The war between Iran and Iraq has dragged for more than 17 months. There have been some slight shifts in the tactical position in the last six weeks, mostly in Iran's favor. But victory remains distant for either side despite the extravagant claims made by the Governments in Teheran and Baghdad.

The politicization of the war through the involvement of other nations in the region has increased, overshadowing the action along the battlefront.

King Hussein of Jordan is sending volunteers to aid the Iraqi forces. Syria, which resents this assistance, is making threatening noises because President Hafez al-Assad is convinced that all Arab military resources should be concentrated agai nst Israel. The countries of the Persian Gulf, notably Kuwait and Bahrain, are upset by what they regard as the growing influence of Shiite Islamic minorities in their countries.

As it has been since late 1980 the combat has become an affair of raids on outposts marked by the use of heavy artillery and little air power. Iran Recaptures Border Position

Late last year, the Iranians began launching relatively small-scale attacks against positions seized by the Iraqis earlier. They recaptured Bustan and said the occupation of the frontier position eased Iraqi pressure on the Iranian-held towns of Ahwaz and Susangird. But the expected Iranian sorties from Ahwaz and Susangird did not devel op because, a NATO analyst said, the Iraqis were supported by concentrations of heavy guns.

The Iranians are also relying on artillery rather than their dwindling stock of bombers to harass Iraqi truck convoys moving to Khurramshahr, the Iranian oil port that the invaders hold, and to Iraqi positions outside the refinery center of Abadan.

There is no evidence that Iran's shelling has cut the Iraqi supply lines. Nor is there any indication that the Iraqis, who have more infantry on the front, have tried to attack the Iranian artillery positions. The Iraqis, who have more tanks deployed in forward positions, have used them almost entirely as artillery. According to one Western analyst, most of the Iraqi tanks have been dug in for the last six months.

The Iranians have made some progress in the north in the region of Qasr-i-Shirin. Although their objective was to link forces with the Kurds fighting in the north, they apparently failed to win major support among the Kurds. Kurds Oppose Iran and Iraq

The reason, according to a British analyst with long experience in the area, is that the fiercely independent Kurds look on the Iranians as well as the Iraqis as enemies. They are willing to take what military help they can get but at this indecisive stage of the war they are unlikely to throw their weight on either side.

The Kurds, the source predicted, will wait until one side is winning and then back the losing side. Of all the people in the area, he said, the Kurds are the ones who hope the most for a long and debilitating war that would further their aspirations for independence.

In this uncertain military situation the advent of Jordanian volunteers is likely to have little effect. The Jordanian Army is regarded as the best disciplined of Arab forces, but King Hussein is not committing the army to the war.

The character of the forces on both sides has altered since the outset of the war. The Iraqis, better trained and equipped, fought well in the opening drives on Khurramshahr, Abadan, Ahwaz and Susangird. Then, analysts reported, they appeared willing to consolidate their gains and invite Iranian counterattacks. Until late last year, these were costly and ineffective. Iraq Unwilling to Risk Army

Analysts believe two situations account for the present passivity of the Iraqi forces. The first is President Saddam Hussein's unwillingness to risk more of his army, which his Government relies on for stability. The second is the presence of many Shiite Moslems in the Iraqi ranks. They are regarded as vulnerable to Iranian propaganda appeals for them to turn against their officers and refuse to fight Iran's Shiites.

In the opening months of the war, the Iranian Army and Air Force clearly suffered from internal difficulties due, in part, to mixed feelings toward the revolutionary Government in Teheran. Analysts believe that the revolutionary guards, fanatically loyal to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, were sent to the front primarily to police the regular forces.

The guards have now become the storm battalions of the Iranian forces, and there is some evidence that the Iranian Army is a more stable force than it was six months ago.

The Iraqis still hold the Iranian side of the Shatt al Arab, their primary military objective. While they maintain such a foothold on the waterway that separates the two countries at the head of the Persian Gulf, it is difficult to see Teheran abandoning the war for a political settlement sanctioning Iraqi territorial gains. An 'All Arms' Offensive

American analysts believe that any drastic change in the military situation can be accomplished only if one side or the other is prepared to fight an ''all arms'' offensive. This would mean the use not only of tanks, guns and infantry but also of warplanes.

In the air, the Iraqis retain a decisiv e ad vantage in numbers and quality of pilots. Western analysts believe t hat Iraq still has about300 first-line aircraft operational while Ira nian strength has been reduced to about 75 combat aircraft, most of them American F-4's. Iran's 75 F-14's have been reduced to less th an a dozen.

The military future, under present conditions, does not promise any major operations by either side. Analysts expect a continuation of the present tactics of minor raids, more by the Iranians than the Iraqis, intermittent heavy shelling and intense political activity.


WARSAW, Jan. 22— In a major address to Parliament on Monday, Gen. Wojciech Jaruzelski is expected to present programs for economic and eventual political changes, but the Polish leader is not likely to end martial law, well-informed Polish sources said today.

They said the general, who heads the Government, the Communist Party and the Military Council of National Salvation, is also likely to call for a ''social dialogue'' with all responsible, patriotic forces. The formulation excludes Solidarity leaders, most of whom are in detention and who are regarded as extremists by the Government.

The speech is regarded as General Jaruzelski's most important since martial law was imposed Dec. 13. It comes at a time when the military authorities are under pressure to present a program to lead the country out of crisis.

Sources within the Government said they believed that the military authorities would find it impossible to lift martial law before price increases take effect Feb. 1 on coal, electrictity and basic foods, which will go up between 200 and 400 percent. The Government is concerned that the increases could lead to protests, as they have in the past.

''Without having any way of settling trade union issues with the workers and then introducing the price increases as a new element of social tension, it would be suicidal to lift martial law right away,'' a well-informed Polish source said.

Instead, the sources said, General Jaruzelski might set a general timetable for restoring civilians to power and might ease some of the martial-law restrictions. Government representatives told Roman Catholic Church officials this week that the general would announce some relaxation of the restrictions. Poles are still unable to travel freely, to telephone outside their own cities or to be on the streets after the night-time curfew. News Conference Called

The nature of the two-day session of Parliament next week was the subject of a news conference today in the ornate Parliament building. The legislature's Marshal, or Speaker, Stanislaw Gucwa, and three other members, who called the news conference, said Parliament would in effect provide legal underpinning for the declaration of martial law and accompanying decrees restricting civil liberties.

The officials insisted that the Council of State, Poland's executive body, had powers to declare a ''state of war,'' as was done in the late hours of Dec. 12, but they acknowledged that there was a question about the legality of passing such decrees while Parliament was in session. The constitutional doubt would be removed, they indicated, if Parliament approved such a law and dated it retroactively to Dec. 12.

They fended off many questions from Western reporters about the legality of the planned action and of the declaration of martial law. Finally, apparently in exasperation, Prof. Witold Zakrzewski, chairman of the legislative committee, said the situation had been one of ''higher necessity.'' Mr. Zakrzewski was asked for an opinion on the legality of holding Le ch Walesa, Solidarity's leader, in custody, considering that Mr. Wa lesa was not interned under martial law provisions or detained for a maximum of 48 hours, as provided for in the Constitution. He said he was not in a position to offer an opinion. But another Member of Pa rliament, Andrzej Werblan, said the internment decree permitted va rious kinds and degrees of confinement, including house arrest. Walesa's Wife Files Complaint

Mr. Walesa's wife, Danuta, has filed a legal complaint with the prosecutor in the Gdansk region, asserting that her husband's detention is not legal. The authorities had ''decisively denied'' that he had been interned under martial law, she said, and he was not held under constitutional detention. ''It is obvious that depriving Lech Walesa of freedom took place in violation of existing law,'' she said.

A continuing flow of underground leaflets from Solidarity organizations around the country included a ''letter'' to Mr. Walesa from the southern city of Cracow that expressed admiration and support for his reported refusal to compromise with the authorities.

''We believe it is not time for compromises extracted by force,'' it said. ''The only conditions for talks are lifting of the state of w ar and freei ng all those imprisoned. We admire your stance and want to fortify yo u in it.''

At least eight Solidarity information bulletins are reaching Warsaw on a regular basis. Strike Organizers Sentenced

Meanwhile, verdicts were handed down Thursday in the trial of workers at the Ursus tractor factory who were accused of organizing a strike to protest martial law. Three of the four workers were given prison sentences ranging from three to three and a half years. A fourth was given a suspended two-year sentence. The case of a fifth defendant, Jan Jozef Lipski, a well-known writer and political activist, was dropped because he is ill with a heart condition.

In Katowice, three other workers received sentences ranging from three to three and a half years for organizing a strike at the Tychy car factory.

In what an official described as another sign of a return to normalcy, the Foreign Ministry will soon permit Western ambassadors to telephone their home capitals. But the calls will be routed through operators and will not be made by direct dialing, thus giving the Government the ability to terminate the conversations at any momemnt.

Illustrations: photo of flood aid supplies at Krosno,Poland


Uber and Lyft are among the tech companies pushing back at proposed rules by New York City’s Taxi and Limousine Commission to regulate car service apps. Uber says the rules break federal law because taxi commissions don’t have the authority to regulate technology; Lyft has singled out provisions on distracted driving.

But while both companies argue that the commission could damage innovation, Lyft is also concerned it will actually make Uber too strong to compete with.

It’s the latest round in the car service apps vs. the world. Uber, Lyft, and a tech trade group representing Google, Twitter, and Facebook will be among those testifying at a hearing on the rules Thursday morning. The tech industry seems to agree that they shouldn’t be passed, but Uber and Lyft are pushing subtly differing agendas, mostly because Lyft thinks the rules as they stand would lock its rival into the top spot in the country’s largest city.

Uber, whose surge has inspired hatred in local taxi regulators far and wide, has been under the Taxi and Limousine Commission’s authority since it opened up in New York in 2011, because it operates as a for-hire vehicle base station. It has always enjoyed an atmosphere of relative peace in New York. Lyft has had more problems, because it has sought to use non-professional drivers. It has operated in the city for less than a year after winning some adaptations to local rules. Still, it’s not thrilled with the terms it has had to conform to. Now both companies are livid that regulators are changing the rules again.

