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poster="http://v.politico.com/images/1155968404/201611/1048/1155968404_5228460420001_5228394103001-vs.jpg?pubId=1155968404" true Trump calls for jailing, revoking citizenship of flag-burners Laws prohibiting the burning or desecration of the American flag have been struck down by the Supreme Court.

 Burning an American flag should be a crime, President-elect Donald Trump wrote Tuesday morning on Twitter, perhaps punishable by a forfeiture of U.S. citizenship or a year in jail.

 “Nobody should be allowed to burn the American flag - if they do, there must be consequences - perhaps loss of citizenship or year in jail!” Trump wrote in a post to his social media account.

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 Laws prohibiting the burning or desecration of the flag have been struck down by the Supreme Court, most recently in 1990, because they were found to have violated the First Amendment of the Constitution, which protects freedom of speech. A 1958 Supreme Court decision rejected the practice of stripping U.S. citizenship as a form of criminal punishment, on the grounds that it violates Eighth Amendment protections against "cruel and unusual punishment."

 In a 5-4 decision in 1989, the Supreme Court upheld the right of protesters to burn the flag, with the late Justice Antonin Scalia siding with the protesters. He later said he based his ruling on a “textual” reading of the Constitution.

 “If it were up to me, I would put in jail every sandal-wearing, scruffy-bearded weirdo who burns the American flag,” Scalia said in 2015 in Philadelphia. “But I am not king.”

 A 2005 bill that would have reinstituted a ban on flag burning was co-sponsored by Hillary Clinton, then a senator from New York. That legislation was unsuccessful.

 A constitutional amendment that would allow the government to ban flag desecration has been proposed multiple times but has never passed. It was last voted down in 2006 in the Senate, where current Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and former Democratic presidential candidate Lincoln Chafee, then a Republican, were among three GOP lawmakers to vote against it. Then-Sen. Clinton also voted against it.

 McConnell disagreed sharply with Trump's tweet when asked about it during a press availability on Tuesday.

 "The Supreme Court has held that that activity is a protected First Amendment right, a form of unpleasant speech, and in this country we have a long tradition of respecting unpleasant speech. I happen to support the Supreme Court's decision on that matter," McConnell said.

 Some protesters upset with Trump's Election Day victory have set fire to American flags at demonstrations throughout the country. At Hampshire College, a small school in western Massachusetts, administrators removed the American flag from campus after protesters there burned one, according to WWLP-TV. That decision prompted a protest of more than 1,000 people, many of them veterans, upset with the school's decision.

 Jason Miller, Trump's senior communications adviser, struggled to defend the president-elect's post in an interview on CNN's "New Day" just minutes after the tweet appeared online. He refused to concede that flag burning is constitutionally protected speech, insisting that it should be illegal even as he tried in vain to pivot to the announcement of Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.) as Trump's pick to be secretary of health and human services.

 "Chris, flag burning is completely ridiculous. And I think you know that and I think the vast majority of Americans would agree," Miller told CNN anchor Chris Cuomo.

 "But legal," Cuomo interjected.

 "But Chris, it's completely ridiculous. And I don't think there's a big universe of people out there who support flag burning. It's terrible and it’s despicable," Miller replied.

 The two continued in circles for several more rounds of back-and-forth as Cuomo tried to pin down Trump’s spokesman on the issue of flag-burning before Miller finally succeeded in turning the interview to Price’s selection, telling his interviewer that “flag burning should be illegal. End of story. Let’s get in and talk about how we’re going to repeal and replace Obamacare and these fantastic picks that the president-elect announced this morning.”

 House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) readily acknowledged during an interview on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” that flag burning is constitutionally protected free speech, telling panelist Willie Geist that “we’ll protect our First Amendment” even though he does not agree with the practice.

 Rep. Sean Duffy (R-Wis.), asked about Trump’s tweet in a separate “New Day” interview, said, “I love my flag, and I love what it stands for, and I hate those who want to go out and burn it.” Still, Duffy added: “The court is probably right that we want to protect those people who want to protest and their right to actually demonstrate with disgracing our flag even though so many of us who love our country and love our flag object to it.”

 Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.), a libertarian-leaning member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, also took issue with Trump’s flag-desecration stance, writing on his own Twitter account that “Nobody should burn the American flag, but our Constitution secures our right to do so. No president is allowed to burn the First Amendment.”

 Trump received a modicum of support from Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), the Armed Services Committee chairman with whom he clashed throughout his presidential run. As he made his way through a Capitol Hill office building, McCain told CNN that “I do not approve of burning the flag. I think there should be some punishment, but right now, the Supreme Court decision is that people are free to express themselves that way.”

 McCain declined to offer any further comment on Trump’s social media post, telling a CNN reporter that the president-elect’s bombast is a distraction from the work he faces on Capitol Hill. ||||| Here's what you should know about President-elect Donald Trump's Nov. 29 tweet calling for a ban on burning the U.S. flag. (Sarah Parnass/The Washington Post)

 The president-elect woke up Tuesday morning with a clear agenda before him. Poised to announce his pick of Rep. Tom Price to lead the Department of Health and Human Services and with a day of meetings slated — including one with onetime foe Mitt Romney — Donald Trump hopped on Twitter to talk about where his attention was focused.

 Disparaging CNN and — more unexpectedly — reigniting the once-virulent debate over flag-burning.

 Nobody should be allowed to burn the American flag - if they do, there must be consequences - perhaps loss of citizenship or year in jail! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 29, 2016

 Where this came from is anybody’s guess. (Update: Apparently it overlapped with a Fox News segment.) There’s an operating theory among some that Trump throws out tweets like this to distract attention from something else, as though 140-character messages demand our total (100 percent) brain capacity. On MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” host Joe Scarborough speculated that maybe Trump was tossing a bit of red meat to the angry social media lions before announcing that he would pick Romney as secretary of state.

 The suggestions of this tweet and the context in which it was issued, though, make it far from just a simple distraction.

 Flag-burning is not an issue that has occupied a central position in the American political consciousness of late. It’s absolutely the sort of fight that Trump would relish, mind you, pitting egghead supporters of “free speech” and “the First Amendment” against the patriotism of people who find flag-burning unacceptable.

 Some quick history is in order. Fights over how the flag is depicted have been fought at the Supreme Court for more than a century, including the 1989 decision Texas v. Johnson which established that burning the flag was a constitutionally protected act.

 One of the justices who supported that 5-4 decision was Antonin Scalia, the jurist whose death earlier this year created the vacancy that it seems Trump will get to fill — with someone, he has said, he hopes will be “in the mold” of Scalia. Scalia also voted to protect flag-burning when Congress passed a national law hoping to avoid the problems of Texas v. Johnson — even though he found the practice to be repugnant.

 “If it were up to me, I would put in jail every sandal-wearing, scruffy-bearded weirdo who burns the American flag,” he said last year, adding an important disclaimer: “But I am not king.” In an interview with CNN, he explained the distinction simply: Flag-burning is a form of expression, and therefore is protected by the First Amendment.

 A group of demonstrators, many carrying American flags, gathered on Nov. 27 outside the campus of Hampshire College in Massachusetts. (Instagram/@axle_maximus via Storyful)

 Congress has tried to work around the decision. Shortly afterward, it passed a law banning flag-burning, which was again thrown out (with Scalia’s agreement). A decade ago, the Senate narrowly failed to approve a constitutional amendment banning flag-burning, with now-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) voting in opposition.

 Fun fact: Statement from Mitch McConnell during 2006 flag desecration amendment debate: pic.twitter.com/ceVk0tvnWC — Carrie Dann (@CarrieNBCNews) November 29, 2016

 “If there is a bedrock principle underlying the First Amendment,” Justice William Brennan wrote in response to the decision to strike down the 1989 federal law, “it is that the Government may not prohibit the expression of an idea simply because society finds the idea itself offensive or disagreeable.”

 Trump doesn’t seem to adhere to this idea. He has railed against the oppositional media repeatedly, suggesting at one point that he might “open up” libel laws to make it easier to sue the media. He disparaged protests earlier this month as being incited by the press and being illegitimate because the protesters were paid (a claim for which there’s no evidence). When protesters in Chicago disrupted one of his rallies, he suggested that they should be thrown in jail. His proposals to address the threat of terrorism often seem to tiptoe beyond the free-expression-of-religion boundaries established in the Bill of Rights.

 When Trump finds free expression offensive or disagreeable, he seeks to curtail it and, in some cases, impose harsh penalties. The suggestion that those who burn flags should lose their citizenship is remarkable in part because it’s such a drastic response — one that would itself rescind any number of legal protections to which the culprit would otherwise be entitled. Incidentally, this suggested punishment is barred as a result of a 1958 decision from the Supreme Court, as Louis Nelson notes at Politico.

 We’ve often seen Trump dash off a Twitter opinion that goes no further. There’s a fair argument to be made that, in the absence of any broader debate or proposed policy, this tweet about the flag should be treated as a curiosity. But it comes on the heels of Trump tweeting about how the results of the election should be questioned because of fraud (something that, again, lacks evidence). It’s a pattern of pushing back against fundamental pillars of our democracy: elections, free speech, Supreme Court decisions. He has every right to do so, of course. If nothing else, that’s important context. And it reinforces a desire to treat those who oppose him or his values harshly, even when he lacks the power to do so.

 Why now? Who knows. Given the attention he has paid of late to casting his opponents in a negative light (like those claims about “voter fraud” that were the subject of his tweets Monday), perhaps he wants to force them to defend an unpopular position. Perhaps he even hopes that protesters will appear outside Trump Tower and burn flags. That certainly wouldn’t hurt his efforts to rally support from otherwise indifferent Americans.

 Anyway. Time for Trump to tick off the next items on his to-do list. Something about putting together a government? With the important stuff done, might as well move on to that.

