake news’: how to spot misinformation and disinformation online So, you think you’ve spotted some ‘fake news’ — now what? Since EU DisinfoLab’s report, all of the articles were also removed from EP Today. All that remains on the site is an apology by the owners for publishing articles from the Russian outlet RT. Think tank website hosted by Srivastava One of the Canadians linked to Ankit Srivastava is former Liberal MP Mario Silva. Former Liberal MP Mario Silva says he is ’emphatically’ not involved with a group that has ties to huge international fake news network. (Mario Silva/LinkedIn) Silva chaired a group called IFFRAS, the International Forum for Rights and Security, which describes itself as a “non-profit international think-tank” with headquarters in Toronto, Brussels, Geneva and Washington. Silva was the Liberal member of Parliament for the downtown Toronto riding of Davenport from 2004 to 2011, and is currently a distinguished visiting professor at Toronto’s Ryerson University and a board member at Toronto Hydro. Using DomainTools, CBC found that the website shares the same IP address as the Srivastava Group and EP Today, and that website for the think tank is hosted on Srivastava’s server. The email address used to register the server is a Hotmail address for Srivastava. Silva has given interviews to Times of Geneva, the New Delhi Times and 4News Agency, some of which were critical of Pakistan. A YouTube video shows Silva sitting next to Fatah as Fatah gives a talk on Balochistan in Geneva in March of 2014. A number listed on the IFFRAS.org website is not in service, and another number used by Silva previously in his registration of the site was also not in service. When contacted by email, Silva said he does not “condone, participate in or support any organization that promotes inaccurate or misleading information and would never be part of any group that acts in such a manner.” Silva said that IFFRAS, the think-tank, has been inactive for a number of years, and his involvement “was limited solely to advocacy for human rights in a broad sense, fully consistent with my long-standing commitment to the promotion of human rights and equality for all persons across the world.” Silva further added he was unaware of any connections between Srivastava and the websites and newspapers that CBC had inquired about, and that he “emphatically” does not have “any connection with any group or organization you have referenced.” Toronto writer’s columns reprinted on site In an interview with CBC News, Fatah said that he was aware his columns were being republished in the New Delhi Times and said Srivastava paid him a small fee for it, though he declined to specify how much. “Mr. Fatah is a freelance opinion columnist. Freelancers can generally resell their work after its publication in the Sun to non-competing markets, subject to the terms of their agreements with us,” said Phyllise Gelfand, the vice-president of communications for Postmedia, in an email. In an interview with CBC News, Fatah said that he was aware his columns were being republished in the New Delhi Times, a newspaper linked to a group with ties to a huge international network of fake news websites. Fatah was also listed as the executive director of an NGO called Baluchistan (sic) House, described as a think-tank focusing on the Balochistan province of Pakistan. The region has seen ongoing insurgencies against the Pakistani government by Baloch groups seeking independence. The now-defunct Baluchistan House website was registered by Ankit Srivastava, as were other sites seemingly built for Fatah, such as whatthefatah.com and whatthefatah.net, which never published any content. According to Fatah, the What the Fatah project is a proposed video series featuring him that he’s working on with Srivastava, while the Baluchistan House website registration may have come from an exiled Baloch leader living in London. “I was merely involved and it never really took off, the Baluchistan House forum,” he said. Fatah’s Baluchistan House organized a panel in 2017 in Geneva, where he appeared alongside Polish MEP Ryszard Czarnecki to discuss Balochistan’s economic situation. Czarnecki, a conservative politician critical of Pakistan and supportive of India, was amongst the MEPs who visited Kashmir in October. Fatah said he was not involved with the visit and did not help facilitate it. He also said that while he had met Czarnecki a few times in UN meetings, he didn’t speak or meet with Czarnecki outside of that. Fatah said he was not aware that Srivastava was running a network of fake news sites. “Why would he do that?” said Fatah, adding it must be “some ridiculous Indian bureaucrat’s idea of propaganda.” Concordia’s Schofield said the network’s promotion of Baloch interests clearly marks it as serving the Indian government’s interests. He says that India has been supporting Balochistan independence as a way to put pressure on Pakistan. “This is definitely political. It’s basically an open secret that the Indians have been helping the Baloch,” he said. “If [Ankit Srivastava] is doing this type of thing, that’s what you’d call a siren alert,” that he’s in line with the government’s policies. Fatah said he wasn’t worried about his columns being used to promote pro-India views. “Oh, I am unashamedly pro-India. If somebody uses my writing to be pro-India, hallelujah. India is the only place that will save this universe. You can quote me on that,” he said.