The commission says it has to revise the rules because of the explosion of app-based car services. According to the TLC, 42 percent of for-hire vehicles in New York can now be booked through a smartphone app, and passengers can choose from as many as 75 competing apps. Compliance with TLC rules varies from app to app, prompting the commission to write a new layer of regulation specifically for the apps used to call for cars.

The proposal has caused a furor in the technology industry, mostly because it requires companies to submit changes to their apps to the commission for approval, and pay a $1,000 fee each time they do. In an open letter sent earlier this month, the Internet Association, a trade group representing Silicon Valley’s largest companies, decried the idea that a local government would demand to review changes to computer code. Uber says no local government has ever passed such a rule.

The commission has been playing down the significance of the requirements for updates to software, saying it simply formalizes existing industry practices. “Logically the rules require that material changes to driver and passenger interfaces be previewed with the TLC to ensure rules compliance and avoid customer confusion and unintended violations,” said TLC chairwoman Meera Joshi in a statement. “Under the proposed rules, software review is simply not required or necessary.”

The TLC says it has invited Uber and other companies to submit language that alleviates its concerns. Uber’s idea, submitted in written testimony Thursday morning, is to scrap the rules altogether. It argues that any attempt to regulate transportation-related apps is a violation of the federal Telecommunications Act. The commission didn’t respond to a request for comment on this claim.

“Instead of regulating mobile applications, the TLC should stay within its jurisdiction and expertise by regulating the for-hire vehicle base stations that use mobile applications,” said Krishna Juvvadi and G. Scott Binnings, attorneys for Uber, in prepared comments. Uber is organizing a rally outside the hearing.

The tech industry has raised various other concerns, including restrictions on how companies like Uber can operate at airports and the broad manner in which companies can be held accountable for the misdeeds of their drivers. The prevailing opinion in the industry seems to be that the TLC has felt pressure to rein in technology companies, and that its proposed solution is rife with unintended consequences, rather than any real antipathy toward their business.

Lyft has focused on a specific part of the rules governing distracted driving. The TLC wants to limit to one the number of mobile devices that drivers can use simultaneously to search for fares. Aside from the equipment provided by the base that a driver works with, they could use only one mobile device to find fares. A prohibition on using more than one smartphone while operating a vehicle might seem uncontroversial, but Lyft questions the very idea that public safety is at issue here. It dismisses concerns about the dangers of drivers using multiple devices at once as “hypothetical,” and says that the TLC is threatening to undermine the entire industry.

“The result could be drastic and predictable — a monopoly,” said Diana Dellamere, a public policy manager for Lyft, in prepared remarks for the hearing. “Drivers will have no realistic choice between the one dominant app dispatch company and others. They must choose the service that will keep them most busy. And that company is incentivized to game the system by supplying the maximum number of devices allowed in the car, thereby owning the market.”

Of course, a single smartphone can be used to toggle back and forth between apps, and drivers would be free to switch services once the one they were using stopped serving them well. Still, Lyft appears to be concerned that this would relegate it to second place forever. It doesn’t mention Uber by name. Uber doesn’t mention the issue at all.

Summary: New York City’s Taxi and Limousine Commission has proposed rules to regulate car service apps.


The company that operates Faneuil Hall Marketplace is learning just how tough it can be to tinker with history.

Last year, Ashkenazy Acquisition Corp. unveiled its plan for the iconic Boston property: a dramatic makeover designed to make it more of a year-round destination and a magnet for a broader array of visitors.

But those plans are running into resistance as a number of tenants — many of them waiting for new leases and worried about their future — refuse to buy into Ashkenazy’s vision. They now have an important ally: the woman who helped redesign the three-building complex in the 1970s.

Rather than making the market more accessible, Ashkenazy’s critics fear the changes will turn the quirky labyrinth of vendors, visited by some 20 million people each year, into another high-end mall geared to rich shoppers.

The battle over Faneuil Hall’s future came to a crucial point last week at the Boston Landmarks Commission. The critics walked away with two key victories. The commission denied plans for two new glass enclosures alongside the marketplace’s central Quincy Market building and delayed for 90 days the demolition of a vacant greenhouse on the edge of the property.

“The public realm is going away with these changes,” said Jane Thompson, a Boston designer who helped create the modern Faneuil Hall Marketplace along with her late husband, architect Benjamin Thompson. “This will not be a market anymore. This will not be a landmark anymore.”

Even Ashkenazy’s critics would agree with the New York company on this point: The nearly 350,000-square-foot complex has grown a bit tired over the four decades since its 1970s rebirth, and could use some rejuvenation. But the merchants worry their concerns aren’t being considered by Ashkenazy, and that many will be kicked out for good.

Kayana Szymczak for the Boston Globe

“We could use the upgrades,” said Carol Troxell, co-owner of four stores at the marketplace and president of the Faneuil Hall Marketplace Merchants Association. “We just want to make sure the local merchants have a place here. . . . We are just worried there would be too many national [chains] coming.”

Ashkenazy says it plans to pump $40 million to $60 million into renovations over several years. The company has won Landmarks Commission approvals to replace many of the cobblestones with flat pieces of granite, to make the ground easier for walking, and to install an outdoor deck in front of the South Market building. And construction is underway on a new ground-floor entrance at Quincy Market to draw shoppers into a second-floor space that will be occupied by the Japanese apparel retailer Uniqlo.

Barry Lustig, executive vice president at Ashkenazy, said he doesn’t want to mess with what makes Faneuil Hall special. He said the amount of space dedicated to local businesses would decrease only minimally, during the next year or two. And he said he has no plans to raise the rents on the tenants that remain, at least not until a substantive growth in foot traffic can justify an increase.

“It would be foolish of us to remove what makes Faneuil Hall important today, which are the local merchants, the local flair,” Lustig said.

There are big plans in the works for the property. A reworking of the Quincy Market food court. A new glass-enclosed store — possibly a Sephora — replacing the existing greenhouse. A nearly 200-room hotel in the South Market building.

“We see them gentrifying the marketplace, so as to accommodate only the wealthy,” said Philip Loheed, an architect who worked with the Thompsons to design the marketplace in the 1970s.

But there are more city approvals needed. Ashkenazy doesn’t own the marketplace property. Instead, the company has owned a master lease with the city since 2011. Partly because of the city’s ownership, the Boston Redevelopment Authority plans to scrutinize Ashkenazy’s master plan.

BRA officials say they want to referee some sort of truce between Ashkenazy and the unhappy tenants, many of whom had complaints under the previous management company, as well. Ashkenazy will also be asked to defend its plan for the property at the authority’s July 16 meeting.

The Landmarks Commission has been approving these changes on a piecemeal basis. But the BRA wants to review everything at once.

Mayor Martin J. Walsh “is committed to preserving the character and historic nature of Faneuil Hall, while creating an area that is accessible and attractive for both Boston’s residents and visitors and continues to fuel Boston’s tourism sector,” spokeswoman Bonnie McGilpin said.

A new retail pavilion will replace the flower kiosk next to Quincy Market.

Boston architect Howard Elkus said that his firm, Elkus Manfredi Architects, deliberately designed flexible new outbuildings that could provide an open-air experience in the warmer months and be enclosed with glass during the colder months. The marketplace suffers in the winter, he said, as tourism traffic slows.

“The whole thought is to try and change that equation and to really try to make this entire place a year-round, active ingredient of Boston’s daily life,” Elkus said.

But Thomas Kershaw, owner of the Cheers bar and store at Quincy Market, isn’t pleased with what he’s seen so far. One of the glass structures that was denied by the Landmarks Commission would have blocked views of his restaurant, and construction on the Uniqlo entrance has disrupted traffic to his souvenir store.

“These architects are one thing,” Kershaw said. “[But] people like myself who run businesses . . . down there have a different perspective of what’s going on there.”

Jeff Allen has sold pewter goods made by local artisans at the marketplace for 36 years. But he’s not sure how much longer that will last: The Boston Pewter Co. owner’s lease expired in March. The new management has yet to grant him another lease, and he’s renting on a month-to-month basis, he said.

Harry Haralabatos, the owner of Aris BBQ in Quincy Market, also worries about the type of marketplace that Faneuil Hall will become under Ashkenazy’s continued management.

“They’re overzealous with what they want to do,” he said. “They’re just tearing things down and making it another Mall of America.”

Patrons passed by the construction area inside the Faneuil Hall Marketplace.


US president Barack Obama has introduced new sanctions to combat cyber attacks. (Getty)

President Barack Obama has authorised imposing economic sanctions on US and foreign hackers, allowing the government to block the assets of persons making cyber attacks on US targets.

North Korean hackers targeted Sony over the controversial James Franco and Seth Rogen film The Interview. (Supplied)

"Cyber threats pose one of the most serious economic and national security challenges to the United States, and my administration is pursuing a comprehensive strategy to confront them," Mr Obama said as he issued the executive order today.

Under the order, the US Treasury would be able to freeze or block assets of those involved in attacks on "critical" US computer networks, such as banking systems or electric power, or the theft of data such as credit card information.

"Cyber intrusions and attacks - many of them originating overseas - are targeting our businesses, stealing trade secrets, and costing American jobs. Iranian hackers have targeted American banks," Mr Obama said in a blog post issued by the White House.

"The North Korean cyber attack on Sony Pictures destroyed data and disabled thousands of computers. In other recent breaches that have made headlines, more than 100 million Americans had their personal data compromised, including credit card and medical information."

Mr Obama said he would "employ the authorities of my office and this administration, including diplomatic engagement, trade policy tools, and law enforcement mechanisms, to counter the threat posed by malicious cyber actors."

Do you have any news photos or videos?

Summary: President Barack Obama has authorised the US government to block the assets of persons involved in cyber attacks on US targets.


I have several questions. Why, seven years after we got ourselves in such trouble, are there no serious new regulations to prevent a banking meltdown? Why would Target fail to properly encrypt its customer data, which is actually its greatest corporate asset? Why would François Hollande go see his girlfriend on a scooter, where he could be photographed on the way to his beauté call?

After much cogitation, I believe I may have the inkling of an answer to these questions.