 More from The Fix:

 Why we can’t — and shouldn’t — ignore Donald Trump’s tweets

 A running list of how Donald Trump’s new position may be helping his business interests

 Steve Bannon once suggested only property owners should vote. What would that look like? ||||| (CNN) President-elect Donald Trump proposed on Tuesday a penalty -- including possible jail time or loss of citizenship -- for burning the American flag, in spite of two US Supreme Court rulings that protect the act under the First Amendment as a form of free speech.

 "Nobody should be allowed to burn the American flag -- if they do, there must be consequences -- perhaps loss of citizenship or year in jail!" Trump tweeted.

 Nobody should be allowed to burn the American flag - if they do, there must be consequences - perhaps loss of citizenship or year in jail!

 The Supreme Court has twice affirmed the right to desecrate the American flag as a form of free speech -- a historically contentious issue -- in cases before the high court in 1989 and 1990.

 The following year, in "United states v. Eichman, " the top court again affirmed the right to burn the flag when it ruled 5-4 that the Flag Protection Act of 1989 -- passed by Congress in response to the Johnson decision -- was unconstitutional.

 It's not immediately clear what prompted Trump's tweet Tuesday morning, though the national discussion of respect for the flag has been restarted in part following a flag burning November 10 on the campus of Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts, as part of a post-election protest. The university then decided to stop flying the American flag at the campus, which also infuriated some members of the community.

 Steve Vladeck, CNN legal analyst and professor at the University of Texas Law School, said Trump's suggestion that citizens possibly be expatriated as a penalty is also a non-starter.

 "In addition to ignoring the Supreme Court's clear teaching that flag burning is constitutionally protected speech, Mr. Trump's tweet also casually suggests that citizens should lose their citizenship as a 'penalty' for such acts," Vladeck said. "Even if flag burning wasn't protected, it would still be unconstitutional to deprive someone of their citizenship without some voluntary act on their part to renounce their allegiance to the United States or pledge fealty to a foreign sovereign."

 When asked about the Supreme Court rulings on CNN's "New Day," Trump transition spokesman Jason Miller repeatedly dismissed questions about the constitutional protections of flag burning.

 "Flag burning should be illegal," Miller told CNN's Chris Cuomo. "The President-elect is a very strong supporter of the First Amendment, but there's a big difference between that and burning the American flag."

 But Trump's opposition to the protection of flag burning puts him at odds with conservative leaders like Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and deceased Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, whom Trump has praised as a "brilliant Supreme Court Justice, one of the best of all time."

 Trump himself has tweeted about the importance of free speech, including a message he sent in 2013, quoting George Washington.

 "'If the freedom of speech is taken away then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.' - George Washington,"

 "If the freedom of speech is taken away then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter." - George Washington — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 15, 2013

 In a 2012 interview with CNN , Justice Scalia defended the right to burn the flag, explaining the difference in his personal and judicial opinions on the subject.

 "If I were king, I would not allow people to go around burning the American flag -- however, we have a First Amendment which says that the right of free speech shall not be abridged -- and it is addressed in particular to speech critical of the government," Scalia said.

 "I mean that was the main kind of speech that tyrants would seek to suppress," he added. "Burning the flag is a form of expression -- speech doesn't just mean written words or oral words -- burning a flag is a symbol that expresses an idea. 'I hate the government, the government is unjust,' or whatever."

 And McConnell wrote a 2006 op-ed for the Central Kentucky News titled "Flag stands for freedom, even to desecrate," in which he defended the right to burn the flag.

 "No act of speech is so obnoxious that it merits tampering with our First Amendment. Our Constitution, and our country, is stronger than that," he wrote. "Ultimately, people like that pose little harm to our country. But tinkering with our First Amendment might."

 Still, banning flag-burning has drawn mainstream support before. The Flag Protection Act of 1989 was supported at the time by President George H.W. Bush, before it was ruled unconstitutional, and the Flag Protection Act of 2005, another failed attempt to criminalize flag burning, was co-sponsored by then-Sen. Hillary Clinton. |||||

– Donald Trump believes in free speech and that flag-burning should be illegal. In what the Washington Post is calling "Donald Trump v. the First Amendment, part five," the president-elect decried flag-burning in a tweet on Tuesday, noting those guilty of the practice should perhaps spend a year in jail or even lose their US citizenship. "Nobody should be allowed to burn the American flag—if they do, there must be consequences," Trump said. Though flag-burning remains controversial, the Supreme Court declared the practice to be a protected form of free speech in 1989 and 1990, reports CNN, which Trump bashed Monday night. Even conservative Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia—whom Trump has called "one of the best of all time"—believed flag burning should be protected based on a "textual" reading of the First Amendment. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Rep. Sean Duffy expressed similar sentiments Tuesday. A Trump transition rep notes "the President-elect is a very strong supporter of the First Amendment, but there's a big difference between that and burning the American flag." Though flag-burning is legal, Trump's desired punishment is not. A 1958 Supreme Court decision banned the stripping of US citizenship as a criminal penalty, reports Politico.


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– Maybe this classic Austin Powers scene has affected chess championship rules? Whatever the reason, the European Chess Union has ruled that female players will have to button their shirts from now on, Time reports. "Décolletés [the French word for cleavage] are partly covered in our regulations, which state that in respect to shirts the second from the top button may also be opened, in addition to the very top button," says ECU general secretary Sava Stoisavljevic. In an interview with ChessBase.com, Stoisavljevic adds that the union may follow other companies in restricting the shortness of skirts—to two or four inches above the knee, for example: "I can see that there are many players here who wear very short skirts. It's nice to see chess players with short skirts—they are very pretty girls. But I believe there should still be some limit."

Interview with Sava Stoisavljevic on the dress code for chess tournaments

 By WGM Anastasiya Karlovich

 Anastasiya Karlovich: How did you come up with the idea to formulate a dress code rule and implement it to the ECU Regulations?

 Sava Stoisavljevic: We came up with that idea because we noticed that during the games many of the players were not wearing proper clothes. There is dress code in many different sports, and we decided to establish our rules as well. This is the first European tournament where we are applying those regulations. I was here during three rounds and I've got an impression that we have to work much more on those regulations.

 The General Secretary of the ECU Sava Stoisavljevic

 What do you think, is it acceptable to wear short skirts or open décolletés in the playing hall?

 Décolletés are partly covered in our regulations, which state that in respect to shirts the second from the top button may also be opened, in addition to the very top button. But, nothing is written in our rules about the length of skirts or dresses. There are several special rules in some companies which put restrictions on the length of skirts and dresses – no shorter than 5-10 cm above the knees for example. I can see that there are many players here who wear very short skirts. It's nice to see chess players with short skirts – they are very pretty girls. But I believe there should still be some limit.

 What about tennis?

 Yes, I have to admit they really wear short skirts. I just want to say that I heard many comments from spectators, coaches...

 Did they complain?

 [Laughs] No, they didn't complain, but as I said there were lot of comments. So, the question remains open – I don't know if we should do something about it or not.

 A combination of intelligence and beauty is very attractive advertisement in women chess. Don't you think that the rules, adopted by the ECU, which forbid the wearing of mini-skirts, can decrease the attention paid to women chess?

 I have to admit that the players I saw here with short skirts looked very nice. So, in a way they are making chess more attractive for spectators. On the other hand for many years I've been in the chess world as a player, an arbiter, etc. Once, when I was working as an arbiter, I warned one player, even though there were no any rules at that time, because she kept coming to the playing hall dressed like someone who was going to the beach. I think it's good that we have started to do something with dress code, and it's very important for the image of chess. In fact these rules will be more useful during men events. In general, women take care about their looks and what they wear. There is not a lot of trouble with women – and in fact and I'm sure there will be no trouble at all in the future as well. With men the situation is a little bit different. Anyway the European Championship for men will start in twenty days, and we'll see what will happen there.

 The regulations state that players cannot wear caps or hats, except for religious reasons. Why did ECU decide to implement this rule?

 Participant at a 2010 U-18 Youth Championship

 When the Assembly adopted the rules they followed experiences from other organizations. It's clear that some exceptions must be made for religious reasons. On the other hand, as an arbiter, I had many situations when I had to check if players had something under their hats. I can say that one of the reasons for implementing this rule was to avoid cheating. I know that a player who plays here likes to wear hats, and during the technical meeting she was looking at me in sorrow. But what can I do?

 The tournament is taking place in Turkey, a country with its own traditions. If this tournament would be moved to Mallorca, for example, could our players use a more relaxed dress code or not?

 Of course we should respect traditions, depending on which country the tournament is taking place in. For example in some countries women has to cover hair. In Europe we don't have such issues in general. But for me there is a bigger question – what will we do during the summer?

 Don't you think that the dress code for women should protect male chess players, who may be distracted by too open clothes?

 It's a funny question and I don't think it can be taken seriously. We didn't think about that while making the regulations.