RCMP officer’s career in the North remembered years after he lost his job for being gay | CBC News
RCMP Sgt. R.A. Van Norman was one many police officers, military personnel and public service employees who lost their jobs due to their sexual orientation. His great niece, also an RCMP officer, is making known the story of his work in the Arctic.In her home in South Surrey, B.C., RCMP Cpl. Elenore Sturko looks through a journal her uncle Dave made while stationed in the North. (Ben Nelms/CBC)Her family doesn’t like the moustache — it’s thin and separated by a tiny gap just below the nose — but Cpl. Elenore Sturko loves the photograph of her great uncle that’s on display in her living room. Sturko, a spokesperson for the Surrey RCMP, located just east of Vancouver, gets a kick out of the fur collar that swallows up the neck of Sgt. R.A. Van Norman, whom she always knew as uncle Dave.”He looks like an explorer,” she said. “It’s like something out of the 1800s.” Van Norman, the eldest of four brothers from Manitoba who all became Mounties, joined the RCMP in 1947. He was forced to resign 17 years later when he was spotted at the Lord Elgin Hotel in Ottawa, which was a known hangout for homosexuals. Van Norman was one many police officers, military personnel and public service employees who lost their jobs due to their sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression. He died of AIDS in 1988 at the age of 60. Photos of Sgt. R.A. Van Norman are displayed in his great niece Cpl. Elenore Sturko’s living room. (Ben Nelms/CBC) The apology When Prime Minister Justin Trudeau apologized in 2017 for the so-called LGBT purge, Sturko travelled to Ottawa to hear it in person. Dressed in her red serge, seated next to her wife, Melissa, Sturko grew inspired to learn more about her great uncle’s history. “It affected me,” she said. “It really got me thinking about how my uncle had been impacted and how my entire family had been impacted.” Then she learned that her great uncle Jack had kept his brother’s journal in his basement. The book changed her life and now she hopes it will also change the way her uncle’s life is remembered. Van Norman was a gifted photographer who took portraits of the people he met while he was stationed in Canada’s North. (Ben Nelms/CBC) Sgt. R.A. Van Norman Van Norman learned to speak Inuktitut and immersed himself in the local culture when he was stationed in the northern communities of Pond Inlet, Nunavut, Iqaluit, Fort Smith, N.W.T., and Yellowknife during the 1950s. Sturko says some of the language Van Norman uses in the book is outdated, but it’s clear that he had a deep admiration for the local people and their culture. His pictures capture everyday life of the time. He received the Queen’s Coronation Medal for his work on on the Distant Early Warning Line (DEW line), which was a radar defence system designed in the early 1950s to detect Soviet bombers. It was the relationships he built doing community police work, however, that Sturko says he seemed to enjoy the most. He would occasionally hitch rides from locals on their dog sleds to do patrols. “Although he was working as an agent of the government at a time that deeply impacted the Inuit, the colonization of the North, he was also a protector of the people he was serving,” she said. “I was so proud.” She says Van Norman’s career was impressive and should have been celebrated, but because of the purge, it was swept under the rug and forgotten. RCMP Cpl. Sturko looks at old newspaper clippings in her South Surrey home. (Ben Nelms/CBC) ‘A quantum leap’ To spread her great uncle’s story, Sturko transcribed his words, copied his photographs and made them into a book of her own that is now almost ready to publish. Sturko found a translator through the Qikiqtani Inuit Association so that her uncle’s words will appear in Inuktitut next to the English text. She plans to give free copies to people in the communities where Van Norman was stationed. To pay for the translation and printing, Sturko received a $17,000 grant from the LGBT Purge Fund. Fund director Wayne Davis says this is exactly the kind of project his organization was created to support. “The very concept that someone has a great uncle who was fired from the RCMP and she is now the public spokesperson, as an out lesbian, for the Surrey RCMP?” he said. “That’s a quantum leap.” Van Norman made the cover for the book out of a tea tin. (Ben Nelms/CBC) Closing the loop The fact that Sturko is the face of the largest detachment in the country shows how far the RCMP has come since her uncle lost his job for being who he was. She says there is still work to do, however, and she hopes the book opens people’s eyes to the kind of talented people who lost their livelihoods to the purge. “It’s not a perfect world by any means,” she said. “Looking at what happened to my uncle and then seeing where I am today is really, really meaningful,” she said. There are other goals for the project, too, like inspiring people to learn more about the history of the Indigenous people of Canada’s North. All proceeds will go toward initiatives laid out by elders in the communities where Van Norman served. On a personal level, though, publishing the book is also about celebrating the impressive career of an RCMP officer that has largely been lost to history. Telling that story is important to Sturko, and perhaps even more so to her great uncle Jack. They both plan to travel to Iqaluit next spring where a plaque will be dedicated to Sgt. R.A. Van Norman. “He was an exceptional member,” Sturko said. “I wanted to do something to commemorate his service.”
Why Chrystia Freeland is the indispensable Trudeau cabinet minister | CBC News
The most important relationship Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has within his cabinet is with Chrystia Freeland. By tasking her with improving relations with the provinces, Trudeau put her at the centre of much of his minority government’s ambitious policy goals.Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Chrystia Freeland speak after she’s sworn in as deputy prime minister and minister of intergovernmental affairs at Rideau Hall in Ottawa on Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2019. (Sean Kilpatrick/THE CANADIAN PRESS)Justin Trudeau and Chrystia Freeland have been very good for each other. Not for the first time, the future of the Liberal government — and a lot else — seem to be riding on the two of them finding success together. “She is someone with whom I worked very, very closely, and with great success, on renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement, with the challenges of the American administration,” Trudeau said Wednesday afternoon, using the most delicate language possible to describe the experience of dealing with Donald Trump’s White House.”We know that as we move forward on issues that matter across the country, like energy and the environment and other large issues, we will have to engage in a strong and positive way with different orders of government.” During a phone call with Trudeau in the summer of 2018, at perhaps the most contentious moment of the prolonged struggle over NAFTA, Trump described Freeland as a “nasty woman.” In some circles, that’s a badge of honour in its own right. But Freeland came away from that prolonged drama with a claim to having played a pivotal role in preserving this country’s most important trading relationship at a moment of unprecedented instability. Her reward is the title of “deputy prime minister” and responsibility for helping to hold together the world’s largest democratic federation at a time of profound change and uncertainty. How Freeland gave Trudeau early credibility It’s the culmination of a political career that began six years ago when Trudeau and his top advisers recruited Freeland to run in a by-election in Toronto Centre. Trudeau had become Liberal leader just six months earlier and Freeland became his first star candidate — the first evidence that Trudeau could attract smart and accomplished people to serve alongside him. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau looks on as Chrystia Freeland responds to a question during a panel discussion at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2018. (Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press) Freeland was something like the platonic ideal of a Liberal candidate: a Harvard-educated Rhodes scholar who had become an internationally recognized journalist and author in New York. And while the Conservatives were scoffing that Trudeau wasn’t ready to lead, Freeland was ready to line up behind him. From Trudeau’s perspective, not all of his star recruits worked out for the best (Jody Wilson-Raybould, most notably) but Freeland became central and integral to his government. A year before she joined the Liberals, Freeland published her second book, Plutocrats: The Rise of the New Global Super-Rich and the Fall of Everyone Else. Once in the fold, she was an important voice in shaping a political agenda focused on increasing taxes on the wealthiest and building supports for the middle class. In Trudeau’s first cabinet, she was made international trade minister. There, she dragged a free trade deal with Europe to completion — famously displaying “visible emotion” during the final push. She was not a natural politician but she slowly got better at it. Freeland’s New York connections When Trump won the presidency, Trudeau promoted her to foreign affairs (awkwardly shuffling Stéphane Dion aside to clear the way). It was Freeland’s connections in New York that first put Trudeau’s team in touch with Trump’s people, including Jared Kushner. Behind closed doors, she sat across the table from Robert Lighthizer, Trump’s proudly protectionist trade representative. In public, she was a steady and consistent voice for the Trudeau government. She won “diplomat of the year” and used the occasion to deliver a stinging and provocative speech on the fate of the free world. Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer talk after a news conference on the last day of the second round of NAFTA talks in Mexico City on Sept. 5, 2017. (Pedro Pardo/AFP/Getty Images) Her task now is not neatly defined, except in the sense that she will be important and she will be dealing with the provinces. The role of intergovernmental affairs does not have a long history in the federal government. It was mostly an afterthought during Stephen Harper’s nine years in power. Justin Trudeau initially gave the portfolio to himself. The most notable occupant of the office was Dion, who held the title for seven years in the aftermath of the 1995 referendum in Quebec. Now, as then, there are deep concerns about national unity. And the Liberals have an agenda that would be much easier to implement with provincial cooperation: on pharmacare, infrastructure, climate change, energy and internal trade. A baggage-free proxy for Trudeau If there is to be a fight over equalization — one that Alberta and Saskatchewan seem to be agitating for — Freeland will be a valuable representative and negotiator. She carries none of Trudeau’s baggage into any debate with western premiers (as she is fond of noting, she is an Albertan by birth) and could offer a new voice to those in Calgary and Regina who long ago stopped listening to the prime minister. She and Trudeau are not unalike: they’re both energetic and ambitious, both huggers. But she is generally more direct in her speech than the prime minister, more naturally plain-spoken. Where Trudeau is smooth and polished, Freeland is slightly quirkier and more loquacious. Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, centre, shares a laugh with fellow Liberal MPs Allan MacEachen, left, and John Munro, right, during voting on amendments to the Constitution in the House of Commons, Ottawa, April 23, 1981. (Andy Clark/Canadian Press) The title of “deputy prime minister” has only slightly more history than “minister of intergovernmental affairs”. The deputy position was created in 1977 when Pierre Trudeau bestowed it upon Allan MacEachen, the veteran minister and skilful House leader who was integral to reviving the first Trudeau government after its near-death experience in 1972. Though her skill set and history are different, Freeland might be regarded as Justin Trudeau’s MacEachen — a vital lieutenant who complements Trudeau’s talents and abilities. She will chair the cabinet committee on the economy and the environment and, as Trudeau’s second-in-command, she would seem to be in line to share some of the responsibility for minding the government’s overall operations. With his own political brand in need of rehabilitation, Trudeau might benefit from letting Freeland — and other senior ministers — carry more of the weight. For all the things the Trudeau government must work on now at this new stage of its life, Freeland could be a significant force. But the experience of the NAFTA process also could end up seeming relatively straightforward by comparison. Attacks from foreign leaders might be easier to brush aside than the challenges of domestic rivals. Until now, Freeland has been Canada’s champion abroad. Now she’ll be simply a Liberal contending with the concerns of Canadians and the second-guesses of Conservatives. As the second-most senior minister, and a possible successor to Trudeau, she also can expect to be an object of new and increased scrutiny. Without Trudeau, Freeland might never have gotten to this point. Without Freeland, Trudeau might be in an even worse place now. At this moment, they need each other to succeed.
