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Since the late 1970s, China has moved from a closed, centrally planned system to a more market-oriented one that plays a major global role. China has implemented reforms in a gradualist fashion, resulting in efficiency gains that have contributed to a more than tenfold increase in GDP since 1978. Reforms began with the phaseout of collectivized agriculture, and expanded to include the gradual liberalization of prices, fiscal decentralization, increased autonomy for state enterprises, growth of the private sector, development of stock markets and a modern banking system, and opening to foreign trade and investment. China continues to pursue an industrial policy, state support of key sectors, and a restrictive investment regime. From 2013 to 2017, China had one of the fastest growing economies in the world, averaging slightly more than 7% real growth per year. Measured on a purchasing power parity (PPP) basis that adjusts for price differences, China in 2017 stood as the largest economy in the world, surpassing the US in 2014 for the first time in modern history. China became the world's largest exporter in 2010, and the largest trading nation in 2013. Still, China's per capita income is below the world average.

 In July 2005 moved to an exchange rate system that references a basket of currencies. From mid-2005 to late 2008, the renminbi (RMB) appreciated more than 20% against the US dollar, but the exchange rate remained virtually pegged to the dollar from the onset of the global financial crisis until June 2010, when Beijing announced it would resume a gradual appreciation. From 2013 until early 2015, the renminbi held steady against the dollar, but it depreciated 13% from mid-2015 until end-2016 amid strong capital outflows; in 2017 the RMB resumed appreciating against the dollar – roughly 7% from end-of-2016 to end-of-2017. In 2015, the People’s Bank of China announced it would continue to carefully push for full convertibility of the renminbi, after the currency was accepted as part of the IMF’s special drawing rights basket. However, since late 2015 the Chinese Government has strengthened capital controls and oversight of overseas investments to better manage the exchange rate and maintain financial stability.

 The Chinese Government faces numerous economic challenges including: (a) reducing its high domestic savings rate and correspondingly low domestic household consumption; (b) managing its high corporate debt burden to maintain financial stability; (c) controlling off-balance sheet local government debt used to finance infrastructure stimulus; (d) facilitating higher-wage job opportunities for the aspiring middle class, including rural migrants and college graduates, while maintaining competitiveness; (e) dampening speculative investment in the real estate sector without sharply slowing the economy; (f) reducing industrial overcapacity; and (g) raising productivity growth rates through the more efficient allocation of capital and state-support for innovation. Economic development has progressed further in coastal provinces than in the interior, and by 2016 more than 169.3 million migrant workers and their dependents had relocated to urban areas to find work. One consequence of China’s population control policy known as the "one-child policy" - which was relaxed in 2016 to permit all families to have two children - is that China is now one of the most rapidly aging countries in the world. Deterioration in the environment - notably air pollution, soil erosion, and the steady fall of the water table, especially in the North - is another long-term problem. China continues to lose arable land because of erosion and urbanization. The Chinese Government is seeking to add energy production capacity from sources other than coal and oil, focusing on natural gas, nuclear, and clean energy development. In 2016, China ratified the Paris Agreement, a multilateral agreement to combat climate change, and committed to peak its carbon dioxide emissions between 2025 and 2030.

 The government's 13th Five-Year Plan, unveiled in March 2016, emphasizes the need to increase innovation and boost domestic consumption to make the economy less dependent on government investment, exports, and heavy industry. However, China has made more progress on subsidizing innovation than rebalancing the economy. Beijing has committed to giving the market a more decisive role in allocating resources, but the Chinese Government’s policies continue to favor state-owned enterprises and emphasize stability. Chinese leaders in 2010 pledged to double China’s GDP by 2020, and the 13th Five Year Plan includes annual economic growth targets of at least 6.5% through 2020 to achieve that goal. In recent years, China has renewed its support for state-owned enterprises in sectors considered important to "economic security," explicitly looking to foster globally competitive industries. Chinese leaders also have undermined some market-oriented reforms by reaffirming the "dominant" role of the state in the economy, a stance that threatens to discourage private initiative and make the economy less efficient over time. The slight acceleration in economic growth in 2017—the first such uptick since 2010—gives Beijing more latitude to pursue its economic reforms, focusing on financial sector deleveraging and its Supply-Side Structural Reform agenda, first announced in late 2015. ||||| China plans to increase defense spending 11.2 percent this year as the country’s expanding global commitments and lingering territorial disputes drive demand for more warships, missiles and fighter planes.

 Military spending is set to rise this year to about 670 billion yuan ($106.4 billion), Li Zhaoxing, spokesman for China’s National People’s Congress, said yesterday ahead of a speech today by Premier Wen Jiabao to open the annual 10-day session of the country’s legislature.

 China’s defense spending, the second highest in the world after the U.S., has risen in tandem with the expansion of its economy and a new focus by the Obama administration on the Asia- Pacific region. China is also involved in spats with Vietnam, the Philippines and Japan over control of oil- and gas-rich waters and has a lingering territorial dispute with India that erupted into a war in 1962.

 “China’s got a lot of things that require a state to have military hardware for,” Geoff Raby, who was Australia’s ambassador to China until last year, said in a telephone interview. “China lives in a neighborhood where it doesn’t have any natural allies or friends.”

 Satellite Maker Rises

 China North Optical-Electrical Technology Co. (600435), the maker of military control systems and sensors, rose as much as 9.7 percent in Shanghai trading, the biggest intraday gain in more than a month. The Beijing-based company was up 6.3 percent at 10.31 yuan as of 10:14 a.m. China Dongfanghong Spacesat Co. (600118), which builds satellites, advanced as much as 3.9 percent.

 Defense spending has more than doubled since 2006, tracking a rise in nominal gross domestic product from 20.9 trillion yuan to 47.2 trillion yuan in that time. China’s spending on domestic security will be higher than military spending this year for the third straight year, according to Finance Ministry figures released today, underscoring the government’s concerns about growing social unrest and threats to stability in Tibet and Xinjiang province.

 The growing defense budget has stoked concerns among China’s neighbors and the U.S., which announced last year a strategic shift toward Asia including deploying forces to a base in Australia. Chinese defense spending as a percentage of GDP was about 1.3 percent in 2011, falling from about 1.4 percent in 2006.

 ‘Reasonable and Appropriate’

 “The Chinese government has maintained reasonable and appropriate growth of defense spending on the strength of rapid economic and social development and the steady increase of fiscal revenues,” Li said.

 He spoke a day before the start of the annual meeting of the National People’s Congress, the 3,000-member parliament that is legally the highest governmental body in China. Sessions run from today to March 14.

 U.S. analysts say actual Chinese defense spending is much higher than the amount announced by Li yesterday. Phillip Saunders, director of the Center for the Study of Chinese Military Affairs at National Defense University in Washington, estimates China’s true defense spending is 50 percent higher than the official budget because items such as research and development as well as foreign weapons procurement are not included. Li said research and procurement are included.

 Off-Budget Items

 Taylor Fravel, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who studies China’s relations with its neighbors, said the number of off-budget items such has foreign arms procurement have decreased in recent years. China includes support for veterans in its budget while the U.S. does not, Fravel said.

 While Chinese military spending is still officially less than a fifth of U.S. defense spending, its neighbors are concerned about the country’s expansive territorial claims. China claims indisputable sovereignty over the islands, reefs and shoals of the South China Sea and their surrounding waters, demarcating a tongue-shaped claim on Chinese maps extending hundreds of miles from mainland China.

 China is “always ready” to use force if necessary to ensure its territorial integrity in the South China Sea, Maj. Gen. Luo Yan, deputy secretary general of the Chinese Academy of Military Science, said today. China’s military should be “strong and big,” and the country should do more to mark its rightful claim to the area, he told reporters in Beijing.

 ‘Scared Its Neighbors’

 It also contests control over the Senkaku, or Diaoyu islands with Japan, which sparked a diplomatic standoff in 2010 after Japan detained a Chinese fishing boat captain when his vessel collided with a Japanese patrol boat. Japan is “closely watching” China’s military spending and is seeking greater transparency in its outlays, Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura told reporters today in Tokyo.

 Vietnam recently filed a protest saying China assaulted its fishermen and prevented them from entering the Paracel Islands. China responded by claiming sovereignty over the islands and said it didn’t board the vessels.

 “China scared its neighbors,” Saunders said in an e-mail. “Now it is back on the path of greater restraint, but its neighbors are still alarmed.”

 U.S. concerns stem from Chinese progress in developing modern fighters and precision ballistic missiles that can target U.S. aircraft carriers, Saunders said.

 In the past year, China began sea trials of its first aircraft carrier, a refurbished Soviet-era vessel acquired from Ukraine more than a decade ago.