 The 2012 European Individual Women Chess Championship in Gaziantep became the first tournament where the ECU Regulations on Dress Code became available. Here are excerpts:

 13.2 Dress rules for the players during the games

 In general, players are required to follow the code of casual dressing which means:

 for men dress trousers or jeans, a long-sleeve or shirt-sleeve dress shirt, alternatively T-shirt or polo, loafers or dressy slip-ons, socks, shoes or sneakers (no beach-wear slips, etc.) and, if appropriate, a sport coat or blazer. The trousers, the jeans as well as the shirts and polo’s worn should be crisp and show no excessive wear, no holes and shall be free of body odor.

 for women blouses, turtleneck, T-shirts or polo’s, trousers, jeans or slacks, skirts, dresses, and appropriate footwear (boots, flats, mid-heel or high-heel shoes, sneakers with sock) or any other appropriate clothing modification.

 a jacket, vest or sweater, a scarf, as well as jewelry (earrings, necklace, etc.) coordinated to the outfit may be worn.

 the pieces of the clothing should be crisp, show no excessive wear, no holes and shall be free of body odor.

 in respect to shirts, the second from the top button may also be opened in addition to the very top button.

 sunglasses, glasses, neck ties can be worn during the games, no caps or hats, except for religious reasons.

 in general, this category of appearance demands a pulled-together, harmonious, complete look with colors, fabrics, shoes, and accessories, for both men and women.

 national costumes which fit into the generally accepted dress code and are not offensive or indecent to others can be worn

 13.3 Dress rules for the winning players or the winning teams during prize-giving ceremonies

 the rules set for these events are valid for a player or any member of a team, including the captain and the delegation chief who is rewarded by a prize in the chess event and thus he/she appears and receives the award in front of the other players and the audience

 such a person shall follow the dress code of business casual (or by another name elegant casual) which means long trousers, shirt, jacket, with or without tie (no t-shirts, no polo, no jeans, no sports shoes or sneakers or slippers, no hats or caps -except for religious reasons-) and the equivalent style of dress for the women players.

 national costumes which are not offensive or indecent to others may be worn.

 it is recommended that teams should be uniformly dressed even if a team uniform is not available.

 a special set of rules is established for the European Individual Championship award ceremonies where the dress code is informal which means a suit with tie, appropriate shoes and the equivalent style of dress for the women player. National costume may be worn in the event.

 13.5 Tournament Officials will have the right to give official warning to any player not properly attired. The first warning will be a verbal one. When a player is a member of a team, his/her captain will also be informed. The second time a player will be in breach with the Dress Code he/she will receive a second warning. This warning will be confirmed to the player in writing the same day. When a player is a member of a team, his/her captain will receive a copy of this warning the same day. The player received the written warning will present him/herself to the tournament officials, if it is a team player accompanied by the captain, one hour before the start of the next round. If a player is then still in breach of the Dress Code he/she can be send back to dress appropriately. If he/she does not cooperate, he/she will be denied access to the playing area.

 13.6 A player not dressed according to the Code can be refused to attend the opening or closing ceremony. Spectators not properly attired will have to leave the playing area.

 Links Official tournament site

 Games in PGN: R01, R02, R03, R04, All. The game file is non-standard (e.g. everything in CAPS) and will be cleaned up at the end of the event. The games are being broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download a free Playchess client there and get immediate access. You can also use ChessBase 11 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.

 Copyright ChessBase ||||| Getty Images

 This isn’t the beer pong world championships – distractions during a championship chess game are surely unwarranted. An opponent across the table sporting a low-cut top could cause even the most expert chessman to focus on checking her out rather than delivering checkmate. So the European Chess Union has decided to lay out a dress code to keep the classiness in the game.

 In an interview with ChessBase News, ECU general secretary Sava Stoisavljevic says that “many of the players were not wearing proper clothes” during games. She notes that most other sports have dress codes, so it took little calculating to determine that chess should have one too. And it’s the females who will have to play conservatively when picking from their closets before a tournament. The ECU has put restrictions on the amount of cleavage a player can display.

 (MORE: A New High For Chess)

 Stoisavljevic says they considered just how many buttons could be undone on a woman’s shirt. “Décolletés [the French word for cleavage] are partly covered in our regulations, which state that in respect to shirts the second from the top button may also be opened, in addition to the very top button.” And short skirts might be next to go, though there are currently no restrictions.

 The new dress code was a response to frequent comments made by spectators and coaches, Stoisavljevic said. Some players show up dressed like they’re “going to the beach,” she notes, explaining that no player had reported being distracted or annoyed. But the code was drafted just in time for the European Women’s Championships in Gaziantep, Turkey, with rather harsh penalties: players who don’t abide by the dress standards could be banned from awards ceremonies.

 (VIDEO: An 8 Year Old Chess Master)

 Perhaps too many players were taking cues from this classic Austin Powers scene. After all, the game hearkens back to the day of body-armored knights and regally-dressed kings. It seems the game’s official outlet is just looking to ensure its modern-day players hold up to the same fashion standards. |||||


Here is a news article: In the realm of fantasy video games, one epic monster stalks players both online and in the real world — the stereotype that men make better players than women. A new study led by a researcher at the University of California, Davis, slays that troll.

 Cuihua “Cindy” Shen, an assistant professor of communication, and colleagues tracked thousands of players in two multiplayer online role-playing games and compared how quickly men and women moved from one level to the next.

 Accounting for differences in playing time, character choice and membership in a players’ guild, they found that women advanced at least as fast as men.

 “Once you take into account all these confounding factors, the gender differences disappear,” Shen said. “There is no gender difference.”

 Shen has been analyzing massively multiplayer online game data since 2007, studying the connections between playing and a wide range of real-world behaviors.

 Many gamers women, but stereotypes persist

 GamerGate, the cyber harassment of female gamers and game designers that erupted in 2014, in part led her to look into sexual stereotypes, she said.

 “Even though more and more women have become gamers, and more are involved in designing games, gaming communities as a whole are still very hostile toward women,” Shen said. “The prevalent stereotype is that women are not as good of players as men.”

 To test that stereotype, Shen and colleagues at Michigan State University, the University of Southern California, and the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, analyzed data from more than 9,000 EverQuest II players and 2,000 players of a Chinese game, Chevaliers’ Romance III.

 To identify players’ gender, the researchers used the information that players reported when they registered, not the sex of the avatars they chose.

 The study, reported in the Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, is the first to look at how male and female players’ progress over time in multiplayer games online.

 Previous research has compared men’s and women’s performances in short, simple games like a car race in lab settings, but Shen said those studies did not account for differences in playing experience or gender preferences for type of games.

 The research is also the first to use data from two games and two national cultures.

 Shen said the findings hold real-world implications. “Why should we care about this? First of all, games have become a very important realm of our culture. Second, it has become an important entry point for people into STEM-related careers. For young girls, it has become a place for them to become familiar with the tech world.”

 Females make up about 20 percent of players on multiplayer online games, she said. They are represented in even fewer numbers in the technical workforce.

 “We think the stereotype that women are worse players at games could contribute to a self-fulfilling prophecy,” that discourages their entry into science, technology, engineering and math fields, Shen said.

 By debunking the gaming gender gap, she said, “We might be able to break the stereotype and the self-fulfilling prophecy cycle.” ||||| Although women now make up almost half of all video game players, the gaming community remains, in some ways, hostile toward women.

 For example, the GamerGate controversy, which began in 2014 and involved a harassment campaign against prominent female gamers, journalists and designers, reflected a longstanding undercurrent of misogyny and sexism in the community. In some cases, those who challenged the sexism found themselves threatened with rape or death.

 There’s also the long-held stereotype that men are simply better gamers than women. Women gamers are often perceived as incompetent players who aren’t genuinely interested in the games but rather sign up to get attention. If a female gamer does play well, she’s often derided as a hacker – someone who cheats to gain an advantage – because “there is no way a girl can be that good.”

 In a recent study, we set out to examine whether men really make better gamers than women and, if so, what drove the gender performance gap. Specifically, we wanted to compare how quickly men and women leveled up in Massively Multiplayer Online (MMO) games, which are online worlds where thousands of players develop characters, make friends, join groups, complete quests and slay dragons together.

 If men are actually better gamers than women, they should advance to higher levels within the same amount of play time. But if they don’t progress any faster, this finding would help refute one of the most pervasive stereotypes that continues to exist in the gaming community.

 Getting to the next level

 Our research used anonymous server data from over 10,000 men and women in two MMOs, “EverQuest II” in the United States and “Chevaliers’ Romance III” in China. We knew each player’s actual gender through their account registration information.

 When players finish quests and kill monsters in MMOs, they earn experience points. When experience points reach a threshold, the player ascends to the next “level,” which unlocks new abilities, skills and access to new content. As in most video games, levels indicate a player’s progress.

 Naturally, players spending a lot of time in the game are likely to reach high levels. That is why the speed of leveling up, rather than the level itself, measures performance in our study.

 Before getting to our findings, we want to point out a couple of things we took into consideration. First, players who had reached the top level in the games were excluded in our analyses. Because top-level players couldn’t advance any further, their rate of leveling up was essentially zero. We removed these players to avoid confounding our analyses, but this also meant that we were not able to measure gender differences between the most advanced players.

 Second, our analysis recognized that the rate of leveling up slows down as players progress. For example, it would take a lot more time and effort for a level 60 player to level up than a level 30 player. Therefore, our analysis compared apples to apples by evaluating players’ performance only against others who were at the same level.

 Contrary to the stereotype, we found that player gender itself does not cause performance differences. Instead, the perception of women as poor gamers is fueled by other factors. For example, we found that women spent less time playing overall than men and chose more assistive character classes, such as Priests, who fare better healing group members than fighting on their own. When we took such factors into account by statistically controlling them in the analyses, the gender performance gap disappeared; women advanced at least as fast as men did in both games.

 We also realized that different players are interested in different aspects of MMOs, and a few of those differences may correlate with gender. There’s some empirical evidence that men tend to focus more on achievement in video games – leveling up rapidly, gaining in-game status and competing against others – while women are drawn to social interactions, whether it’s helping other players or forming long-term relationships.

 This suggests that men should advance faster than women. However, we found the opposite: Women advanced at least as fast as men did. So taking into account different play motivations (which we were unable to do in this study’s analysis) likely only strengthens our conclusions.

 Beyond video games

 The stereotype that women are inferior gamers is not only false, but could also make women more easily discouraged and less likely to play in the first place. Of course, this gender performance stereotype exists in a number of other contexts. In the software development community GitHub, for example, women are perceived as worse coders than men.

 Our research has notable implications for this important social issue. Studies have shown that video games can be an important gateway to science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields. If stereotypes about girls and women are preventing them from playing, then it could potentially contribute to preexisting gender inequality and stereotyping in these fields.