I’ll start here: One day, when I was green as a fresh cucumber, I attended a high-level klatch of senior officers discussing the completion of a merger. There was a lot still to do. Road shows in support of federally mandated divestitures. New signage. Branding nightmares. My job was to sit and not talk. I did that.

My boss, Maria, was there to receive wisdom and say yes to whatever Jack wanted. People still smoked at meetings, and she lit up immediately. And then, while the big necks issued orders, she lit up one smoke after another, extruding a huge, bilious cloud of condescension, weariness, and most of all unwillingness to be insincere in the presence of senior management. After she left to get started on all the stuff she had to do and they didn’t, I remained to, you know, clean up my papers. Jack and I had a nice chat then. Forged the beginning of a relationship that carried me until the next chairman. Maria “retired” less than a year later. I took her job. She did all the work on that front, I think, by undermining herself so nicely.

This brings us to the other day when I heard that Harold had swallowed his own tongue again. Let me tell you about Harold. He’s really talented. Good looking. Gets along well with me, which is important, and with Morty Morton, his direct boss, which is just as key on a day-to-day basis. And that’s about it. That’s who he gets along with. Everybody else in his sphere has gotten the message: Get lost, I’m with Morty. And yet Harold is very ambitious! Wants a promotion and an expansion of duties. How do you figure it? Is he a doofus? Not really. He’s just sabotaging himself again.

A few months ago he was in a sales meeting, and people started talking about event planning. “That’s marketing,” Harold says. “I don’t do marketing.” Did I mention that the job expansion he’s looking for is actually in marketing? Thank goodness you and I are smarter.

Then there was the time he was invited to one of those industry gatherings where people are imprisoned in the Waldorf, eat small portions of inscrutable food, and fight to get enough wine. One of his colleagues, Bobbi, was being honored. The entire senior management structure was planning to attend. At the last minute Morty got a “toothache.” Everybody else was still on tap. But Harold, upon hearing that his direct boss would not be attending, dropped out too. Did I mention that Bobbi is the head of human resources?

Tomorrow, not being able to put things off any longer, I have a performance review with Harold. What do you think I should tell him? That he’s been digging his own career grave? That’s not constructive. I think I’ll tell him he’s doing great and he should come back in six months about that promotion. That ought to hold him.

So that’s it. The world is the way it is because a lot of people careen forward doing exactly what will ensure their destruction, and the people who should be helping them don’t. There’s nothing any of us can do about it, not really, even though we’re smarter than those crazy people.

I’m glad we ironed that out. You know what? I feel better! And since I have nothing else to do for the next few minutes, I think I’ll go do some shopping and banking on the Internet.

Stanley Bing’s new book, The Curriculum, will be published by HarperCollins in April. Follow him at stanleybing.com and on Twitter at @thebingblog.

This story is from the February 24, 2014 issue of Fortune.

Summary: Why do we get in our own way? And why won't somebody stop us?


Craig Hodges, one of the 14 members of the "Squawk Box" Platinum Portfolio, shared his favorite areas of the market within the small-cap space following the recent pullback.

After leading the market for most of the year, the Russell 2000 index is down nearly 6 percent from a record high reached in June.

But as the small-cap index comes off its high, Hodges is using the drop as a buying opportunity in certain sectors.

Summary: Craig Hodges shares his favorite areas of the market within the small-cap space following the recent pullback.


Alexander Kliment, director of Russia research at Eurasia Group, said the sanctions have actually strengthened elite support for Putin because they have bolstered the government's position as a last-resort lender for them.

"Also, sanctions have inflamed patriotic sentiment and been a convenient scapegoat for economic woes," Kilment told CNBC.

"If you are an oligarch, it's bad to suffer sanctions from the West," he said, "but you're still pretty well-off as part of the Russian system. It's an awfully big leap to turn your back on that, which would risk literally everything you have."

Read MoreTotal CEO: US will not become energy independent

Edward Mermelstein, a New York-based attorney who works with Russian business clients, told CNBC that Putin's popularity is no longer dependent on finance as much as the might of Russia.

"As long as the country is perceived as strong, he will continue to dominate domestically. The Russian citizen can withstand famine, but they cannot withstand the appearance of weakness," he said.

While some companies are getting hit hard by what Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov has acknowledged is an economy in "dire straits," others are finding ways to benefit.

A source who franchises U.S. brands and companies and brings them into Russia, and who spoke with CNBC on the condition of anonymity, said his colleagues have already identified specific companies they are looking to take over.

Others echoed that view, saying it's actually going to be a good way for some oligarchs to build their wealth and influence.

"The explorers and drillers will get hit the hardest," said the franchising source. "The downturn is real."

Summary: Despite having lost millions of dollars because of sanctions against Russia, the rich there still support their leader.


(Adds Centerra share price, details, background)

BISHKEK, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Kyrgyzstan's parliament turned up the pressure on Centerra Gold on Thursday, threatening to nationalise the Canadian company's Kumtor gold mine unless it agrees within a month to a proposed joint venture.

The Central Asian state and the Toronto-listed company have been locked in talks for more than a year over a deal that would involve Kyrgyzstan swapping its 32.7 percent stake in Centerra for half of a joint venture that would control the Kumtor mine.

After a day of heated debates, the parliament voted 76-1 on Thursday to pass a resolution obliging the government to finalise the talks in one month.

It said that, while still negotiating with Centerra, the cabinet must also prepare a draft for Kumtor's possible nationalisation and submit it to the legislature by March 16.

"We should finally end this epic," parliamentary speaker Asilbek Zheenbekov said after the vote. "Today we adopted a tough resolution."

"But we still hope that you will be able to iron out all the disputed issues, and we expect you back in one month with good news," he told Kyrgyz government officials present. "Otherwise, we will have to begin work on nationalisation."

Centerra Gold officials were not immediately available for comment.

Shares of Centerra Gold fell 0.8 percent, or 5 Canadian cents, to C$6.19 in opening trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange, bucking the trend of broad gains for bullion miners as spot gold prices rose.

Kumtor, which lies in a permafrost area in the Tien Shan mountains, is Kyrgyzstan's largest gold deposit and alone accounted for 7.4 percent of the country's gross domestic product and 15.5 percent of industrial output last year.

The open-pit mine, which is the main hard currency earner for the impoverished nation of 5.5 million, has faced several setbacks since the project was started in 1994, including threats of nationalisation, riots and more recently a $300 million ecological damages lawsuit.

The government has repeatedly rejected calls from nationalist opposition politicians to nationalise Kumtor.

But in a sign that official patience in talks with Centerra Gold was running out, President Almazbek Atambayev said in December that nationalisation could become the only option if no deal with the company was reached soon.

(Reporting by Olga Dzyubenko; Additional reporting by Susan Taylor in Toronto; Writing by Dmitry Solovyov; Editing by Keith Weir and Mark Potter)

Summary: BISHKEK, Feb 26- Kyrgyzstan's parliament turned up the pressure on Centerra Gold on Thursday, threatening to nationalise the Canadian company's Kumtor gold mine unless it agrees within a month to a proposed joint venture. The Central Asian state and the Toronto- listed company have been locked in talks for more than a year over a deal that would involve...


Michael Studinger/ | NASA | Reuters

Satellite observations from 1994 to 2012 reveal an accelerating decline in Antarctica's massive floating ice shelves, with some shrinking by 18 percent, in a development that could hasten the rise in global sea levels, scientists say, according to scientists published in the journal Science.

Antarctica may have experienced its warmest day ever recorded on Tuesday, with the temperature reading of 63.5°F, reports The Weather Underground.

Tuesday's record high temperature follows another high reading of 63.3°F set just the day before. Until this week's heat wave, the highest-known recorded temperature on the continent was 62.6°F back in 1976.

Read MoreTulsa tornadoes kill one, leave massive destruction

The Antarctic Peninsula where the readings were made "is one of the fastest warming spots on Earth," reports The Weather Undergound. The website cites studies from 2012 that show the world is warming at a quickening pace.

Five nations and territories have tied or hit all-time high temperature records so far this year.

Weather Underground is owned by Weather Channel, which like CNBC is a unit of NBC Universal.

Read the full story here, at the Weather Underground site.

Summary: Antarctica may have marked its warmest day ever recorded earlier this week, with a temperature reading of 63.5 F.


Michael Nagle | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Employees assist customers at a J.C. Penney store at the Gateway Shopping Center in Brooklyn, New York.

Following a disastrous—and widely publicized—failure to reinvent the traditional department store, Penney has grown its same-store sales seven of the last eight quarters, including its fourth straight increase in the most recent quarter, according to Retail Metrics.

By bringing back a larger penetration of private label brands, which have long accounted for a huge chunk of the retailer's sales, and returning to its promotional ways, Penney once again has about 87 million active customers.

Now, the goal is to get them to increase their visits, and how much they spend. Among Penney's strategies are ramping up its partnership with specialty beauty shop Sephora, where comparable sales growth continues to outpace the overall company, and adding new fixtures and lighting in major departments including handbags.

Summary: J.C. Penney shares were up more than 3 percent Monday, defying a down day for the markets.


The yuan has lost 3.5 percent in China in the last two days, and around 4.8 percent in global markets.

Sources told The Wall Journal that following further precipitous declines in the yuan on Wednesday, the Peoples Bank of China told state-owned banks to sell dollars on its behalf in the last 15 minutes of Wednesday's trading, causing the yuan to jump about 1 percent against the greenback.

China is probably going to need to be on both sides of the currency market for a while, former Pimco chief economist Paul McCulley told CNBC's "Squawk Box," reacting to the news.

"This is not a just one-off 2 percent devaluation, it is part of a mosaic of trying to have the currency be a more global-orientated currency," he said. "They want to move to a more market-determined exchange rate."

"Markets can't figure it out immediately," McCulley added. "There is no textbook you can pull off the shelf," calling this a real-time learning experience.

Mark Luschini of Janney Montgomery Scott urged caution on the part of U.S. investors. "What this is likely to lead to is a currency skirmish as other countries are going to have to step in and devalue in order to keep their export activity up," he said in an interview on CNBC's "Squawk on the Street."

Luschini said the move could have serious spillover effects for the emerging market activity at large.