 Military Buildup

 Beijing is also continuing a military buildup across the Taiwan Strait. The U.S. is obligated by a 1979 law to provide defensive weapons to Taiwan, which China claims as a province. A Pentagon report published last August said that as of December, 2010, China’s People’s Liberation Army had deployed between 1,000 and 1,200 short-range ballistic missiles to units opposite Taiwan even as cross-Strait ties have improved.

 Last year the U.S. announced it would sell Taiwan $5.3 billion in upgrades for its 145 Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT) F-16 fighters.

 China will boost spending on domestic security by 11.5 percent this year to 701.8 billion yuan, outstripping spending on defense by 31.5 billion yuan, according to a table in the work report issued by the Finance Ministry.

 Economic Interests

 Economic interests around the world, including 812,000 workers abroad at the end of 2011, mean China’s military may increasingly deploy across the globe. China set a frigate to Libya last year to help evacuate thousands of Chinese nationals during the revolt that saw the overthrow of Muammar Qaddafi. Li said Chinese warships have made eight deployments to help international efforts to protect sea lanes from Somali pirates. Chinese peacekeepers now patrol as part of a United Nations mission in Sudan.

 The country is also increasingly dependent on global commerce for its well-being, factors which in past eras led countries such as the U.K. and the U.S. to boost military spending. Combined imports and exports last year amounted to $3.6 trillion, and China, the world’s biggest energy consumer, is also the world’s second-biggest oil importer after the U.S.

 The U.S., with an economy less than three times the size of China’s, has a military budget about between five and six times as big. The Pentagon is asking for $613.9 billion next year, which also includes $88.5 billion in supplemental spending for wars. Unlike China’s, the U.S. defense budget is shrinking. The Pentagon’s request is $31.8 billion less than the amount enacted by Congress for 2012.

 China’s defense spending increased an average of 16.2 percent a year from 1999 to 2008, according to figures from a defense white paper published in 2009. While building up spending, China has also proclaimed that it takes a nonconfrontational approach in the region.

 “China’s limited military strength is aimed at safeguarding sovereignty, national security and territorial integrity,” Li said. “It will not in the least pose a threat to other countries.”

 To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Michael Forsythe in Beijing at mforsythe@bloomberg.net; Yidi Zhao in Beijing at yzhao7@bloomberg.net

 To contact the editor responsible for this story: Peter Hirschberg at phirschberg@bloomberg.net |||||
What is a summary?

– China will up its defense spending by 11.2% in 2012 to $106.4 billion, citing its unhappiness with the US military presence in the Asia-Pacific region, reports the AP. China has made double-digit increases to its military spending in all but two of the years since the early 1990s, although this year's increase is down slightly from the 12.7% rise in 2011. Despite the seemingly dramatic rise, China's economy has also grown quickly over the past two decades, and military spending as a percentage of GDP has stayed relatively low, officially 1.3% last year. “Our defense spending is relatively low compared with other major countries,” says one Chinese official. However, security experts think China's true spending is likely much higher (the CIA estimated 4.3% of its GDP in 2006). With maritime disputes with Vietnam, Japan, and the Philippines and rough relations with India, China faces an array of security threats. “China lives in a neighborhood where it doesn’t have any natural allies or friends," a former Australian ambassador to China tells Bloomberg. “China’s got a lot of things that require a state to have military hardware for."


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 By Radar Staff

 A dangerous man who claimed he was Miley Cyrus‘ husband and was armed with a pair of scissors was arrested early Saturday morning at the singer‘s Studio City home.

 RadarOnline.com has confirmed that Jason Luis Rivera was arrested by police at 4:45 am and is being held on $1,000 bail at LAPD Valley Jail. He’s accused of trespassing and burglary.

 PHOTOS: Miley Goes In-N-Out For Lunch

 Video obtained by KTLA-TV shows the bald 40-year-old being handcuffed by cops after he was discovered hiding in bushes on the young star’s property.

 Rivera is heard telling police he is carrying scissors and when he did not immediately comply with their orders,they used a taser gun on him.

 PHOTOS: Celebs Who Have Done Jail Time

 He told cops, “I am friends with Miley Cyrus. I am. She’s my wife. Me and Miley have been friends for five years.”

 The newly engaged singer and actress was not home at the time of the incident but someone in the house dialed 911 when Rivera was spotted.

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 Liam Who? Miley Cyrus Gets Very Cozy With ‘Best Friend’ In Mia ||||| Miley Cyrus Intruder With Weapon ARRESTED At Her Home

 Miley Cyrus -- Intruder With Weapon ARRESTED At Singer's Home

 Breaking News

 dodged a bullet last night -- some guy armed with scissors was ARRESTED at the singer's L.A. home after he jumped her fence and said he wanted to meet her ... according to law enforcement sources.The incident occurred early Saturday morning ... cops responded to a 911 call from Miley's L.A. home, not placed by the singer. When they arrived they arrested a man named Jason Luis Rivera for trespassing.Law enforcement tells us, Rivera jumped the fence surrounding Miley's house and was carrying a pair of scissors when they apprehended him. He told cops at the time he wanted to see the pop star and that's why he was on her property.Miley was not home when the incident occurred. |||||

– Maybe it's her new 'do? Whatever, a man allegedly leaped into Miley Cyrus' yard early yesterday morning wielding a pair of scissors, TMZ reports. Police received a 911 call from inside her LA house—not from Miley—and arrested a man named Jason Luis Rivera for trespassing. The singer herself was not around. Radar reports that Rivera said he was "friends with Miley Cyrus. I am. She's my wife. Me and Miley have been friends for five years." Click for a pic and video of the accused.


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– You are what you reek? It turns out that we can tell a lot about someone's personality just by their smell, according to the New York Daily News. Sixty people in Poland wore the same T-shirt for three nights, and did not use soap, smoke, drink, or "eat odorous foods" during the study. Those shirts were then sniffed by 200 lucky volunteers, who were asked to judge the smells based on five personality traits, such as extroversion, neuroticism, and dominance. The results weren't perfect, but the smellers' predictions about extroversion and neuroticism were about as accurate as those of raters who made their judgments after watching a video. MyHealthNewsDaily notes that the smell-testers did especially well in detecting dominance in members of the opposite sex.

Getting to know someone usually requires at least a little conversation. But a new study suggests you can get a hint of an individual's personality through his or her scent alone.

 Participants in the study assessed, with some degree of accuracy, how outgoing, anxious or dominant people were after only taking a whiff of their clothes. The study is the first to test whether personality traits can be discerned through body odor.

 While the match-up between responses by the judges and the judged were not perfect, they do suggest that, when forming a first impression, we take into account a person's smell, as well as visual and audible cues to their personality traits, the researchers said.

 We not only express ourselves through our looks, "we also express ourselves with how we smell," said study researcher Agnieszka Sorokowska, a doctoral candidate at the University of Wroclaw, in Poland.

 The study will be published in an upcoming issue of the European Journal of Personality.

 Personality smells

 Sorokowska and colleagues asked 30 men and 30 women to don white cotton t-shirts for three consecutive nights. Participants could not use fragrances, deodorants or soaps, and could not smoke or drink or eat odorous foods during the study. Participants also took a personality test.

 Shirts from the "odor donors" were collected and rated by 100 men and 100 women. Raters were asked to smell the shirts (placed in non-transparent plastic bags) and evaluate five personality traits of the donors, on a scale of one to 10. Each rater assessed six shirts, and each shirt was assessed by 20 raters.

 The judges' ratings matched up with the self-assessments of the donors for three personality traits: extroversion (the tendency to be outgoing and sociable) neuroticism (the tendency to feel anxious and moody) and dominance (the urge to be a leader).

 The matches were far from perfect. But the raters predicted the donor's level of extroversion and neuroticism through smell about as accurately as participants in a different study predicted personality traits based on a video depicting a person's behavior, Sorokowska said.

 Judgments of dominance were most accurate in the case where an individual rater was assessing the odor of someone who was the opposite sex, suggesting such judgments are especially important when it comes to choosing a mate, the researchers said.

 Odor and emotions

 Extroversion, neuroticism and dominance are all traits that may, to some extent, be expressed physiologically, including through our emotions.

 For instance, people who are neurotic may sweat more when they experience stress, which would modify the bacteria in their underarms and make them smell different, the researchers said.

 Personality traits may also be linked with the secretion of hormones that could alter a persons' scent. People who are high in dominance may have higher levels of testosterone, which in turn may modify their sweat glands, the researchers said.

 The findings are preliminary and more studies need to be done to confirm the results, Sorokowska said. It's not clear whether the same link would be found in other cultures known to have weaker body odors, Sorokowska said.

 Pass it on: Some traits of an individual's personality can be assessed through smell, preliminary research suggests.

 Follow MyHealthNewsDaily staff writer Rachael Rettner on Twitter @RachaelRettner. Find us on Facebook. ||||| Certain personalities have a smell: study European study says scent can reveal details about personality

 This puts a new spin on the old saw about passing the smell test.