Victim of revenge porn sues ex-lover, testing Saskatchewan’s new privacy law | CBC News
A Saskatchewan woman has filed a civil suit against her ex-lover, Daylan Heidel, seeking compensation for harm allegedly inflicted on her when he shared intimate images without her consent.Daylan Heidel, 28, is serving jail time for distributing intimate images of former sexual partners without their consent. (Facebook)A Saskatchewan woman has filed a civil suit against her ex-lover, Daylan Heidel, seeking compensation for harm allegedly inflicted when he shared intimate images without her consent. A publication ban protects the woman’s identity.In a statement of claim filed at Court of Queen’s Bench this week, the woman said that Heidel, her former sexual partner, repeatedly posted intimate images and videos of her on internet porn sites, such as xHamster and Pornhub, without her consent. She also alleges that he “maliciously” published her personal information and location “to cause maximum harm.” She said it was “highly invasive, degrading and morally damaging.” Earlier this month, Heidel pleaded guilty to distributing intimate images of four women — including the plaintiff — without their consent between 2015 and 2019. He was sentenced to 18 months in jail. With time served, he is set to spend another 13 months behind bars. The woman’s lawyer, Sean Sinclair, said he believes this is the first civil suit filed under Saskatchewan’s new “revenge porn” law. A change to the Privacy Act that came into effect in September 2018 allows victims to sue for financial compensation from the person who distributed images without consent. She’s really standing up to her abuser and I think it’s a courageous and difficult thing to do.- Sean Sinclair, lawyer of woman who filed lawsuit “Our client brought the claim forward because her privacy and her trust had been violated by Mr. Heidel sharing these intimate images and videos of her online. And by bringing the action, she’s really standing up to her abuser and I think it’s a courageous and difficult thing to do,” said Sinclair, a lawyer with Robertson Stromberg law firm in Saskatoon. Manitoba was the first province in Canada to pass this kind of law. Last year, a female police officer in Brandon, Man., sued another woman she alleged had distributed intimate images of her. The Saskatchewan woman is claiming she has suffered injury, particularly to her mental well-being, but didn’t specify a monetary amount for damages. One intimate image was allegedly viewed online 1.5 million times. Sinclair said that the woman had a reasonable expectation of privacy, under the Privacy Act, and that it was violated. He’s also seeking damages for his client under tort law, for both the public disclosure of private facts and the intentional infliction of mental distress. Many of the claims in the civil suit align with facts that were agreed to by Heidel and his defence lawyer in the criminal case. Saskatchewan amended its privacy act to allow victims of ‘revenge porn’ to sue the person who shared their intimate image without their consent. (Igor Stevanovic/Shutterstock) For example, Heidel was released on bail after being charged with distributing intimate images without consent and then proceeded to share another image of the woman. During sentencing in the criminal case, Heidel’s lawyer, Ron Piché, said alcohol was a factor in these crimes. “It was a combination of very, very poor judgment while he was under the influence of alcohol, and that’s not a defence and that’s not an excuse,” Piché said outside the courthouse. “But if he starts addressing that part of his life, I think good things will flow.” Heidel stood up in court during his criminal sentencing and said: “I take full responsibility for my actions. By no means am I proud of what happened.” Sobbing, he said that he had ruined a lot of people’s lives. No statement of defence against the lawsuit has been filed yet.About the AuthorBonnie Allen is a senior reporter for CBC News based in Saskatchewan. Before returning to Canada in 2013, Allen spent four years reporting from across Africa, including Libya, South Sudan, Liberia and Sierra Leone. She holds a Master’s in International Human Rights Law from the University of Oxford. @bonnieallenCBC
Pipeline companies find ways to export more oil through existing lines | CBC News
Export pipelines out of Western Canada are running at full capacity and now, operators are finding ways to squeeze more oil through those pipes.Enbridge CEO Al Monaco says the company will soon be able to transport more oil on its pipeline system out of Alberta. (Jeff McIntosh/Canadian Press)Export pipelines out of Western Canada are running at full capacity, but operators are now finding ways to squeeze even more oil through those pipes. The additional pipeline space is desperately needed by oil companies as export constraints have contributed to lower prices and are the main reason the Alberta government continues to restrict how much oil can be produced in the province.As new pipeline projects such TC Energy’s Keystone XL, Enbridge’s Line 3, and the federal government’s Trans Mountain Expansion face delays, the expanded capacity could provide significant relief for the industry. Hundreds of pipes are stacked at a storage yard for the Trans Mountain expansion project, near Hope, B.C. The project is already several years behind schedule, although construction is slowly ramping up as tree clearing and other preparatory work is underway. (Kyle Bakx/CBC) The incremental expansion of pipeline capacity is known in the industry as “debottlenecking.” One way to debottleneck a pipeline is to add more pumping stations to add more force to the pipeline. Companies can also find certain areas of the pipeline where flow is constricted and add a segment of parallel pipe in those locations. In addition, companies can explore ways to improve scheduling and operating of terminals, similar to running a railyard system more efficiently, said Dennis McConaghy, a former senior executive at TransCanada. Significant capacity “This is effectively adding another major pipeline,” said Ian Gillies, the managing director of institutional research at GMP FirstEnergy, during a recent presentation. In total, pipeline companies could add up to 575,000 barrels per day of capacity by the end of 2022, according to Gillies. For comparison, the debottlenecking projects would represent more capacity than Enbridge’s formerly proposed Northern Gateway project (525,000 barrels per day) and almost as large as the Trans Mountain expansion (590,000 barrels per day). “Not all of that has been sanctioned yet and none of it is certain, but we certainly think it will be attractive to producers,” said Gillies in an interview. Pipeline companies are pursuing debottlenecking initiatives to ship more oil on existing pipes. These figures are compiled by GMP FirstEnergy based on information from company disclosures. (GMP FirstEnergy) While some of the projects are a few years away, others are more immediate. In the next two months, Calgary-based Enbridge said it will be able to ship an additional 100,000 barrels per day on its Mainline system out of Alberta. It’s the first step in the company’s plans to expand pipeline capacity and transport more oil. “That extra 100,000 [barrels per day] comes from capacity recovery, and optimization of receipt and delivery windows, as well as the leveraging of Line 3 Canada,” said CEO Al Monaco during a recent conference call with analysts. Construction of the Line 3 replacement project is complete in Canada, although construction is delayed south of the border. When proper approvals are obtained in Minnesota, the American leg of the project is expected to take between six and nine months to build. During the first three months of next year, Enbridge also said it plans to add 50,000 barrels per day of space to its Express pipeline out of Alberta to the U.S. The expansions “require minimal capital, are highly executable, and they generate great return,” said Monaco. “They are also good for customers as they provide much needed low-cost incremental capacity to the best markets.” The additional space is welcome news for companies who have had to scale back production, transport more oil by rail and, in some cases, delay new projects. “The pipeline companies have actually been doing a pretty good job of creating capacity in their pipelines,” said Husky Energy CEO Rob Peabody, in a recent conference call with analysts. Husky Energy president and CEO Rob Peabody addresses the company’s annual general meeting in Calgary in April. He says pipeline companies have been doing a pretty good job of creating capacity. (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press) Calgary-based Plains Midstream announced this summer it would expand its Rangeland system including its pipeline from Alberta to the U.S. The current capacity of 20,000 barrels a day would be expanded to 100,000, subject to commitments from shippers and attaining permits and regulatory approvals. “The expansions will be staged into service during the last half of 2019 with full capacity realized in 2021,” the company said in a statement in July. A spokesperson would not provide an update. If rebuilt, Enbridge’s Line 3 will transport an additional 370,000 b/d of oil compared to current capacity. The Northern Gateway and Energy East projects are no longer being pursued. The amount of extra pipeline volume proposed through debottlenecking shouldn’t be dismissed, said McConaghy, the former TransCanada executive. “That’s a fairly impressive contribution if they can actually implement this and don’t encounter any unexpected regulatory hurdles,” he said.
