Image copyright AP Image caption Mr Kernes has been described as a "mini-oligarch"

 The mayor of Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine has been shot and critically wounded amid continuing unrest in the region.

 Hennadiy Kernes was recovering after a two-hour operation to repair damage to the chest and abdomen, but his life remained in danger, his office said.

 Monday also saw pro-Russian separatists seize a local government building in Kostyantynivka, a town to the south.

 The US has meanwhile expanded sanctions to include targets linked to President Vladimir Putin's "inner circle".

 The list includes seven new individuals and 17 companies. The European Union is also expected to announce new sanctions.

 Western nations accuse Moscow of supporting separatist gunmen who are occupying official buildings in cities across eastern Ukraine.

 The separatists continue to hold seven Western military observers who were seized last week in the region.

 Image copyright Reuters Image caption Monday saw pro-Russian separatists seize a local government building in Kostyantynivka

 Image copyright Reuters Image caption Administrative buildings across eastern Ukraine are in the hands of Russian-speaking, pro-Moscow elements

 Image copyright AFP Image caption Authorities in Kharkiv said several people were injured when football fans marching for a united Ukraine scuffled with pro-Russia supporters in Kharkiv on Sunday

 Mr Kernes was reportedly out jogging in Kharkiv on Monday when he was shot in the back by an unknown gunman.

 The head of the hospital where Mr Kernes is being treated, the Surgery Institute in Kharkiv, said he had suffered a "very serious wound", and that a number of organs had been damaged.

 Valeriy Boyko said the threat to the mayor's life had not been eliminated, but that the bleeding had been stopped, his condition was stable and that intensive care doctors were treating him for shock.

 Mr Kernes used to be a supporter of the former pro-Moscow President Viktor Yanukovych. He then dropped his support for the ousted president in favour of a united Ukraine.

 He has been described as a "mini-oligarch" - a successful businessman wealthy enough to launch a career in politics.

 He has been accused of starting his business career as an organised crime boss, a claim he denied while acknowledging that he was once jailed for fraud - a minor offence "partly fabricated" by his enemies, he insisted.

 Kharkiv was also the scene of clashes on Sunday when football fans marching for a united Ukraine scuffled with pro-Russia supporters. The authorities in Kharkiv said several people were injured.

 On Monday morning, gunmen wearing uniforms with no insignias moved into the local administrative building in Kostyantynivka and raised the flag of the self-proclaimed "Donetsk Republic".

 They were also reported to be in control of the police station in Kostyantynivka, which is located between the town of Sloviansk and the city of Donetsk, both also controlled by separatists.

 'Not personal'

 US President Barack Obama confirmed the stepping up of sanctions against Russia, which he said was part of a "calibrated effort" to change Moscow's behaviour in Ukraine, during a visit to the Philippines.

 He said the measures were in response to Moscow's failure to uphold an international accord aimed at peacefully resolving the Ukraine crisis.

 A White House statement said the new targets were "seven Russian government officials, including two members of President Putin's inner circle, who will be subject to an asset freeze and a US visa ban, and 17 companies linked to Putin's inner circle, which will be subject to an asset freeze".

 Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption President Obama: "The aim is not to go after Mr Putin personally"

 Mr Obama said the sanctions were not aimed at Russian President Vladimir Putin personally.

 "The goal is to change his calculus with respect to how the current actions that he's engaging in could have an adverse impact on the Russian economy over the long haul," he said.

 Meanwhile, ambassadors from the 28 EU member states are meeting in Brussels to agree new sanctions against Russia.

 Ukraine's media highlights "It is time to tear down the masks: this is not separatism, this is terrorism… Our liberal treatment of the militants and the attempt to portray their activities as separatism amount to aiding the biggest evil of the 21st Century." (Ukrainian news website Obozrevatel) "The EU's intentions are serious. The capture of the OSCE mission was a direct insult. Sanctions will hit Russia's interests. Russian decision-makers will have to think twice if they are denied access to their bank accounts in Europe." (Popular daily tabloid Segodnya) "Against the background of the dramatic situation in Sloviansk and other cities... the patriotism of my regional compatriots is not that noticeable. But it is the pro-Ukrainian position of the unarmed majority - despite the weakness or corruption of local security forces - that inspires optimism: we shall overcome!" (Donetsk-based Novosti Donbassa website)

 The US and EU already have assets freezes and travel bans in place targeting a number of Russian individuals and firms accused of playing a part in the annexation of Crimea last month.

 BBC Europe correspondent Chris Morris says it is expected that the ambassadors will add another 15 people in positions of power to the list of those to whom sanctions apply.

 Our correspondent says the White House wants a show of unity from the US and Europe, but there is little consensus within the EU at the moment for implementing broader economic sanctions against Russia.

 Eight foreign observers - who were operating under the auspices of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) - were led into Sloviansk town hall by masked gunmen and shown to the media on Sunday.

 German monitor Col Axel Schneider, who spoke for the group, stressed they were not Nato officers - contrary to claims made by the separatists - nor armed fighters, but diplomats in uniform.

 Later, one of the group - a Swede - was freed for medical reasons.

 The fate of five Ukrainian military officers accompanying the mission is unknown.