 According to an upcoming study published in the European Journal of Personality, people can make accurate judgments about another person's personality based on the way he or she smells.

 The results of the study were reported by the website MyHealthNewsDaily.

 In the study, Polish researches asked raters to sniff white-cotton T-shirts that were worn for three consecutive nights by 100 men and 100 women who had taken personality tests.

 The raters were then asked to make judgments about the shirt-wearer's personality based on what they smelled.

 Though the sniffers didn't nail it every time, they were able to predict whether the shirt donors were outgoing and extroverted or neurotic and anxious about as accurately as other raters who predicted personality traits after watching a video, researcher Agnieszka Sorokowska told MyHeathNewsDaily.

 Researchers said the sniff-testers were particularly accurate when detecting dominance in a member of the opposite sex, suggesting that men and woman are using more than their eyes and ears when choosing a potential mate.

 The researchers were planning more studies to confirm the results, the website said. |||||


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WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States is retaliating against Russia by forcing closure of its consulate in San Francisco and scaling back its diplomatic presence in Washington and New York.

 The State Department says move is in response to the Kremlin forcing a cut in U.S. diplomatic staff in Moscow. Spokesman Heather Nauert says the move brings the U.S. and Russia into "parity," with each having three consulates in the other country.

 Moscow forced the cut in American diplomatic staff earlier this year in retaliation for U.S. sanctions. Washington had to reduce its diplomatic staff by 755 people.

 Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had said the U.S. would respond by September.

 The Russian offices must close by Saturday. The order affects Russia's "chancery annex" in Washington and a "consular annex" in New York. ||||| The United States has fully implemented the decision by the Government of the Russian Federation to reduce the size of our mission in Russia. We believe this action was unwarranted and detrimental to the overall relationship between our countries.

 In the spirit of parity invoked by the Russians, we are requiring the Russian Government to close its Consulate General in San Francisco, a chancery annex in Washington, D.C., and a consular annex in New York City. These closures will need to be accomplished by September 2.

 With this action both countries will remain with three consulates each. While there will continue to be a disparity in the number of diplomatic and consular annexes, we have chosen to allow the Russian Government to maintain some of its annexes in an effort to arrest the downward spiral in our relationship.

 The United States hopes that, having moved toward the Russian Federation’s desire for parity, we can avoid further retaliatory actions by both sides and move forward to achieve the stated goal of both of our presidents: improved relations between our two countries and increased cooperation on areas of mutual concern. The United States is prepared to take further action as necessary and as warranted. |||||

– The press statement's title—"Achieving Parity in Diplomatic Missions"—may seem bland, but the message from the State Department is anything but: It explains the United States has ordered Russia to close a consulate in San Francisco and diplomatic annexes in New York and Washington by Saturday. The New York Times frames the moves as an "expected ... tit-for-tat response" after Russia forced a cut in US embassy staff in late July. Indeed, the AP notes Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had said the US would respond by September. "We believe [Russia's] action was unwarranted and detrimental to the overall relationship between our countries," and the Trump administration is making the move "in the spirit of parity invoked by the Russians," per the statement. Once the closures are complete, each country will have three operating consulates remaining. The remainder of the statement: "While there will continue to be a disparity in the number of diplomatic and consular annexes, we have chosen to allow the Russian Government to maintain some of its annexes in an effort to arrest the downward spiral in our relationship. The United States hopes that, having moved toward the Russian Federation's desire for parity, we can avoid further retaliatory actions by both sides and move forward to achieve the stated goal of both of our presidents: improved relations between our two countries and increased cooperation on areas of mutual concern. The United States is prepared to take further action as necessary and as warranted."


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– An anonymous couple in Minneapolis just raised the bar in a big way for all those dropping spare change into Salvation Army kettles. They quietly dropped in a check for $500,000 outside a Cub Foods store, reports the Pioneer Press. "The check did clear and was deposited in the bank,” a Salvation Army spokeswoman tells Reuters. “They feel very strongly about the gift being anonymous.” It shatters the previous record for a local kettle donation of $25,000, notes the Minneapolis Star Tribune. No word yet on whether it's a national record as well. “You get to a point in life where it’s time to take care of others, the way you were taken care of,” explain the donors in a statement released by the charity. In it, they spoke of relying on discarded grocery store food in their younger days. Also, one of the pair's fathers served in World War I and spoke fondly of the Salvation Army's delivery of coffee and doughnuts to the troops. "We are simply stunned and honored to have received such a generous gift," says Maj. Jeff Strickler, the charity's commander in the Twin Cities. (A nonprofit for the blind got a surprise $125 million gift from a recluse.)

The Salvation Army’s national leadership said it has never received a kettle donation as generous as the $500,000 check that was given over the weekend in Rosemount by donors who want to remain anonymous.

 The charities’ Twin Cities division revealed the donation on Monday, saying the check was placed Saturday into one of its signature red kettles at the Cub Foods on County Road 42, just east of Shannon Parkway.

 The previous Twin Cities record for a single kettle donation was $25,000. A little perspective: Typically, a kettle takes in about $30 an hour, according to the charity.

 The charity confirmed that the check cleared Monday but would not reveal the couple’s identity. “We have been in touch with the donors, but they want to remain anonymous,” Salvation Army spokeswoman Julie Borgen said. “This couple has supported the Army before with large checks in kettles, but never anything close to this level.”

 Borgen said the bell ringers at the store, Rosemount firefighters, were oblivious to the big gift. But the Salvation Army’s major-gifts manager was notified of the incoming windfall a day or two in advance, she said, and picked up the kettle himself. The couple have given advance notice for their previous gifts as well, Borgen said, though she didn’t know how many years they’d given.

 The couple said they made the gift in hopes of encouraging others to also stretch their generosity and to honor one of their fathers, who served in the trenches in World War I and was grateful to the Salvation Army “doughnut lassies” who brought soldiers free coffee and doughnuts.

 The holiday season is underway with the appearance of the Salvation Army donation kettles and bell ringers.

 They said they were also inspired by memories from years ago of relying on discarded food from a grocery store to make ends meet.

 “You get to a point in life where it’s time to take care of others, the way you were taken care of,” the donors said in a statement issued through the charity.

 Maj. Jeff Strickler, the Salvation Army’s commander for the Twin Cities, said, “We are simply stunned and honored to have received such a generous gift. This is a true blessing, and it could not come at a better time for the Salvation Army and the people we serve.”

 The $500,000 donation was confirmed Tuesday by the charity’s national headquarters in suburban Washington, D.C., as the largest single kettle donation ever anywhere in the country.

 The gift put a charge into the Twin Cities Salvation Army’s goal of raising $11.6 million during its Christmas campaign. The charity has raised about $2.2 million so far, comparable to this time last year.

 “We invite everyone to please give what they can,” Strickler said. “Every dollar counts, and we only have 30 days left to meet our goal.”

 There is no indication, spokeswoman Borgen said, that the couple are behind the anonymous “St. Grand” donations that red kettles in the Twin Cities have been receiving in roughly $1,000 increments for the past five years.

 “We truly don’t know who St. Grand is,” Borgen said.

 St. Grand, whether one person or more than one, slipped $1,100 each into two kettles Friday in Roseville, one drop at a Lunds & Byerlys on County Road C and the other at Cub Foods on Larpenteur Avenue, according to the Salvation Army. The scenario repeated itself Saturday: same amounts, same locations. For the math-impaired, that’s $4,400.

 The Salvation Army is seeking bell-ringer volunteers to sign up for one of 575 kettle locations online at salvationarmynorth.org. The charity is one of the largest providers of Christmas toys in the metro area, providing gifts for about 15,000 children. The charity also serves 1,200 hot meals every day, shelters nearly 900 people each night and provides groceries for more than 100,000 people annually.

 Staff writer Emma Nelson contributed to this report. ||||| (Pioneer Press: Chris Polydoroff)

 The Salvation Army is going to need a bigger kettle.

 A Minnesota couple on Saturday dropped a check for a whopping $500,000 into the bucket at the Cub Foods in Rosemount.

 Not only was it the largest single such gift the organization has received in the Twin Cities, but it also blew the bells off the previous record of $25,000.

 The couple asked to remain anonymous but told the Salvation Army they made the gift in hopes of encouraging others to give generously.

 The father of one served in the trenches during World War I and was always grateful for Salvation Army doughnut and coffee deliveries, the couple said.

 They also said they remember when money was tight and they relied on discarded food from the local grocery store.

 "You get to a point in life where it's time to take care of others, the way you were taken care of," the donors said, according to the organization.

 The donation came a day after the Salvation Army's annual mystery benefactor or benefactors, "Saint Grand," left $1,100 in cash in two Roseville kettles.

 The organization is trying to raise $11.6 million this year.