"Are they [China] pulling on all the levers sufficiently to be able to drive economic growth and reflate activity to a point where investors can tease out data that suggests that something near the 7 percent GDP print that they posted is legit?" he asked.

—Reuters contributed to this story.

Summary: China is probably going to need to be on both sides of the currency market, former Pimco chief economist Paul McCulley tells CNBC.


Below is a transcript of a 911 recording of Catherine Piedad calling the Newton Police from her basement bedroom because her employer was holding her passport and allegedly not letting her leave the house on her only day off. Related Story: For some domestic workers, a life of isolated servitude

Police Dispatcher:911, this call is recorded. What is the address of your emergency?

Dispatcher:What’s the address to your emergency?

Catherine:I just want advice about my situation here.

Dispatcher:What’s the address of your emergency?

Dispatcher:OK and tell me exactly what happened.

Catherine:Um, my employer hold my passport. And I’m not able to go out on my day off. And now they are not giving my salary and I have a conversation with my boss today, earlier, and they said to me that they’re gonna send me back to Philippines. Tonight. They buy the ticket for my salary. I just want to know what I’m gonna do, because I already report this in the human trafficking. I’m waiting for the law enforces maybe knocking [at] the door.

Dispatcher:Can you spell that for me?

Dispatcher:OK and are you at this address right now?

Catherine:Yes, I am in my room.

Dispatcher:OK just hold on one moment, OK?

Dispatcher:Are you locked in your room?

Catherine:Yeah – No, I stay in my room because I tell that if they are not give my passport and my salary then I’m not gonna go into work. And they said to me they send me back now in Philippines tonight.

Dispatcher:OK just hold on one moment, OK?

Dispatcher:Just stay on the phone with me.

Police officers arrived at the house minutes later. At the officers’ request, the employers returned Catherine’s passport to her and paid her the money they owed her. Catherine put her clothes in trash bags and called a taxi to leave for good.

Summary: Transcript of a 911 recording of Catherine Piedad calling the police because her employer was  allegedly not letting her leave.


(Adds details on Bridgewater, share price changes)

BOSTON, Aug 14 (Reuters) - Top U.S. hedge funds added to their positions in Apple Inc during the second quarter, even as shares of the iPhone maker were flat during the period.

Filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission released on Friday showed Philippe Laffont's Coatue Management added 860,000 Apple shares during the three months ended June 30, giving it 8.5 million shares in all.

Other so-called 13F filings showed London hedge fund manager Nevsky Capital LLP added 751,000 shares of Apple in the quarter, increasing its stake to 2.56 million shares. Tiger Eye Capital LLC added 25,000 shares of Apple to bring its total stake to 356,502 shares, filings showed.

Bridgewater Associates LP was a seller, however, cutting its Apple stake by 201,500 shares to 531,497 shares, filings show.

Apple shares gained less than 1.0 percent during the second quarter to close at $125.43 on June 30. The stock is now about 8 percent lower, trading around $115 on Friday, after the company gave a weak fourth-quarter revenue forecast and missed some iPhone sales targets.

The decline could have exposed the second-quarter hedge fund buyers to losses, though some might have exited Apple before it fell from a high of $132.07 on July 20.

At the end of the first quarter Apple was one of the most popular stocks owned by hedge funds, according to Goldman Sachs research. Their analysis of 685 hedge funds with nearly $1 trillion in equity assets found 69 of the funds had Apple among their top 10 holdings.

Still, during the first quarter of this year a number of hedge funds cut their stakes in Apple as its shares rallied, previous filings showed.

Apple remains the most valuable U.S. company, with a market capitalization $657 billion.

(Reporting by Ross Kerber; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)

Summary: BOSTON, Aug 14- Top U.S. hedge funds added to their positions in Apple Inc during the second quarter, even as shares of the iPhone maker were flat during the period. Filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission released on Friday showed Philippe Laffont's Coatue Management added 860,000 Apple shares during the three months ended June 30, giving it 8.5...


* Sees GAVIS revenue tripling by 2018 from $96 mln in 2014

* Q1 profit 5.25 bln rupees vs 6 bln rupee analyst view

* Q1 U.S. total sales down 31 pct

MUMBAI, July 23 (Reuters) - Lupin Ltd, India's third-largest drugmaker by sales, is buying U.S. peer GAVIS Pharmaceuticals LLC for $880 million in its largest ever acquisition, seeking to revive its flagging growth in the United States, its largest market.

The acquisition will give Mumbai-based Lupin access to a number of speciality generic drugs that tend to command a higher price as they are used to treat niche diseases.

Lupin Chief Executive Vinita Gupta said the company expected to triple GAVIS's revenues by 2018 from $96 million last year.

"(The deal) significantly boosts Lupin's existing business and growth prospects over the next few years," she said. "It puts us in a tremendous position from the pipeline perspective to capitalize on generics opportunities."

Lupin's U.S. growth has been hampered by a slower pace of new generic drug approvals since the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) overhauled its generics review process, as well as by consolidation between drug distributors there.

The company has also recently run into regulatory troubles, with the FDA expressing concerns about manufacturing processes at its Goa plant in western India last month. However, Managing Director Nilesh Gupta said none of the concerns were "serious" and the company had responded to the FDA.

He separately warned the pace of U.S. drug approvals would remain modest in the September quarter, but would pick up through the rest of the year. The company is expecting "material" U.S. approvals of so-called controlled substance products acquired through the GAVIS acquisition, he said.

The deal will give Lupin access to dermatology drugs, big-selling controlled substance products that can only be dispensed with a doctor's prescription and other speciality generics, it said. Lupin will also gain a portfolio of 66 generic drugs for which the New Jersey-based drugmaker has sought regulatory approval, with a potential market value of $9 billion, it said.

Lupin's U.S. sales fell 31 percent to $180 million in April-June, leading to a 16 percent drop in its net profit to 5.25 billion rupees ($82.35 million), it said on Thursday.

"In general, we see Lupin in a challenging phase, because they don't have any speciality products," said Nimish Mehta, founder and director at Research Delta Advisors. "They really need this acquisition."

Some analysts, however, expressed concern about Lupin paying nine times GAVIS's sales, but Lupin said that was in line with similar deals.

The Indian drugmaker expects GAVIS to contribute to earnings in the first full year after purchase, and the deal to close in the December quarter.

GAVIS did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The deal follows three other acquisitions this year by Lupin, aimed at building its presence in Latin America and Russia. It plans to look for more businesses in the speciality generics space in the United States, CEO Gupta said.

Lupin shares closed 5.3 percent lower, compared with a 0.5 percent fall in the broader market.

($1 = 63.7500 Indian rupees)

(Editing by Sumeet Chatterjee and Mark Potter)

Summary: *Q1 profit 5.25 bln rupees vs 6 bln rupee analyst view. MUMBAI, July 23- Lupin Ltd, India's third-largest drugmaker by sales, is buying U.S. peer GAVIS Pharmaceuticals LLC for $880 million in its largest ever acquisition, seeking to revive its flagging growth in the United States, its largest market. The company has also recently run into regulatory troubles, with the...


Irving Penn, who died last year aged 92, is best known for his fashion and portrait photography. A retrospective of his starkly beautiful images of the great and the good opened last week at the National Portrait Gallery in London. Less well known but equally fascinating are Penn's portraits of ordinary working people recently collected in a book, Irving Penn: Small Trades.

In 1950, Penn had a studio in Paris in which he shot his famous fashion spreads for Vogue magazine. He was fascinated by the tradespeople he saw daily on the Parisian streets and rightly saw them as the last representatives of a disappearing world. He invited many of them to sit for him in their workclothes and carrying the tools of their trade.

Like the models sent by Vogue, they first had to climb the six flights of stairs to the spartan room in which he then positioned them in front of an old theatre curtain. "Taking people away from their natural circumstances," he later said, "and putting them into a studio in front of a camera did not simply isolate them, it transformed them."

Penn continued photographing tradespeople in London later that year, and in New York, where he was based, the following year. The end result is a merging of documentary and portraiture that shares the sense of heightened intimacy that all of Penn's great portraits possess. These images, though, are also extraordinarily emblematic: the English seamstress, self-contained and meticulous; the London coalman, his back to the camera, stoical and stalwart. And, perhaps even more remarkably, like Penn's more esteemed sitters, they look both totally at ease and utterly posed.

Summary: There was more to the great photographer than portraits of the rich and famous, says Sean O'Hagan


"It is like they have a slow stroke," said Ettore, a local olive producer who would give only his first name because he did not want his company to be associated with the epidemic. "Slowly, it is as if the blood is no longer flowing, and the branches dry out and stop producing olives."

Standing in the middle of a grove, Ettore, 32, and Mr. Manni, the co-op official, nodded toward a tree with a trunk easily 25 feet in circumference. It is called the Giant of Alliste, and local growers say it is 1,500 years old (a figure scientists say is unlikely). It appears healthy, except for one branch in which the leaves are reddened and curled, an early sign that the bacterium has struck.

Mr. Manni reached down into a patch of grass, picking through weeds until he pinched what appeared to be a glob of spit but was actually the protective casing for the nymph stage of the spittlebug. The spittlebugs will start flying this month and have served as a primary vector of the outbreak, chewing on the leaves of infected trees and then carrying the bacterium to other, healthy trees, like an unseen wildfire. Scientists say no one yet knows the extent of the outbreak because some infected trees may not yet be showing symptoms.

"There are many," Mr. Manni said, pointing to a few globs in the grass. "Here, here."

Italian officials, blamed by olive growers for reacting too slowly, have now divided the affected region into quarantine areas, with the buffer zone extending across the peninsula. Infected trees and plants were supposed to be cut down in one of the quarantine areas north of the buffer zone, while growers in the contaminated region south of the buffer zone were supposed to prune infected trees and cut surrounding grasses to better control insects.

But last week, an Italian administrative court suspended olive tree culling in Puglia. Italy's Agriculture Ministry has appealed the decision, and culling could resume soon.

Summary: Italy's olive trees are succumbing to a bacterial outbreak, causing olive oil manufacturers to fear ruin and EU officials to fear a broader outbreak. The New York Times reports.