When you think about artificial intelligence, chances are you think about anthropomorphic robots that can make decisions on their own. But artificial intelligence already has huge impacts in the insurance space. That’s why I’m excited to announce that omni:us founder and CEO Sofie Quidenus-Wahlforss is joining us at TechCrunch Disrupt Berlin.
omni:us is an AI-driven service that can process a ton of documents (including documents with handwriting), classify them and extract relevant data. This way, omni:us customers can use the platform for automated claims handling.
The startup doesn’t want to disrupt existing insurance companies. Instead, it is working with some of the biggest insurance companies out there, such as Allianz, Baloise, AmTrust and Wefox.
Last year, omni:us raised a $22.5 million Series A funding round (€19.7 million) led by Berlin-headquartered VC firm Target Global, followed by MMC Ventures and Talis Capital. Existing investors Unbound and Anthemis, also participated. Up next, omni:us wants to expand to the U.S.
omni:us is well aware that relying more heavily on artificial intelligence can create some issues. Many AI-driven platform act as a sort of black box — you input data and get a result without really knowing why. omni:us says front and center that it wants to make fast, transparent and empathetic claims decisions.
Buy your ticket to Disrupt Berlin to listen to this discussion and many others. The conference will take place on December 11-12.
In addition to panels and fireside chats, like this one, new startups will participate in the Startup Battlefield to compete for the highly coveted Battlefield Cup.
Sofie Quidenus-Wahlforss is an experienced managing director with a strong entrepreneurial spirit. Her strategic skills coupled with a passion for AI led her to create omni:us with the goal of redefining the way people work and how companies are handling their business operations. omni:us is as an MI-based, SaaS solution to massively optimize workflows, and empower businesses to make comprehensive data-driven decisions.
Prior to omni:us, Sofie founded Qidenus Technologies which quickly became the leader in the market of robotics and digitization. Sofie is also the patent owner of the Vshape scanner Technology and winner of several awards including the Woman Technology. omni:us is an Artificial Intelligence as a Service (AIaaS) provider for cognitive claims management. Built on a fully data-driven approach, omni:us is transforming the way insurers interact with their insured parties. It provides all the necessary tools and information to make fast, transparent and empathetic claims decisions, whilst improving operational efficiency and reducing loss adjustment expenses. The company is headquartered in Berlin, with research partners in Barcelona and representations in the UK, France and the United States. For further information visit omnius.com.
G Suite users get more AI writing help, Google Assistant calendar integration and more
Google is launching a number of updates to its G Suite tools today that, among other things, brings to Google Docs an AI grammar checker, smarter spellchecking and, soon, spelling autocorrect. The company is also launching the ability for G Suite users to use the Google Assistant to read out a calendar schedule and, maybe even more importantly, create, cancel and reschedule events. Google is also adding new accessibility features to the Assistant for use during meetings.
In addition, Google yesterday announced that Smart Compose would soon come to G Suite, too.
It’s maybe no surprise that Google is adding its new grammar suggestions to Docs. This feature, after all, is something Google has talked about quite a bit in recent months, after it first introduced it back in 2018. Unlike other grammar tools, Google’s version utilizes a neural network approach to detect potential grammar issues in your text, which is quite similar to the techniques used for building effective machine translation models.
Google is also bringing to Docs the same autocorrect feature it already uses in Gmail. This tool uses Google Search to learn new words over time, but in addition, Google today announced it’s also introducing a new system for offering users more customized spelling suggestions based on your documents. That includes commonly used acronyms that may be part of a company’s internal lingo.
The new Assistant calendaring features are now in beta and pretty self-explanatory. Indeed, it’s somewhat surprising that it took Google so long to offer these abilities. In addition to managing their calendar by voice, the company is now also making it possible to use the Assistant to send messages to meeting attendees and even join calls (“Hey Google, join my next meeting”). Surely that’s a handy feature when you’re once again running late to work and need to join an 8am call from your car while driving down the highway.