 Are you in Ukraine? How has the unrest affected you? You can email us your experiences at haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk, using the subject line 'Ukraine'. ||||| Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – A man looks at a bullet shell next to a destroyed car after a gunfight between pro-Russian militiamen and Ukrainian forces in Karlivka, Ukraine, on Friday, May 23. Much of Ukraine's unrest has been centered in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, where separatists have claimed independence from the government in Kiev. Hide Caption 1 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – The body of a pro-Ukrainian militia fighter lies along a road in Karlivka on May 23. Hide Caption 2 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – A woman walks past a destroyed car after Ukrainian government forces fired mortar shells during clashes with pro-Russian forces in Slovyansk, Ukraine, on May 23. Hide Caption 3 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – A pro-Russian activist carries a ballot box away from a polling station in Donetsk, Ukraine, as he prepares to smash it on May 23. Hide Caption 4 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – Local citizens help support a woman at a rally protesting shelling by Ukrainian government forces in the village of Semyonovka, Ukraine, on Thursday, May 22. Hide Caption 5 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – Bodies covered with blankets lie in a field near the village of Blahodatne, Ukraine, on May 22, as a Ukrainian soldier smokes next to his armored infantry vehicle. Hide Caption 6 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – A Ukrainian soldier rests inside an armored personnel carrier at a checkpoint near Slovyansk on Wednesday, May 21. Hide Caption 7 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – Yekaterina Len cries outside her home after it was hit by mortar shells during fighting between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian soldiers in Slovyansk on Tuesday, May 20. Hide Caption 8 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – A Ukrainian soldier stands guard on the road from Izium, Ukraine, to Slovyansk on Monday, May 19. Hide Caption 9 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – A new recruit gets his hair cut at a training camp for the Donbass Battalion, a pro-Ukrainian militia, in the Dnipropetrovsk region of Ukraine on May 19. Hide Caption 10 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – Pro-Russian armed militants guard a checkpoint in Slovyansk on May 19, blocking a major highway to Kharkiv. Hide Caption 11 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – Pro-Russian militants detain three men on Sunday, May 18, in Kramatorsk, Ukraine. The men are suspected of spying for the Ukrainian government. Hide Caption 12 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – A bodyguard of insurgent leader Denis Pushilin stands in front of a statue of Russian revolutionary Vladimir Lenin during a pro-Russia rally in Donetsk on May 18. Hide Caption 13 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – Pro-Russian militants guard a checkpoint outside Slovyansk on Saturday, May 17. Hide Caption 14 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – Employees of the Ukrainian company Metinvest clear away debris in a government building in Mariupol, Ukraine, on Friday, May 16, after pro-Russian separatists relinquished their hold on it. Hide Caption 15 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – Pro-Russian activists argue in Mariupol about how to thwart the upcoming Ukrainian presidential elections. Hide Caption 16 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – Pro-Russian gunmen take up positions to fight Ukrainian national troops at a checkpoint outside Slovyansk on Thursday, May 15. Hide Caption 17 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – A mortar shell sticks out of the ground at a checkpoint near Slovyansk on May 15. Hide Caption 18 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – A man surveys the damage to his home after a mine exploded during an exchange of fire between pro-Russian militants and government troops outside Slovyansk on May 15. Hide Caption 19 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – A man examines ballots at a printing house in Kiev, Ukraine, on Wednesday, May 14. The ballots will be used in early presidential voting on May 25. Hide Caption 20 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – People collect mortar shells in front of a burnt-out Ukrainian military vehicle near Oktyabrskoe, Ukraine, on May 14. Hide Caption 21 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – Two men collect parts of a Ukrainian armored personnel carrier, destroyed May 14 in what the Ukrainian Defense Ministry called a terrorist attack near Kramatorsk. Hide Caption 22 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – A member of a "self-defense" squad smashes a slot machine with a sledgehammer Monday, May 12, at an illegal club in Slovyansk. Hide Caption 23 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – People celebrate with fireworks in Donetsk on May 12 as separatists declared independence for the Donetsk region. Hide Caption 24 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – Roman Lyagin, a member of a rebel election commission, shows referendum results to journalists at a May 12 news conference in Donetsk. Pro-Russian separatists staged the referendum asking residents in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions whether they should declare independence from Ukraine. Hide Caption 25 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – An armed pro-Russian separatist takes up a position near Slovyansk on May 12. Hide Caption 26 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – A man with a "self-defense" unit checks people's identification in Slovyansk on Sunday, May 11. Hide Caption 27 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – A person leaves a voting booth in Luhansk, Ukraine, on May 11. The Donetsk and Luhansk regions of eastern Ukraine voted on controversial referendums to declare independence from the government in Kiev. Acting Ukrainian President Oleksandr Turchynov called the vote "propagandist farce." Hide Caption 28 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – Two men react after Ukrainian national guardsmen open fire on a crowd outside a town hall in Krasnoarmiysk, Ukraine, on May 11. Hide Caption 29 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – A Ukrainian woman votes at a polling station in Donetsk on May 11. Hide Caption 30 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – Ukrainians line up to cast their votes at a polling station in Donetsk on May 11. Hide Caption 31 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – A voter casts her ballot in eastern Ukraine's independence referendum in Slovyansk on May 11. Hide Caption 32 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – An armed pro-Russian man sits below a flag of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic at the barricades on a road leading into Slovyansk on May 11. Hide Caption 33 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – Black smoke billows from burning tires used to prevent government troops' armored personnel carriers from passing through in Mariupol on Saturday, May 10. Hide Caption 34 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – The mother of Dmitriy Nikityuk, who died in a fire at a trade union building during riots in Odessa, Ukraine, cries next to his coffin during his funeral on Thursday, May 8. Hide Caption 35 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – A Ukrainian soldier keeps guard at a checkpoint near Slovyansk on May 8. Hide Caption 36 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – A pro-Russian activist stands with a Russian national flag outside the regional Interior Ministry building in Luhansk on Wednesday, May 7. Hide Caption 37 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, right, inspects an armored personnel carrier in Slovyansk on May 7. Hide Caption 38 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – An armed pro-Russian separatist takes a position by the railway lines near Slovyansk on Tuesday, May 6. Hide Caption 39 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – A relative mourns by the body of 17-year-old Vadim Papura during a service in Odessa on May 6. Papura died after jumping out of a burning trade union building during riots on May 2. Hide Caption 40 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – A pro-Russian gunman holds his weapon while guarding the local administration building in Slovyansk on May 6. Hide Caption 41 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – Pro-Russian supporters lead blindfolded men in front of the regional administration building in Donetsk on Monday, May 5. Hide Caption 42 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – Ukrainian policemen check documents at a checkpoint near the northeastern city of Izium on May 5. Hide Caption 43 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – Ukrainian soldiers stand at a checkpoint near Slovyansk on May 5. Hide Caption 44 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – Pro-Russian Cossacks sit outside the regional administration building in Donetsk on May 5. Hide Caption 45 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – Pro-Russian militants who were arrested during a Ukrainian unity rally are greeted on Sunday, May 4, after being freed by police in Odessa. The men released Sunday had been detained after bloody clashes in Odessa, which ended in a deadly blaze. Forty-six people were killed in the bloodshed. Hide Caption 46 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – A pro-Russian militant reacts after being freed on May 4 in Odessa. Hide Caption 47 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – Pro-Russian militants clash with police as they storm the police station in Odessa on May 4. Hide Caption 48 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – An Orthodox priest, in front of the administration building in Donetsk, blesses a pro-Russian activist May 4 as people gather to honor the memory of fallen comrades in Odessa. Hide Caption 49 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – Red carnations are left inside the burned trade union building in Odessa on May 4. Flowers, candles and photos of the dead piled up outside the charred building, a day after brutal clashes and the fire claimed 46 lives. Hide Caption 50 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – Pro-Russian protesters light candles in Donetsk on Saturday, May 3, to honor the memory of fallen comrades in Odessa. Hide Caption 51 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – A woman cries in front of the burned trade union building in Odessa on May 3. Hide Caption 52 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – A man walks past burning tires near Kramatorsk on May 3. Hide Caption 53 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – Pro-Russian activists beat a pro-Ukraine supporter trying to save the Ukrainian flag that was removed from a flagpole outside the burned trade union building in Odessa. Hide Caption 54 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – Pro-Russian protesters gather in Donetsk to honor the memory of comrades who died in Odessa. Hide Caption 55 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – A portrait of Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin is part of a barricade in the center of Slovyansk on May 3. The city has become the focus of an armed pro-Russian, anti-government insurgency that aspires to give the eastern regions of Ukraine full autonomy. Hide Caption 56 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – A pro-Russian activist sits in front of policemen guarding the burned trade union building in Odessa on May 3. Hide Caption 57 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – People lay flowers and candles at the burned trade union building in Odessa on May 3. Hide Caption 58 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – Ukrainian soldiers arrive to reinforce a checkpoint that troops seized Friday, May 2, in Andreevka, a village near Slovyansk. Two helicopters were downed Friday as Ukrainian security forces tried to dislodge pro-Russian separatists from Slovyansk, Ukraine's Defense Ministry said. Hide Caption 59 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – Police take cover under shields as pro-Russian activists storm the prosecutor's office in Donetsk on Thursday, May 1. Eastern Ukraine was a heartland of support for President Viktor Yanukovych, who was ousted in February. Hide Caption 60 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – A pro-Russian activist is wounded after storming the prosecutor's office in Donetsk and clashing with riot police on May 1. Hide Caption 61 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – Pro-Russian activists storm the prosecutor's office in Donetsk on May 1. Police fired tear gas and stun grenades in an effort to disperse the activists. Hide Caption 62 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – An injured Pro-Russian activist speaks with an armed protester during clashes with police in front of the regional administration building in Donetsk on May 1. Hide Caption 63 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – Pro-Russian activists storm an administration building in the center of Luhansk on Tuesday, April 29. Hide Caption 64 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – Pro-Russia militants, armed with baseball bats and iron bars, hold flares as they attack people marching for national unity in Donetsk on Monday, April 28. Hide Caption 65 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – Detained observers from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe arrive to take part in a news conference Sunday, April 27, in Slovyansk. Vyacheslav Ponomarev, the self-declared mayor of Slovyansk, referred to the observers as "prisoners of war." Hide Caption 66 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – Ukrainian troops stand guard behind a barricade made of sandbags at a checkpoint about 30 kilometers (20 miles) from Slovyansk on April 27. Hide Caption 67 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – Relatives and friends of a man killed in a gunfight participate in his funeral ceremony in Slovyansk on Saturday, April 26. Hide Caption 68 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – U.S. troops arrive at an air force base near Siauliai Zuokniai, Lithuania, on April 26. The United States is conducting military exercises in Poland, Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania. The exercises are, in part, a response to the ongoing instability in Ukraine. Hide Caption 69 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – Ukrainian government troops in armored vehicles travel on a country road outside the town of Svyitohirsk in eastern Ukraine on April 26. Hide Caption 70 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – Pro-Russia armed militants inspect a truck near Slovyansk on Friday, April 25. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has accused the West of plotting to control Ukraine, and he said the pro-Russia insurgents in the southeast would lay down their arms only if the Ukrainian government clears out the Maidan protest camp in the capital, Kiev. Hide Caption 71 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – Pro-Russia militants keep records of their duty in Slovyansk on April 25. Hide Caption 72 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – Ukrainian troops take position near burning tires at a pro-Russian checkpoint in Slovyansk on Thursday, April 24. Hide Caption 73 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – Ukrainian special forces take position at an abandoned roadblock in Slovyansk on April 24. Hide Caption 74 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – A Ukrainian special forces member takes position in Slovyansk. Hide Caption 75 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – Cossacks carry a coffin into a church in Slovyansk on Tuesday, April 22, during a funeral for men killed in a gunfight at a checkpoint two days before. Hide Caption 76 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, left, talks with Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk during a meeting in Kiev on April 22. Hide Caption 77 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – An armed pro-Russian man stands on a street in Slovyansk on Monday, April 21. Hide Caption 78 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – Demonstrators attend a pro-Russian rally outside the secret service building in Luhansk on April 21. Hide Caption 79 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – Cars are burned out after an attack at a roadblock in Slovyansk on Sunday, April 20. Hide Caption 80 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – A resident inspects burnt-out cars at a roadblock on April 20. Hide Caption 81 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – A pro-Russian militant is seen at the roadblock near Slovyansk on April 20. Hide Caption 82 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – Armed pro-Russian militants stand guard at a roadblock near Slovyansk on April 20. Hide Caption 83 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – A masked man stands guard outside a regional administration building seized by pro-Russian separatists in Slovyansk on Friday, April 18. Hide Caption 84 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – People walk around barricades April 18 set up at the regional administration building that was seized earlier in Donetsk. Hide Caption 85 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks to the media after a nationally televised question-and-answer session in Moscow on Thursday, April 17. Putin denied that Russian forces are involved in the unrest in eastern Ukraine, though he did say for the first time that Russians were active in Crimea before the peninsula voted to join the country. Hide Caption 86 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – Ukrainian riot police officers stand guard during a pro-Ukrainian demonstration in Donetsk on April 17. Hide Caption 87 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – Masked pro-Russian protesters stand guard in front of the city hall in Mariupol on April 17. Hide Caption 88 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry reaches out to shake hands with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at the start of a bilateral meeting to discuss the ongoing situation in Ukraine. The meeting took place April 17 in Geneva, Switzerland. Hide Caption 89 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – A masked gunman stands guard near tanks in Slovyansk on Wednesday, April 16. Hide Caption 90 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – A Ukrainian helicopter flies over a column of Ukrainian Army combat vehicles on the way to Kramatorsk on April 16. Hide Caption 91 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – A masked pro-Russian gunman guards combat vehicles parked in downtown Slovyansk on April 16. Hide Caption 92 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – A man talks with Ukrainian soldiers as they are blocked by people on their way to Kramatorsk. Hide Caption 93 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – Ukrainian soldiers sit atop combat vehicles on their way to Kramatorsk. Hide Caption 94 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – Ukrainian Gen. Vasily Krutov is surrounded by protesters after addressing the crowd outside an airfield in Kramatorsk on Tuesday, April 15. Hide Caption 95 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – Pro-Russian activists guard a barricade April 15 outside the regional police building that they seized in Slovyansk. Hide Caption 96 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – Ukrainian troops receive munitions at a field on the outskirts of Izium on April 15. Hide Caption 97 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – Armed pro-Russian activists stand guard on top of a Ukrainian regional administration building in Slovyansk on Monday, April 14. Hide Caption 98 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – A pro-Russian activist carries a shield during the mass storming of a police station in Horlivka, Ukraine, on April 14. Hide Caption 99 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – Russian supporters attend a rally in front of the security service building occupied by pro-Russian activists in Luhansk on April 14. Hide Caption 100 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – A man places a Russian flag over a police station after storming the building in Horlivka on April 14. Hide Caption 101 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – Men besiege the police station in Horlivka. Hide Caption 102 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – The Horlivka police station burns on April 14. Hide Caption 103 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – A Ukrainian police officer receives medical care after being attacked at the police station in Horlivka on April 14. Hide Caption 104 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – Pro-Russian supporters beat a pro-Ukrainian activist during a rally in Kharkiv on Sunday, April 13. Hide Caption 105 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – Pro-Russian activists escort a man outside the secret service building in Luhansk on April 13. Hide Caption 106 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – Pro-Russian protesters guard a barricade in Slovyansk on April 13 outside a regional police building seized by armed separatists the day before. Hide Caption 107 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – Armed pro-Russian activists carrying riot shields occupy a police station in Slovyansk on April 12. Hide Caption 108 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – A group of pro-Russian activists warm themselves by a fire Friday, April 11, in front of a Ukrainian Security Service office in Luhansk. Hide Caption 109 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk speaks April 11 during his meeting with regional leaders in Donetsk. Yatsenyuk flew into Donetsk, where pro-Russian separatists occupied the regional administration building and called for a referendum. Hide Caption 110 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – Pro-Russian young men look over the fence of a military recruitment office in Donetsk on Thursday, April 10. Hide Caption 111 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – Armed pro-Russian protesters occupy the Security Service building in Luhansk on April 10. Hide Caption 112 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – Members of the self-proclaimed government the "Donetsk Republic" vote April 10 during a meeting at the seized regional administration building in Donetsk. Hide Caption 113 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – Ukrainian lawmakers from different parties scuffle during a Parliament session in Kiev on Tuesday, April 8. Hide Caption 114 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – Workers clean up on April 8 after pro-Russian separatists and police clashed overnight in Kharkiv. Hide Caption 115 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – Pro-Russian protesters burn tires near a regional administration building in Kharkiv after police cleared the building on Monday, April 7. Hide Caption 116 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – A masked man stands on top of a barricade at the regional administration building in Donetsk on April 7. Hide Caption 117 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – Protesters wave a Russian flag as they storm the regional administration building in Donetsk on Sunday, April 6. Protesters seized state buildings in several east Ukrainian cities, prompting accusations from Kiev that Moscow is trying to "dismember" the country. Hide Caption 118 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – Pro-Russian protesters clash with police as they try to occupy a regional administration building in Donetsk on April 6. Hide Caption 119 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – Pro-Russian activists hold a rally in front of a Ukrainian Security Service office in Luhansk on April 6. Hide Caption 120 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – A young demonstrator with his mouth covered by a Russian flag attends a pro-Russia rally outside the regional government administration building in Donetsk on Saturday, April 5. Hide Caption 121 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – A Ukrainian soldier guards a road not far from Prokhody, a village near the Russian border, on April 5. Ukrainian and Western officials have voiced alarm about Russia's reported military buildup on Ukraine's eastern border. Hide Caption 122 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – Ukrainian cadets at the Higher Naval School embrace a friend who has decided to stay in the school during a departure ceremony in Sevastopol, Crimea, on Friday, April 4. Some 120 cadets who refused to take Russian citizenship left the school to return to Ukraine. Hide Caption 123 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – Soviet military veterans take part in a flower-laying ceremony at the Soviet-era World War II memorial in Sevastopol on Thursday, April 3. Hide Caption 124 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – Ukrainian soldiers conduct a training session on the Desna military shooting range northeast of Kiev on Wednesday, April 2. Hide Caption 125 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – Russian soldiers prepare for diving training in front of a Tarantul-III class missile boat Tuesday, April 1, in Sevastopol. Hide Caption 126 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – People pass by barricades near the Dnipro Hotel in Kiev on April 1. Hide Caption 127 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – People walk past a train loaded with Russian tanks Monday, March 31, in the Gvardeyskoe railway station near Simferopol, Crimea. Hide Caption 128 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – A Russian solder sits in a tank at the Ostryakovo railway station, not far from Simferopol on March 31. Hide Caption 129 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev speaks about the economic development of Crimea during a meeting March 31 in Simferopol. Hide Caption 130 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – Members of the Ukrainian National Guard take part in military exercises on a shooting range near Kiev on March 31. Hide Caption 131 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – A woman cries Sunday, March 30, during a gathering to honor those who were killed during protests in Kiev's Independence Square. Hide Caption 132 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – A woman and child walk past a line of police officers during a rally in Kharkiv on March 30. Hide Caption 133 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – Ukrainian soldiers take part in a training exercise at a military base in Donetsk on Saturday, March 29. Hide Caption 134 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – Demonstrators protest Friday, March 28, in Kiev, displaying police vehicles they seized during earlier clashes with authorities. Hide Caption 135 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – Members of the Right Sector group block the Ukrainian parliament building in Kiev on Thursday, March 27. Activists called for Interior Minister Arsen Avakov to step down after the recent killing of radical nationalist leader Oleksandr Muzychko , who died during a police operation to detain him. Muzychko and the Right Sector are credited with playing a lead role in the protests that toppled Ukrainian President Victor Yanukovych. Hide Caption 136 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – Ukrainian tanks are transported from their base in Perevalne, Crimea, on Wednesday, March 26. After Russian troops seized most of Ukraine's bases in Crimea, interim Ukrainian President Oleksandr Turchynov ordered the withdrawal of armed forces from the Black Sea peninsula, citing Russian threats to the lives of military staff and their families. Hide Caption 137 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – Ukrainian marines wave as they leave a base in Feodosia, Crimea, on Tuesday, March 25. Hide Caption 138 of 168