Later this year, small groups of dentists, physicians, nurses and other clinicians will gather in several cities as part of an ongoing series of interprofessional educational meetings âdesigned to offer an opportunity for both professions to begin a dialogue about coordinating patient care,â says Mary Lee Conicella, DMD, chief dental officer at Aetna, which sponsors the events with the National Dental Association (NDA). The reason: When medical and dental professionals collaborate and data is integrated, patients have fewer serious medical complications â and insurance costs decrease.

The findings from recent Aetna studies were compelling: Those with diabetes were nearly twice as likely to gain control over their disease when they receive dental care. Pregnant women experienced significantly lower rates of preterm and low-birth weights. Overall, medical claims costs by study participants lowered by an average of 17 percent and hospital admissions by 3.5 percent.

Understanding oral-systemic links is âcritical in achieving âtotal healthâ and coordinated health care,â says Hazel Harper Johns, DDS, past president of the NDA and a consultant who works on organizing the interdisciplinary seminars. âIn my own practice, Iâve noticed that itâs becoming standard for physicians to require patients to get dental clearance before cardiac or joint replacement surgery,â she says. âPhysicians are starting to recognize that if a patient has periodontal disease, the bacteria that circulates throughout the body could undermine their work.â

âI consider that a victory,â she says, before adding, âbut we have a long way to go.â

Change is coming, though. A good start: Dentists are gradually learning to use electronic health records, a move that will ease the integration between oral and medical health care, according to David Albert, DDS, associate professor of dentistry and public health at the Columbia University Medical Center.

âWhen I see patients in my New York Presbyterian Hospital dental practice, it is important that I have their entire medical record in front of me,â Albert says. âIf I see all medications, medical diagnoses and hospitalizations, I can provide better care.â As Columbia Universityâs professional schools for physicians and dentists are incorporating interprofessional education, âit is essential that the systems we have in place follow,â he says. âInsurance companies can take the lead in helping facilitate this, and so can accreditation bodies that require interprofessional training.â

Harper Johns envisions greater integration down the road. âIâd like to see non-dental health professionals do a visual check and screening for oral health â looking for swollen gums or tooth decay lesions, say â as part of their routine physicals, and Iâd like to see medical forms routinely ask about dental history.â

In the near future, an important shift will come in the use of new medical and dental diagnostic codes. The primary purpose of diagnostic codes is for identification of diseases, disorders and symptoms.

âThe new ICD-10 code set will be effective this October and there will be many more codes that are applicable to dentistry,â Conicella says. Although not mandatory for the submission of most dental claims, these codes can also serve as a universal language among medical and dental clinicians to help interprofessional care become a reality.

âFor many dentists who are unfamiliar with submitting these codes, this will mean a learning curve,â Conicella says, âbut it will ultimately benefit everyone: patients, health care providers and employers.â

Summary: Inflammation that occurs from periodontal disease is connected with higher incidences of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and may affect pregnancy outcomes.


The wealthy are willing to invest in maintaining their health, he said. More than half expressed an interest in getting full-body scans and genetic screening in order to assess their health, according to U.S. Trust's 2015 "Insights on Wealth and Worth." The survey questioned 640 individuals with more than $3 million in investible assets.

The trend toward testing was especially pronounced among high net worth millennials, who were the most likely to explore testing and have a doctor on retainer through concierge medicine.

Read MoreWorried about outliving your money?

However, scans and screenings can only go so far. When it comes to long-term care health care in retirement, 32 percent of those surveyed expect to stay in their homes with private home care, while 1 in 5 expect to be cared for by a loved one in their homes.

Long-term care can come with a hefty price tag, which is why U.S. Trust urges wealthy clients to consider elder care planning assistance with third-party providers who assist with issues like home care services and nursing home selection.

"It's a bigger financial impact and a bigger toll simply because the costs of health care and long-term care continue to escalate," Heilmann said.

Independent wealth advisor Debra Brede said many of her clients expect their wealth will allow them to effectively self-insure their long-term care health costs. But even for a couple with assets of $2 million, the toll of long-term care can derail financial plans, she said.

"The drag is on the remaining spouse, the one that's not sick," said Brede, president of DK Brede Investment Management outside Boston. "When the other one passes on and uses up a lot of the funds, the one that hasn't gone through it is the one that's going to suffer later."

"Don't look at long-term care or health issues as just financial," concurred Heilmann. "Look at them in terms of your family and the social dynamics that would result from that."

Summary: When it comes to planning for long-term health-care costs, the rich are a lot like most Americans—they haven't given it much thought.


If Greece does decide to implement capital controls, it may have to seek permission first – according to the Treaty of European Union, capital controls are allowed but only at the request of a member state.

"Ideally, capital controls would have to be put in place practically overnight…This would deepen Greece's recession but would, in theory, give Athens time to hammer out a short-term deal with creditors," said Spiro at Spiro Sovereign Strategy.

Read MoreWhy deadlines are pointless when it comes to Greece

"However, let's be clear, capital controls contravene EU law and in the case of Cyprus were meant to be a one-off. If Greece has to go as far as imposing capital controls, then the risks of an outright 'Grexit' rise considerably," he said.

Summary: Greece's economy and its banking sector are feeling the strain of the reforms-for-rescue deadlock between Athens and its international creditors.


Micron Technology shares were falling Tuesday ahead of the company's fiscal first-quarter earnings report scheduled for after the bell. The chipmaker is down nearly 5 percent this year, but some traders are betting that it could soon soar.

On Monday, when Micron options volume ran 1.5 times its daily average, and the number of calls traded were double that of puts, one trader rolled a bullish bet on the company.

Specifically, the trader sold 3,700 January 35-strike calls and used the proceeds to buy 3,700 of the July 35-strike calls for $3.65. The trade, which cost a total of more than $1 million, is a bet that Micron shares will surge above $38.65 per share by July expiration, or up another 17 percent from current levels. That would also be a more than 10-year high.

Summary: The huge options bet that Micron will rally 17 percent by July.


Asked which new technology segments will have the biggest impact on Qualcomm's business, Mollenkopf said he doesn't think anyone knows. As enterprises seek to make their devices more connected, Qualcomm is attracting a broad range of customers from areas such as medical and smart home, he said.

"Our strategy is to try to make it easy for people to leverage the power of mobile, and today a lot of that is happening in adjacent markets," he said.

Read MoreInternet of Things: Are we nearly there yet?

On Monday, Qualcomm discussed its chips that power the Internet of Things, or systems of sensors and chips that increase automation and allow machines to "talk" to one another. The company demonstrated how one of its chips could turn a light bulb into a programmable smart bulb.

It's still early in the development of software for the Internet of Things, and industry watchers should expect to see different applications powered by separate ecosystems for some time, Mollenkopf said.

The holy grail is figuring out how to create a device that can operate with multiple software platforms, and Qualcomm is experimenting with technology that could achieve that goal, he added.

Summary: The chipmaker will get back to a period of close partnership with China, said Steve Mollenkopf.


As Uber struggles to recover from a string of scandals, experts say there are still a few strategies the taxi-sharing firm can employ to ensure its app remains popular.

"The question is can Uber survive the ride-share storm and transform itself into a business that local governments want to actively promote, rather than stamp out completely?" Caroline Bremner, head of travel and tourism research at Euromonitor, said in a report this week.

Public perception of Uber is shaky following numerous reports of passenger assaults. Last month, the rape of a customer in New Delhi sparked international criticism at how the firm screens drivers. The San Francisco-based firm's latest charge comes just two weeks into 2015 with the sexual assault of a 21-year old in Chicago by an UberX driver.

Coupled with regulatory issues and complaints of unfair competition by local taxi associations, the scandals led South Korea, China, Germany, Spain, India, Holland and Thailand to ban Uber services.

Read MoreBumpy ride! Why Uber could find it tough in China

"The whole story behind its $42 billion valuation is its ability to expand across the globe, but they are being challenged at every doorstep," said Edmund Lee, managing editor of Re/code, in a December interview.

Summary: As Uber struggles to recover from a string of scandals, experts say there are a few strategies the firm can employ to ensure its app remains popular.


Lucy and Jorge Orta's collaborative practice deals with humanity's fundamental needs. Their sculpture and painting, installations and interventions, performances and workshops explore issues such as water, food and shelter, mobility and communication. For Wide Open School Lucy and Jorge Orta led a two-day workshop on Cloud Architecture which they describe as invented living spaces "for social interaction that can change according to use, and built with recycled or sustainable materials".

We have called our community of the future Antarctic Village – No Borders. It was erected on the Antarctic Peninsula at GPS coordinates 64°14'S 56°37'W in 2007. An ephemeral encampment of 50 Dome Dwellings, covered in the emblems of all nations was installed alongside the Metisse Flag.

We have selected Antarctica as a symbol for this new community. The Antarctic treaty signed in 1959 by 12 countries, set aside Antarctica as a scientific preserve, established freedom of scientific investigation, environmental protection, and banned military activity. This was the first arms control agreement established during the Cold War. Drawing upon this visualisation our Antarctic Village could be considered our last fragile hope for a more equitable world, a continent that allows all nations to coexist harmoniously and a community that strives for peace and social progress.

Artist, architect, designer and urban gardener Fritz Haeg's work has included edible landscapes, public dances, educational environments, domestic gatherings, city parades, temporary encampments and occasionally buildings for people – though he prefers making architecture for animals. His Animal Estates project creates model homes for animals that are unwelcome or have been displaced by humans. For Wide Open School he is bringing his Sundown Schoolhouse of Queer Home Economics to the Hayward Gallery and will be in residence from 11 to 17 June.