LONDON (AP) — Britain’s disgraced Prince Andrew is facing mounting calls to provide information to U.S. law enforcement agencies and to lawyers who are investigating crimes committed by American sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and his associates.Lawyers for Epstein’s victims believe Andrew may have valuable information about the late financier’s sex offenses. When Epstein died in August, he was facing charges of trafficking in underage girls who provided sexual favors to the powerful men visiting his luxury properties in the Caribbean, and elsewhere.The 59-year-old prince stepped down from his royal duties on Wednesday with the approval of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, after a weekend interview in which he tried to justify his well-documented ties to Epstein backfired spectacularly.Charities and British educational institutions that had fundraising ties to Andrew — the royal website lists dozens — had quickly begun to question if he could actually hurt their brands.Andrew still may face legal questioning about allegations that he had sex with a girl provided by Epstein when she was just 17, a charge he has denied and that she insists is true.U.S. attorney Gloria Allred, who represents some of the women abused by Epstein, said Thursday that Andrew should contact American authorities “without conditions and without delay.”Andrew announced in his statement Wednesday that he is “willing to help any appropriate law enforcement agency with their investigations, if required” but did not volunteer to provide evidence.It is not clear if U.S. authorities are investigating Andrew for any possible wrongdoing. Many of the court papers related to the Epstein case are still sealed and unavailable to the public.British legal experts, meanwhile, are divided over whether Andrew enjoys immunity from prosecution as a senior British royal.Some say Andrew should to reach out to U.S. officials in an effort clear his name rather than wait for a subpoena or legal action that would force him to testify, which could happen if U.S. officials working through the U.S. Embassy in London ask Britain’s Foreign Office to secure Andrew’s cooperation.British lawyer Mark Stephens said Andrew will eventually have to testify under oath to answer Virginia Giuffre’s charge that she was encouraged to have sex with Andrew three times when she was 17.“The question is where he answers,” Stephens said. “There is no reason why the FBI or indeed the lawyers for Virginia Roberts (Giuffre’s name before she was married) couldn’t come to the U.K. to take his evidence.”Stephens said it was doubtful that Andrew could provide useful evidence on other cases related to Epstein’s crimes, which have led to a number of civil suits against his estate.“There are much better witnesses,” he said. “What could he say that couldn’t be said by witnesses that went more frequently, the staff at any of his homes for example, and the people close to him, the fixers? Those are the people with really probative evidence.”Epstein, 66, died on Aug. 10 while in jail on sex-trafficking charges in what New York’s medical examiner ruled was a suicide.France also has an open investigation into sex claims against an Epstein associate.In his interview with the BBC on Saturday, Andrew denied having sex with Giuffre, saying he didn’t remember meeting her despite a published photograph that appears to show the prince with his arm around her.He said he regrets not cutting ties with Epstein after the financier pleaded guilty in 2008 to soliciting a minor for prostitution in Florida under a deal that required him to serve 13 months in jail and register as a sex offender.But the prince notably failed to express any sympathy for Epstein’s victims. And he defended his previous friendship with the billionaire investor because of the contacts it provided when Andrew was preparing for a role as Britain’s special trade representative.The scandal over Andrew’s ties to Epstein has blossomed into the biggest challenge for Britain’s monarchy since the 1997 death of Princess Diana, when the queen was accused of appearing aloof and out of touch amid an outpouring of national mourning for the popular royal with the common touch.Andrew’s decision to withdraw from public life came after he consulted his mother, the 93-year-old monarch, who has not commented on the matter.Andrew is the queen’s third child and second son. His older brother, Prince Charles, is heir to the throne, but Andrew is eighth in line, after Charles’ sons and grandchildren.Joe Little, managing editor of Majesty magazine, said it’s possible that Andrew may be rehabilitated in the future if he is able to establish his innocence beyond any shadow of doubt.“Clearly this has to take a legal route, some sort of consultation with the FBI or somebody in an attempt to clear his name,” Little said. “It remains to be seen if that will ever be possible, and that process could take a very long time.”He said in the meantime Andrew will continue to have a place at family events like the queen’s Christmas celebrations at her rural retreat in Sandringham. He does not expect Andrew to be strapped for cash, because the prince is expected to continue to receive funds from the queen’s private accounts.“It’s unprecedented,” Little said of the scandal. “It’s a big deal for somebody so close to the queen to be humiliated and disgraced in such a way.”Andrew has served as a patron or been involved in dozens of charitable roles that will now be eliminated as he begins a new phase without royal duties. He is also expected to give up his ceremonial military posts.Buckingham Palace said Andrew will continue to work on his flagship Pitch@Palace project but will do so on a private basis without financial help from the palace.Andrew’s woes have provided plenty of fodder for Republic, an anti-monarchist movement that wants Britain to elect its head of state rather than put the monarch in that role.“This whole episode shows why the monarchy is not fit for purpose,” said Graham Smith, the leader of Republic. “Andrew is the worst example of a long tradition of bad behavior. We need a democratic alternative to the monarchy sooner rather than later.”___ Jill Lawless contributed to this report.
Trump impeachment hearings, ‘unicorn’ meteor storm: 5 things to know Thursday – USA TODAY
Editors, USA TODAY
Published 3:36 a.m. ET Nov. 21, 2019 | Updated 6:20 a.m. ET Nov. 21, 2019CLOSETrump impeachment inquiry: Two more to testifyTwo more witnesses are scheduled to testify Thursday in the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump’s dealing with Ukraine. The House Intelligence Committee will hear from Fiona Hill, the former National Security Council senior director for Europe and Russia, and David Holmes, a political counselor at the U.S Embassy in Kyiv. Hill previously told inquiry committees that National Security Adviser John Bolton was angry over efforts to arrange a White House meeting between Trump and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky in exchange for political investigations. Holmes, who overheard a phone conversation on July 26 between Trump and the U.S. ambassador Gordon Sondland, previously told lawmakers that he heard Trump ask: “‘So, he’s gonna do the investigation?’ Sondland replied that ‘he’s gonna do it,'” CLOSE
The impeachment inquiry into Trump and Ukraine revealed new information on Wednesday, and some heated exchanges during the hearings.
Hannah Gaber, USA TODAYPrefer to listen? Check out the 5 things podcast below and subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts:’American Idol’ alum Antonella Barba set for sentencingAntonella Barba, who became a sensation on “American Idol” in 2007, is scheduled to be sentenced to federal prison Thursday after her July conviction on drug charges. Barba, now 32, made it to the top 16 of ‘Idol’ at age 19. But after the show, she suffered from bipolar disorder and other mental health problems, according to court records. In October 2018, authorities in Norfolk, Virginia, found nearly two pounds of the synthetic opioid fentanyl in her car. Prosecutors are seeking a prison term of between 57 and 71 months – nearly five years. Barba’s attorneys are calling for a shorter sentence.CLOSE
Former “American Idol” and “Fear Factor” contestant Antonella Barba has pleaded guilty to possession of at least 400 grams of fentanyl with intent to sell. Veuer’s Mercer Morrison has the story.