 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – Russian sailors stand on the deck of the corvette ship Suzdalets in the bay of Sevastopol on March 25. Hide Caption 139 of 168

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 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – From left, Crimean Prime Minister Sergey Aksyonov; Vladimir Konstantinov, speaker of the Crimean parliament; Russian President Vladimir Putin; and Alexei Chaly, the new de facto mayor of Sevastopol, join hands in Moscow on March 18 after signing a treaty to make Crimea part of Russia. Hide Caption 154 of 168

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 Photos: Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Crisis in Ukraine – Pro-Russia demonstrators storm the prosecutor general's office during a rally in Donetsk on March 16. Hide Caption 167 of 168 ||||| (JTA) — The Jewish mayor of Ukraine’s second-largest city was shot in a suspected assassination attempt that left him in critical condition.

 The mayor of Kharkiv, Gennady Kernes, “sustained a gunshot wound to the back,” officials from the eastern Ukraine city said in a statement issued Monday. “Now he is in the hospital emergency room, on the operating table. Doctors are fighting for his life.”

 The attack took place at about noon, according to the statement, which did not contain any information on who perpetrated the attack. Kernes was on his routine morning jog when he was shot, the news site Vesti.ua reported.

 The CEO of the National Television Company of Ukraine, Zurab Alsasnia, wrote on Facebook that evidence suggested Kernes had been ambushed during his jog by a sniper who studied the mayor’s habits.

 The official website of the Kharkiv Jewish community describes Kernes as “Jewish by ethnicity.” Eleonora Groysman, editor of the Jewish Ukrainian news site evreiskiy.kiev.ua, also told JTA that Kernes is Jewish.

 According to the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress, the 2009 election campaign in which Kernes became mayor was mired with anti-Semitic hate speech targeting him and other Jewish candidates.

 Ukraine has seen deadly clashes between political opponents since the eruption in November of a revolution that started with protests over then-President Viktor Yanukovych’s perceived pro-Russian policies. Yanukovych was ousted from power in February and replaced with an interim government that has scheduled elections for next month.

 Several anti-Semitic attacks, including two stabbings and two attempts to torch synagogues, have occurred since November in Ukraine, a country with relatively low levels of anti-Semitic violence. ||||| KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — The mayor of Ukraine's second-largest city was shot in the back Monday and pro-Russia insurgents seized yet another government building as tensions rose in eastern Ukraine ahead of a new round of U.S. sanctions.

 Russian solder patrols near army vehicle in a field about 2 kilometers (1.24 miles) from the Ukrainian border at Novoshakhtinsk, Rostov region, Russia, Monday, April 28, 2014. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin) (Associated Press)

 Masked pro Russian armed men stand at the city hall during negotiations about the release of foreign military observers being held by Ponomarev's group in Slovyansk, eastern Ukraine, Sunday, April 27,... (Associated Press)

 Axel Schneider of Germany, foreground, leads a group of foreign military observers escorting by Vacheslav Ponomarev, the self-proclaimed mayor of Slovyansk, right, ahead of a press conference in city... (Associated Press)

 Russian solder patrols near army vehicle in a field about 2 kilometers (1,24 miles) from the Ukrainian border at Novoshakhtinsk, Rostov region, Russia, Monday, April 28, 2014. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin) (Associated Press)

 Armed insurgents tacitly backed by Moscow are seeking more autonomy in the region from the interim government in Kiev. In a bid to ratchet up the pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin, President Barack Obama has promised to levy new sanctions on Russian individuals and companies in retaliation for Moscow's alleged provocations in eastern Ukraine.

 Hennady Kernes, the mayor of Kharkiv, was shot in the back Monday morning, his office said. Kernes was said to be undergoing surgery and "doctors are fighting for his life," according to the city hall.

 Officials have not commented on the circumstances of the shooting and it was not clear who was behind it. Kernes was a staunch opponent of the pro-West Maidan movement that toppled President Viktor Yanukovych in February and was widely viewed as the organizer of activists sent to Kiev from eastern Ukraine to harass those demonstrators.

 But he has since softened his stance toward the new Kiev government and insisted that he does not support the pro-Russia insurgents or any annexation of Ukrainian territory.

 Kharkiv is in eastern Ukraine where pro-Russian gunmen have seized government buildings, set up roadblocks or staged protests to demand greater autonomy or outright annexation by Russia.

 Ukraine's acting government and the West have accused Russia of orchestrating the unrest, which they fear Moscow could use as a pretext for an invasion. Last month, Russia annexed Crimea weeks after seizing control of the Black Sea peninsula.

 On Monday, masked militants with automatic weapons seized another city hall building in eastern Ukraine, this time in Kostyantynivka, 160 kilometers (100 miles) from the Russian border.

 After the seizure, about 15 armed men guarded the building. Some posed for pictures with residents while others distributed St. George's ribbons, the symbol of the pro-Russia movement.

 Kostyantynivka is just 35 kilometers (22 miles) south of Slovyansk, a major city in eastern Ukraine that has been in insurgents' hands for more than three weeks now.

 President Obama said on visit to the Philippines earlier on Monday that the targets of the latest U.S. sanctions will include high-technology exports to Russia's defense industry. The full list, which is also expected to include wealthy allies of Putin, will be announced by officials in Washington later Monday.

 The European Union is also planning more sanctions against Russia, with ambassadors from the bloc's 28 members to meet Monday in Brussels to add to the list of Russian officials who have been hit by asset freezes and travel bans.

 The increasingly ruthless pro-Russia insurgency is turning to an ominous new tactic: kidnapping.

 Dozens of people are being held hostage — including the seven observers, journalists and pro-Ukraine activists — in makeshift jails in Slovyansk.

 The German government on Monday decried the seizure of the eight European military observers there and called for their immediate release. The observers, including three German officers, were detained Friday on allegations they were spying for NATO.

 Pro-Russia militants in camouflage and black balaclavas paraded some of the captive European military observers before the media on Sunday. They also showed three captured Ukrainian security guards bloodied, blindfolded and stripped of their trousers and shoes, their arms bound with packing tape.

 A Swedish officer was released Sunday and German captive Col. Axel Schneider spoke that same day, stressing at a news conference — under armed guard — that they were on an OSCE diplomatic mission and not spies.

 ___

 Nataliya Vasilyeva in Moscow and Julie Pace in Manila, Philippines, contributed to this report. |||||
What is a one-paragraph summary of the above article?

– Gennady Kernes, the mayor of the Eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, was shot in the back this morning, and doctors are currently performing emergency surgery and "fighting for his life," city hall tells the AP. The circumstances of the shooting are unclear, though a Ukrainian report spotted by the Wall Street Journal said he was swimming in a local spring. Kernes was a staunch ally of ousted president Viktor Yanukovych, notes the BBC, and was accused of sending activists to Kiev to harass pro-Western protesters against him. When Yanukovych fled the country, Kernes briefly did too, before returning and declaring that he now supported a united Ukraine. Kharkiv has so far managed to fend off the pro-Russian separatists that have taken over many other Eastern Ukrainian cities. Kernes is also Jewish, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency points out, and was the target of anti-Semitic hate speech during his mayoral election. Meanwhile: Masked militants today seized the city hall building in yet another town—Kostyantynivka, which lies between Slovyansk and Donetsk—and raised a flag proclaiming it part of the "Donestsk Republic." They also reportedly control the town's police station. The self-proclaimed mayor of Slovyansk held a press conference yesterday in which he paraded before the cameras a group of European military observers separatists had captured, declaring them "prisoners of war." He accused them of being spies for NATO, and said he might exchange them for pro-Russian activists held by Kiev, CNN reports. The observers said they'd agreed to the press conferences so that their families could see them. Shortly after the appearance, the separatists released one of the observers for health reasons; the Swedish captive had been suffering from diabetes.


Here is a news article: Abstract

 During 1988 through 1990, California experienced its worst measles epidemic in more than a decade, with 16,400 reported cases, 3,390 hospital admissions, and 75 deaths. More than half of the patients were younger than 5 years; the highest incidence was among infants younger than 12 months. The epidemic centered in low-income Hispanic communities in southern and central California. The major cause of the epidemic was low immunization levels among preschool-aged children and young adults. Rates of complications, admission to hospital, and death were surprisingly high. Outbreak control efforts met with indeterminate success. Problems with these efforts included insufficient funding early in the epidemic and disappointing public response to community-based immunization campaigns. The cost of medical care and outbreak control for the epidemic is conservatively estimated at $30.9 million. Unless the level of immunization in preschool-aged children is increased, this type of epidemic will probably recur. ||||| Bill Gates proves that one person can make a difference—if he happens to be the richest person in the world. Since forming the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation—and especially since leaving Microsoft in 2008 to dedicate himself full-time to the foundation’s work—Gates and his wife Melinda have emerged as two of history’s most powerful philanthropists, funding efforts from polio eradication to sewage-treatment plants, and setting the agenda for aid organizations around the world. They have convinced 127 fellow billionaires to sign their giving pledge, an oath to donate the majority of their wealth to philanthropic organizations. Today, the Gates Foundation has an endowment of $42 billion, almost four times the size of the Ford Foundation, and it distributes between $3 and $4 billion every year. As WIRED Science writer Maryn McKenna put it a few years ago, “Where Gates goes, governments and the media follow.”

 So when Gates releases his annual letter each January, summarizing the foundation’s progress and laying out its priorities for the coming year, the world pays attention. Last year’s edition, a feisty debunking of “myths” about poverty, went viral. This year’s letter, co-written by both Bill and Melinda Gates and released today, is even more ambitious than usual. Titled “Our Big Bet for the Future,” it lays out a series of goals for the next decade and a half—cutting childhood deaths by half, eradicating polio and three other diseases, and making Africa capable of feeding itself, among others. Altogether, the letter predicts, “the lives of people in poor countries will improve faster in the next 15 years than at any other time in history.”