 "We are simply stunned and honored to have received such a generous gift," said Maj. Jeff Strickler, the Salvation Army's Twin Cities commander. "This is a true blessing, and it could not come at a better time for the Salvation Army and the people we serve." ||||| A Minnesota couple who lived on discarded food when they first got married dropped a $500,000 personal check into one of the Salvation Army’s red kettles at a suburban grocery store over the weekend.

 “The check did clear and was deposited in the bank,” said spokeswoman Julie Borgen said. “They feel very strongly about the gift being anonymous.”

 It was the largest single donation ever to the Salvation Army in the Twin Cities.

 The donors told the Salvation Army they had relied on discarded food from a local grocery store as a young couple and could now afford to help others.

 They also wanted to honor one of their fathers who served in the first world war and had been grateful for coffee and doughnuts the Salvation Army had provided to soldiers, the group said in a statement.

 “You get to a point in life where it’s time to take care of others, the way you were taken care of,” the donors said.

 The check was placed in a kettle Saturday at a grocery store in Rosemount, Minnesota. The Salvation Army did not identify the couple or give any details about them. Borgen said only that they were not from Rosemount.

 The previous biggest donation to the Twin Cities Salvation Army was $25,000. |||||


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– Cindy McCain pressed her face against the flag-draped casket of her husband, US Sen. John McCain, on Wednesday and several of his children sobbed during the first of two services for the statesman and former prisoner of war before he is taken for the last time from the state he has represented since the 1980s. The private service at the Arizona Capitol marked the first appearance of McCain's family members since the senator died Saturday of brain cancer, the AP reports. During the service, Gov. Doug Ducey remembered McCain as a senator and internationally known figure as well as a major figure in the history of Arizona. Former Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl also spoke, and Sen. Jeff Flake offered the benediction. Arizona National Guard members carried the casket into the Arizona State Capitol Museum rotunda, where McCain will lie in state. Later in the afternoon, the Capitol will be open to the public to pay their respects. By the time the service ended and the rotunda was cleared, at least 100 people had already gathered outside to wait for the public viewing in 90-plus degree heat—even Democrats, one of whom told the AP McCain was a "real hero." The people, some of whom traveled from California to be there, took shelter from the hot sun under tents erected by security teams while volunteers filled coolers with ice and water bottles. The viewing later in the day will go on as long as people are waiting in line, said Rick Davis, McCain's former presidential campaign manager. Thursday morning will feature a procession through Phoenix on the way to a memorial service at North Phoenix Baptist Church, with the public invited to line the route along Interstate 17. From there, McCain will depart Arizona from Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. Another viewing will be at the US Capitol on Friday, with a final memorial service at the Washington National Cathedral Saturday.

Cindy McCain arrives for a memorial service for Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. at the Arizona Capitol on Wednesday, Aug. 29, 2018, in Phoenix, escorted by her sons Jimmy, left, and Jack. (AP Photo/Matt York) (Associated Press)

 Cindy McCain arrives for a memorial service for Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. at the Arizona Capitol on Wednesday, Aug. 29, 2018, in Phoenix, escorted by her sons Jimmy, left, and Jack. (AP Photo/Matt York) (Associated Press)

 PHOENIX (AP) — The Latest on the first of two days of services in Arizona to honor Sen. John McCain (all times local):

 12:10 p.m.

 Even Democrats are waiting outside in Phoenix's summer heat to honor the late Sen. John McCain at a public viewing.

 Kassandra Morales stood in line Wednesday at the Arizona Capitol with her sons, ages 8 and 2½. The Democrat brought a bouquet of flowers and said she has always looked up to the Republican senator.

 The 44-year-old says she's been following the longtime senator since she was 18 and always voted for him despite her party affiliation.

 Morales says she brought her children "to show them what a real hero was."

 Volunteers are filling coolers with ice and water bottles for the crowds gathered under canopies to wait for the 2 p.m. viewing to begin on what would have been McCain's 82nd birthday.

 He died Saturday of an aggressive form of brain cancer.

 ___

 11:45 a.m.

 Two groups who traveled to Arizona from San Diego to pay their respects to John McCain had been waiting outside in the heat since early morning.

 Mike Foley bought a plane ticket to Phoenix so he could honor McCain after hearing the public could view the senator's casket Wednesday at the state Capitol.

 Barry and Linda Vittori separately made the roughly five-hour drive Tuesday night. Linda Vittori says McCain "epitomizes what I think our forefathers we're hoping our country would be."

 Ahead of them was 17-year-old Regina Akerson, a Phoenix high school senior who wrote a report on McCain her freshman year and needs to attend a government ceremony for class.

 She decided she could wait seven hours in the sun to pay her respects to McCain and fulfill that requirement, calling him "a legend."

 ___

 11:15 a.m.

 Electronic signs on freeways in the Phoenix area paid tribute to the late Arizona Sen. John McCain.

 The signs said, "Country First Rest In Peace Senator McCain."

 It comes as more than 100 people are waiting under canopies in 90-plus degree heat to pay their respects to McCain during a public viewing Wednesday afternoon at the Arizona Capitol.

 Earlier, family and politicians attended an emotional private ceremony at the Capitol with the senator's flag-draped casket.

 The 81-year-old Republican died Saturday of an aggressive form of brain cancer. Wednesday would have been his 82nd birthday.

 ___

 10:30 a.m.

 The late Sen. John McCain's wife, Cindy, has walked up to the flag-draped casket holding her husband's body at the Arizona Capitol and patted it, then laid her cheek on it.

 The rest of his children then filed past the casket and touched it Wednesday, including his sons in uniform and daughter Meghan McCain who was weeping.

 Gov. Doug Ducey and his wife bowed and McCain's former colleagues, Sen. Jeff Flake and former Sen. Jon Kyl, both touched the casket.

 Flake gave a prayer at the ceremony that preceded a public viewing for the 81-year-old Republican who died Saturday of an aggressive form of brain cancer.

 ___

 This item has been clarified to show that Cindy McCain laid her cheek on the casket.

 ___

 10:25 a.m.

 Arizona's governor says Sen. John McCain was one of the only politicians who could get people to set aside politics.

 Gov. Doug Ducey said at a private ceremony Wednesday at the state Capitol that imagining Arizona without McCain is like imagining the state without the Grand Canyon, two things it's known for.

 The governor called McCain one of Arizona's favorite adopted sons.

 Ducey said Arizona residents knew they could follow McCain, who served in Vietnam as a Navy pilot and was captured as a prisoner of war, because he was trusted and tested, qualities that are in short supply.

 The ceremony with McCain's wife, Cindy, children and other politicians came ahead of a public viewing for the 81-year-old Republican who died Saturday of an aggressive form of brain cancer.

 ___

 10:15 a.m.

 John McCain's daughter, Meghan McCain, wept as her family stood in front of the Arizona senator's flag-draped casket at the Arizona Capitol.

 His colleague, former Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl, opened comments at a ceremony Wednesday for the 81-year-old Republican who died Saturday of an aggressive form of brain cancer.

 Kyl says he has been with McCain all around the world and that he had better instincts on when to assert U.S. power than anyone else he knew.

 He said he would miss McCain and that his greatest contribution was national security.

 ___

 10 a.m.

 A motorcade with Sen. John McCain's body has arrived at the Arizona State Capitol for a private ceremony and afternoon and evening public viewing on the day that would have been his 82nd birthday.

 State troopers on motorcycles led the black hearse on the eight-mile (13-kilometer) route that took the procession on southbound lanes of a highway closed to other traffic. Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey embraced McCain's wife, Cindy, when the motorcade arrived.

 Flag-bearing military honor guards were lined up outside the State Capitol waiting to honor the 81-year-old Arizona Republican who died Saturday of an aggressive form of brain cancer.

 A memorial service will be held Thursday at North Phoenix Baptist Church before McCain's body is flown to Washington, D.C., for a ceremony Friday at the U.S. Capitol and a memorial service Saturday at Washington National Cathedral, followed by a private memorial service and burial Sunday at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.

 ___

 9:48 a.m.

 A black hearse carrying Sen. John McCain's body has left a Phoenix mortuary and is traveling to the Arizona State Capitol in Phoenix for a Wednesday morning private ceremony and public viewing in the afternoon and evening.

 Flag-bearing military honor guards are lined up outside the State Capitol waiting to honor McCain. The Arizona Republican died Saturday of an aggressive form of brain cancer.

 A memorial service will be held Thursday at North Phoenix Baptist Church before McCain's body is flown to Washington, D.C., for a ceremony Friday at the U.S. Capitol and a memorial service Saturday at Washington National Cathedral, followed by a private memorial service and burial Sunday at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.

 ___

 9:25 a.m.

 Black curtains dressed up the rotunda Arizona State Capitol Museum, which on a typical day hosts tourists and history buffs as well state capitol workers bustling from one office to another.