I create my future fantasy city every day by not doing a lot of important things … starting with not using any "products" before not showering in the morning (because we don't need as many as we think we do), then later in the day I don't drive my car to shop at all of the truly shitty soulless exploitive toxic anonymous chain retail establishments where I don't buy all of the things that I really don't need and won't last anyway, and then for the food that I can't grow myself at home I don't buy products from animals (mistreated for my sustenance and pleasure under circumstances I don't know, at industrial farms engineered to feed the carnivorous urban masses), and later in the afternoon enjoying the outdoors I won't rake up and remove all of my beautiful organic matter and leaf litter scattered on the ground that will be piled up to house happy healthy organisms before decomposing into more fertile land that will feed me, then I won't mow the grasses which are just allowed to do their own thing, perhaps evolving into a pollinator and avian sanctuary meadow, and that dead tree over there? I'm not taking it down – it's going to stay right where it is, for woodpeckers to find, creating hollows for all of the native cavity-dwelling species who used to live here, and with whom I'd like to start to share the city again, and finally at night when it's time to go to bed, I don't leave even the faintest glimmer of light anywhere inside or out, promoting a lunar-lit landscape, the way we first found it.

Based in Ljubljana and Berlin, Potrč deals with such issues as social space and contemporary architectural practices, reflections on sustainability, and new solutions for communities. Her practice is strongly informed by her interdisciplinary collaborations in research-based on-site projects, such as Théâtre Evolutif (Bordeaux, 2011), The Cook, the Farmer, His Wife and Their Neighbour (Stedelijk Goes West, Amsterdam, 2009), and Dry Toilet (Caracas, 2003). Her work has been featured in exhibitions throughout Europe and the Americas, including the São Paulo (1996, 2006) and Venice biennials (1993, 2003, 2009). She has received numerous grants and awards, including the Hugo Boss Prize (2000) and the Vera List Centre for Arts and Politics Fellowship at The New School in New York (2007). Since 2011, she has been a professor at University of Fine Arts/HFBK in Hamburg. Her work can currently be seen in the exhibition Architektonika 2, at the Hamburger Bahnhof Museum for Contemporary Art in Berlin. For Wide Open School she will be in conversation with Professor Richard Sennett, London School of Economics.

What I discovered when I worked on the onsite research projects The Cook, the Farmer, His Wife and Their Neighbour (Stedelijk Goes West, Amsterdam, 2009), and Dry Toilet (Caracas, 2003) were the realities and desires of people who live in stressed circumstances. They do not think in terms of the metropolis. Both communities imagine the future city as a network of neighbourhoods. Second, neither group was interested in public space, but they were all interested in shared space, community space. Third, they desired community control over the space. And finally, and perhaps most importantly, they were bringing all these ideas from another place, from another culture – the rural culture, which here was meeting the urban culture.

Interestingly enough, I am usually invited to do on-site projects in "places in crisis". At the time I was there, the Caracas barrio was considered a place in crisis. The biggest problem was the water-supply infrastructure; so we attempted to address at least part of it with a dry toilet. In Amsterdam, the biggest problem was the empty or "unperforming" public space, so we made a different kind of space, a community space. You produce a relational object, one that responds to the crises. The fact that this kind of project is what people want today tells us that our cities are in transformation. I would not say we are living in cities in crisis; that would be too negative. What I am saying is that we live in a time of transformation and that this is also an exciting time, a time of finding solutions and a time of hope.

This is an extract from an interview to be published in Afterall magazine

Argentinean artist Tomás Saraceno considers art as "a space to imagine possible futures. It's a necessity to really think about how we want to live." His experimental work encompasses utopian architectural proposals, inflatable sculptures and environmental installations that explore visionary ideas for a sustainable metropolis in the sky. For Wide Open School Saraceno will lead a two-day workshop imagining possible solutions to forming habitats in extreme locations – in particular deep space. He will be joined by Dr Alex Salam, consultant to Nasa on the psychological issues relating to the design of deep space habitats and curator Rob La Frenais.

I remember hearing a story about the construction of a telescope: The first day we build a telescope of small dimensions … we look through it and we cannot see anything. Then we build a bigger telescope, four times as big. We look again and…nothing. So we build an even bigger telescope and we keep going. The

telescope gets bigger and bigger. Still … nothing. But there is a moment when the telescope gets so big that others can see our telescope first, rather than us seeing them through it.

Welcome on board spaceship earth, Buckminster Fuller might have said. And Don Pettit, on board the International Space Station, could reply: "Ironically, when earthlings can see us, we cannot see them. The glare from the full sun effectively turns our windows into mirrors that return our own ghostly reflection."

As Daniel Kahneman says: "Nothing in life is as important as you think it is, while you are thinking about it" Telescopes turn into microscopes.

• Tomás Saraceno on the roof: Cloud City at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, May 15-November 4. Download available here

Summary: Deep space, queer home economics and an Antarctic village – artists participating in the Wide Open School project at London's Hayward Gallery discuss their ideas for cities of the future


Materials A3 white cartridge paper, a combination of HB, B and 2B pencils, a ruler

Subject A folded piece of white A4 cartridge paper on a piece of white A3 paper (an origami animal will work well here)

The aim of this drawing is to demonstrate that, in the world we see, the edges and boundaries of objects separate from, and integrate with, the context in which they are seen (the negative space). You'll discover that where an edge/line begins and ends (its origin and destination, and how it disappears into space) is vital to understanding form.

1. Take an A4 piece of white cartridge paper and fold and crease it into an interesting three-dimensional shape (a paper aeroplane or any simple origami shape). If your folded paper consists entirely of straight edges, you could try drawing it with ruled lines.

2. Place the shape in the centre of a flat piece of white A3 cartridge paper so that it is completely surrounded by white.

3. Look very closely at the tonal contrast at the edges of the folded piece of paper. You will see that there are places where the edge is more clearly seen because it is in contrast with the tone behind it, and there are other places where it is hardly visible.

4. Use a single line or sometimes double line and, by changing the weight of your mark, record the changing contrast at the edges of the folded piece of paper. Where there is more contrast, make your line darker; where there is less contrast, make it lighter.

5. Try to "feel" the mark you make as you change tones. A dark against a dark or a mid-tone against mid-tone shows hardly any contrast, and is therefore drawn lightly.

6. Use a putty rubber to lighten some of the tones if necessary, and redraw on top. The change in contrast is often very subtle, and needs to be constantly assessed and compared.

Every object has a point where its edge disappears into the background, and this drawing demonstrates how objects and their context are interdependent. If you have managed to accurately record the changing contrast at the edges, your drawing should clearly depict a linear illusion of the three-dimensional object/space relationship between the folded and the flat paper.

Summary: This exercise demonstrates that the edges of objects separate from, and integrate with, their surrounding context


* Goldman cuts 2015, 2016 outlook; Commerzbank also pares forecast

* Oil prices will be "lower for even longer," Goldman says

* IEA counters bearish forecast with demand growth expectations

(New throughout, with settlement prices for crude)

NEW YORK, Sept 11 (Reuters) - Crude futures fell 2 percent or more on Friday after influential Wall Street trader Goldman Sachs cut its outlook on oil, but positive sentiment from rebounding U.S. stock prices and less drilling for oil helped the market pare losses.

Goldman lowered its 2016 forecast for U.S. crude to $45 a barrel from $57 previously, and Brent to $49.50 from $62, citing oversupply and concerns over China's economy.

Germany's Commerzbank also cut its oil outlook, joining a long list of banks that have downgraded crude price projections on supply glut concerns.

"The oil market is even more oversupplied than we had expected and we forecast this surplus to persist in 2016," Goldman said in a note entitled "Lower for even longer."

Citing "operational stress" as a growing downside risk, the Wall Street firm said crude could even fall to near $20 a barrel. "While not our base case, the potential for oil prices to fall to such levels ... is becoming greater as storage continues to fill."

Global benchmarks for crude oil fell more than 3 percent initially on the Goldman announcement, then pared losses as stocks on Wall Street rebounded and news of a lower U.S. oil rig count emerged. But toward the close, they headed lower again before finishing off their lows.

U.S. crude settled down $1.29, or 2.8 percent, at $44.63 a barrel.

Brent, the global benchmark for oil, closed down 75 cents, or 1.5 percent, at $48.59.

U.S. stocks were off their lows in afternoon trade ahead of a Federal Reserve meeting next week that could decide on an interest rate hike. Equity markets have provided direction to oil since the end of August as investors grappled with mixed fundamentals for crude.

Oil services firm Baker Hughes said U.S. drillers idled 10 rigs this week, cutting activity for a second week in a row in sign that price declines were discouraging producers.

Crude prices have more than halved over the past year, with Brent tumbling from nearly $120 a barrel in the middle of 2014 to below $43 last month. Prices collapsed as a global glut of crude pushed commercial and government inventories to all-time highs.

Analysts say the market is rebalancing, but high stocks will keep weighing on prices into next year.

Investors shrugged off a report from the Paris-based International Energy Agency, which suggested that OPEC was successfully defending market share by keeping output steady in the face of lower prices.

(Additional reporting by Lisa Barrington and Christopher Johnson in London and Meeyoung Cho in Seoul; Editing by David Gregorio and Meredith Mazzilli)

Summary: NEW YORK, Sept 11- Crude futures fell 2 percent or more on Friday after influential Wall Street trader Goldman Sachs cut its outlook on oil, but positive sentiment from rebounding U.S. stock prices and less drilling for oil helped the market pare losses. Goldman lowered its 2016 forecast for U.S. crude to $45 a barrel from $57 previously, and Brent to $49.50 from $62,...


National Grid has requested an increase in its rate for delivering electricity that would boost bills of residential customers by about $9 a month.

The utility, which serves around 1.3 million electric customers in Massachusetts, said the higher rates are needed to offset rising prices for expenses such as wooden poles, transformers, and employee salaries. If the measure is approved, the average National Grid household that uses 600 kilowatt-hours of electricity a month would pay 7 percent more, while increases for businesses would vary.

Marcy Reed, the president of National Grid for Massachusetts, said inflation, health care costs, and property taxes have also grown since the company last raised its charges for delivering electricity in 2009. Transfomers have gotten about 20 percent more expensive, she said, while the cost of a utility pole has risen 9 percent.

“There is never a good time to increase customer bills,” Reed said in a conference call to announce the proposed increase. But “as these costs have continued to increase, our current distribution rates no longer cover the cost of service.”

Distribution expenses, which make up about a quarter of household electric bills, are different from the costs utilities incur buying electricity from power plants. Those rates are adjusted every six months. Last winter National Grid reported its power costs were 37 percent higher but the utility estimated they would be lower this winter.