 The letter is modeled on the UN’s Millennium Development Goals, a set of 15-year targets that expire this year and that Gates refers to as “one of the most important documents the UN ever did.” Representatives from every country in the world signed the goals in 2000, pledging among other things to reduce extreme poverty by 50 percent, slash child mortality by two thirds, and cut the maternal mortality rate by three quarters. Although not every target was reached—a full report card can be found here—the document is generally credited with focusing global aid efforts and providing a yardstick against which they can be measured. The UN is set to introduce a new set of development goals this September, and some observers worry that they will be a disappointment rather than an inspiration. Writing for the Guardian, Kevin Watkins frets that the discussions to date have been “hampered by a paralyzing lack of ambition, weak leadership, and the absence of a credible agenda to galvanise public engagement.”

 That certainly does not describe this year’s Gates letter, the most rabble-rousing edition to date. Toward the end, the Gateses announce Global Citizens, a new program to educate and inspire action among the general public. “We want to give global citizens a way to lend their voice, urging governments, companies, and nonprofits to make these issues a priority,” the letter explains. In particular, the Foundation will ask its Global Citizens to push for a meaningful reboot of the UN’s Millennium Goals, and to hold their governments accountable for meeting those targets. It’s a surprisingly populist approach for the Foundation, which has tended to turn to billionaires for the bulk of its support.

 In a wide-ranging phone conversation, WIRED spoke with Gates about this year’s letter, global inequality, and President Obama’s tax proposals. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.

 __The UN is working on its update to the Millennium Development Goals. How do you think it’s going? __

 We’re definitely on track. It will be a much longer document, and a broader set of goals than the MDGs were.

 But the MDGs were so powerful because they were so succinct. Do you worry that if these goals become too broad, it will be harder to keep people focused?

 That absolutely is a concern that I have. Then again, there are unfinished MDGs, and they will always have a very unique position. Key things like child health are so critical. If you have malnutrition you can’t do education very well.

 I do think the new document will be so long that fewer people will read the whole thing. Then again, when we talk about books like the Koran or the Bible, not everybody reads every word of those things. I think of the MDGs like the Ten Commandments.

 You operate from the belief that the world is radically improving in the fields of health, agriculture, and poverty. But there’s one area that you flick at in this letter where things seem to be getting worse, and that’s climate change. We’ve just learned that 2014 was the hottest year on record. Tech solutions are being developed, but they’re facing headwinds—be it political stagnation or extremely cheap gas prices. Do you have the same sense of optimism when you look at energy?

 I have billions invested in various energy-related things—like battery companies, or cheaper ways of making electricity. I have a company that’s working on something called fourth-gen nuclear, this new super-safe nuclear design. So I think it is feasible to have energy sources that are even cheaper—although, as you say, that benchmark gets tougher as the price of natural gas and oil are so low.

 There’s no doubt that we’re going to have some warming even as we start to deploy these solutions, because of the lags in the system. Nathan Myhrvold has written a few articles on this, about how even if you do the right things you still have some locked-in change.

 I’ve been a big proponent that rich world governments should raise their energy R&D budgets. It is possible—based on the basic science of big energy, nuclear fuels, the photons that hit the earth from the sun—to have cheap energy. In the meantime we have to do some adaptation, which is mostly investing in agricultural systems so that farmers in the areas that will be most affected can have enough productivity and enough storage so that if they have lean years, their kids are not significantly malnourished.

 __You’ve dedicated a ton of resources to delivering vaccines to remote areas of the world. It must drive you nuts when people in the rich world choose not to vaccinate their kids. __

 I just read this book called On Immunity: An Inoculation—which is so well written, it’s unbelievable—that talks about this. It’s a little bit unsurprising considering you’re saying to parents, “Hey, take this needle and inject it into your kid! Honestly, we’re sure that it does no harm!” It really takes explaining to people why this is not only beneficial to their child but to society as a whole.

 The anti-vaccination crowd, it’s very unfortunate. They create risk and in some cases there have been pertussis-based deaths and measles deaths. Those are the two that show up pretty quickly when you get any group of kids that haven’t been vaccinated. People thought, “OK, we have the Internet, information will get out there.” But misinformation got out there as well.

 I do think we’ll keep vaccination rates high in the US. Rationality will succeed. But it will take cases like this Disneyland thing to remind people how irresponsible it is. The science about the safety is very, very strong.

 Another source of discouraging data: income inequality. You’ve read Thomas Piketty’s Capital, and had nice things to say about it. But you also said that some inequality is built into the capitalist system, and the question is when it begins to do more harm than good. Has inequality become a hinderance?

 I don’t think in some huge way. Of course, at a global level, income inequality is going down, because countries like China and India are getting richer much, much faster than the rich world is getting richer. So the overall picture on income inequality is very, very positive. And yet, each country has to look at the fact that, because of the nature of capitalism, there’s a tendency at the country level to have greater inequality unless you have tax policies to moderate it. So it’s a great democratic debate: What should those tax policies be? For the one country whose tax policies I know, the US, I’ve been in favor of more progressive tax approaches.

 I also think philanthropy, although not a total solution to it, does moderate the problem. Especially if those who have been lucky give of their time and money to causes—like improving education or health—that speak to the most basic inequities.

 So it’s a great topic for debate. A democracy is a self-correcting system, and over time I’d expect them to get it right. The founders were a little worried that the masses would get rid of capitalist incentives by going too far, but at least in the US that certainly hasn’t been a problem. The system has worked well for hundreds of years.

 We’re speaking the day of the State of the Union. What do you think of the President’s tax proposals?

 I don’t know the specifics very well so I really can’t comment. Just being pragmatic, the likelihood of a change in the tax system is fairly low. But I’ll be very interested. He no doubt will be promoting things that are progressive in nature so it’ll be interesting to see what he picks.

 Let’s talk about your Global Citizen Initiative. This seems like a departure for you. How did it come about?

 Some 6.5 million children die every year. There’s a subset of that where there’s an earthquake or flood, and people are so anxious to give and help. It reminds you that when people can connect and have an image of what’s going on, in those acute situations, they care and are willing to get involved. But 98 percent of childhood death comes from chronic, ongoing things, not those headline, one-time events. It’s malaria every day, diarrhea every day, pneumonia every day. The idea is that, if you sign up, on an ongoing basis, a few times a month we’ll give you an update on how things are going. It won’t just be a headline about an earthquake.

 The idea is getting people to use their voice to say their governments should continue to be generous on aid. We're dealing with tight budgets. Even countries that have been generous, like the Netherlands or Australia, have made cuts to their aid budgets. And within the universe of NGOs, some are agricultural, some are environmental, some are health, you can pick one of those that you want to dive down into and get involved with.

 That is a new thing. We’re not sure how well that will resonate. But we do think people’s basic morality, the desire to care about humanity broadly, that it’s fairly timely. There’s a bit of a vacuum there. There’s not an alternate way for people to grab on and see how they might contribute more.

 At the same time, critics have grown dismissive of “clicktivism,” little bursts of online activity that don’t result in any sustained commitment or change. How do you keep this from being a mile wide and an inch deep?

 The starting point is very shallow. But the beauty is you can use that to get in more deeply. If you sign up to be a global citizen, we won’t send you too much email but we’ll say, “Hey, if you’re interested in going to Africa, not only can you do some interesting fun things, but you’d have a chance to get exposed to these issues, see this stuff on the ground.” Once you do that, people tend to get hooked. They’ll see something and latch onto it—a particular village or disease.

 But you’re right. Just because we have 10 million global citizens who give us their email address, that’s not our final metric. That’s a starting metric. The metric I care about is people who get involved in real activism, really take trips, really start donating and volunteering. This is just a gateway toward deeper involvement, if we do our job right. ||||| The vaccination exemption rate among kindergarten students in California — cases in which parents said they did not want their children vaccinated for health, religious or other reasons — was 3.1 percent in the 2013-14 school year, according to the C.D.C. report. Oregon had an exemption rate of 7.1 percent, the nation’s highest, the report found. Health officials said the vaccination rate needed to be above 95 percent in all communities to prevent outbreaks.

 Still, the California figure can be deceiving. Health officials said there were pockets across the state, including wealthy neighborhoods in Los Angeles and Orange Counties and enclaves in Northern California, where the exemption rate jumped into the double digits. California has long been viewed as particularly prone to this kind of outbreak because of its population size and the number of people arriving from overseas.

 “The problem is that there are these pockets with low vaccination rates,” said Dr. Jane Seward, the deputy director of the viral diseases division at the C.D.C. “If a case comes into a population where a lot of people are unvaccinated, that’s where you get the outbreak and where you get the spread.”