 But on this day, Arizona and U.S. flags encircled the room.

 A few dozen white folding chairs were reserved for family and dignitaries beside a wreath of white roses. Outside the building, where McCain will be retrieved by a team from the Arizona National Guard, military members in uniform began to congregate on the Capitol plaza to line the route where McCain's casket will be carried.

 ___

 8:05 a.m.

 Veterans and constituents are already lining up around the Arizona State Capitol to pay their respects to Sen. John McCain.

 He will lie in state Wednesday for a private formal ceremony and a public viewing. McCain died of brain cancer last Saturday at age 81.

 The sun was already beating down on a quiet Capitol as security officers began to patrol the grounds and prepare for the procession with the hearse bearing McCain's body from a funeral home to the Capitol.

 By 8 a.m., several dozen veterans and active military members had taken spots on the sidewalk to watch it.

 Judith Hatch, a veteran from Phoenix, started the day by handing out flags to those who were assembled. She says Arizona lost a champion for the military.

 Hatch says: "We definitely have lost a strong advocate, so we'll need someone who is going to step up to the plate."

 ___

 12 a.m.

 Family, friends and constituents will gather Wednesday at Arizona's Capitol to pay their respects to Sen. John McCain, the first of two days of services here before he departs the state he has represented since the 1980s.

 A private ceremony will be held Wednesday morning at the Arizona State Capitol Museum rotunda, where McCain will lie in state.

 That ceremony will include remarks from Gov. Doug Ducey and former U.S. Sen. Jon Kyl, plus a benediction from Sen. Jeff Flake. It will also mark the first appearance of McCain's family members since the longtime Arizona senator died of brain cancer on Saturday at age 81.

 Later that afternoon, the Capitol will be open to members of the public who want to pay their respects.

 McCain's former presidential campaign manager Rick Davis says the viewing will go on as long as people are waiting in line.

 For some Arizona residents, McCain has been a political fixture in the state for their entire lives. He took office in Arizona in the early 1980s, first as a congressman and then as a senator in the seat once held by Sen. Barry Goldwater. ||||| Jack McCain, son of, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. touches the casket during a memorial service at the Arizona Capitol on Wednesday, Aug. 29, 2018, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, Pool) (Associated Press)

 Jack McCain, son of, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. touches the casket during a memorial service at the Arizona Capitol on Wednesday, Aug. 29, 2018, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, Pool) (Associated Press)

 PHOENIX (AP) — Cindy McCain pressed her face against the flag-draped casket of her husband, U.S. Sen. John McCain, on Wednesday and several of his children sobbed during the first of two services for the statesman and former prisoner of war before he is taken for the last time from the state he has represented since the 1980s.

 The private service at the Arizona Capitol marked the first appearance of McCain's family members since the senator died Saturday of brain cancer.

 During the service, Gov. Doug Ducey remembered McCain as a senator and internationally known figure as well as a major figure in the history of Arizona.

 While Barry Goldwater was an Arizona native, McCain was "Arizona's favorite adopted son," the governor said on would have been the 82nd birthday of McCain, who was born in the Panama Canal zone while his father served in the military.

 "Imagining an Arizona without John McCain is like picturing Arizona without the Grand Canyon," Ducey said.

 Former Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl said he has been with McCain all around the world and he had better instincts on when to assert U.S. power than anyone else he knew.

 Kyl said he would miss McCain, whose greatest contribution was national security.

 Sen. Jeff Flake offered the benediction at the service.

 Later in the afternoon, the Capitol will be open to the public to pay their respects.

 Arizona National Guard members carried the casket into the Arizona State Capitol Museum rotunda, where McCain will lie in state. Black curtains hung in the rotunda. U.S. and Arizona flags encircled the room.

 By the time the service ended and the rotunda was cleared, at least 100 people had already gathered outside to wait for the public viewing.

 They took shelters from the hot sun under tents erected by security teams while volunteers filled coolers with ice and water bottles.

 Chasity Pullin, whose husband and father are both veterans, was among those in line. She said she liked how McCain didn't act like he was above others, and praised all he did for veterans.

 "It feels like you're losing part of your family, as much as he did," she said

 Kassandra Morales, 44, stood with her sons, 8 and 2 years old. The single mom and Democrat brought a bouquet of flowers and said she had always looked up to McCain.

 "Yesterday I asked my son who his hero was. He gave me a rapper's name," Morales said. "I brought my children here to show them what a real hero was."

 Veteran Judith Hatch handed out flags to those assembled, saying Arizona lost a champion for the military.

 "We definitely have lost a strong advocate, so we'll need someone who is going to step up to the plate," Hatch said.

 The viewing later in the day will go on as long as people are waiting in line, said Rick Davis, McCain's former presidential campaign manager.

 For some Arizona residents, McCain has been a political fixture in the state for their entire lives. He took office in the state in the early 1980s, first as a congressman and then as a senator in the seat once held by Goldwater.

 Thursday morning will feature a procession through Phoenix on the way to a memorial service at North Phoenix Baptist Church, with the public invited to line the route along Interstate 17.

 The memorial service will include tributes, readings and musical performances, including a tribute from former Vice President Joe Biden. Musical choices include a recessional to "My Way" by Frank Sinatra.

 From there, McCain will depart Arizona from Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.

 Another viewing will be at the U.S. Capitol on Friday, with a final memorial service at the Washington National Cathedral.

 ___

 AP writer Terry Tang in Phoenix contributed to this story. |||||


News article:

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 Enter the password that has been provided to you

 Password: ||||| The Great Bear Rainforest is not an easy place to get to. It's a wilderness area the size of Switzerland, all but cut off from the rest of civilization.

 Our ABC News team traveled by float plane. There are no roads here and no landing strips except for the flat stretches of water along the fjords.

 What brought us to this remote corner of Canada is the spirit bear -- "Canada's panda" -- black bears with white fur because of a genetic variation.

 With no more than 500 of them on Earth, spirit bears are more rare than pandas

 Click here to see a slide show with photos of spirit bears.

 The spirit bear is the marquee species for a region that's also crowded with whales, wolves and eagles.

 "It's a magnificent bear," said Ian McAllister, director of the nonprofit conservation group Pacific Wild.

 Today, the Great Bear Rainforest faces a threat -- a massive oil pipeline from Alberta to British Columbia, Canada. The plan would turn the spirit bear's home into a superhighway for supertankers.

 "They want to bring Big Oil to this coast," McAllister said. "The only thing that's standing between that is really the spirit bear, the concerted efforts from conservationists and the First Nation [native] people."

 Conservationists Call in the Cavalry

 So the naturalists who long fought to protect the rain forest called in the photographic equivalent of the Green Berets -- the International League of Conservation Photographers.

 "It is a SWAT team of photographers that are deployed to an area that needs immediate media attention," said the organization's president, Cristina Mittermeier.

 "Some of them do large-format landscapes. Others are extraordinary wildlife photography shooters," she said. "We have an underwater photographer. The idea is to create a snapshot of this area."

 Thomas Peschak, a photographer with Save Our Seas Foundation, spent most of his time in the frigid water eye-to-eye with the fish.

 "There's large sea stars, colonies of Steller sea lions, humpback whales, orcas," Peschak said. "This place is just bursting at the seams with life. It's one of the richest systems on this planet."

 Landscape photographer Jack Dykinga waited for hours for just the right light as aerial photographer Daniel Beltra worked from the open door of a helicopter.

 Beltra spent the summer over the Gulf of Mexico, documenting the Deepwater Horizon spill in dazzling camera shots that make environmental disaster look like modern art.

 National Geographic photographer Paul Nicklen's assignment was to capture images of the spirit bear.

 "You have to have patience and passion," he said, sitting quietly in the woods. "You have to have both of those. There are very few spirit bears, so if you want to see them you have to put in the 18-hour days for six days at a time just to see a glimpse of this white bear."

 Marven Robinson, our guide, is a bear tracker for the Gitga'at Nation tribe, which is native to the region. The Gitga'at Nation consider the spirit bear sacred.

 "We call it 'moskam al.' Moskam means white and al means bear," he said.

 Robinson said that until recently, his tribe spoke about the bears only in whispers.

 "We weren't even allowed to talk about it," he said. "If we were sitting at the dinner table, you know, and someone mentioned that they'd seen one. ... They'd tell you, 'Shh, keep it quiet.'"

 Pipeline Through the Rain Forest

 The residents of Hartley Bay, Robinson's hometown of 150, held a potluck dinner for the visiting photographers. Among the delicacies was fresh seal meat and smoked sea lion.

 Helen Clifton, a tribal elder, said the elders strongly oppose the pipeline.

 "We, the red race, were to be keepers of the land," she said. "We need all of you to help our spirit bear that we have out there."