 One approach to dealing with this issue is to promote stereotype-free gaming experiences for women and girls through female-supportive gaming communities, such as the PMS Clan, one of the oldest and most renowned female-oriented gaming communities in the world. Scholars such as Gabriela Richard at Pennsylvania State University have found that members of these communities are more confident and perceive themselves as better gamers.

 Game designers can also help. They have the ability to construct the games to make them less hostile and more welcoming to female players. For example, Riot Games established the Tribunal, a system that allows the player community to review reported bad behaviors from fellow players, and then vote on whether to punish the offender. Banned players also get a “reform card” with the details of the offense, as well as judgments from the Tribunal. So far, the Tribunal has significantly reduced online harassment.

 While programs like Tribunal are a starting point in the larger battle to end gender stereotypes, our findings will hopefully allow female gamers to realize that, when it comes to inherent skill, they’re on a level playing field. ||||| ADVERTISEMENT

 If Gamergate taught us one thing, it's that lurking behind gaming culture is a contingent of sexist players eager to find any excuse to harass women in the gaming industry. Unfortunately, sexist male gamers still claim that women cannot game as hard as they can, a fact that prompted one team of scientists to conduct perhaps the most thorough Gamergate smackdown in history by analyzing multiplayer online role-playing games.

 The study took such confounding factors as playing time, character choice, and guild membership into consideration, and examined how quickly male and female players leveled up. Nonetheless, "Once you take into account all these confounding factors, the gender differences disappear," said coauthor Cuihua Shen of the University of California Davis, in a press statement.

 "There is no gender difference."

 Women now constitute nearly half of the gamer population in the United States, and more women are involved in designing video games than ever before. Sure, they play differently than male gamers — prior studies have shown that women prefer casual rather than highly competitive genres such as first person shooters — but there's no reason to believe, as Gamergate sexists do, that they're ruining gaming. And yet, "gaming communities as a whole are still very hostile toward women," Shen says. "The prevalent stereotype is that women are not as good… as men."

 Scientists would love to disprove the ridiculous notion that men can sit on a couch and contort their fingers while screaming at a television screen better than women. But showing that women are just as good at gaming as men has proven difficult. Besides for one 2009 study, few researchers have managed to leverage meaningful data to answer this question — and, until now, nobody could figure out how to test whether women perform as well as men in real video games played outside of a laboratory. So Shen and her team asked two popular massively multiplayer online games — "EverQuest II" in North America and "Chevaliers' Romance III" in China — to send over their data.

 First of all, they confirmed prior findings that men and women don't have the same goals in playing video games. Studies have shown that men enjoy competitive games while women prefer cooperative ones; that women are reluctant to self-identify as "gamers," while men appear to embrace the title; women are more likely to choose supportive character classes, such as Priests and Healers while men gravitate toward the Barbarians.

 But the ultimate measure of a gamer isn't what class or guild he or she identifies with — it's his or her level in the game. After analyzing data from more than 9,000 "EverQuest II" players and 2,000 "Chevaliers' Romance III" players, the researchers found that players who registered as female reach lower levels, on average, than their male counterparts — but also played less often. When all factors, including guild membership and the amount of time playing the game were taken into account, women performed quite well. From the study:

 "Taken together, these models show that women … advanced in the game at least as fast as men, and — in some cases — exceeded them…Perceived gender-based performance disparities seem to result from factors that are confounded with gender (i.e., amount of play), not player gender itself. The stereotype of female players as inferior is not only false, but it is also a potential cause for unequal participation in digital gaming."

 Perhaps, then, it's time for us to stop telling little girls that they're terrible at video games. First of all, the science suggests it's not true. But more importantly, women who feel alienated from video game culture stand to lose out in the long term, because video games and their tech-savvy, nerdiness have become, "an important entry point for people into STEM-related careers," Shen says. Indeed, studies have shown that gamers are more likely to enter and succeed in science and technology-related fields than people who do not play video games. However trivial it may seem, getting more women into video games — and debunking the stereotype that they're inherently bad at "EverQuest" — could help fix the troubling minority of women in science and technology careers.

 "We think the stereotype that women are worse players at games could contribute to a self-fulfilling prophecy, that discourages their entry into science, technology, engineering and math fields," Shen says. "We might be able to break the stereotype and the self-fulfilling prophecy cycle."

 This article originally appeared at Vocativ.com: Study: Female gamers are just as good as gamer bros |||||
A summary of this is?

– The hostility toward women gamers that was laid bare in 2014 during the GamerGate controversy extends to the stereotype that female gamers are inferior to their male counterparts. So researchers at the University of California, Davis, decided to track thousands of players in two multiplayer online role-playing games and compare just how quickly the players advanced to higher levels. And as Cuihua “Cindy” Shen, an assistant professor of communication, reports in the Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, when controlling for factors such as time devoted to playing, character choice, and membership in a player's guild, "The gender differences disappear." In fact, she goes on to write for the Conversation, "Women advanced at least as fast as men did." Shen says the findings confirm certain differences in style of play, such as that men tend to focus on competing and gaining in-game status while women tend to play more socially and help others. But in terms of the bottom line: advancing to a higher level, the difference was nil among the 11,000 gamers they analyzed playing Everquest II and Chevalier's Romance III. Aside from one study in 2009, Vocativ reports that this is the first to figure out how to go about testing gender differences in gaming performance outside of a lab. Why does it matter? Nearly half the gaming population is now female, yet they are represented at even lower numbers in STEM fields of science, technology, engineering, and math. "The stereotype that women are worse players at games could contribute to a self-fulfilling prophecy," Shen says. (Guys who are hostile to girl gamers tend to be poor performers.)


Here is a news article: Photo by Ray Ault

 A car was suspended from a telephone guy wire Wednesday evening in Mendon, after the driver reacted too quickly to a GPS unit's instructions to turn around.

 Police say a too-quick reaction to a GPS system's directions sent a Toyota Corolla driven by Nabila Altahan up the wire support of a telephone pole in Mendon across from Sugar & Spice Restaurant on Wednesday evening around 8 p.m.

 Altahan and her passenger were not injured in the incident, State Police said in a release.

 Police said that the car left the lane of traffice while westbound on Route 4 in Mendon, when a GPS device gave sudden directions to turn around, because the car had passed its intended destination. Altahan reacted quickly to the directions, left the road and the car ended up suspended on the guy wire.

 A witness at the minature golf course said she saw the driver jump out of the car as it was suspended from the pole. State police responded, as did Rutland City Fire Department, according to Ray Ault, who happened to be driving past the scene around the timing of the accident.

  ||||| This will appear next to all of your comments

 This will NOT appear anywhere on Newser |||||
A summary of this is?

– Police in Vermont say a car ended up almost vertical when the driver swerved quickly in response to her GPS ordering her to "turn around." The car was suspended almost vertically on guide wires attached to a utility pole (see a photo here) in Mendon on Wednesday night, reports the AP. Police say 30-year-old Nabila Altahan of Dorchester, Mass., was headed west on US Route 4 when she passed her intended destination and reacted quickly to the instructions, leaving the road at a significant enough speed to propel the vehicle up the wires. She wasn't injured. (This driver followed her GPS into a lake.)


Here is a news article: The hospitality of Russian residents in this World Cup season is now expected to extend to public utilities, as residents in host city Samara were asked to shower in pairs to save water for use by visiting fans.

 Water system authorities in Samara said they ramped up supplies in the last few days to accommodate increased water use during the football tournament and a recent heat wave.

 “Thousands of the city’s visitors, who also consume water, are contributing to the increase,” the utility company, Samarskiye Kommunalniye Systemy, wrote in a press release on Wednesday. ||||| This will appear next to all of your comments

 This will NOT appear anywhere on Newser |||||
A summary of this is?

– Residents of the World Cup host city of Samara are being urged to take showers in pairs because the influx of fans is putting a strain on water supplies, the AP reports. The Samara Communal Systems utility company says the combination of a heat wave and "thousands of guests" have meant it's providing 10% more cold water than normal, causing water pressure to drop in some neighborhoods. The company advises locals to "save water—take showers in pairs," adding a smiley face to its message, which came via a press release, per the Moscow Times. Samara is due to host England's quarterfinal game against Sweden on Saturday.


His grandfather had lovingly given him his name, hoping that one day he would grow up into a ‘positive’ human being. Some 25 years later, the marine engineer from Jamshedpur in Jharkhand is despondent on being forced to bear the burden of his name.

 Two years after passing out as a marine engineer from Tamil Nadu’s Noorul Islam University, Saddam Hussain says he has failed to find a job because of his namesake: the former Iraqi ruler executed in 2006. Saddam Hussein was a dictator blamed for atrocities on his subjects until toppled by the US in 2003.

 “People are scared to hire me,” laments Jamshedpur’s Saddam. His job application has been rejected each of the 40-odd times he has appeared for interviews with multinational shipping companies. His batchmates around the world have secured employment, but Saddam remains unemployed despite ranking second in his batch of 2014.

 For the initial six months, Saddam was unable to decipher why he was being rejected. “I then inquired with the HR departments of the companies and some of them told me my name was the problem,” he recounts. He was told that having a crew member with a name that arouses instant suspicion could be an operational nightmare.

 A top executive of Delhi-based TeamLease Services, a leading recruitment consultant, agrees. “If the issue involves crossing the borders, then nothing can be done as border patrol and airport authorities are very process-driven and if there is a red flag, they will check out. If the person’s job involves frequent travel abroad, he might just keep getting stuck or the company has to pull him out of the sticky situation, making the hire cumbersome,” he points out.

 “Even Shah Rukh Khan gets detained at US airports. What is this Saddam in comparision?” he asks.

 Getting rid of the name is proving to be a bigger nightmare.