 Organizations that have led the campaign of doubts about vaccinations suggested that it was too soon to draw such a conclusion. The groups cautioned parents not to be pressured into having their children receive vaccinations, which the organizations say have been linked to other diseases. Health professionals say those claims are unfounded or vastly overstated.

 “It’s premature to blame the increase in reports of measles on the unvaccinated when we don’t have all the facts yet,” said Barbara Loe Fisher, the president of the National Vaccine Information Center, a group raising concerns about inoculations. “I do know this: Fifty-seven cases of measles coming out of Disneyland in a country with a population of 317 million people is not a lot of cases. We should all take a deep breath and wait to see and get more information.”

 A handful of doctors seem sympathetic to these views. Dr. Jay Gordon, a Santa Monica pediatrician who has cautioned against the way vaccines are used, said he had “given more measles vaccines” than ever before but did not like giving the shot to younger children.

 “I think whatever risk there is — and I can’t prove a risk — is, I think, caused by the timing,” he said, referring to when the shot is administered. “It’s given at a time when kids are more susceptible to environmental impact. Don’t get me wrong; I have no proof that this vaccine causes harm. I just have anecdotal reports from parents who are convinced that their children were harmed by the vaccine.” ||||| LOS ANGELES (AP) — Seventy people have been infected in a measles outbreak that led California public health officials to urge those who haven't been vaccinated against the disease, including children too young to be immunized, should avoid Disney parks where the spread originated.

 FILE - This Nov. 20, 2009 photo shows Sleeping Beauty's Castle in winter dress with the iconic "Partners" statue featuring images of Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse in the foreground, at Disneyland in Anaheim,... (Associated Press)

 New infections linked to the theme parks emerged Wednesday in the outbreak that has spread to five U.S. states and Mexico, though the vast majority — 62 — occurred in California.

 Because measles is highly contagious, people who have not received the measles-mumps-rubella, or MMR, vaccine are susceptible and should avoid visiting Disney "for the time being," state epidemiologist Gil Chavez said.

 The same holds true for crowded places with a high concentration of international travelers, such as airports, Chavez said. People who are vaccinated don't need to take such precautions, he said.

 Disneyland Resorts spokeswoman Suzi Brown said officials agreed with the advice that "it's absolutely safe to visit if you're vaccinated."

 The people who have been infected range in age from 7 months to 70 years old. The vast majority were not vaccinated, and a quarter had to be hospitalized.

 Among those sickened were five Disney employees. Three have since returned to work. The company previously said park employees who may have been in contact with those infected were asked to show proof of vaccination or have a blood test to show immunity against measles. Those with pending results were put on paid leave. Vaccinations are also being offered to all employees.

 Measles has hit California hard recently. The state typically sees four to 60 measles cases a year.

 "We are off to a bad start in 2015," Chavez said.

 Since the outbreak, two dozen unvaccinated students at an Orange County high school were sent home for three weeks after an infected pupil showed up.

 Measles is a highly contagious respiratory illness that can spread by air through coughing or sneezing. Symptoms include fever followed by cough, runny nose and a blotchy rash. Though the virus has been eradicated in the U.S. since 2000, it can still enter the country through an infected traveler.

 While health officials said they likely may never find "patient zero" or the trigger of the outbreak, they believe it was either a resident from a country where measles is widespread or a Californian who went abroad and brought home the virus.

 People at highest risk are those who are unvaccinated, pregnant women, infants under 6 months old, and those with weakened immune systems.

 ___

 Contact Alicia Chang at http://twitter.com/SciWriAlicia ||||| Persons using assistive technology might not be able to fully access information in this file. For assistance, please send e-mail to: mmwrq@cdc.gov. Type 508 Accommodation and the title of the report in the subject line of e-mail.

 Measles — United States, 2011

 In 2000, the United States achieved measles elimination (defined as interruption of year-round endemic measles transmission) (1). However, importations of measles into the United States continue to occur, posing risks for measles outbreaks and sustained measles transmission. During 2011, a total of 222 measles cases (incidence rate: 0.7 per 1 million population) and 17 measles outbreaks (defined as three or more cases linked in time or place) were reported to CDC, compared with a median of 60 (range: 37–140) cases and four (range: 2–10) outbreaks reported annually during 2001–2010. This report updates an earlier report on measles in the United States during the first 5 months of 2011 (2). Of the 222 cases, 112 (50%) were associated with 17 outbreaks, and 200 (90%) were associated with importations from other countries, including 52 (26%) cases in U.S. residents returning from abroad and 20 (10%) cases in foreign visitors. Other cases associated with importations included 67 (34%) linked epidemiologically to importations, 39 (20%) with virologic evidence suggesting recent importation, and 22 (11%) linked to cases with virologic evidence of recent importation. Most patients (86%) were unvaccinated or had unknown vaccination status. The increased numbers of outbreaks and measles importations into the United States underscore the ongoing risk for measles among unvaccinated persons and the importance of vaccination against measles (3).

 Confirmed measles cases in the United States are reported by state and local health departments to CDC using a standard case definition.* A measles case is considered confirmed if it is laboratory-confirmed or meets the clinical case definition (an illness characterized by a generalized rash lasting ≥3 days, a temperature of ≥101°F [≥38.3°C], and cough, coryza, or conjunctivitis) and is linked epidemiologically to a confirmed case. Laboratory confirmation of measles is made by detection in serum of measles-specific immunoglobulin M (IgM), a significant rise in measles immunoglobulin G (IgG) level, isolation of measles virus, or detection of measles virus by nucleic acid amplification from a clinical specimen. Cases are considered importations if exposure to measles virus occurred outside the United States 7–21 days before rash onset and rash occurred within 21 days of entry into the United States, with no known exposure to measles in the United States during that time.

 For this report, U.S. residents were classified as eligible or ineligible for measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccination according to the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommendations for measles vaccination (3). Vaccine-eligible patients were defined as U.S. residents who 1) were unvaccinated or had unknown vaccination status, 2) did not have any contraindications for vaccination, and 3) were either born after 1957 and aged ≥12 months without previous documentation of presumptive evidence of immunity to measles† or aged 6–11 months with recent history of international travel.

 During 2011, a provisional total of 222 measles cases were reported from 31 states (Figure 1). The median age of the patients was 14 years (range: 3 months to 84 years); 27 (14%) were aged <12 months, 51 (26%) were aged 1–4 years, 42 (21%) were aged 5–19 years, and 76 (39%) were aged ≥20 years. Most patients were unvaccinated (65%) or had unknown vaccination status (21%). Of the 222, a total of 196 were U.S. residents. Of those U.S. residents who had measles, 166 were unvaccinated or had unknown vaccination status, 141 (85%) were eligible for MMR vaccination, 18 (11%) were too young for vaccination, six (4%) were born before 1957 and presumed immune, and one (1%) had previous laboratory evidence of presumptive immunity to measles. Among the 141 patients who were unvaccinated and eligible for MMR vaccination, nine (6%) were infants aged 6–11 months and had recent history of international travel; 14 (10%) were aged 12–15 months, the age recommended for receiving the first dose of MMR vaccine; and 66 (47%) were aged 16 months through 19 years. Of those 66 patients, 50 (76%) had not been vaccinated because of a philosophic, religious, or personal objection.

 Among the 70 (32%) measles patients who were hospitalized, 17 (24%) had diarrhea, 15 (21%) were dehydrated, and 12 (17%) had pneumonia. No cases of encephalitis and no deaths were reported.

 Of the 222 U.S. measles cases, 200 (90%) were associated with importations, of which 72 (36%) were importations from other countries, 67 (30%) were linked epidemiologically to importations, 39 (20%) had virologic evidence (i.e., isolation of a viral genotype known to circulate in a country with measles) that suggested recent importation, and 22 (11%) were linked to cases with virologic evidence of recent importation. The source of measles acquisition in 22 cases was not determined through contact tracing or viral isolation (i.e., linking the patient to a country with measles or isolation of a viral genotype known to circulate in a country with measles). Importations were reported during 31 of the 52 reporting weeks (Figure 2). Among the 72 cases of measles importation, 52 were linked to U.S. residents who had traveled abroad, and 20 were linked to foreign visitors. Almost half (46%) of the 72 measles importations occurred among persons who acquired the disease in the World Health Organization (WHO) European Region (Table).

 Seventeen outbreaks accounted for 112 (50%) of the 222 cases. The median outbreak size was six cases (range: 3–21 cases), and outbreaks lasted a median of 18 days (range: 6–69 days).

 Measles was laboratory confirmed in 200 (90%) cases: 94 (47%) by detection of measles-specific IgM and measles virus nucleic acid, 69 (35%) by detection of IgM only, and 37 (19%) by detection of measles virus nucleic acid only. Six genotypes of measles virus were identified among samples collected: D4, D9, D8, B3, G3, and H1 (Table).