 But proponents of the pipeline say there's no cause for alarm, that the pipeline would skirt the Great Bear Rainforest. The oil would travel through the region only in modern, double-hulled tankers and guided by tugboats. They add that the pipeline would bring jobs to the region.

 "We believe the potential for a spill is remote," said John Carruthers, president of the Northern Gateway pipeline project. "We'll also put in very thorough plans in the event of a spill, but the public needs to know we can respond very effectively if there is one."

 The Enbridge oil company, unfortunately, has had some practice. An Enbridge pipeline in Michigan burst this summer, spilling 1 million barrels of oil into the Kalamazoo River, which flows into the Great Lakes. Last month, one of the company's pipelines in suburban Chicago started to leak.

 It's little wonder that the fishermen are skeptical and worried that an oil spill could destroy their way of life.

 "This is my bread and butter," one said.

 The Search for the Spirit Bear Continues

 The second day of our hunt for the Spirit bear involved a strenuous hike into an even more remote patch of woods.

 Robinson, our bear tracker, said the area was off limits to everyone. Only he and his guides were allowed to enter.

 The moss was so thick and soft, it could be used as a pillow. The place was so quiet that the only sound, besides the rapids, came from the salmon swimming upstream and the ravens flapping their wings overhead.

 There was plenty of evidence that bears recently had been there -- fresh salmon killed on the rocks of the river and fresh bear droppings in the woods.

 We hid quietly by the side of the river.

 "This is where the bears are most likely coming to feed on salmon," Robinson said. "[With] the carcasses all over, you know, there's good signs."

 The Search for the Spirit Bear Continues

 Almost immediately, a white form emerged from the woods -- a lone wolf surprised to see humans. Black bears arrived. We waited and waited until the light faded. Disappointed, we trudged out of the woods.

 On our last day of shooting, we set off early in hopes of better luck. And suddenly, there he was in an open field at the edge of the woods.

 "It really feels like a ghost," said National Geographic photographer Nicklen. "You feel like you've seen a ghost -- the way they so seamlessly slip back into the forest and they're gone again. You have to look at your pictures to realize what you've just seen. It's just amazing." |||||
What is a shorter version of the above article?

– Never heard of "Canada's panda?" Naturalists fighting to preserve the very rare bear's rainforest habitat in British Columbia want that to change. Only about 500 of the bears—a subspecies of black bear that has white fur—exist, and activists fear that a proposed pipeline through the Great Bear rainforest will spell doom for the animal that native peoples know as the "spirit bear," ABC reports. The pipeline project—designed to speed the passage of oil from tar sands in Alberta to China—will require the building of a terminal for supertankers in the rainforest, a largely untouched area of wilderness the size of Switzerland, and activist warn that a spill would devastate the area. So they've brought in the International League of Conservation Photographers, a sort of "SWAT team of photographers that are deployed to an area that needs immediate media attention," to photograph the wildlife there and bolster the case for preserving it. After much effort, they managed to capture images of several "spirit bears"—click here for a look.


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Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Fashion designer Peter Nygard hopes to encourage stem cell research in the Bahamas

 A billionaire fashion designer says scientists have found a way to reverse his ageing process, it seems.

 Bahamas resident Peter Nygard says he is receiving stem cell therapy and that a study from the University of Miami suggests he is getting younger, the Bahamas Tribune reports. "They are looking at me, and my markers have shown exactly that I have been actually reversing my ageing and getting younger," the 70-year-old says.

 He adds: "I am taking perhaps more stem cell treatment than anybody else in the world. I have been doing it for four years now, so I am sort of a testimonial that this stem cell really works."

 Nygard has reportedly been advocating for stem cell research in the Bahamas. A recent change in the law would allow medical centres to open there, though the country's attorney general denies Nygard was involved in the drafting of the legislation, The Bahamas Weekly reported.

 Use #NewsfromElsewhere to stay up-to-date with our reports via Twitter. ||||| This video is unavailable.

 Sorry about that. ||||| By NEIL HARTNELL

 Tribune Business Editor

 nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

 Peter Nygard has assessed the still-closed Port Lucaya Resort and other Freeport-based sites as potential locations for a stem cell clinic, a move that has met with “100 per cent backing” from one of his biggest critics.

 Fred Smith QC, the Callenders & Co attorney and partner, when informed of Mr Nygard’s interest in Freeport, pledged that he would “roll out the red carpet” for the Canadian multi-millionaire should he translate this into a multi-million dollar investment.

 Mr Smith who, as lead counsel for the Coalition to Save Clifton has led the legal action against Mr Nygard’s alleged “unregulated development” at his Lyford Cay home, urged the fashion entrepreneur to abandon any plans he may have had to build a stem cell facility there.

 Tribune Business last year revealed that Mr Nygard and his team had held discussions with the Prime Minister’s Office about constructing a stem cell-type clinic at Nygard Cay, part of a total $50 million investment at his home.

 This, though, was met with vocal opposition by both the Coalition and Lyford Cay residents, given that it would have involved inserting a commercial venture into a luxury community zoned for residential use.

 And Mr Smith told Tribune Business yesterday: “Freeport needs Nygard; Lyford Cay doesn’t.

 “I ask Mr Nygard the question. Why swim against the current at Lyford Cay, when you can swim with the current in Freeport.”

 Mr Smith was speaking after Tribune Business sources informed this newspaper that Mr Nygard had been examining several potential sites in Freeport, in particular the shuttered Port Lucaya Resort and Yacht Club.

 The property is owned by Port Group Ltd, the Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA) affiliate, and this newspaper was told the Canadian millionaire had been encouraged to look at the hotel by its owner.

 “Nygard visited the hotel and other potential sites, but has not made a commitment,” one source with knowledge of developments confirmed to Tribune Business.

 Ian Rolle, the Grand Bahama Port Authority’s (GBPA) president, did not return a Tribune Business phone message seeking comment.

 This newspaper’s contacts also suggested that Mr Nygard had been eyeing the adjacent Port Lucaya Marina, an asset owned separately by Preben Olsen’s New Hope Holdings.

 One contact told Tribune Business that Mr Olsen owned the docks around the Port Lucaya Resort, plus the access canal, meaning that any deal for the hotel would likely require a buy-out of New Hope’s assets, too.

 That, and indeed, any deal, is some way off, and there is nothing to suggest that Mr Nygard looked at the Port Lucaya Marina as well.

 Mr Nygard’s interest in Freeport, and stem cell research/therapies, is well known. He was feted by both the Government and Port Authority during a highly-publicised visit to Grand Bahama last year, and also appeared at last week’s STEMSO (International Stem Cell Society) conference that was held in Freeport.

 Mr Smith said yesterday: “I understand that Mr Nygard has made several visits to Freeport, and is looking at the possibility of a first class stem cell facility.

 “Obviously, as a licensee of Freeport, I would back Mr Nygard with such a plan 100 per cent. Freeport is desperate for investment, and Mr Nygard is a colourful character with a lot of pizzazz and money.

 “He would make an excellent contribution to making Freeport the pride of the medical tourism landscape in the Bahamas.”

 Mr Smith also expressed hope that Mr Nygard’s interest in Freeport meant “his misguided and misconceived plan for a $50 million stem cell facility at Nygard Cay would be abandoned”.

 “He well knows that the Coalition and Lyford Cay Property Owners Association, as well as the Lyford Cay Club, are resistant and opposed to such a plan,” Mr Smith added.

 “Any attempts by him to pursue his discussions with the [Government], as disclosed in The Tribune’s previous story, would be met by various court actions against him and the Government agencies.

 “But a $50 million investment in Freeport for a stem cell facility by Mr Nygard would be a fantastic opportunity and investment for Freeport, and I would roll out the red carpet for him next time he comes, just like the Port Authority did.”

 Mr Smith said that if Mr Nygard’s interest ultimately resulted in a $50 million investment, it would be “one of the biggest Freeport has seen for years”.

 He added: “The infrastructure is completely in place for Mr Nygard to make a showcase stem cell venture, as Okyanos and others are doing.

 “So there is no need for him to push the envelope and fight the resistance at Lyford Cay, when he has a welcome from business, and the Grand Bahama Port Authority, as the regulatory agency, in Freeport.” ||||| Thank you for supporting the journalism that our community needs!

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 Thank you for supporting the journalism that our community needs!

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 And his plan to save humanity? Use stem-cell research to cure diseases and live forever, just as you would expect a billionaire tycoon to declare in a Bond movie.

 The great man in question is none other than Peter Nygård, the Helsinki-born, Manitoba-raised fashion magnate best known as the founder of Nygård International.

 "Since the dawn of time, great men have challenged the status quo and dared to dream," an off-screen female narrator says in a sultry British accent while images of Leonardo da Vinci, Martin Luther King and other great historical figures parade across the screen.

 The video begins like a clip from a James Bond movie, where the billionaire tycoon announces his plan to save humanity.

 Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 27/2/2014 (1793 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

 Hey there, time traveller!

 This article was published 27/2/2014 (1793 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

 The video begins like a clip from a James Bond movie, where the billionaire tycoon announces his plan to save humanity.

 "Since the dawn of time, great men have challenged the status quo and dared to dream," an off-screen female narrator says in a sultry British accent while images of Leonardo da Vinci, Martin Luther King and other great historical figures parade across the screen.

 The great man in question is none other than Peter Nygård, the Helsinki-born, Manitoba-raised fashion magnate best known as the founder of Nygård International.

 And his plan to save humanity? Use stem-cell research to cure diseases and live forever, just as you would expect a billionaire tycoon to declare in a Bond movie.

 In a 10-minute YouTube video titled Bahamas Stem Cell Laws: The Peter Nygård Breakthrough, the 70-year-old former Winnipegger claims to be at the forefront of scientific and legislative efforts to further the achievements of stem-cell research.

 Nygård claims to have lobbied the Bahamian government to further stem-cell research, though the Bahamas Weekly reported the island nation's attorney general denied the billionaire was involved in drafting legislation.

 That alone is fascinating, but Nygård isn't just a stem-cell advocate. He says he's personally involved in the research by receiving injections of his own cells grown in Peter, or rather, petri dishes.

 Yes, Nygård claims he is actually getting younger. In his video, he calls stem-cell research a game-changer for humanity.

 "This could eliminate all disease. This perhaps is immortality," he breathlessly states in a video that appears entirely serious.

 "Ponce de Leon had the right idea. He was just too early," Nygård continues, referring to the 16th-century conquistador who searched for the fountain of youth. "That was then. This is now."

 In the video, the septuagenarian is seen dancing with young women in a nightclub, leaning out of a sailboat, playing volleyball and otherwise "living a life that most could only dream of," according to the off-screen British female narrator.

 Apparently, the reason Nygård can dance and sail and play at his age is not just due to copious quantities of money.

 YOUTUBE Clothing tycoon Peter Nygård has been getting stem-cell treatments for four years.

 Nygård claims his stem-cell injections have reversed the aging process to the point where he's become something of a Finnish-Canadian superman.

 "Stem cells are being used for anti-aging and the University of Miami is doing a study about that to prove that it is true. They are looking at me, and my markers have shown exactly that I have been actually reversing my aging and getting younger," Nygård told the Bahamas Tribune.

 "I am taking perhaps more stem-cell treatment than anybody else in the world. I have been doing it for four years now, so I am sort of a testimonial that this stem cell really works."

 If one were to review more authoritative sources on stem-cell research than, say, a Nygård-produced promotional video, you'd quickly discover that yes, stem-cell therapy holds a tremendous amount of promise.

 Stem-cell treatments may one day cure cancers, repair spinal-cord injuries and alleviate the symptoms of Parkinson's disease and other neurological conditions.

 The problem is, stem cells can be extracted from embryos and cloned, something that freaks out legislators in nations where embryonic stem-cell cloning is illegal.

 "It's the word 'cloning' that creates an aura of terror in people's minds," explains Arthur Schafer, professor and director of the Centre for Professional and Applied Ethics at the University of Manitoba.

 Schafer believes therapeutic cloning should be legal, as many researchers believe stem-cell cloning could be the greatest medical advance in history.

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 But Schafer is concerned about the way the technology may be used. For example, a treatment that may one day cure Alzheimer's also may be used to transform a wealthy, healthy individual into a genius, just like in sci-fi movies.

 "We are already a deeply divided, deeply unequal society and this has the potential to create classes of people," Schafer said.

 We should be cynical about an aging billionaire's motives for pushing stem-cell technology, he added.

 "I don't see him as a great humanitarian seeking to better humankind," Schafer said of Nygård, whose own statements seem to bear out that cynicism.

 "I may be the only person in the world who has my own embryonic cells growing in a petri dish," boasts Nygård in his video, sounding exactly like the billionaire-tycoon Bond villain we all suspected him of being long ago.

 bartley.kives@freepress.mb.ca |||||

– A Finnish-Canadian billionaire says scientists have found a way to make him younger. Fashion designer Peter Nygard claims he is getting more stem cell treatment than anyone else is currently receiving, and scientists have found "my markers have shown exactly that I have been actually reversing my aging and getting younger," the BBC reports. The 70-year-old says he has been undergoing stem cell treatment for four years, and that the University of Miami is currently studying him. Nygard lives in the Bahamas, where he is an advocate for stem cell research and wants to open a $50 million stem cell clinic. He says his interest in the subject is about more than just a desire to be younger. "I started stem cells when I wanted to find a cure for my mother who I loved very much and Western medicine was not able to cure her, he tells the Freeport News. "If I had discovered stem cells a year before, I think that she would still be here with me." The Winnipeg Free Press notes that Nygard has released a 10-minute YouTube video ("Bahamas Stem Cell Laws: The Peter Nygard Breakthrough") that shows him "dancing with young women in a nightclub" (with a Will.i.am and Britney Spears song playing in the background), "leaning out of a sailboat, playing volleyball," and living what the narrator describes as "a life that most could only dream of." (Harvard scientists recently said they were able to reverse part of the aging process ... in mice.)


Write a summary based on this article:

There's bipartisan agreement: If the Secret Service had more women, agents wouldn't be prone to pick up prostitutes, two lawmakers said Sunday.

 Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) said on ABC's "This Week" that more women on the force could've prevented incidents like the recent dust-up in Cartegena, Colombia.

 "I can't help but wonder if there'd been more women as part of that detail if this ever would’ve happened," Collins said.

 Maloney agreed, noting the Secret Service is only 11 percent female.

 "I cant help but keep asking this question: Where are the women," she said. "We probably need to diversify the Secret Service and have more minorities and more women"

 Read more about: Susan Collins, Sex Scandals, Secret Service ; Carolyn Maloney ||||| Florida Sen. Marco Rubio says he'll no longer discuss the Republican vice-presidential process, a slight shift from his staunch stated opposition to the No. 2 post.

 In an interview aired Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Rubio said he’s going to be “respectful of the process [Mitt Romney] has put in place.”

 “Up to now it's all been theoretical, we have a nominee now, and our nominee, Mitt Romney, the leader of the Republican Party, has a vice presidential process in place,” Rubio said, according to an early transcript released by CNN. “And I think from this point moving forward, I think it'd be wise for all Republicans to kind of respect that process, myself included, and say moving forward, we're going to let his process play itself out. He's been a great decision maker throughout his career in both the private sector and in politics and he's going to make a great choice”

 Romney doesn’t need “us in the peanut gallery to be saying what we would or would not do,” Rubio added.

 Rubio said he'd like to see Jeb Bush take the job, if asked.

 "I hope he'll say yes if future President Romney asks him," Rubio said.

 Read more about: Mitt Romney, Marco Rubio ||||| Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), who was Democrat Al Gore's vice presidential running mate and supported Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) for president in 2008, insisted he's of the 2012 race.

 "I'm going to try something different this year," the senator said on "Fox News Sunday." "I'm going to try to stay out of this one."

 The senator, who's not seeking reelection this year, said he relishes the chance not to be involved in presidential politics.

 "I'm enjoying not being involved in the nastiness of campaigning in America these days,' he said. "I think this year, when it comes to the presidential election, I'm just going to do what most Americans do: go in the voting booth on election day and in the privacy of the booth cast my vote."

 Read more about: John McCain, Joe Lieberman, Al Gore ||||| President Barack Obama is "apoplectic" about lavish spending at the GSA, one of his top advisers said Sunday.

 "On the GSA issue, he was I think it’s fair to say apoplectic," said David Axelrod, said on NBC's "Meet the Press. "Because we made a big effort to cut waste, inefficiency, fraud against government, saved tens of billions of dollars doing it on just this very kind of thing. And so this was very enraging to him, and, of course, he acted quickly, the administration acted quickly and changed the management there."

 The General Services Administration has been caught in a few weeks of bad headlines after it was revealed that some employees were spending money freely on things like swank hotel suites. And Republicans have sought to paint the scenario as an example of government run amok.

 Read more about: Barack Obama, David Axelrod, GSA ||||| Focused crawls are collections of frequently-updated webcrawl data from narrow (as opposed to broad or wide) web crawls, often focused on a single domain or subdomain. ||||| Conservative Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), not one to shy away from critiques of the Obama administration, said on Sunday he was "not critical" of the White House's response to the Secret Service scandal.

 "You know, I'm not critical of what the administration has done thus far," said Coburn on CBS's "Face the Nation." "I think what we're seeing is an aberration."

 Coburn also expressed faith in the director of the Secret Service, Mark Sullivan.