 Once it hit him that his name was the impediment, Saddam legally got his name changed into Sajid and procured all relevant documents, including passport, voter ID and driving licence, under the name.

 But his woes did not end there.

 Prospective employers ask for his educational certificates, but his university has refused to change the name until he got his Class 10 and 12 exam certificates changed first. He approached the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) for a name change, but the authorities have not acted yet.

 Driven to desperation, Saddam, now Sajid, moved the Jharkhand high court with a plea to direct the CBSE to change his name. But since unscrupulous people often abuse the system by frequently changing names, the court acted with caution. Last week, it set the date for a considered hearing on May 5.

 Saddam remains fond of his grandfather, though he feels he is paying for his folly. As one by one his batchmates set sail after securing jobs, Saddam is left to spend sleepless nights. “I am an innocent victim of somebody else’s crimes,” he says.

 First Published: Mar 21, 2017 07:52 IST ||||| Image copyright AP Image caption Saddam may no longer be around, but many of his namesakes do not have an easy time

 More than 10 years after being executed, Saddam Hussein remains a huge presence in the life of one man.

 The marine engineer in India does not blame his grandfather for giving him the Iraqi dictator's name 25 years ago.

 But after being refused a job some 40-odd times, he has concluded employers are loath to hire him - even if his name is marginally different - spelt Hussain, not Hussein.

 So he went to court to become Sajid. But the wheels of bureaucracy are turning slowly - and so is his search for a job.

 It may never have opened many doors in India - and has raised eyebrows and grins elsewhere - but one thing was guaranteed: a name like Saddam Hussain was not likely to pass unnoticed.

 Two years after graduating from Tamil Nadu's Noorul Islam University, the man from Jamshedpur in Jharkhand is feeling the strain.

 He did well at college, and his classmates have already found jobs, but shipping companies turn him away.

 "People are scared to hire me," Saddam-turned-Sajid is quoted by Hindustan Times as saying.

 He says they fear complications from an encounter with immigration officials across international borders.

 Saddam thought he might easily get around this obstacle, by getting a new passport, driving licence and more.

 But his job applications are still not proceeding smoothly as he cannot provide proof, under his new name, that he went to school - and this is proving to be a time-consuming exercise.

 Another court hearing beckons on 5 May, this time to force authorities to change the name on his secondary school certificates, after which his graduation papers will need amending.

 Sajid is not alone in his plight - but he may feel more aggrieved than the numerous Saddam Husseins of Iraq, who feel cursed with a name that was originally given in tribute to a leader whose legacy is one of a brutal dictator.

 Being Saddam in Iraq

 One Saddam, a journalist working in Ramadi, a Sunni city in the desert province of Anbar, said his father was fired from his government job because he could not convince his superiors he was not a member of the dictator's Ba'ath party.

 He had named his son Saddam, after all - what greater allegiance could he have shown to the ousted president, they argued.

 Others had more terrifying stories - one said he was captured by a Shia militia, set down on his knees and had the barrel of a gun placed against the back of his head. Somehow, thanks to sheer luck, the weapon jammed, and the militia eventually released him.

 One friend told me how, as a Kurdish schoolchild in Baghdad, he had known a fellow classmate named Saddam Hussein.

 While playing football with the boy, they would often shout at him: "It is not only us who hate you, the entire country hates you."

 Read Prashant Rao's BBC article |||||

Write a summary.

– Saddam Hussain's name is making it difficult for him to get a job. "People are scared to hire me," the 25-year-old Indian marine engineer tells the Hindustan Times. Hussain was, yes, named for that Saddam Hussein; the name was given to him by his grandfather. It turned out to be a poor choice, as the young man has been unable to find a job since graduating university two years ago, despite having done very well in school. And he's applied for dozens of positions. He says he's spoken with some of the HR departments of companies he's applied with, and they told him his name was the problem, because it could cause "suspicion." One recruitment expert points out that this would be a problem especially if a job requires travel abroad, during which he might get stopped by airport or border authorities: "He might just keep getting stuck or the company has to pull him out of the sticky situation, making the hire cumbersome," the expert says. Hussain got his first name legally changed to Sajid, but though he got all his official documents changed to reflect his new name, his original name still poses a problem because it's listed on educational certificates, which prospective employers want to see. He's working on getting those certificates changed as well, but the process is moving slowly, the BBC reports. (Meanwhile, in America, a guy is trying to change his name to Hitler.)


Article:
It's a good day to be Ryan Reynolds . Mr. Scarlett Johansson was just named the Sexiest Man Alive by PEOPLE on the day when the trailer for his 'Green Lantern' hits the Web. At long last, fans can a glimpse Reynolds donning the famous green suit.The trailer also reveals a bit more of the plot, which finds Hal Jordan (Reynolds) learning new powers and overcoming his fears to protect the Green Lantern Corp. from its new enemy, Parallax. Even more, we get our first official look at Blake Lively , who plays fellow test pilot and love interest Carol Ferris, and Peter Sarsgaard, as the villainous Hector Hammond. ||||| Sexiest Man Alive 2010: Ryan Reynolds

 or leave a comment of your own See what other readers have to say about this story –

 PeopleTV Archive: Watch Ryan Reynold's Changing Looks!

 Sure, his chiseled abs have caused millions to swoon, but 2010's Sexiest Man Alive Ryan Reynolds loves to keep them laughing."My body naturally wants to look like Dick Van Dyke," says the 6'2" actor, who suits up as the Green Lantern next year. "When I stop training, I turn into a skin-colored whisper."We doubt that. From growing up the youngest of four brothers in Canada to being the funny guy in films like The Proposal, Reynolds has learned to take everything in stride. "You just have to go with the flow," he says of his new title. "This gives my family entire into teasing me for the rest of my life."The actor does expect a few new perks at home with his wife of two years, Scarlett Johansson . "Now it's going to be, 'Sexiest man, take out the garbage.' That does sound better," Reynolds says. "The most difficult part is going to be organically working this title into a conversation with random strangers."For more of his interview and photos of Reynolds – including more than 100 sexy men – pick up this week’s issue of PEOPLE on newsstands Friday ||||| People magazine’s “Sexiest Man Alive” issue is out this week and this year’s top honor goes to “Green Lantern” star Ryan Reynolds. He’s cute and all, and I guess I wouldn’t kick him out of bed, but I can think of at least a dozen stars who are just as hot, if not hotter, and ooze a kind of charisma Reynolds seems to lack (IMHO). Jon Hamm, anyone? Anyway, Reynolds’ wife, the lovely Scarlett Johansson, was just named GQ‘s “Babe of the Year,” which means someone needs to name this couple’s representatives “Agents of the Year,” stat.

 So do you agree with People‘s pick this year? Who’s your sexiest man alive? [via People] |||||Summary:

– People names Ryan Reynolds 2010's Sexiest Man Alive, but the actor wants you to know that "my body naturally wants to look like Dick Van Dyke," he says. "When I stop training, I turn into a skin-colored whisper." The actor, who will play the Green Lantern next year, is conveniently enough married to GQ's Babe of the Year, Scarlett Johansson. "Now it's going to be, 'Sexiest man, take out the garbage.' That does sound better," he says. Of course, he adds, "this gives my family entre into teasing me for the rest of my life." Click here to see his cover shot, or here to see the new Green Lantern trailer.


* May 7 roadshow means stock may debut May 18 -source

 * Zuckerberg to be involved in roadshow -source

 * Regulatory review of Facebook IPO near completion -source

 By Alistair Barr and Alexei Oreskovic

 SAN FRANCISCO, May 1 (Reuters) - The roadshow for Facebook Inc's initial public offering is scheduled to start on Monday, meaning the company's shares should begin trading on May 18, a source familiar with the process said on Tuesday.

 Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who has mostly operated in the background during Facebook's closely watched journey to public markets, will be involved in the roadshow, another source said.

 Facebook declined to comment.

 Many on Wall Street had not expected Zuckerberg to turn up on the roadshow after he skipped a March analysts' meeting, ceding the stage to COO Sheryl Sandberg and CFO David Ebersman. His March absence irked some investors who were indignant that the CEO, while wielding near-absolute control over the eight-year-old firm, had snubbed Wall Street.

 IPO roadshows, in which company management presents its strategy to prospective investors, typically last one to two weeks. If the roadshow goes particularly well, shares sometimes start trading a few days earlier.

 Facebook is set to raise at least $5 billion in what will likely be the largest Silicon Valley IPO ever. The world's largest social network continues to command keen investor interest although disappointing first-quarter results raised questions about whether it can sustain breakneck growth for the longer term.

 A source familiar with the offering said last week that a recent acquisition spurt by the company could have added about a week to the IPO timetable as regulators signed off on the deals.

 This review is close to completion, however, allowing the company to go ahead with the roadshow on May 7, according to the source who spoke with Reuters on Tuesday. The sources did not want to be identified because they are not authorized to speak about the company's IPO.

 "I have not seen as broad-based interest in an IPO since Google. Investor demand is immense," said Scott Sweet of research firm IPO Boutique. "I expect a roadshow that will rival all roadshows where investors will be turned away at the door."

 The news on the road show was first reported by tech blog AllThingsDigital and the Wall Street Journal. ||||| This afternoon, rumors began to circulate that Facebook may begin its IPO roadshow as early as Monday of next week. Given the update to the S-1 released last week with slowing metrics and its recent acquisition of Instagram, one wonders, why is Facebook going public now? Should investors be worried?

 I wrote about Facebook in March, citing its accelerating revenues, earnings and membership growth. At that time, growth remained strong and margins were intact. Gross margin was improving and operating margin appeared to be inline. The financials reflected the strength of Facebook’s unique position in the world of a destination where people wanted to go every day and provide all the data about themselves that marketers cared to learn.