 Reported by

 Div of Viral Diseases, National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, CDC. Corresponding contributor: Huong McLean, PhD, hmclean@cdc.gov.

 Editorial Note

 Measles elimination has been maintained in the United States for more than a decade through high population immunity secondary to high MMR vaccination coverage. Coverage with 1 dose has been >90% among children aged 19–35 months since 1996. The increase in measles importations and outbreaks during 2011 serves as a reminder that measles remains endemic in many parts of the world and unvaccinated U.S. residents continue to place themselves and others in their communities at risk for measles and its complications.

 The increase in importations reflects recent increases in the incidence of measles in countries visited by U.S. travelers. The source of almost half of the measles importations in 2011 was the WHO European Region, which reported >30,000 cases of measles, including 27 cases of measles encephalitis, a complication that often results in permanent neurologic sequelae, and eight measles-related deaths in 2011. Five countries (France, Italy, Romania, Spain, and Germany) accounted for more than 90% of cases reported to the European Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (4). Although measles has been eliminated in the Region of the Americas since 2002 and considerable progress has been achieved in global measles control, measles is still common in many countries. Importations of measles virus into the United States will likely continue and cause outbreaks in communities that have clusters of unvaccinated persons. Maintenance of high MMR vaccination coverage is essential to prevent measles outbreaks and sustain measles elimination in the United States. Despite the relatively small number of reported cases in the United States, the public and the health-care providers must remain vigilant. A drop in MMR vaccination coverage in a community can increase the risk for large, sustained measles outbreaks, as experienced recently in Canada and France (4,5), or reestablishment of endemic transmission, as experienced in the United Kingdom (6).

 Occasionally, measles cases are reported without apparent links to importations, but virologic evidence suggests recent importation of an undetected case or chain of cases. Given travel patterns, the highly infectious nature of measles virus, and limitations of surveillance systems, not every importation of measles virus into the United States is detected. Therefore, collection of samples for virus detection is extremely important. Genetic characterization of viruses can help to confirm or suggest the likely source of imported viruses because measles genotypes are distributed heterogeneously in regions that have not yet eliminated measles (7,8).

 Health-care providers play an important role in maintaining elimination of measles in the United States. Patients with measles frequently seek medical care; therefore, health-care providers should maintain a high awareness of measles and suspect measles in persons who have a febrile rash illness and clinically compatible symptoms (e.g., cough, coryza, or conjunctivitis) and who recently have traveled abroad or have had contact with travelers. Providers should implement isolation precautions immediately and promptly report suspected measles cases to their local health department to limit spread to other susceptible persons, including those who cannot be vaccinated because of medical contraindications or those too young for vaccination. In several outbreaks during 2011, despite seeking medical care, the source case was not identified until after the first or second generation of cases was reported. Misdiagnosis and delayed reporting resulted in missed opportunities to prevent additional cases because of delayed implementation of control measures. Nevertheless, for most cases, early reporting by providers and rapid control efforts by state and local public health agencies have prevented measles transmission and limited the size of outbreaks.

 Health-care providers should encourage vaccination of all eligible patients, including children and adults. MMR vaccine is recommended routinely for all children at age 12–15 months, with a second dose at age 4–6 years. Two doses of MMR vaccine also are recommended for unvaccinated health-care personnel, international travelers, and students attending post–high school educational institutions. Other adults without evidence of measles immunity should receive 1 dose of MMR vaccine (3). In addition, providers should remind their patients who plan to travel internationally of the increased risk for measles and potential exposures during bus, train, or air travel and at large international events or gatherings (e.g., Euro 2012 and the 2012 Summer Olympics), and of the importance of vaccination. All persons aged ≥6 months who will be traveling outside the United States and are eligible to receive MMR vaccine should be vaccinated before travel. Children aged ≥12 months should receive 2 doses of MMR vaccine separated by at least 28 days, before travel (3).

 References

 What is already known on this topic? Achievement of measles elimination was declared in the United States in 2000, but the disease remains poorly controlled in much of the world. Cases of measles are imported regularly into the United States. What is added by this report? During 2011, 222 cases of measles and 17 outbreaks were reported in the United States, an increase compared with cases and outbreaks reported during 2001–2010. Importations accounted for 72 (32%) cases, including 52 (72%) cases among U.S. residents who had traveled abroad recently. Among patients who were U.S. residents, 85% were unvaccinated or had unknown vaccination status and were eligible for measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccination. What are the implications for public health practice? MMR vaccine is highly effective in preventing measles and its complications. Rapid public health response and high 2-dose MMR vaccine coverage are essential in preventing measles outbreaks and sustaining elimination in the United States. One dose of MMR vaccine is recommended routinely for all children at age 12–15 months, with a second dose at age 4–6 years. Adults without evidence of measles immunity should receive 1 MMR vaccine dose, whereas 2 doses are recommended for unvaccinated health-care personnel, international travelers, and students attending post–high school educational institutions.

 FIGURE 1. Origin of reported measles cases (N = 222) — United States, 2011 Alternate Text: The figure above shows the origin of reported measles cases in the United States during 2011. During 2011, a provisional total of 222 measles cases were reported from 31 states.

 FIGURE 2. Number of measles cases, by import status and week of rash onset (N = 222) — United States, 2011 Alternate Text: The figure above shows the number of measles cases, by import status and week of rash onset in the United States during 2011. Importations were reported during 31 of the 52 reporting weeks. |||||
A summary of this is?

– From 1988 to 1990, California was slammed with a measles epidemic that affected at least 16,000 people, per the Western Journal of Medicine. Now public health officials are trying to avoid a similar scenario, encouraging people in the Golden State to a) get vaccinated, and b) stay away from Disney parks where the current outbreak started if they're not. Although a Disneyland spokeswoman tells the AP "it's absolutely safe to visit if you're vaccinated," a state epidemiologist warns that those who haven't received the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) shot should keep away for "the time being." Seventy people—the "vast majority" of them unvaccinated, notes the AP—have reportedly been infected so far in the outbreak. Measles has officially been eradicated since 2000 in the US; California officials speculate the current outbreak was caused by a foreign visitor or a resident who traveled overseas. The vaccination debate has been renewed, with many health officials lambasting those who refuse to get their shots due to fears about risks. "[These cases] wouldn't have happened otherwise. … There are some pretty dumb people out there," an infectious disease specialist tells the New York Times, while a deputy director at the California Center for Infectious Diseases urges "unvaccinated Californians to consider getting vaccinated against measles." Even Bill Gates, who has lobbied for vaccinations around the globe, tells Wired, "It will take cases like this Disneyland thing to remind people how irresponsible [not being vaccinated] is." The head of the National Vaccine Information Center, however, says it's all overblown. "Fifty-seven cases of measles coming out of Disneyland in a country with a population of 317 million people is not a lot ... . We should all take a deep breath," she says.


Owning it. PricewaterhouseCoopers, the auditing firm that handles the Oscars votes, said that they didn’t act “quickly enough” to fix the epic Best Picture flub at the 89th annual Academy Awards on Sunday, February 26.

 “PwC takes full responsibility for the series of mistakes and breaches of established protocols during last night’s Oscars,” the company wrote in a statement, released late Monday, February 27, hours after they apologized for the gaffe in another earlier statement.

 According to PwC, their partner Brian Cullinan accidentally handed presenters Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway the envelope containing the winner of Best Actress, which was La La Land’s Emma Stone. After realizing their error, Beatty, 79, explained to the audience and viewers at home, "I opened the envelope and it said, 'Emma Stone, La La Land.' That's why I took such a long look at Faye. … I wasn't trying to be funny."

 Eddy Chen/ABC via Getty Images

 In their statement, PwC apologized for the way they handled the situation. “Once the error occurred, protocols for correcting it were not followed through quickly enough by Mr. Cullinan or his partner,” the statement continued.

 The company also expressed remorse for those roped into the snafu, including Beatty, Dunaway, 76, and host Jimmy Kimmel, as well as the casts of La La Land and Moonlight.

 “We wish to extend our deepest gratitude to each of them for the graciousness they displayed during such a difficult moment,” the statement said. “For the past 83 years, the Academy has entrusted PwC with the integrity of the awards process during the ceremony, and last night we failed the Academy.”

 Tim Ryan, PwC’s U.S. chairman and senior partner, addressed the drama during an interview with Variety on Monday. “We clearly made a mistake, and once the mistake was made, we corrected it and owned up to it,” he said, adding that Cullinan “feels very, very terrible and horrible” about the mix-up.

 “He is very upset about this mistake,” Ryan added. “And as a firm, given that he is a partner of our firm, it is also my mistake and our mistake, and we all feel very bad.”