National Grid submitted the rate increase to the Massachusetts Department of Utilities, and expects regulators to take nearly a year to review it.

National Grid said in its filings that it needs a 10.5 percent return on equity to attract investors, a figure that will be scrutinized by parties such as the attorney general’s office. Mike Laflamme, National Grid’s vice president of regulatory and pricing, said National Grid “firmly believe[s]” its 10.5 percent return is vital to attract investors to fund infrastructure.

The news comes shortly after Massachusetts utility regulators curtailed a similar rate increase sought by NStar Gas Co., a unit of Eversource Energy that pipes natural gas to 276,000 customers in central and eastern Massachusetts. NStar Gas sought to grow its revenue by $46 million, or 8.6 percent; the Department of Public Utilities cut that back to $27 million, a 5.1 percent increase.

Summary: National Grid requested an increase in its rate for delivering electricity that would boost bills of residential customers by about $9 a month.


When considering retirement, people consider whether they will have saved enough money, and when retirement time comes, many may move to locations more affordable for a fixed budget. But if everyone stays put in their current locations, what areas stack up as having the residents who are the best prepared for retirement? To find out which cities have populations with the most readiness, the Ameriprise Financial planning company put together the New Retirement Mindscape 2012 City Pulse index. In keeping with the name, the survey takes the pulse of the populations of America's 30 largest metropolitan areas, ranking them based on whether residents have determined how much they will need to save and their saving habits. It asks about their priorities in retirement, like travel, spending time with family and staying healthy, and it gauges their confidence and optimism for their post-career futures. Here they are, ranked by the confidence level of residents. By Colleen KanePosted 3 Jan. 2013

Glow Images, Inc. | Getty Images

Summary: What areas have residents who are the best prepared for retirement? The Ameriprise Financial planning company put together the New Retirement Mindscape City Pulse index. Here they are, ranked by the confidence level of residents.


Iraq's army chief has been quoted as saying he needs only days to drive Islamic State militants from the city of Ramadi.

Ramadi's fall in May exposed the weakness of the Baghdad government and dampened hopes of restoring control in the north and west.

Iraqi troops began advancing on Tuesday in an offensive complicated by rivalries and suspicions harboured by local Sunni tribes and by Shia militia backed by Iran. US officials, concerned also by militant operations over the border in Syria, have expressed frustration at delays in seizing back the city.

"In the coming days will be announced the good news of the complete liberation of Ramadi," Iraqia TV cited army chief of staff Lieutenant General Othman al-Ghanemi as saying.

Government troops are now concentrating on the last district held by the militants in the centre of Ramadi, a Sunni Muslim city on the river Euphrates some 100 km (60 miles) west of Baghdad and capital of Anbar province.

If it is captured, it will be the second major city after Tikrit to be retaken from Islamic State in Iraq. It would provide a major psychological boost to Iraqi security forces after the militant group seized a third of Iraq, a major OPEC oil producer and U.S ally, in a sweeping advance last year.

Progress has been slow because the government wants to rely entirely on its own troops and not use Shi'ite militias in order to avoid rights abuses such as occurred after the recapture of Tikrit from the militants in April.

Iraqi officials say Shi'ite militias are reluctant to yield power amassed with Iranian backing, making it hard to forge a unified strategy. Operations are also complicated by competition for influence in Baghdad between Washington and Tehran.

Local Sunni tribes have not been involved directly in the assault, but have been active in support activities across the province - a contrast to the US-backed Tribal Awakening campaign ten years ago when they united to drive al Qaeda elements from Anbar.

Iraqi military vehicles and troops advance towards the centre of Ramadi city. (EPA/STR)

Joint operations command spokesman Yahia Rasool told Reuters the city would be handed over to the Anbar police and local tribes after it was fully cleared and secured.

By contrast to 2005, the Sunni tribes are now dealing with a government less given to sectarian Shia loyalties.

The ultimate aim is to clear Islamic State from Mosul, Iraq's second largest city, and Falluja, which lies between Ramadi and Baghdad, as well as large areas of Syria - the core of what it has declared to be a caliphate.

The control of major population centres in Iraq and Syria allows it to maintain a revenue base, controlling oil resources and large, fertile agricultural areas, and possibly plan attacks outside its core territory.

Citing military statements, state TV said government forces had killed hundreds of militants since Tuesday. It gave no casualty toll for government forces.

Summary: The Iraqi military says it expects to liberate the city of Ramadi from Islamic State within days, in what would be a major psychological boost.


“Sound & Color,” Alabama Shakes

“To Pimp a Butterfly,” Kendrick Lamar

“Beauty Behind the Madness,” the Weeknd

The spirit of legends past will converge with the stars of today at the Grammys. Can the show find balance between salute and celebration?

Should win: “To Pimp a Butterfly” — This is a crazy category, in that it really does represent some of the best albums of the eligibility period and each artist is a multiple nominee. Almost any one of these would be acceptable, which is why it would be great to see Lamar secure the third win in history for hip-hop in this category.

Will Win: “1989” — Get ready to see that familiar “What? Who? Me?” face as Swift ascends the stage. Her album was simply too dominant — five top 10 singles, 5.5 million copies sold — and mostly well-reviewed, not to mention spawning a monster world tour, for it not to be rewarded. Then again, that’s what many thought about Beyoncé last year. So all the other nominees — two of whom, Lamar and the Weeknd, have worked with Swift — might still want to polish up a speech.

“Really Love,” D’Angelo and the Vanguard

“Uptown Funk,” Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars

“Thinking Out Loud,” Ed Sheeran

“Can’t Feel My Face,” the Weeknd

Should and will win: “Uptown Funk” — The Swift and Weeknd songs were co-written by uber-songwriter-producer Max Martin, but even with two shots, his chances seem pretty slim for this award that goes to the producer(s) and the artist. We think even Swift would say “Funk” was just too hot (hot damn) not to win.

“Alright,” Kendrick Duckworth, Mark Anthony Spears & Pharrell Williams (Kendrick Lamar)

“Blank Space,” Max Martin, Shellback & Taylor Swift (Taylor Swift)

“Girl Crush,” Hillary Lindsey, Lori McKenna & Liz Rose (Little Big Town)

“See You Again,” Andrew Cedar, Justin Franks, Charles Puth & Cameron Thomaz (Wiz Khalifa featuring Charlie Puth)

“Thinking Out Loud,” Ed Sheeran & Amy Wadge (Ed Sheeran)

Should win: “Girl Crush” — This award goes to the songwriters so we’re pulling for this country hit penned by Lindsey, Rose, and Stoughton native McKenna. It made a huge splash, got support from across the spectrum, and has already won several country music awards, so it might squeak out a win. . .

Will win: “Blank Space” — . . . but we’re betting that Martin, Shellback, and Swift’s frothy, clever, and winking ditty will carry the day in what feels like a two-song race, especially if “Uptown Funk” bests it in the record of the year category.

Should win: Courtney Barnett — We’re cheered to see hard-working Nantucket native Trainor return to vie for this honor after recognition last year for “All About That Bass.” Bay impressed us in concert recently with his energy and enthusiasm. Kelly is a pop diva in the making. Aussie indie rocker Barnett is the odd duck of this group, which is what makes her the most interesting.

Will win: Sam Hunt. He was the biggest success story in country music in years, and the Grammys love success stories.

“Sound & Color,” Alabama Shakes

“The Waterfall,” My Morning Jacket

Should win: “Vulnicura” — This is a tremendously rich category with a wide spectrum of sounds, from the beguilding psychedelia of Aussie rockers Tame Impala to the range of moods on Wilco’s surprise “Star Wars.” But Iceland’s most famous export had the best ratio of ambition to execution with her combination of cool electronics, warm strings, and raw reflection.

Will win: “Sound & Color” — In another year, this terrific record might be in the above paragraph, and Alabama Shakes taking home the gold — since it won’t likely win in the album of the year category — would be a great pat on the back for a group that continues to improve.

Brittany Howard, lead singer of Alabama Shakes.

“Black Messiah,” D’Angelo and the Vanguard

“Cheers to the Fall,” Andra Day

Should and will win: “Black Messiah” — All good to great albums, only one true contender. Virginia singer-songwriter D’Angelo returned with a vengeance on this sprawling, smart, funky release, and both critics and fans were very happy to have him back.

“2014 Forest Hills Drive,” J. Cole

“If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late,” Drake

“To Pimp a Butterfly,” Kendrick Lamar

Should and will win: “To Pimp a Butterfly” — Drake may have had more mainstream penetration thanks to “Hotline Bling,” and Dre has the “Straight Outta Compton” juice in his corner. But since Lamar is the night’s top nominee — and likely will lose in the big categories — this is where the consolation prizes begin for one of the most undeniably thoughtful releases of the year. Hopefully it will be one of several.

“Pain Killer,” Little Big Town

Should win: Chris Stapleton — This is one of the toughest races to call. For kindred spirits Monroe and Musgraves, the nominations are the prize. The question becomes, what did voters feel like rewarding: Hunt’s huge commercial-crossover success, the ascendance of well-liked veteran group Little Big Town on the strength of “Girl Crush,” or the continued coronation of musicians’s musician Stapleton? (If there’s a Stapleton spoiler, a win for Little Big Town wouldn’t be unwelcome or a surprise.)

Will win: Sam Hunt Whether or not it’s “country” according to purists, nobody threw a house party for the format this year like the hunky Hunt, and gratitude is powerful.

Summary: Sarah Rodman predicts who might win gold at the Grammys on Monday — and who should.


Gela Bezhuashvili, the Georgian foreign minister, met his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov and other foreign ministers from the region at the start of a two-day Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organisation summit on Wednesday.

"The current difficulties are surmountable," Bezhuashvili said ahead of the meeting, Interfax news agency reported.Â Â "There have been tensions, but they can be resolved," he added.

Russia responded the brief arrest of the officers by cutting off transport ties, deporting hundreds of Georgian citizens, and cracking down on Georgian-owned businesses in the worst dispute between the two neighbours since the Georgia's 2003 revolution.

Mikheil Saakashvili, the US-educated opposition leader brought to power by the revolution, has sought to reduce Moscow's influence on his country and move towards Nato and European Union membership.