 Last week, Facebook updated its registration statement with first quarter results showing decelerating growth. To be fair, Facebook’s growth had already slowed year-over-year from 154% to 2010 to 88% in 2011. Yet, from Q1 2011 to Q1 2012, revenue growth was 45%, a more substantial deceleration than one would expect.

 Slowing user growth is okay IF you can earn more money from your users; however the trends are going in the opposite direction for Facebook. Margins have come under pressure. All costs have increased, with cost of revenues up nearly 300 basis points, and operating income margin dropping from 52% to 47% for the full years of 2010 to 2011. But the drop in operating margin from Q1 2011 to Q1 2012 is more staggering: from 53% to 36%. This is concerning because the end result is that EPS to shareholders, that is investors, is dropping.

 That trend could continue. Facebook earns over 80% of revenues from ads. Yet an increasing number of users are accessing Facebook from mobile devices and Facebook (not unlike the rest of the world) has not figured out how to deliver ads effectively to mobile devices. It’s a double-edged sword: If Facebook doesn’t deliver to mobile devices, some other company will topple its social dominance. If Facebook dominates the mobile arena, it cannibalizes its own ability to earn ad revenues without an obvious revenue-generating replacement.

 Another area that may give investors pause is the Instagram transaction, both in process and in valuation. According to many reports, Mark Zuckerberg decided to do the transaction, negotiated the transaction and informed the board of his transaction. One of the risk factors cited in Facebook’s registration statement is Zuckerberg’s control of Facebook. If the reporting is true or close to it, then this is an example of the shareholders being subject to Zuckerberg’s decisions. This is not to say it wasn’t a good decision or direction, it is to say that the normal checks and balances that a board has over senior management may not be very strong here.

 The second question is the valuation placed on Instagram. It is also noted that Instagram was days away from closing on a funding round valuing the company at $500M. Zuckerbeg paid twice that, based on a valuation of Facebook stock of $77B. Yet Facebook was “trading” at just over $100B on the secondary sites at the time, so he may have paid an even higher valuation. Why does someone pay twice the current “market” valuation? Presumably, it is because he needs the asset. Instagram has had stunning success on a purely mobile platform and Facebook needed a more robust mobile strategy. Should investors be alarmed that Facebook did not see this coming and develop the capability itself, or view it as a tremendously swift strategic move?

 As an investor who likes the Facebook story, I would prefer Facebook to post another quarter in order to reverse its margin compression and to prove its ability to leverage the Instagram transaction into a revenue-generating mobile strategy. To date, mobile has been a double-edged sword for Facebook. Prudence would suggest delaying the IPO one quarter and prove a stronger model. Going public now raises the question: is this as good as it gets? ||||| Dow Jones Reprints: This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. To order presentation-ready copies for distribution to your colleagues, clients or customers, use the Order Reprints tool at the bottom of any article or visit www.djreprints.com |||||

Write a summary.

– Facebook plans to begin a roadshow to pitch its stock to investors on Monday, clearing the way for an initial public offering on May 18, sources tell the Wall Street Journal. Mark Zuckerberg plans to appear at some meetings but other top Facebook execs will be handling most of the roadshow, the sources say. The closely-watched IPO is expected to value Facebook at up to $100 billion and raise up to $10 billion, making it the biggest in Silicon Valley history. "I have not seen as broad-based interest in an IPO since Google. Investor demand is immense," an analyst at research firm IPO Boutique tells Reuters. "I expect a roadshow that will rival all roadshows where investors will be turned away at the door." But the timing has mystified some analysts, including Darcy Travlos at Forbes, who believes Facebook should wait a few months to show investors that slowing revenue growth can be turned around and the company's $1 billion acquisition of Instagram was a wise move. "Going public now raises the question: Is this as good as it gets?" she notes.


Article:

UPDATED: Joan Lee, wife of Marvel Comics icon Stan Lee, died on Thursday in Los Angeles. She was 93.

 Joan Lee had reportedly been hospitalized after suffering a stroke earlier this week.

 “I can confirm the sad news that Joan Lee passed away this morning quietly and surrounded by her family,” a spokesperson for the family said in a statement to Variety. “The family ask that you please give them time to grieve and respect their privacy during this difficult time.”

 Joan, a former British hat model, married Stan on Dec. 5, 1947. The two, who were married for 69 years, met when Stan was supposed to take her friend on a blind date. Together, they had two children: Joan Celia (J.C.) and Jan, who died three days after her birth.

 Before meeting Stan, Joan impulsively married an American soldier during World War II, in what turned out to be an unhappy relationship. After a six-week stay in Reno, Nevada, a judge granted her divorce, and he married her and Stan in a room next door.

 The newlyweds returned to New York, where Stan Lee worked for Timely/Atlas Comics, now known as Marvel Comics. Stan cited Joan as inspiration for the burgeoning Fantastic Four project he co-created with Jack Kirby in 1961.

 They moved to California in 1981 so Stan could develop Marvel TV and film works. Joan did voice work on “Fantastic Four” as Miss Forbes and “Spider-Man” as Madame Web in the 1990’s animated Marvel shows. She also had a role in 2016’s “X-Men: Apocalypse.”

 Joan Lee authored a novel, “The Pleasure Palace,” in 1987 about a man’s mission to create the world’s most luxurious ocean liner while simultaneously balancing three romances.

 On Friday, Stan Lee’s POW! Entertainment posted an update on his Twitter account. “On behalf of Stan, thanks for the heartfelt condolences,” read the message, accompanied by a comic book drawing of the couple. “He is well and truly appreciates the outpouring of love for Joan.” ||||| The pair, who met when the Marvel boss was supposed to take her friend on a date, were married for 69 years.

 Joan Lee, the wife of Marvel Comics legend Stan Lee, died Thursday in Los Angeles. She was 95.

 "I can confirm the sad news that Joan Lee passed away this morning quietly and surrounded by her family," a spokesperson for Stan Lee and his family said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter. "The family ask that you please give them time to grieve and respect their privacy during this difficult time."

 Joan Lee suffered a stroke earlier in the week and was hospitalized, according to sources.

 The British former hat model and Lee were married on Dec. 5, 1947, and were by all accounts hopelessly devoted to each other. They had two children: J.C. (Joan Celia), who was born in 1950, and Jan, who died three days after her birth in 1953.

 Marvel paid tribute to her in a statement on Thursday: "We are so saddened to hear about the loss of Joan Lee. We lost a member of the Marvel family today and our thoughts and prayers go out to Stan and his daughter Joan in this difficult time."

 Last year, Lee recounted how he met his wife in a story for THR that celebrated his 75th anniversary in comics. After a childhood sweetheart wed another woman, Joan Clayton impulsively married an American soldier during World War II and moved to New York, where she was extremely unhappy. Meanwhile, a cousin of Lee's wanted to set up the struggling writer with a hat model. Lee tells what happened next:

 "When I was young, there was one girl I drew; one body and face and hair. It was my idea of what a girl should be. The perfect woman. And when I got out of the Army, somebody, a cousin of mine, knew a model, a hat model at a place called Laden Hats. He said, 'Stan, there's this really pretty girl named Betty. I think you'd like her. She might like you. Why don't you go over and ask her to lunch.' Blah, blah, blah.

 "So I went up to this place. Betty didn't answer the door. But Joan answered, and she was the head model. I took one look at her — and she was the girl I had been drawing all my life. And then I heard the English accent. And I'm a nut for English accents! She said, 'May I help you?' And I took a look at her, and I think I said something crazy like, 'I love you.' I don't remember exactly. But anyway, I took her to lunch. I never met Betty, the other girl. I think I proposed to [Joan] at lunch."

 In those days, the quickest way to get divorced was to move to Nevada and stay for six weeks to establish residency. Soon after Joan arrived in Reno, Stan received a letter from her addressed to "Jack," and that worried him.

 "Now I'm not the smartest guy in world," recalled Lee. "I know my name isn't 'Jack.' And so why did she write 'Dear Jack'? Maybe I better go to Reno and see what's going on. I got there and she was waiting for me. And there's three guys with her. They all look like John Wayne. Big Western guys! Rugged! And I get off the plane fresh from New York with my little porkpie hat and a little scarf and my gloves. And she's with me. I thought, 'I don't have a chance.' Luckily, I had a chance."

 A judge granted Joan her divorce and about an hour later that judge married her and Lee in a room next door.

 The couple returned to New York, where Lee worked at Marvel Comics forerunner Timely/Atlas Comics, a job he initially landed because his cousin Martin Goodman owned the company. Comics were a middling enterprise until Lee and Jack Kirby co-created the Fantastic Four in 1961 (followed by the Hulk, Avengers, Iron Man, X-Men and other characters) and turned the company, renamed Marvel Comics, into a pop culture powerhouse.

 In some versions of the origin of the Fantastic Four, Lee credits Joan with inspiring him. He was depressed about his career (Lee had dreams of becoming a serious novelist) and the state of comics (the industry in the 1950s was dominated by stories of war, science fiction and romance, genres he didn't like) and contemplated leaving the business.

 "Before you quit," Joan told him, "why don't you write one comic you are proud of?" And thus was born the Fantastic Four.

 In 1981, the Lees moved from New York City to California so Stan could work on developing Marvel TV and film projects. Joan did voice work on two 1990s animated Marvel shows, Fantastic Four (as Miss Forbes) and Spider-Man (as Madame Web). She also made a cameo in 2016's X-Men: Apocalypse.

 Joan Lee also wrote a 1987 novel, The Pleasure Palace, about a man striving to build the most luxurious ocean liner ever while romancing several women at once. According to her daughter, she had three more unpublished but finished novels at home.

 On Friday, Stan's Twitter account shared a cartoon of the husband and wife together, swinging off into the sunset.

 On behalf of Stan, thanks for the heartfelt condolences.He is well and truly appreciates the outpouring of love for Joan.-POW! Entertainment pic.twitter.com/AhtKjXWfvX — stan lee (@TheRealStanLee) July 7, 2017

 Borys Kit contributed to this report.