Buzz60A rare but spectacular ‘unicorn’ meteor storm is possibleA rare celestial treat awaits stargazers late Thursday evening as a full-fledged “unicorn” meteor storm could appear in the night sky, astronomers said. Several meteors per minute are possible at the height of the storm, around 11:50 p.m. EST Thursday, according to the meteor society. The best viewing conditions for the meteor shower are probably across the western and north-central USA, where there are only patchy clouds in the forecast. There is no guarantee that such an event will unfold, but meteor scientists say there is a “good chance” to see the first Alpha Monocerotids meteor storm since 1995, when there were about 400 meteors per hour, AccuWeather reported. CLOSE
This week’s upcoming meteor shower, the Alpha Monocerotids, could produce a storm of hundreds of meteors. Its name is Greek for “unicorn.”
AccuweatherAbout the NFL playoff picture …It’s certainly becoming clearer by the week. Thursday night’s game (Fox and NFL Network, 8:25 p.m. ET) between the Indianapolis Colts and Houston Texans kicks off Week 12 and is huge for both teams that currently sit tied atop the AFC South. The Colts won Round 1 against the Texans in Week 7, so a victory in Houston on Thursday night would give Indy a huge edge for the division title. Also, don’t forget to set your fantasy football lineup. AutoplayShow ThumbnailsShow CaptionsLast SlideNext SlideColorado school district to close all schools amid illness outbreakBeginning Thursday, a Colorado school district dealing with an “unprecedented spread of illness” will close the doors to every one of its more than 40 schools. Mesa County Valley School District 51 announced Wednesday all of its schools will be closed until after Thanksgiving break is over on Dec. 2. A statement quotes district nursing coordinator Tanya Marvin as saying a virus that is “extremely contagious and spreading quickly across our schools.” Later in the statement, Marvin spoke of “a second, related virus that is affecting students.” and that “the combination of the two has created an unprecedented spread of illness.” The district, according to its website, serves more than 22,000 students and has 2,785 teachers and staff. Potentially helpful products: 15 things you need to survive cold and flu seasonCLOSE
During flu season, staying healthy can be challenging, especially if your coworkers are getting sick left and right.
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3:28 AM ETOhm YoungmisukESPN Staff Writer CloseOhm Youngmisuk has covered the Giants, Jets and the NFL since 2006. Prior to that, he covered the Nets, Knicks and the NBA for nearly a decade. He joined ESPNNewYork.com after working at the New York Daily News for almost 12 years and is a graduate of Michigan State University.
Follow him on Twitter » Ohm’s chat archive »LOS ANGELES — The LA Clippers had to wait 138 days, but they finally got to see what life is like with Kawhi Leonard and Paul George on the court together.”That s— was fun as hell,” an amped Patrick Beverley said coming off the court.The Clippers needed to overcome a sloppy game that went to overtime, but they got the first victory with their two prized All-Stars and handed the Boston Celtics only their third loss of the season, 107-104.George had 25 points, eight assists and five rebounds and hit the go-ahead 3-pointer for the second game in a row. Leonard, playing for the first time following a three-game absence due to a bruised left knee, shot 7-for-20 but provided the game-clinching block on a Kemba Walker 3 at the buzzer. Leonard registered 17 points, six rebounds and one arena-shaking dunk over Daniel Theis.Defensively, the two-way stars helped the Clippers (10-5) live up to the preseason hype of being a smothering unit, as Boston (11-3) managed to shoot just 39.4% from the field, including 12-of-45 (26.7%) from behind the arc.”It was fun to see what this team can look like on the defensive end,” George said, “and offensively, it was fun to see how we can play off each other.”The fact of the matter is we are going to have growing pains, and I think the most positive thing is we understood that. Nobody was pointing fingers or dropping their heads in huddles. … At no point was this team ever dysfunctional.”The Clippers had just one shootaround rehearsal with Leonard and George walking through together in the starting unit, and that came on the morning of Wednesday’s tilt. With George having returned Nov. 14 following surgeries on both shoulders and Leonard sitting the past three games, the Clippers haven’t had any practice time with the two in their starting lineup.It showed, as the Clippers turned the ball over 23 times, with Leonard and George combining for 10 of them as the Celtics sent traps at the duo.But what the other Clippers players learned was just how open they would be playing alongside the two stars. Lou Williams scored 27 points, while Beverley was left alone on several shots, drilling four 3-pointers, two of them coming in overtime. Beverley finished with 14 points, 16 rebounds and seven assists.”I remember I was telling [coach] Doc [Rivers], I came off one pick-and-roll, I was so open, I didn’t know what to do,” Beverley said. “They get so much attention. It’s crazy.”Leonard and George showed flashes of why that defensive attention is deserved. With just over three minutes left in regulation, Leonard blew by Marcus Smart before ascending and throwing down a vicious one-handed dunk over the 6-foot-8 Theis.”The fact of the matter is we are going to have growing pains, and I think the most positive thing is we understood that. Nobody was pointing fingers or dropping their heads in huddles. … At no point was this team ever dysfunctional.”