 Want stories like these delivered straight to your inbox? Sign up now for the Us Weekly newsletter! ||||| One of two accounting honchos in charge of handing out the winners’ envelopes at the Oscars Sunday night jinxed himself in an interview earlier this month.

 “It doesn’t sound very complicated, but you have to make sure you give the presenter the right envelope,” Brian Cullinan, a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers, told the website Medium in a story published Feb. 10.

 “We check things dozens of times, recounts and double-checks,” Cullinan said. “We’ll have staff go back two and three times to make sure, and then [PWC partner] Martha [Ruiz] and I will review and recount to ensure there are no differences between what we have and they had. So far, there’s never been a problem.”

 Cullinan was standing stage right during the ceremony holding a briefcase that contained the 24 envelopes of the winners. His PWC partner, Martha Ruiz, was stage left holding another briefcase with an identical set of envelopes. The pair would take turns handing them out to presenters as they alternately took the stage from either side.

 For the final award — Best Picture — presenter Warren Beatty entered from stage right, Cullinan’s side.

 Only Beatty was given the wrong envelope, a monumental flub that led to the incorrect winner being named.

 Before the glaring glitch, Cullinan had posted scores of photos taken backstage at the Oscars.

 After his bosses at PWC issued a mea culpa for the company’s mistake, all of his Oscar night tweets were scrubbed. ||||| Accountant Brian Cullinan was told not to use social media during the Oscars — despite tweeting a photo of Emma Stone just moments before handing Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway the wrong envelope for Best Picture, PEOPLE has confirmed.

 In the now-deleted tweet, Cullinan – one of two accountants from PricewaterhouseCoopers who handled the Oscars balloting – shared a photo of the Best Actress winner smiling while holding her award backstage. The time stamp shows it was posted at 9:05 p.m., only minutes before the Best Picture blunder occurred.

 “Brian was asked not to tweet or use social media during the show,” a source tells PEOPLE. “He was fine to tweet before he arrived at the red carpet but once he was under the auspices of the Oscar night job, that was to be his only focus.”

 The source continued, “Tweeting right before the Best Picture category was announced was not something that should have happened.”

 The source added that it’s unclear whether the Academy will end its 83-year relationship with the accounting firm after the mix-up.

 “The Academy has launched a full-scale review of its relationship with PwC but it is very complicated,” the source said. “Vote-tallying and the Oscar night job is just one part of what PwC does with the Academy. It is too early to say how this will play out but everyone is of course taking it very very seriously.”

 Christopher Polk/Getty

 Cullinan has not publicly commented or posted on his Twitter account since the blunder, although his PwC partner Martha Ruiz shared a selfie from the red carpet with Cullinan and Michael Strahan after the accounting firm took responsibility for the error.

 PwC, the accounting firm that counts and delivers the winning Oscars envelopes, has publicly taken the blame for the incident in which La La Land was called as the Best Picture winner over the actual honoree, Moonlight. It confirmed that Cullinan mistakenly handed the presenters the duplicate Best Actress envelope instead of the Best Picture.

 Cullinan and Martha Ruiz were the representatives from PwC tasked with figuring out the Oscar winners and bringing the sealed envelopes containing the well-guarded secrets to the awards show. Two PwC staffers previously told MarketWatch that for security, there are “two briefcases, that are identical, and we have two entire sets of winning envelopes.”

 During the show, the two take their places on opposite sides of the stage, handing presenters their cards (depending on which side they enter from).

 On top of admitting fault in the error, PwC also said that Cullinan and Ruiz did not follow protocol for correcting the error “quickly enough.” They only appeared onstage after multiple La La Land creators gave speeches – more than two minutes after La La Land was incorrectly named the winner.

 Ahead of the show, both Ruiz and Cullinan seemed assured that no mistake of that kind would be made.

 Cullinan told The Huffington Post before the ceremony that if a wrong winner were to be called, “We would make sure that the correct person was known very quickly. Whether that entails stopping the show, us walking onstage, us signaling to the stage manager — that’s really a game-time decision, if something like that were to happen. ”

 He added, “Again, it’s so unlikely.” ||||| The PriceWaterhouseCoopers auditors responsible for the biggest fiasco in Oscars history had previously boasted that their 83-year-old contract had never come up for tender because they "always" do a good job, it has emerged.

 Brian Cullinan, one of the only two people in the world supposed to know the Oscar winners before the ceremony, had said: “It’s such a long-term relationship that we know intricately how everything works, the timing of it, the process that we use, and they have absolute trust in us and what we do.”

 But that relationship could be in doubt for the first time today, after executives were seen in crisis meetings following an on-stage catastrophe in which La La Land was mistakenly... ||||| As of mid-Tuesday, officials at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences were still reviewing Sunday night’s Oscar debacle, when La La Land was mistakenly announced as Best Picture instead of Moonlight, and they were still considering possible fixes. An Academy spokeswoman declined to discuss the next steps. But people briefed on the matter dropped some hints. One change, according to a person familiar with the discussions, would involve stationing two auditors — from PricewaterhouseCoopers or otherwise — at each stage entrance, rather than one on each side, as was done until now.

 The extra auditor would act as a fail-safe, presumably keeping anyone from handing presenters the wrong envelope, as happened to Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway on Sunday. According to this person, the present two-auditor system — under which each holds a duplicate set of envelopes on each side of the stage — is designed not so much for safety as convenience: Presenters may enter from left or right, and the idea has been to have envelopes available on both sides.

 Another person said Academy officials are looking hard at the Emma Stone tweet posted by PwC auditor Brian Cullinan just before Dunaway announced the wrong winner onstage. The review, which has been a nonstop process since Sunday night, should make clear whether there was indeed a policy violation, and, if so, what might be done about it.

 Increasingly, Sunday’s last-minute breakdown looks like a compound fracture. An auditor handed off the wrong envelope. Beatty mulled it, then passed it to Dunaway, who proclaimed La La Land the winner without accounting for the announcement’s mention of best actress Stone. Those involved conferred while the announcement and mistaken thank-yous proceeded. No producer halted the process by stepping on-camera or having someone in the booth call a halt. The host, Jimmy Kimmel, was not immediately available to intervene; he was prepping a last-minute coda involving his faux nemesis Matt Damon. In the end, no one looked good. |||||
What is a one-paragraph summary of the above article?

– The PwC accountant whose backstage tweet may have distracted him enough to cause the biggest flub in Oscars history was specifically asked not to tweet during the awards show, a source tells People. "Brian [Cullinan] was asked not to tweet or use social media during the show. He was fine to tweet before he arrived at the red carpet, but once he was under the auspices of the Oscar night job, that was to be his only focus," the source says. "Tweeting right before the Best Picture category was announced was not something that should have happened." The tweet in question, along with others from backstage, have since been deleted. PwC said in a statement Monday night that "once the error occurred, protocols for correcting it were not followed through quickly enough by Mr. Cullinan or his partner," per Us. Meanwhile, the Academy continues to investigate the incident and its relationship with PwC; the Telegraph reports the accounting firm is in "crisis meetings" with the Academy in an attempt to salvage the 83-year-long relationship between the two. Sources tell Deadline one possible change being discussed is adding two more PwC auditors backstage, one on each side of the stage, so that the extra auditor could act as a fail-safe in case the first auditor hands a presenter the wrong envelope again. As for whether the Academy might sever its relationship with PwC entirely, a source tells People the issue is "very complicated" because "vote-tallying and the Oscar night job is just one part of what PwC does with the Academy." Page Six points out that, in an interview earlier this month, Cullinan had noted, "It doesn’t sound very complicated, but you have to make sure you give the presenter the right envelope."


Article:
Eli Manning was at Disney World yesterday, but he's now back in New York City with the rest of the New York Giants, celebrating their Super Bowl XLVI victory.

 The parade started at Battery Place and Washington Street and will continue on up through the Canyon of Heroes before finishing at City Hall Plaza with New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg presenting the Key to the City.

 All the Giants are on hand, and countless people fill the streets.

 We'll be watching all the coverage and bringing you all the latest pictures, quotes and videos as the parade continues.

 Lead Image Credit: Mary Pilon ||||| And not just Super Bowl vets? That's what some returned soldiers are asking in light of the Giants parade today; others think it might send the wrong signal — that the U.S. thinks it's all over, over there. "If we had to wait to honor our servicemen and women until wars were over, that would take a long time,” Leslie Gelb of the Council on Foreign Relations told the Times. |||||Summary:

– To the victors go the massive ticker-tape parades. Thousands roared as Giants quarterback Eli Manning hoisted the team's Super Bowl trophy during a parade today through New York City. (The Daily Intel blog wonders why the city can't do this for Iraqi war vets, too.) Today's parade set off from the southern tip of Manhattan and moved slowly north to City Hall as confetti wafted down from the high-rises. Mayor Bloomberg said the city should now be nicknamed the "Big Blue Apple." Click for more from the parade.