 July 7, 12:22 p.m. Updated with the cartoon tweeted from Stan Lee's account. |||||
What is a summary?

– Sad news in the world of comics: Joan Lee, the wife of industry legend Stan Lee, is dead at age 93, reports Variety. She had a stroke last week and never recovered. Lee himself is 94 and had been married to Joan for 69 years. Her death prompted the Hollywood Reporter to recount how Stan Lee met his future wife, then a British hat model living in New York, back in the 1940s. A friend had told him about another hat model, but when he went to ask her to lunch, Joan answered the door. "I took one look at her—and she was the girl I had been drawing all my life," he once recalled. "And then I heard the English accent. And I’m a nut for English accents! She said, 'May I help you?' And I took a look at her, and I think I said something crazy like, 'I love you.' I don’t remember exactly. But anyway, I took her to lunch. I never met Betty, the other girl. I think I proposed to [Joan] at lunch.” The two married Dec. 5, 1947, in Reno, Nevada, roughly an hour after Joan obtained a divorce. The Hollywood Reporter has the full story.


A Michigan woman whose fiance and mother were killed as they sped to the hospital to meet her before she gave birth said she wants others to "chereish every moment."

 Crystal Matrau-Belt, 24, gave birth to her son, Jeremiah James Matrau-Skokan, last Saturday at the Bronson Medical Hospital in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Her fiance, Emil Skokan III, and her mother, Peggy Nichols, were driving to meet her when Skokan lost control of the car. Both Skokan and Nicols were killed in the crash, Matrau-Belt told ABC News.

 Matrau-Belt said she had called her fiance before she had an emergency cesarean section to tell him they were going to deliver the baby.

 "He said, 'Do you need anything?' and that he would come up shortly and that he loved me and all that and stuff," Matrau-Belt recalled of her conversation with Skokan when she was at the hospital. "It was the last time I talked to him."

 While she wanted to wait for her fiance, Matrau-Belt said her extended family, including her stepfather and stepmother were there to help her during the delivery.

 "[My family] had already known before my c-section," about the car crash, Matrau-Belt said. "My stepmom was in the [delivery] room with me and … she was completely there for me. You couldn’t even tell anything was wrong."

 Hours after delivering her son, Matrau-Belt's family broke the news that her fiance and mother had been killed in a car accident.

 "To lose my fiancé and my mom … and welcoming my son in my life, it's hard to balance that all," she told ABC News.

 Matrau-Belt named her son Jeremiah, a name she and Skakon had agreed on just before her delivery.

 "Our entire pregnancy we could not agree on a name. Everybody kept asking what’s the name and we said we don’t know yet," said Matrau-Belt. "I said 'What about Jeremiah?' He loves the name. ... The first time we agreed on a name was Friday."

 Matrau-Belt said she sees a lot of her fiance's personality in her young son already.

 "The looks he gives if something is annoying him, he gives this wrinkled up nose look," Matrau-Belt said of her son making a face similar to her fiance. "They have the same kind of expressions. When I look at him I see a lot of Emile in him."

 Matrau-Belt is expected to get out of the hospital tonight so that she can attend the funerals for her fiance and mother later this week.

 "Don’t take life for granted," Matrau-Belt told ABC News. "You’ve got to cherish every moment. You don’t know when things are going to happen, especially if you’re on the way to the birth of your child and grandchild. You’ve got to be able to slow down and look at every part of life and cherish it." ||||| UPDATE: Fundraising efforts underway

 KALAMAZOO, MI -- Three hours after she had her son, Crystal Matrau-Belt still hadn't seen her fiance or her mother in the sea of other family members who had come to meet the new baby.

 "I asked my stepdad, 'Do you know where Emil is?'" Matrau-Belt recalled. "My dad said, 'Honey, that's what we need to talk to you about.' I just all of a sudden had a sinking feeling something was wrong. I just didn't know that it was my fiance and my mom."

 Emil Skokan III, Matrau-Belt's fiance, had been driving himself and Matrau-Belt's mother, Peggy Nichols, to the hospital for the birth of his son just before 4 p.m. Saturday, when he lost control of the car on a stretch of South 26th Street near Cork Street in Comstock Township. The car hit a tree, killing Skokan, 34, and Nichols, 53.

 "Losing two of the most important people in my life at the same time as bringing a child into the world, it's like happy and the most heartbreaking thing," Matrau-Belt said in an interview Monday at Bronson Methodist Hospital. "I waited so long to be able to have a child, and to have a child but then have two things ripped out of my life, it's just really hard to deal with and even process."

 Unexpected delivery

 Jeremiah came into the world a bit unexpectedly. Matrau-Belt, 24, had gone to her doctor for a checkup Friday afternoon, but because of her high blood pressure and because she was already 39 weeks along, her doctor decided it was time to send her to the labor and delivery unit to be induced.

 Matrau-Belt was still in labor Saturday and got an epidural. Not long after, she had a bit of a scare when her blood pressure dropped and she blacked out. She was stabilized, but her labor wasn't progressing and she didn't want to put the baby at any more stress, so she opted for a C-section.

 Shortly after she had the scare, she contacted her fiance and told him to head to the hospital. Peggy Nichols happened to be on the way to Matrau-Belt's house and then planned to head to the hospital, so she and Skokan rode together.

 "I got a text from (Emil), 'Do you want me to bring up anything?' and just said I'll meet you up there and that he loved me," Crystal said.

 That was the last time she heard from her fiance.

 Once she decided to go for the C-section she again tried to contact Skokan, but couldn't reach him. That in and of itself wasn't unsusual, but Matrau-Belt said she felt something was amiss.

 "They had brought my stepdad out of the room, but no one told me anything," Matrau-Belt said. "I couldn't get a hold of them. Instead of stressing me out, they just really wanted me to go and get the C-section done."

 Matrau-Belt's stepmother stayed with her during the delivery. While she was in recovery, other family members came to visit. Once she was out of recovery, her aunt took Jeremiah out of the room and Matrau-Belt questioned where her fiance and mother were.

 Matrau-Belt and Skokan had spent her whole pregnancy disagreeing on the name for their son. On Friday, when it was evident the baby was coming sooner rather than later, she suggested Jeremiah.

 "We actually for the first time decided on a name together," Matrau-Belt said, pausing to wipe away tears.

 Matrau-Belt and Skokan decided Jeremiah's middle name would be James, after her stepfather's middle name.

 Matrau-Belt, a Kalamazoo native, and Skokan, a Parchment native, had plans for their future together. They wanted to move out of their home in Pavilion Estates.

 "He had told me a few months back that he wanted to get married, but he wanted to make sure I was ready, so we could all have the same last name," Matrau-Belt said. She stopped, sobbing.

 "He wanted to step up and make sure he was a good father to him," Matrau-Belt said.

 Matrau-Belt described her fiance as "caring, hard-working, really smart." He would have celebrated his 35th birthday Sunday. He loved tinkering with his fish tank and their 20-plus fish. Along with Jeremiah, Skokan is survived by two other sons, Emil Skokan IV and Kayden Skokan, according to his obituary.

 Matrau-Belt said Skokan spent all night Friday cleaning the house for the baby and setting up his bassinet.

 "He was so excited and was trying to do everything right," Matrau-Belt said.

 Skokan was handy around the house and had been helping Matrau-Belt's mother and stepfather work on their house, which had caught fire in February 2015.

 "He loved helping my mom," Matrau-Belt said. "He loved my mom."

 'Never seen her so happy'

 Matrau-Belt said the feeling was mutual from her mother, who treated Emil like he was her own son.

 Matrau-Belt said her mother had been excited to meet her first biological grandchild, and once they found out Matrau-Belt was having a boy, her mother bought "his entire wardrobe," a car seat and a stroller. Matrau-Belt said it was a big deal for her mother, who knew Matrau-Belt had struggled with infertility and miscarriages in the past.

 "I've never seen her so happy," Matrau-Belt said. Her words dissolved into tears as her uncle, Michael Myers, hugged her.

 She could not wait for him to be here," Matrau-Belt said. "She had big plans to take him to the zoo, to Disney World."

 Matrau-Belt called Nichols "the most caring person I've ever met." Nichols and her husband were living with Matrau-Belt's grandmother while they were fixing up their fire-damaged house. Matrau-Belt said her stepfather was injured in that fire, and her mother went back into the fire to save him.

 "I thought I was losing my parents then," Matrau-Belt said.

 Speed a factor

 Authorities have said speed was a factor in Saturday's crash that killed Skokan and Nichols.

 "They were trying to get here," Matrau-Belt said. "They didn't know what was going on, and a lot of medical stuff was happening. Their main focus was being able to be here because I didn't want them to miss anything. They just wanted to be there for me," Matrau-Belt said, weeping.

 Jeremiah has his mother's lips, but his facial features and mannerisms already mirror his father's, especially when he furrows his brow when he doesn't like something, Matrau-Belt said.

 Matrau-Belt said she thinks he'll have curly, dirty blond hair like Skokan's, who spent four years growing out his hair to shoulder-length curls.

 "I go to pick him up and I see Emil in him," Matrau-Belt said. "It's hard, but just to know that I have a piece of Emil, that helps a little bit.

 "I want to celebrate him being born, but losing my fiance who I loved so much, and my mom at the same time, it's a really big struggle to try to balance all of that," Matrau-Belt said. "I go from grief for one person and I'm crying hysterically and just upset, and then I'm OK, and then it flips to the other person and then it's back and forth because both of them were so important in my life. To lose them both at a time like this, it's really hard."

 Family members have taken turns staying with Matrau-Belt and Jeremiah at the hospital, and Matrau-Belt said she has had support from them.