Clippers forward Paul George
The dunk already rivals the one LeBron James had at Staples Center on Nov. 15 when he posterized Sacramento’s Nemanja Bjelica in a Lakers win over the Kings.”It’s crazy,” Clippers center Ivica Zubac said of the dunk. “… He just jumped over him.”That dunk and the game-ending block on Walker are reasons why George told ESPN that he has wanted to play alongside Leonard since 2017, when he asked the Indiana Pacers to trade him to San Antonio. The Spurs didn’t have enough assets to strike a deal, according to league sources.”I mean, that’s the Finals MVP, man,” George said of Leonard. “He knows when it’s time to take over. He’s been there and he’s won championships with multiple ballclubs, so he knows how to stomp and put that foot on opponents’ neck, and that’s what you saw him do tonight.”It wasn’t pretty for much of the game as the Clippers stumbled over themselves at times. Rivers felt the players were trying too hard to share the ball. Leonard missed 7 of 10 3-point attempts, and he tried to get some shots off before traps came. George lost his footing and fell when Jayson Tatum (30 points) drilled a step-back 3-pointer to tie the game at 97 and force overtime.”It’s pretty much just finding each other’s spots and knowing the plays,” Leonard said of what the Clippers have to improve on. “It’s still tough. We are both kind of on a minute restriction; hard to get into a flow. But just knowing plays and each other’s spots and the language on the defensive end [will help]. Repetition is what we need right now.”Leonard and George each logged 37 minutes, earning this win but needing all the help they got from their teammates.”Load management definitely wasn’t in effect tonight,” George cracked.”We need everybody,” he added. “This is not a two-headed monster.”
Little-known protein appears to play important role in obesity and metabolic disease – Medical Xpress
Healthy brown fat cells (shown in green) require ample amounts of a molecule called heme, which enables the body to metabolize food properly. The Saez laboratory at Scripps Research has described how this vital, but very toxic, metabolite is safely transported inside cells. Credit: Scripps Research
With unexpected findings about a protein that’s highly expressed in fat tissue, scientists at Scripps Research have opened the door to critical new understandings about obesity and metabolism. Their discovery, which appears Nov. 20 in the journal Nature, could lead to new approaches for addressing obesity and potentially many other diseases.
The signaling protein, known as PGRMC2, had not been extensively studied in the past. Short for “progesterone receptor membrane component 2,” it had been detected in the uterus, liver and several areas of the body. But the lab of Enrique Saez, Ph.D., saw that it was most abundant in fat tissue—particularly in brown fat, which turns food into heat to maintain body temperature—and became interested in its function there.
An important role: heme’s travel guide
The team built on their recent discovery that PGRMC2 binds to and releases an essential molecule called heme. Recently in the spotlight for its role in providing flavor to the plant-based Impossible Burger, heme holds a much more significant role in the body. The iron-containing molecule travels within cells to enable crucial life processes such as cellular respiration, cell proliferation, cell death and circadian rhythms.
Using biochemical techniques and advanced assays in cells, Saez and his team found that PGRMC2 is a “chaperone” of heme, encapsulating the molecule and transporting it from the cell’s mitochondria, where heme is created, to the nucleus, where it helps carry out important functions. Without a protective chaperone, heme would react with—and destroy—everything in its path.
“Heme’s significance to many cellular processes has been known for a long time,” says Saez, associate professor in the Department of Molecular Medicine. “But we also knew that heme is toxic to the cellular materials around it and would need some sort of shuttling pathway. Until now, there were many hypotheses, but the proteins that traffic heme had not been identified.”
An innovative approach for obesity?
Through studies involving mice, the scientists established PGRMC2 as the first intracellular heme chaperone to be described in mammals. However, they didn’t stop there; they sought to find out what happens in the body if this protein doesn’t exist to transport heme.
And that’s how they made their next big discovery: Without PGRMC2 present in their fat tissues, mice that were fed a high-fat diet became intolerant to glucose and insensitive to insulin—hallmark symptoms of diabetes and other metabolic diseases. By contrast, obese-diabetic mice that were treated with a drug to activate PGRMC2 function showed a substantial improvement of symptoms associated with diabetes.
“We saw the mice get better, becoming more glucose tolerant and less resistant to insulin,” Saez says. “Our findings suggest that modulating PGRMC2 activity in fat tissue may be a useful pharmacological approach for reverting some of the serious health effects of obesity.”
The team also evaluated how the protein changes other functions of brown and white fat, says the study’s lead author, Andrea Galmozzi, Ph.D. “The first surprise finding was that the brown fat looked white,” he says.
Brown fat, which is normally the highest in heme content, is often considered the “good fat.” One of its key roles is to generate heat to maintain body temperature. Among mice that were unable to produce PGRMC2 in their fat tissues, temperatures dropped quickly when placed in a cold environment.
“Even though their brain was sending the right signals to turn on the heat, the mice were unable to defend their body temperature,” Galmozzi says. “Without heme, you get mitochondrial dysfunction and the cell has no means to burn energy to generate heat.”
Saez believes it’s possible that activating the heme chaperone in other organs—including the liver, where a large amount of heme is made—could help mitigate the effects of other metabolic disorders such as non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), which is a major cause of liver transplantation today.
“We’re curious to know whether this protein performs the same role in other tissues where we see defects in heme that result in disease” Saez says.
Authors of the study, “PGRMC2 is an intracellular haem chaperone critical for adipocyte function,” include Andrea Galmozzi, Bernard P. Kok, Arthur S. Kim, J. Rafael Montenegro-Burke, Jae Y. Lee, Roberto Spreafico, Sarah Mosure, Verena Albert, Rigo Cintron-Colon, Cristina Godio, William R. Webb, Bruno Conti1, Laura A. Solt, Douglas Kojetin, Christopher G. Parker, John J. Peluso, James K. Pru, Gary Siuzdak, Benjamin F. Cravatt and Enrique Saez.
More information:
Andrea Galmozzi et al, PGRMC2 is an intracellular haem chaperone critical for adipocyte function, Nature (2019). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-019-1774-2
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Little-known protein appears to play important role in obesity and metabolic disease (2019, November 21)
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