 "He has demonstrated in many ways that he is on top of this, and we'll get to the bottom of it. My experience with the Secret Service has been with stellar individuals," Coburn stressed. |||||

– The Secret Service prostitution scandal dominated the talk show air waves today, with a pair of female legislators openly questioning whether more women in the elite guards' ranks could've averted the scandal. "It defies belief that this is just an aberration," Sen. Susan Collins told This Week. "I can't help but wonder if there'd been more women as part of that detail if this ever would’ve happened." Where are the women?" concurred Rep. Carolyn Maloney, noting that only 11% are female. "We probably need to diversify the Secret Service." Elsewhere on your Sunday dial, as per Politico: Tom Coburn on the scandal: "You know, I'm not critical of what the administration has done thus far. I think what we're seeing is an aberration." Marco Rubio on the VP selection process: "It'd be wise for all Republicans to respect that process, myself included, and say moving forward, we're going to let his process play itself out. He's been a great decision maker throughout his career in both the private sector and in politics and he's going to make a great choice." As for his pick? "I hope (Jeb Bush) will say yes if future President Romney asks him." David Axelrod on President Obama's reaction to the GSA scandal: "He was, I think it’s fair to say, apoplectic. We made a big effort to cut waste, inefficiency, fraud, saved tens of billions of dollars on just this very kind of thing. And so this was very enraging to him, and, of course, he acted quickly, and changed the management there." Joe Lieberman on Election 2012: "I'm going to try something different this year. I'm going to try to stay out of this one. I'm enjoying not being involved in the nastiness of campaigning in America these days."


– Minnesota couple Pete and Alisha Arnold say they're letting the Internet decide whether or not they get an abortion. The couple—who have been posting ultrasound pictures at birthornot.com—say the move is an exercise in democracy. They plan to keep the poll open for as long as Alisha, now 17 weeks pregnant, can legally get an abortion, and claim the results will be the deciding factor in whether they keep the fetus or not. "Give Birth" has 46% of the vote at the moment, with "Have an Abortion" at 54%. There seem to be three possibilities here, Alicia Chen notes at Gawker. This could be an "idiotic prank" by a couple intent on becoming famous. It could be a pro-life stunt and the site is "a confused parable to illustrate the peril of putting an unborn baby's life in the hands of voters." Or, thirdly, the couple are really planning to have an abortion based on the results of an Internet poll. All three options plainly "suggest these people should never, ever raise a kid," Chen writes. Click here for another reaction.

Expand this summary.

The Arnolds are having a baby. Unless the public votes to have the child aborted. Meet the couple behind Birthornot.com, where "you can vote and choose whether we abort or keep our unborn child."

 Pete and Alisha Arnold, both 30, both tech professionals, live in the Minneapolis suburb of Apple Valley and have been married for 10 years. Since September, they've blogged about their expected child at birthornot.com, posting health updates about the mother and the fetus (which will be 17 weeks-old tomorrow), and ultrasound pictures and video. But at the top of the blog is a poll hosted by PollDaddy.com. The question: "Should We Give Birth or Have an Abortion?" "Give Birth" has 46 percent of the vote at the moment, with "Have an Abortion" at 54 percent. The poll closes on December 7th.

 Pete told us over the phone that on that day he plans to check Polldaddy's records to make sure there hasn't been any double-voting or other evidence of fraud and then he and Alisha will use the results to decide whether to keep the baby. They'll have two days to make a decision before the 20th week of Alisha's pregnancy ends, and, with it, her last chance to get an abortion. The poll will influence their decision heavily, the couple said by phone this evening, but it won't be binding. "It's kind of like Congress. They might vote for something, but the president has the final veto. If it's overwhelming one way or the other, that will carry a lot more weight."

 That someone would do this is almost impossible to believe, of course. We asked the Arnolds if this was some sort of a prank. "No, it's not. We are taking this very seriously," Pete replied. We then asked if this was some sort of convoluted pro-life stunt. Alisha laughed. "It's definitely not a pro-life campaign," she said. "I believe in a woman's right to choose."

 According to the couple, they've been unsure about whether they're ready to be parents and have concluded that the best way to proceed is to ask random people on the Internet if they should have the child. (Tests have revealed that the fetus is a boy.) Alisha said that two pregnancies ended in two miscarriages in the past year and a half. During the second pregnancy, the couple bought the birthornot.com domain, and were in the process of deciding whether to put the birth up to a vote when they lost the baby. When Alisha got pregnant a third time a few months ago, they decided to launch birthornot.com.

 Pete, who described himself as a Libertarian, framed the couple's majority-rule abortion as kind of an extreme civics lesson that he hoped would bring the abortion debate home. "Voting is such an important part of who we are as a people," Pete said. "Here's a chance where people can be heard about whether they are pro-choice or whether they are pro-life, and it makes a difference in the real world."

 We pointed out an obvious flaw with his logic: The vast majority of people who are pro-choice aren't pro-abortion, so it wouldn't figure that they would automatically vote for the abortion option. The only people who would probably vote for the abortion are trolls who want to piss off pro-lifers. (In fact the anarchic message board 4chan has already hijacked the poll a couple times, tilting it to the "abortion" side.) Pete countered that during elections, "people do silly stuff all the time, and their votes get counted anyway."

 We're not sure what to make of Pete and Alisha Arnold, to be honest. But here are three possibilities:

 1) It's is an idiotic prank. Pete and Alisha are intent on becoming famous any way they can, and they've hit on an outrageous way to get media coverage. But if this all was a prank, wouldn't they have gotten the word out before now? They've been blogging since September.

 2) This is a pro-life stunt. Pete said he's a non-practicing Catholic, while Alisha is a Methodist. Although the Arnolds describe themselves as political independents with Libertarian leanings, Alisha likes Glenn Beck on Facebook, and a Google search turns up an old pro-Bush comment Pete made on CNN. (Pete said he voted for Bush in 2000, but not in 2004.) Could this site be a confused parable to illustrate the peril of putting an unborn baby's life in the hands of voters?

 3) It's true. Pete and Alisha are actually going to choose to have an abortion based on an Internet poll.

 Regardless of your position on abortion, all of these possibilities suggest these people should never, ever raise a kid.

 Update: Abortion-by-Vote Is Probably a Pro-Life Stunt ||||| It's official. Pete and Alisha Arnold are the most horrible people in all the Interweb land.

 They are a couple in Minneapolis who is offering up their pregnancy to the Internet gods. The Arnolds are both 30 and have been married 10 years. Allegedly, they are undecided on having children and, after having two failed pregnancies, Alisha is pregnant for a third time. Through their website BirthorNot.com, they are allowing the Internet to vote on whether they should have the baby or abort.

 Don't believe me? Check it out for yourself. They claim that this isn't a pro-life publicity stunt, though it's hard to believe otherwise. What is a fact here is that no matter what the reason they're doing this is, it's a pretty despicable thing to do.

 Some facts the Arnolds have probably missed:

 Pro-choice doesn't mean pro-abortion: One can support every woman's right to make her own choice while also finding abortion to be an unfortunate and painful choice. Just because I think abortion should be legal doesn't mean I support it in general. I have had two babies and no abortions and I know pregnancy is a life. But I'm not going to tell another person what they should believe.

 One can support every woman's right to make her own choice while also finding abortion to be an unfortunate and painful choice. Just because I think abortion should be legal doesn't mean I support it in general. I have had two babies and no abortions and I know pregnancy is a life. But I'm not going to tell another person what they should believe. Abortion is a personal decision : Just like I can't tell some woman she should have 10 children because she and her spouse are beautiful and intelligent (and have PhDs from Ivy League schools), I can't tell someone they shouldn't have children because they can't afford it. It's the beauty of living in the US. We don't tell others how to live their lives.

 Just like I can't tell some woman she should have 10 children because she and her spouse are beautiful and intelligent (and have PhDs from Ivy League schools), I can't tell someone they shouldn't have children because they can't afford it. It's the beauty of living in the US. We don't tell others how to live their lives. Abortion isn't easy: If they do support a woman's right to choose, as they say they do, then they're doing it a major disservice. They're pretending this is easy and that the majority of the US should decide what happens in their lives. That isn't what abortion is all about. The whole point is that it's a difficult, emotional decision and that women need to be free to make it themselves.

 It isn't up to the public to tell the Arnolds whether they should have a baby or not. It's up to the Arnolds to decide, but as long as they're putting it up for public discussion, then we can weigh in. So here is mine:

 No matter what their reasons are for doing such a stupid, inane, and possibly sick-in-the-head publicity stunt, it's clear that these two shouldn't be reproducing. I suggest a third option:

 Give that poor baby to a family who would love him or her, care for him or her, and not put his or her life in the hands of Internet commenters who have too much time (and anger) on their hands. If this is the kind of parents these two will be, the poor kid is better off without them.

 How about we try our own democratic vote: should the Arnolds be shot? Vote in the comments section.

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