 Funeral arrangements set

 When Matrau-Belt and her newborn are discharged from the hospital Tuesday, she will have to face the difficulty of burying the man she was going to marry and her own mother. Skokan's funeral will be at 11 a.m. Wednesday, Dec. 16, at Langeland Family Funeral Homes, Memorial Chappel, 622 S. Burdick St.

 Nichols' family will greet friends from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 17 at Langeland Family Funeral Homes, Westside Chapel, 3926 S. 9th St. Her funeral will be at 11 a.m. Friday, Dec. 18, and interment will follow at Mt. Ever-Rest Memorial Park South.

 Soon, Matrau-Belt will celebrate Jeremiah's first Christmas without those loved ones. Nichols wanted to make sure his first Christmas would be celebrated at her house, so Skokan and Matrau-Belt's uncle, Myers, had been helping them finish repairing the house so they could have it ready by the holidays.

 "Things like this just don't happen. The last thing I got from Emil was 'I love you babe and I'll be up there soon.' I loved my mom and I loved Emil with all my heart. Once I leave here I don't really know what to do with myself, my whole life, you know?"

 Emily Monacelli is a reporter for the Kalamazoo Gazette. Contact her at emonacel@mlive.com or follow her on Twitter. |||||

Write a summary.

– Emil Skokan III was every bit the doting father-to-be when his fiancee texted him to say she would soon undergo a C-section. "He said, 'Do you need anything?' and that he would come up shortly and that he loved me," Crystal Matrau-Belt, 24, tells ABC News. "It was the last time I talked to him." As Skokan, 34, rushed to Bronson Methodist Hospital in Kalamazoo, Mich., on Saturday with Matrau-Belt's mother, Peggy Nichols, he lost control of his vehicle and hit a tree, reports MLive. Both Skokan and Nichols, 53, were killed; police say speed was a factor. Other family members, including Matrau-Belt's stepmother, helped her welcome a baby boy, Jeremiah, before breaking the news. "To have a child but then have two things ripped out of my life, it's just really hard to deal with and even process," the new mom says. "It's like happy and the most heartbreaking thing." Matrau-Belt says both her fiance and mom were so excited to meet Jeremiah. "Their main focus was being able to be here because I didn't want them to miss anything," she says. While Nichols "had big plans to take him to the zoo, to Disney World," Skokan had spent the previous day readying the couple's house for Jeremiah's arrival. He "was trying to do everything right," says Matrau-Belt. "He wanted to step up and make sure he was a good father to him." She now takes solace in seeing Skokan in Jeremiah. "I see Emil in him," particularly when "he gives this wrinkled up nose look" when he's annoyed. "Just to know that I have a piece of Emil, that helps a little bit." Matrau-Belt says she doesn't "really know what to do with myself," but she wants to tell others to appreciate what they have. "You've got to be able to slow down and look at every part of life and cherish it." (Two brothers had babies on the same day, at the same hospital.)


Article:

One of Russia's biggest mafia bosses has been shot dead in the centre of Moscow, in an apparent contract killing as he was leaving a restaurant after lunch, the interior ministry says.

 Aslan Usoyan, 75, known by his nickname of Grandpa Hassan, was killed by a shot from a sniper's rifle as he was exiting the Karetny Dvor restaurant, about 1.5 kilometres from the Kremlin, on Wednesday.

 Some observers feared that the murder of Usoyan would unleash a turf war in the criminal world of Russia and former Soviet republics.

 The sniper shot Usoyan once, and the victim was rushed to the hospital, but died on the way, the Investigative Committee said in a statement.

 Investigators have launched a murder probe, with Usoyan's "criminal activities" as one of the possible explanations for the murder, it said.

 Born in Soviet Georgia in the 1930s, Usoyan was one of the remaining mafia old guard and was considered the most influential criminal in the former Soviet Union. He was first convicted when he was 19.

 Investigators on Wednesday said the sniper also wounded a female bystander who was being treated.

 Usoyan had already survived an assassination bid in September 2010 when he was shot in the abdomen in central Moscow, and temporarily handed over business to his two nephews, according to reports.

 The tabloid daily Komsomolskaya Pravda in a report on its website dubbed him the "king of the Russian mafia".

 In a sign of Usoyan's colossal influence despite his increasing age, a parliament deputy expressed fear that his murder might trigger unprecedented turf wars and more violence.

 "I am sure that a new criminal redistribution will begin now," Russian MP Alexander Khinshtein, who sits on the security committee, wrote on his Twitter blog. ||||| One of Russia’s most notorious criminal masterminds, Mafia godfather Aslan Usoyan, also known as ‘Grandpa Hassan,’ was shot dead by a sniper rifle in central Moscow on Wednesday, police said.

 A sniper fired at Usoyan as the 75-year-old was walking out of a restaurant in Povarskaya Street in Central Moscow.

 His bodyguards failed to cover him in time, and the crime boss died from his injuries soon after he was taken to hospital.

 “Usoyan was taken to Botkin Hospital in deep coma, unconscious, but was still breathing, and his heart was beating,” a hospital source told Interfax. Ten minutes later, he failed to regain consciousness and died in the hospital’s emergency surgery room, the source added.

 Evidence uncovered by investigators indicated that Usoyan was killed by a highly motivated and dedicated professional.

 The assassin used a silenced ‘Val’ 9mm assault rifle designed for Soviet special operations forces, RIA Novosti news agency reported. When disassembled, the rifle can fit into a briefcase. This weapon is fitted with a silencer and muzzle flash reducer, making it near-impossible to detect the location of a shooter.

 Silenced ‘Val’ 9mm assault rifle

 One of Usoyan’s bodyguards reportedly returned fire with several blind shots, but the fact that it took some time for police to find shooter’s position showed that the bodyguard had failed completely at locating the sniper.Val rifles can also easily shoot through body armor, and are capable of piercing a 6-millimeter-thick sheet of steel. The killer reportedly used armor-piercing bullets in the assassination.

 After the sniper shot Usoyan in the head, a woman walking near the mob boss stepped into the assassin’s firing line. According to LifeNews daily’s timeline, the hitman attempted to move her by shooting her in the thigh. When she remained upright, she was shot again in the chest and fell, allowing the sniper to hit Usoyan once more as his bodyguards grouped around their wounded boss.

 The young woman, a waitress at the restaurant who was walking Usoyan to the exit, was rushed to a hospital for surgery and remains in critical condition due to heavy blood loss, medics told Interfax.

 On Thursday, Russia’s Investigative Committee released another report on the incident, which said that Usoyan was only wounded once as he stood in the doorway of the restaurant, not in the yard. The committee maintained that his bodyguards dragged their boss inside the restaurant, and that the waitress was wounded two times because of five blind shots the sniper made after the restaurant door was slammed shut.

 The sniper’s perch was discovered to be a stairway between the fifth and sixth floor of a building facing the restaurant’s yard. There, detectives found a folding chair, six used Val cartridges, three cigarette butts, sporting trousers and a piece of cloth. A print of the hitman’s hand was reportedly taken from an open windowpane.

 However, investigators believe these items may have been brought to the scene and left there on purpose to imitate a sniper’s activities, a source close to the investigation told LifeNews tabloid. Police dogs traced the killer’s escape route to a nearby house 100 meters away from the restaurant, where a getaway car likely awaited.

 Witnesses said that a few days before the assassination, two men were observed taking photos of the street on the same stairway from which the killing shots were made. The central Moscow building is monitored by CCTV cameras, making it difficult to infiltrate unnoticed.

 Two tenants of the house whose flats overlook the restaurant received phone calls prior to the assassination demanding they sell their apartments.

 Over the years ‘Grandpa Hassan’ had managed to survive at least two previous assassination attempts: A would-be killer missed him in Sochi in 1998, and another one seriously injured Usoyan and his bodyguard in a 2010 Moscow shooting.

 The ‘godfather’ had lately become a target in a war between criminal clans, the police said. The 2010 and 2013 sniper shootings “are connected and have apparently been prepared by the same people,” a police source told Interfax.

 A criminal case over murder and illicit possession of arms has been opened, Russia’s investigation committee said in a statement. Various versions, including ones connected with Usoyan's criminal activity, are being considered, the statement added.

 Aslan Usoyan

 Usoyan, an ethnic Kurdish Yezidi mobster, started his criminal career in Georgia, where he earned his first jail term for fighting police at the age of 19.

 While in jail on speculation charges from 1966 to 1968, he acquired the status of ‘thief in law’ – marking his standing among the elite of the Soviet and post-Soviet criminal underworld.

 In recent years, ‘Grandpa Hassan’ was widely suspected of controlling various organized criminal groups that dealt in illegal gambling, arms and drug trafficking, and the theft of natural resources.

 Police officers and investigators crowd at the site of a killing of Aslan Usoyan outside the Karetny Dvor restaurant in central Moscow, on January 16, 2013.(AFP Photo/Andrey Smirnov)

 A 2010 photo shows the scene of an attempted murder of suspected criminal mastermind Aslan Usoyan in Moscow, Russia on Septemer 16, 2010 (RIA Novosti / Andrey Stenin) |||||
What is a summary?

– The third time was not the charm for Aslan Usoyan, a prominent Russian mob boss who was assassinated today after surviving two previous hits. Officials say "Grandpa Hassan" was killed by a single bullet fired by a sniper as he was leaving a Moscow restaurant. The 75-year-old last survived a 2010 attempt on his life in which he was shot in the abdomen, and a police source says the group that injured him then is believed to be the same one that succeeded in killing him today, reports RT. Usoyan was suspected to be at the helm of criminal organizations that stole natural resources, trafficked drugs and weapons, and was mired in illegal gambling. MSN NZ calls him "the most influential criminal in the former Soviet Union," and reports that a Russian tabloid referred to him as the "king of the Russian mafia." A female passerby was injured by the sniper.