Relations collapsed after four Russian officers were arrestedBezhuashvili said he would also try to arrange a meeting between Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, and Saakashvili at a summit in Minsk later this month, Russian news agencies reported.

Relations collapsed after four Russian officers were arrested

"We always welcome any dialogue ... but a single contact will not solve the problem," said Igor Ivanov, the head of Russia's security council, who is also due to meet Bezhuashvili.

Ivanov said the success of the talks would depend on Georgia, saying it was up to Tbilisi to solve a crisis it had caused.

On Tuesday, Merab Antadze, Georgia's minister for conflict settlement, who is to take part in the talks, said Georgia would also put forward a plan to settle conflicts with its two breakaway regions, Itar-Tass news agency reported.Â Â Georgia has long been angered by what it sees as Russian support for Abkhazia and South Ossetia, while Moscow accuses Saakashvili of planning military action there.Â Â South Ossetia accused Tbilisi of plotting to assassinate the region's leadership and said it killed four Georgia-linked "saboteurs" earlier in the day.Â Â Bezhuashvili has dismissed the claim as "disinformation" and an attempt "to exacerbate the situation in the region."

Summary: Georgia and Russia have held their first high-level talks since diplomatic relations collapsed after the arrest of four Russian military officers for spying in September.


Trevor Hoffman watched it happen. On the tail end of his accomplished career, when his fastball had dipped down the mid-80s, he could see the trend developing among younger closers: They were getting stronger, they were throwing harder.

That's not to say the long-time San Diego Padres closer wasn't successful. You need a long run of dominance to reach 601 career saves. But he understood the direction baseball was moving in. So he's not surprised at the state of the closer position today, where a strong arm is seen almost as a required attribute.

"It definitely is a velocity game," Hoffman says. "There isn't a guy that comes out of a pen that isn't throwing in the 90s."

In the beginning, Hoffman was no different -- he entered the majors in 1994 with a well-known fastball that routinely clocked in the 90s. But during the MLB strike that year, he suffered a shoulder injury that caused problems the following year, eventually leading to offseason rotator cuff surgery.

When he returned, he'd lost his power, struggling to clear 90 mph. Amid that turmoil and uncertainty, he started working on a changeup, which emphasized his ability to locate the ball over his ability to hurl heaters over the plate.

So began Hoffman's new style of pitching, which he describes today as "cat and mouse." Until his retirement in 2011, he built his success on his ability to precisely locate his pitches, winning the mental battle against batters even though his pitching speed was limited. By the end of his career, his fastball was only averaging 86 mph. But he still managed to retire as the all-time leader in saves, earning seven All-Star Game nominations among nine 40-save seasons.

"[Velocity] was something I couldn't do much about. It wasn't coming out quite as high as it once did," Hoffman says. "Fortunately, I had the ability to locate with my fastball, try to get strike one."

"You never really know if the added velocity would have put more stress on joints. Instead, I was able to maintain being able to go out on a day-to-day basis."

That's no small consolation, either. As Major League Baseball's closers have evolved into velocity pitchers, injuries have become far more prevalent at the position. In fact, 25 percent of all MLB pitchers have had Tommy John surgery to fix injuries associated with power pitching.

High-speed throws are a coveted asset in baseball because they're so difficult to hit. But it's turning relief pitching into more of a disposable commodity, with teams grinding down relief pitchers and moving on when injuries get the best of them.

But the most alarming aspect of today's rash of pitching injuries isn't the high occurrence rate -- it's that, short of pitching at lower speeds, there's no known solution.

"They've tried to limit innings, monitor pitches, changes that they hoped would curtail [the injuries]," Hoffman says. "And it hasn't proven to be the case."

Between 2008 and 2013, the average speed of an MLB pitch rose from 90.9 mph to 92.0 mph. The numbers are small, but the difference it's made has been significant in several ways. Batters have a harder time catching up to the speed of those fastballs, and for pitchers relying on their strength, it's their best way to keep their job and their position in the rotation.

But all of the medical research suggests that increased velocity on pitches increases the risk of injuries. Between 2002 and 2011, the number of Tommy John surgeries performed on MLB players increased by 193 percent. And the epidemic is no longer restricted to the pros: According to The Physician and Sports Medicine journal, 30 percent of all youth baseball players have reported injuries or pain associated with high-velocity pitching.

It's a problem without any answers, but it's a problem baseball will have to solve to save its pitchers from shortened careers and increased stays on the disabled list. Hoffman, who has stepped back into the spotlight as an ambassador for this year's MLB All-Star Game in San Diego, also sees it as a product of changing styles of game management.

"You're seeing teams build their bullpens backwards," he says. "They're wanting to shorten games. We saw that with the Royals."

The Royals are a good example in more than one way. Their World Series win last year came despite losing the team's lead closer, Greg Holland, to a UCL injury that required Tommy John surgery. Kansas City prevailed on the strength of its pitching depth -- an asset teams will need to overcome the inevitable losses of their staff.

In the long run of baseball's history, Hoffman is that far removed from the game -- he became eligible for the Hall of Fame for the first time this year, just missing election with more then 67 percent of the vote. Still, his pitching style seems Stone-Aged compared to the hard-slinging styles that dominate the game today.

But with even these increased speeds, Hoffman's style could work at the MLB level. In fact, with batters so used to seeing pitches pushing into the mid- and upper-90s, Hoffman's change-of-pace might actually be an asset.

"I think I'd be better, honestly," Hoffman says. "I'd be throwing so much slower."

Baseball, MLB, MLB All-Star Game, San Diego Padres, Trevor Hoffman

Summary: Trevor Hoffman, baseball's all-time saves leader, says the game is all about velocity for closers now.


Though 2012’s Think Like a Man was a surprise smash-hit — a hit big enough to inspire think pieces about whether Hollywood would finally change the way it addresses African-American audiences, eventually grossing over $91 million — it wasn’t without its share of detractors. The ensemble comedy, based on the Steve Harvey advice book Act Like a Lady; Think Like a Man, was entirely predicated on the idea that men and women think essentially differently and that women must scheme (“think like a man”) to get the attention of the men they want/need. The Washington Post noted that it was “serving up patriarchy with a smile” and relied on stereotypical types. Ms. magazine said the book and movie were “emblematic of the sexist and racist critique and regressive advice bombarding black women.” Even a positive review in the Los Angeles Times noted that the movie was surprisingly enjoyable considering that it’s based on a “blithely sexist” book.

The movie’s sequel, arriving in theaters today, has been getting reviews that indicate it’s not likely to capture the box-office magic of its predecessor (it’s got a mere 22% fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes) — but it’s also unlikely to earn the same degree of gender-politics criticism.

As TIME’s Richard Corliss put it in his review of the movie:

Harvey’s book spurred the plot of the first movie: the women read it, learning how their beaux thought, and then the men read it too, like the advance answers to a pop quiz. The sequel drops that notion; the book isn’t mentioned, and Harvey shows up only as the face on a Family Feud slot machine. In its stead we get a surfeit of nothing. Each couple pursues its dispute for the first act, gets separated in the second and apologizes and nuzzles in the third.

The cutesy pun on “2” and “Too” in the film’s title might be taken to imply that men and women alike, this time around, are thinking like men. But even though the characters don’t completely shed their stereotypical slots — the clueless one, the irresponsible one, the shrew, the player — the question of thinking like the more general stereotype of Man or Woman ends up being pretty much irrelevant.

After all, the fact that it’s a sequel means the characters all start out with personalities that audiences have already spent about two hours getting to know. They’re also mostly coupled off, no longer trying to game the system in the service of one-sided love. If your starting point is with actual people in actual relationships, it’s harder to lump them all together into shallow groups.

Too is hardly a radical feminist rallying cry — it’s still a marriage plot centered around a low-stakes battle of the sexes about which group can throw a better party — but it’s also in some ways a rebuttal of the very idea of the movie and book that allowed it to exist. In fact, when it jettisons the ‘act like a lady/think like a man’ dichotomy in favor of uncomplicated Vegas silliness, its plot takes a fairly egalitarian turn. Pretty much every character, regardless of gender, wants the same thing: a crazy bachelor(ette) party; a fun night with friends; a relationship that can move to the next level; a beautiful wedding for the couple that brought them there. Further, admitting that they want those things doesn’t stop the characters from finding happiness. Nobody has to pretend to be what they’re not, because the movie doesn’t separate the way the men act or think from the way the women act or think, which means there wouldn’t be anything to pretend even if they wanted to. The characters aren’t exactly dramatic ground-breakers, but at least they’re being themselves.

And it’s not just Think Like a Man Too that’s challenging those stereotypes: just as the movie hits theaters, the new trailer for star Kevin Hart’s upcoming project The Wedding Ringer dropped. Again, it’s not exactly a revolution, but nobody could argue that these guys don’t care about weddings:

Summary: The sequel stays away from gender politics


Even when your grandma was a billionaire, it can’t be that difficult to execute her will and testament, the New York attorney general told the family of deceased real estate tycoon Leona Helmsley.

Since Helmsley died in 2007 leaving behind nearly $4.8 billion in assets, the four executors of her estate, including two of her grandchildren, had sought $100 million of that fortune to cover their costs of dealing with her many bequests. Her estate owned more than 80 real estate properties, including the Empire State Building and Walmart WMT stores, which the executors have been managing or selling off, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Still, the fee the executors requested was “astronomical” and “exorbitant,” equaling a salary of $6,000 per hour they worked on the estate, the state attorney general’s office wrote in a court filing, according to the Journal. The attorney general suggested that the payment be reduced to less than $10 million total, or $628 per hour, noting that the money the executors seek would otherwise be donated to charity.

It’s not the first time that Helmsley’s will has raised eyebrows: She had bequeathed $12 million to her dog Trouble, though a judge later cut the pet’s sum. The two grandchildren who are also estate executors each received $10 million, according to the Journal. In the 1990s, Helmsley served 18 months in jail for tax evasion.

For their part, the executors of the estate said they deserved the full $100 million because they worked hard to preserve the value of the estate even during the recession, such as by minimizing property taxes.

Summary: Some of Leona Helmsley's estate went to the dogs, literally.